Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert Chapter 667

Chapter 667

Gwoooaar!

A massive drake let out a mournful scream.

The drake, covered in crimson scales, was the ruler of the region.

It was an S-Class monster that had devoured countless other monsters and turned the area into its territory.

Ordinarily, a drake's limit was A-Class, but this mutant Red Drake had surpassed that limit and evolved into an S-Class.

After becoming S-Class, the drake had roamed without restraint.

When it was hungry, it hunted and ate.

When it was sleepy, it slept wherever it pleased.

It could.

This entire area belonged to it.

But now, the Red Drake was pinned beneath someone's foot, crying out in utter agony.

The one standing atop the enormous drake was a man over two meters tall.

Clad in gray armor and a gray coat, the man was none other than Raykas.

Raykas's complexion was deathly pale.

He had suffered severe injuries in his battle with Nigel.

Though not as grievous as Nigel's, they were wounds so serious that even the Authority of a Dragon would require a long time to heal them.

The only reason he had come here before recovering was because of the drake.

More precisely, because of the crystal within the drake.

“To think a mere creature dared absorb Krasias's crystal.”

“Gwooo!”

The drake cried out as if protesting its innocence, but Raykas paid it no mind.

The drake had not absorbed it by choice.

When Dantal died, the crystal sought out a new host.

It had simply happened to choose the drake, which had been sleeping in the desert.

The crystal had not yet fully taken root inside the drake.

The drake did not even know it was carrying it.

The drake desperately struggled to escape Raykas's foot.

It was useless.

As though a mountain rested upon it, its body could not move an inch.

Looking down at the drake, Raykas made a motion of dragging his finger downward.

At once, the drake's belly split open sharply, as though sliced by an invisible blade.

“Gweeeek!”

The drake let out a horrifying scream of pain.

Raykas remained indifferent and continued lowering his finger.

Slash!

The drake's abdomen split open completely, and its internal organs poured out like a waterfall.

The drake convulsed violently several times before going limp.

It was dead.

No matter how resilient a drake's vitality was, it could not survive with its belly torn wide open.

From the dead drake's neck, Raykas retrieved what he had been searching for.

A large crystal glowing with a violet light.

It was the fragment of Krasias's crystal that the late Dantal had desperately gathered.

Formed from countless shattered pieces fused together, it was as large as the crystal Raykas already possessed.

Even Raykas had never seen one this large.

His heart pounded violently.

He could not even imagine how powerful he would become after absorbing it.

“Nigel. Zeon. Wait just a little longer. I'll soon make sure to cut off your last breath.”

Raykas had lived his entire life fearing nothing.

Other than Krasias, no being had ever been capable of harming him.

But Zeon and Nigel had inflicted grievous wounds upon him.

His pride had been deeply wounded.

Originally, Raykas had intended to absorb the Thought Entity that Dantal carried.

But after fighting Nigel, he changed his mind.

“I'll absorb the Thought Entity all at once and make it mine. After that, Nigel's Thought Entity will become mine as well.”

Without hesitation, Raykas swallowed the crystal.

Whoosh!

The instant he consumed it, an overwhelming surge of energy flooded through him.

To make this immense power his own, he had to sleep.

When he awoke from that deep slumber, he would possess power approaching omnipotence.

“It won't be long, Nigel... Zeon.”

Using the drake's corpse as a pillow, he lay down.

Then he sank into a deep sleep.

Overwhelmed by Raykas's terrifying presence, every monster in the vicinity fled.

Silence settled over the desert.

---

Riding atop a sandstorm, Zeon gently landed several kilometers outside Neo Seoul.

The moment he released his dominion, the sandstorm vanished where it stood.

Dusting the sand from his robe, Zeon began walking toward Neo Seoul.

Countless buildings were under construction around the city's outskirts.

The old sand hardener had been too weak to support anything taller than one- or two-story houses.

But after repeated improvements, its performance had advanced enough to construct buildings four or five stories high.

As a result, five-story buildings—once unimaginable—had sprung up across the sandy landscape like mushrooms after rain.

Passing through the newly built streets, Zeon entered Sinchon.

Fortunately, nothing seemed to have happened in either Sinchon or Neo Seoul during the half month he had been away.

Thanks to that, Zeon returned home with peace of mind.

As always, the moment he entered, he removed his robe and sat comfortably on the sofa.

“Haa...”

A sigh escaped him without realizing it.

Resting his chin on his left hand, Zeon gazed out the window.

Beyond the enormous city wall, he could see City Hall.

He remained in that posture for quite some time, silently staring at it.

Over the past fifteen days, Zeon had pushed his abilities to their absolute limit.

He had come to understand Exion on a far deeper level and learned how to use it.

As a result, he could now easily kill gigantic monsters like the Canyon.

Even so, Zeon did not let his guard down.

Not until Devine Judgement was launched into space.

“Come to think of it...”

A certain creature suddenly came to mind.

The ray-like monster.

The Abyss.

“What if it interferes?”

Like most monsters, the Abyss hated having other monsters enter its territory.

Fortunately, Neo Seoul was very far from where the Abyss had appeared.

Still, once Divine Judgement launched, there was no telling whether it might detect it and come.

“Hoo... This is difficult.”

Zeon sighed.

Just as they said—troubles came one after another.

Solve one problem, and another immediately appeared to give him a headache.

“For this... I'll have to respond according to the situation...”

He already had too many immediate problems to waste mental energy worrying about an Abyss that might never appear.

He would simply have to deal with them one at a time.

While lost in thought, Zeon eventually fell asleep on the sofa.

When he opened his eyes again, an entire day had passed.

Perhaps because he had slept so deeply, he felt refreshed.

After washing his face, Zeon immediately left the house.

His destination was Tesserina's lair.

Knock. Knock.

The moment he knocked, the door opened by itself.

As Zeon entered, Tesserina greeted him with a weary face.

“You're here?”

“Are you alright?”

“Why?”

“You look exhausted...”

“I'm fine. I've just been too absorbed in my research.”

While Zeon had buried himself in the desert for half a month, Tesserina had buried herself in her laboratory.

She had devoted herself entirely to studying the Teleport Gem.

As a result, she had uncovered many secrets that had previously eluded her.

But there were still mysteries left unsolved.

Until she fully unraveled every secret of the Teleport Gem, she had no intention of sleeping or resting.

Such was the terrifying thirst for knowledge possessed by dragons.

“If I really feel like I'm dying, I can just ask Remura to use Cure on me. So there's nothing to worry about.”

“Remura's ability works on dragons too?”

“Not on my true body, but it should work on this chimera body.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Oh, by the way, did you hear?”

“Hear what?”

At Tesserina's sudden question, Zeon looked puzzled.

“It's about Jetoya.”

“Did something happen?”

“He's with Damho right now.”

“Hm?”

“It seems Damho has taken a liking to him. He said he wants to teach Jetoya for a while.”

“He did?”

“Yes. I didn't think he'd harm Jetoya, so I agreed. Jetoya also said he wanted to learn.”

At Tesserina's words, Zeon tilted his head.

The Damho he knew was not someone who casually extended goodwill to others.

The only thing reflected in his eyes had been his desire to return home.

For someone with such an overwhelming obsession to spare time teaching another person was no ordinary matter.

“So he thinks that highly of Jetoya's potential?”

“What was it he called it...? Ah, right. Martial talent.”

“Martial talent?”

“Yes. He said Jetoya possesses martial talent. That's why he wanted to teach him for a while.”

“So Jetoya has been staying with Damho ever since?”

“He probably has.”

“I should go see them in a little while.”

Seeing it with his own eyes would make it much easier to understand the situation than hearing about it a hundred times from Tesserina.

“But what brings you here at this hour?”

“Ah, Sir Nigel. May I see him?”

“Now?”

“Yes.”

“That should be fine. Follow me.”

Together, Tesserina and Zeon descended beneath the lair.

At the center of an enormous glowing magic circle sat Nigel.

His complexion was still pale.

Even his shattered scales had not yet recovered.

It was proof that he had not fully healed.

Sensing Zeon and Tesserina's presence, Nigel opened his closed eyes.

“You've come.”

“How is your condition?”

“Not good.”

“Is it that serious?”

“It is.”

Nigel answered honestly.

There was no point hiding it.

Anyone could see how grave his condition was.

“When do you think you'll recover completely?”

“I cannot say for certain. The Authority Raykas possesses nullifies even a dragon's regenerative abilities.”

Every dragon possessed an elemental attribute.

Just as a Red Dragon wielded the Authority of Fire, a Black Dragon possessed the Authority of Destruction.

Regardless of elemental affinity, the Black Dragon stood unrivaled in destructive power.

Even Raykas could not compare in that regard.

The problem lay in Raykas's Authority.

The Chaos Dragon's unique Authority of Chaos was the natural enemy of all dragons.

It transformed both the Authority and mana unique to dragons—beings of order—into chaos.

Like becoming hopelessly lost in a maze, the flow of mana became hopelessly tangled, making recovery take an extremely long time.

Furthermore, Raykas had absorbed one of Krasias's Thought Entities, increasing his Authority severalfold.

He had grown far stronger than Nigel himself had.

That was why Nigel had suffered such grievous injuries, to the point where he could not even promise when he would fully recover.

“By human reckoning... at least several months.”

“What if Raykas finds you before then, Sir Nigel?”

“A great catastrophe will occur. For me... and for Neo Seoul.”

“Will he really come looking for you?”

“Without fail. He intends to absorb the Thought Entity of Krasias that I possess. He believes that will make him complete.”

“If he kills you and absorbs Krasias's Thought Entity... what will happen? Wouldn't he end up being controlled by Krasias's Thought Entity?”

“He believes he can dominate Krasias's Thought Entity.”

“Is that possible?”

“I cannot say for certain.”

At Nigel's answer, Zeon's gaze sank heavily.

“So... Krasias might be resurrected.”

“Yes. Which is why I have a request for you.”

“Please tell me.”

“If I am discovered by Raykas and it appears I am about to die... then you must kill me yourself.”

“But even if I do, Krasias's Thought Entity won't disappear, will it?”

“For a long time, I have been researching a way to destroy Krasias's Thought Entity. And I have created a sliver of possibility.”

“A possibility?”

Nigel's gaze shifted to Zeon's right arm.

More precisely, to the black gauntlet he wore there.

“Yes. The gauntlet I gave you... is the possibility I created.”