Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert

The battle between the Awakeneds and the undead was fierce.

They destroyed and killed, only for the undead to revive again and again.

“Where the hell is the core?”

“Damn it!”

Even the Awakeneds began to suffer casualties.

Especially the front-line Martial Arts Awakeneds took heavy losses.

When the defensive line of the Martial Arts Awakeneds broke, the undead poured in.

“You cursed things dare…”

Eloy swung her spear, sweeping away the undead. But even her strength couldn’t hold them all back.

The undead broke through her defense and approached Levin and Brielle.

Seeing the sudden shift in the battle, Levin shielded Brielle.

“Tch! Stay behind me, it’s dangerous.”

“I said I can protect myself.”

Brielle retorted, pulling a glass vial from her pointed hat.

The vial contained a clear liquid.

She poured a bit into her hand and whispered.

“Blow, gentle breeze.”

Immediately, a breeze rose, scattering the liquid.

Hisss!

The undead touched by the liquid melted away with horrid screams.

Levin asked, astonished.

“What is that liquid?”

“Holy water!”

“Holy water?”

“Yes!”

“Do they sell holy water at the Goblin Market?”

“No, I got it from Dongdaemun.”

“Dongdaemun? The fanatics’ territory?”

“Well, they do worship a god.”

Holy water was water blessed by a god.

The type of god didn’t matter.

In Dongdaemun, holy water was sold at a high price, though not many bought it.

Brielle had bought some just in case and stored it in the subspace within her pointed hat. However, she didn’t have much of it.

“It works on the undead, so it’s definitely holy water.”

“Even fanatics have their uses, huh?”

“But there isn’t a lot. It’s not nearly enough.”

“If I had known, I’d have bought some too.”

Levin gritted his teeth.

He couldn’t leave the undead to Brielle alone.

The undead kept coming, and it was no longer time to rely solely on the Pegasus Awakeneds.

“I have no choice.”

With a sigh, his body turned ghostly.

He had activated his ghost form.

Few had seen his ability until now.

This was the first time he revealed it in public.

He knew it would draw attention, but he had no other option.

To protect himself and Brielle, he had to use his awakened ability.

Some of the Awakeneds saw Levin’s ghostly transformation.

“What’s that?”

“He turned into a specter. Is that even possible?”

“A new type of Awakened?”

Crackle!

Suddenly, purple lightning crackled around ghostly Levin.

It was his unique ability, Purple Lightning.

Purple Lightning spread through the surrounding undead.

Boom! Boom!

The undead exploded from the Purple Lightning.

Those that exploded did not revive.

The core had been destroyed.

Seeing this, the magic Awakeneds shouted.

“Use lightning magic!”

“Electric-type Awakeneds, attack!”

The electric-type Awakeneds stepped forward and cast their spells.

Crack!

Lightning flashed everywhere, felling the undead.

Some were permanently destroyed, but most revived, regaining their original forms.

Though both used lightning, Levin’s Purple Lightning was much stronger.

His lightning reached deep within the undead to destroy the core, while the other Awakeneds’ lightning was not as powerful. Thus, the undead revived.

Seeing this, Lee Ji-ryeong stepped forward.

“No choice. I wanted to save my strength for the master of the fortress, but…”

He had held back to face the master of the fortress with full power, but he couldn’t watch more comrades fall.

Thankfully, he had learned from Levin how to deal with the undead.

Crackle!

Sparks flew from Lee Ji-ryeong’s body.

This happened when he used his full power.

Gesling shouted loudly.

“Everyone, fall back! The Captain is going all out.”

As soon as he spoke, the Awakeneds fighting the undead retreated.

Some Mechanized Awakeneds hesitated, confused. The Pegasus Raid Force members grabbed them.

“Follow us if you don’t want to die.”

“The Captain’s lightning doesn’t discriminate.”

Hearing this, the Mechanized Awakeneds quickly retreated.

As the Awakeneds pulled back, Lee Ji-ryeong floated into the air.

At that moment, a blindingly bright and powerful lightning bolt erupted.

Flash!

A massive lightning bolt pierced the sky and ground.

Thick branches of lightning shot out from the main bolt, spreading out.

It was Lee Ji-ryeong’s signature skill, Giga Lightning.

Crack! Crack!

The lightning radiated in a circle from Lee Ji-ryeong, turning the world white.

After a moment, the world returned to its original color.

Levin stared at Lee Ji-ryeong in awe.

“Huff!”

Lee Ji-ryeong exhaled a light sigh, white steam rising from his shoulders.

“Oh my god!”

Eloy and Levin looked at Lee Ji-ryeong with expressions of shock and awe.

It felt like they had witnessed something they weren’t supposed to see.

What Lee Ji-ryeong had just displayed was overwhelming.

A spectacle of lightning filled the air, covering a hundred meters in every direction.

Hundreds of lightning bolts rained down, scorching the earth.

The charred remains of hundreds of undead lay scattered, their forms unrecognizable and their cores destroyed, preventing them from reviving.

It was a display of such overwhelming power that they were left speechless.

“Unbelievable…”

“I knew he was strong, but not this strong…”

Even Brielle, usually cynical, couldn’t hide her amazement at Lee Ji-ryeong’s lightning.

“Wow!”

“The Captain has cleared out all the undead. Let’s move inside.”

The Pegasus Raid Force cheered as they rushed into the fortress.

Lee Ji-ryeong landed next to Levin and spoke.

“Did you see that?”

“…”

“You could achieve this too. Join the Pegasus Raid Force. I’ll train you.”

“No, thank you.”

“Zeon isn’t here. I can be your protector. For you and that little girl…”

“Hyung isn’t dead.”

“You seem quite certain.”

“Because he’s not dead.”

Lee Ji-ryeong looked at Brielle, who had the same look of certainty as Levin.

Lee Ji-ryeong frowned slightly.

‘Perhaps he’s really not dead. Being a Sand Mage, he might have found a way?’

* * *

Zeon ran his fingers along the wall, feeling its smooth and cold texture.

The underground passage was surprisingly made entirely of stone.

‘If Neo Seoul knew about this, they’d go crazy trying to secure it.’

It was ironic, but in this age, stone and rock were precious resources.

The world had turned into a desert, making it extremely difficult to find proper rocks.

Rocks were essential for constructing buildings.

No matter how much magical reinforcement was used, it still required a solid foundation of good stone.

Zeon, who had been caressing the stone for a while, frowned slightly.

Suddenly, the stone wall felt warm.

‘What’s this?’

He didn’t know the reason, but such sudden changes were usually not a good sign.

Feeling uneasy, Zeon quickened his pace.

He noticed he was getting closer to the fortress.

Unfamiliar items started appearing on the walls.

Sharp spikes, serrated knives, and branding irons—all tools for torture—hung on the walls.

Zeon passed by the torture tools and went deeper.

What awaited him was a horrifying sight.

Inside a cell made of iron bars, there was a workbench with the dissected body of a monster.

The humanoid monster lay with its belly split open, its internal organs completely removed.

It was clear that whoever dissected the monster had taken everything.

Zeon continued past the cell.

More gruesome sights awaited him.

In other cells, bodies of monsters with severed limbs and split heads were piled up.

The stench of blood assaulted him from all directions.

There was no telling how many lives had been lost in this place.

At that moment.

“Ugh!”

A faint human groan came from deeper inside.

It was a weak but unmistakably human voice.

‘Is it Cha Jin-cheol?’

Zeon hurried toward the source of the groan.

What he saw was even more horrific than anything before.

On a workbench, a man lay spread-eagled.

His limbs were shackled, his belly and head split open, exposing his insides.

Various organs were removed and placed in a bucket beside him, and blood drained through tubes into another bucket.

His muscles were shredded, revealing his white bones.

The most horrifying part was that the man was still alive.

“Please… kill me,”

He begged Zeon with his one remaining eye.

The man was someone Zeon knew.

He was an Awakened from the Pegasus Raid Force.

He had likely been kidnapped during the raid and brought here.

In front of him stood a figure in a black robe, holding a knife and engrossed in dissection.

Slice!

With a chilling sound, the figure extracted the man’s heart.

Yet the man did not die, only writhing in agony.

It was the ability of the figure in the black robe.

Known as the Inquisitor.

The Inquisitor’s role was to torture and dissect beings brought here, to understand their bodily structures.

It had the power to keep its subjects alive until it had fully examined them.

Hence, monsters and humans brought here had to witness their own dissection while still alive, just like the Awakened on the workbench now.

Zeon looked at the Awakened.

The man pleaded with his eyes for death.

He didn’t seek to live; he begged for an end to his suffering.

“Ha!”

Zeon nodded and swung his hand. Exion shot out like an arrow, piercing the man’s head.

Bang!

The man’s head exploded.

Even the Inquisitor couldn’t keep someone alive without a head.

The Inquisitor, having lost its subject, finally looked at Zeon.

Its eyes glowed ominously from beneath its robe.

Swish!

Itt raised its knife and pointed it at Zeon.

It was as if it was marking Zeon as the next victim.

Doors of other cells opened, and more figures in black robes emerged.

They were other Inquisitors who had been dissecting Awakeneds.

They too pointed their knives at Zeon.

In an instant, Zeon’s gaze turned as cold as the Inquisitors’.

“How dare creatures doomed to eternal wandering threaten me?”

Fwoosh!

Zeon’s body was enveloped in a black cloud.

Exion covered him entirely.

Shrouded in Exion, Zeon charged at the Inquisitors.

Crack!