Chapter 169

A day had passed since the magical beasts’ attack.

During that time, the Pegasus raid party had recovered the bodies and fully repaired the vehicles.

They were now ready to depart at any moment.

But a problem arose.

The pursuit team sent to capture the deserters had not returned.

They waited two more days, but the pursuit team never came back.

Kelda spoke cautiously to Lee Jiryung.

“At this point, we should assume they’re dead.”

“Were there dangerous magical beasts besides the Twin-Headed Buffalo?”

“I’m sorry. I should have investigated more thoroughly.”

“Forget it. How can humans possibly keep track of constantly shifting monster habitats? We move out first. If they’re alive, they’ll find their way back.”

“Understood.”

In the end, Kelda relayed Lee Jiryung’s orders to the Pegasus raid party.

The vehicles roared to life, kicking up clouds of dust as they set off.

Among them was the buggy carrying Zeon’s group.

Inside the buggy, Mandy spoke carefully.

“Do you think they were killed by magical beasts?”

“We can’t rule out the possibility they were taken out by scavengers.”

“How do scavengers even detect and avoid magical beasts? Don’t tell me they have navigators too?”

“If navigators were that common, they’d be trading with far more colonies.”

“Then how?”

“Experience. They’ve spent over a hundred years learning how to survive in the desert. It’s something awakened in Neo Seoul, who live safely behind walls, could never gain.”

“Then… are all scavengers awakened?”

“No. Quite a lot of them are ordinary people.”

“How do normal people survive in the desert without any abilities? I understand awakened can manage, but ordinary people…”

“Don’t underestimate human resilience. Even if their innate strength is weak, their will to survive surpasses that of any other lifeform. I’ve seen a seven-year-old child hunt a magical beast using nothing but traps.”

“Really?”

“I saw it with my own eyes.”

“…Human resilience really is terrifying. I guess it makes sense—they built a massive city in the middle of the desert with their bare hands.”

In the end, even Mandy had to acknowledge humanity’s tenacity.

While they chatted, the buggy continued pushing forward through the sand.

Fortunately, this time no magical beasts attacked.

Thanks to that, the Pegasus raid party was able to safely reach a point one hundred kilometers away from where the dungeon had been discovered.

Even by then, the pursuit team that had gone after the deserters had not returned.

At this point, it was certain they had lost their lives.

As a result, the atmosphere within the Pegasus raid party had reached its worst.

The awakened from the Western District who had joined them were not in good condition either.

They had suffered heavy injuries fighting the Twin-Headed Buffalo.

One of the major weaknesses of mechanized awakened was that injuries were difficult to repair in the desert.

Their mechanical bodies, which replaced human flesh, were vulnerable to sand—especially when it came to retrieving and replacing damaged parts.

They had brought spare parts, but with so many injured, it became a problem.

They were running out of replacements.

Those with self-repair abilities were better off, but those without such skills had no choice but to make temporary fixes.

Even Cha Jincheol, normally cold and composed, couldn’t hide his frustration at the unexpected situation.

‘Damn it! We haven’t even reached the dungeon, and we’ve already lost a significant portion of our strength.’

He never imagined that mechanized awakened would suffer such heavy losses against mere Twin-Headed Buffalo.

His original plan had been to make a much greater contribution than the Pegasus raid party and secure a larger share of the rewards.

But with so many injured from the outset, he had no choice but to revise his plan.

‘No… there’s still a chance. We pull our people back and push the Pegasus raid party to the front.’

Of course, he couldn’t do it openly.

If they quietly fell back during a heated battle, the Pegasus raid party wouldn’t notice.

Cha Jincheol muttered,

‘Hyeonmu.’

—Yes, Master.

A voice answered instantly in his mind.

It was Hyeonmu, the AI installed by KIM Kyungsoo.

A downgraded version of Samjok-o, Hyeonmu prioritized maintaining Cha Jincheol’s physical condition at peak performance.

Thanks to it, Cha Jincheol could move normally even in the sand-covered desert.

However, the other Western District awakened did not enjoy such benefits.

The downgraded AI was only downloaded to KIM Kyungsoo’s trusted subordinates.

‘From now on, devise a detailed plan to preserve our forces intact.’

—Yes, Master.

Cha Jincheol didn’t need to work out the details himself.

Once he gave a broad directive, the support AI Hyeonmu would handle the calculations and execution.

That was the greatest advantage of mechanized awakened—and the reason all awakened in the Western District coveted AI.

In this entire raid party, Zeon’s group was the only one that had suffered no losses.

Only they maintained their full strength as they sped across the desert.

‘His ability is far too dangerous. No one even saw it, yet he took down the griffins alone.’

The battlefield of flying magical beasts was the sky.

Humans were at a disadvantage because they couldn’t fly. Of course, some had flight abilities, but their combat power tended to be low, making them ineffective in situations like this.

But Zeon was different.

As long as there was sand, he could fly freely.

Even without seeing it firsthand, just hearing that Zeon had killed the griffins was enough to understand how dangerous he was.

‘A sand manipulator like him is practically the natural enemy of mechanized awakened like us. Once this dungeon raid is over… he must be eliminated. No matter what…’

—A sound judgment. Shall I prepare a plan to eliminate the awakened Zeon after the dungeon raid?

‘Prepare the plan. I’ll decide whether to execute it later.’

—Understood, Master.

“Gghh…!”

Kim Gigwang, the leader of the pursuit team, lay on the ground groaning.

Around him were corpses—his subordinates from the pursuit team.

One of his arms had been torn off, and his abdomen was split wide open.

The fact that he was still breathing in such a state felt like a miracle.

The only reason Kim Gigwang was still alive was because he was a high-ranking awakened. An ordinary person would have already died.

In front of him sat a large-built man.

His face was covered in incomprehensible tattoos, and his ears were pointed.

He was not human—he was an elf.

The elf’s identity was Urtian.

It was the scavenger group led by him that had ambushed and annihilated both the pursuit team and the deserters.

“Check out this guy’s gear.”

“Jackpot!”

“Fuck, this one’s completely broke.”

The scavengers rummaged through the corpses of the awakened, stripping away any useful equipment and accessories.

This was how desert scavengers survived.

They took not only equipment but also every bit of food.

In truth, food was far more important to them than gear. However, a hastily assembled pursuit team wouldn’t have been carrying much of it.

Fortunately, there had been some provisions in the vehicles the deserters were using, enough to get them through the immediate situation.

Without changing his posture as he looked down at Kim Gigwang, Urtian gave orders to his subordinates.

“Distribute the equipment as you see fit. Deborah will handle the food.”

“Understood.”

Deborah, who was nearby, responded.

She was Urtian’s wife and the one responsible for managing the scavenger group’s supplies.

All the food looted by Urtian and the scavengers was fairly distributed through her.

Kim Gigwang struggled to speak.

“You… think you’ll get away with this?”

“And if we don’t?”

“Our raid party… won’t let you bastards go.”

“Oh really?”

“Our commander… will avenge us.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

Urtian grinned.

Unlike most elves, who concealed their emotions behind expressionless faces, his cruelty was clearly visible.

At that moment—

“Here’s a sword.”

“Can I have it?”

“No!”

“Come on, hyung!”

Children who closely resembled Urtian were bickering as they pulled a dagger from an awakened’s corpse.

Kim Gigwang looked at them with fading eyes.

“Half… elves? Mixed blood…?”

Crunch!

In the next instant, Urtian’s fist crushed Kim Gigwang’s head.

With his head destroyed, Kim Gigwang died on the spot.

Urtian flicked the blood and brain matter off his hand and muttered,

“Who the hell are you calling mixed-blood?”

The children were born between Urtian, an elf, and Deborah, a human.

They possessed traits of both races.

For the sake of his children, Urtian was prepared to give his life without hesitation.

Urtian gestured, calling Komak over.

“Urtian.”

“Where is their main force right now?”

“They’ve set up a temporary camp about seventy kilometers away.”

“So there must be a dungeon nearby?”

“Most likely.”

“They brought this many people, so it must be a large dungeon, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then there should be plenty to take.”

A bright smile spread across Urtian’s face.

“Yes. The greater the risk, the greater the reward.”

“Risk is something we always take.”

“However…”

“What?”

“Their forces are no joke. We’ll have to mobilize all of ours as well. If we do…”

Komak’s gaze shifted toward Urtian’s children.

The kids were still arguing over who would get the dagger.

If the scavengers mobilized fully, even the young children would have to be sent into battle.

“It’s time they get real combat experience.”

“They’re still young.”

“Komak.”

“Yes?”

“How old were you when you first killed someone?”

“I was… twelve.”

“The eldest is twelve, the second is eleven. That’s old enough for battle. Even my children are no exception.”

“Still…”

“For reference, I killed my first person at seven.”

“…Understood.”

Komak finally relented.

As Urtian said, scavengers were thrown into real combat from a young age.

It was an unavoidable choice to survive in the desert.

Children could not be protected forever.

Once they could walk and run, they had to learn how to wield weapons.

Some lucky children awakened, but far more did not.

Those who awakened were deployed early, while those who didn’t contributed through support roles.

That was how the scavengers united to survive.

Once, they too had wished to enter Neo Seoul.

They dreamed of living comfortably within its towering walls.

But Neo Seoul had no intention of accepting rootless scavengers.

Not even the slums were open to them.

Those who were not accepted had no choice but to wander the desert and fend for themselves.

Magical beasts. Other scavenger groups.

Everything was their enemy.

To survive against such enemies, even children had to take up weapons.

They had to kill beasts—and kill other humans—to live.

Now, Urtian’s children had to step into that same brutal world.

It was the fate of those who lived in the desert.

Gripping a handful of sand, Urtian muttered,

“Until we are granted even a handful of land to live on, we will kill and kill again… take and take again. That is our fate.”

Red sand slipped through his fingers.