Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert

Chapter 140

The Scavengers were essentially marauders.

They survived by ambushing and killing others, taking their belongings.

Even a hundred years ago, when the side effects of terraforming turned the entire Earth into a desert and humanity faced the brink of extinction, the Scavengers existed.

Instead of fighting the monsters, they chose to kill their fellow humans to survive.

Thus, humanity had to fight not only the monsters but also the Scavengers.

After Neo Seoul established a firm system, the Scavengers lost their place and fled to the desert. People thought there were no more Scavengers in Neo Seoul.

Even if some remained, they believed it was a very small number.

But the sheer number of Scavengers attacking the White Bear Caravan’s fortress proved those people wrong.

At a glance, there were over three hundred of them.

“Hehehe!”

“Die!”

The Scavengers, who had been pretending to be normal people and Awakeneds in Neo Seoul, now unleashed their pent-up desires.

“You bastards, how dare you…”

“Block that side.”

“Send support over here.”

The Awakeneds of the White Bear Caravan fought without a hint of panic or fear.

The distance from the Yakutsk Colony to Neo Seoul was over a thousand kilometers.

No matter how well Damien guided them to avoid danger, they couldn’t avoid all monsters.

Among the enemies they faced were Scavengers.

Even in seemingly uninhabitable environments, the Scavengers survived.

The Awakeneds of the White Bear Caravan gained experience fighting them.

Naturally, they knew how to handle Scavengers.

One tactic was fighting from within the fortress.

They deliberately left only a narrow entrance open to lure the Scavengers in.

No matter how many Scavengers there were, only a limited number could pass through the narrow entrance at once.

“Aaaargh!”

“Ugh!”

The Scavengers screamed as they died.

“Shit! This isn’t working.”

“Let’s climb the walls.”

Eventually, some Scavengers decided to scale the fortress walls. But preparations had already been made for that.

Crackle!

Suddenly, sparks flew from the fortress’s outer walls.

High-voltage currents flowed along the walls.

The Scavengers climbing the walls like cockroaches were electrocuted and fell.

“Hehe! Where do you think you’re climbing, you rotten scavengers bastards?”

A bald man appeared on the fortress wall.

His name was Nathan.

He was an Awakened who used electric-type magic.

His rank wasn’t high—only D-rank.

But he could display such strong power because the fortress walls were made of special materials.

They conducted electricity well and amplified it several times. Thus, even with a D-rank Awakened sending currents, many Scavengers fell like flies.

“Hahaha! Come at me all you want. The White Bear Caravan will never fall.”

“That damn bastard…”

“Someone shut that guy up.”

Enraged by Nathan’s taunts, some Scavengers tried to climb the wall again.

“Idiots!”

Nathan prepared to cast his magic as they rushed at him like moths to a flame.

If he sent a current, the Scavengers clinging to the wall would fall again.

But Nathan couldn’t cast his electric magic.

Thud!

An arrow flew from somewhere and pierced his head.

“Ugh!”

Nathan looked in disbelief toward the direction the arrow came from.

It had penetrated the barrier atop the fortress.

He wanted to know how, but he didn’t get the chance.

Nathan staggered for a moment and then fell.

He was dead.

“A nobody acting all high and mighty…”

Someone scoffed at Nathan’s falling corpse.

It was the Awakened who had shot the arrow from a distance.

He was quite far from the fortress.

Around him was a group of people.

They were heavily armed with robes and masks to conceal their identities.

They looked similar to Scavengers but were different.

The largest man among them spoke to the archer.

“You’re only bragging because you managed to penetrate the barrier with buffs.”

“Do you always have to say it like that, boss?”

“Stop showing off and prepare for battle.”

“Yes, sir!”

The Awakened archer returned to his position.

At that moment, a slender woman stepped out from the group.

She spoke to the man addressed as boss.

“It’s about time we get ready to join the fight, Brixton.”

“I’m not Brixton now. I’m just another Scavenger. Don’t forget that, Sister.”

“Hmph! Don’t call me Sister.”

“If you had brainwashed them properly, we wouldn’t need this hassle.”

The woman, called Sister, was Kim Jae-kyung.

Kim Jae-kyung and Brixton had brought their subordinates to participate in the battle for the Crown of the Spirit King.

They had to ensure their identities remained hidden.

That’s why they were disguised as Scavengers.

After glaring at Brixton for a moment, Kim Jae-kyung turned back to the fortress.

The battle between the White Bear Caravan and the Scavengers was reaching its peak.

The entrance to the fortress was littered with corpses, and the defensive line seemed on the verge of collapsing.

Many Scavengers had died, but their spirit remained unbroken.

“Just a bit more effort.”

“Fuck! We’re almost through.”

The Scavengers shouted, desperate.

Watching closely, Brixton said.

“Alright, it looks like they’re almost through. Let’s join the fray now. We’ll sweep away both the Scavengers and the Caravan’s Awakeneds in one go.”

“Yes, sir!”

Brixton’s subordinates responded in unison.

But there was something strange about the look in their eyes, visible above their masks.

All of their eyes were bloodshot.

Kim Jae-kyung shook her head as she looked at them.

‘These crazy berserkers.’

They were literal berserkers.

They believed God was with them and would throw their lives away without hesitation.

Although Kim Jae-kyung was fanatically devoted to Johan, she still felt unnerved by the berserkers’ fanaticism.

“Let’s go! Finish this before anyone else intervenes and then get out of here.”

“Yes!”

Brixton and the berserkers charged towards the fortress.

“Crazy bastards!”

Kim Jae-kyung shook her head and followed them.

With the addition of Brixton and the berserkers, the battlefield became even more chaotic.

“Aaagh!”

“Who the hell are these guys?”

“Damn it! Kill them all.”

Screams and curses filled the air, and blood splattered everywhere.

The White Bear Caravan was turning into a land of death.

* * *

The news that the White Bear Caravan’s fortress was being attacked spread throughout the slums.

People gathered on the rooftops of tall buildings on the outskirts of the slums to watch the battle unfolding in the desert.

“What’s going on? A new group joined the fight.”

“It’s too far to see clearly.”

“Shit! We need binoculars for this.”

Ordinary people could only tell that a fight was happening but couldn’t see the details. They didn’t dare to get closer to the fortress.

They knew that approaching the fortress would mean instant death for them.

Watching from this distance was the best they could do.

Just then,

“Move, you bugs.”

“Clear these people out.”

A group arrived on the highest rooftop, forcing the slum dwellers to leave.

The slum dwellers quickly descended without daring to resist.

The leader of the group looked at the battlefield and muttered.

“They’re fighting well.”

The leader, dressed in a suit, had a rope coiled around his waist.

It was the Warden’s Shackles.

The leader was Cha Jin-cheol.

He was the right-hand man of Kim Hyun-soo, the tyrant of the West District, and had attended the auction as his representative.

Kim Hyun-soo had given him the Warden’s Shackles as a reward.

To purchase the Warden’s Shackles, he had used a whopping ten tons of Mana Stones.

Despite its immense value, Kim Hyun-soo had given the item to Cha Jin-cheol without any compensation.

Naturally, Cha Jin-cheol’s loyalty to Kim Hyun-soo deepened.

Cha Jin-cheol issued a command.

“We don’t have much time. Prepare to fire the railgun.”

“Yes, sir!”

His subordinates responded promptly and began assembling a long metal tube.

The tube, ten meters long, was the barrel of a railgun.

A railgun typically fired projectiles using powerful electromagnetic fields.

The problem was generating the immense power needed to fire it in this era.

The West District had replaced the power source with magic and Awakeneds.

They had enchanted the railgun’s barrel and generated the necessary power with Mechanized Awakeneds.

The railgun required so much power for each shot that it was ineffective against moving targets or monsters, which wouldn’t wait for the railgun to charge.

But it was different for an immobile fortress.

No matter how fortified or enchanted, the railgun could breach its thick walls in one shot.

As the railgun was set up, dozens of Awakeneds gathered around it.

“Charge it.”

“Charge!”

In response, the Mechanized Awakeneds placed their arms against the railgun’s barrel.

Whirr!

Their arms transformed with a mechanical sound, connecting to the railgun’s barrel like charging devices.

The Mechanized Awakeneds began supplying power to the railgun.

The railgun’s barrel emitted a resonant hum as it charged.

Given its enormous size, it took a long time to fully charge.

Finally, when the railgun was fully charged, the Mechanized Awakeneds detached from it.

“Ugh!”

“Huff!”

Their faces were pale from expending all their mana.

Thirty Awakeneds collapsed in exhaustion, but Cha Jin-cheol paid them no mind and gave the order.

“Fire.”

“Fire!”

The only standing Awakened fired the railgun.

Boom!

The projectile flew at incredible speed and obliterated a section of the fortress wall.

The sudden explosion caused both the Scavengers and the East District Awakeneds to pause.

None had expected the fortress wall to be breached so quickly.

But only for a moment, as they soon grasped the situation.

“The wall has fallen.”

“Damn bastards! You’re all dead.”

“Wipe them all out.”

With the massive barrier gone, the Scavengers and the East District Awakeneds flooded into the fortress like a tidal wave.

Alexandre’s face showed signs of panic.

“What did they hit us with? How did they destroy the wall so easily?”

“It’s okay. We anticipated this much.”

Damien remained calm.

No matter how well they had reinforced and enchanted the walls, he never expected them to hold forever.

Although the wall had fallen sooner than expected, it wasn’t a problem.

Damien muttered, looking towards Neo Seoul.

‘Come quickly, elves! The item you desire so desperately is right here.’