Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert Chapter 628

Chapter 628

Zeon spoke as he looked at Lemura, who was sitting down with a tired expression.

“Wasn’t that too much for you?”

“It was hard, but I’m okay since I was able to save a lot of people.”

“Still, take care of your body while you do it.”

“Don’t worry, oppa!”

Lemura smiled adorably. Watching nearby, Jetoah clicked his tongue and scolded her.

“She really is an idiot. Pouring out mana until she collapsed from exhaustion.”

“But I could endure it because of the necklace Zeon oppa gave .”

Lemura pointed at the necklace hanging around her neck.

It was Elura’s Tear, which Zeon had given her so ti ago.

A broken item capable of completely restoring mana once a day.

Thanks to Elura’s Tear, Lemura had been able to heal people to the fullest without worrying about mana depletion.

“What about the other healers?”

“They drank the potion sister Brielle gave them and are resting.”

“They’ll have to treat a lot of people tomorrow too, so make sure they get as much rest as possible.”

“Yes, oppa!”

“You did well today.”

“Hehe!”

At Zeon’s praise, Lemura smiled shyly.

After sending her and Jetoah off to rest, Zeon stepped outside.

When he headed toward the entrance of the Steel Fortress, he saw Levin collapsed onto the ground with an exhausted look on his face.

“You worked hard.”

“Ugh! My whole body aches like hell.”

“If it weren’t for you, the skies would’ve broken open and the damage would’ve been massive. You did well.”

“If I’d been alone, they would’ve broken through. We only managed to stop them because everyone helped with one heart.”

Levin’s gaze turned toward the West District awakeners sitting a short distance away.

The West District awakeners were busy repairing or replacing their parts.

Thanks to their covering fire, Levin had been able to stop the flying-type beasts with ease.

Perhaps sensing his gaze, the West District awakeners waved their hands. Levin waved back.

They had only fought together for half a day, yet camaraderie had already ford.

“If you’re really struggling, why not ask Lemura?”

“It’s fine. Lemura must be exhausted too after working all day. This alone is enough for .”

Levin pulled out a small glass bottle from his chest and shook it.

It was a potion made by Brielle.

Levin downed the potion in one gulp.

“Haa! I finally feel alive again.”

“You’ll have to work hard again tomorrow. Out of everyone here, you’re the only one who can deal with flying-type beasts easily.”

“I was already prepared for that much.”

Levin nodded.

Among everyone gathered here, only he, Zeon, and the gravity mage Grain possessed flight abilities.

Grain, a mber of the Numbers, was occupied dealing with the large beasts and couldn’t help Levin, while Zeon wasn’t participating in battle at all.

Zeon asked,

“Are you upset that I’m not stepping in?”

“No! Not at all.”

“Really?”

“Yes! We can’t keep relying on hyung forever. I think the mayor made the right decision.”

“I see? That’s a relief.”

At Levin’s answer without even a trace of hesitation, Zeon nodded.

The reason Zeon wasn’t fully participating in the battle was because of Jin Geum-ho’s request.

Before the war began, Jin Geum-ho had co to Zeon and said,

“If possible, I’d like you to refrain from taking part in this war.”

“Is there a reason I should?”

“Because this war is both a crisis and an opportunity for Neo Seoul.”

“Please explain in more detail.”

“Because it’s an opportunity to unite our fractured interior into one.”

“Hmm!”

“Those who fight together and shed blood against a common enemy are bound to form strong bonds. But if the war ends too quickly or its outco is decided too soon, that unity will inevitably weaken.”

“There will be many casualties.”

“Even so, it can’t be helped. Right now, even if we must pay a heavy price, this is the ti to endure for the sake of the future.”

Jin Geum-ho’s eyes were fixed on the distant future.

They couldn’t rely on Zeon forever.

For the sake of what lay ahead, Neo Seoul’s awakeners themselves had to beco the masters of this battlefield.

The pride of overcoming a crisis with their own strength, combined with the bonds ford through fighting together, would make Neo Seoul’s awakeners even stronger.

If Zeon stepped in too early and robbed them of the chance to fight, such an opportunity would never co again.

That was why Jin Geum-ho chose to seal away the broken existence known as Zeon.

Because it was a decision that looked far beyond imdiate victory and toward the distant future, Zeon had no choice but to follow Jin Geum-ho’s words.

Levin smiled and said,

“Hyung, don’t worry too much. The people you raised are all playing huge roles in this war.”

“Hmm!”

Zeon nodded.

Not only Levin and Lemura, but Brielle too was helping the war effort by locking herself in her room and endlessly making potions.

She had started mass-producing potions she had developed herself rather than the standard potions distributed in Neo Seoul.

It wasn’t sothing she could do alone.

She had gathered every alchemist sent from Neo Seoul and taught them her recipe.

The potions Brielle created were incomparably superior to the existing ones.

Ordinarily, recipes like these were never disclosed. But to reduce casualties, Brielle boldly revealed her formula.

The potion ingredients were supplied from both the Primordial Forest and Neo Seoul, and the alchemists continued making potions until their mana was utterly exhausted.

Thanks to that, many lives had been saved.

Zeon patted Levin on the shoulder and said,

“I’ll stand watch, so get so sleep in the anti.”

“I will.”

Leaving Levin behind, Zeon exited the Steel Fortress.

Outside, post-battle recovery efforts were still in full swing.

Humans, elves, dwarves—regardless of race, everyone was working together to repair damaged traps and magic circles.

Zeon watched them for a mont before riding a sandstorm high into the sky.

Above the night sky, where darkness had fallen after sunset, all was silent.

Not even the flying-type beasts that had attacked the Steel Fortress like mad throughout the day could be seen.

Having suffered major losses from Levin and the West District awakeners’ attacks, they had retreated to rest. But once daylight returned, they would surely reappear as though they had never hidden at all.

Because of that, Zeon was able to enjoy so ti alone for the first ti in a long while.

It had been a long ti since he had been alone without any interruptions like this.

Zeon didn’t dislike this solitude.

Because it brought peace to his mind.

Zeon climbed higher and higher.

Once he reached the thin-air heights, he felt a powerful force above his head.

It was the mana field covering the Earth.

Even when Teserina had first told him about the mana field, it had left a bad taste in his mouth, but feeling it directly made it even worse.

This mana field was humanity’s limit.

Unless the mana field blanketing the Earth was removed, humanity was no different from fish trapped inside a fishbowl.

Jin Geum-ho was carrying out Heavenly Punishnt to overco this limit, but whether they could truly break through the mana field and leave Earth remained unknown.

“One day, I’ll strip away this entire mana field.”

Making that vow, Zeon descended once more.

After descending a certain distance, breathing beca much easier.

Only then did Zeon stop and gaze into the far distance.

There was a place shining brightly like torches in the darkness.

It was where El Harun’s demi-humans were stationed.

Fires had been lit throughout the camp, making it clearly visible even within the thick darkness.

Thanks to that, Zeon could observe the military camp in detail.

In the middle of the vast desert, countless tents were spread out, and enormous beasts guarded the periter.

The beasts continuously let out threatening cries, apparently displeased by sothing, while the demi-humans watched them with anxious expressions.

Even for the demi-humans, this situation was unfamiliar.

Beasts were not creatures that could be tad.

If coexistence had been possible, they would have lived together or dosticated them long ago. But beasts could be subdued, never truly broken.

Even now, though so kind of force compelled them to fight alongside the demi-humans, they had not truly submitted.

The way they constantly moved their heads around and scraped the ground with their claws made it seem as though they would attack the demi-humans the mont their restraints disappeared.

There was no way the demi-humans could feel comfortable staying so close to such savage beasts.

Because of that, most of the demi-humans were watching the beasts with uneasy expressions. But there were so who were different.

The pri example was the giant race.

The giants, whose bodies rivaled massive beasts in size, strode through the camp without a trace of intimidation.

Among them, one figure stood out the most.

It was Krudu, the leader of the giants, whose physique was exceptionally enormous.

“Hm?”

While surveying the camp, Krudu suddenly stopped after sensing sothing strange.

His gaze turned toward the night sky.

A pitch-black night so dark that not even stars were visible.

Even if sothing were there, it should have been impossible to see it.

And yet Krudu’s superhuman senses detected that sothing existed high within that dark sky.

“Spear!”

When he held out his hand toward a subordinate beside him, the subordinate handed him an enormous spear over ten ters long.

Calling it a spear was generous—it was larger and sturdier than the pillars supporting ordinary buildings.

Krudu briefly savored the feel of the spear before gripping it tightly.

“Chaaat!”

Swaeek!

Krudu hurled the spear directly toward Zeon’s location.

The gigantic spear flew with terrifying speed like a rocket.

Zeon didn’t dodge. Instead, he waved his hand.

At his gesture, a Fire Spear ford and intercepted Krudu’s spear.

Kwaaaang!

With a thunderous explosion, the spear Krudu had thrown exploded midair.

Fragnts of the spear scattered in all directions alongside the flas.

Through the flas, Krudu saw Zeon’s face revealed.

His eyes turned even colder.

“Zeon! So it really was you. What are you plotting?”

Since Zeon hadn’t appeared during the dayti battle, Krudu had wondered if he might not be at the Steel Fortress at all.

If Zeon, the sand mage, had participated from the start, no matter how many beasts they mobilized, they would never have been able to pressure the Steel Fortress like that.

That was how dangerous Zeon was.

His broken ability to freely control sand was more dangerous than anything else in the desert.

Yet for so reason, Zeon hadn’t even shown himself on the battlefield.

Though he couldn’t know the reason, it was fortunate for El Harun’s demi-humans.

“It doesn’t matter if you join the war. I’ll tear you apart with my own hands.”

Krudu trusted in his overwhelmingly powerful body.

His physique was so strong that he could overpower most beasts even in barehanded combat.

No matter how broken Zeon’s abilities were, Krudu was confident that if he managed to grab him, he could rip him apart like paper.

After glaring at Zeon for a long while, Krudu turned around and disappeared among the giants.

“Hoo.”

Zeon let out a faint sigh.

They hadn’t clashed directly, but even from this single exchange, he could tell just how absurdly powerful Krudu truly was.

The distance between where Krudu stood and where Zeon hovered exceeded several kiloters. Yet he had thrown the spear with perfect accuracy from that distance.

Even more terrifying, the force behind it hadn’t weakened in the slightest by the ti it arrived here.

Even considering he was a giant, the strength he possessed was absurd.

“To deal with him, considerable sacrifices will be unavoidable.”

For a mont, Zeon considered whether it might be better to intervene now and kill Krudu himself.

“Hm?”

At that mont, Zeon sensed soone’s gaze.

It wasn’t Krudu.

He had already disappeared among the other giants.

Zeon’s gaze shifted toward a place far beyond the rear of the demi-human camp.

It was a distance no ordinary human eyesight could ever perceive.

Zeon frowned.

Because the gaze he faintly sensed from that distant place felt strangely familiar.

It didn’t take Zeon long to recall the owner of those eyes.

“Don’t tell that mad elf Dantal ca here too?”

It felt as though the blood throughout his body turned ice-cold.

There was only one person Dantal would target here.

Zeon himself.

“Well now.”