Chapter 177
A straight path leading toward the fortress was formed.
The quicksand pushed aside on both ends created towering sand walls dozens of meters high.
Within the cross-sections of those sand walls, leeches could be seen writhing.
Leeches as thick as an adult’s forearm squirmed grotesquely, instilling deep fear in the people.
At least one thing was fortunate—the leeches seemed unwilling to come out of the sand.
Zeon spoke.
“It's best to cross the quicksand quickly. I can’t maintain this for long.”
“Understood.”
Lee Jiryung nodded and gave an order to the Pegasus assault team.
“We break through the quicksand zone as is.”
“Yes!”
“Move!”
Taking the lead, Lee Jiryung stepped into the quicksand zone.
Walking along the path Zeon had opened felt strange.
On both sides, the leeches continued to squirm.
They anchored about two-thirds of their bodies in the sand while stretching the remaining portion outward, trying to suck the blood of the awakened ones.
Fortunately, the path Zeon created was wide enough that their mouths couldn’t reach, but it was still terrifying.
Zeon turned to Levin and Brielle.
“You two cross as well.”
“Then what about you, hyung?”
“Don’t worry about me. Once I recover my mana, I can cross this kind of quicksand easily.”
One of the reasons Zeon came here was to help Levin and Brielle gain dungeon experience.
Both of them had great potential.
The more dungeons they experienced, the faster their growth would accelerate.
Zeon looked at Levin.
“You protect Brielle. Can you do it?”
“Of course.”
“Then go.”
“Yes!”
Levin nodded and looked at Brielle.
She looked reluctant to part with Zeon, but she didn’t complain or refuse.
Pulling her pointed hat down tightly, Brielle said,
“I’ll go ahead and wait for you.”
“Alright!”
“Hurry up.”
Without waiting for his reply, she entered the quicksand zone with Levin.
Soon, everyone moved into the path Zeon had opened.
Just as Lee Jiryung and the vanguard were about to reach the other side—
The leeches suddenly began acting strangely.
Kiiieee!
With a screech, the leeches launched themselves out of the sand.
Like bullets, they shot forward and latched onto the awakened, sinking their teeth in.
“Ugh!”
“The leeches are attacking!”
The awakened who had yet to leave the quicksand zone panicked at the sudden assault.
“Damn it! You little leech—!”
One awakened burned the leech attacking him with a flame skill.
That became the trigger.
“Die!”
“Yaaah!”
The awakened began attacking the leeches that had jumped out of the sand.
The leeches were only truly terrifying when hidden beneath the sand. Once exposed, they weren’t nearly as dangerous.
Driven by their greed to suck human blood, the leeches that leapt out were helpless against the awakened’s attacks.
“Come at me again, you damn leeches!”
The awakened who had burned the first leech glared at the sand wall, breathing heavily.
Madness filled his eyes.
His fellow awakened were alarmed at the look in his gaze.
“Hey, don’t!”
“Damn it, he’s lost it!”
In that moment, the maddened awakened attacked the leeches writhing within the sand.
Whoooosh!
Extremely high-temperature flames engulfed the leeches inside the sand.
They writhed in agony as they burned.
“Tch! You’re nothing special…”
As the awakened spat on the ground and stared at the writhing leeches—
Rumble…!
A powerful vibration suddenly surged through the sand.
At that moment, Zeon’s expression changed.
He could feel the leeches scattered throughout the quicksand all moving at once.
They were gathering toward the ones that had been burned.
‘They’re all connected… They’re feeling their kin’s pain as their own.’
Zeon knew exactly what that meant.
He shouted loudly.
“These things are swarm-type magical beasts! Get out of the quicksand zone immediately!”
At the words “swarm-type,” several awakened turned pale.
“Shit! No wonder—!”
“Run!”
They were the first to sprint with all their might.
The awakened left behind looked at each other in confusion, until one of those ahead shouted,
“You idiots! Don’t think—just run!”
“What the—”
Fwoosh!
At that moment—
Something massive burst out through the sand.
It was a gigantic leech, enlarged dozens—no, hundreds of times.
It immediately swallowed the awakened lagging behind.
Crunch!
“AAAH!”
“Save me!”
The awakened being devoured screamed in agony.
Levin and Brielle’s eyes widened at the horrifying sight.
“What is that?!”
“I don’t know! Just run!”
“O-Okay!”
Levin grabbed Brielle’s hand and ran.
Even as they did, enormous leeches burst through the walls. They attacked the awakened still trapped in the quicksand zone.
But these attacking leeches were not single creatures.
They were formed from thousands—tens of thousands—of leeches merging into one massive entity.
That was the true terror of a swarm-type magical beast.
A single individual might be insignificant, but when gathered together, these magical beasts could unleash terrifying power.
Thousands—tens of thousands—of leeches that were merely D-rank or E-rank combined into one entity, becoming a monster of B-rank or higher.
Dozens of such creatures were now bursting through the sand walls.
B-rank and above magical beasts generate a force field.
Because of that, ordinary awakened attacks don’t work on them.
The massive leeches were also surrounded by such a force field. It was proof they were B-rank monsters.
“Still, they’re just damn leeches. I’ll burn every last one of them.”
The awakened who had provoked the leeches into merging unleashed his flame skill.
Whooosh!
Blazing, high-temperature flames poured out, enough to incinerate the leeches—
but they did no damage to the now B-rank creature.
Instead, the awakened who attacked drew the attention of the massive leech.
“N-No!”
The giant leech opened its huge mouth and swallowed him whole.
Crunch!
The awakened was crushed inside its jaws.
After devouring him, the leech moved to find its next prey.
More than half of the awakened were still trapped in the quicksand zone—and among them were Levin and Brielle.
At this rate, the two of them would surely be attacked as well.
“Haa… can’t be helped.”
Letting out a sigh, Zeon activated Sand Blaster.
Boom! Boom!
The blasts struck the massive leech bodies at terrifying speed.
The sudden impact drew the attention of all the giant leeches toward Zeon.
They writhed as they advanced on him.
Given their enormous size, they closed the distance in an instant.
In the blink of an eye, dozens of giant leeches surrounded Zeon.
Seeing this from afar, Brielle screamed,
“Zeon!”
Rumble—!
At that moment, the ground collapsed under the immense weight of the leeches.
Zeon and the leeches plunged deep underground in an instant.
At the unexpected turn of events, Levin and Brielle cried out,
“No!”
“Zeon!”
But by then, Zeon and the leeches had already disappeared into the sand.
Rumble—!
Immediately afterward, the quicksand that had been split apart rushed back together, burying the path Zeon had created.
“Haa! Haa!”
“I… I’m still alive?”
“I almost died…”
The awakened who had barely escaped the quicksand collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.
Fortunately, thanks to Zeon drawing the leeches’ attention, the casualties were not severe.
Lee Jiryung clicked her tongue.
“Don’t tell me he died here?”
“No matter how much of a sand mage he is, there’s no way he could survive being surrounded by that many leeches. Besides, he had nearly exhausted his mana, hadn’t he?”
Raid leader Bronson stared at the sand with a doubtful expression.
As if nothing had happened, the quicksand flowed calmly again.
It was proof that Zeon’s control was no longer affecting it.
“Tch. What a waste. He still had plenty of use left.”
“He was never the type to bow his head to anyone anyway. This might actually be for the best.”
A faint smirk crept onto Bronson’s lips.
From the beginning, he had never liked Zeon.
He had only tolerated him because Lee Jiryung intended to make use of him.
Now that they had safely crossed the quicksand zone thanks to Zeon, his usefulness had ended.
From here on, it was the Pegasus assault team’s responsibility.
Turning away, Lee Jiryung spoke,
“Forget about Zeon. Focus on capturing the fortress.”
“Yes!”
“Everyone, follow me.”
“Let’s go!”
“Waaah!”
Following Lee Jiryung, the Pegasus assault team and the awakened headed toward the fortress.
Left behind, Levin muttered,
“There’s no way hyung would die like that.”
“Of course not.”
“Huh?”
“Did you forget who Zeon is? A sand mage dying in sand? That doesn’t even make sense.”
At Brielle’s response, Levin blinked in surprise.
“You… know something?”
“No!”
“Then why—”
“Even so, I know Zeon didn’t die. He’s alive.”
“Really?”
“Zeon was born with the blessing of sand. There’s no way sand would kill him. If we go to the fortress, Zeon will definitely show up there too.”
Her voice was filled with certainty.
Levin stared at her face for a moment, then nodded.
“You’re right. There’s no way hyung would die from something like this.”
“Exactly.”
“Alright. Then let’s head to the fortress. If he’s alive, he’ll definitely come there.”
“Yeah!”
“Be careful. We can’t trust the other awakened.”
“I never trusted other humans to begin with.”
Brielle snorted.
There were only a very few humans she trusted.
Everyone else was no different from an enemy to her.
At that moment, several awakened from the Pegasus assault team approached them.
“From now on, we’ll be protecting you.”
“Protecting us?”
“That’s right. The captain ordered us to.”
“There’s really no need to go that far.”
“It’s the captain’s order. You don’t have the right to refuse.”
The awakened replied coldly.
They called it protection, but in truth, it was surveillance.
Now that they had lost Zeon, the two of them were extremely valuable.
One was an awakened with rare abilities, and the other was an elf.
Their usefulness was immeasurable.
Lee Jiryung had no intention of letting them go.
Levin clenched his teeth.
‘So this is how they’re going to play it? Fine… let’s see if you can still act like this when hyung comes back.’