Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert

Zeon lifted his head.

He found himself in a vast underground space.

It was large enough to accommodate dozens of giant leeches writhing around with room to spare.

“At least the quicksand flows down here too.”

The underground space was filled with flowing sand, but the flow was abnormal.

Some streams of sand flowed like rivers, while others reversed direction like waterfalls going up.

There were even streams of sand flowing sideways along the walls.

Some mysterious force was clearly manipulating the flow of the sand in erratic ways.

“Interesting.”

Zeon said, smiling.

Kieee!

At that moment, the giant leeches, now fully alert, turned their attention to Zeon and attacked.

Boom!

A massive maw struck the spot where Zeon had been standing, but he had already moved.

More giant leeches followed, their attacks missing Zeon by inches.

Boom! Crash!

Zeon dodged the attacks with minimal effort, which only infuriated the leeches further.

They screeched in anger, shaking their heads violently—a repulsive sight.

Zeon countered by launching sand at the leeches.

The sight of sand flying looked like a poisonous snake with its head held high.

It was Viper, an evolved form of the Sand Blaster skill.

Thud! Thud!

The Viper struck the leeches repeatedly, but their massive size and thick shells took little damage.

“They’re quite tough.”

Zeon noted, unsurprised.

He continued to use various skills against them.

Boom! Boom!

The giant leeches were shaken by the explosions, but still, they took little damage.

Instead, they became even more aggressive in their attacks on Zeon.

Slash!

One leech extended its body several meters, attempting to swallow Zeon whole, its massive maw filled with saw-like teeth.

At that moment, a cold smile appeared on Zeon’s lips.

“Let’s see if your insides are as tough as your shell.”

Whoosh!

A huge column of sand flew from behind Zeon, shooting into the leech’s mouth.

Boom! Boom!

The sand spun violently, tearing through the leech’s insides.

Its mouth, esophagus, and stomach were shredded by the sand.

Boom!

With a loud explosion, the leech’s body burst apart.

Thousands of smaller leeches, previously combined to form the giant leech, scattered across the ground.

The sight of so many small leeches writhing on the ground was nauseating.

But Zeon didn’t flinch. He attacked the mouths of the other giant leeches.

Whoosh!

Boom!

One by one, the giant leeches burst apart, adding to the writhing mass of smaller leeches on the ground.

With the collective formation broken, the ground was now a writhing sea of black leeches.

The smaller leeches quickly regrouped and swarmed towards Zeon.

Zeon looked at the approaching leeches with a cold, detached gaze—an expression Neo Seoul had never seen.

This was the true Zeon, the one who had wandered the desert alone for seven years.

The most dangerous threat wasn’t the monsters; it was other humans.

Having faced too many treacherous people, Zeon had learned to shut off his emotions.

Upon returning to Neo Seoul, he had grown a little softer, but this was Zeon’s true appearance.

Since there was no one else around, Zeon’s true appearance naturally resurfaced.

Raising his right arm, he muttered.

“There must be a main body somewhere.”

Hive monsters usually had a main body acting as the nucleus.

The main body would likely be an extraordinary specimen, hiding among the swarm.

It was impossible to identify which leech was the main body among the thousands.

“If I can’t find it, I’ll make it show itself.”

Zeon’s right arm glowed red.

“Fire Rain!”

Whoosh!

A rain of fire poured down in the underground cavern, covering the mass of leeches.

Screech!

The leeches writhed and screamed, unable to escape the fire.

The fire rained down mercilessly, burning them alive.

Leeches that couldn’t burrow into the sand were defenseless.

They tried to burrow, but Zeon had hardened the sand, preventing them from escaping.

Thousands of leeches burned to death, yet the main body did not reveal itself.

Zeon unleashed another Fire Rain.

Whoosh!

More leeches perished in the intense heat.

“Huff, huff…”

Zeon breathed heavily.

The two attacks had drained his already depleted mana.

He staggered from the exhaustion.

At that moment,

Crunch!

Among the burned leeches, one raised its head.

This one was pitch black, unlike the others.

The black leech stared intently at Zeon, as if assessing his condition.

‘That’s the one.’

Zeon realized that the monster before him was the main body of the swarm.

Despite the Fire Rain, it remained untouched and emitted a strong mana pulse directed at Zeon.

‘It’s scanning to see if I have any mana left.’

Zeon thought, recognizing the monster’s cunning.

Despite leading a vast swarm, it didn’t attack recklessly but probed first.

The main body had a skill to sense mana and confirmed Zeon’s lack of it.

In reality, Zeon had exhausted all his mana.

The main body emitted a bizarre sound.

Kreee!

It was a strange sound that sounded like a mixture of crying and laughter.

Other leeches responded to the sound of the main body and flocked to it.

They were trying to form an even larger giant leech.

However, this time it was on a different level.

Instead of dispersing into many groups like last time, they are united around the main body.

A giant leech of a whole nother size was formed.

The main body sticking out of the top of its head.

A red force field enveloped its entire body—a force field far stronger than anything Zeon had faced so far.

The main body, atop the giant leech, looked down at Zeon, seemingly mocking him.

Zeon’s eyes turned cold.

“How dare you…”

The very act of mocking him indicated that the main body possessed emotions, a trait found in higher-ranked monsters.

This colossal leech, with the main body as its core, had now ascended to A-rank.

Zeon, on the other hand, was out of mana.

A situation that seemed hopeless to any observer.

But Zeon had an ace up his sleeve.

Suddenly, a bright light burst from Zeon’s neck.

Elura’s Tear.

An extraordinary item that fully restored mana once a day, hidden under Zeon’s clothing until now.

In an instant, Zeon’s mana was completely replenished.

Eliminating any signs of previous depletion.

The main body, sensing this shift, recoiled in surprise.

Its acute senses detecting Zeon’s renewed mana.

Now unable to retreat, the only option left for the main body was to attack.

Screeching, the massive leech lunged at Zeon.

Kreeee!

The enormous body extended like a rubber band, aiming to crush Zeon.

But he was no longer there. Zeon floated in the air, using sand as a platform.

With a blank expression, he said.

“Let’s start off lightly. Claymore!”

Boom!

The sand near the giant leech exploded, each grain becoming a deadly weapon that battered the leech’s body.

Kreee!

The monster’s scream echoed through the underground chamber.

Though the force field prevented fatal damage, the impact caused immense pain to both the giant leech and the main body.

Writhing in agony, the main body went berserk.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The giant leech fired smaller leeches like missiles from its body.

Zeon quickly formed a sand barrier in front of him.

Boom! Boom!

The leech missiles exploded against the sand barrier, shaking it but not penetrating it.

Bang! Bang!

The giant leech continued its relentless barrage, but Zeon soared through the air on streams of sand, evading the projectiles.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The leech missiles exploded around him, but Zeon manipulated the sand, changing its flow.

The sand, previously flowing chaotically, now surged into the air under Zeon’s control.

As the underground chamber filled with sand particles, Zeon murmured.

“The sand is my battlefield. I’ll show you how foolish it is to challenge me here.”

Zeon stretched out his hand.

At that moment, the sand filling the underground cavity began to rotate around the giant leech.

Rrrr!

The sound of the sand spinning like a buzz saw filled the chamber.

Zeon had unleashed one of his most powerful skills, Sand Mixer.

The rapidly rotating sand particles began to erode the leech’s force field.

Despite its attempts to reinforce the barrier, it couldn’t withstand the onslaught.

For most, ordinary sand wouldn’t affect a force field. But under Zeon’s control, the sand became a potent weapon.

Screech!

The giant leech thrashed in unprecedented pain.

The force field shattered, and the smaller leeches forming its outer shell were torn apart.

With its hard exterior dismantled and gaps forming, the sand infiltrated the leech’s body, spinning violently inside.

Rrrr!

The sand particles rotated both inside and outside the giant leech.

Boom!

The giant leech, with the main body at its core, exploded from the inside out.