Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert Chapter 572
Previously on Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert...
Chapter 572
Behemoth consumed countless magical beasts, seizing their traits and powers.
The blood-red scales enveloping his body represented one such acquired feature.
A creature known as the Dark Mole dwelled far beneath the earth.
Its skin and claws had hardened to diamond-like toughness, suited to the crushing pressure and scorching heat deep underground.
This Dark Mole held the strength to prey on sandworms far bigger than itself.
After devouring the Dark Mole, Behemoth gained scales tougher than his former hide. Still, Zeon’s Diamond Spear shattered them like brittle glass, driving deep into his vital organs.
Such an injury wouldn't claim Behemoth's life, naturally. Yet it delivered excruciating pain.
—I will not forgive you.
Fury ignited in Behemoth, who unleashed a devastating beam.
Zeon surfed across the sand, dodging the destructive ray.
The beam ravaged the Awakened positioned at the back instead.
“Aaagh!”
“Ugh!”
Awakened hit by the beam dissolved amid agonized cries.
Dozens of Awakened erased in a blink—pure horror unfolded before their eyes.
District strike captains bellowed,
“Snap out of it and stay alert. Zeon can’t shield your lives forever.”
“Yes!”
The Awakened responded, eyes locked on the fray.
Wounded by the Diamond Spear, Behemoth thrashed in berserk rage.
All his wrath targeted Zeon.
Zeon deployed Sand Soldiers to hammer its head and eyes without mercy.
Regular Sand Soldiers couldn't scratch Behemoth’s hide.
These, however, blazed with extreme heat—a whole new level.
Through the Authority of Fire, Zeon had laced them with scorching flames.
Kwang! Kwaaaang!
Behemoth’s destruction beams exploded Sand Soldiers or liquefied them.
Zeon refused to falter or despair.
Ample mana still coursed through him.
He could summon endless Sand Soldiers and unleash more assaults on Behemoth.
Best of all, as he stalled the beast, reorganized Awakened ranks surged back into combat.
Leading them were the Numbers.
“Cha-at!”
Grain smashed Behemoth’s skull with gravity while the twin sisters scrambled its thoughts via telepathy.
Old Man Go’s barrier ensnared it firmly, allowing martial Awakened to latch on as magic-types bombarded from range.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!
One ant means little, yet hordes of thousands overwhelm. Even a hulking hippo succumbs to ant swarms.
That described the scene perfectly.
Behemoth’s mountain-like frame couldn't dodge strikes from hundreds of elite Awakened.
His protective force field and scales lay in ruins long ago. Gaps now invited the ants’ bites.
Grain yelled,
“Aim for the belly.”
The Diamond Spear’s brutal gash in the abdomen drew all attention.
Awakened swarmed it relentlessly, stabbing deeper.
Behemoth tried shaking them loose, but Zeon blocked him.
“Diamond Spear!”
His ultimate skill fired anew.
A colossal diamond spear erupted from under Behemoth’s feet.
Sensing peril that instant, Behemoth triggered a skill.
Shuuuu!
Behemoth’s gigantic form vanished abruptly.
Thus, Zeon’s Diamond Spear stabbed nothing but air.
“Huh?”
“What?”
Awakened, mid-assault on Behemoth, scanned in stunned confusion.
Seong Hoyeon roared,
“Spatial teleportation!”
Before his shout faded, Behemoth rematerialized.
It landed right amid the magic-type Awakened.
The hundred-meter behemoth’s sudden arrival threw magic-types into chaos.
—Die!
Behemoth lifted a colossal leg, smashing down at the magic Awakened.
Evasion proved impossible.
They faced obliteration into mush.
Then—
Gulleong!
Sand surged like a massive wave, crashing into Behemoth’s side.
Kwang!
A deafening boom rocked Behemoth’s frame, making it reel.
No bulk could shrug off a hundred-meter sand wave’s crushing impact.
Zeon crafted that sand tidal wave.
Astride the sandstorm, he gazed down and whispered,
“Sand Tsunami.”
A deluge of sand.
Zeon’s invention tailored for giants like Behemoth.
Kwang! Kwaaaang! Kwaang!
Sand Tsunami battered Behemoth repeatedly.
The relentless mass assaults toppled it sideways.
Its abdomen’s piercing wound from Diamond Spear lay bare.
“Now! Full barrage!”
Awakened pounced on the vulnerability with everything.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!
Barrage after barrage pummeled the abdomen.
The gash scorched wider, flesh shredding away in chunks.
The hole widened, delving deeper.
Behemoth’s torment skyrocketed, of course.
Overwhelmed by suffering, it finally roared.
—Kraaaah!
Its body flushed crimson with the cry.
Strike captains sensed doom and hollered,
“Damn it!”
“Fall back, everyone!”
As commands rang out, Behemoth’s scales detonated.
Kwaaaang!
Shrapnel scales hurtled everywhere.
Those heeding captains or favored by luck dodged.
The slow or unfortunate fared worse.
“Aaagh!”
“Keuh!”
Scales shredded Awakened bodies like flimsy paper.
Scores perished instantly.
Grain drifted to Zeon, hovering via the sandstorm.
Manipulating gravity for flight, Grain told Zeon,
“Scattered hits won’t finish it. One decisive blow to end its life.”
“Got it.”
“I’ll make the opening. You deliver the kill.”
“Me?”
“Exactly. Today’s star isn’t us. It stings, but our powers can’t land a lethal hit.”
Grain’s bitterness shone through.
Gravity mastery made him overpowered.
Any Awakened snared in it flattened like pests.
Yet this colossal beast resisted well.
Its immensity withstood crushing forces.
Grain couldn’t pulverize the whole body at once—best he managed was hampering its head.
Impressive, sure, but no death blow.
Seong Hoyeon and other captains shared the limit.
All elite Awakened, yet none soloed such a titan before.
Only Zeon boasted the feats and tools.
How a Sand Mage wielded Diamond Spear baffled them, but only it threatened fatality now.
—How dare puny humans…
Toppled on its side, Behemoth heaved upright.
Awakened-inflicted wounds knit swiftly.
True to a destruction beast, super regeneration healed it fast.
Full recovery meant no more hunt chances.
This moment defined their shot.
The sole window to slay the destruction leviathan.
Post-recovery, no repeat.
Flying at Behemoth, Grain declared,
“Rest is yours.”
At its head, Grain maxed out Gravity Increase.
Future be damned.
Sole focus: pulverize that skull now, unleashing full power.
Kwachik!
Mid-lift, Behemoth’s head slammed earthward under multiplied gravity.
Numbers seized the gap, maxing skills.
Strike captains and surviving Awakened poured utmost might.
No thought of aftermath.
Desperation ruled.
Terror of Behemoth razing homes and kin fueled total commitment.
Unity reigned.
Human, elf, dwarf—all-in.
District rivalries vanished before Neo Seoul’s peril; no us-versus-them.
Their frenzy locked Behemoth’s bulk rigid, curse-bound.
Grain bellowed,
“Now!”
Zeon stayed silent.
Mind razor-focused already.
Sand Soldiers dismissed.
Every mana drop saved.
Prepped fully, Zeon invoked,
“Diamond Spear!”
Shuuuu!
A thicker Diamond Spear than ever rocketed skyward.
Puuk!
It speared the abdominal wound clean through, erupting from the back.
—Kraaaah!
Agony wracked Behemoth into screams.
No beast shrugs off a torso impalement like meat on a spit. Breath lingered, though.
Twisting in torment, it fought the spear.
The spectacle terrified all.
“Still alive?”
“Fuck!”
“Tougher than a cockroach!”
Behemoth’s tenacity stunned them.
Pushed to extremes, yet undying, struggling—the aura choked breath.
Grain, Seong Hoyeon, captains—drained, immobile.
Then—
Flash!
Monstrous lightning bolt hammered Behemoth’s head.
“Hyung!”
Levin called to Zeon.
Ghost-form Levin fired Giga Lightning.
The supreme strike paralyzed Behemoth briefly.
Zeon’s eyes gleamed.
Chwareureu!
Diamond Spear withdrawn, sand flooded the cavity.
Shocked by Giga Lightning, Behemoth couldn’t halt the influx.
Deeming volume sufficient, Zeon burned last mana on finale.
“Sand Mixer!”
Gaaaanng!
Sand whirled ferociously within Behemoth.