Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert

Chapter 263

After leaving City Hall, Zeon immediately headed for the lodging where Aslan and Duduyan were staying.

Duduyan was already up, but Aslan was still lost in dreamland.

“Wake up, human!”

Duduyan kicked him hard, but Aslan didn’t regain consciousness easily.

“I’m sorry. This fool crawled in this morning and is still off in dreamland.”

“This morning?”

“Yes! He came back completely out of it.”

“Has this happened often?”

“No. He likes drinking, but it’s never been this bad before…”

Duduyan lowered her head, as if the whole thing was her fault.

Her face flushed bright red.

She was already embarrassed that Aslan had come back drunk, but the fact that he still hadn’t sobered up made her feel even more ashamed.

Zeon shook his head and said.

“It’s not just because of the alcohol.”

“What?”

“Let me take a look.”

Zeon approached Aslan.

At first glance, he just seemed to be drunk. However, Zeon detected an odd smell mixed with the alcohol.

It was a damp, metallic scent that tingled at his nerves.

He had smelled this before.

“Hm.”

After thinking for a moment, Zeon took a small vial from his subspace.

The vial contained a red liquid.

Duduyan, puzzled, asked.

“What’s that?”

“It’s a fluid from the back of a Fire Toad.”

“Huh?”

“You’ve probably never seen it. These creatures live thousands of kilometers south of Neo Seoul.”

“Oh…”

“The fluid from this monster’s back hardens when it comes into contact with other monster fluids.”

When the Fire Toad encounters a monster, it compresses and shoots this fluid from its back. Once the fluid penetrates the monster’s body, it hardens like limestone.

Monsters that are hit by this fluid die as their blood solidifies, blocking their veins.

Since the Fire Toad is a low-rank monster, this method only works on weaker monsters.

Zeon had discovered this property and collected some of the fluid.

He dabbed the Fire Toad’s liquid on a cotton swab and brought it close to Aslan’s nose.

Duduyan, still confused by Zeon’s actions, asked.

“Why use Fire Toad fluid?”

“I told you, it solidifies when it contacts other monster fluids.”

“And that means…?”

Duduyan was about to protest but stopped when she saw the cotton swab start to harden as it touched Aslan’s breath.

“My guess was right. The City Hall spiked Aslan’s drink with a drug refined from monster fluids.”

“No way…”

“It’s probably a truth serum made from monster byproducts.”

“Oh my god! Does that mean all our information is in City Hall’s hands?”

“Most likely, yes.”

At Zeon’s words, Duduyan covered her mouth with her hands.

The two of them had come to Neo Seoul to protect the secrets of the Steel Fortress, but now all of it had been compromised.

If Aslan had revealed everything, Neo Seoul would know all about the Steel Fortress by now.

If they grew greedy and decided to invade, there would be no way to defend against it.

“This idiot…”

In a fit of rage, Duduyan kicked Aslan with all her strength.

Thud!

“Ugh! What the—?!”

Startled by the impact, Aslan jolted awake.

“You drunkard! Do you even know what you’ve done?”

“Wh-What are you talking about?”

“Do you realize the mess you’ve made?”

“Hold on! What happened? Let’s talk about this.”

Sensing that the situation was serious, Aslan’s voice dropped.

“Why do you even bother living, you idiot?! Why do you even live?!”

Thud! Thud!

Duduyan mercilessly pummeled Aslan.

He didn’t even dare resist, curling up like a shrimp as he took the beating.

Aslan had instinctively realized something was wrong.

He could remember drinking at the bar, but after a certain point, everything went blank.

No matter how strong the alcohol was, it shouldn’t have knocked him out so quickly.

After all, he wasn’t a regular human—he was an Awakened.

For someone like him to pass out that fast, there had to be something more in the drink.

‘Damn it! Did I screw up?’

It wasn’t the pain from Duduyan’s blows that bothered him.

The fact that he had unknowingly fallen into someone’s trap chilled him to the core.

Judging from Duduyan’s reaction, it was clear he had made a serious mistake.

That’s why he didn’t resist and just accepted her punches.

“Huff… Huff…”

After beating Aslan for a while, Duduyan finally stopped, exhausted.

Only then did Aslan cautiously ask Zeon.

“Did I… make a big mistake?”

“The Mayor knows everything.”

“Everything?”

“The Steel Fortress, Archelon, Moby Dick…”

“Shit!”

Thud!

Aslan slammed his head against the wall.

His forehead split, and blood started to trickle down.

He didn’t need further explanation to understand.

He was the one who had spilled everything.

His mind still felt foggy, as if someone had messed with it while he was unconscious.

It was clear that City Hall had gotten to him during the time he had blacked out.

If it weren’t for Zeon, he would have just assumed he had passed out from drinking too much.

The more he thought about it, the more horrified he became.

He now fully realized just how terrifying Neo Seoul was.

But more than anything, he was furious at himself for failing to keep his mouth shut.

“I deserve to die.”

Smack! Smack! Smack!

Aslan began punching himself in the face with all his strength.

His skin tore, and blood splattered everywhere.

These weren’t half-hearted blows.

He couldn’t forgive himself for falling victim to Neo Seoul’s tricks.

Duduyan didn’t try to stop him.

Even though his face was now a bloody mess and his cheekbones were crushed, she watched indifferently, as if it were someone else’s problem.

That’s how deep her disappointment ran.

It was Zeon who stepped in to stop him.

“That’s enough.”

“Don’t stop me, Zeon! I deserve to die! How could I fall for something as simple as alcohol…”

“Even if you hadn’t been drinking, they would’ve found a way to extract the information. There’s nothing in this world they can’t discover if they set their minds to it.”

“But still…”

“Now’s not the time for self-pity. We need to figure out what to do next.”

“Figure out… what?”

Finally, Aslan stopped hitting himself.

Killing himself was something he could do at any time.

What was important now was protecting the Steel Fortress from Neo Seoul.

“Tell me what to do. I’ll give you my heart if that’s what it takes.”

“I don’t need your heart.”

“Then what?”

“I need you to find information about someone.”

“Someone?”

“Her name is Claire. She’s the person City Hall is sending to retrieve Moby Dick’s heart.”

Jin Geum-ho had decided to send two people with Zeon.

One of them was someone Zeon already knew.

Lee Jung-ho.

He was a member of the Mayor’s personal Execution Squad, also known as the Numbers.

Lee Jung-ho was Neo Seoul’s greatest swordsman.

Sending him made sense. He had the skill and strength to handle the mission.

The problem was Claire.

Based on her name, she seemed to be a woman, but there was no information about her.

Since Zeon already knew Lee Jung-ho’s abilities, he could plan accordingly. But without any knowledge of Claire, preparing for her was difficult.

“I need information on Claire.”

“Claire? Understood. I’ll dedicate everything I have to find out about her.”

“I’m counting on you.”

“Leave it to me.”

Aslan bowed deeply.

In truth, Zeon didn’t need to rely on Aslan to gather information. He could easily get it through Argos’ Eye.

But he knew that giving Aslan a task would help alleviate his guilt.

Duduyan bowed her head to Zeon and said.

“I’m sorry things have turned out this way because of this idiot. But he’ll carry out the task you’ve given him well.”

“I know.”

“Thank you, Zeon. I feel like we’re always causing trouble for you and owe you so much.”

“It’s fine, Duduyan.”

“I’ll make sure this fool learns his lesson.”

Normally, Aslan would’ve bristled at being called a fool, but this time he kept his mouth shut.

That’s how deeply he felt his own failure.

Zeon spoke up.

“What’s done is done. Two people from City Hall will be accompanying us. We need to prevent further leaks and figure out how to use them to our advantage.”

“Yes, Zeon.”

Both of them answered in unison.

* * *

Zeon walked down the street alone.

‘They’re moving way too fast.’

It had only been yesterday when Aslan and Duduyan first contacted him, yet Jin Geum-ho had not only found out but also figured out why they had come to see him.

It was an incredibly swift response.

‘They must have someone watching me…’

There was no other explanation for how quickly they had responded.

Zeon furrowed his brow.

He was always diligent about keeping his surroundings in check.

It was second nature to him.

And yet, he hadn’t noticed anything unusual.

‘That means whoever’s watching me has special abilities…’

While it was inevitable that he would have to play along with Jin Geum-ho, that didn’t mean he intended to blindly follow the Mayor’s every whim.

The moment you show weakness, the other side pushes even deeper.

There’s no such thing as holding back.

In this world, once someone starts probing, they won’t stop until they’ve drained you dry.

You might fall for it once, but never twice.

He had to show them that he wasn’t someone to be trifled with.

Zeon quietly summoned his power.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a sandstorm began to stir.

Zeon was manipulating the sand, riding the wind.

“What the hell?!”

“Why’s there a sandstorm all of a sudden?”

People walking through the streets were startled by the sudden gusts of sand. Still, no one found it particularly strange.

Sandstorms were common in the slums.

But this one was different. It was more violent and intense than usual.

The sand was so thick and wild that people couldn’t open their eyes.

They coughed, unable to breathe as the sand got into their mouths and noses.

Even covering their faces with cloth did little to help.

People hunched down, waiting for the storm to pass.

But some reacted differently.

As soon as the sandstorm began, they put on masks equipped with air filters.

These people were members of the Shadow Unit.

They had been watching Zeon from a distance.

Although they had already obtained valuable information, their surveillance of Zeon hadn’t ended.

“Damn it! Where’d this sandstorm come from?”

“I can’t see Number Five anywhere!”

In the brief moment they put on their masks, Zeon had vanished.

It was then that the sand in front of them started to gather.

In the blink of an eye, the sand took on a human form.

A Sand Soldier.

As soon as they saw it, the watchers knew they’d been discovered.

“Run!”

They didn’t look back as they fled.

But the sandstorm clung to them like a leech.

What they didn’t realize was that Zeon was riding the storm, chasing after them.

———–