Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert

Chapter 147

“I knew it. You all look dignified on the outside, but inside, you’re nothing but ugly creatures.”

“Shut up!”

“Die!”

Enraged by Damien’s mockery, the Awakeneds from the North District attacked.

Swoosh!

Dozens of skills were launched at Damien, aiming to take his life.

As expected from the North District’s elite, each skill had tremendous power.

Even a slight touch would tear Damien’s fragile body apart in an instant.

Damien, being an Awakened himself, was well aware of this.

His awakening ability was that of a Navigator—a guide.

He had no combat abilities whatsoever.

While he could slightly alter his Navigator ability to disrupt his opponents’ sense of direction, it was impossible for him to kill anyone through brute force.

Knowing this, he didn’t even attempt a clumsy dodge.

Boom!

A barrage of skills bombarded Damien, raising a cloud of dust.

“That was nothing.”

“He’s dead, right?”

The North District’s Awakeneds were certain of Damien’s death when it happened.

Swoosh!

Suddenly, a black tentacle shot out from the dust, wrapping around the neck of a dwarf Awakened.

“Ugh! What the…?”

Crack!

Before the dwarf could finish his sentence, the tentacle snapped his neck. Seeing their comrade die instantly, the other Awakeneds let out startled cries.

“What the hell?”

“Everyone, be careful!”

Just then, Damien emerged from the dust.

His appearance was drastically different from before.

He was now clad in jet-black armor from head to toe.

The tentacle that had taken the dwarf’s life retracted into the chest of the armor.

Damien touched his chest and muttered.

“Prism Armor. An item I found in the same dungeon as the Crown of the Spirit King.”

Normally, it took the form of an ordinary belt, but when the wearer infused mana or was in danger, it transformed into armor.

The Prism Armor, acting like a living creature, protected its wearer with its own will.

The tentacle that had emerged was proof of this.

“You killed Yolo.”

“Everyone, be careful. He’s wearing some strange item.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Unable to contain their anger, a few Awakeneds attacked Damien again.

Most of them were Martial Art Awakeneds who wielded cold weapons like swords and knives. As they swiftly closed the distance and prepared to strike—

Swoosh!

Black tentacles suddenly shot out from Damien’s chest, wrapping around the attacking Awakeneds like whips.

“Ugh!”

“Just this…”

The Awakeneds tried to cut the tentacles wrapped around them with their weapons.

However, the tentacles from the Prism Armor didn’t even get a scratch.

The black tentacles tightened around the Awakeneds with terrifying strength.

“Ignore the tentacles and attack the main body!”

“Damned human, using such a cursed creature.”

The other Awakeneds, seeing their comrades ensnared, tried to attack Damien to save them.

They believed that if they could bring down Damien, everything would be resolved. But they soon realized how mistaken they were.

Forcibly so.

Swoosh!

Once again, a dozen tentacles shot out from the Prism Armor, targeting the Awakeneds like venomous snakes.

“Damn it!”

“Ugh!”

The Awakeneds tried to evade the tentacles, scattering like grasshoppers, but the tentacles, as if possessing a will, chased them down.

Boom!

The tentacles broke the sound barrier, causing sonic booms.

The aftermath was devastating.

“Ugh!”

“No!”

The Awakeneds fell like flies hit by a swatter, their bodies crushed in a gruesome manner.

“This… can’t be happening!”

Serian’s face paled.

The Awakeneds taken down by the tentacles were among the North District’s strongest. They had been killed in an instant without putting up a fight.

It was a disgrace the North District had never experienced.

Awakeneds were not immortal.

They could die or get injured in battle.

They could fall in fights against other districts, in battles with monsters, or while clearing dungeons.

Death was always closer than life for an Awakened. But the senseless deaths of their comrades in front of them were incomprehensible.

“What on earth is that armor…”

“My Queen! It’s a cursed armor. We must kill him immediately.”

Eli’s urgent voice, as she clashed with Alexandro, was heard.

Despite her irritation with Eli, this was no time for personal feelings.

Serian urgently spoke to the man standing behind her.

“Broy! Come forward.”

“I’ve been waiting, My Queen!”

The man stepped forward with a rough, resonant voice that soon revealed its cause.

As he threw off his robe, his body began to transform.

Crack! Crack!

With a series of splitting sounds, his body grew more than twice its size, and fur sprouted all over him.

His mouth elongated, revealing sharp fangs.

Erect ears like a dog’s and manic red eyes completed his transformation.

The man called Bory was a Werewolf.

Broy was known as one of the strongest beastmen loyal to Serian.

“Grrrrhhh!”

Broy let out a roar.

The distinctive howling of a werewolf had the power to dominate the opponent’s spirit.

It had a similar effect to the fear that only A-rank or higher monsters could invoke.

Broy focused his howling on Damien.

Any ordinary Awakened would find their entire body frozen and their spirit shaken. However, Damien remained unaffected.

The Prism Armor protected its wearer from external curses and various status effect attacks.

The trade-off was that it burned the wearer’s vitality and mana.

For this reason, Damien had refrained from wearing the Prism Armor until now.

It couldn’t be sustained for long because it consumed so much of his life force and mana.

But now that his desired scenario had been set, he had no reservations.

Damien glanced at Serian and spoke.

“You’re not leading these otherworldly races. You’re hiding behind them. The Queen of the otherworldly races, the last hope? How much longer will you continue to decorate and protect yourself with lies? From now on, I will tear apart the veil of your hypocrisy.”

Swoosh!

An ominous black light burst from his entire body.

It was the light emitted by the Prism Armor, burning his life force to produce it.

As his life force burned, Damien grew stronger.

Seeing this, Serian muttered.

“He has completely lost it.”

The deep-rooted hatred and anger directed at her by a single human made her fearful.

But she couldn’t back down.

If she succumbed to Damien, the lives of the otherworldly races in the North District would become miserable.

Even if she had to bear all the world’s curses and hatred alone, she had to protect them.

‘Above all, I cannot let that cursed creature be released into the world.’

Her gaze shifted to the warehouse behind Damien.

—

“To think they implemented a dungeon like this. It’s unbelievable.”

The old man muttered as he looked around.

He was standing in the Spectrum Prison, specifically within the violet prison.

Even for him, a barrier master, the prison was perfectly isolated from the outside world.

The Spectrum Prison was a type of barrier.

But even as a barrier master, he couldn’t set up such a massive barrier on his own.

It would have been impossible without the aid of an item.

“It must be the power of that Crown of the Spirit King, right?”

It was then.

“Shouldn’t we intervene now?”

A low voice came from behind him. When the old man turned around, he saw three men in black suits.

“Ha! You must have been feeling stifled in my shadow, huh?”

“Sorry.”

One of the men bowed his head in apology.

The old man smiled his characteristic smile and said.

“No, it’s fine! You’re human, so it’s natural to feel that way.”

The men hiding in the old man’s shadow were members of the Shadow Squad.

A special unit that took direct orders from the old man, much like the Execution Squad under the Mayor.,

Their main tasks were kidnapping, assassination, and surveillance.

They possessed the ability to hide within shadows. As long as there was a shadow, they could blend in perfectly with their surroundings, concealing their true form.

However, the old man was an exception.

He was a rare barrier master.

The barriers he created completely isolated external space. Thus, without his permission, the Shadow Squad couldn’t hide in his shadow.

It was possible only because the old man had allowed it.

Their mission was to find and kidnap the Navigator from the White Bear Caravan.

To do this, they hid near the caravan in the old man’s shadow.

However, when the Spectrum Prison was activated, they got trapped within the violet prison.

Despite this, they were not worried.

The old man was with them.

This type of dungeon or barrier was his specialty.

No Awakened in Neo Seoul could match him.

“Can you break it?”

“Tsk! I can break it. But it will take some time…”

The old man clicked his tongue.

As a barrier master, he was nearly unaffected by the Spectrum Prison. He had set up his own barrier to isolate himself from external influences.

However, breaking or escaping from a dungeon was another matter entirely.

While his abilities allowed for an escape, it would take time.

At that moment, one of the Shadow Squad men cautiously spoke.

“The Mayor ordered us to secure the Navigator at all costs. To do that…”

“Tsk! There’s no other choice.”

The old man clicked his tongue again.

Although he was a member of the notorious Execution Squad known as the Numbers, he was still just a subordinate of Jin Geum-ho.

Jin Geum-ho’s orders were absolute, and he had no choice but to follow, even if it meant diving into hell.

“I will forcibly open a gate in the dungeon. Prepare yourselves for the impact.”

“Yes!”

The men answered in unison.

The old man closed his eyes and began to gather mana.

To create an exit forcibly, he first needed to understand the structure and principles of the dungeon.

The most difficult part was resonating his mana with the dungeon’s mana to comprehend its structure, requiring intense concentration.

Buzz!

Just as his hand began to glow blue with a resonant hum, the violet prison suddenly trembled violently.

“What is this?”

The old man was startled.

“Could it be an earthquake?”

One of the Shadow Squad men suggested cautiously.

“An earthquake is impossible in a space isolated from reality.”

“Then what?”

“Something external must be affecting the dungeon.”

“What? There are no monsters around here. Could it be a human affecting the dungeon? That’s impossible…”

The man dismissed his own thoughts.

Dungeons were immense worlds in themselves.

To influence them would require unimaginable power.

Such an entity couldn’t exist.

At that moment—

Crack!

As if to refute his thoughts, the violet prison began to shatter like glass.

“Crazy!”

Crash!

An enormous amount of sand poured in through the cracks.

The old man’s eyes widened as he spotted a man standing upright amidst the surging sand.

“Ze…on?”