Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert

Chapter 109

All the women were slim like models. However, their combat prowess far exceeded that of ordinary Awakeneds.

Though they had been empty-handed, small bows had suddenly appeared in their hands.

They were specially crafted items.

They were compact enough to be folded and stored in a size barely larger than a child’s torso. The base and string, made from the bones and tendons of monsters, possessed tremendous elasticity.

The arrows were also made from monster bones, enhanced with magic to increase their piercing power.

Swish! Swish!

The women shot arrows at Zeon and Brielle.

Zeon and Brielle each dodged in different directions to avoid the arrows. However, the arrows changed trajectory as if they had a mind of their own, chasing after the two.

Zeon shot a fire missile to intercept the arrows.

Boom! Boom!

With a bang, the arrows exploded like fireworks.

Meanwhile, Brielle unleashed her magic.

“Haah! Barrier!”

With a burst of energy, a translucent barrier formed in front of her.

Thud Boom!

The arrows collided with the barrier and exploded.

“You seem to have quite some skill. But it won’t be enough to escape from the Blue Leaf Special Forces.”

A woman in a hood muttered in a cold voice.

The women they referred to as the Blue Leaf Special Forces were not ordinary people.

Not only were their senses several times more sensitive than ordinary humans but their physical abilities also surpassed the limits through special training.

They circled around Zeon and Brielle like vultures at frightening speeds, continuously shooting arrows.

Swish! Swish!

Zeon’s gaze turned cold.

He realized that the arrows were not just intended to inflict wounds on him and Brielle but were aimed to take their lives.

The power contained in the arrows was formidable indeed.

Therefore, Zeon had to exert more strength.

Fire missiles poured out ceaselessly.

Boom! Boom!

Arrows exploded like fireworks right in front of Zeon.

The woman in the hood muttered as she watched.

“Seems like a fire-type Awakened. It’s a waste of talent to be in the slums.”

She had already decided to kill Zeon and Brielle.

Levin and the man were important figures.

Levin was a rare type of Awakened, and the man was crucial evidence.

They couldn’t afford to let anything slip.

If other factions found out they were with them, they would surely attract attention.

The most surefire way to keep the secret was to eliminate witnesses.

The woman in the hood adhered to that principle.

She thought Zeon and Brielle would soon fall. However, the situation was unfolding differently from her expectations.

Zeon’s movements suddenly changed.

His movements, switching from defensive to offensive, were much faster and more powerful than those of the women.

Bang!

“Aaaah!”

With a strike, one of the women who had been shooting arrows flew backward.

It was because Zeon’s fist struck her abdomen with force.

The Inferno Gauntlet was an excellent item that could use flame magic, but it was also a powerful weapon in itself. And Zeon was exceptionally skilled in using it.

He had been trained rigorously by Dyoden.

Even without resorting to sand or flame magic skill, Zeon was strong.

After being tempered by Dyoden and wandering the world for seven years, undergoing harsh training.

His physical abilities were in no way inferior to those awakened as Martial Artists.

Boom!

“Arghh!”

Another woman flew backward with a huge explosion.

It was clear that her mind had been scattered by the whites in her eyes.

Zeon searched for another target.

“Die!”

Pew! Pew! Ping!

The woman targeted by Zeon continuously shot arrows.

It was an incredible speed.

Four arrows almost simultaneously reached Zeon’s head, chest, and abdomen. However, Zeon calmly deflected the arrows without showing any signs of panic.

With a metallic sound, the arrows bounced off the Inferno Gauntlet.

The woman’s eyes widened.

Zeon, who had deflected the arrows, was suddenly standing in front of her.

“No way…”

Thud!

At that moment, Zeon struck her head with his fist.

Fortunately, her head didn’t burst open, but blood spurted from her nose and mouth as she lost consciousness.

Zeon was ruthless.

Just because his opponent was a woman didn’t mean he would go easy on her.

One by one, they fell with a single blow.

The woman in the hood’s eyebrows trembled.

“He’s not a magic-type Awakened but a Martial Artist Awakened?”

Even then, Zeon’s prowess was incomprehensible in a rational sense.

His use of flame magic based on powerful physical abilities was a shocking sight to the woman in the hood.

Zeon quickly defeated all the Blue Leaf Special Forces.

“Ugh!”

“Ack!”

The Blue Leaf Special Forces, trained not to scream under any circumstances, groaned in pain as they lay on the ground.

Although it seemed like a simple punch, it contained a powerful flame energy.

Upon impact, the flame energy penetrated the bodies of the opponents.

As a result, the women struck by Zeon’s fists felt as if their entire bodies were burning in agony.

Burning alive was one of the greatest pains a human could experience.

No matter how rigorously trained, no one could endure the pain of burning.

Writhing in agony, the women’s hats were knocked off.

“As expected, they’re elves.”

Their exposed pointed ears were an unmistakable feature of elves.

Even mixed with other races through marriage, the internet traits of elves never disappeared.

Brielle wrinkled her nose.

“No wonder the smell felt familiar. But it’s mixed with a foul stench.”

Elves who had lived in the human world for a long time had a scent mixed with human odors.

It was a scent that elves disliked.

To a High Elf like Brielle, it was even more repulsive.

‘They must perceive me the same way. My body’s been ruined from making drugs.’

She could never return to her pure days again.

Brielle bit her lip and pulled her pointed hat lower.

At that moment, the leader woman removed her hood and spoke.

“I didn’t know there was a formidable Awakened in the slums. If I had known, I would have prepared better.”

“You mentioned the Blue Leaf Special Forces, right? You’re from the North District, correct?”

“Yes.”

The woman answered honestly.

At this point, denying it would have been ridiculous.

“My name is Borin Strabach. And you?”

“Zeon!”

“Yes, Zeon! As you suspected, I’m from the North District.”

“I thought so.”

“Then you understand what you’ve done wrong?”

“Is it the world that’s wrong? Or is it that elves have completely different ways of thinking from humans? Isn’t the fault on your side? You kidnapped Levin without permission and tried to take away a murderer.”

“We had to make choices for the sake of the world. I have no reason to feel guilty about it.”

“That’s convenient. Making excuses that what you did was for the world. Is that the survival strategy of elves mixed with humans? Maybe that’s why you couldn’t enter El Harun.”

“El Harun? What’s that?”

Borin asked with a puzzled expression.

Zeon frowned at her reaction.

‘She doesn’t even know about the city of the otherworldly species. Do the fallen elves not know? Or do only the ones at the top know while hiding the information from below?’

Which was the truth couldn’t be determined at the moment.

Zeon deliberately gave a blunt answer.

“Forget about it if you don’t know.”

“Ha! You really have a talent for making people angry.”

“You’re not even human, are you?”

“We’re just like humans… No, why am I saying this?”

“Because you’re scared.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s natural for people to become talkative when they’re scared.”

“Are you saying Borin is scared? Don’t be ridiculous. We elves never get scared.”

“Then why are you just talking instead of attacking? If I were you, I would have attacked already.”

Zeon’s words were decisive.

Ting!

Borin felt the thread of her rationality snapping.

When she came to her senses, she was already rushing toward Zeon.

As befitting the leader of the Special Forces, Borin possessed tremendous abilities.

She knew how to use wind-based skills, typical of elves’ agility.

A B-rank magic Awakened.

That was Borin’s identity.

“Wind Cutter!”

Muttering softly, Borin sent a Wind Cutter flying towards Zeon.

Whooosh!

The challenging aspect of wind-based skills was that they couldn’t be discerned with the naked eye.

Just as wind couldn’t be seen, neither could wind-based skills.

Rather than relying on sight and reacting, one had to move entirely based on their instincts.

That’s why Awakened with lower ranks or less combat experience found wind-based skills the most challenging to deal with.

But Zeon was different.

Even if they couldn’t be seen, even when deployed without a trace, Zeon could vividly sense them.

Fwoosh!

He deflected the Wind Cutter with the back of his hand, wearing the Inferno Gauntlet.

Gritting her teeth, Borin unleashed the next skill.

“Tornado Breath.”

Instantly, the wind spun at a terrifying speed and flew towards Zeon.

A devastating skill that destroyed everything swept away by its power.

It was the most powerful skill she could unleash.

Realizing that simple attacks wouldn’t be effective, she went all out.

Suasuasuah!

The Tornado Breath destroyed everything in its path as it approached Zeon.

Witnessing that, Brielle exclaimed in shock.

“Ah! Danger…”

In her eyes, she saw an illusion of Zeon being torn apart by the tornado. But it was just that—an illusion.

Where the Tornado Breath had passed through, Zeon was nowhere to be found.

Brielle widened her eyes.

“When did he get there?”

Zeon was standing behind Borin.

He had moved at a speed unnoticed by Borin and even Brielle.

Raising his hand, Zeon muttered.

“Fire Rain!”

Instantly, an enormous downpour of flames descended from the sky.

Like meteors, the fiery rain struck Borin with incredible speed.

Qua-qua-qua-qua-thud!

The rain of flames mercilessly struck Borin.

With no room to escape, Borin dared not even try and relied on her defensive skill, Wind Shield, for protection.

The rain of flames relentlessly battered the wind shield.

Under the repeated tremendous impacts, Borin bit her lips forcefully.

‘There’s a limit to mana, he won’t be able to use such an enormous skill for long.’

Skills with great power consumed a lot of mana.

Therefore, some skills, even if used only once, could cause an Awakened to collapse from mana exhaustion.

Borin thought that Zeon’s current skill would be the same. However, contrary to her expectations, the Fire Rain continued to pour without end.

Zzzt!

Ironically, it was Borin who ran out of mana first.

As the effectiveness of the Wind Shield weakened, she felt despair.

“No, this can’t be!”

At the moment when her scream echoed, the Wind Shield shattered into pieces.

What awaited her next was a torrent of hellish flames.

The flames battered her entire body like bullets.

“Ahh!”

With a scream of agony, Borin collapsed under the tremendous impact.

Only then did Zeon stop unleashing the Fire Rain.

Borin’s condition was surprisingly intact.

It was thanks to the overcoat she was wearing.

Though it looked like an ordinary coat, it was an item imbued with protective magic.

In a moment of crisis, the magic activated just once, saving Borin’s life.

“Huff!”

Although her life was barely saved, Borin was unable to move due to the tremendous impact.

Zeon knelt before the incapacitated Borin and met her gaze.

“Now, let’s have a conversation. It seems you’re finally ready for that now.”