Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert

Chapter 31

“Spare me, please…”

The last survivor pleaded with Dyoden.

Her name was Aislyn.

As an Awakened mage, her specialty was wind-type magic.

In Neo Seoul, she was nobility.

Being an A-rank Awakened, her arrogance was naturally high.

Accustomed to being praised by everyone, she thought of herself as nobility.

Her participation in this attack raid was purely of her own volition.

To the leaders of Neo Seoul, Dyoden was a kind of taboo.

Everyone sealed their lips as if they were not even allowed to say his name. So she developed animosity against him

‘Is he really that great? He’s nothing but just a relic of the past.’

She wanted to prove it.

That the Awakened of this era were much more exceptional, or rather, how exceptional she herself was.

That was why she joined the raid to hunt Dyoden, but right now she was deeply regretting her decision.

Her face was ugly with tears and snot all over, and even urine began to flow from between her crotch.

Dyoden was terrifying and gruesome.

It felt like Dyoden was displaying the maximum strength a human could wield.

Without even employing proper skills, he slaughtered every Awakened who attacked him.

He crushed them to death with his bare fists and slashed them in halves with his massive sword.

The sight of humans being torn apart, blood gushing like a fountain, left Aislyn in a daze.

Due to her nature as a mage-type Awakened, she rarely engaged in close combat with monsters or humans.

Occasionally casting spells from a safe distance sufficed.

Witnessing such a brutal scene upfront was a first for her.

Dyoden, drenched in blood and flesh, didn’t resemble a human anymore.

Everyone was dead, and she was the only one left alive.

Aislyn quickly got down on her knees and begged.

“I-I was wrong. Please, spare me…”

She couldn’t even muster the courage to resist.

Dyoden looked down at her with a contemptuous expression.

“Spare you?”

“Yes! Please, I’ll do anything if you spare me.”

“Anything?”

“Yes! Anything?”

“Then take your own life.”

“What?”

“I don’t need you, so it’d be better if you just died on your own.”

“I can’t do that. Please, spare me.”

“Seeing you here, it’s clear what the Mayor thinks of me. I’ve received the message loud and clear.”

“What?”

At that moment, Dyoden swung Kreion.

A thin red line appeared across Aislyn’s neck, a puzzled expression on her face. Then with a ‘thud,’ her head rolled off her body and onto the ground.

“Hmph!”

[TL/N: This dude is a true advocate for gender equality ]

Dyoden snorted and approached Zeon.

Zeon’s face was extremely contorted.

Following Dyoden, he had witnessed many deaths.

Among them were elves who resembled humans, but yet they were not human.

That psychological barrier had protected Zeon’s mind. But not now.

Even though they were enemies, the sight of numerous humans turning into gruesome corpses was mentally devastating.

It was a psychological shock.

Dyoden spoke, opening his mouth.

“Lift your head.”

“Hmm!”

Zeon looked up.

“Look.”

“Alright!”

Zeon glanced at the corpses around him.

“That’s the value of humans living in this era.”

“…”

“They boast about being Awakened, but in the end, they’re just tools for someone else. Once they’re used up, they’re discarded.”

“Are you saying they were discarded?”

“Jin Geum-ho has always been adept at manipulation.”

“Who is Jin Geum-ho?”

“The Mayor of Neo Seoul.”

Zeon widened his eyes at the unexpected answer.

“Jin Geum-ho is a former bureaucrat and is good at politics. It’s evident he sent me a message and got rid of the nuisances at the same time.”

“Are these people the nuisances of Neo Seoul?”

“An Awakened is a double-edged sword. Those who listen well are a good sword, but those who don’t listen are possible threats. So, occasionally creating charades like this helps control their numbers.”

“What’s the message then?”

“Probably telling me to not even think about returning to Neo Seoul. Even though I have no intention of returning to that shithole. Haha!”

Dyoden found it amusing, laughing to himself.

It had been several decades since he left Neo Seoul.

During this time, he hadn’t set foot there once.

For those who lived in the former Republic of Korea and neighboring countries, it was like the last bastion and the strongest fortress that protected them from the monsters.

But it held no meaning for Dyoden.

Rather than growing old peacefully within a safe fortress, he would rather incinerate everything in the harsh desert, leaving no trace behind.

That was his journey.

“As long as you follow me, scenes like this will keep unfolding in front of you. If you become weak-hearted and start to shed tears and snot with an unsightly face, I will personally end you.”

“Who said I’d become weak-hearted? It’s just my first time, that’s all.”

“Even that sense of ‘first time’ shouldn’t be felt. That’s the only way for you to survive in this hellish world.”

“Alright.”

Zeon replied with a firm expression.

It was a piece of advice akin to a threat from a man who had lived in the desert for over a hundred years, turning flesh and blood.

Zeon, having engraved Dyoden’s words in his heart, cautiously asked.

“Leaving that aside, can I salvage?”

“What do you mean?”

Instead of answering, Zeon looked at the corpses of the Awakened.

They were Awakened mobilized to capture Dyoden.

Most of them were high-rank Awakened.

Hence, the items they possessed were likely valuable.

Dyoden chuckled.

“You’re like a damn hyena.”

“Isn’t everything valuable in the desert? You should salvage whatever you can.”

“Do as you please.”

“Thanks.”

Zeon soon began rummaging through the Awakeneds’ bodies in search of useful items.

He felt no shame in this act, having done far worse in the slums before.

For survival, scavenging corpses was an accepted norm for him.

After searching for a while, Zeon’s face twisted slightly.

‘You damn old man!’

Not only were there no bodies left in one piece, not even the protective equipment were left intact, all destroyed by Dyoden.

All he salvaged were a few weapons, some rations and water stored in the sand buggies, and a large backpack.

It seemed like they had hunted quite a few monsters on their way here.

The backpack was filled with Magic Stones extracted from these monsters.

Zeon stored everything in his subspace storage and asked.

“What about this vehicle? It still seems usable.”

“It’ll break down sooner or later. Leave it.”

The desert sands corroded machinery.

Though it might endure for a while, without maintenance, it would deteriorate and break down.

Disposing of it was a wiser choice.

“Let’s move then.”

The two of them resumed their journey.

A sandstorm blew where they left.

The desert sand soon buried the bodies and vehicles of the Awakened without leaving a trace.

***

Whoosh!

The fierce wind scattered sand around.

For a while now, the sandstorms had intensified, making it nearly impossible for an average person to even open their eyes.

Relentlessly blowing, the storms continued unabated.

Fortunately, both Zeon and Deio endured, since both of them were out of the ordinary. Others would’ve likely lost their way and perished by now.

Zeon found it odd.

Even though the desert is a place with an unpredictable climate, it was absolutely not a natural phenomenon for sandstorms to blow nonstop for days like this.

He asked Dyoden.

“Am I mistaken? The sandstorms seem to be getting stronger.”

“You’re not mistaken. They’ll only get stronger from here on.”

“Even more than now?”

“Yes.”

Dyoden’s response left Zeon feeling dumbfounded.

The sandstorm was so intense that even for someone Awakened as a Sand Mage like him, it was burdensome.

Dyoden said.

“The area we’re passing through used to be the sea.”

“The sea? You mean the place that’s larger than land, and full of salt water?”

“That’s right. Specifically, it was the Pacific Ocean.”

“The Pacific Ocean?”

The name was entirely new to Zeon, yet somehow, even from the word itself, he felt vastness.

“Do you believe it? That the ocean, which was over 10,000 meters deep at its deepest point and large enough to fit all the land in the world, evaporated and was filled with sand?”

Dyoden stooped and ran his hand through the sand.

The sand quickly slipped through his fingers.

His eyes brimmed with rage at the ungraspable sand.

He still vividly remembered the endless expanse of the blue sea, the seagulls flying above, and the powerful leaps of dolphins. The brilliance of that time, irretrievable.

Even though a century had passed, his memories remained vivid and had only intensified with time.

Thus, his anger and madness might have grown along with them.

Zeon silently observed Dyoden, consumed by rage.

It had been two months since he had killed all the Awakened who had attacked them.

They continued to walk east for two months.

But during this time, Dyoden hadn’t said a word about his past. Yet somehow, Zeon felt he could understand Dyoden.

For someone like Zeon, who was born after the world changed, adapting and living with the current situation was natural. But for someone with clear memories of the past like Dyoden the current world might seem like hell.

Hence, Zeon could somewhat comprehend his eccentricity and madness.

That was not to say he sympathized with him.

Dyoden was still that stubborn old man, and Zeon was learning and honing his skills day by day because of his eccentricity.

Then it happened.

Zeon’s senses caught a mysterious presence approaching them.

Brrr! Brrr! Brrr!

Vibrations were felt beneath their feet.

Zeon wordlessly gazed ahead.

Fifty meters, thirty meters, and ten meters…

Whatever it was, it had stealthily approached beneath the sand, reaching Zeon’s feet.

In an instant, Zeon muttered.

“Sand Mixer.”

Suddenly, the sands beneath his feet began rotating at a terrifying speed, swirling around like a mixer, centered around where Zeon stood.

Grrraah!

The rotating sands emitted a sound akin to gears grinding.

Kiiieeh!

Suddenly, a scream erupted from within the sand.

The hidden presence that had approached stealthily was trapped and torn apart within the swirling sands.

The hard shell was worn away, and the sand dug inside finely ground the flesh.

Feeling pain for the first time in its life,it struggled to escape. However, the whirlpool of sand created by Zeon was trapped and crushed it like an iron wall.

The sand beneath Zeon’s feet turned crimson.

It was the blood flowing from the creature trapped within the vortex, dyeing the desert red.

Dyoden silently watched the spectacle.

The monster being ground down under Zeon’s feet was the feared Sandworm, known for its ability to approach stealthily hidden within the sand.

This creature struck fear in everyone because of its ability to stealthily approach under the sand. Yet here it was, powerless and being ground down without putting up much of a fight.

‘What a deceitful ability.’

While following Dyoden, Zeon’s talents were starting to fully bloom.

Though still not at its full potential due to his low-rank, his skill application and adaptability were unrivaled.

Compared to Dyoden at the same age, Zeon was far stronger.

It was an unbelievable accomplishment.

Boom!

A loud sound erupted from within the sand.

Finally, the colossal body of the Sandworm burst open, meeting its horrific end.

Dyoden’s eyes gleamed.

‘At this rate, we can start soon.’