Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert-Chapter 324
[Translator - Peptobismol]
[Proofreader - Demon God]
Chapter 324
Thud, thud, thud, thud!
The ground trembled under the stampede of incoming beasts.
The vibrations were so intense that even the massive armored bus shook violently.
“My god!”
“There’s way too many of them!”
“This is unreal…”
The twin sisters and Old Man Go were left speechless as they watched the endless horde of beasts surge toward them like a tidal wave.
They had been on countless missions in Neo Seoul.
They had faced all kinds of crises and witnessed things that would make most people lose their minds.
But never before had they seen anything this overwhelming.
There were no colossal beasts among them.
Most were mid-sized or small-rank creatures—
Flame Wolves, Great-Horned Hyenas, and other pack-based monsters.
Individually, none of them were much of a threat.
Old Man Go could take them apart with a flick of his fingers.
But the problem was their sheer numbers.
Even the weakest beasts, when numbering in the thousands, could tear an ordinary Awakened to shreds in seconds.
And Flame Wolves and Great-Horned Hyenas weren’t just any beasts—
They were vicious, highly aggressive predators.
For a B-rank Awakened or lower, survival against a pack like this wasn’t guaranteed.
And what they were facing now far exceeded the typical scale of a beast horde.
Even Old Man Go and the twin sisters—battle-hardened as they were—had never encountered anything like this before.
Seo Tae-ran, in the other armored bus, was no exception.
“This is… incredible.”
Thud, thud, thud!
The impact of the charging beasts sent tremors through the metal floor beneath her.
As someone who had spent her life in the safety of Neo Seoul, she had never faced such a massive horde firsthand.
Seo Tae-ran was confident in her strength—
She had no doubt she could wipe out ordinary beasts with ease.
But this?
This was something else entirely.
For the first time, she truly felt the reality of being in the desert.
Still, she couldn’t afford to stay frozen in awe.
The horde was almost upon them.
Seo Tae-ran gave her orders.
“Take them down.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Her subordinates answered swiftly and leaped out of the bus.
They ran alongside the vehicle, striking down the approaching beasts.
Boom!
Crack!
With a series of explosive impacts, the leading monsters were sent flying.
But that alone wasn’t enough to halt the oncoming stampede.
The rest of the horde simply trampled over their fallen, pressing forward.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The beasts slammed into the armored bus with full force, shaking it as if an earthquake had struck.
Metal groaned under the relentless impact, denting and buckling under the assault.
If this continued, even the heavy-duty vehicle wouldn’t last.
Seo Tae-ran had no choice but to step in.
Chaah!
She vaulted out of the bus and drove her fist into the forehead of an Ironhide Rhino.
Crack!
The beast’s skull, supposedly harder than titanium, shattered like tofu.
It dropped dead without even a final cry.
But before its body hit the ground, other beasts lunged at Seo Tae-ran.
“Pathetic creatures…”
A glint of icy disdain flashed in her eyes.
Moving with near-impossible speed, she weaved between them.
Boom! Crash!
Each strike from her fists, knees, and feet exploded a beast’s head on impact.
Any monster ranked D-rank or lower was no match for her.
One by one, she cut down their numbers with precise, lethal efficiency.
But it wasn’t enough.
Compared to the massive horde, she had barely made a dent.
This was the limit of a martial Awakened.
Against single opponents or large-rank beasts, their overwhelming power was unmatched.
But against sheer numbers? Their efficiency dropped significantly.
The same applied to her subordinates.
They were killing the beasts systematically, but there were just too many of them.
‘This isn’t working.’
Seo Tae-ran’s gaze shifted toward Zeon’s armored bus.
A translucent barrier shimmered in front of it.
Old Man Go had cast a protective ward over the vehicle.
Thunk! Thud!
Beasts slammed into the barrier at full force—only to be repelled, bouncing away like rag dolls.
The bus remained untouched.
Inside that shielded space, the twin sisters unleashed their powers.
“Hiyah!”
“Mind Disruption!”
Their telepathic abilities distorted the minds of the beasts, throwing them into chaos.
Their attacks were akin to curses.
Affected monsters lost all sense of reason, turning on each other in a frenzy.
“…Impressive.”
Seo Tae-ran couldn’t help but be impressed.
Unlike her, who had to take down each beast individually, the twins could turn entire groups against themselves.
Even so, it still wasn’t enough.
They were doing slightly better than her, but the difference wasn’t significant.
Her gaze then shifted to the two figures standing atop Zeon’s bus.
Brielle was chanting with determination, her magic flowing into the battlefield.
Despite being an alchemist, she was skilled in basic magic.
In particular, she excelled at wind-based spells.
Her favorite? Wind Cutter.
Whoooosh!
Blades of wind whipped through the air, slicing through the approaching beasts.
Limbs, bodies, and heads were severed in an instant, sending blood spraying in every direction.
For a young girl’s magic, the power was terrifying.
Seo Tae-ran’s brow furrowed.
Brielle’s abilities were greater than her reports had suggested.
According to the secretary office’s intelligence, Brielle was estimated to be D-rank.
But the magic she was using now was far beyond that.
‘Did she rank up recently?’
Her gaze shifted behind Brielle, landing on Zeon.
Seo Tae-ran knew better than anyone how difficult it was to increase one’s Awakening rank.
She herself had pushed her body to the limits to reach her current level—
And even with all that effort, it wouldn’t have been possible without Jin Geum-ho’s backing.
He had ensured she followed the most optimal growth path.
Without guidance, ranking up was nearly impossible.
‘It’s him…
Her eyes narrowed at Zeon.
City Hall estimated his rank to be S-rank.
But rank alone didn’t explain his uniqueness.
There were other S-rank Awakened in Neo Seoul.
What made Zeon special was his Awakening rank.
The ability to control sand.
On an Earth that had become a wasteland, there was no one better suited for battle.
If someone like him took a disciple under his wing, their growth would be exponential.
It was then—
Zeon finally stepped forward.
‘So it begins.’
Seo Tae-ran already knew a lot about him.
She had read countless reports detailing his skills, their power, and their range.
But she had never seen them with her own eyes.
This was her chance.
Seeing was always better than reading.
With anticipation, she watched as Zeon moved.
And then—
Rumble!
The sands around them quivered ominously before suddenly flowing like a river.
It was Quick Sand.
One of Zeon’s signature skills—turning an entire area into a sinkhole.
Everywhere except the bus’s path became a deadly pit of shifting sands.
Kwaaah!
Grrr!
Kraaargh!
Beasts howled in panic.
Hundreds—no, thousands—were sinking.
The more they struggled, the faster they were swallowed.
B-rank and larger beasts might have had a chance, but the smaller ones had no way out.
Unlike Sand Mixer, this skill didn’t directly kill.
But against overwhelming numbers, it was the most efficient method.
The scale of the sinkhole was massive.
Thousands of beasts were caught in its grasp.
Some had already vanished beneath the surface.
With the path cleared, Zeon’s armored bus accelerated toward the expedition camp’s last known location.
Seo Tae-ran quickly shouted to her subordinates,
“Get back on the bus! We’re following them.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Her team leapt back inside, and their bus surged forward.
The bus carrying the others accelerated, quickly closing the gap with Zeon’s vehicle.
KROOOAR!
KHEUNG!
The howls of beasts echoed from every direction.
Brielle moved closer to Zeon, her voice low.
"Why aren’t you finishing them off? If you used Sand Mixer, you could wipe them all out."
Zeon glanced at her before replying.
"I need to conserve my mana. The real enemy is still ahead—no point wasting energy on small fry."
“…That makes sense.”
Brielle nodded in understanding.
These lesser beasts had only gathered because of the Kraken.
If they took down the Kraken, the rest would scatter on their own.
And that was the real problem.
The Kraken had entrenched itself in the mana stone mine, a place where Zeon’s sand-based attacks were ineffective.
Defeating it wouldn’t be as simple as dealing with these minor threats.
Zeon had to stay focused.
That was why he avoided using high-consumption skills like Sand Mixer on the lower-tier beasts.
Because of this, Seo Tae-ran had failed to gauge the full extent of his power.
She had yet to witness him unleash Sand Mixer or Sand Storm, two of his most devastating abilities.
But even without seeing those—One thing was certain.
‘He doesn’t just understand his own abilities—his situational awareness is downright terrifying. He never wastes energy on flashy attacks, only using exactly as much power as needed. Only the strongest members of Numbers have that level of discipline.’
A chill ran down Seo Tae-ran’s spine.
Zeon was far more dangerous than she had initially assumed.
She was glad she had decided to come in person.
Just witnessing his combat decisions firsthand had made this grueling journey worth it.
The armored bus plowed through the quicksand-trapped beasts, finally reaching the location where the expedition camp had once been.
The first to react were the twin sisters.
“What the hell!?”
“Are you serious!? They fell in there!?”
Their voices were filled with shock.
And understandably so.
Where the expedition camp had once stood, there was now a colossal chasm, its depths impossible to see.
It was massive—large enough to swallow all 3,400 people who had vanished.
It looked as if some titanic being had slammed a gigantic axe into the earth, splitting it open.
Zeon peered down into the abyss.
Far below, he could see a faint, glowing barrier.
It was preventing those who had fallen from escaping.
Standing beside him, Old Man Go immediately recognized its nature.
“This is definitely a barrier.”
“Can you break it?”
“It won’t be easy, it’ll take some time.”
“Then we need to hurry.”
“I was planning to start immediately. From this moment on, this is my battle. You all just stand back and watch.”
Closing his eyes, Old Man Go began to concentrate.
Zeon observed him for a moment, then turned to Seo Tae-ran.
“Protect him.”
“…And what about you?”
“I’m going to check out the Kraken.”
“You’re going to hunt it already?”
“No. Just a recon mission for now.”
“…Fine. We’ll wait.”
Seo Tae-ran nodded.
Without another word, Zeon turned toward the open-pit mana stone mine.
A vast desert landscape stretched before him.
Sssshhh…
As if sensing his presence, something massive stirred beneath the sand.
A silent, monstrous head emerged—its massive, inhuman eyes locked onto him.
[Translator - Peptobismol]
[Proofreader - Demon God]
