Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert - Chapter 297



Only Noblemtl

Episode 297

“It’s a maze-like dungeon.”

As Zeon looked around the inside of the dungeon, a strange sight caught his eye.

Maze-type dungeons were quite common.

Because there was no method as convenient and cost-effective as a maze to defend against intruders.

Additionally, if you place traps throughout the maze, it will be upgraded into a realistic death trap.

The dungeon that Zeon and Briel had just entered was such a place.

bang!

As soon as I entered the maze, an explosion occurred.

This is because a magic circle that causes a mana explosion was engraved on the bottom of the platform.

Fortunately, Zeon retreated just before the explosion, so he was not hit.

Brielle and Gaia looked at Zeon with worried expressions.

“are you okay?”

-Beep?

“Don’t worry, it’s okay.”

Zeon looked at the floor, reassuring them.

“It seems like it works by detecting weight?”

“I’ll check.”

Brielle pulled a small metal object out of the subspace inside her hood.

“what?”

“A new toy.”

“toy?”

“Yeah! I’ll know when I see it.”

When Brielle pressed the button on the metal object, four legs suddenly appeared.

-Beep?

Brielle smiled and said as Gaia stepped back in surprise.

“It’s a toy made from metal obtained from the steel fortress.”

-Beep?

“It was so hard that it was difficult to process it into other shapes. So I just added four legs.”

Originally, I was going to make it in the form of a cute puppy. However, with Brielle’s current level, it was impossible to perfectly process this metal. So I just added four legs to the body and made it walk, and then stopped researching.

The rest was planned to be supplemented gradually over time, but after meeting Gaia, I completely forgot about the research itself.

Because I had so much fun spending time with Gaia.

The reason Brielle took out the toy she had neglected for a long time was simple.

That you can walk right away.

Also, it’s incredibly strong.

There was nothing better for navigating the maze, where explosive magic circles were carved into every platform.

bang!

As the toy hit the floor, the magic circle exploded.

Fortunately, the explosion radius was not that wide.

This is because the blast radius was limited to eliminate only intruders, rather than blowing up the entire maze.

Fortunately, the toy was sturdy enough to withstand the explosion.

There were a few scratches on the surface, but there was no problem walking on it.

bang!

There were explosions roughly every twenty steps.

The toys shook violently each time the floor exploded, but they did not break.

Zeon followed the toy and spoke to Brielle.

“Wow! Are you trying to make a golem or something?”

“Yeah! My goal is to create a golem that resembles a dog.”

“Why a dog?”

“It’s cute.”

“I see.”

Zeon nodded.

Pet dogs were very rare.

It was a world where it was hard for people to make a living. There was no way they could afford to take care of a dog.

Of course, it was hard to find dogs in the slums.

Even in Neo Seoul, only a very small number of people keep dogs as pets.

Of course, it costs a lot of money to raise a dog.

It was too much for Brielle to raise in many ways, so she came up with the idea of ​​a golem that resembled a dog.

“But is it really okay to treat such a precious golem like that?”

“Okay!”

“huh?”

“That plan was scrapped.”

“why?”

“Why would you make a dog-like golem when you have such a cute Gaia right next to you?”

Brielle hugged Gaia tightly as she flew right next to her.

-Beep!

Gaia also wagged her tail as if to agree with Brielle’s words.

“No matter how believable a golem is, it can never be as cute as Gaia.”

“Then are you just going to leave that golem alone?”

“No! I’ll convert it into a battle golem later.”

“Is that possible?”

“It’s not impossible. The awakened people in the northern region all use machine parts. If we get some usable parts and reinforce them in various ways, it’ll be plausible. The problem is the ego… … .”

“Ego?”

“Yeah! You need an ego to fight by making your own decisions. Without an ego, all you can do is walk like that.”

Before its destruction, Kurayan had extremely developed magic.

They used to create self-aware golems to use in battle. However, they lost much of their golem-making technology when they came to Earth.

However, in some dungeons, golems made in Kurayan remained. The golems that were released into the dimensional rift were still moving normally.

In fact, the Samjogodo Base, the supercomputer of the North Zone, was the brain of a golem hunted in the dungeon.

Brielle didn’t even hope for that.

It was just the ego of a low-level golem that could think a little.

Zeon said with a smile.

“I’ll be able to get it someday.”

“Yeah! Well, I don’t need it right away, so there’s no need to rush to get it.”

“Let’s focus on this dungeon for now.”

“huh!”

Since when has the foundation not exploded?

It seemed as though I had passed through an area engraved with an explosive magic circle.

Still, Brielle didn’t put the toy into subspace.

Because the maze wasn’t over yet, and there was no telling what traps might remain.

The dog-like toy moved forward silently.

All sorts of attacks were launched at the toy.

Sometimes poison gas was sprayed, and other times the floor collapsed.

Since they were all basic traps, Brielle’s toys didn’t take much damage. However, that’s because Brielle’s toys were made of such hard materials, if they were humans, they would have definitely suffered great harm.

If an ordinary Awakened person had entered this dungeon without knowing it, they might have died already.

After overcoming so many traps, I was finally able to enter the center where the dungeon’s core was located.

“what’s this?”

Brielle arrived at the nuke site with a disappointed expression on her face.

Usually, where there is a nuke, there is a boss, but there was none here.

All that was visible were the ordinary weapons decorating the walls.

I checked just in case, but it wasn’t an item with any special powers.

But the type of weapon was unique.

Weapons on display that would be used by prison guards include batons, handcuffs, and restraint ropes.

“I guess this dungeon was part of a prison.”

“Some? Aren’t dungeons usually completely dimensional?”

“That’s right! This is the first time I’ve seen something like this.”

It was clear that this room had been used by the guards as a place to store their equipment.

It would make sense if the maze was used to prevent intruders or escapees.

What I don’t understand is that the cells that actually hold the prisoners are not visible.

This was the first time that such an unusual case had occurred.

“Hey! What is this? It’s a dungeon full of nothing.”

Brielle made a face as if she had been hit with a bang.

Zeon said with a smile.

“Don’t be too disappointed, because not all dungeons have good items. Just think of them as fun experiences.”

“okay!”

-Beep!

Zeon looked at the item that was the core of the dungeon.

The item was a book.

It looked like a prison guard’s diary.

I opened the journal, but it was written in Kurayan script and I couldn’t read it. I showed it to Brielle just in case.

“It seems like Kurayan’s gore. I can’t read it.”

“Gore? Old text?”

“Yeah! It looks like a font that was used a long time ago.”

“Then there are hardly any people who can read?”

“There probably aren’t any in our town either.”

“Then it’s okay if I destroy it?”

“huh!”

Brielle had already lost interest in this dungeon.

It didn’t matter whether the diary, which seemed to have been written by a prison guard, was destroyed or not.

As Zeon waved his hand, blue flames appeared.

The blue flames burned the prison guard’s diary fiercely.

Kukookung!

As the nuclear journal burned, the entire dungeon began to shake.

The dungeon is collapsing.

Swish!

An exit leading outside appeared before them.

Brielle said.

“We’re going out first.”

“huh!”

As soon as Zeon answered, Brielle escaped first with Gaia.

Zeon, who was about to follow, stopped.

Clang!

Because the prison guard’s diary was burned and a key fell in its place.

Zeon picked up the key.

“Is that a cell key?”

No matter how you looked at it, its shape and size looked like a key.

I couldn’t tell if it was a real cell key, but there was no time to check right now.

Zeon put the key into the subspace and escaped the dungeon.

Kwakwakwa!

The dungeon completely collapsed immediately after Zeon left.

When he came outside, Brielle and Gaia were waiting for him.

“You’re late. What happened?”

“No! Let’s move quickly.”

“huh!”

-beep!

I didn’t do much, but I spent a lot of time in the dungeon.

The sun was already setting in the west.

In a little while the sun will set completely and darkness will come.

I had to find a place to stay quickly.

Fortunately, Zeon, Brielle, and Gaia were all in good health as they barely lost any stamina in the dungeon.

Above all, it wasn’t boring because it was a journey we all did together.

Brielle and Gaia followed Zeon, chatting excitedly about something.

-Beep?

“Why do you want to create a battle golem? Of course, it’s to protect us.”

-beep?

“You can’t just keep it? Sorry! I’m not good at fighting. I can use simple magic, but it’s not much help.”

-Beep!

“Thank you for comforting me! After all, there’s no one else but you. Hehe!”

After that, the two talked for a long time.

Zeon continued walking, letting their voices escape his ears.

How long had it been like that? Zeon smelled a strange smell in the air.

‘Burn?’

There was a burning smell in the air.

All I could see was sand.

Normally sand doesn’t smell like this.

Zeon climbed up to the highest sand mountain and looked around.

Suddenly, something strange caught his eye.

Because I saw black smoke rising from far away.

“What are you riding?”

-beep!

Brielle and Gaia, who arrived at the sand mountain late, were also surprised to see the smoke.

Zeon said to them.

“Let’s go!”

“huh!”

-beep!

The three of them ran down the sand hill and towards where the smoke was rising.

Jeon, who arrived at the scene, frowned.

Because black smoke was rising from the sand.

“Is there anything to ride under the sand?”

As Zeon waved his hand, the sand ebbed away like a tide. In the place where the sand had disappeared, a fairly large underground space appeared.

Black smoke was rising from the underground space.

Zeon took a moment to catch his breath.

The moment I saw the underground space, I instinctively knew what kind of place it was.

“It’s a village of survivors.”

“A village? So there are people underground?”

“I think so.”

Zeon and Briel descended underground through the black smoke. Then they saw a gruesome view of the village.

The corpses of people were visible among the horribly collapsed ruins.

“Looks like you got attacked by scavengers.”