Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert

[Translator - Peptobismol]

[Proofreader - Demon God]

Chapter 205

Slash!

Urtian swiftly sliced through an attacking Four-Eyed Bat, cutting it cleanly in half.

“Damn it! There were monsters living inside the fortress? Why didn’t they tell us?”

His face was filled with anger from the sudden assault by the Four-Eyed Bats.

Deborah stepped forward.

“Calm down.”

“Deborah!”

“These people didn’t mention it because they didn’t think it was a significant threat. The important thing now is to deal with the situation.”

“Is that even possible?”

“We have to try.”

Deborah responded with a determined look.

Though she usually managed the internal affairs of the Red Storm, she was also a C-rank Tamer.

This meant she had the ability to tame monsters.

Fortunately, the Four-Eyed Bats were not highly ranked monsters, only about D-rank or E-rank at best.

Taming one or two would be easy.

The problem was there were tens of thousands of them.

Taming so many monsters would be impossible even for a high-rank Tamer, let alone a mere C-rank like her.

She needed to find a way.

Deborah quickly scanned her surroundings.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

With explosive sounds, numerous Four-Eyed Bats fell to the ground.

Zeon was using his Viper skill to intercept them.

While Zeon was efficiently dealing with the bats, the other Awakened members were helpless against the airborne assault.

For ordinary Awakened members, flying monsters were akin to a disaster.

They weren’t prepared to deal with airborne attacks since they usually fought on the ground.

Zeon continued to use his Viper skill to reduce the number of Four-Eyed Bats.

He wanted to use a powerful skill like Sand Storm to wipe out the bats in one go, but using such a strong skill in the confined space of the Steel Fortress would endanger the people inside.

Thus, he had to reduce their numbers one by one with less destructive skills.

Deborah hurried over to Zeon.

“Please help me.”

“How can I help?”

“There must be a leader among these bats.”

“Like a queen?”

“Yes! If it's C-rank or lower, I can tame it. If we calm the leader, the others will stop rampaging.”

“It’s worth a try.”

Zeon nodded just as the roars of the Orcs echoed nearby.

Taking advantage of the confusion caused by the bats, the Orcs had launched an attack.

They were climbing up the cliff like ants.

Seeing the Orcs scaling the cliff, the Awakened members shivered.

“Stop them!”

“Damn it! These bats…”

The Awakened members tried to attack the Orcs but were too distracted by the bats.

Zeon spoke.

“Perhaps I should handle the Orcs…”

“That’s our job. If we want to survive here, we need to fight them ourselves. That way, we can learn how to deal with them next time.”

Deborah looked Zeon straight in the eyes.

Zeon had incredible abilities.

If he used his near-divine powers, the Orcs on the sand wouldn't stand a chance. But relying on him wouldn’t help the Awakened members grow.

“This is both a crisis and an opportunity. By facing a common enemy like the Orcs, the Red Storm and the people of the Steel Fortress can unite. So give us this chance.”

“Understood.”

Zeon nodded.

If this was Deborah’s determination, he had to respect it.

“Levin!”

“Yes, hyung.”

Levin, who had been fighting the bats nearby, responded to Zeon’s call.

“There must be a leader among the bats. Find it.”

“Got it.”

Levin nodded.

Finding the leader among tens of thousands of bats would be impossible for others, but Levin could do it.

Ssss!

Levin turned into his ghostly form and flew into the air.

The bats attacked him, but physical attacks didn’t affect his ethereal body.

Hundreds of bats passed through his body in vain.

Levin floated, scanning for a unique individual.

After a while, he spotted an exceptionally large Four-Eyed Bat.

Unlike the others, it wasn’t attacking humans but hovering in place.

The moment Levin saw it, he instinctively knew.

‘That’s the boss.’

It wasn’t just its size.

The bat had a unique horn on its head, emitting a faint red glow.

Whenever the light from the horn intensified, the bats circled and attacked the humans.

Levin returned to Zeon and reported.

“I found the boss.”

“Well done. Take us to it.”

“Got it.”

Levin ghosted and flew back up.

Zeon extended his hand to Deborah.

“Hold on tight.”

“Yes!”

Deborah suddenly found herself airborne.

Looking down in surprise, she saw a pillar of sand supporting her.

Zeon had manipulated the sand to lift both of them into the air.

The Four-Eyed Bats didn’t ignore the humans intruding into their domain.

Screech!

[Translator - Peptobismol]

[Proofreader - Demon God]

With sharp cries, hundreds, thousands of bats attacked.

The sight of the swarming bats was terrifying enough to haunt nightmares.

Deborah instinctively closed her eyes tightly.

Boom! Boom!

Explosive sounds echoed around her, but she felt no impact.

Zeon had created a barrier of sand to protect them.

The bats hit the sand wall and were flung back by the force.

Deborah watched all this unfold, her eyes wide with amazement.

‘What an incredible power.’

Experiencing it firsthand, she realized just how extraordinary Zeon’s abilities were.

Even amidst the relentless assault of the bats, Zeon protected Deborah and followed Levin safely.

After a while, Levin pointed to a specific bat and said.

“That’s the one.”

“It does look like the leader.”

Zeon nodded, looking at Deborah.

Deborah also agreed with their assessment.

“It’s the queen.”

As a Tamer, she could tell.

The unique individual was the queen of the swarm.

“How do we tame it?”

“First, we need to subdue it.”

“By force?”

“Yes!”

“That’s not difficult.”

“What?”

Deborah was puzzled as Zeon called out to Levin.

“Levin!”

“Yes, hyung.”

“Fry all the ones nearby.”

“Got it!”

Crackle!

In an instant, purple lightning surged from Levin’s body.

The wave of Purple Lightning struck the bats flying around.

Low-rank monsters couldn’t withstand Levin’s Purple Lightning.

The bats fell like leaves in a storm.

Only the queen remained airborne, but it too was disoriented by the powerful electric shock.

Zeon seized the opportunity and brought Deborah onto the queen’s back.

Realizing their presence, the queen thrashed violently, trying to shake them off.

Bang!

Zeon punched the queen’s head with his right fist.

The queen briefly lost consciousness from the blow.

The queen plummeted rapidly, and the other bats went berserk.

They flew in, trying to save their queen.

Crackle!

Levin unleashed Purple Lightning again to keep the bats at bay.

Boom!

The queen crashed to the ground.

Levin descended from the queen’s back and spoke to Deborah.

“Your turn now.”

“Leave it to me.”

Deborah placed her hands on the head of the disoriented queen.

She concentrated, trying to connect with the queen.

It was amusing to think of taming a monster she had just beaten, but this was the best method now.

Shine!

A bright light emanated from her hands.

Even then, the bats tried to save their queen, but their efforts were thwarted by Zeon and Levin.

Meanwhile, Deborah completed her task.

“It’s done.”

Deborah stepped away from the queen.

The queen shook its head, regaining consciousness.

Deborah spoke gently.

“We are not your enemies.”

Screech!

“I know! You’re scared. But we didn’t do this.”

Screech!

Zeon and Levin watched in amazement as Deborah communicated with the queen bat.

They hadn’t expected her to be able to converse with a monster.

After a while, Deborah patted the queen bat and said.

“Thank you for understanding. We will respect your territory, so please calm down.”

Screech!

The horn on the queen’s forehead emitted light, and the swarming bats settled down.

The queen flew back into the air, glanced at Deborah, and entered the vertical cave. The swarm followed.

Whoosh!

The sight of tens of thousands of bats entering the cave was magnificent.

Zeon asked Deborah.

“Since you’ve tamed the queen, can’t you make it attack the Orcs?”

“With my abilities, I can’t control it completely. Without you, the queen wouldn’t have listened. For now, it’s best to respect each other’s territory.”

“I see.”

Zeon nodded.

A queen leading such a large swarm would have strong willpower and ego. It was beyond Deborah’s current abilities to fully control it.

They had to be satisfied with stopping the bat rampage.

Finally, all the bats had returned to the vertical cave.

But there was no time to relax.

“Chwiit!”

“Raaah!”

The Orcs were climbing into the entrance of the Steel Fortress.

While the Awakened members were struggling with the bats, the Orcs had scaled the cliff and arrived.

Among them was a particularly noticeable Orc.

A massive Orc wielding a large battle hammer—Ashanka.

Smash!

Ashanka crushed an approaching Awakened member with his hammer and roared.

“Kill all the humans!”

[Translator - Peptobismol]

[Proofreader - Demon God]