Chapter 198
“What is this?”
Urtian’s eyes trembled.
The sand rising behind Zeon’s back began taking on a human form.
In an instant, dozens of sand soldiers were created.
“Unbelievable… making soldiers out of sand.”
As if responding to Urtian’s voice, the sand soldiers stepped forward in front of Zeon.
“Don’t tell me… a sand mage from Neo Seoul…?”
His voice trembled on its own.
It was unbelievable information he had obtained recently.
News that a sand mage who could freely control sand had appeared in Neo Seoul.
Although they wandered the desert without a fixed place, the Red Storm Brigade never neglected gathering information about Neo Seoul.
Because there was always the possibility that Neo Seoul might dispatch a subjugation force. That’s why they maintained constant connections with the scavengers of Neo Seoul.
At the time, the scavengers said a sand mage had appeared in Neo Seoul and was drawing tremendous attention.
It was a class that had never appeared even once before. But since it had nothing to do with them—and the very existence of a sand mage was hard to believe—they had simply brushed it off.
“A sand mage… You’ve awakened an ability that doesn’t even exist in Kurayan.”
“You seem to know Kurayan well.”
“I came from there. Of course I know.”
“You came directly? Then your age…”
“In human years, I’m well over a hundred and fifty.”
“That’s… younger than I expected.”
“Does it seem strange that someone over a hundred and fifty looks young? We age differently from humans.”
“I know. I’ve already seen the queen of the elves. She also came from Kurayan, yet she maintains her youth.”
“The queen?”
“Serian Moliana. The other races in Neo Seoul call her their queen.”
“Heh… Acting so noble, and now she’s called a queen after all. While someone else has to do all kinds of filthy things just to survive in the desert.”
Urtian’s tone was far from pleasant.
It was clear he didn’t hold good feelings toward Serian.
“If you’re so envious, why didn’t you come to Neo Seoul?”
“I’m not livestock. I won’t live eating scraps handed out in some human-built city.”
“So you chose looting instead?”
“Why? Does it look bad? Don’t humans all live like that? So I do the same.”
Urtian was an elf who had adapted to the human world.
When he first crossed over to Earth, he was said to be righteous. But he was abandoned by his companions, left behind, and as he lived among humans, he realized the truth.
If you don’t kill, you die.
That simple principle.
The once-pure elf gradually became a demon, and he built a ragtag group of scavengers into a massive force of hundreds.
He became more vicious than any human.
There was nothing he wouldn’t do to survive.
“We live only if you die.”
Urtian closed in on Zeon with his subordinates.
Ordinary elves would feel ashamed to oppress the few with the many, but he was different.
No matter the process—victory was all that mattered.
In the end, the world remembers only the victor, and the survivor takes everything.
To survive and claim victory, Urtian was prepared to do anything.
He spoke to his men.
“The opponent is a sand mage. Don’t give him time to control the sand.”
“Yes!”
“Damn it! He’ll die the same if he gets stabbed.”
His subordinates were all just as vicious as him.
They cautiously tightened the encirclement, then at once charged in.
“Die!”
“Yaaah!”
Various weapons and skills poured toward Zeon.
But their attacks never reached him.
The sand soldiers stood in front of him, blocking the way.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The sand soldiers took the Red Storm Brigade’s attacks head-on.
Some remained intact, while others collapsed under powerful skills.
Since they were made of sand, their durability was naturally weak. But there was endless sand—and Zeon still had plenty of mana.
As long as he had mana, he could restore the broken sand soldiers as much as he wanted.
And that’s exactly what happened.
Shrrk!
The sand soldiers rose again as if nothing had happened and attacked the awakened members of the Red Storm Brigade.
“Damn it! These worthless things…!”
“Just die quietly!”
“Aaaargh!”
The awakened fighters and sand soldiers clashed violently.
Urtian pushed past them and rushed toward Zeon.
‘If I just eliminate the sand mage who summoned the sand soldiers, everything ends.’
He launched Wind Cutter toward Zeon.
Whiiiing!
Dozens of Wind Cutters spun violently, aiming for Zeon’s neck.
At that moment, Zeon fired Sand Blaster.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
With explosive sounds, all the Wind Cutters were intercepted. But Urtian wasn’t flustered.
He had already expected this level of counterattack.
His real aim was elsewhere.
“Die! Sand mage!”
Slash!
In an instant, a brilliant light burst from his shamshir.
It wasn’t just coated in aura like before.
It was a blade of light shaped like the shamshir—
An Aura Blade, usable only by a very small number of martial-type awakened.
A sword made of aura could easily slice through even items unearthed from dungeons.
Let alone a human body.
Sand rose around Zeon like a snake and flew forward.
One of his skills—Viper.
The sand serpent shot forward at terrifying speed and struck Urtian’s entire body.
“Ghk!”
The tremendous impact made his mind go blank.
In an instant, Urtian was covered in blood. Still, he endured the pain and pressed forward.
This level of injury meant nothing to him.
He had killed enemies even with worse wounds.
As Zeon failed to stop his advance, he activated another skill.
“Claymore!”
Boom!
The sand around Urtian detonated in a chain of explosions.
Urtian was swallowed by the massive blast.
His body was just about to be torn to pieces—
when suddenly, black light burst out from the tattoos engraved across his face and body.
The black light formed a barrier, protecting his entire body from the explosion.
His tattoos were an item called a Guardian Talisman.
A fraudulent-tier item that protects its owner from all attacks exactly once per day.
It is worn in the form of a tattoo, and once applied, it cannot be removed until death.
Trusting in the Guardian Talisman, Urtian had launched a full-body assault.
As expected, the talisman perfectly protected him from the Claymore.
Breaking through the explosion unharmed, Urtian thrust his Aura Blade straight into Zeon’s heart.
“It’s over, sand mage!”
Thud!
His Aura Blade pierced through Zeon’s heart without resistance.
Feeling the soft, sinking sensation in his hand, Urtian smiled in victory.
But his smile vanished even faster than it appeared.
“This can’t be!”
The body of Zeon that had been stabbed was collapsing like sand.
At the moment Urtian activated the Guardian Talisman, Zeon had summoned a sand soldier and placed it where he had been standing.
It all happened so quickly that Urtian hadn’t noticed.
The Aura Blade that pierced the sand soldier disappeared—
his mana flow had been disrupted by shock.
Zeon didn’t miss that opening.
“Sand Mixer.”
Whiiiiing!
In an instant, the sand scattered in all directions gathered and surrounded Urtian, spinning at high speed.
Urtian swung his shamshir, trying to break out of the Sand Mixer, but the immense pressure crushed him, preventing escape.
His armor and flesh were ground down by the rapidly spinning grains of sand.
Unable to endure the intense pain, Urtian screamed.
“Aaaargh!”
His scream was so desperate that even the awakened ones fighting nearby stopped and turned to look.
“Captain!”
“No!”
The Red Storm Brigade members tried to rush in to save him, but were blocked by the sand soldiers.
In that moment, Zeon detonated the violently spinning Sand Mixer.
BOOOOM!
The underground cavern shook as if it were about to collapse.
That was how immense the explosion was.
Urtian was blasted through the sand.
His body slammed into the wall—his condition was utterly horrific.
All the skin on his body had been scraped away, exposing muscle and bone.
It was almost unbelievable that he was still alive.
“You… bastard!”
Urtian struggled to get up.
Even with such devastating injuries, the viciousness and killing intent in his eyes hadn’t faded.
He looked less like an elf and more like a demon.
Anyone would be overwhelmed by such a sight.
But not Zeon.
He had faced far stronger and more ruthless beings than Urtian.
Compared to them, Urtian’s ferocity meant nothing.
It was time to end this.
Zeon raised his fist.
The dragon’s eye embedded in his Superheated Gauntlet glowed red.
Without hesitation, Zeon swung his fist and unleashed Fire Rain.
Just as the crimson rain of flames was about to strike Urtian—
“Stop!”
With a sharp cry, someone stepped between Zeon and Urtian.
It was a woman, her build just as imposing as Urtian’s.
Without fear, she stood bare-bodied against the falling flames.
“Tch.”
Clicking his tongue, Zeon altered the trajectory of Fire Rain.
It narrowly missed both her and Urtian and exploded against the ground.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Despite the deafening explosions and rising dust, the woman didn’t even blink.
She spoke.
“Thank you.”
“Who are you?”
“My name is Deborah. I’m the wife of the man you were about to kill.”
She revealed her identity without hesitation.
“So you stepped in to save your husband?”
“I can’t let the father of my three children die in front of my eyes.”
“Three children?”
Only then did Zeon notice the children watching from the side.
They looked exactly like Urtian and Deborah.
Clenching their small fists, they glared at Zeon.
“…Haa.”
Zeon let out a sigh.
He was cornered.
He wasn’t cold-blooded enough to kill a father in front of his children.
“Impressive. Bringing children onto a battlefield.”
“They need to understand how hard we fight to survive.”
“You call this survival? You’re looters.”
“Mock us all you want. We’re fighting to survive too.”
Deborah stood firm.
As Urtian’s wife and the matron of the Red Storm Brigade, she had lived like this for over ten years.
Through countless hardships, the brigade had grown this large largely because of her.
Everyone in the Red Storm Brigade trusted and liked her.
Urtian was the leader—
but Deborah was the core.
“We need this fortress.”
“So you’re asking me to leave?”
“I’m not that shameless. We’ll withdraw. Just let us go.”
“And if I refuse?”
“We might be wiped out. But the people here won’t come out unscathed either.”
Deborah threatened him boldly.
It was so absurd it almost made him laugh.
A cold smile formed on Zeon’s lips.
Meanwhile, Deborah’s face was stiff as stone.
She appeared calm, but she was more tense than anyone.
Her opponent was a monster of unknown depth.
The only sand mage in this desert.
If they made an enemy of him, there would be endless consequences.
If she had known he was here, the Red Storm Brigade would never have attacked the Iron Fortress without preparation.
But what was done was done.
Now she had to resolve it.
BOOM! CRASH!
At that moment, Duduyan, Komak, and the others were thrown back with explosive force.
Like Urtian, they had been defeated by Eloi and Levin.
With that, all the leaders had fallen, and the battle had come to a halt.
Everyone was now watching her and Zeon.
Zeon shrugged.
“Fine. Then withdraw quietly.”
“No.”
At that moment, Gerwen intervened.
Foaming at the mouth, Gerwen shouted at Zeon.
“Because of them, all my men are dead. And you want to let them go? No. Kill them all. Not a single one should live—we must protect the secret of the Iron Fortress!”
Gerwen glared at Zeon with bloodshot eyes.
Madness filled his gaze.
Zeon clicked his tongue and stepped back.
“Then you kill them.”