Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert

The sound of footsteps echoed above their heads.

Once the footsteps faded into the distance, Levin and Brielle let out a sigh of relief.

“They’re gone.”

“Wow! Putting up a barrier over the entire district? That’s insane!”

Brielle shook her head in disbelief.

Other districts have barriers too, but most of them are placed around critical facilities or buildings that must be protected. No one would spread a barrier over an entire district like this.

Not only does it require enormous amounts of money and manpower, but it also faces severe backlash from the residents.

When a barrier is activated, all entry and exit are completely blocked.

Naturally, this means the residents can’t move to other districts either.

It might be tolerable for a few people, but if all the residents were to rebel, even the rulers of the districts couldn’t ignore it.

That’s why such a crazy thing doesn’t happen in other districts.

Levin looked around and spoke.

“It’s only possible because they’re a group of fanatics. The residents of Dongdaemun follow Johan blindly. If he ordered them to die on the spot, they’d probably be glad to do so.”

“That’s completely insane.”

“That’s why they’re called fanatics.”

Squelch! Squelch!

Dirty water splashed under their feet as they walked.

They were in the sewers beneath Dongdaemun.

Just as they were about to leave Dongdaemun, the barrier was activated.

They narrowly missed escaping from Dongdaemun.

Then, all the residents of Dongdaemun began searching for them. The residents voluntarily became the eyes and ears of the Paladins.

Because of this, they couldn’t hide in any ordinary buildings or alleys.

No matter how formidable Levin’s abilities were, he couldn’t evade the eyes of everyone. That’s why they had come to the sewers.

The sewers, filled with all sorts of filth, were a place even fanatics would hesitate to enter.

Because of this, the Paladins hadn’t yet searched there. However, it was only a matter of time before they invaded this place too.

They had to escape Dongdaemun through the sewers before that happened.

The problem was that the sewers were a complex maze.

More intricate than most labyrinth-type dungeons, one wrong turn could trap them here forever.

While there was no barrier in the sewers, a greater obstacle awaited them.

It was easy to lose their sense of direction here, making it difficult to find the right way out.

Levin muttered with a perplexed expression.

“Is Sinchon this way? Or is it that way?”

“You idiot. It’s to the right.”

“How do you know?”

“Did you forget where I was held?”

“Ah!”

Levin let out a belated sigh.

Brielle, who had been captured by humans, had been forced to make drugs in the sewers. For years.

She was accustomed to the darkness and stench.

Naturally, she was better at finding her way around than Levin.

“Let’s go!”

Brielle took the lead.

As Levin followed her, he thought to himself.

‘She’s a tough little kid, isn’t she?’

A smile crept onto his face.

Despite the dire situation, he could smile because Brielle was with him.

She was arrogant, cold, and had every bad personality trait, but despite that, having her with him was reassuring.

As she walked ahead, Brielle muttered.

“Light!”

A small orb, the size of a fist, appeared.

It was the basic spell, Light.

Thanks to it, they could see clearly even in the dark sewers.

The sight of the sewers under the light was truly horrific. A thick sludge of unknown filth mixed together, forming a swamp-like consistency.

“Ugh! It would’ve been better not to see this.”

“What’s the big deal? The place I was in…”

“Wait!”

Suddenly, Levin raised his hand to stop Brielle from speaking.

Her curious expression quickly turned serious.

Splash! Splash!

They could hear the sound of water splashing from a distance.

They instantly recognized the source of the sound.

“Pursuers.”

“The Paladins have caught up.”

It was clear that the Paladins had tracked them down to the sewers.

As they had expected, the footsteps belonged to the Paladins.

Leading the Paladins was Victor.

‘Hiding in the sewers, huh? These guys are craftier than I thought.’

If not for Infinite Pursuit, they would have never known that Levin and Brielle had entered the sewers.

Their movements had been that unpredictable.

The sewers were a place no one wanted to enter.

Especially not the Paladins, who considered themselves noble. To them, this place, filled with filth, was like a living hell.

Yet, they had boldly entered the sewers.

If they didn’t recover the top-grade Mana Stone from Levin and Brielle, the very foundation of Dongdaemun would be shaken.

Victor shouted,

“They’re not far away.”

Even in the sewer, where all sorts of foul smells mingled, Infinite Pursuit emitted a clear scent.

As long as Infinite Pursuit was active, there was no way Levin and Brielle could escape their grasp.

Victor and the Paladins quickened their pace.

Their movements caused ripples in the filthy water.

The ripples reached Brielle.

“How are they tracking us so precisely through this maze of sewers?”

“What do you mean?”

“The Paladins must be using some sort of trick.”

“Like a tracking skill?”

“Wait a second… Search!”

Brielle quickly cast a simple spell to examine herself and Levin.

Her expression twisted as she saw the results.

“Just as I thought!”

“What is it?”

“A tracking skill is on us.”

“Seriously?”

“It’s a skill that leaves a scent only the caster can detect. They’re following us like hunting dogs.”

“What should we do?”

“Hold on.”

Brielle rummaged through her subspace pocket in her conical hat. After a moment, she pulled out a small potion bottle.

“Spray this on yourself! It’ll mask the scent for a while.”

“Got it.”

Levin sprayed the potion all over his body.

“It’s done.”

“Then let’s go.”

The two of them began to run through the sewers again.

There were numerous iron bars blocking their path in the sewers.

Each time they encountered one, Levin would phase through it using his ghosting ability.

The Paladins, on the other hand, smashed through the iron bars and charged forward.

Victor’s expression grew more urgent.

“Damn it! Their scent is fading. They’ve figured out we were tracking them. At this rate, we’ll lose them.”

His mind raced.

‘Their destination is Sinchon anyway. It might be better to track them from outside instead of blindly following them down here.’

Having made his decision, he shouted to the Paladins,

“Everyone, get out of here.”

“Yes, sir!”

They immediately opened a manhole cover and jumped out.

The place where the Paladins emerged was Sinchon.

In their frantic pursuit through the sewers, they had crossed over into Sinchon.

Victor gave the order.

“Mobilize all the Paladins in Sinchon to block Zeon’s house and the Goblin Market.”

There were only two safe places in Sinchon.

The Goblin Market, which was almost like an extraterritorial zone, and Zeon’s house.

The Goblin Market was tied to the interests of many factions, so even Dongdaemun hadn’t been able to fully control it.

The other place was Zeon’s house.

The Paladins of Dongdaemun had repeatedly tried to break into Zeon’s house, but the barrier created by the Watching Eye couldn’t be broken by any means.

Neither the walls nor the windows could be destroyed.

Zeon’s house was a perfect fortress.

Eventually, the Paladins had given up trying to enter and settled for keeping watch over it.

Victor moved toward the Goblin Market.

He was trusting his instincts.

Victor’s gamble paid off.

As they reached the Goblin Market, Levin and Brielle were phasing through a manhole cover, trying to escape.

“Got them.”

Victor immediately slashed his sword at Levin and Brielle.

Swoosh!

Fortunately, they were still in their ghostly form, so they weren’t harmed, but they felt a chill run down their spines.

They thought they had completely shaken off their pursuers, but they had been caught right in front of their destination.

Levin sighed.

“Ha! Damn it. We’ve been caught by a persistent hunting dog. I didn’t think they’d pursue us so relentlessly.”

“Where is the top-grade Mana Stone?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Denying it won’t help. You must have it in some kind of subspace item.”

By now, the Paladins had surrounded Levin and Brielle.

They encircled them tightly, leaving no gaps, and drew their weapons.

Maces, swords, and flails radiated a holy light.

The Paladins had activated their unique skill, Holy Weapon.

No matter how invulnerable Levin was in his ghostly form, he couldn’t nullify attacks imbued with divine protection.

Levin sighed and said,

“It looks like we’ll have to risk our lives.”

“Let’s hold out as long as we can. The Goblin Market should realize by now that we’ve arrived, so they’ll definitely act.”

“They better.”

Just then—

“Die!”

“Unbelievers, receive the hammer of God!”

The Paladins attacked in unison.

In response, Levin unleashed his Purple Lightning, and Brielle used every spell she could.

Flash! Boom!

Lightning and holy light clashed, devastating the area.

The sudden battle drew the attention of the Goblin Market merchants, who rushed out.

“What’s going on?”

“It’s the Paladins.”

The merchants’ expressions darkened when they saw the Paladins.

None of the merchants in the Goblin Market had a good opinion of the Paladins from Dongdaemun.

Yoo Se-hee, who came out late, bit her lip.

She recognized the people fighting the Paladins.

‘Levin and Brielle!’

She wanted to mobilize the full force of the Goblin Market to save them, even now. But if they got involved in this fight, it would mean an all-out war with Dongdaemun.

Once they clashed with Dongdaemun’s fanatics, there would be no end to the fight.

If it were just Yoo Se-hee herself, she might not hesitate, but as the leader of the Goblin Market, she had to be cautious.

While Yoo Se-hee hesitated, the battle between Levin, Brielle, and the Paladins grew more intense.

Suddenly, Victor shifted his focus.

His new target was Brielle, who was fighting other Paladins.

In that instant, he had judged her to be the weak link.

Unlike Levin, Brielle’s combat abilities weren’t exceptional.

Since her primary awakened ability was alchemy, her magic was just a secondary skill.

Naturally, her attack spells weren’t particularly powerful.

It was better to take down the weaker Brielle and distract Levin rather than waste energy trying to take down Levin directly.

Swoosh!

Victor’s sword aimed for Brielle’s neck.

The sudden attack left Brielle with no time to react.

“No! Brielle!”

Levin, shocked, tried to save her, but he couldn’t move faster than Victor’s sword.

In an instant, Victor’s sword reached Brielle’s neck.

‘So, this is how I die.’

Brielle thought as she squeezed her eyes shut.

Thud!

A dull sound echoed as Victor’s sword was blocked by something.

Cautiously opening her eyes, Brielle saw a yellow sand wall in front of her. Victor’s sword was stuck in the wall, unable to move.

A smile appeared on Brielle’s face.

“Zeon!”

There was only one person in this world who could control sand—Zeon.

Looking up, she saw Zeon standing on a pillar of sand.

Zeon, who had left Neo Seoul, had returned to Sinchon.

Victor and the Paladins, shocked, looked up at Zeon.

“Zeon?”

“The Sand Mage.”

Zeon’s cold gaze bore down on Victor and the Paladins.

At that moment, a sandstorm blew in.

The sand that had settled on the streets, and the sand that had been carried by the wind, responded to Zeon’s will and enveloped Victor and the Paladins.

Zeon commanded.

“Sand Mixer.”

Gaaaang!

———