The Scorched Desert's Sand Mage (Novel) - Chapter 147

Chapter 147

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Translated by Pratt

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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“I knew it. Your kind may have impressive shells, but inside you’re nothing but ugly creatures.”

“Shut up.”

“Die.”

Enraged by Damian’s mockery, the Awakened of the North District attacked.

Whoosh!

Dozens of different skills flew toward Damian’s life. As befitted the absolute elite of the North District, every single one of their skills possessed tremendous power. If even one merely grazed him, Damian’s fragile body would be torn apart in an instant.

Damian knew that fact as well, since he too was an Awakened.

His awakened ability was Navigator.

In other words, a guide.

He had no combat ability whatsoever.

By slightly altering the power of a guide, he could disrupt an opponent’s sense of direction, but it was impossible for him to kill someone through force.

Because he knew that, he did not even attempt a half-hearted dodge.

Kwakwakwang!

The many skills bombarded Damian, kicking up a thick cloud of dust.

“He wasn’t all that.”

“He must be dead.”

Just as the Awakened of the North District became certain of Damian’s death, Chwahak!

Suddenly, black tentacles shot out from the dust.

One of them instantly coiled around the neck of a dwarf Awakened.

“Urgh. Wha…”

Crack.

Before the dwarf could even finish speaking, the tentacle snapped his neck on the spot.

The Awakened cried out in alarm at the sight of the dwarf dying instantly.

“What is that?”

“Everyone, be careful.”

At that moment, Damian emerged through the dust.

But his appearance was completely different from before.

Damian was clad in pitch-black armor from head to toe.

The black tentacle that had taken the dwarf’s life disappeared back into the chest of the pitch-black armor.

Damian stroked the chest area and muttered, “Prism Armor. It’s an item discovered in the same dungeon as the Spirit King’s Crown.”

Normally, it took the form of an ordinary belt, but when its wearer infused it with mana or was placed in danger, it transformed into the shape of armor.

Prism Armor protected its wearer with a will of its own, like a living creature.

The tentacle that had shot out from the chest was proof of that.

“He killed Yolo.”

“Everyone, be careful. That bastard equipped some kind of strange item.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Unable to suppress their rage, several Awakened attacked Damian again.

Most of them were martial-type Awakened who used melee weapons such as swords or blades. It was the moment they charged to Damian’s immediate vicinity and were about to swing their weapons.

Chwahaahak!

Suddenly, black tentacles burst out from Damian’s chest.

The tentacles, which shot out like whips, instantly wrapped around the Awakened attacking Damian.

“Urgh.”

“A thing like this…”

The Awakened tried to cut off the tentacles coiled around their bodies with their weapons.

But the tentacles that had emerged from Prism Armor did not so much as gain a scratch.

The black tentacles tightened around the Awakened with terrifying force.

“Ignore the tentacles and attack the main body.”

“This cursed human. To use such a demonic beast.”

The other Awakened who saw the scene attacked Damian in an attempt to rescue their comrades.

They believed that if they brought down Damian, the main body wearing the armor, everything would be solved.

At that point, more than ten tentacles had already extended outward.

They judged that there could be no more tentacles left to attack with. But they soon realized just how great a miscalculation that was.

They realized it by force.

Chwahaahak!

Another ten or so tentacles shot out from Prism Armor.

The tentacles stretched toward the Awakened like venomous snakes.

“Goddamn it.”

“Urgh.”

The Awakened scattered in every direction like a swarm of locusts to avoid the tentacles. But the tentacles chased after them as if they had wills of their own.

Paang!

A sonic boom exploded as the tentacles broke through the speed of sound.

The result was horrific.

“Kehk.”

“Huhk.”

The Awakened dropped in heaps like flies sprayed with poison.

In truth, their condition looked just like that. They had been crushed horribly, as though swatted by a giant flyswatter.

“This… can’t be.”

Serian’s face turned pale.

The Awakened struck down by the tentacles were all among the strongest in the North District. And yet such powerful figures had died like dogs in an instant without even being able to use their strength properly.

It was a humiliation the North District had never experienced in its history.

Awakened were not immortal.

They could die in battle, and they could be wounded.

They died fighting other districts, fighting demonic beasts, and even while raiding dungeons.

For Awakened, death stood closer than life.

But even so, the pathetic deaths of the Awakened unfolding right in front of her eyes made no sense.

“Just what is that armor?”

“Y-Your Majesty. It is a cursed armor. We need to kill that man at once.”

At that moment, Eli’s urgent voice came from where she had been locked in fierce battle with Aleksandro.

Eli’s voice grated on her nerves, but now was not the time to argue over whether she liked or disliked her.

Serian hurriedly spoke to the man standing behind her.

“Broy. I’ll need you to step in.”

“I have been waiting, Your Majesty.”

The man answered and stepped forward.

He was a man with an ordinary frame. Yet strangely, his voice was rough and resonant.

The reason was revealed immediately.

The moment he threw off the robe draped over his body, his form began to change.

Crack. Crk-crack.

With the sound of bones snapping, his body swelled to more than twice its size in an instant, and hair sprouted thickly across his entire body.

His mouth jutted forward, and sharp fangs pushed out.

Two dog-like ears stood tall atop his head, and his red eyes were filled with madness.

The man called Broy was a werewolf.

Among the beastfolk who followed Serian, he was a being who could be called the strongest.

“Kwoooaar!”

Broy let out a roar.

The werewolf’s signature howl had the power to suppress the target’s spirit.

It had an effect similar to the Fear that only demonic beasts above A-rank could unleash.

Broy concentrated the howl on Damian.

If it had been an ordinary Awakened, their entire body would have frozen and their spirit would have taken a direct hit. But Damian remained perfectly fine.

Prism Armor protected its wearer from external curses and all sorts of status-affecting attacks.

In exchange, however, it burned away the wearer’s life force and mana.

That was the reason Damian had avoided wearing Prism Armor whenever possible up until now.

Since it burned away life force and mana, he could not endure for long.

But now that the picture he wanted had already been completed, there was nothing left for him to fear.

Glare.

As he looked at Serian sideways, Damian said, “You are not the one leading the different races. You’re just hiding behind them. Queen of the different races, their last hope? Just how much falsehood do you pile up around yourself to protect yourself? From now on, I’ll tear your veil of hypocrisy to shreds.”

Hwahahak!

An ominous black light burst out from his whole body.

It was the light emitted by Prism Armor.

It was light born from burning away his very life force.

The more life force was consumed, the stronger Damian became.

Watching that sight, Serian muttered, “You are truly insane.”

The deep-rooted hatred and rage of a single human directed toward her made her afraid.

But she too could not retreat.

If she yielded to Damian here, the lives of the different races in the North District would grow harsher.

Even if she had to bear every curse and condemnation in the world upon herself, she still had to protect them.

‘Above all else, I cannot let that cursed demonic beast be released into the world.’

Her gaze turned toward the warehouse behind Damian.

* * *

“To recreate a dungeon in this way. Unbelievable.”

Old Man Go muttered as he looked around.

The place where he stood was Spectrum Prison, more specifically, inside the violet supernal space.

Even he, a barrier caster, could not help but admire the inside of the supernal space. It was perfectly isolated from the outside.

Spectrum Prison was, in a sense, also a kind of barrier.

But even he, a barrier caster, had no confidence he could spread a barrier this vast.

Without the help of an item, it would have been impossible.

“As expected, it’s probably the power of that thing called the Spirit King’s Crown.”

It was then.

“Shouldn’t we intervene now, at least?”

Suddenly, a low voice came from behind him.

When Old Man Go turned around, he saw three men in black suits.

“Oh? I suppose being inside my shadow had become too stifling for you?”

“My apologies.”

One of the men lowered his head and apologized.

To that, Old Man Go replied with his usual smile, “Not at all. You’re only human, after all. It would naturally feel stifling.”

Those who had been hiding inside Old Man Go’s shadow were people seconded from the Shadow Unit.

A special operations unit that, like the execution squad under the mayor, obeyed only Old Man Go’s orders.

Kidnapping important figures, assassination, and surveillance were their primary duties.

They basically possessed the ability to hide inside shadows.

As long as there was a shadow around any object, they could completely blend into it and hide their true forms.

But Old Man Go was the exception.

He was a barrier caster, a rare ability user.

The barrier spread by a barrier caster was perfectly cut off from the outside space. For that reason, the Shadow Unit could never dare hide within the shadow of barrier caster Old Man Go without his permission.

It was only possible because Old Man Go had allowed it.

Their mission was to identify the Navigator within the White Bear Caravan and abduct him.

That was why they had been hiding near the White Bear Caravan, concealed in Old Man Go’s shadow. But when Spectrum Prison was deployed, they had ended up trapped inside the violet supernal space.

Even so, they were not worried.

That was because Old Man Go was with them.

This type of dungeon or barrier was his field of expertise.

No Awakened in Neo Seoul could dare compare with him in that regard.

“Can you break it?”

“Tch. Break it? Of course I can. It will take time, though…”

Old Man Go clicked his tongue.

Like a true barrier caster, he was barely affected by Spectrum Prison at all.

That was because he had spread a barrier around himself and cut off outside influence.

But breaking or escaping from the dungeon was a separate matter entirely.

With his ability, escape was certainly possible, but it would inevitably take time.

At that moment, one of the Shadow Unit men said cautiously, “The mayor ordered that the Navigator be secured at all costs. To do that…”

“Tch. Then there is no helping it.”

Old Man Go clicked his tongue.

Though he was part of the infamous execution unit Numbers, in the end he was still only a subordinate of Jin Geum-ho.

If it was Jin Geum-ho’s order, then even if it meant diving into the fires of hell, he had no choice but to obey.

“From this moment on, I will force open the dungeon’s door. The shock will not be small, so all of you must prepare yourselves well.”

“Yes.”

The men answered in one voice.

Old Man Go closed his eyes and drew up his mana.

To forcefully create an exit in a dungeon, one first had to understand its structure and principles.

The most difficult part was resonating one’s own mana with the dungeon’s mana to grasp its structure, so he had to focus his mind.

Woooong.

It was when Old Man Go’s hand had begun glowing blue along with a resonant hum.

Kwakwakwa.

The violet supernal space suddenly began to shake wildly like something deranged.

“What?”

Old Man Go was startled.

One of the Shadow Unit men asked cautiously, “Could it be an earthquake?”

“A dungeon is a world separated from reality, so there can be no earthquake inside it.”

“Then?”

“Something outside is definitely affecting the dungeon.”

“What? How can that be? There are no demonic beasts nearby. Then don’t tell me a human is actually affecting this dungeon? That should be impossible…”

The man denied his own thought.

A dungeon was one vast world.

To affect something like that would require an unimaginable amount of power.

There should be no such being.

It was then.

Crack crack crack.

As if completely rejecting the man’s thoughts, the violet supernal space began breaking apart like glass.

“What the hell?”

Kwaaaah!

In that instant, an enormous mass of sand poured in through the shattered gap.

Old Man Go’s eyes widened.

That was because he had seen a man standing upright atop the sand rushing in like a tidal wave.

“Ze…on?”