Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert

[Translator - Peptobismol]

[Proofreader - Demon God]

Chapter 221

Zeon silently watched the quicksand that had buried Orca.

Even at this moment, the quicksand continued to flow relentlessly, pulling everything downward—deep underground.

Given the speed of the flow, Orca was likely buried around a hundred meters below the surface.

Indeed, Zeon could sense Orca's presence at that depth.

No matter how formidable the Orc Great Chieftain was, it would be difficult to easily escape the powerful current of quicksand.

At this rate, Orca would be buried several hundred meters underground.

The pressure at such a depth was comparable to the now-extinct pressures of the deep ocean, a level no surface-dwelling creature could survive.

Even the Orc Great Chieftain would be crushed like an empty can under the immense pressure.

The situation seemed under control, but Zeon never let his guard down.

A boss-level monster like the Orc Great Chieftain wouldn't die so easily.

And Zeon's caution was justified.

Boom!

Like a volcanic eruption, the sand exploded as a massive creature burst forth.

It was Orca, who had nearly been buried alive.

With a single leap, Orca had surged from a hundred meters underground back to the surface.

It was a display of sheer power that was hard to believe, even seeing it with his own eyes.

"Ttuu!"

Orca spat out sand-laden saliva.

His eyes glowed with a blood-red light.

"Such a shallow trick won't defeat me, human!"

"It seems so."

Zeon acknowledged.

The strength of Orca's body was on a completely different level.

With explosive power that allowed him to burst out from a hundred meters underground and a body as tough as diamonds, he could easily crush even large-class beasts.

Thud, thud, thud!

Orca charged at Zeon, intending to overpower him before he could use any more tricks.

Zeon raised a sand wall.

Boom!

Orca's punch shattered the sand wall with ease.

Zeon quickly raised another sand wall.

This time, instead of breaking through it, Orca slightly bent his knees and then sprang forward.

Whoosh!

In an instant, Orca's body flew through the air like a missile.

His target was Zeon, standing behind the sand wall.

Orca's arm was drawn back, packed with tremendous aura.

He swung his fist.

Boom!

A shockwave blasted forth from Orca's punch, hurtling toward Zeon like a cannon blast.

Zeon dodged the shockwave with his Sand Strides. But Orca's shockwave attacks didn't stop at just one.

"Graaaah!"

With a roar, Orca continued to swing his fists in the air.

Each punch unleashed another shockwave that chased after Zeon.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Explosions erupted in succession, sending pillars of sand shooting into the sky.

Zeon dodged the attacks with his Sand Strides and muttered to himself.

"A spear that pierces the sky. Sand Spear!"

Whoosh!

In an instant, a massive pillar of sand shot up from the ground.

The giant sand pillar, shaped like a spear, struck Orca in mid-air.

Boom!

"Grk!"

This time, the attack seemed to have some effect, as a stifled groan escaped Orca.

But Orca was the Orc Great Chieftain.

The true leader of the Orcs, born for the first time in centuries.

His pride wouldn't allow him to show weakness from such a blow.

Orca spread his arms wide and shouted.

"Shards of the Red Moon!"

In an instant, numerous red spheres appeared around his body.

They looked like fragments of a red moon, just as the name suggested.

This was a skill only the Great Chieftain Orca could use.

He had decided to stop relying on brute force and start using his skills seriously.

The previous clashes had taught him that Zeon wasn't an opponent he could defeat with reckless combat alone.

To kill him, Orca knew he had to give it his all.

And so, he unleashed one of his most powerful skills.

"Die, Sand Mage!"

Whoosh!

Orca swung his fist toward Zeon, and the numerous red spheres around him shot toward Zeon like a hailstorm.

Shwoooosh!

The red moons were falling.

It seemed impossible for any human to survive such an onslaught.

But Zeon neither despaired nor feared.

The red spheres filled his vision as they descended upon him.

In an instant, Zeon calculated the number of red spheres.

"Viper!"

In response to the number of red spheres, sand serpents emerged from the ground.

Hundreds of vipers shot up into the sky.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The vipers intercepted the falling red spheres one by one.

The sky was filled with dazzling explosions.

To an uninformed observer, it would have looked like a spectacular fireworks display.

"Holy shit!"

Aiden's jaw dropped as he watched.

He had expected Zeon, as a Sand Mage, to have some control over sand, but he had never imagined it would be to this extent.

Every grain of sand in the desert was Zeon's weapon.

Zeon was fighting on equal terms with the mighty Orc Great Chieftain.

Against a monster whose overwhelming combat power was enough to make one feel crushed just by watching.

Aiden wondered how long he would have lasted if he had been the one fighting Zeon. But he quickly lowered his head in resignation.

'If it were me, I wouldn’t have lasted thirty seconds.'

He hated to admit it, but as someone who prided himself on being objective, he made a clear judgment.

The Sand Mage wasn’t just a myth from Neo Seoul.

He was a real, living monster.

And that monster was far larger and more terrifying than anyone could have imagined.

Terrifying enough to go toe-to-toe with the powerful Orc Great Chieftain.

While Zeon was keeping the Orc Great Chieftain occupied, fierce battles were breaking out all over the battlefield.

It was a battle between human Awakeneds and Orcs.

"Hehehe!"

Mountain was locked in a power struggle with a giant Orc that matched his own size, while Giselle used her ice magic to freeze Orcs in their tracks.

The other Awakeneds then attacked the frozen Orcs, finishing them off.

Magic Awakened were rarer than combat Awakened.

Among them, high-ranking Awakeneds like Giselle were even rarer.

There weren’t many who could wield ice magic like she did.

Even if they could, they weren’t typically held in high regard.

The freezing spells most Awakened could cast weren’t powerful enough to withstand the scorching heat of the desert. But Giselle was different.

She possessed ice magic powerful enough to temporarily freeze even a giant Sandworm.

"You filthy pig bastards! Ice Field!"

She unleashed a spell that froze the entire area.

The freezing spell wouldn't last long due to the intense heat, but it was enough to immobilize the Orcs within a radius of several dozen meters.

"Nice!"

"Now this is more like it."

The Awakeneds attacked the Orcs whose feet were frozen in place.

The Orcs tried to fight back, but their restricted movement left them vulnerable. The Awakeneds gleefully cut them down.

It was a tactic known as the "Hold and Smash."

"Graaagh!"

"Chwit! Humans are cowardly."

"Shit! You’re the ones using swarm tactics, you hypocrites."

"Die, pigheads."

While chaotic skirmishes raged on one side, on the other, a terrifying purple lightning bolt struck down.

It was Levin, in his ghostly form, unleashing Purple Lightning.

Numerous Orcs were electrocuted and fell under Levin’s attack.

Whack! Thud! Whack!

The Orcs electrocuted by Purple Lightning had their flesh, muscles, and even eyes burst from the shock.

When one Orc was electrocuted, the current would jump to the one standing next to it.

This was the "branching" effect.

'That guy’s overpowered too.'

For the first time in his life, Aiden felt a desire to recruit someone into his party.

Of course, that was assuming they all survived this battle.

"Hyaah!"

Not far away, Jang Yong-beom’s shout could be heard.

Aiden turned to see Jang Yong-beom attacking the Orc Shaman with his claymore, wielding it with his one remaining arm.

Boom!

But Jang Yong-beom’s attack was repelled with a loud explosion.

It was because of the black smoke swirling around the Orc Shaman’s body.

The black smoke formed strange symbols in the air as it circled the Shaman.

Sizzle!

Everything exposed to the black smoke rotted away.

The sand, the Awakeneds, and even the corpses of the Orcs.

It was the shaman’s skill, ‘Breath of the Dead.’

"Turn to rotten soil and disappear, human!"

The Shaman waved his hand, and the Breath of the Dead shot toward Jang Yong-beom.

The Breath of the Dead was a skill that could be used both defensively and offensively.

It was a versatile skill that the Shaman could manipulate at will.

The Shaman’s eyes were filled with anger.

Despite deploying thousands of Orcs, they still hadn’t managed to eliminate the mere dozens of Awakeneds.

No matter how strong human Awakeneds were, this was a serious issue.

"Useless fools. I’ll have to wipe them all out myself."

Jang Yong-beom, seeing the ominous energy emanating from the Shaman, felt a sense of urgency.

‘I have to kill him before he uses another skill.’

Jang Yong-beom threw his claymore at the Shaman with all his might and shouted.

"Guillotine!"

The claymore expanded several times in mid-air and came crashing down toward the Shaman’s head like a guillotine.

The blade gleamed with an aura, ready to slice through anything it touched.

Whether it was a living being or an inanimate object, nothing could withstand its edge.

Jang Yong-beom was confident that this single strike would claim the Shaman's life.

But life often defies expectations, and unfortunately, this was one of those times.

Thunk!

The guillotine strike was abruptly halted by a massive hand.

Jang Yong-beom’s eyes widened in shock.

What had stopped the guillotine was a colossal giant.

There was no way a giant should have been here.

Orcs typically ranged from two to three meters in height.

But the giant that had blocked his guillotine strike was nearly ten meters tall.

It was even larger than the Orc Great Chieftain, rivaling some of the biggest large-class beasts.

If such a massive creature had been around, Jang Yong-beom would have noticed it immediately.

The reason he hadn't noticed was because this giant wasn’t a pre-existing creature.

The giant had been born from the Shaman’s power, formed by merging the bodies of the many Orcs the Awakened had slain.

It was a type of corpse golem, created by condensing and combining hundreds of Orc bodies.

Jang Yong-beom had heard of golems, but this was his first time seeing one in person.

And to see a golem made from the corpses of Orcs was even more disturbing.

"You have no taste. Using the bodies of your own kind as weapons? Don’t you Orcs have even the slightest sense of kinship?"

"It’s all for the Great Chieftain. Look! Don’t you see the joyful tears on the faces of the Orcs that have become part of the giant?"

Whether it was truly joy was uncertain, but tears indeed streamed down the faces of the Orcs that made up the corpse golem.

"You insane Orc bastard!"

Jang Yong-beom cursed as he swung his hand. The claymore, which had been gripped by the golem's hand, flew back into his grasp.

The Shaman grinned as he watched.

"Heh heh! To Orcs, that is the highest form of praise."

"Fine! Let's see who's really insane here."

Jang Yong-beom ground his teeth as he gathered his mana.

His chest felt like it was on fire, something deep within was about to explode.

If he didn’t release this rage and frustration, he felt he might burst.

More than anything, he didn’t want to be outdone by Zeon, who was displaying overwhelming power against the Great Chieftain.

Even though he knew that, with his current abilities, he couldn’t match Zeon.

That was the essence of who Jang Yong-beom was—a man filled with unyielding determination, refusing to lose.

"You are the one I will definitely kill."

He charged at the corpse golem standing in front of the Orc Shaman.

Boom!

His slash struck the golem, causing parts of the Orc corpses that formed it to fall off. But even as some corpses were cut away, more bodies fused together, making the golem even larger.

Jang Yong-beom’s face twisted in frustration.

"Damn it!"

Just then—

Boom!

A thunderous noise reverberated through the desert, shaking the sands.

Everyone turned toward the source of the sound, their eyes widening in shock.

[Translator - Peptobismol]

[Proofreader - Demon God]