The Scorched Desert's Sand Mage (Novel) - Chapter 153

Chapter 153

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Translated by Pratt

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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“Zeon has returned.”

At the subordinate’s report, Johan raised his head. There was not a trace of emotion in the small eyes visible beyond his glasses.

“When?”

“It appears he entered two hours ago.”

“So he returned after fifteen days?”

“That is correct.”

“He caused that kind of incident and then stayed away for fifteen days?”

Johan furrowed his brows. The faction that had suffered the greatest damage from the White Bear Caravan incident was Dongdaemun. Brixton, Kim Jae-gyeong, and even the berserkers sent along with them had all died. Not a single one survived. They had been wiped out to the last man. It was truly catastrophic damage. The moment he heard the report, Johan had even let out a hollow laugh in disbelief. He could not believe it, and he found it hard to accept.

Because of that, he had even suspected that his subordinate was reporting falsely.

But the report had been true.

The trusted subordinates he had believed in had all lost their lives. One full third of Dongdaemun’s strength had vanished in an instant.

The one mercy, if any, was that Dongdaemun was not alone. Most of the other forces who had sent troops to the fortress had also suffered damage close to total annihilation.

The problem was Zeon.

Through the tiny number of survivors, the fact that Zeon had killed Balrog became known. Along with his true Awakened ability.

‘A sand mage.’

He had never even imagined that such an Awakened ability could exist.

In a world where most of the land had turned into sand, the usefulness of a sand mage was limitless.

Even a C-rank sand mage would have been treasured and kept close, and Zeon, on the other hand, was estimated to be at least A-rank.

And that was when judged conservatively.

Since he had led the battle against Balrog to victory, it was certain that he was S-rank.

With the appearance of an S-rank sand mage, all of Neo Seoul’s power holders were now in emergency mode.

A hidden struggle to recruit Zeon was already underway beneath the surface.

The only reason that struggle had not yet become visible was that, for some reason, Zeon had stayed away from his residence for fifteen full days.

Now that Zeon had returned, it was certain that each district would move seriously to recruit him.

“This has become troublesome.”

The problem was that Dongdaemun could not join that struggle over Zeon.

Their relationship with Zeon had already become hostile, so trying to recruit him now would accomplish nothing.

If anything, it would only make them look ridiculous.

And yet they also could not simply leave Zeon alone.

If matters were allowed to continue like this, it was obvious that Zeon would swallow Dongdaemun eventually. Even if Zeon himself did not want that, the overall current would surely flow that way.

He had to eliminate Zeon before that happened.

“Do I need to move personally?”

Johan’s concerns grew deeper.

* * *

Zeon took off his robe and hung it on the wall.

Nothing at all had changed in the house he had returned to after so long.

Part of that was because Brielle and Levin had managed it well during his absence, but fundamentally it was also because watchful eyes had been protecting it perfectly.

While Zeon had been gone, many people had come, saying they wanted to recruit him.

Among them were even those who tried to break the door down by force.

But every one of their attempts had ended in failure.

No one whom Zeon did not permit would ever be able to enter.

The moment he came inside, Brielle held out a bottle filled with red liquid to him.

“You worked hard. Drink this and get some real rest.”

“What is this?”

“I made it. It’s really good for recovering from fatigue.”

Zeon looked at the red liquid suspiciously.

It looked like blood, which made him uneasy.

“Just drink it already. It’s really fine.”

“All right.”

Unable to beat Brielle’s insistence, Zeon finally drank the red liquid.

The instant he drank it, he was startled.

Energy surged through his whole body.

Brielle looked at Zeon with sparkling eyes.

“Isn’t it amazing?”

“Yeah.”

“Hee hee. Success.”

“You made this?”

“Yeah. I was trying to make a mana recovery potion, but this came out instead. It restores vitality instead of mana.”

“That’s insane. For something that’s not even an item to have this kind of effect.”

“I did it.”

At Zeon’s praise, Brielle jumped around excitedly.

‘Her talent is really blooming.’

When he had first saved Brielle, she had been nothing more than a drug addict ruined by narcotics.

But now, almost none of that addict’s trace remained in her.

She still had many days when her eyes lost focus because she had not fully escaped the aftereffects yet, but even so, she was blooming into her own talent.

‘Is that what it means to be a high elf after all?’

If Brielle kept developing like this, even Zeon could not guess how far she might go.

Brielle was still young, and if nothing went wrong, she would live a very long life like a true high elf.

Even Zeon could not imagine what sort of items she might eventually create.

That was how limitless her potential was.

“How much of this can you make?”

“I’ve completed the recipe. As long as I have the materials, I can make as much as I want.”

“Are the materials easy to obtain?”

“Mm…”

“So they’re difficult.”

“Yeah. You can get them, but they’re expensive.”

“Then that’s fine. It’s not as if they’re unobtainable.”

Zeon let out a faint laugh.

Money was not the problem.

His subspace was overflowing with things that could be turned into money.

To him, a vitality potion like this was actually more useful.

“I’ll tell Yu Se-hui, so go ahead and use whatever materials you need from the Goblin Market.”

“Actually, about that… I was thinking, what if I went into business with her?”

“A business partnership?”

“I think it’d be much more profitable that way…”

“Do as you like.”

“Really? You’re okay with that?”

“Yeah.”

At the moment Zeon’s permission fell, Brielle’s face brightened.

While going through the Balrog summoning incident this time, she had realized many things.

The obsession and resentment of one human had brought a calamity-class demonic beast like Balrog to this land.

And the target of that human’s resentment had happened to be the different races, the same as her own.

At first, she had not understood that blind hatred and rage.

But when she switched their positions in her head, she felt she would probably have been the same.

To humans, the different races were invaders who had ruined this land.

If they had not crossed over so recklessly just to survive, Earth would never have become this desolate, and countless humans would not have died.

Since her people had incurred that much human resentment, there was nothing strange about someone planning a revenge drama like this.

‘I can’t undo what my race did, but I still want to do something for the people of the slums.’

She wanted to use the profits made from the vitality potion for the people here.

That was the reason she wanted to go into business with Yu Se-hui.

“I’m heading to the Goblin Market, so you just rest, Zeon.”

“All right.”

The moment Brielle ran out the door and he was left alone, Zeon sat down on the sofa.

“Whew.”

As he sank deep into the sofa, a sense of relief washed over him.

Zeon sat there and looked out the window.

Beyond the red neon signs, the high wall and City Hall could be seen.

Zeon stared at City Hall for a long time before eventually falling asleep.

The next time he opened his eyes, it was the following morning.

Even though he had slept on the sofa, he did not feel tired at all.

It seemed to be thanks to the vitality potion he had taken the night before.

“She really made something incredible.”

It was something more useful for lower-rank Awakened than for someone like Zeon.

If a single bottle of potion could completely erase one’s fatigue, there would be no reason not to buy it.

Once it entered the market, it would likely become quite popular.

“So Jin Geum-ho is looking for me.”

Without realizing it, Zeon furrowed his brows.

Jin Geum-ho was the ruler of Neo Seoul.

A monster from the same era as Dayeoden.

His estimated age alone was over one hundred and fifty.

Excluding the different races, there was no human who had survived that long.

At least not among the people Zeon knew.

An Awakened who had lived longer than Dayeoden, and who might be as strong as Dayeoden.

That kind of Awakened was calling for Zeon.

He was not afraid.

Zeon had not lived as long as Jin Geum-ho, but he had walked through no easy road either.

He was confident he would not be pushed around too badly, even against Jin Geum-ho.

In the desert, that is.

But inside Neo Seoul, things were different.

Neo Seoul was protected by all kinds of magic circles and barriers, so sand from outside could not flow in.

Without sand, Zeon’s full strength had no choice but to be cut in half.

Knowing that, it was obvious that Jin Geum-ho meant to call Zeon into Neo Seoul for precisely that reason.

“I need to prepare myself well.”

If he kept his eyes open, the best-case scenario was only having his nose cut off.

If he relaxed for even a moment, he might lose his life or end up with a leash around his neck.

“No time to rest. Hah.”

It was then, just as Zeon let out a sigh.

“Oh, hyung. You’re back.”

Levin came back through the door.

“You stayed out all night?”

“Yeah.”

Levin nodded as if it were only natural.

“You’re working hard. Did you get any results?”

“Not yet.”

Levin shook his head.

He was still pursuing the murderer.

But after that day, the murderer had vanished completely.

He had hidden all his traces and disappeared.

He had not even killed again.

It was obvious he was hiding somewhere and treating his wounds.

The problem was that no one knew where he was hiding.

“If he comes out after recovering, he’s definitely going to kill again…”

Levin sighed.

He himself had already lost his family, so that could not be changed.

But he still wanted to prevent any more victims from appearing.

“Well, anyway, the next time I find him, I definitely won’t let him go.”

Watching Levin burn with fighting spirit, Zeon smiled.

Levin had grown a great deal too.

By tracking the murderer, he had naturally come into contact with many people, and all those people had become part of Levin’s network.

Using that vast range of contacts, Levin had built an independent information network of his own.

It could not compare to an information organization like the Eyes of Argos, but building even a modest network like that was still remarkable.

Putting on his robe, Zeon said, “I’m heading out to eat. What about you?”

“I’m coming too.”

“Let’s go.”

“Yeah.”

Levin followed Zeon outside.

Perhaps because it was still early, the streets were quiet.

The two headed together toward the street where Old Klexi did business.

Slurp.

Old Klexi’s stall already had a customer.

It was a broad-shouldered man with short hair.

He was sitting with his head bowed, eating the food Old Klexi had made.

It was only his back, but Zeon recognized him at once.

As he sat down beside the man, Zeon said, “So we meet here.”

“You came.”

The man turned his head and looked at Zeon.

He was a man with a large scar running across his right cheek and striking golden eyes.

His name was Lee Ji-ryeong.

He was the captain of the Pegasus Raid Force, and the older brother of the man Zeon had killed.

“The food here is good. I had no idea the slums had a place like this.”

“The old man’s cooking is excellent. We’ll take the same thing.”

Zeon ordered food from Old Klexi.

“Got it. Ahem.”

Old Klexi cleared his throat and started cooking.

Zeon said to Lee Ji-ryeong, “I doubt you came all the way here just to eat slum food. Did you come to see me?”

“You caused quite a spectacular mess.”

“You mean Balrog?”

“Exactly. You revealed your Awakened ability with your own hands. It was a foolish choice.”

“Was it?”

“Now all the people who covet your ability will come swarming at you like starving beasts. Can you handle that?”

“It was something I was going to have to reveal eventually anyway. I’ll deal with it somehow.”

“You sound confident.”

“So you came here to give me advice?”

“Advice? Hardly. I came to make you one offer.”

“An offer?”

“Yeah. An offer. Join me in raiding a dungeon.”