Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert

Zeon woke up to the sound of knocking at the door early in the morning. When he opened it, he saw familiar faces from yesterday.

It was Yu Se-hee and Black Lion.

Yu Se-hee apologized with a slightly guilty expression.

“Sorry! Did I wake you too early?”

“No, it’s fine. What’s the matter?”

“I have something urgent to tell you. Can we come in?”

“Of course.”

Zeon stepped aside, letting Yu Se-hee and Black Lion into the house.

As she looked around the interior, Yu Se-hee remarked with admiration.

“So this is the fortress of the slums.”

“Fortress?”

“Yeah! That’s what they call your place here in the slums.”

“Why?”

“When Dongdaemun’s people tried to destroy it, they couldn’t get through. They brought in barrier specialists, magic users, and martial art Awakeneds, but they couldn’t even scratch it. Ever since Dongdaemun’s forces were humiliated and had to retreat, people have been calling your place a fortress.”

“That’s interesting.”

“Anyway, it’s an honor to see it. Could you tell me what kind of barrier you used?”

“It’s nothing special.”

Zeon shrugged, and Yu Se-hee wrinkled her nose.

“You’re not going to tell me, huh?”

“Think whatever you like. But I doubt you came all this way in the morning just to talk about that…”

“Oh! Right. My mind’s all over the place. You remember the man you subdued yesterday?”

“The one named Garion?”

“Yeah! He escaped.”

“What?”

“I’m sorry. He got away while the guards were off their guard. It’s my responsibility.”

Yu Se-hee bit her lip in frustration.

“He just escaped like that?”

“Well… Garion suddenly regained his senses, and the guards let their guard down.”

“What do you mean by ‘regained his senses’? Are you saying he wasn’t in his right mind when he attacked me?”

“It seems he was brainwashed. When you subdued him, the shock must have broken the control on his brain.”

“Hmm.”

Zeon crossed his arms.

It made sense.

Garion’s crazed eyes definitely hadn’t seemed natural.

More importantly, before becoming one of Dongdaemun’s fanatics, he had been an ordinary merchant. The fact that he had suddenly awakened with advanced regeneration powers after joining Dongdaemun suggested they had meddled with him somehow.

“Is it possible to artificially create Awakeneds?”

“If someone doesn’t have the talent, it’s impossible. But Garion probably had latent potential. It just hadn’t awakened yet, and Dongdaemun’s brainwashing triggered it.”

“That makes sense.”

Zeon nodded.

Before awakening, a person’s potential was unknown. There were many factors that could trigger an awakening.

Some people, like Zeon, awakened during life-threatening situations, while others did so in the midst of everyday life.

This is why it was widely believed that artificially awakening someone was nearly impossible.

Yu Se-hee continued, her expression grim.

“Garion… After being brainwashed by Dongdaemun, he apparently killed his entire family.”

“…”

“He believed that was the only way to reach the side of God. When the brainwashing wore off, he realized what he’d done and became completely despondent. That’s why the guards let their guard down.”

“Killed his entire family? With his own hands?”

“Yeah.”

“Ha! That’s insane.”

“I know! He said he doesn’t even know why he did it. He couldn’t think at all during that time. When he came to his senses, he found out he had killed his wife and children with his own hands. He doesn’t even know why he attacked you.”

“Haa! So I guess you don’t know where he is now?”

“I’m sorry!”

Yu Se-hee couldn’t meet Zeon’s gaze.

It was a situation where there was nothing she could say to justify it.

Meanwhile, a surge of anger bubbled up inside her—anger directed at Dongdaemun and Johan.

As messed up as the world had become, and even though humanity’s morals had hit rock bottom, what Johan and Dongdaemun were doing was crossing a line far beyond anything acceptable.

“In any case, Garion won’t be seeking revenge on you. He now knows that Johan is his true enemy, not you.”

“Things might get noisy around Dongdaemun soon.”

“Yeah, probably.”

Yu Se-hee sighed heavily.

* * *

A few days passed after Yu Se-hee left, and contrary to their concerns, there was no commotion from Dongdaemun.

Zeon put thoughts of Garion aside.

Something else had come up that was more important.

“What is wrong with this guy? Why hasn’t he contacted us?”

Brielle was fuming, her anger reaching its peak.

The reason for her anger was Levin.

It had been over two weeks since he entered Neo Seoul, but they hadn’t heard a word from him.

“No matter how busy he is, he could at least send a message, right?”

“Do you want to go to Neo Seoul and check on him?”

“Neo Seoul?”

Brielle’s eyes widened in surprise at Zeon’s suggestion.

Though she had lived here for a long time, Brielle had never set foot in Neo Seoul.

Even after gaining her freedom, she had never once felt the desire to visit the city.

The trauma she had suffered after being captured by humans and ending up here still lingered.

Though she had improved a lot since Zeon rescued her, the trauma hadn’t completely disappeared.

That’s why she had never even attempted to enter Neo Seoul.

“Neo Seoul is…”

“It’s nothing.”

“Huh?”

“It’s no different from the slums. The only difference is the buildings are bigger and flashier.”

“But the humans…”

“With your current abilities, you could chew up those humans who used to scare you.”

Brielle’s eyes wavered at Zeon’s words.

“Do you really think so?”

“You’ll know for sure once you go inside. So, what do you think?”

“Are you going to Neo Seoul too?”

“I thought I’d take this chance to check it out.”

“Then I’ll go too.”

Brielle mustered her courage.

Zeon looked at her with pride.

“Wait just a moment.”

Having made her decision, Brielle rushed into her room.

She quickly packed her things into her subspace cone hat—items she had crafted herself—and came back out.

Only Brielle knew what was inside that hat.

Zeon also packed light, placing his belongings in his subspace, and the two of them set off for Neo Seoul.

They were nearing the entrance to Neo Seoul when suddenly—

“Wow!”

“What is that?”

People on the street began exclaiming in awe.

Zeon and Brielle turned to look at what was drawing everyone’s attention.

A massive transport vehicle was coming down the road, and loaded onto it was a huge object that had caught everyone’s eye.

At first glance, it appeared to be just a giant rock.

However, it had arms and legs sticking out of it, much like a human’s.

The limbs were rudimentary, but it even had fingers and toes.

Zeon immediately recognized what it was.

“A… golem?”

A golem was an artificial lifeform created through magic.

Though it was unclear exactly how the giant rock moved like a human, golems were capable of walking and moving.

The main difference was that golems couldn’t think for themselves.

They only followed the commands they were given.

Brielle muttered under her breath.

“Looks like they cleared a dungeon.”

Golems made of rock were only found in dungeons. However, dungeons that produced golems of this size were rare.

Golems were highly valuable.

The golem’s core, the massive stone body, and the magical inscriptions etched into it were all subjects of research.

The golem being transported was over ten meters tall.

Golems of that size were extremely rare, and thus incredibly valuable.

That’s why they were using a special transport vehicle to move it with great care.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Heavy footsteps echoed.

They were coming from the Awakeneds guarding the transport vehicle.

The reason their footsteps were so heavy was that they were not ordinary humans.

Their limbs had been replaced with mechanical parts—they were Mechanized Awakeneds.

There was only one place in Neo Seoul that deployed a raiding party made up of Mechanized Awakeneds.

“They’re from the Western District.”

“They must have succeeded in clearing a golem dungeon.”

“Of course, it’s the Western District. Only they could capture such a massive golem. It’s got to be at least a B-rank, right?”

“B-rank? No way, that’s got to be A-rank. I’ve never seen an A-rank golem before.”

People couldn’t stop marveling at the sight of the golem loaded onto the transport vehicle.

Some onlookers had a gleam of greed in their eyes.

If it really was an A-rank golem, its value would be immeasurable.

The stone body would certainly contain rare minerals.

But the most valuable part of the golem was its core, the magical power source that enabled such a massive golem to move.

With a core that could power an A-rank golem, someone could change their entire life.

However, no one dared to think about stealing it.

Messing with that golem would make them enemies of the Western District.

And in Neo Seoul, there was no place for anyone who made an enemy of the Western District.

Knowing that, people kept their distance, simply observing from afar.

The Mechanized Awakeneds kept a sharp eye on their surroundings.

They were ready to attack at a moment’s notice if anyone approached without permission.

Leading the group was a man who stood out the most, walking at the front of the Mechanized Awakeneds.

He was much larger and more imposing than the others.

His name was Park Woo-sik.

He was the leader of the elite Mechanized Legion of the Western District.

Those who recognized him whispered among themselves.

“Park Woo-sik personally cleared the dungeon?”

“That’s why they were able to capture such a massive golem.”

Park Woo-sik, the leader of the Mechanized Legion, was one of the Western District’s strongest figures.

He had replaced all of his body with machinery, except for part of his brain and face.

In essence, he was a machine with only his brain and face transplanted onto it.

Park Woo-sik’s appearance was fearsome, fitting for the leader of the Mechanized Legion.

Zeon silently watched as Park Woo-sik and the Mechanized Legion disappeared into the entrance of Neo Seoul.

They passed through without any additional checks.

Only then did Brielle speak.

“Wow! That’s intense. How could anyone come up with the idea of attaching machines to a human body?”

“Yeah.”

“Compared to him, Cha Jin-cheol is nothing more than a child.”

“Now that you mention it, I’ve completely forgotten about Cha Jin-cheol.”

Zeon had no reason to care about him, as he had been turned to ash by the Grim Reaper.

Cha Jin-cheol had belonged to the Western District.

“That might cause problems with the Western District. After all, I’m the one who killed him.”

“Are you planning to go to the Western District?”

“I’m not going out of my way to go, but who knows? Depends on how things turn out.”

“True.”

Brielle nodded.

Unless you were a god, there was no way to predict what the future held.

“Let’s go in.”

“Okay!”

The two of them entered Neo Seoul.

An awakened guard stopped them, but thanks to the ID Jin Geum-ho had issued, they were able to pass through quickly.

As they entered Neo Seoul, Brielle’s eyes widened in shock.

Skyscrapers that seemed to pierce the sky.

Pristine streets without a speck of trash.

People dressed in sleek, sophisticated clothing.

It was a whole new world, completely different from the slums.

“This is Neo Seoul?”

Brielle’s jaw dropped in awe as she took in the overwhelming scene she had never imagined.

———