Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert

Chapter 63

The bloodthirsty roar of the Alpha Fire Wolf shook the minds of the Awakeneds.

“Arghh!”

“Shit!”

The Awakeneds momentarily lost their balance and staggered.

In contrast, the Fire Wolves, fueled with courage and strength by their leader, attacked even more fiercely.

The already unfavorable situation rapidly deteriorated further.

“Damn it! These bastards….”

Eloy spat curses, sweeping back her lush blonde hair.

The crimson blood flowed down the Mad Gumiho.

She didn’t know how many Fire Wolves she had killed.

Driven by madness, she killed and killed again.

Yet the Fire Wolves did not diminish.

When one fell, another filled its place, fearlessly rushing forward.

“Kraaargh!”

One of the struggling Awakeneds fell prey to the Fire Wolves.

Dozens of Fire Wolves gathered around the fallen Awakened.

In an instant, the Awakened became prey to the Fire Wolves and disappeared from the world. Yet even that wasn’t enough to satisfy them as the Fire Wolves continued their onslaught.

“Sweep them all away.”

Eloy hurled the Mad Gumiho into the air.

In the air, nine spears split into nine pieces in an instant.

With a gesture from Eloy, the nine spears rose high into the air.

From the mana connecting the nine spears, an incredibly intense light burst forth.

“Nine Spear Strike.”

Eloy unleashed her most powerful skill available.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The rain of spears struck the Fire Wolves rushing the armored bus.

In an instant, hundreds of Fire Wolves were swept away.

“Haah! Haah!”

Eloy gasped for breath as she retrieved the Mad Gumiho.

The power was immense, but the mana consumption was also tremendous.

Her mana was on the verge of depletion. Yet she couldn’t afford to rest.

Kwaaaah!

Countless Fire Wolves filled the gaps and rushed forward again.

Despite killing hundreds, it seemed insignificant.

“Damn it! There’s no end even if we kill them all. Where are all these monsters coming from?”

She knew the reason.

It was the Alpha.

When a group of monsters had a leader, their numbers swelled, and their cohesion increased.

Forming a large army was instantaneous.

Unless they killed the Alpha, the Fire Wolves would continue to multiply endlessly.

They had to kill it.

The problem was that killing it was nearly impossible.

The Alpha Fire Wolf merely watched from afar, never participating in the hunt.

As if it were too good to play.

“I have to kill that son of a bitch.”

Eloy gritted her teeth.

But even defending the armored bus was challenging, let alone attempting to kill it.

That’s when it happened.

Whoooosh!

Suddenly, a strong wind was felt from behind.

Turning around, she saw a sandstorm approaching.

Thick sand obscured her vision completely.

Eloy shouted at the driver without another thought.

“Drive the car into the sandstorm!”

Whether the driver heard her or not, the bus was driven in the direction from which the sand was blowing.

The massive armored bus disappeared into the sand in no time. However, the Fire Wolves persisted, albeit in significantly reduced numbers.

As Eloy wielded the Mad Gumiho, she muttered.

“Looks like the heavens haven’t entirely forsaken us yet.”

* * *

Zeon glanced back.

The bus was no longer visible, obscured by the thick sandstorm.

The sandstorm he called forth had arrived.

The Fire Wolves, engulfed in the swirling sand, seemed disoriented.

With this, Eloy and the Awakeneds should be able to hold out for a while.

Now, the problem needed to be solved.

Zeon stepped forward with Sand Strides.

Shoosh!

As if skiing, Zeon’s body glided over the sand.

Kraaah!

The Fire Wolves that noticed rushed towards him.

At that moment, dozens of sand tendrils rose beneath Zeon’s feet.

Like vines climbing a wall, the sand tendrils shot towards the Fire Wolves.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

The Fire Wolves were impaled by the sand tendrils before they could even scream.

Zeon didn’t stop for a moment.

Before the hundreds of Fire Wolves could approach him, they were already losing their lives to the sand tendrils.

Zeon arrived in front of the Alpha Fire Wolf in an instant.

Grrr!

The Alpha Fire Wolf growled at Zeon, its eyes gleaming with a fiery light.

It sensed the danger Zeon posed, instinctively recognizing him as a threat.

Zeon looked at the Alpha Fire Wolf and said.

“You’re about B-rank. With a little more time, reaching A-rank wouldn’t have been a problem.”

Just like Awakened human’s ranks increase, monsters also become stronger with time and experience.

The Alpha Fire Wolf before Zeon was still a young wolf in its youth.

That meant its growth rate was fast.

If left unchecked, it would soon reach A-rank.

Leaving it be would undoubtedly lead to disaster.

Kraaah!

The Alpha roared, unleashing its fire.

It aimed to blast Zeon away. However, its fire had no effect on Zeon.

Zeon frowned and said,

“Spitting is rude. Filthy….”

Indeed, the Fire Wolf’s saliva sprayed on Zeon’s chest.

Fire Wolf saliva contained toxins and corrosive elements, capable of melting and tearing apart most defenses in an instant. But Zeon’s robe showed no trace of damage.

Zeon wore a robe made of Leviathan hide.

It was a far superior and stronger monster than the Alpha Fire Wolf.

Of course, the Fire Wolf’s saliva couldn’t inflict any damage.

At that moment, sensing the Alpha’s peril, the Fire Wolves rushed madly.

Their sole objective was clear: to protect their Alpha, even at the cost of their lives.

But Zeon had no intention of fulfilling their wish.

“Summon! Sand Soldiers.”

In an instant, sand rose around Zeon, swiftly taking the shape of human forms.

They were Sand Soldiers.

The number of Sand Soldiers created in this manner reached hundreds.

“Block them!”

At Zeon’s command, the Sand Soldiers moved without fear or hesitation.

Willingly, they threw themselves into the jaws of the Fire Wolves.

They fought, they killed, and they died.

Sand Soldiers crumbled like sandcastles upon receiving significant blows.

Yet Zeon was unconcerned.

As long as he had mana and sand, he could summon Sand Soldiers indefinitely.

Sand was inexhaustible, and Zeon’s mana was abundant.

Maintaining the Sand Soldiers posed no problem.

While the Sand Soldiers held off the Fire Wolves, Zeon approached the Alpha.

Kwooooh!

Fires erupted from the Alpha’s mouth and tail.

As the Alpha Fire Wolf opened its mouth, an intense blast of heat engulfed Zeon.

“Sorry, but this won’t even scratch me.”

Zeon raised his right arm, and a flash of red light emanated from the gauntlet.

It was the *Inferno Gauntlet, embedded with the eye of a Red Dragon.

[*”Gauntlet of Scorching Heat” will be changed to “Inferno Gauntlet”]

It could be considered the pinnacle of the fire attribute.

Naturally, no fire skill would be effective in front of the Inferno Gauntlet.

In the end, all that remained for the Alpha Fire Wolf was a direct melee assault.

With overwhelming size, immense mass, sharp fangs, and claws, it charged at Zeon.

Despite its imposing presence, Zeon’s expression remained unchanged.

Just as the Alpha Fire Wolf’s fangs were about to pierce Zeon’s body, a sand barrier appeared in front of him.

In an instant, the sand engulfed the Alpha Fire Wolf.

Zeon muttered,

“Sand Mixer.”

Graaah!

Fine sand particles began to rotate at incredible speed.

Like a blender, the sand particles ground the Alpha Fire Wolf to shred.

The Fire Wolf struggled in agony, trying to escape the sand’s rapid rotation. However, no matter how hard it tried, escaping the high-speed rotation of the sand was impossible.

Fur was torn away, flesh was ripped apart.

The sand penetrated, crushed, and disintegrated flesh.

Amidst the immense pain, the Alpha screamed, but even its screams were drowned out by the sand’s deafening noise.

Graaah!

Blood sprayed, flesh splattered.

The rapidly rotating sand particles quickly turned red. Yet the sand didn’t stop.

Awoooh!

Grrrr! Grrrr!

The Fire Wolves, previously engaged with the Sand Soldiers, suddenly whimpered and howled.

They had sensed their leader’s demise first.

With their dominant leader gone, the Fire Wolves scattered in all directions.

Only now did Zeon release the Sand Soldiers and Sand Mixer.

Thud!

In the place where the Alpha Fire Wolf stood, a single crimson Mana Stone fell.

Only the essence of the Alpha, the Mana Stone, remained, while bones, flesh, and all else disappeared.

Though Zeon had swiftly defeated a B-rank monster, there was no particular gleam in his eyes.

The path he had walked was too harsh for him to be excited or pleased by this.

The Alpha Fire Wolf was not even considered a threat.

Picking up the Mana Stone of the Alpha Fire Wolf, Zeon murmured,

“This should fetch a decent price.”

Until now, he hadn’t needed money.

There was no use for money in the desert.

Except for Neo Seoul, colonies didn’t have the luxury to develop civilization beyond mere survival.

They used Mana Stones or barter instead of money for transactions. Hence, there was no need to convert Mana Stones into currency. But Neo Seoul was different.

Over ten million people gathered there, and including those in the slums, the population was close to twenty million.

With so many humans living in such a cramped space, money became the only means of transaction.

The better the quality of the Mana Stone, the higher its value.

Especially, Mana Stones obtained by killing Alpha monsters like this one were in high demand. Those mined from Mana Stone Mines were qualitatively different in terms of energy they provided.

Zeon stored the Mana Stone in his subspace.

The once-filled area with Fire Wolves had now dissipated and was nowhere to be seen.

Until an Alpha reappeared, they would live scattered in small groups.

“Shall we return?”

Now that the objective was achieved, he needed to return to the armored bus.

Zeon unleashed his Sand Strides and caught up with the armored bus in an instant.

The bus was still engulfed in the sandstorm and completely unaware of the outside situation.

However, they seemed to sense that the Fire Wolf attacks were gradually subsiding.

Zeon casually entered the armored bus and dispelled the sandstorm.

As the sand that obscured their vision disappeared, Eloy and the Awakeneds, including miners, realized the situation.

“What’s going on?”

“The wolf pups all ran away, didn’t they?”

“We’re alive. We survived.”

The Awakeneds and the miners hugged each other in joy. However, Eloy couldn’t feel pure joy like them.

She knew that the current situation was anything but natural.

Eloy glanced at Zeon, who was sitting with his arms crossed.

A whiff of blood wafted from him.

As a half-elf, her keen sense of smell couldn’t be deceived.

‘That bastard must have done something.’

Without that, the current situation didn’t make any sense.

The problem was that she couldn’t know what Zeon really did.

‘What on earth is his identity? That damn bastard…’