Chapter 176
As the scouting team had said, an ancient castle could be seen in the distance.
A faint barrier shimmered around it.
“It really is a castle.”
“I’ve never seen architecture like that before.”
The Awakened murmured among themselves as they looked at it.
A dungeon was a place where anything could exist—but a castle of that style was something none of them had ever seen before.
Levin asked Zeon,
“Is it really possible for something like that to exist in a dungeon?”
“If it exists, then it’s possible.”
“Ha… still, that’s…”
“Common sense doesn’t apply in dungeons. Everything humans can imagine can become reality here.”
“…I see.”
“So don’t let your guard down for even a moment. If you want to make it out alive…”
Gulp.
At Zeon’s serious tone, Levin swallowed dryly instead of replying.
Brielle also grew tense.
At that moment, Zeon was feeling a strong sense of déjà vu.
‘It’s similar to Akaruk’s castle…’
Akaruk, the Death Knight.
The castle he once ruled had given off a similar atmosphere.
Even the presence of undead was the same.
If that was the case, then the master of this place might be a being similar to Akaruk.
‘Whatever it is, the danger hasn’t changed.’
Zeon turned his gaze toward Lee Jiryung.
Lee Jiryung must already be aware that this dungeon was far from ordinary.
Yet his face still showed confidence.
It was the expression of someone who had conquered countless dungeons.
But before anything else, there was something they had to deal with first—
the massive quicksand blocking their path.
Tssss…
A faint sound, impossible to hear without focusing, reached their ears.
It was the sound of the quicksand flowing.
The sight of fine grains of sand moving like a massive river was enough to instill fear in the Awakened.
At that moment, one of them spoke:
“But… couldn’t we just jump across?”
At his words, several Awakened’s eyes lit up.
The quicksand stretched roughly two hundred meters wide.
That distance was within reach for skilled martial-type Awakened or those with jumping abilities.
The one who spoke stepped forward.
“I’ll go first.”
He was a C-grade martial-type Awakened.
Though his rank was low, he possessed a skill called Triple Jump, giving him confidence to clear two hundred meters in one go.
‘If I make it across, everyone will notice me.’
He had joined as a mercenary.
His goal was to stand out here and get scouted by the Pegasus raid team.
For that, he needed to prove himself.
No one stopped him.
After all, there was no reason to interfere when someone volunteered to test it.
Under everyone’s watchful eyes, the Awakened stepped forward.
Tssss…
The sound of the flowing sand was unsettling, but he forced himself to remain calm.
‘Hoo… I can do this. This is nothing. I’ve jumped farther distances before.’
After steadying his breathing, he sprinted dozens of meters and leapt at the edge of the quicksand.
Whoosh!
His body soared through the air like a bird over the quicksand.
After flying around seventy to eighty meters, he began descending in a gentle arc.
At that moment, his skill activated—
Triple Jump.
As if stepping on invisible platforms, he kicked off the air and leapt again.
“I did it!”
“He can make it!”
The Awakened clenched their fists, watching him.
It looked like a guaranteed success.
Then—
“Ugh!”
Suddenly, the Awakened staggered midair with a groan and began to plummet at terrifying speed.
“W-what?”
“What’s going on?”
The others shouted in shock.
The falling Awakened tried to activate his skill again.
‘Triple Jump!’
The skill clearly activated—
yet he kept falling.
An immense unseen force from the quicksand was pulling him down.
It was as if he were bound by chains, unable to exert any strength.
The overwhelming pressure prevented his skill from working.
‘Damn it! What is this?!’
Thud!
In the end, he crashed onto the quicksand.
The soft sand spared his life—for the moment.
But that wasn’t the real problem.
“Urgh!”
His body began to sink into the sand.
He struggled desperately to crawl out, but the more he resisted, the faster he was dragged under.
“Damn it! Throw a rope!”
“Hold on!”
The other Awakened rushed to save him—
but then—
“Aaaaargh!”
A horrifying scream erupted.
When they looked closely, something black had completely covered his body.
“What is that?”
“There’s something in the sand!”
“Damn it—it’s leeches!”
What covered him were leeches as thick as a human arm.
There were so many of them—it was impossible to count.
Within tens of meters around him, the sand swarmed with leeches.
They sank their teeth into his skin and began sucking his blood.
With each moment, his body shriveled, rapidly turning into something like a mummy.
That was his end.
“My God…”
“Those monsters were hiding in the sand…”
“If we had just crossed…”
The other Awakened trembled.
Just imagining it was horrifying.
The leeches that had drained him dry vanished back into the sand as quickly as they had appeared.
Lee Jiryung let out a low groan.
“It wasn’t just ordinary quicksand. There were monstrous leeches hiding in it.”
“If we’d gone in blindly, we’d have ended up just like that.”
Gesling, the leader of the scouting team, wiped his chest in relief.
If they had recklessly tried to cross, they would have met the same fate.
“We’ll have to give up jumping across. There’s some invisible force at work.”
“Whether it’s attraction or gravity—something is definitely pulling people into the sand.”
Boom!
Suddenly, bolts of lightning rained down onto the quicksand.
Lee Jiryung had activated his ability.
Crackle!
Tens of millions of volts scorched the sand black.
It was an overwhelming display of power.
But even that couldn’t stop the flow of the quicksand.
The moment the electricity faded, leeches surfaced from beneath the sand.
They looked around briefly, as if checking what had happened, before slipping back under.
They hadn’t been harmed at all.
“As expected… we can’t get through this by ordinary means.”
Lee Jiryung bit his lip.
His pride had taken a hit—his power hadn’t worked.
The sand itself was the problem.
It dispersed the lightning, preventing the leeches from taking any damage.
It was the worst possible compatibility.
After Lee Jiryung’s attack, the other Awakened unleashed their own skills.
Various magical attacks struck the sand—
but the leeches remained completely unharmed.
Individually, a single leech wasn’t that dangerous.
At most, they were around E-grade or D-grade.
If they came out of the sand, even mercenaries could kill them easily.
The problem was—
they had no intention of coming out.
And no one knew how many were lurking beneath.
Gesling looked at Zeon.
“As expected… there’s only one way.”
“…Yeah.”
Lee Jiryung nodded.
Though it bruised his pride, Zeon was the only one who could solve this situation.
Lee Jiryung approached him.
“You saw it, right?”
“Yes.”
“There are monsters hidden in the quicksand. It would take us a great deal of time and effort to deal with them.”
“I could handle it more easily than you.”
Zeon replied calmly, meeting his gaze.
Lee Jiryung didn’t look away.
“That’s why I’m asking. Here—no, on Earth—only you can open a path through that quicksand.”
“That would consume all my remaining mana.”
“So you’re saying you can’t do it?”
Lee Jiryung’s eyes sharpened.
It was clearly a provocation.
Zeon let out a faint chuckle.
“…Alright. I’ll open the path.”
At this point, there was no reason not to accept.
He walked past Lee Jiryung and approached the quicksand.
“Hoo…”
He steadied his breathing and drew out his dominion.
Whoooosh—
His senses spread through the sand.
Like a vast neural network, his perception extended outward, revealing everything beneath the surface.
There were as many leeches as grains of sand—
filling the entire quicksand zone.
A true hellscape.
But not for Zeon.
He briefly glanced at Lee Jiryung, then closed his eyes.
Now he began to use his dominion in earnest.
Rumble—
The quicksand shook violently, as if an earthquake had struck.
The force driving the sand and Zeon’s dominion clashed against each other.
The sand churned even more violently.
Roooaaar!
Sand surged outward from the quicksand zone.
Leeches hidden beneath were dragged out along with it.
“Aaaah!”
“Leeches! Fall back!”
The nearby Awakened recoiled in horror.
“You damn things—!”
“Die!”
Some regained their composure and attacked the exposed leeches.
When hidden in the sand, they were terrifying—
but once outside, they were manageable.
Smash!
The leeches burst apart under their attacks.
The problem, however, was their blood.
It splattered onto the Awakened.
Sizzle—
“Aaaargh!”
“Help me!”
Where the blood touched, flesh melted as if dipped in strong acid.
Seeing this, the others froze in shock.
If they had been any closer, they would have suffered the same fate.
The afflicted Awakened writhed in agony.
Others rushed to spray healing potions on them—
but it was useless.
Their bodies dissolved completely, and they died.
“…Damn!”
“These things were swarming under the sand…”
The Awakened turned pale at the sight of their comrades’ deaths.
Their gazes all turned toward Zeon.
Now, the success or failure of the dungeon raid depended entirely on him.
If he couldn’t open a path, they wouldn’t even be able to attempt the raid.
Rumble—!
Even now, the quicksand roared violently.
Zeon, standing before it, looked as if he might be swallowed at any moment.
But he remained completely focused, maintaining his dominion.
Neither the raging sand nor the countless leeches could break his concentration.
At the peak of the turbulence—
Zeon opened his eyes.
His pupils glowed the same deep red as the sand.
Slowly, he moved both hands apart, as if parting the sand itself.
Like the Red Sea splitting—
the quicksand began to divide under his command.
Lee Jiryung clenched his fist tightly.
“…A path… it’s opening.”
“Wooooah!”
Cheers erupted from the Awakened.
Before them—
a path toward the ancient castle was forming.
It was a miracle created by Zeon—
the only sand sorcerer of the desert.