The Scorched Desert's Sand Mage (Novel) - Chapter 146
Chapter 146
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Translated by Pratt
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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“Hah. Hah.”
Mariel and the Thorn Assault Squad were gasping for breath. The assault squad, which had once numbered well over a hundred, had now been reduced to only around twenty. That was the price of passing through the indigo and violet supernal spaces.
The indigo supernal space dragged out the desires the elves had buried deep inside their hearts.
Desire was born from intensely wanting what one did not have.
The elves living mixed in among the human world wanted a utopia of their own, and the indigo supernal space showed them that fantasy.
In that moment, desire bloomed in their hearts like poisonous mushrooms.
The desire to kill every human in Neo Seoul and have the elves take their place.
That desire drove the elves into an extreme state of excitement.
They somehow managed to escape the indigo supernal space, but what greeted them next was the violet supernal space of chaos.
Chaos made the elves incapable of judging properly and caused them to recognize one another as enemies.
They killed one another, and killed again.
By the time they fought and escaped the violet supernal space, the elves had been reduced to only twenty.
Faced with that unbelievable reality, Mariel and the elves trembled uncontrollably.
Only then did the memory of slaughtering their comrades come back to them in vivid clarity.
“This… can’t be.”
“I killed my friend with my own hands.”
“Aaaah.”
The elves screamed.
More than anything else, elves were a people who cherished their own kind.
Their sense of inferiority from living as tenants in the human world, together with the delusion that they were being persecuted, had made them cling to their own kind even more.
That was why they found it impossible to believe that they, who cherished their own kind so intensely, had lost their reason and slaughtered one another.
“This is a dream. It has to be a dream.”
“How could I kill them with my own hands…”
Some of the elves even denied reality.
But Mariel knew.
That this was neither a dream nor an illusion.
No matter how it was dressed up in nice words, and no matter how unavoidable the situation had been, they were sinners who had killed their own kind.
“Do not cry. We do not even have the right to cry. The only way to wash away our sin is to offer a requiem in that man’s blood and secure the Spirit King’s Crown.”
Mariel rebuked the elves and began moving forward.
Now there was nothing left standing between them and Damian.
“I will kill you and offer you up to my comrades, Damian.”
“Waaaah!”
Mariel and the elves threw themselves toward Damian.
Looking down at the elves, Damian said, “How many humans died because of your kind, and you’re acting like victims over something this small? If you barged into someone else’s world and ruined it however you pleased, then you should naturally pay the price.”
“Do not speak nonsense, Damian.”
Mariel denied Damian’s words and swung her sword.
Clang.
Her sword stopped right in front of Damian’s neck.
Something invisible had bound her body.
And it was not only Mariel. All of the elves who had followed her in attacking Damian were unable to move an inch, as though caught in a spiderweb.
“What is this?”
“It’s a glass spider’s web. As you can see, the strands are transparent, so you can’t distinguish them with the naked eye. Once you’re caught, you can never escape by your own strength.”
“There’s no way such a thing exists…”
“Heh heh. Don’t measure everything by your own common sense. Dungeons are inhabited by all sorts of demonic beasts you could never even imagine. So there’s nothing strange about there being one with this kind of property.”
“Stop lying.”
“How many dungeons do you think I’ve conquered so far?”
“What ridiculous nonsense…”
“Seventy-two. Over eight years, I cleared seventy-two dungeons. That’s one dungeon every two months. It’s insanity. No one clears dungeons that madly. It was all because of you. I risked my life to take revenge on you.”
“You lunatic. We don’t know you.”
“Maybe you don’t. But what about the elves, dwarves, and beastfolk in Elharun?”
“What nonsense are you spouting? Elharun?”
“So the elf queen never told you about Elharun. Hiding it even from your own kind. Just what I’d expect. Elves really aren’t worth trusting.”
At Damian’s mockery, the faces of Mariel and the elves turned red.
“Do not incite us with lies, human.”
“Elf. Whether my words are lies or not, you will know soon enough. Because your queen is running here even now.”
Serian and the elite of the North District, who had come close to the fortress, entered Damian’s view.
Snap.
When Damian flicked his finger, the part of Spectrum Prison in front of Serian disappeared.
Damian had opened a path for them.
Serian paused in front of the path and looked at Damian.
She could see Damian smiling as he looked at her.
His smile contained every kind of negative emotion, chilliness, contempt, hatred, and more.
Why in the world was he looking at her with eyes like that?
That question arose in her mind.
She stepped into the path.
Now was not the time to solve her doubts. It was time to act.
Even at that very moment, Mariel and the elves, bound in the invisible spiderweb, were swaying dangerously.
She knew that more than a hundred of them had come, and yet only about twenty were visible now.
It was obvious enough what must have happened to the rest.
‘What kind of grudge could he possibly have against the elves?’
Unless he bore a grudge against the elves, there was no way he could act this viciously.
‘The Spirit King’s Crown must also have been bait to lure the elves out.’
At this point, she could not help wondering what exactly had driven Damian to hate the elves this much.
Of course, rescuing Mariel and the Thorn Assault Squad came first.
Serian and the elites of the North District leaped straight to the top of the fortress. Then Damian spread his arms in an exaggerated gesture of courtesy.
“Welcome. O queen of the different races, parasites living in the human world.”
“So you really do hate us.”
“Not just me. Every human who knows the truth probably hates your kind.”
“That happened over a hundred years ago already. The different races living in Neo Seoul now had nothing to do with that event.”
“So that means they bear no responsibility?”
“That…”
Serian’s words caught in her throat.
At that moment, Eli, who stood beside her, shouted, “What nonsense are you talking about? Even if we had never come, Earth would have ended up like this anyway. Your species was already walking the road to ruin.”
“It’s women like you that I hate the most. The ones who know full well it was their own fault and still try to push the responsibility onto others. That’s why I can’t forgive you.”
“And what if you can’t forgive us?”
“Then you have to pay the price.”
“Impudent. A mere human dares to demand responsibility…”
As Eli grew furious, Serian restrained her.
“Be quiet.”
“There is no need to speak further. We must not forgive that human.”
“Eli.”
“I will kill him. In the end, all we need to do is secure the Spirit King’s Crown, is it not?”
Without giving Serian time to stop her, Eli rushed forward.
In an instant, she reached Damian’s vicinity and swung her hand. At once, white light burst out from her hand.
The light, which resembled a white spiderweb, spread out in an instant like a web and surrounded Damian.
Webbing Cutter.
Just as its name suggested, it was a magic that used a web of light as sharp blades to slice a target into pieces.
It was Eli’s own original ability, the reason she had earned the epithet Spider Queen.
The light that spread like a spiderweb formed into a tetrahedron and began tightening around Damian.
“Damian.”
At that moment, Aleksandro stepped in front of Damian and swung his fist.
Kwaaang.
With a thunderous crash, Webbing Cutter shattered into pieces.
“How dare you.”
Eli turned furious at Aleksandro, who had blocked her way.
She cast spell after spell in succession. But every one of them was crushed by Aleksandro.
“Without my permission, no one touches Damian.”
Aleksandro growled like a beast.
On top of the wounds he had already suffered fighting Brixton, new wounds had been added from shattering Eli’s magic.
His entire body was dyed bright red with blood flowing from those wounds, yet not the slightest wavering could be seen in his eyes.
Eli shouted at the Awakened of the North District, “What are you doing? Hurry and kill them and save our comrades.”
“…”
But despite her cry, the Awakened of the North District did not move an inch. That was because Serian had not yet given an order.
Serian let out a low sigh.
“Haa. Eli. You truly do not understand the weight of things. Once we return to Neo Seoul, you will answer for this.”
“Your Majesty.”
Eli tried to say something to Serian in haste. But she was no longer given the chance to open her mouth.
That was because Aleksandro attacked her.
“Your opponent is me.”
Like an enraged bear, he drove Eli back.
Aleksandro had already resolved himself to die.
There was nothing to fear and no reason to hesitate.
That was why he burned everything he had and attacked Eli.
Because of that, even Eli was forced into a hard fight.
With a sigh, Serian approached Damian.
She spoke to him.
“I understand that you harbor great hatred toward us. But there was no need to make things this large. Do you realize how many people were harmed and killed because of you?”
“That really is your people’s nature.”
“What?”
“Passing responsibility around, blurring the point, and preaching while pretending to be noble…”
“Your hatred for us really does reach the sky. Fine. I won’t speak around the issue anymore. Hand over the Spirit King’s Crown. It’s far too dangerous an item for humans to possess.”
“I know. That’s why I brought it here.”
“So it really was to draw me out.”
“Because I knew that if it were you, you’d recognize the true thing sealed inside the Spirit King’s Crown.”
The more ominous the aura rising from Damian’s body became, the darker Serian’s expression grew.
“Your plan succeeded. You called me here like this. But now it would be wise to withdraw Spectrum Prison. Originally, Spectrum Prison is a magic circle meant to seal the Spirit King’s Crown. If it keeps being destroyed like this, the seal will weaken as well.”
Kwa kwa kwa.
All of Spectrum Prison was shaking.
That was because Brixton, the Thorn Assault Squad, and the others had shaken it from the inside, while Zeon was destroying it from the outside.
At this rate, Spectrum Prison would not last much longer before it broke apart.
And if that happened, the thing sealed inside the Spirit King’s Crown would surely be released.
That was something that absolutely had to be prevented, which was why Serian’s gaze was so desperate. But Damian turned away from that look and spoke coldly.
“Then say it.”
“Say what?”
“The location of Elharun.”
“Don’t tell me that is the reason you caused all this?”
“It is.”
“You are insane.”
“That’s right. I am insane. So say it. Tell me where Elharun is.”
Damian’s gaze was as cold as ice.
But Serian could feel it.
The terrible madness hidden beneath that coldness.
Serian looked up for a moment at the yellow sky.
More than a hundred years ago, it must once have been blue.
In exchange for her people crossing over, Earth had been left with a sky that color.
‘Our fate should have ended in Kurayan. If it had, the living things of Earth would not have had to suffer too.’
If she had held the power to decide back then, she would never have crossed over to Earth.
But at that time she too had been just a young elf.
She had been in a position where she had no choice but to follow the decisions of her elders.
In a way, she too had been a victim, but no matter what she said, he would never believe her.
She had no intention of making excuses, and even less intention of telling him the location of Elharun.
Regardless of their original sin, Elharun was the last bastion of the different races.
“I’m sorry.”
“You’re not sorry at all, are you?”
“I only hope you will understand that I too have my own circumstances that prevent me from speaking.”
“I knew you’d say that. More than anyone else, your kind pretend to be benevolent while actually being the most selfish.”
“Damian.”
“If you feel even the slightest bit of guilt, then say it. Tell me the road to Elharun, you bitch.”
At last, the rage Damian had been pressing down all this time exploded.
At that moment, Serian gave the order.
“Everyone, subdue him.”