Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert

Chapter 143

Damien looked down at the fallen mammoth with a bitter expression.

It was the only legacy left by his deceased father.

After his father died, the mammoth had been his companion for eight long years, sharing both joys and sorrows.

Thanks to the mammoth, Damien had been able to build the White Bear Caravan to its current state.

Without the mammoth, Damien wouldn’t be where he was today.

Now, his friend lay there, waiting for death.

Their eyes met.

In the mammoth’s large eyes, there was not a trace of resentment towards Damien.

“Thank you! Go on ahead and wait for me. I’ll join you soon.”

At that moment, the mammoth closed its eyes.

It took its final breath.

Damien swallowed his tears and looked around the battlefield.

The fortress had become a complete war zone.

In addition to the scavengers and Dongdaemun Awakeneds, unidentified Awakeneds had joined the fray.

Because of this, the White Bear Caravan’s Awakeneds were being pushed back.

If it weren’t for the fortress, filled with traps, items, and magic, they would have been annihilated already.

Boom!

A truck exploded, sweeping away nearby scavengers and Dongdaemun Awakeneds.

“Ugh!”

“Ah!”

Arms flew off, and legs were torn from bodies.

The Awakeneds caught in the explosion lay on the ground in gruesome states.

Those who died instantly were better off; those barely clinging to life could only gasp in agony.

Other scavengers and Awakeneds mercilessly trampled the fallen survivors.

The trampled ones couldn’t even scream before they died.

“There are valuable items on the fourth floor.”

“Damn it! We have to loot the fifth floor. They say the Crown of the Spirit King is there.”

“Move aside, bastards!”

The scavengers bypassed the devastated second floor and moved up to the third.

The White Bear Caravan’s Awakeneds were there, waiting.

Damien spoke to them.

“Activate the traps.”

“Got it!”

One of the White Bear Caravan’s Awakeneds responded and activated the traps.

Suddenly, countless arrows shot out from the walls.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

“Ahhh!”

“Ugh!”

Awakeneds, turned into human pincushions, screamed and fell.

They wore high-grade armor, strong enough to deflect most monster attacks, but it was useless against the arrows from the walls.

Damien muttered to himself.

“These are all items excavated from dungeons. Normal armor can’t withstand them.”

Most people only think of the core items when they think of dungeons.

They conquer the dungeon, take the items, and leave without a second thought. But Damien was different.

Many dungeons have traps.

Damien didn’t just disarm these traps; he took all their parts with him and installed them in the wagons.

He meticulously recycled everything.

At that moment, Alexandro approached Damien.

His body was covered in an enormous amount of blood.

He had killed many.

“Ha! It seems like all of Neo Seoul’s Awakeneds have gathered here. No matter how many I kill, they keep coming.”

“Why are you whining?”

“Whining? You should try fighting. Then you’ll understand.”

“This is just a small fraction of Neo Seoul’s Awakeneds. If the real forces come out, we’ll be wiped out in no time.”

“Yeah, I guess the Mayor’s a good example. If he really wanted to, we couldn’t even attempt this.”

“Yes. For some reason, he’s been ignoring us. Thanks to that, we have a chance.”

The chaos in the fortress had reached its peak.

Scavengers, Dongdaemun Awakeneds, and other unidentified groups were wreaking havoc.

If they were cooperating, no matter how many traps there were, the White Bear Caravan couldn’t hold out.

Fortunately, the attackers were also wary of each other.

This gave the White Bear Caravan a slim chance to survive.

Alexandro laughed.

“This is really intense. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a fight like this.”

“What about Jack?”

“Hehe! I’ve already sent him out. He was crying and fussing, so I kicked his ass to get him moving.”

“Good job.”

Damien smiled.

Jack was an Awakeneds with a subspace ability.

Not an item, but his Awakeneds ability was subspace.

His subspace was incredibly large.

It could hold all the items the White Bear Caravan had brought.

Actually, with Jack, they didn’t need to haul wagons around.

But they did it to protect Jack from being targeted.

Subspace items were rare, and Awakeneds with subspace abilities were even rarer.

Someone with a vast subspace like Jack was almost nonexistent.

Alexandro had stored all the Mana Stones they had collected in Jack’s subspace.

Alexandro was betting the future of the Yakutsk Colony on Jack.

Neo Seoul’s advancement was largely thanks to its Mana Stone mines.

The stable supply of Mana Stones allowed them to achieve such high-level civilization.

In contrast, the Yakutsk Colony struggled with Mana Stone supply.

Sometimes Mana Stones came from monsters, but the quantity was low and the quality varied.

However, they had many dungeons nearby, making items easier to find.

Some might argue that dungeon items are more valuable, but that’s only half true.

Good items could certainly enhance the abilities of Awakeneds, helping them protect residents better from monsters.

But you couldn’t rebuild civilization with items alone.

To rebuild like Neo Seoul, Mana Stones were essential.

That’s why Alexandro had come here with Damien.

Without the right items, they couldn’t have gathered so many Mana Stones in Neo Seoul.

Neo Seoul strategically managed its Mana Stone supply.

So, they had to offer items that would tempt their opponents.

Thanks to this, they acquired a vast amount of Mana Stones, enough to partially rebuild their civilization, though not to the level of Neo Seoul.

For that, Alexandro was willing to risk his life.

“You didn’t send just Jack, did you?”

“Of course not. As we discussed, I sent Ellen and his friends with him.”

Ellen was a navigator like Damien.

However, his abilities were far inferior to Damien’s. So, Damien had trained Ellen intensively on the way here.

He taught Ellen all his know-how and made him memorize the route.

Luckily, Ellen had an excellent memory and remembered the entire route to this place.

“I showed them a safe route, so as long as they don’t deviate, they’ll return to Yakutsk safely.”

“Hehe! They better. They’re our last hope.”

Alexandro grinned, looking like a giant bear about to feast.

Damien spoke to him.

“I’m sorry for dragging you into this…”

“I told you not to apologize. We’re brothers, aren’t we?”

“That’s a burden for me. There’s quite an age gap.”

“Hey! Age doesn’t matter. Why hurt an old man’s feelings?”

“Hehe! Alright, you big softie. Why so sensitive?”

“You keep drawing lines.”

“Who’s drawing lines? I just feel guilty.”

“You don’t need to feel guilty. Thanks to you, I’ve had experiences most people never will. That’s enough for me.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

At that moment,

Boom!

“Ugh!”

With an explosion, one of the White Bear Caravan’s Awakened, who was guarding the third floor, was sent flying, his body battered and bloody.

The person responsible for this was an Awakened as massive as Alexandro; the leader of the Dongdaemun berserkers, Brixton.

Following him, the Dongdaemun Awakeneds surged forward.

“We don’t need anything else. Secure the Crown of the Spirit King first.”

Their goal was also the Crown of the Spirit King.

Damien smirked.

“Do they even know what the Crown of the Spirit King is and still rush at it like that?”

The world wasn’t that beautiful.

Many hideous things lurked behind beautiful names.

The Crown of the Spirit King was one such thing.

But its power was undeniably real.

Thud!

“Ugh!”

Another White Bear Caravan Awakened was smashed by Brixton’s hammer and sent flying.

Brixton was unstoppable.

Like a massive beast, he rampaged through the White Bear Caravan’s Awakeneds, killing them indiscriminately.

Alexandro spoke.

“We can’t let this bastard loose. He’ll kill all my men.”

“Commander!”

“We need to hold on until the elves are lured out.”

Damien bit his lip instead of responding.

The situation was growing increasingly dire.

They were holding out with traps and items, but even those had limits.

If things continued this way, the White Bear Caravan would be annihilated in no time.

Just then, a group approached from a distance.

They wore robes and cloaks, hiding their faces and bodies.

The sight of them made Damien’s skin crawl.

‘Elves.’

They thought they had concealed their identities, but they couldn’t hide their slender frames.

One or two might go unnoticed, but it was impossible for hundreds to be so slim unless they were elves.

Damien spoke to Alexandro.

“The elves are coming. Hold them off for just three minutes.”

“Okay!”

Alexandro nodded and jumped down to the third floor.

“Ha-ha! Your opponent is me, you fanatic.”

He swung his massive gauntleted fist at Brixton.

“You bald bastard…”

Brixton swung his enormous hammer in response.

Clang!

The gauntlet and hammer collided, creating a massive shockwave.

“Ugh!”

“Damn it!”

The shockwave sent the following fanatics and other Awakeneds flying.

Both Brixton and Alexandro staggered from the impact of their powerful blows. But they quickly regained their balance and charged at each other again.

Boom!

It was like watching giant beasts battle.

Their immense fight intimidated other Awakeneds from intervening.

The fierce battle continued.

Thanks to Alexandro, Damien could catch his breath and watch the rapidly approaching elves.

“Hurry up! You bastards.”

As if responding to his taunt, the elves quickened their pace.

No matter how much they disguised themselves as humans, they couldn’t fool Damien.

He could recognize them at a glance because he hated them more than anyone.

“Intruders from another world. Parasites who’ve made a home in human territory. Come on. I’m waiting for you right here.”

Damien’s eyes were bloodshot.

For this day, he had lived fiercely for the past eight years.

He had never slept comfortably, constantly pushing himself as if each day were his last.

As if hearing his call, the elves rapidly closed the distance.

Damien’s crazed smile deepened.

At that moment, Damien saw a figure riding the sandstorm from afar.

Although he couldn’t make out the face from such a distance, Damien instantly recognized who it was.

“Brother!”

The only human he felt indebted to.

It was Zeon.

Damien apologized to Zeon.

“Sorry, brother! You shouldn’t be here. If you interfere, the plan I’ve drawn up will fall apart.”

The only one in this world who could control sand.

If he intervened, Damien would have to change his plans.

Damien didn’t want Zeon to get involved.

He muttered.

“Activate! Spectrum Prison.”

Suddenly, a massive magic circle appeared around the fortress.

Made of seven lights, the magic circle engulfed everything.

Including Zeon, the elves, and everyone fighting inside the fortress.