Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert-Chapter 331

[Translator - Peptobismol]

[Proofreader - Demon God]

Chapter 331

“Haah! Once again, I’m in your debt. Thanks!”

Jang Yongbeom reached out his blood-soaked hand.

Zeon took it and replied.

“Good thing I wasn’t too late.”

“Phew! Damn, what a fcked-up place. We almost suffered massive casualties.”

Jang Yongbeom let out a deep sigh as he looked around.

Unlike the other assault teams, the one led by Jang Yongbeom had fortunately sustained minimal damage.

That was thanks to Jang Yongbeom, Aiden, Giselle, and Mountain, who had performed exceptionally and kept the losses low.

Because of that, they were able to preserve their combat power—but the four of them had completely exhausted their stamina.

And as if waiting for that exact moment, a powerful undead appeared.

A headless knight—Dullahan.

This crazy undead held its head under its arm and swung it like a club.

The problem was that the head carried a deathly aura.

If you got hit, you died instantly.

Only those who could protect themselves with at least an aura shield had any chance of confronting the Dullahan. Naturally, there weren’t many who could.

Awakeneds above B-rank from the martial class tried to stop it. But the Dullahan was cunning—it avoided them and went after the lower-ranked Awakeneds.

Awakeneds couldn’t match the Dullahan’s mobility. That’s because the Dullahan rode a beastified undead horse.

The massive horse, as big as a mid-tier monster, was a terrifying weapon on its own.

It trampled Awakeneds underfoot and tore into their bodies with its teeth, slaughtering them mercilessly.

The lower-ranked Awakeneds’ attacks didn’t affect the horse at all.

It, too, was an undead, and as a being that defied death, ordinary attacks couldn’t harm it.

Just as Jang Yongbeom and Giselle were trying to fight again without having fully recovered their mana, Zeon and the other Awakeneds appeared.

This time, Zeon didn’t even need to step forward.

Seo Tae-ran’s subordinates acted first.

With their first-stage seals undone and their gauntlets infused with holy water, they were the natural enemies of the Dullahan.

Even without deploying aura shields, they were completely unaffected by the Dullahan’s death aura.

Of course, just because it was called a death aura didn’t mean it could kill everything outright. Still, it should’ve dealt some damage to any living being. Yet for some reason, Seo Tae-ran’s subordinates were completely unscathed.

Zeon clicked his tongue.

‘As expected, they’re not normal humans.’

They might be called Bio Soldiers, but they weren’t much different from Chimeras.

Possibly, something even more twisted than a Chimera was hidden beneath the surface.

That was how far Neo Seoul’s scientific prowess had advanced.

The taste in his mouth turned bitter.

It might be a necessary evil for humanity’s survival—but no one could predict what the long-term consequences would be.

Shaking off his thoughts, Zeon turned to Jang Yongbeom.

“We don’t have much time.”

“Seems that way. This is a dungeon, right?”

“Yes. And it’s the dungeon of a crazy necromancer.”

“Tch. We had to run into the worst kind of bastard. A necromancer, huh?”

“Have you encountered one before?”

“If I had, I probably wouldn’t be standing here now. But I always figured one would show up eventually. We’ve seen elves, dwarves, werewolves—every kind of race. No way necromancers wouldn’t appear.”

“True enough.”

“Still, the problem is we’ve run into one sooner than expected. So, what’s the plan?”

“Quick and decisive.”

“Good! Let’s move right away.”

Jang Yongbeom immediately understood Zeon’s intent.

The longer this dragged on, the greater the losses among the Awakeneds—and the more that died, the more the enemy’s numbers would grow.

To minimize casualties, they had to take down the necromancer as fast as possible.

There was no time to sit around and rest.

He issued orders to his subordinates.

“Everyone, get up. We move now.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Let’s go!”

His subordinates, who had been sitting on the ground resting, slowly got to their feet.

Having spoken with the other Awakeneds, they understood how dire the situation was. Even if they were exhausted, they had to move.

Zeon gauged the number of Awakeneds.

‘Around 1,300?’

There had been 3,400 people who fell into this place.

That meant they hadn’t even rescued half yet.

He didn’t know how many were still alive, but they had to save as many as possible.

Numbers meant strength.

The scattered groups that had been isolated began to unite, and naturally, their combat power surged.

By several times over.

KRAAAGH!

GRHH!

Zombies attacked, but this time, they didn’t go down helplessly like before.

While martial-class Awakeneds blocked as tanks, magic-class Awakeneds unleashed skills to wipe them out.

The higher-tier enemies were handled by Seo Tae-ran’s subordinates, Giselle, Aiden, and others.

After fighting so many undead, the Awakeneds had started to get the hang of it.

They were beginning to understand how to effectively eliminate them.

Now that they had pulled themselves together, zombies weren’t much of a threat anymore.

At the center of it all were Jang Yongbeom and Seo Tae-ran.

Jang Yongbeom took command with overwhelming charisma, and Seo Tae-ran identified the weaknesses of newly appearing undead and relayed that information.

Thanks to them, Zeon and Old Man Go didn’t have to step in, and could focus on recovering their mana.

The Awakeneds mowed down the undead in a relentless advance.

Whenever the number of zombies became overwhelming, or a high-ranking undead appeared, Old Man Go, Zeon, or Jang Yongbeom would step in to handle it.

Meanwhile, more survivors joined the group, and the number of Awakeneds surpassed 2,000.

Once that happened, a renewed vigor filled the air.

They were no longer a defeated rabble, or a drifting army without a leader.

With powerful presences like Zeon, Jang Yongbeom, and Seo Tae-ran leading them, they united as one and unleashed tremendous power.

Levin, who had gone scouting in ghost form, returned and called out loudly.

“There’s a group of survivors 400 meters ahead! The enemies are zombies, ghost hounds, specters, and a Dullahan!”

“Nice mix. Alright!”

“You heard him. It’s all stirred together. Engage according to your matchups!”

“No need to say it twice!”

The Awakeneds responded with confidence.

They had already fought all of them once before.

They already knew how to deal with them.

One of the Awakeneds turned to Levin.

“Specters are all yours, kid!”

“Heh! Just leave it to me.”

“Of course we will, Ghost Bird!”

“Huh?”

“That’s just the nickname we gave you.”

“Eh? That’s it? Don’t you have anything cooler?”

“That is the coolest one, man! Alright, we’re heading out first! Hahaha!”

Levin smiled as he watched the Awakened crack jokes as they charged ahead.

‘Please, survive…’

Wishing for their survival, Levin ghosted away again.

Meanwhile, Seo Tae-ran had been observing Levin closely.

She was impressed by Levin’s ability to scout freely in ghost form, just like a Specter.

Seo Tae-ran approached Zeon.

“That Levin kid…”

“No.”

Zeon shut her down before she could even finish her sentence.

Seo Tae-ran looked at him, clearly taken aback.

“You don’t even know what I was going to say—”

“You want to research Levin’s abilities. Probably hoping to give your subordinates a similar skill if possible.”

“I trust that, if it’s for humanity’s survival, you’ll cooperate, Zeon.”

Seo Tae-ran met his gaze directly.

Eyes unwavering.

The look of someone carrying deep conviction.

People like that were always the most troublesome to deal with.

They were willing to do anything for the sake of their beliefs.

Though she and Zeon were fundamentally different—

“I refuse.”

“Can you take responsibility for those words?”

“Seo Tae-ran.”

“Yes?”

“Can you take responsibility for what might happen?”

Zeon met her gaze squarely.

Behind his black pupils, an orange glow began to flicker.

The crimson gleam, like a bloody sunset, instilled fear in Seo Tae-ran.

‘Just from this…?’

She gritted her teeth.

She prided herself on her mental fortitude.

She wasn’t someone who would be overwhelmed by a mere look.

But then, she saw it.

Within Zeon’s eyes—an enormous mountain of sand.

The blood-red sunset transformed into a towering dune that came crashing down on her.

What she thought was just a sand dune turned out to be a massive sand tsunami, summoned by Zeon himself.

Before that colossal wave of sand, Seo Tae-ran felt utterly insignificant.

Like an ant beneath someone’s feet, too small to even be noticed.

Behind Seo Tae-ran stood Neo Seoul. But even the massive Neo Seoul looked tiny and fragile before that onrushing tidal wave of sand.

No matter how powerful Neo Seoul was, it was hard to say whether it could withstand such a force.

Only then did Seo Tae-ran realize—

What she was seeing now was the future Zeon was showing her.

Whether or not he could actually summon such a sandstorm was unclear. But even if he could unleash only a tenth of it, Neo Seoul would suffer irreparable damage.

‘This man… he’s too massive. He’s not someone I can handle.’

Drip.

Blood ran down her lips.

Just from confronting the illusion Zeon showed her, she had suffered serious mental and physical damage.

Even Jin Geum-ho hadn’t been able to do something like this.

She hastily shut her eyes and bowed her head.

“…I’m sorry. I take back what I said.”

“One more thing.”

“Yes?”

“Tell the other district rulers to leave Levin alone, too. So I don’t have to deal with this again.”

“…Understood.”

Seo Tae-ran barely managed to reply.

Normally, she would’ve felt intense humiliation in this moment—but right now, she didn’t even have the energy for that.

That’s how overwhelming Zeon’s presence and vision had been.

She had taken massive psychological damage in an instant.

Zeon looked down at Seo Tae-ran, who couldn’t even collect herself, with a detached expression.

Levin’s ability had infinite potential.

He could be the deadliest assassin, or an undetectable scout. Even a living navigator.

Any group that secured Levin would essentially gain a supreme weapon.

It was only natural to covet him.

Until Levin developed the strength to protect himself, Zeon wanted to protect him.

But in front of so many Awakeneds, Levin’s secret had already been exposed.

His ability was no longer a secret.

Guilds and raid teams would inevitably come for him.

But it was up to Levin to choose.

Not City Hall, not the district rulers.

Only him.

Until then, Zeon would be his shield.

Levin’s true independence would begin from that point on.

“Hyah!”

“Die, you monsters!”

“Filthy beasts!”

The Awakeneds’ angry cries rang out from the front.

The battle had already begun.

As they advanced a bit farther, a massive underground chamber came into view.

Inside, the Awakeneds were engaged in a fierce battle against the undead.

Even here, Levin was shining brilliantly.

Ghosting through the air, Levin chased down the Specters at frightening speed. Having faced them once already, he was now able to roughly predict their movements.

Before they could reach the others, he cut them off and unleashed Purple Lightning.

And he focused solely on the Specters.

CRACKLE!

Like flies caught in a bug zapper, the Specters vanished into nothing.

Zeon smiled.

“You’re growing well.”

[Translator - Peptobismol]

[Proofreader - Demon God]