The Scorched Desert's Sand Mage (Novel) - Chapter 145
Chapter 145
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Translated by Pratt
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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“As expected, something like this really can’t stop hyung. Still, I managed to hold him for quite a long time, so I suppose that means I achieved my intended goal.”
Stretching his body, Damian muttered to himself.
Spectrum Prison was, quite literally, a prison of light.
It broke down the negative mana supplied by the Spirit King’s Crown through the spectrum.
The mana broken down in this way appeared in the form of seven lights.
Those seven negative lights fundamentally amplified the hostility of living beings. In addition, each one affected the mind of a living being in a different way.
Red amplified anger, and orange loosened the walls of the heart and made people careless.
Yellow called forth laziness, while green made one forget everything. Blue showed people the illusions they desired, and indigo made them yearn.
And finally, violet mixed all of those together and created chaos.
This prison made of light drew out every negative emotion rooted in humans, making them kill one another or give up altogether.
Most frightening of all was the fact that the flow of time differed with each light.
The outer red light flowed the slowest, while the inner violet light flowed several times faster.
Even Damian did not know the underlying principle.
Dungeons were beings that could not be understood through human common sense to begin with.
That was why he had given up trying to understand it.
As long as he could use it properly, that was enough. He had no desire to dig into its principles and understand them.
In any case, it would take Zeon quite some time to reach this place.
To get to Damian, who stood at the root of Spectrum Prison, he would have to pass through the six remaining prisons of light.
“By then, everything will already be over.”
“Kraaaah!”
At that moment, with a monstrous roar, space itself ripped open.
It was Brixton, who had been trapped in the violet space, revealing himself.
“You bastard! What the hell did you do? What the hell did you do to me?”
Brixton bellowed in fury.
His blood-drenched body and glaring eyes made for a terrifying sight.
But Damian showed not the slightest fear and said calmly, “You took quite a while.”
“Don’t even start. It was like fighting an Armored Great-Horn Bear.”
At that moment, Aleksandro appeared behind Brixton.
Like Brixton, he too was covered in blood.
The one difference was that a victor’s smile hung at the corner of his mouth.
Even after seeing Aleksandro appear behind him, Brixton showed no reaction at all.
More precisely, he was in no condition to react.
His flank had been torn open as if a demonic beast had bitten into it, and his intestines were spilling out.
It was a wound that no amount of good potion could recover.
The one who had inflicted that fatal injury on Brixton was Aleksandro.
The moment Spectrum Prison was deployed, because they had been closest to Damian, Aleksandro and part of the White Bear Caravan’s Awakened, as well as Brixton and the berserkers, had all been shifted into the violet supernal space.
Even after suddenly being transferred into the violet supernal space, Aleksandro and the White Bear Caravan Awakened had not panicked.
That was because they had prior experience helping Damian break through Spectrum Prison.
They knew very well how to use the violet supernal space to their advantage.
Inside the violet supernal space, they fought a fierce battle against Brixton and the berserkers, and in the end they were able to win.
“Hah. Hah.”
“Urgh. I’m dying.”
The condition of the White Bear Caravan Awakened who appeared behind Aleksandro was truly pitiful.
Even though they had seized the advantageous terrain, it had not been an easy fight.
That was how terrifying the berserkers were.
Many of the White Bear Caravan Awakened had lost their lives to the berserkers, who rushed forward without fearing death.
The state of those who had barely preserved their lives and escaped the supernal space was not good either. Even so, they forced themselves to remain standing with sheer willpower.
That was because they knew they were the last shield Damian had left.
At that moment, Brixton stepped toward Damian.
Thump. Thump.
With each heavy footstep, blood and entrails spilled from his torn-open abdomen.
Watching him, Damian smiled brightly.
“As expected of someone who believes in God. Your determination is incredible, moving even after suffering a wound like that.”
“Do not insult God, unbeliever.”
“Who is your god? Is it the one who exists above that yellow sky? Or that man called Johan, who sucks the lifeblood out of the slum dwellers?”
“Ngh!”
“That’s enough. I don’t particularly want to hear your answer anyway.”
“Yooou!”
Brixton stretched out both arms and grabbed Damian by the collar. But there was no strength left in his grip anymore.
Thud.
After glaring at Damian for a long while with his hand still clutching his collar, Brixton’s giant body finally collapsed.
Aleksandro let out a sigh and approached Damian.
“What a monster. I’d rather face a dungeon boss alone. That monstrous recovery ability really was…”
He shook his head back and forth.
That alone showed how deeply even he had grown tired of Brixton.
If it had not been for the violet supernal space, bringing him down would have taken far more time and sacrifice.
After staring at Brixton’s corpse for a moment, he soon looked at Damian with a worried expression.
“Are you all right?”
“I can still hold on for now.”
“Damian.”
“I’m really fine. I already prepared myself for this.”
Damian’s face, which was forcing a smile, was pale beyond words.
“Haa. If it really becomes too much, say something.”
“All right.”
As Damian replied, he looked toward Neo Seoul.
Vitality began to return to his face, which had been struggling until then.
“At last…”
“What?”
Aleksandro turned to where Damian was looking with a puzzled expression.
The gates of Neo Seoul had opened, and a group was rushing out from them.
Though they were too far away to make out their faces, Damian instinctively knew who they were.
“At last, you dragged her out. The great queen of the different races…”
* * *
Serian could not understand the current situation.
“So you’re saying the Thorn Assault Squad moved on its own?”
“I am sorry.”
Borin answered with a deeply apologetic expression.
She too had only just received the report that the Thorn Assault Squad had moved independently.
That alone showed how secretly the Thorn Assault Squad had acted.
“Who moved the Thorn Assault Squad?”
“That would be…”
“As expected, was it Eli?”
“I am sorry.”
“Haa. What does Borin have to apologize for? This was all on Eli’s orders. Where is she now?”
“It has been confirmed that she is at her residence.”
“Bring her here.”
It was then.
“There is no need.”
With a cold voice, Eli entered.
“Eli.”
“I am sorry. But I had no choice.”
“And what exactly did you have no choice about?”
“We had to secure the Spirit King’s Crown before anyone else, for the sake of everyone.”
“For the sake of everyone?”
“Yes. For our sake, and for all the races who stand with us, we had to secure the Spirit King’s Crown. That is why I moved the Thorn Assault Squad without Your Majesty’s permission. I do feel sorry about that, but I hope you will understand that it was an unavoidable choice.”
“Are you making excuses by saying it was a choice for everyone’s sake?”
“That is correct.”
Eli answered without the slightest sign of shrinking back.
Serian furrowed her brows at Eli’s confident excuse.
She had known that Eli was always seeking her position, but she had not expected her to move troops so arbitrarily like this.
“Haa. Eli.”
“Speak, Your Majesty.”
“Can you take responsibility for what you said, that you moved the Thorn Assault Squad and the elf warriors for the sake of everyone?”
“Of course. I, Eli, am at least not someone who runs away from responsibility.”
Eli did not avoid Serian’s gaze.
That was because she knew that now that Serian knew the whole truth, there was nothing to be solved by dodging.
Borin only swallowed dryly between them.
After all, these were the queen and second-in-command of the North District.
If the rift between them deepened any further, the entire North District might be shaken.
The North District was the last bastion for the different races in Neo Seoul.
If the North District shook, the lives of the different races would also be endangered.
Since Serian and Eli both knew that fact, they had always compromised at a suitable line.
Borin could only hope it would happen again this time as well.
It was then.
Suddenly, Serian and Eli both felt something and sprang to their feet.
“Mm.”
“This is…”
Their faces were full of confusion.
That was because they felt a wave that sinisterly stimulated their spirits.
Without either waiting for the other, they rushed up to the rooftop of the building. The first thing that entered their sight there were the seven lights rising in the far desert.
Serian muttered, “Could that be Spectrum Prison?”
“What is that?”
“Then does that mean this Spirit King’s Crown came from Spectrum Prison…”
In an instant, Serian’s face turned pale.
Eli, on the other hand, had no idea what was going on and only looked at Serian.
Serian said urgently, “If the Spirit King’s Crown really is an item excavated from Spectrum Prison, then the Spirit King is not inside it. It contains…”
“What is it, Your Majesty?”
“There’s no time to explain. Everyone, follow me.”
Serian leaped straight from the rooftop.
Borin, the Blue Leaf Special Operations Squad, and the elite of the North District all followed after her.
Left behind alone, Eli muttered, “The Spirit King isn’t sealed in it? Then what is sealed in there?”
Her face was filled with conflict.
Judging from Serian’s urgency, it clearly was no ordinary existence.
After biting her lip hard for a moment, Eli chased after Serian.
Whatever the reason, now that things had reached this point, she too had to contribute to solving the problem.
“Goddamn it.”
* * *
“Save me!”
“Please!”
From all around came the anguished screams of people in pain.
They were all people who had been gravely wounded and were hovering on the edge of death. But Zeon ignored their desperate eyes and voices.
They were all scavengers.
People who had come fluttering toward death like moths, blinded by items.
He had no sympathy to spare for people who had coveted what belonged to others and ended up with mortal wounds.
“Fuck. If you’ve got potions, share some.”
“Hey, you bastard. At least…”
Watching Zeon pass by without concern, the scavengers fumed.
They reached out their hands to grab him, but it was useless.
Because they were dying from deep wounds, they did not even have enough strength left to fully extend their arms.
Zeon suddenly turned and looked behind him.
That was because of the tremendous presence he felt in the distance.
“So it’s the queen of the elves.”
Just like Damian, he could sense Serian without even needing to confirm her with his eyes.
That was how distinctive the mana she carried was.
Cool, refreshing mana, as if she carried a blue forest within herself.
Even among elves, Zeon had never seen someone who possessed mana this vast and this refreshing.
Serian was running from far away, accompanied by dozens of different races.
At a glance, they all gave off unusual presences and auras.
They were clearly the elites of the North District.
“Everything is unfolding exactly the way Damian wanted.”
Zeon gave a slight shake of his head and moved forward.
Ahead of him, there were still six supernal spaces of light remaining.
He would have to pass through all of them to reach Damian.
“I need to hurry.”
As Zeon moved, sand surged after him in waves.
It was a sand tsunami.
Kwa kwa kwa.
The sand tsunami smashed through everything blocking his way and surged onward.