Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert

Chapter 93

[Translator – Peptobismol]

Chapter 93

The Awakeneds entered the dungeon.

As expected, the dungeon was in the form of a maze-like cave.

It was tunneled in all directions like an anthill, making it impossible to determine the direction. However, no one who entered the dungeon was bewildered.

They had a guide.

As if it were natural, Shuhan stepped forward from the Inazuma raid team.

Shuhan was an experienced guide.

Although Dosuyul was quite competent as a guide, he was not comparable to Shuhan in terms of rank and experience.

Realizing his own shortcomings, Dosuyul yielded the position to Shuhan.

Sniffing the air, Shuhan muttered to himself.

“Sniff! The smell here is quite foul.”

“To what extent?”

“Atrocious! I haven’t smelled such a rotten stench in a long time.”

“Is that so?”

Kouji’s gaze sank deep.

He deeply trusted the guide, Shuhan.

Shuhan mentioned the foul smell, indicating that the dungeons where such odors emanated were all extremely dangerous.

He spoke to the other Awakeneds.

“You heard that? Be on high alert.”

“Yes!”

“Mm!”

The Awakeneds tensed up.

Although they entered the dungeon together, they were not one team.

The Inazuma raid team, Jack’s raid team, and Awakeneds recruited from the slums.

They had different identities and varied purposes.

Naturally, they couldn’t unite as one.

They naturally divided into three groups.

Zeon joined Jack’s raid team.

“Let’s go.”

Led by Shuhan, the Inazuma raid team moved forward, followed by Jack’s raid team and the Awakeneds from the slums.

Zeon walked at the rear of Jack’s raid team.

His eyes scanned the cave sharply.

‘The entire cave is made of sandstone. It’s about three meters high and wide. Are those marks on the wall claw marks?’

Although it seemed trivial, such small details provided a lot of information.

Suddenly, Zeon’s gaze shifted to a small spot on the wall.

At first glance, it seemed like a shadow cast by the light, but Zeon immediately realized it wasn’t the case.

‘Is that a fungus?’

There was a type of mushroom called Dongchunhacho.

It attaches itself to insects in winter and appears like grass in summer, hence the name.

Dongchunhacho was a name after the Cordyceps sinensis, another fungus.

The names were similar because their physiology is alike.

While it parasitizes on rocks, it moves like moss on sand.

Even on the same rocks, it can’t exert much force in sandstone where sand has accumulated.

By itself, it does not pose a threat to humans.

‘It must be a good prey for some monsters.’

Zeon thought of monsters that couldn’t use four limbs.

‘The size allowing for free movement inside the cave, the claw marks on the walls, and the Dongchunhacho. It seems like the owner of this dungeon is that bastard.’

He quickly identified the owner of the dungeon.

Zeon approached Kouji to share his findings.

“Hey!”

“Hush! Didn’t you hear that we need to keep quiet in the dungeon? Maintain silence until I command otherwise.”

Kouji looked at Zeon with disdainful eyes.

The others had the same attitude.

“Tsk!”

Zeon clicked his tongue and stepped back.

Anyway, he had done what he could.

From now on, they were responsible for what would happen, so he felt no guilt.

At that moment, Kouji sent a signal to Shuhan.

‘Have you identified the monster inhabiting here?’

Instead of replying, Shuhan shook his head.

They were just at the beginning of the dungeon.

There was insufficient information to identify the monsters inhabiting inside.

Shuhan cautiously moved forward.

They didn’t know what monsters would emerge from the dungeon.

Identifying and informing the raid team about the monsters was one of his tasks before anything else happened.

Sniff!

Shuhan caught a strange smell in the air.

There was a particularly pungent smell in one of the passages.

‘This place must be avoided.’

The likelihood of monsters gathering in such a place was high.

Shuhan led the group towards the passage with the least discomfort.

Kwagak!

When they reached the middle of the passage, something peculiar caught Shuhan’s ears.

He shouted.

“Monster sighting ahead. Everyone, prepare for battle!”

As soon as his words ended, two lights appeared on the other side of the passage.

There was no one that didn’t know that those were the eyes of the monsters.

Kouji gave the command.

“Yuri! Attack.”

“Yes!”

Yuri swung her fan in response.

The blades of wind flew fiercely.

Boom!

The wind blades struck the monster’s head precisely.

With a powerful impact, the monster screamed loudly and fell.

Kaarghh!

As the cave resounded with the piercing scream, Yuri muttered.

“It’s nothing much.”

She was a mage that used the wind attribute. She referred to herself as an ‘Wind Mage.’ That’s how confident she was in her wind magic.

Dealing with monsters of this level was as easy as flipping her hand.

“Judging by the reaction, it’s just a D-rank monster.”

“Alright! Let’s push through quickly.”

“This dungeon doesn’t seem too dangerous.”

The expressions of the Awakeneds brightened at Yuri’s words.

An Awakened like Yuri was almost like a human measuring device.

They could accurately distinguish the rank of monsters from the force felt in their hands.

If D-rank monsters inhabited this dungeon, then the owner of the dungeon would be at most C-rank.

With C-rank monsters, the Awakeneds who entered would be enough to hunt them down.

The tension vanished from the faces of the Awakeneds.

Kouji was the first to confirm the identity of the fallen monster.

“This looks like a giant mole.”

The monster felled by Yuri’s attack resembled a mole.

It was several meters tall, with a body length of over five meters from head to tail.

[Translator – Peptobismol]

At that moment, Zeon, who had been maintaining silence, spoke up.

“They’re called Hell Moles.”

“Do you know what they are?”

Kouji looked at Zeon with surprise.

Zeon answered with a sigh.

“Hell Moles are particularly clan-oriented monsters. If one is killed, the entire clan will seek revenge.”

“Is that so…”

“The problem is the number of clan members. There could be hundreds or even thousands of them, forming one bloodline.”

“Hundreds, thousands?”

Kouji’s eyebrows twitched.

Suddenly, Shuhan urgently shouted.

“Captain! I sense monsters approaching from all directions.”

“What?”

“We need to hurry. They’re getting closer.”

“Everyone, prepare for battle!”

It was at this urgent moment that Kouji issued the command.

Kieee!

Kwaah!

Hell Moles appeared from all corners of the cave.

They filled the anthill-like tunnels, and the expressions of the Awakeneds showed dismay at the appearance of the Hell Mole horde.

“What’s this?”

“This is insane!”

The Hell Moles radiated intense enmity towards the Awakeneds who had killed one of their kin and rushed towards them.

Although they resembled moles, their speed was as fast as a horse.

The Hell Moles’ biggest weapon was their large claws.

Claws that could cut through rocks like tofu posed a significant threat.

“Shit!”

“Block them! If they break through, it’s all over.”

The Awakeneds each took charge of their respective passages to block the advance of the Hell Moles.

Bang! Kwaah!

The echoes of explosions reverberated throughout the cave.

The Awakeneds unleashed their respective skills.

Some wielded weapons imbued with aura, while others unleashed magic.

The Hell Moles screamed as they fell under the Awakeneds’ attacks. However, the expressions of the Awakeneds didn’t lighten up.

The problem was that even as they killed, more Hell Moles kept appearing.

What made Hell Moles formidable was their fearlessness of death, like most monsters.

The blood spilled by their comrades served as a catalyst for the Hell Moles’ frenzy.

Enveloped in madness, the Hell Moles charged at the Awakeneds.

There was another problem.

“Damn it! There are C-rank mixed in.”

It turned out that there were numerous C-rank Hell Moles among what they initially thought was a simple D-rank group of Hell Moles.

Kwaah! Boom!

They blocked the Awakeneds’ attacks with their bodies and approached. Then they slashed at the attacking Awakeneds with their claws.

Swoosh!

“Aargh!”

“Keuk!”

The Hell Moles clung to the fallen Awakeneds, tearing them apart with their teeth.

In an instant, over a dozen Awakeneds were devoured by the Hell Mole horde.

Zeon watched the scene with a cold gaze.

‘This is why facing Hell Moles is troublesome. Terrain that is favorable for them, frenzy that doesn’t fear death, and the resilience to ignore most attacks.’

This was why dealing with horde monsters was challenging.

To confront horde monsters, one had to penetrate their physiology and prepare perfectly, yet they recklessly attacked, resulting in such a catastrophe.

As Zeon stood there, the Hell Moles approached him too.

Two C-rank and three D-rank.

It was quite a formidable force.

Kieee!

With the typical roar of Hell Moles, their claws swung.

At that moment, intense flames erupted from Zeon’s body.

The Hell Moles screamed as they were blinded by the intense light. Despite their degraded eyesight, they still had some vision left.

A fire missile pierced through the head of one of the Hell Moles.

Whoosh!

The head of the Hell Mole exploded.

Seeing this, Jack shouted.

“Fire! It’s fire. They are weak to bright lights because of their degraded eyesight.”

Fortunately, among the Awakeneds from the slums, there were a few who knew how to use fire magic.

Although they were low-rank Awakeneds, being able to wield fire magic was crucial.

When fire magic was unleashed, intense light was inevitably emitted.

The intense light inflicted significant damage to the Hell Moles.

Keiee!

“Now’s the time!”

“Die!”

The Awakeneds did not miss this opportunity and slaughtered the Hell Moles.

Kouji cut down several Hell Moles in one stroke with his katana, while Yuri swept them away with her wind magic.

Byrun, as a warrior class, swung his axe wildly with just one in hand.

Jack’s raid team was also diligently reducing the number of Hell Moles.

However, no matter how many they killed, the Hell Moles continued to appear endlessly.

They needed to find a breakthrough.

At that moment, Shuhan shouted.

“Captain, this way.”

Shuhan was leading them to a passage where an unusually large number of Hell Moles were gathered.

“The dungeon boss is this way.”

The best way to disband horde monsters was to kill the boss. That way, the command structure would collapse, causing the monsters to scatter.

Fortunately, Shuhan quickly identified the location of the boss.

“Alright! Everyone, follow Shuhan.”

Kouji cut down the Hell Moles blocking the way with his katana and ran ahead.

Inazuma took the lead, followed by the Awakeneds from the slums in the middle, and Jack’s raid brought up the rear.

Zeon moved at the very rear of Jack’s raid team.

Flicking his finger, and each time, a flame erupted, piercing through the darkness.

Every time he did so, one Hell Mole after another fell.

If he wanted to, he could wipe out this dreadful horde of Hell Moles in an instant by himself.

However, he didn’t want to reveal his full power to them, but there was a bigger reason.

‘It’s suspicious!’

Although the Awakeneds guarding the dungeon said that Zeon’s group was the first to attack, the movements of the Hell Moles were too suspicious.

Just as humans evolve when facing monsters, monsters also adapt when facing humans.

The movements of the Hell Moles attacking Zeon’s group right now were also similar.

‘They’ve faced humans before.’

Zeon’s gaze shifted forward.

Shuhan was leading them towards the passage where the boss was located.

[Translator – Peptobismol]