Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert-Chapter 372
Chapter 372
Brielle sat beside the cocoon, her hand resting gently on it, eyes closed.
She could feel Hahr’s unrest.
She was anxious.
And when Hahr was anxious, the spirit was bound to be as well.
Brielle whispered softly,
“It’ll be all right, unni. You know why? Because Zeon and Levin are out there. They won’t let the monsters step into this Black Forest.”
“……”
“You know Zeon too, right? That’s right. He’s gotten even stronger. So trust him. Help ease the child inside.”
In that moment, the trembling of the cocoon subsided.
Brielle withdrew her hand and sat quietly beside it.
BOOM!
ROOOAAAR!
Explosions and the monstrous roars echoed in the distance.
Up in the sky, Zeon and Levin were soaring, taking down the airborne monsters.
The sight of the flying beasts dropping like leaves was surreal.
Originally, Brielle had wanted to join the battle, too. But Zeon had stopped her.
“Keeping Hahr calm is more important than fighting. Stay with her. Help her support the spirit’s birth without wavering.”
Indeed, ever since the monsters had appeared at the forest entrance, Hahr had been visibly shaken.
So Brielle had stayed.
Each time Hahr wavered, she would speak to her, soothing her.
As a high elf and a half-elf, Brielle and Hahr could feel each other’s emotions.
BOOM! KA-BOOM!
“Don’t fall back!”
“Even if we die—we protect this place!”
Outside, she could hear the explosions and the desperate shouts of people locked in battle.
They were fighting with all they had to protect this child.
Brielle murmured,
“Little one, you see? All these people are fighting for you. So please… you too, be strong.”
HUUUUUM...
As if in response to Brielle’s words, the cocoon glowed brightly.
Brielle turned her gaze once again toward the Black Forest entrance.
“Everyone, hang in there!”
* * *
Zeon stood in midair, supported by a storm of sand.
Countless flying monsters filled the sky.
FLASH!
Levin unleashed his Purple Lightning, but fewer and fewer monsters were falling.
The greatest strength of airborne beasts was their speed.
They weren’t just fast in movement—their reaction time was insane.
At first, they had been caught off guard by Purple Lightning. But as time passed, they adapted.
Now they dodged the instant they sensed the lightning strike.
The slower ones still got hit, but the quick ones began evading.
Those that escaped Levin’s strikes were left to Zeon.
Zeon bound them with Sand Tornadoes and shredded them to pieces.
Many flying monsters were ground to dust by the sand—but the sky was too vast, and the numbers too many to eliminate them all.
At this point, Zeon’s best option was to stay behind Levin and stop the monsters trying to sneak into the Black Forest.
The same was true at the forest entrance.
Dark elves and human Awakened fought with all they had, but the monsters were seemingly endless.
No matter how many they killed, they kept surging in like a tidal wave.
The defenders were being pushed back. Still, they gritted their teeth and held the line.
BOOM!
A massive martial-type Awakened blocked a cyclops’s club strike with a shield larger than himself.
The force shattered through his body, but he held his ground.
If he fell, their entire formation would collapse.
GRRRNK!
He clenched his legs and jaw, bracing against the impact.
“You’ve done enough. Leave the rest to me!”
From behind him, Floa leaped forward.
She stepped on the cyclops’s club and vaulted upward.
Her gaze met the cyclops’s single eye.
“What are you looking at, one-eye?!”
Floa mercilessly slashed her sword.
SHLICK!
ROOOOAR!
The cyclops shrieked, flailing wildly—the one eye it had was now gone, plunging it into darkness.
It swung its club blindly in a rage.
The Awakened and Floa swiftly backed off. The cyclops’s club smashed into unfortunate monsters nearby.
SPLAT!
GRAGH!
The monsters caught in the rampage were crushed. But one emerged unscathed.
Another cyclops.
Struck suddenly by its kin, the second cyclops flew into a rage and retaliated.
BOOM!
Its club slammed into the shoulder of the blinded cyclops.
ROOAAAR!
Blinded and now wounded, the first cyclops screamed in pain but quickly retaliated.
BOOM! BAM!
The two cyclopes clashed fiercely.
The clash of two giant beasts was a disaster for the smaller monsters.
Caught in the brawl, small monsters were pulverized, and even mid-tier ones didn’t escape unscathed.
Floa watched the cyclopes closely, eyes sharp.
The blinded one’s rampage had bought them a moment—but she knew it wouldn’t last long.
Cyclopses were B-rank monsters.
With powerful physiques and defensive auras, they were difficult to face.
Unless you were an Awakened like Floa, capable of using an Aura Blade, even injuring them was impossible.
But that applied to humans and elves.
Against another cyclops, those defensive fields meant nothing.
Eventually, the blinded cyclops was beaten to death.
The one who had killed its kin now charged toward Floa and her allies, rage burning.
“It’s coming! Ready yourselves!”
Floa raised her sword and shouted.
BOOOOM!
The cyclops, Awakened, and dark elves clashed once more.
Zeon watched it all from above.
He wanted to help those on the ground—but he couldn’t just yet.
Griffins, Blade Razorbirds, and even wyverns had entered the fray.
“Fine. Let’s see who dies first—you or me.”
Blade Razorbirds he could handle with less effort, but wyverns were another story.
They possessed powerful auras, monstrous physiques, ferocity, and intelligence.
There was a reason wyverns were called the tyrants of the sky.
Their aura fields were too strong for regular Purple Lightning to penetrate.
Levin had to give it everything he had.
FLASH! CRAACK!
Lightning of a whole different magnitude tore through the sky.
It looked as though the god of thunder himself had descended.
Zeon wasn’t just watching either.
WHOOOOSH!
The Sand Tornado he summoned twisted violently, devouring hundreds of flying beasts.
Griffins and Razorbirds were shredded—but wyverns remained untouched.
They didn’t even come near Zeon.
Whenever the Sand Tornado approached, they flew far away.
And once it consumed other monsters, they swooped in to attack Zeon.
While the wyverns distracted Zeon, a few others began circling wide to reach the Black Forest.
A particularly massive wyvern led the pack—it was the alpha.
Its cunning surpassed belief for a mere beast.
“Tch.”
Zeon clicked his tongue as he spotted the alpha wyvern diving toward the ground.
He had no choice but to descend himself.
“Levin!”
“Yes, Hyung?”
“I’m heading down to the Black Forest. I’m leaving this to you.”
“Don’t worry, Hyung! I’ll hold the sky no matter what.”
“Good. I’m counting on you.”
As soon as he heard Levin’s answer, Zeon dropped toward the ground like a meteor.
SHOOOOOM!
Through the blur of his fall, he spotted the enormous body of the wyvern.
BOOM!
Zeon collided with the wyvern’s back at full speed.
SCREEEEE!
The impact, amplified by his body weight and momentum, sent shockwaves through the beast.
He struck its head with a fist clad in the Scorching Gauntlet.
BOOM!
The wyvern’s head exploded from the force.
Using the corpse as a springboard, Zeon launched himself toward the alpha.
Noticing him, the alpha wyvern turned and roared.
ROOOAAAR!
A piercing ultrasonic wave struck Zeon’s eardrums.
One of the alpha’s skills.
Zeon staggered, momentarily disoriented.
“Gah!”
The sound had infiltrated through his ears, shaking his brain.
Seizing the opening, other wyverns swarmed toward Zeon.
They knew—the alpha’s screech didn’t just disorient. It drastically weakened physical capabilities.
With mouths wide open, they aimed to tear him apart.
Rows of razor-sharp teeth glinted like saw blades.
Those jaws could shred human bone in an instant.
Zeon, stumbling, looked like easy prey.
But before those teeth could reach him, Zeon snapped out of it.
Not only did he regain his senses, but his physical condition stabilized as well.
FWOOSH!
A storm of flames burst around him.
Fire Rain skill.
The fire struck the attacking wyverns in their torsos and wings.
SCREEEE!
SHRIEEEEK!
The wyverns screamed in agony.
The flames generated by Zeon’s Scorching Gauntlet melted their hides and burned through their muscles.
They thrashed, trying to extinguish the fire—but it was no use.
The flames only spread, devouring them whole.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
Burning wyverns fell from the sky like meteors.
But Zeon didn’t spare them a glance—his eyes were locked on the alpha wyvern.
It had already reached the innermost part of the forest.
Spotting the white cocoon, the alpha wyvern opened its massive jaws.
Knowing Zeon was close behind, it aimed to devour the cocoon before it could be stopped.
Just as those jaws were about to swallow the cocoon—
“Hmph!”
With a scoff, something flew into the alpha’s mouth.
A vial—thrown by Brielle.
Inside it was venom.
Extracted from monsters for alchemy, it was a potent blend of toxins from different species.
The alpha, not knowing, bit down hard.
CRUNCH!
The glass shattered, and the venom spread through its mouth.
The toxin quickly melted its tongue and palate.
ROOOOOAAR!
The alpha thrashed in agony.
Zeon unleashed his Sand Tornado upon it.
ROOOOOSH!
The fearsome spinning sand tore the alpha’s body to pieces.
Normally, its aura and resilient body would’ve allowed it to resist—but with its brain already being eaten away by venom, it had no time to escape.
The alpha wyvern vanished, completely shredded by the Sand Tornado.
Only then did Brielle breathe a sigh of relief and look toward Zeon.
“Zeon!”
“Well done.”
“Hehe!”
Brielle giggled at the praise.
And then—
RUMBLE…
The entire Black Forest trembled like an earthquake had struck.
Zeon’s expression shifted instantly.
There was only one being capable of shaking the entire forest.
“…An S-rank monster.”
