Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert

Chapter 19

As the world underwent transformation and monsters emerged, so did other races.

Although they appear somewhat similar to humans, they possess entirely different characteristics.

They were not an evolution or variation of the existing human race but an entirely new species.

Humans, perplexed by their sudden appearance, referred to them as a different race.

Some of these beings were said to reside within Neo Seoul. However, Zeon had never seen them.

Originally, there were quite a few of them, but a few decades ago, most of them were wiped out due to some incident.

The surviving few lived within Neo Seoul, but were strictly restricted from venture outside. Hence, Zeon, who had lived in the slums, was not given a chance to see them.

This encounter marked Zeon’s first direct sighting of a different race.

Among them, the pointed ears were a symbol of the elves.

At first, an elf that suddenly appeared in this world originally had fair skin. However, influenced by the environment of the current world, their skin had now turned a dark brown.

The four elves that appeared out of nowhere carried bows and arrows and had swords at their waists.

They climbed onto the rocks where Zeon and Dyoden were, noticing the two.

“It’s humans!”

“Good. Throw the humans to us as bait. It will distract them.”

“But how?”

“We’ll figure it out later, we just have to survive.”

Amidst conflicting opinions, the elves aimed their bows at Zeon and Dyoden, threatening them.

“Come down from the rock, human!”

“If you don’t want to die, descend on your own.”

“I’m sorry, human!”

“Move aside!”

Facing the elves’ threats, Zeon was left dumbfounded.

There’s a common perception that elves are a noble race. Their unique appearance and cold demeanor contribute to this image.

Zeon, too, had some fantasies about the elves, but they were completely shattered at this moment.

Then it happened.

Thud! Thud!

The heavy footsteps resonated.

Even from the sound of the footsteps, it was evident that the creature approaching was huge.

Anxious expressions appeared on the faces of the elves.

“He’s getting closer. Quickly, throw the humans as bait to lure him.”

“Dammit! He followed us all the way here.”

“Get down quickly, human!”

As the elves pulled the bowstrings taut, the bows curved like crescent moons.

Instead of responding, Zeon looked at Dyoden.

Ever since the elves appeared, Dyoden’s atmosphere had been unusual.

Even when attacked by the monsters or during the Scavenger’s assault, Dyoden remained indifferent. However, this time, a madness was evident in his eyes for the first time.

Unaware of this, the elves continued to threaten Dyoden.

In the tense atmosphere, Zeon swallowed his dry saliva.

One of the elves, unable to hold back any longer, released the bowstring.

Thwack!

An arrow was shot right in front of Dyoden. However, unlike what the elf expected, the arrow didn’t pierce through Dyoden’s head.

Suddenly, Dyoden’s large hand was gripping the arrow.

In disbelief, the elf who shot the arrow widened his eyes.

Pssh!

The arrow disintegrated into dust in Dyoden’s hand.

“What?”

“You elf bastards!”

Dyoden reached out, grabbing the elf’s face.

His large hand completely covered the elf’s face.

“Ugh!”

The elf struggled, trying to free himself from Dyoden’s grasp, but he couldn’t withstand Dyoden’s overwhelming strength.

Witnessing this scene, the other elves shouted.

“This guy!”

“Release that hand, human!”

At that moment.

Crack!

The head of the elf held in Dyoden’s hand was crushed like a cookie.

Blood and brain matter splattered.

The faces of the elves who tried to save their companions were also covered in blood and flesh.

The elves’ bodies froze at the horrifying event that happened in an instant.

Swish!

Dyoden retrieved Kreion from where he had placed it on the ground.

“You lot always behave this way, don’t you? You consider human lives as mere means for your survival. That’s why the world has come to this state.”

The darkness around him rippled caused by the madness he emanated.

“Ugh!”

“What?”

The elves, coming back to their senses, recoiled in fear.

They had never encountered anyone like Dyoden, emitting such overwhelming murderous aura and madness.

Then it happened.

Thud!

Accompanying the heavy footsteps, the creature that drove the elves to flee all the way here appeared.

From head to tail, this colossal creature measured over fifteen meters—it was a giant lizard.

It had two large horns on its head and a club-like tail tip adorned with numerous spikes.

With every movement, the black scales covering its entire body rustled with a ‘shhrr’ sound.

The elves feared this colossal lizard, calling it Megalania.

Megalania’s entire body was covered in a red force field.

In human terms, it was a Martial Artist Awakened.

This was proof of its immensely formidable physical prowess.

Its scales possessed incredible strength and resistance, rendering the elves’ primary weapons—bows and magic—useless against it.

Truly, Megalania was a natural enemy of the elves.

Therefore, whenever encountering Megalania, the elves opted to flee. But even escaping wasn’t easy. Megalania had an exceptional sense of smell, enabling it to track them to the very end.

The reason the elves fled toward the rock where Zeon and Dyoden rested was because of Megalania.

Sssssh!

From Megalania’s mouth, the distinctively long reptilian tongue extended.

Its vertically slit eyes, which had been torn open, fixated on the elves and humans atop the rock.

As far as the creature was concerned, there were now two more prey that had appeared.

Dyoden’s gaze turned toward Megalania.

“How dare an insignificant monster…”

He swung Kreion horizontally.

In that moment, Zeon felt a dizzying sensation, as if the world were splitting in half. The elves experienced the same sensation.

What they felt wasn’t an illusion.

Chahhak!

The fifteen-meter colossal lizard was split in two, collapsing onto the desert.

The scales with incredible strength, the blue energy field of a B-rank or higher monster—none of these held up against the might of Kreion.

“Good Lord!”

“Insane!”

The elves widened their eyes at the unbelievable sight.

Megalania was a B-rank monster.

A B-rank monster surpassed a B-rank Awakened human in strength.

There existed a hierarchy among life forms, and once a monster reached B-rank status, it usually exceeded the size of a residential building.

Therefore, hunting a B-rank monster required a team of B-rank Awakened humans or specialized hunting squads.

And Megalania was on par with any dungeon’s boss monsters.

Especially in terms of defense, Megalania was exceptional, even among the numerous creatures in the desert.

There was compatibility between each living creature, and for elves, they were the worst opponents.

It wasn’t for nothing that Megalania was known as the natural enemy of elves.

Seeing a monster like Megalania succumb to Dyoden’s sword in such an unreal manner was beyond belief.

‘Who on earth is this guy?’

One day, elves appeared on Earth as if they had fallen from the sky.

Originally, they lived in areas with lush vegetation. Elves were a race unable to survive outside the forests.

Hence, when exposed defenselessly to the desert environment, many elves perished. However, the surviving few eventually adapted to the desert and began to proliferate their race.

They referred to themselves as ‘Desert Elves.’

The Desert Elves held humans in low regard, regarding them as an inferior race.

The reason they tried to use Dyoden and Zeon as bait for Megalania was because of this. But the humans they unfortunately ran into possessed abilities beyond imagination.

Snap!

Dyoden grabbed the throat of the pensive elf.

“It seems there’s a village around here. Where is it?”

“Gr-grkk!”

Swooosh

Dyoden emitted an overwhelming murderous aura.

Zeon, who was nearby, was left dazed to the point where he couldn’t regain his senses. The condition of the elves, who faced Dyoden’s momentum head-on, was even more dire. Especially the elf Dyoden caught by the neck was bleeding profusely from all their holes.

Dyoden asked again.

“Where is it? Where’s your village?”

“Urgk! Wh-why do you ask?”

“Answer me. Uninvited guest!”

The elf caught by the throat kept their mouth shut.

They felt a hostile intent from Dyoden towards the elves emanating instinctively.

They instinctively felt that they shouldn’t reveal the village’s location.

Crack!

The elf’s neck snapped in an instant.

Dyoden broke it without a moment’s hesitation.

Tossing the dead elf aside, Dyoden turned to the remaining ones.

“Ugh!”

“De-devil!”

The elves, losing their comrades in an instant, collapsed to the ground, and urine started flowing.

Zeon, belatedly regaining his senses, attempted to stop Dyoden.

“Wait. Just hold on for a moment.”

“Shut your mouth, you idiot!”

“No, what are you doing? Why the elves…”

Zeon couldn’t finish his words.

Bang!

A thunderous explosion erupted as his body was sent flying backward.

Dyoden’s fist had struck him in the abdomen.

Zeon coughed up blood, writhing on the sand.

Ignoring Zeon’s plight, Dyoden approached the remaining elves.

“Where’s your village?”

“Ugh! There’s no way I would tell you…”

“We don’t know.”

They desperately shook their heads.

Dyoden gazed down at them with eyes ablaze with madness.

One of the elves, unable to resist his gaze, inadvertently averted their eyes.

At that moment, Dyoden grinned, baring his white teeth.

“There it is.”

His eyes were fixed precisely where the elf’s gaze had darted.

The elf hurriedly denied.

“N-No.”

Whoom!

Before the elf could finish, Dyoden swung Kreion.

“Kkuah!”

“Argh!”

The elves were split into two and perished.

Boom!

Dyoden, who killed all the elves in an instant, launched his body towards the direction where the village was presumed to be.

A sonic boom occurred as his speed broke the sound barrier.

“Ugh!”

Zeon barely regained his senses due to the sonic boom ringing his eardrums.

When he got up Dyoden was already far away, appearing as only a tiny dot in the distance.

“That old bastard…”

Zeon clasped his chest.

Yet, despite the bone-breaking sensation, his armor, made by Kailey, seemed to have protected him; at least, his bones didn’t feel broken.

Zeon knew Dyoden always carried a sense of madness, but he had never witnessed such an explosive display from him before.

“Why does he have such a grudge against these different races?”

It seemed evident that there was enmity involved to provoke such actions.

The bodies of the remaining elves were truly ghastly.

It was not only Zeon’s first time seeing elves but also his first time witnessing corpses of elves.

“Shit!”

His stomach churned.

He wasn’t used to seeing such corpses yet.

Suppressing his urge to curse, Zeon gazed in the direction Dyoden had vanished.

“Fucking old bastard.”

He set off using Sand Strides.

Crossing the desert in the middle of the night was a suicidal act, but now wasn’t the time to dwell on that.

Zeon tracked Dyoden.