Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert -
Chapter 81
[Translator – Peptobismol]
Chapter 81
Zeon looked at Crocker and the crocodiles rushing towards him with a fierce momentum.
Crocker was a C-rank Awakened Martial Artist, and the crocodiles were all made up of D-rank and E-rank.
It was an immense power that could easily wipe out a huge chunk of the slums in a flash. However, in front of Zeon, it was useless.
A blaze erupted right in front of Zeon.
A fire wall had unfolded from the Inferno Gauntlet.
A hellish blaze filled the underground space.
“Arggh!”
“Aaaahh!”
The crocodiles screamed in agony from the intense heat.
Having adapted to living in the damp underground for a long time, they were vulnerable to the scorching heat.
What might seem merely hot to ordinary people felt like hellfire to them. Moreover, Zeon’s Fire Wall unleashed with the Inferno Gauntlet was several times hotter than regular flames.
Bodies of the crocodiles rushing at the forefront caught fire and collapsed.
Despite writhing on the ground and screaming to extinguish the fire, it was futile.
Once the fire had started, it wasn’t easy to put it out.
“You bastard!”
Crocker hurled his unique skill, Stone Fist.
As the name suggested, it was a skill that made fists as strong as rocks and hurled them.
Although it was a simple punch, its destructive power surpassed that of other skills of the same rank.
Boom!
His skill struck precisely on Zeon.
However, Crocker couldn’t rejoice.
Because Zeon deflected his skill with the Inferno Gauntlet.
Suddenly, Zeon’s figure blurred and appeared right in front of Crocker.
It was an approach using Sand Strides.
To Crocker, who didn’t know this fact, it felt like Zeon had used skills like Spatial Teleportation or Blink.
“You?”
Bang!
At that moment, Zeon’s fist struck Crocker’s abdomen fiercely.
“Keuk!”
Crocker was thrown backward with a scream.
Colliding with the wall, Crocker spat out blood and struggled to get up.
His gaze towards Zeon was filled with anger.
He felt it last time too, but he was no match for Zeon.
To him and the crocodiles living underground, Zeon was no different from a god or a demon.
He couldn’t defeat Zeon in a conventional way.
He resorted to evil.
“Damn it! Everyone, inject yourself.”
Crocker took out a syringe from his pocket.
It was a syringe containing yellow liquid.
Without hesitation, he plunged the syringe into his heart and injected it.
Seeing him, the crocodiles also injected themselves in the heart.
The yellow liquid inside the syringe was one of the drugs they had manufactured. The difference from other drugs was that it instantly boosted all abilities to the maximum.
“Arrggh!”
“Ughhh!”
Crocker and the crocodiles made eerie sounds as they bent over. Their stature grew much larger, and muscles bulged out even more.
Zeon looked at them with an interested expression.
“Looks like it’s some kind of stimulant.”
Even though the world had gone to ruins, humanity had deteriorated even more severely.
Numerous drugs that severely affected the human body had been developed, and those who casually consumed such drugs were spread everywhere.
One thing for sure was, no matter what effects a drug had, it came with equally severe side effects after consumption.
If a drug like the stimulant they injected could amplify human abilities in a short time, then its side effects would be even greater.
“Die!”
“Krgghh!”
Crocker and the crocodiles rushed at Zeon with wild attacks.
Swish!
Zeon’s hair fluttered as Crocker’s fist approached.
Before the fist, the wind pressure hit Zeon. However, Zeon easily dodged his attack.
Then the crocodiles attacked Zeon from behind.
Their movements were more animal-like than human.
In their red eyes, there was no reason, only madness.
They became twice as fast as before, and consequently, much stronger.
Thud!
The concrete shattered as it was hit by their fists like bombs.
Crocker, in particular, surpassed that.
Roar!
His entire body was covered in a red aura.
The drug pushed his abilities to the limit.
“Fuck! Die. Die!”
Crocker squeezed his muscles to the limit and exploded with all his strength.
Zeon observed not only Crocker’s actions but also his body reactions and eye movements.
Crocker’s and the crocodiles’ frenzied attacks lasted for almost ten minutes. However, the moment exactly ten minutes passed, their movements noticeably slowed down.
“Is ten minutes the limit?”
He didn’t know the identity of the drug they injected, but it was clear that they could only maintain maximum output for about ten minutes.
At this point, he had learned everything he could from them.
The sand scattered on the ground wriggled like snakes and rose up.
Dozens of sand snakes raised their heads stiffly and glared at Crocker and the crocodiles.
It was one of Zeon’s skills, Viper.
Crocker’s eyes widened at the sight he had never seen before.
Even in a state frenzy, he sensed danger.
“What’s this?”
Instead of answering, Zeon snapped his fingers.
Splat!
Instantly, sand snakes flew like arrows towards Crocker and the crocodiles.
The Viper instantly pierced holes in their torsos.
Even with the drug boosting their abilities, they couldn’t survive with a huge hole in the middle of their torso.
The bodies of the crocodiles collapsed like sandcastles.
Crocker managed to stay standing stubbornly, but he had reached his limit.
His eyes returned to normal.
“You… What are you? What is this skill…?”
Despite meeting numerous Awakened individuals before, seeing someone manipulating sand was a first for him.
“Then what about the fire magic? Could it be… a dual?”
Zeon smiled and raised the Inferno Gauntlet.
“It’s just an item.”
“An… item?”
In Zeon’s hand, the Inferno Gauntlet gleamed.
Crocker’s eyes wavered.
He couldn’t believe that such a powerful fire-based ability could simply be an item’s skill.
[Translator – Peptobismol]
“You cunning bastard. Hiding your true abilities like that.”
“That’s how you survive in this world.”
“Y-You… Cough! I was completely fooled. I never meant to mess with your stuff.”
With that, Crocker slumped down, his breath extinguished.
Zeon glanced at Crocker with an indifferent expression before moving on.
His destination was the secret passage behind Crocker.
He had seen Goran and Ava enter there.
Everything was part of Goran’s grand scheme.
Using Crocker’s plan put him against Zeon.
A cruel mindset befitting the ruler of Sinchon.
Zeon was curious about what Goran aimed for by pitting him against Crocker.
The reason was likely inside.
Zeon entered the secret passage Goran had gone into.
The passage was narrow, damp, and devoid of light. But Zeon had no issue.
He had eyes that could pierce through the darkness.
Zeon followed Goran and Ava’s trail down the stairs.
After a while, he arrived at a very large underground space.
The space was over a hundred meters in length and width, with numerous beds laid out. Hundreds of people with pale, corpse-like complexions lay on the beds.
Thin tubes were inserted into their arms, through which red blood flowed out.
The blood flowed into a large tank at the center. Goran and Ava stood in front of it.
They were focused on the tank, unaware of Zeon’s presence.
Zeon quietly approached the tank.
“Huh?”
Ava, who belatedly noticed Zeon’s approach, looked puzzled. But Goran, absorbed in the tank, didn’t notice Zeon’s presence.
Zeon naturally glanced at where Goran was concentrating.
Sitting in front of the tank was a girl.
With messy blonde hair, deep dark circles under her eyes, and a somewhat cynical expression.
She wore a wide-brimmed hat and a voluminous black robe that witches might have worn in ancient times.
However, chains were tied around the girl’s ankles. It seemed to be a restraint to prevent escape.
Goran spoke to the girl.
“It was you. You were the one making the drugs supplied by the crocodiles.”
“Shut up! Human.”
“Human?”
“You better turn your eyes away before I gouge them out. How dare you look at a noble elf with such eyes?”
“You’re not human? An elf? So that’s what they look like.”
Goran chuckled.
“Amusing. Never thought an elf would be the one making such good drugs.”
“You’re all worse than maggots! If I’m set free, do you think I’ll stay quiet? I’ll kill everyone. I’ll kill every single human.”
The girl spat venomous words, glaring at Goran.
Usually, elves were thought to be noble or quiet, but the girl was not like that.
The elf girl’s name was Brielle.
She originally lived outside Neo Seoul.
Suddenly, one day, disaster struck.
She encountered human Awakeneds passing by the vicinity.
She gave it her all, but eventually, she was overwhelmed by the humans and subdued.
From then on, her miserable life began.
After being sold to humans several times, she ended up here in the slums of Neo Seoul, far away from where she originally lived.
Crocker discovered her true talent.
It was her talent in alchemy.
As an elf with heightened senses, she excelled in alchemy.
Crocker found a way to exploit Brielle’s talent.
It was to develop a new type of drug.
She created several new drugs that had never existed before. Thanks to this, Crocker was able to become an emerging powerhouse in the drug market.
All the drugs provided to Goran’s organization were made by Brielle.
The drugs Brielle made all used human blood as a medium.
Since human blood was the most important substance in the body, the drugs made by Brielle had far fewer side effects than other drugs.
The problem was Brielle herself.
An elf who loved nature making drugs harmful to all living creatures.
Her anger and resentment towards humans grew day by day.
In the end, she came to hate and resent everything in the world.
Goran spoke to Brielle.
“From now on, you work for me. I am now your master.”
“Yeah! I’ll make them. Crocker, you, you’re all the same bastards. Well, it’s all the same no matter which bastard I make the drugs for.”
“Haha! That’s a good attitude. That’s how you live long.”
Goran smiled satisfactorily.
“An elf drug maker, huh? What an interesting development.”
At Zeon’s voice from behind, Goran’s blood ran cold.
Turning around, he saw Zeon looking at Brielle with interest.
Goran said, glaring at Zeon.
“What? What about Crocker?”
“You’ll see him when you go outside. Ah! Even if you ask, he won’t be able to answer. Because he’s dead.”
“You’ve already taken care of him?”
“It wasn’t that difficult.”
“Instead of fighting like this, just come under me. With you and me together, we can take control of the slums in no time.”
“I refuse. I won’t work under someone else.”
“So, you’re really going to push it to the end, huh?”
Goran’s expression turned menacing.
His original plan was to make Zeon and Crocker take care of each other, then secretly take Brielle, the drug maker, away.
After that, with the reorganization of the slums and disposing of Zeon, everything would have been perfect. But Zeon dealt with Crocker and the crocodiles quicker than he could’ve imagined, disrupting all his plans.
Zeon looked at Brielle and said,
“I’m not particularly fond of elves, but even then this is too far. Humans are the most dangerous after all.”
“You act like you’re not one of them. All you hypocrites…”
Brielle’s diatribe poured out all at once. But Zeon’s expression remained unchanged.
“Hey, elf girl. If you want to get out of here, you’d better keep your mouth shut. Among these two, I’m the only one who has the possibility of setting you free.”
For a moment, Brielle involuntarily sealed her lips shut.
Zeon’s gaze turned to Goran.
“Where are you going to run off to now?”
[Translator – Peptobismol]
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