Chapter 179
Thud—thud!
Fragments of the giant leech rained down like a storm.
Those fragments were the smaller leeches.
Many had died in the explosion, but most were still alive.
The ones writhing on the ground soon tried to gather again around the core—but Zeon didn’t allow it.
Shh-shh-shhk!
Dozens of Sand Blasters pierced through the small leeches rushing toward the core.
Having isolated it, Zeon unleashed Sand Mixer once more.
Grrrr—
The sand surrounding the core spun violently.
The core itself was a B-rank magical beast.
Its outer layer was on a completely different level from ordinary leeches.
Because of that, it managed to endure inside the Sand Mixer for a short while.
But only for a moment.
As time passed, its force field completely broke down, and cracks spread across its surface.
At that point, the core grew desperate.
Kiiii—!
It emitted a high-pitched cry.
In response, black shapes began pouring down from above like rain.
They were the small leeches stationed in the surface quicksand zone, drawn by the core’s call.
They flooded into the underground cavern through the hole Zeon and the others had fallen through.
In an instant, the cavern turned pitch black.
The small leeches formed a writhing wall in front of Zeon to protect the core.
A massive, squirming barrier.
They used their own bodies to block Zeon’s attacks.
Without hesitation, they sacrificed themselves to protect the core.
That was the terrifying nature of swarm-type magical beasts.
They would give up their lives without a second thought to protect the central entity.
All are one, and one is all.
That was the essence of a swarm-type magical beast.
To protect itself, the core had summoned every single leech.
Seeing this, a cold smile formed on Zeon’s lips.
“So you’re going with a numbers game? That’s unfortunate… I’m quite confident in that area too.”
Ssssh—
The sand around Zeon stirred and began to take human form.
He had summoned Sand Soldiers.
More than a hundred Sand Soldiers lined up around him.
Zeon gave the order.
“Break through.”
At once, the Sand Soldiers shot forward like bullets.
They collided with the small leeches.
Boom! BOOM!
With explosive force, the small leeches burst apart.
The Sand Soldiers were powerful.
Though not on Zeon’s level, each one was comparable to a capable combat-type awakened.
They smashed through the small leeches blocking their path.
Of course, they weren’t unharmed.
More than ten leeches swarmed each Sand Soldier.
Under the overwhelming numbers, some Sand Soldiers collapsed and reverted back to sand.
Even seeing this, Zeon remained calm.
Sssss—
As long as mana was supplied, Sand Soldiers could regenerate endlessly.
Those that had just collapsed were restored instantly and resumed attacking.
Boom! Boom!
Under the relentless assault of endlessly regenerating Sand Soldiers, the small leeches exploded one after another.
A path to the core opened.
Zeon walked forward along the path they created.
Kiiii—
The core let out a grotesque moan and retreated.
It felt overwhelming fear toward Zeon.
The giant leech had failed.
The swarm tactic had failed.
And surrounded by sand, there was nowhere left to hide or escape.
Zeon was its perfect counter.
“Where will you run now?”
Of course, the core couldn’t answer.
It was too busy struggling for survival.
Sssss—
A black mist poured out from the core.
It was its trump card—Acid Fog.
By releasing the acid stored within its body, it could instantly dissolve most awakened or magical beasts.
The fog quickly enveloped Zeon.
Seeing this, the core trembled with excitement.
Everything seemed to be going according to its plan.
It was convinced the acid would melt Zeon completely.
At that moment—
Ssssss—
A black mist began to rise from Zeon’s body as well.
From his pores, Exion was released.
Exion swirled around Zeon, pushing back the Acid Fog.
Even a substance that could dissolve everything had no effect on it.
In an instant, the Acid Fog was neutralized, leaving the core completely exposed.
Zeon stared directly at it.
His emotionless gaze made the core flinch.
Without a word, Zeon sent Exion forward.
Whiiiiir—
Spinning like a drill, Exion struck the core.
A hole was torn straight through its body.
That was the end.
Kiiieee!
With a final scream, the core collapsed.
As it died, the small leeches shrieked before scattering in all directions.
“Haa…”
Zeon let out a breath and was about to dismiss the Sand Soldiers—
When suddenly—
Thrust!
A figure burst through the sand, wielding a massive scythe.
It was the Grim Reaper—the same one that had abducted Cha Jincheol.
Slash!
The Grim Reaper swung its enormous scythe at the dead core.
At that moment, the core’s body lost its sheen and shriveled into a pitiful form…
…it shriveled.
The Grim Reaper had absorbed all the vitality of the core.
At the sudden turn of events, Zeon frowned.
“You…?”
The Grim Reaper stared at Zeon for a moment, then passed straight through the wall and disappeared.
The direction it vanished toward—was the fortress.
Zeon couldn’t tell why it had absorbed the core’s life force.
But one thing was certain—it wasn’t for any good reason.
He swung his hand toward the wall where it had disappeared.
Boom!
Sand blasted forward, carving a large hole into the wall.
Beyond it, a dark passageway was revealed.
As Zeon stepped into the passage, he muttered,
“I need to hurry.”
***
“Damn… that thing is huge.”
“The atmosphere here is insane.”
The Pegasus assault team and the awakened stared at the massive fortress before them with tense expressions.
Thanks to Zeon, they had crossed the quicksand and reached the fortress without much trouble.
Up close, the fortress was enormous.
They had to tilt their heads back until their necks ached just to see the top.
Dark clouds hung thickly above it.
Combined with the already pitch-black structure, it made the place feel even more ominous.
“Feels like something’s going to come out any second.”
Lee Jiryung muttered as she stared at the fortress.
“Doesn’t matter what comes out—as long as it’s not sand…”
“Hahaha!”
“Yeah! As long as it’s not sand, nothing can stop us.”
At raid leader Bronson’s remark, the awakened burst into laughter.
At that moment—
Thrust!
Hands suddenly burst out of the ground.
Not just one or two—hundreds of arms tore through the surface.
“What the—?!”
“Watch the ground!”
The awakened quickly stepped back.
The owners of the arms soon revealed themselves.
They were soldiers—rotting flesh, exposed bone, bodies in various stages of decay.
Lee Jiryung immediately recognized them.
“Undead. Everyone, be careful.”
“Undead?”
“You mean walking corpses?!”
“Damn… that’s disgusting.”
The awakened trembled.
They had cleared many dungeons, but this was their first time encountering undead.
Seeing the dead rise and move was utterly horrifying.
“First a Grim Reaper, now undead… what kind of dungeon is this?”
“You’ve got time to analyze? Get ready to fight! If we die here, we might end up like them.”
“…Ugh.”
Just imagining it made their bodies shudder.
Dying was frightening enough—but becoming undead and bound to a dungeon was far worse.
At that moment, Bronson, the Pegasus assault team leader, stepped forward and shouted,
“What’s there to be afraid of? They’re just corpses! We’ll wipe them out in formation one. Prepare yourselves!”
“Yes!”
At his command, the Pegasus assault team moved in perfect coordination.
They had long practiced various formations for dungeon raids.
Among them, Formation One was the most traditional.
Combat-type awakened with superior physical abilities formed the front line, while magic-type awakened behind them unleashed concentrated bombardment.
It was a formation built on overwhelming firepower—the Pegasus team’s favorite.
“We’ll assist as well.”
Awakened from the western sector stepped forward.
Normally, they would have held back to conserve strength—but they had come to rescue Cha Jincheol.
Time was not on their side.
The longer they delayed, the lower the chances of saving him.
Now was not the time to hold back.
Mechanized awakened stood beside the combat-types.
Whirr—
With mechanical sounds, the metallic components hidden beneath their skin revealed themselves.
Graaah!
At that moment, the undead soldiers charged with grotesque cries.
“Come on, you disgusting corpses!”
“Don’t let a single one through!”
The combat-type awakened roared and swung their weapons.
BOOM! BOOM!
The undead and awakened clashed.
The combat-types led by Bronson displayed overwhelming power.
Crack!
Slice!
Bones shattered. Limbs were severed.
While they held the line, the magic-types began their bombardment.
“Magic Arrow!”
“Fireball!”
“Wind Cutter!”
BOOM! BOOOOM!
Countless spells rained down upon the undead.
Flames exploded. Blade-like winds tore through them like storms.
Under the magical onslaught, the undead were blown apart and sliced to pieces.
It was overwhelming.
“We’ve got this.”
“Not a big deal.”
The combat-types and mechanized awakened smiled confidently.
The undead had been suppressed far more easily than expected.
Under the overwhelming firepower, more than half had already been destroyed.
It seemed only a matter of time before the rest were wiped out.
But that was when the battlefield changed.
Whooo—
A sinister red aura suddenly burst out from the fortress and swept across the field.
The fallen undead began to rise again.
“What?!”
“They’re reviving!”
Lee Jiryung shouted,
“We have to find and destroy the core! Otherwise they’ll keep coming back!”
“Damn it!”
Only then did the awakened realize—
A battle with no end awaited them.