Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert

Chapter 133

Zeon, as if he had never seen the old man, focused again on his battle with Raven.

A chill ran up the back of the old man’s hand holding his cane.

Even for a brief moment, Zeon had undoubtedly looked directly at where the old man was standing.

“Did he really see me?”

A confused expression appeared on the old man’s face.

A barrier was set up around him.

It was perfectly isolated from the real world, so no Awakeneds could sense it.

Naturally, it couldn’t be seen with the naked eye either.

Not even by other Numbers.

This was a fact that had been confirmed multiple times.

Yet, for a split second, Zeon had looked precisely at where he and the twin sisters were standing.

“Did he really see through the barrier? No, that can’t be. My barrier can’t be sensed even by an S-rank Awakened.”

The old man denied his own thoughts.

If Zeon had really seen through his barrier, it meant he was beyond S-rank.

So far, only two people had seen through his barrier.

They were Jin Geum-ho and Dyoden.

Both were beings from the pre-cataclysm era, non-human entities. It made sense for them to see through the barrier. It was a given for them.

But no other Awakeneds had ever sensed or seen through the old man’s barrier.

If Zeon had truly discovered him beyond the barrier, it meant he was on the same level as Jin Geum-ho or Dyoden.

“Unbelievable… It must be a mistake.”

The old man muttered to himself, and the twin sisters looked at him quizzically.

“What doesn’t make sense?”

“Nothing. Can you find out that guy’s name?”

“It shouldn’t be difficult.”

“Then do it.”

“Okay!”

As the twins nodded in unison,

BANG!

A noise different in magnitude from anything before resounded.

Startled, they looked at the battlefield to see Raven being blown far away.

His coat was shredded, and the bulletproof vest underneath was completely destroyed.

The sunglasses, which were like his trademark, were broken, leaving only the legs.

“Ugh!”

Raven threw away the leg of the sunglasses and stood up.

His whole body throbbed.

It felt like he had just come out of a massive grinder.

If the power in Zeon’s punch had been slightly stronger, he would have been literally torn apart.

“I stepped on shit in the wrong place. Never thought there would be someone like you hiding in the slums.”

“Lack of information always leaves painful scars.”

“I admit it. I knew nothing about the slums or you. That’s why I got into this mess. But don’t think I represent the district. I’m just a mere hunting dog.”

“I know.”

“Ugh!”

Raven’s face twisted at Zeon’s calm response.

He trembled, unable to rush at Zeon.

His pride was hurt, but he knew it was pointless to attack.

At that moment,

“You fucking bastards!”

Jacob, who had been lying as if dead, got up trembling.

In his blood-soaked hand was the detonator he had been trying to press earlier.

With bloodshot eyes, he shouted.

“We’re all dying together now.”

“Wh-What?”

Raven stammered, knowing what Jacob held.

“Heh! I always knew this day would come, but I didn’t think it’d be today. But with so many people, the trip to hell won’t be lonely.”

Jacob was standing right where a large monster-hunting bomb was hidden.

If it exploded, not only he but everyone near the square would be annihilated.

Raven shouted.

“Stop, you bastard!”

“Fuck off!”

Jacob flipped Raven off and pressed the detonator without hesitation.

“Damn it!”

“Haa!”

The old man and the twin sisters sighed.

They were safe inside the barrier, but everyone in the square was doomed.

It was unfortunate, but they had no intention of intervening.

They weren’t so compassionate as to help the slum dwellers.

Then, someone moved unexpectedly.

It was Zeon.

The moment Jacob pressed the detonator, Zeon leaped without hesitation.

Stopping the explosion was impossible.

But he could minimize the blast radius.

Zeon infused mana into the Inferno Gauntlet.

In an instant, a blinding light burst from the dragon’s eye embedded in the Inferno Gauntlet.

“Ugh!”

“My eyes…”

Those exposed to the light were momentarily blinded.

Raven, the old man, and the twin sisters all lost their sight temporarily and staggered.

Boom!

The bomb buried in the square exploded.

Jacob was instantly obliterated, and the firestorm began to spread.

At that moment, Zeon reached the center of the explosion.

“Haah!”

With a shout, Zeon suppressed the explosion with the Inferno Gauntlet.

The light from the Inferno Gauntlet enveloped the firestorm.

The firestorm was halted by the light barrier. But it wasn’t enough.

Zeon drew more mana.

“Ugh!”

Blood appeared at the corners of Zeon’s mouth.

He had stopped the spread of the explosion, but it wasn’t sufficient.

Zeon used his authority.

‘Move.’

The ground of the square, where the bomb exploded, caved in.

Zeon moved the sand to create a huge pit.

‘Now!’

Zeon pressed the firestorm into the sand pit and narrowly escaped.

Boom!

The suppressed fire exploded more violently.

The surrounding sand blocked the blast, forcing the explosion skyward.

The sight of the fire column shooting into the sky was spectacular.

“What is that?”

“What happened?”

Raven, the old man, and others stared with mouths agape at the fire column piercing the sky.

They hadn’t seen what happened due to the temporary blindness, so they were even more astonished.

“He suppressed the explosion.”

“What did he do? Is that even possible?”

“Insane.”

“Is he even human?”

They knew Zeon had done something, but no one knew exactly how he had concentrated the explosion skyward.

The pillar of fire that had shot endlessly into the sky disappeared after a while.

The old man, who had been watching the scene, finally spoke.

“He’s at least an A-rank Awakened.”

“At least? So there’s a possibility he’s S-rank?”

“Crazy.”

The twin sisters were stunned by the old man’s declaration. They wanted to ask if he was mistaken, but they knew better than anyone that the old man’s perception was accurate.

If the old man said A-rank, then A-rank it was.

Moreover, he had added ‘at least.’

This meant he could be even higher.

To know for sure, they would have to confront him directly.

At that moment, a group of Awakeneds came running along the main road connected to the square.

They were the Awakeneds of Dongdaemun.

“There it is.”

“Is it a terrorist attack?”

Even though the explosion had been suppressed to minimize damage, the towering pillar of fire couldn’t be hidden.

The Awakeneds who had seen the explosion came rushing over.

“Where is he?”

Raven looked around, but Zeon was nowhere to be seen. He had already escaped.

“Damn it! There’s no choice.”

There was no longer any reason to stay.

Raven gathered all his equipment and left the square.

Seeing this, the old man spoke to the twin sisters.

“Let’s go too.”

“Okay!”

They left the scene as well.

By the time the Dongdaemun Awakeneds arrived at the now-empty square, they were left bewildered.

“Who the hell did this?”

“Is it the scavengers again?”

The Dongdaemun Awakeneds desperately searched for the culprits, but everyone was already gone by then.

* * *

“Damn it! That really hurts.”

Zeon rotated his right wrist, grumbling.

It was an unimaginable statement if anyone else had heard it, but Zeon said it nonchalantly.

What he had done was beyond common sense.

“If it weren’t for the Inferno Gauntlet, I would’ve lost my arm.”

When he first obtained the Inferno Gauntlet, he never thought it would be so useful.

Thanks to the Inferno Gauntlet, he had overcome numerous crises and concealed his sand manipulation ability.

He had worn it every single day for the past eight years, and now it felt like a part of his body.

Then he sensed a presence.

“Zeon!”

It was Brielle, who had arrived late.

“You’re here?”

“Are you alright? I saw a huge explosion.”

“It’s nothing. Let’s go home.”

“Now?”

“Yes!”

“Alright!”

The two completely left Dongdaemun.

Dongdaemun was in an uproar due to the successive incidents.

The Awakeneds were running around trying to handle the situation, and the slum dwellers were in a daze, not knowing what to do.

The entire Dongdaemun was in a state of panic.

Leaving the extreme chaos behind, the two returned to Sinchon.

Arriving in Sinchon felt refreshing.

Though they were under the same sky, the air felt much fresher. Despite it still being the same dusty air mixed with sand particles.

Zeon thought as he walked.

‘Who were those people?’

The ones hiding within the barrier and watching secretly.

An old man and two young girls.

He couldn’t see their faces clearly because they were too far away, but he could tell they weren’t ordinary Awakeneds from their aura and their ability to create barriers.

‘Where did they come from? They didn’t intervene when Raven attacked me, so they don’t seem related to the East District. Are they from another district, or maybe the City Hall?’

At this moment, nothing was certain.

But just realizing that someone was watching was a significant gain.

Just then,

“Hey!”

Someone approached Zeon and Brielle, panting.

Seeing her face, Zeon smirked, and Brielle shook her head.

The woman approaching in a disheveled state was Eloy.

She had been used as bait to distract the Dongdaemun Awakeneds and had returned in a wretched condition.

Her clothes were torn, and she had quite a few injuries on her face and body, showing how much she had suffered.

“You bastards! How could you run away without helping me while I was fighting? How could you do that to me?”

“You managed to escape from Dongdaemun.”

“Do you know how much I suffered? Those fanatic bastards swarmed me like mad dogs… Ugh!”

Eloy shuddered at the thought.

Fanatics who charged without fear of injury or death.

It would have been easier if she could kill them outright.

But killing them would create a massive problem that even Neo Seoul couldn’t handle. Dongdaemun was no different.

It was a tough fight to incapacitate them without killing.

What infuriated her more was that Zeon and Brielle had fled while she was struggling so desperately.

“Running away and leaving a comrade behind? How can you call yourselves comrades?”

“Calm down!”

“Calm down? How can I calm down?”

As Eloy yelled angrily, Brielle nonchalantly dug her ear with a finger.

“Half-elf has quite a voice. My ears hurt…”

“You really have a death wish, don’t you?”

“Calm down. We found a clue you might like.”

“What? Really?”

Eloy’s expression changed, and Brielle smirked.

“What is it?”

“I can’t tell you for free.”

“You little brat…”

“Hehe!”

The half-elf and the High Elf continued bickering for a long time.