Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert - Chapter 359



Only Noblemtl

Episode 359

Zeon frowned.

At first I thought I saw something wrong.

A hideous appearance full of wrinkles and large molars protruding from between the lips.

A necklace with unidentified bones hanging from it and a large bone spear held in her hand.

He was an orc.

An old orc, who had lived for some unknown period of time, was spying on Kim Jin-su and the Awakened Ones as they hunted the armored ants.

Humans grow weaker as they age, but orcs are different.

The older the orc, the stronger he is.

The world of orcs was one of complete dog-eat-dog rule.

Older orcs were rarely given preferential treatment. Only the strong survived and grew old.

A weak orc would not survive to old age, unless he was an extremely rare being like a shaman. So in the orc world, old people were not weak, but strong.

At least, a strong man who would not be pushed back in a fight against young orcs. With the experience and years of his age added to that, he would likely be stronger than the young orcs.

The old orc watching from behind the rock was likely to be a strong orc as well.

‘Was there an orc habitat nearby?’

Zeon searched his memory, but he was certain he had not seen any orcs around here.

‘Have a new group of orcs settled here?’

If a group of orcs settle in, it’s a headache.

Orcs cannot stand to see others hunting in their territory. They consider everything they can see as their territory, and they consider all creatures that move in their territory to be their enemies.

The desert was home to numerous tribes of orcs.

Even though Zeon had dealt with the Orc Lord and his men, many Orcs remained and reproduced vigorously.

It was impossible to completely exterminate such orcs.

“Block the right side. The armored ants are coming in from that side.”

At that moment, Kim Jin-su’s urgent cry was heard.

Because the defensive line on the right was breached.

When the armored ants rush towards the breach in the barrier, hunting becomes difficult, so they scream loudly.

Fortunately, one of the Awakened who had some spare time went to the vulnerable right side and helped his comrade. Thanks to this, the front line was stabilized.

Zeon, whose gaze had been stolen for a moment, looked at the rock where the old orc had been hiding. However, the old orc had already left and was nowhere to be seen.

“Tch!”

Zeon clicked his tongue.

Because I felt uneasy for some reason. But now it was too late to track down the old orc.

By the time he crossed over to the other side of the rift, the old orc would have disappeared without a trace.

The old orc had no way of leaving his mark on the desert. Tracking him down was no easy task.

Eventually, Zeon simply gave up on chasing the old orc.

Hunting the armored ants was more important now.

Armadillo-driven armadillos were constantly climbing up the cracks.

I’ve already caught more than two hundred of them.

There was no use in catching any more armored ants.

Because there were not enough vehicles to transport it.

Jeon shouted at Kim Jin-su.

“Throw the flaming armadillo carcass into the crack. Then no more armored ants will come up.”

“All right.”

With the answer, Kim Jin-su dropped the corpses of the fire armadillos into the cracks. Then, the number of armored ants coming up to the ground decreased noticeably, and at some point, they stopped appearing.

Only then were Kim Jin-su and the Awakened Ones able to sit down on the floor and rest.

“Haa! Haa! I’m going to die.”

“I used the skill without any desire.”

“Hehehe! How many are there in total?”

“Fuck! This is killing the taste.”

The awakened ones burst into laughter.

I’ve fought countless battles, but this was the first time I’ve ever been so one-sided in beating down the demons.

There were moments of crisis, but we were able to overcome them by working together.

Above all, Levin’s joining was a great help.

It was incredibly easy to kill the armored ants that were stunned or paralyzed by the purple lightning.

Thanks to this, I was able to save a lot of strength.

Even after killing so many armored ants, he still had strength left.

Jeon approached Kim Jin-soo and his group and said.

“If you’re resting, let’s quickly take the body and retreat. Right now, they’re probably distracted by the flaming armadillo carcass, but if we eat them all, they might come looking for revenge.”

“Okay, you heard me? Quick, load the body into the vehicle and get out of here.”

“All right”

“Okay, Captain!”

The Awakeners and porters worked together to load the corpses of the armored ants onto the transport vehicles.

In less than an hour, all the bodies were loaded onto the transport vehicles.

“Everything is loaded.”

“Okay! Let’s get out of here quickly before the ants come out looking for revenge.”

“yes!”

With a loud roar, the vehicles began to leave the crack.

As they moved a little further away from the rift, the Awakened shouted.

“The hunt was successful without a single casualty.”

“It really feels great.”

“Hahaha!”

What pleased them more than the fact that their mission was accomplished was the fact that there were no casualties.

Even for an Awakened person who lived close to death, the sorrow of losing a comrade was difficult to bear.

They had lost countless comrades and mourned their loss, but this time they didn’t have to.

I couldn’t even remember how long it had been since I felt this carefree.

They moved a long way away from the crack.

Zeon found a suitable place and ordered the armored bus to stop.

“I think this is enough. You must be tired, so let’s rest here today and leave for Neo Seoul tomorrow.”

“All right.”

Kim Jin-su answered readily.

Once the campsite was set, the porters moved.

They formed a temporary shelter surrounded by armored buses and transport vehicles and prepared meals.

Kim Jin-su shouted.

“Now that the hunt has been successfully concluded, take out all the food you brought.”

His decision was cheered by the Awakened and the porters.

Because of my tight schedule, I was sick of eating only tasteless preserved food.

“Good!”

“Unpack all the food you brought.”

“Let’s loosen our belts and go preying today.”

The workers brought out all the food they had specially prepared.

Zeon, Briel, and Levin also took a seat each.

Several Awakened ones approached Levin.

“Thank you! Thanks to you, I was able to hunt easily.”

“Thank you too. For saving me when I was in danger.”

They were all saved by Levin.

Levin said, blushing slightly.

“What? It’s something I should do.”

“If you need anything later, just let me know. I’ll help you as much as I can.”

“Yeah! Since we live in the same slum, come visit me anytime.”

“You are our brother now.”

The Awakened in Neo Seoul and the Awakened in the slums have different tendencies.

While the Awakened in Neo Seoul are a bit more calculating, the Awakened in the slums are more emotionally influenced.

I think that this tendency is strongly expressed because there is a sense of kinship as they struggle together at the bottom.

After going through hardships together like this, even people I met for the first time accepted me as a friend.

To Kim Jin-su and the Awakened, Levin was already a comrade and a friend.

Levin was the same.

Because he too came from the bottom.

The Awakened and Levin quickly became friends and started chatting and laughing.

Kim Jin-su approached Jeon.

“Thank you for the good teaching. Thanks to you, I learned an effective way to hunt armored ants. I will never forget this favor.”

“There is no need to call it a blessing. It is a method that anyone can figure out if they just think about it a little.”

“I’ve dealt with many demons myself, but I’ve never thought of hunting them like you, Master Zeon. If it weren’t for Master Zeon, I would never have known that there was such a method. Then there would have been more victims. It may not be much to Master Zeon, but for us, the lowest-level Awakened, it’s a valuable lesson that dramatically increases our chances of survival. Thank you.”

Jeon scratched his cheek at Kim Jin-soo’s rave reviews.

Because it felt somehow unfamiliar.

Zeon looked at the transport vehicles surrounding the campsite like a castle wall.

The huge transport vehicle was full of armored ant corpses.

This would be enough sand hardener to build homes for tens of thousands of people.

In Neo Seoul, the corpse of a Class F demon, the lowest class and treated as trash, could become a miracle in the slums.

Now all we have to do is get the armored ant’s body back to the slums, and there will be homes for tens of thousands of people.

That alone made the expedition worth the effort.

＊＊＊

After dinner, Zeon and Brielle returned to the armored bus.

-Beep!

Gaia, who was alone on the armored bus, greeted them happily.

Gaia swims around Zeon and Brielle, wagging her tail.

Brielle hugged Gaia tightly and apologized.

“Sorry! Were you bored alone?”

-Beep!

“Thank you for understanding!”

Zeon also said, stroking Gaia’s head.

“You don’t cause any trouble even when you’re alone. How good of you, Gaia!”

-Beep!

“Okay! Now go play with Brielle to your heart’s content. No one will bother you.”

Outside, Levin and the Awakened were still laughing and chatting.

Even though we weren’t drinking alcohol because we were on an expedition, the atmosphere was good and it felt like we were drunk.

Levin and the Awakened were boasting about their bravery to each other.

It seemed like it would be a while before their conversation was over, so Zeon and Brielle entered the bus first.

Zeon leaned back in his chair and spoke to Brielle.

“I’ll sleep first.”

“Yeah! I’ll talk it over with Gaia and then go to sleep.”

“alchemy?”

“Yeah! I suddenly thought of something… … .”

“Do that.”

Brielle’s inspiration has been exploding lately.

Good ideas come to me all the time. It happened several times on my way here.

Every now and then, Brielle would do simple experiments with Gaia or write down ideas in a notebook.

Brielle went to a corner of the back of the armored bus with Gaia and whispered. She was speaking quietly so as not to disturb Zeon’s sleep.

“The armored ants came up the crack after smelling the fire armadillo. How would the armored ants at the bottom of the crack know that the fire armadillo’s body was above? They must have smelled it. So why don’t we just replicate the smell without having to go through the trouble of catching the fire armadillo? If we make a perfume that smells exactly like the fire armadillo and spray it, we can attract the armored ants more effectively?”

-Beep!

“Yeah! The problem is the mixing. I’ll catch a flaming armadillo on the way back and analyze it.”

-Beep! Beep!

“okay.”

Zeon fell asleep while listening to Brielle and Gaia’s conversation.

I didn’t realize how much I slept like that.

Zeon opened his eyes with a strange premonition.

It was dark inside the car, and Brielle and Gaia were sleeping soundly.

Zeon got out of the bus so they wouldn’t wake up.

In the campsite, the Awakened, the porters, and Levin were lying down and sleeping carelessly.

Zeon, who had been looking around the campsite for a while, soon climbed up onto the roof of the transport vehicle.

“No, why are you up so early? It’s still dawn… … .”

Kim Jin-su, who was standing guard on the transport vehicle, looked puzzled at the appearance of Jeon.

“wait for a sec…….”

Jeon stopped Kim Jin-soo’s words and looked into the darkness outside the transport vehicle.

Kim Jin-su naturally became nervous at his actions.

Because this was the first time I had seen Zeon like this on my way here.

A deep furrow appeared between Zeon’s eyebrows as he stared into the darkness for a moment.

“I guess I’ll have to wake everyone up.”

“yes?”

“It’s a demon.”

“Is that true?”

“If you listen closely, you will hear teeth chatter. These are armored ants.”

“what?”

Kim Jin-su concentrated and listened as Jeon said. Then, a faint noise was heard.

Crack! Crack!

It was the sound of teeth chattering, just as Zeon had said.

Kim Jin-su shouted toward the campsite without another thought.

“Everyone, stand up. It’s Demonic.”