Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert

[Translator - Peptobismol]

[Proofreader - Demon God]

Chapter 210

People who wander the desert like drifting weeds.

They have no land to take root in, endlessly roaming the sands.

The few patches of land suitable for settlement are already claimed by others, who rarely welcome outsiders.

Those who are rejected become desert nomads.

Their groups can range from a few dozen to a few hundred people.

They face countless threats: monsters, scavengers, and the hostile desert environment itself. They must become strong to survive.

Fighting against everything that threatens their existence, they become naturally hardened and powerful. Thus, desert nomads often possess combat abilities on par with scavenger groups.

However, their strength means little against the Orcs, a species bred for combat. The nomads were torn apart as if they were paper.

There were no survivors.

From the Awakeneds protecting the front to the elderly and the children who should be playing, everyone lost their lives.

"Damn it!"

"Ugh!"

The horrific sight left Eloy and the others speechless.

"Ha!"

Zeon sighed heavily as he approached the bodies.

Up close, the state of the corpses was even more gruesome.

Many had been partially eaten by the Large-Horned Hyenas, leaving their guts and bones exposed.

Their faces, frozen in terror, told of the extreme fear they must have felt before dying.

"Blegh!"

Brielle couldn't bear to look and turned away, tears welling in her eyes.

Zeon closed the eyes of one of the corpses and said.

"It's a pity. If we had met them a little earlier, we could have sent them to Steel Fortress."

Steel Fortress would have been able to accommodate this number of people, and they might not have met such a tragic end at the hands of the Orcs.

Levin approached Zeon.

"Are there many people wandering the desert like this?"

"More than you think."

"Then why have I never heard of these nomads?"

"They don't want to encounter the Neo Seoul raid parties or Awakeneds."

"Why?"

"Because they hold deep-seated hatred and fear."

"I understand the fear, but why the hatred?"

"Those in Neo Seoul or colonies see themselves as chosen, while the nomads see themselves as abandoned."

"Ah!"

With that perspective, everything made sense.

The abandoned instinctively avoid the eyes of the world.

In the vast desert, the chances of encountering Awakeneds from Neo Seoul or other colonies are slim. Even if they did, the nomads would spot them first and avoid them.

The vision of desert-trained nomads surpasses that of most Awakeneds, rivaling that of Griffins or Wyverns.

Thus, the Awakeneds from Neo Seoul rarely meet nomads, and the people in the slums are unaware of their existence.

It wasn't surprising that Levin didn't know. However, he was deeply shocked.

He realized there was much he didn't know about the world.

He had lived thinking Neo Seoul was everything, but traveling with Zeon revealed the true state of the world.

A world marked by a constant struggle for survival.

It wasn't a matter of Orcs being evil and humans being good.

Orcs fought to live, and humans fought to survive.

The clash of the two species was inevitable.

Despite this, Levin hated the Orcs because he was part of the human world.

"If we leave the Orcs alone, they'll kill more humans, won't they?"

"With the emergence of a Great Chieftain, they might even target Neo Seoul."

"Doesn't Neo Seoul have anti-magic defenses? The Orcs wouldn't dare approach."

"Recently, Neo Seoul's anti-magic defenses have significantly weakened. The Great Chieftain might be able to breach Neo Seoul."

"Neo Seoul's anti-magic defenses have weakened? Why?"

"I don't know the reason. But it's clear they've become much weaker than before."

"This is bad. That means the slums are in danger too."

"If the Orcs invade, the slums will be the first to suffer."

Neo Seoul left the slums as a first line of defense against external threats.

"This is insane."

Levin scratched his head in frustration.

His friends and acquaintances lived in the slums.

If the Orcs invaded, they wouldn't be safe.

Zeon said.

"First, we need to take care of these bodies. If we leave them, the Large-Horned Hyenas will return."

"Yes!"

As Zeon focused his power, the surrounding sand began to ripple.

The sand acted like a swamp, pulling in the bodies of the people and Bactrian camels.

The numerous corpses quickly disappeared into the sand.

The desert thus completely erased the traces of the tragedy.

Zeon closed his eyes and murmured.

"I hope you are born into a better place in your next life..."

Zeon didn't believe in an afterlife.

He thought this life was the only one, and rebirth was impossible.

If rebirth were possible, the other species in Kurayan wouldn't have struggled so hard to come to Earth.

Despite this, he sincerely hoped there was an afterlife. Otherwise, the lives of those who died so tragically would be too meaningless.

At that moment.

"Hyung! Over there?"

"It's Orcs."

Levin and Eloy shouted, pointing in one direction.

A cloud of dust rose in the distance.

Riding through the dust were Orc riders on Blood Wolves.

These were the Orc riders who had massacred the nomads.

For some reason, they were returning to the scene of the massacre.

[Translator - Peptobismol]

[Proofreader - Demon God]

Hundreds of Orc riders and Blood Wolves approached with a menacing presence.

Any lesser creatures would flee in terror at the sight.

"Chwiit! Humans!"

"There are still humans left."

The Orcs shouted excitedly upon spotting Zeon's group.

The Blood Wolves howled loudly.

Kuohoho!

Kwang!

The Blood Wolves' howls echoed through the desert.

"Those damned bastards..."

"I won't forgive them!"

"I'll kill them."

Levin, Eloy, and Brielle's eyes turned bloodshot as they prepared for battle. But Zeon stepped in front of them.

"I'll handle this."

"Hyung?"

"Just this once, leave it to me."

Hearing Zeon's calm voice, Levin felt a chill run down his spine.

He had been with Zeon for a long time but had never felt this way before.

"Zeon!"

"Hmm."

Even Brielle and Eloy fell silent and stepped back.

The current Zeon was not the Zeon they knew.

His appearance was the same, but his eyes and aura were entirely different.

They felt a chilling fear they had never experienced before.

Unable to say anything, they retreated.

Zeon walked toward the Orcs.

"Chwiit! Kill the human."

"Let's eat him."

The Orc riders shouted fiercely.

The Orc riders who had grown with Great Chieftain Orca were formidable warriors.

Their spirits were exceptional.

However, Zeon's expression remained unchanged.

With each step, the sand beneath Zeon rose like a cloud.

Before he had taken ten steps, an enormous amount of sand was floating around him.

Levin, Brielle, and Eloy's eyes widened.

The sand moving with Zeon looked like enormous wings.

He resembled not a human, but a demon king or a dark god.

Whooosh!

A gust of wind blew.

The floating sand particles rippled like waves in the wind.

"There's something strange about this human."

"The sand is following him."

The Orcs, charging fiercely, sensed something was off. But it was too late to stop.

"Just charge! The human can't defeat us."

The Orc rider leader shouted, leading the charge.

The Blood Wolves sprinted even faster.

In an instant, the distance between Zeon and the Orc riders closed to a few dozen meters.

Kwang!

The Blood Wolves barked ferociously as they approached Zeon.

The smell of their breath and blood was palpable.

Just like with the nomads, they intended to tear Zeon apart.

At that moment, Zeon murmured.

"A peaceful death doesn't suit you."

Suddenly, the sand beneath the Blood Wolves buckled.

It was like the stomach of a beast.

As the sand moved, the Blood Wolves lost their footing and tumbled clumsily.

Naturally, the Orc riders on the Blood Wolves also toppled over.

The Orc riders, sprawled on the sand, angrily got to their feet.

"Chwiit! What happened?"

"The human used some trick to move the sand."

The Blood Wolves, disoriented by the fall, shook their heads. The Orcs abandoned their mounts and charged directly.

Even without their mounts, the Orcs' fighting spirit remained unbroken.

They were born for battle.

However, this time, their opponent was formidable.

Whooosh!

Sand-laden wind engulfed them.

Sand poured into their eyes and ears. Yet, the Orcs ignored the pain and advanced.

Avoiding pain was a trait of the weak.

They were born strong, and their endurance was not so easily broken.

Believing in their steel-like bodies, they chose to advance. But they soon realized how foolish that decision was.

Kwakwa!

With each step, the sandstorm doubled in intensity.

It was like a massive wall of wind blocking the Orcs.

The sandstorm's blades tore into the Orcs' flesh. The sand burrowed into the gouged-out wounds.

The sand relentlessly tore through the Orcs' muscles and skin, burrowing inside.

"Kkeek!"

"Chwiit! It hurts."

The Orcs screamed in pain as their skin and flesh were separated.

A species immune to pain?

Zeon scoffed.

No creature was immune to pain. They were just too dull to feel it immediately.

For the Orcs, true pain was just beginning.

Swoosh!

The sand separated their skin and flesh, gnawing at the exposed muscles.

"Keekk!"

"Spare me!"

The Orcs screamed in agony as the relentless sandstorm enveloped them. Their cries, however, were swallowed by the raging winds.

The sandstorm consumed the Orcs entirely, swirling with ferocious intensity.

Kwakakakak!

The immense power of the sandstorm left Brielle and Levin speechless.

'This is insane! Is this really a human's ability?'

Eloy's eyes widened as she stared at the massive sandstorm.

Its diameter was several dozen meters, and its height exceeded one hundred meters.

It was hard to believe that a human could summon such a colossal sandstorm. But they had to believe it.

The person who created this sandstorm was right beside them—Zeon.

Moments later, the sandstorm gradually began to dissipate.

The sky and sun, previously obscured, reappeared. But there was no trace of the Orcs anywhere.

The sand had not merely covered them; they were entirely obliterated.

There wasn't a single piece of flesh or a drop of blood left where the Orcs had been.

Thus, hundreds of Orc riders and Blood Wolves were completely erased from existence.

[Translator - Peptobismol]

[Proofreader - Demon God]