Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert Chapter 670

Chapter 670

“The monster hunting team responsible for the area around the open-air mana stone mine has gone silent.”

“We've also lost contact with the reconnaissance unit that was patrolling the original mana stone mine.”

“The dungeon assault teams operating in the north have failed to return.”

Urgent reports continued pouring into City Hall's situation room.

Jin Geumho, Seo Taeran, and the rest of the leadership had all gathered there.

Once everyone was present, Seo Taeran spoke.

“At present, there are more than ten teams that have either failed to return or cannot be contacted.”

“How many people?”

“More than five hundred are currently missing.”

Jin Geumho asked with a grave expression,

“Should we assume they're all dead?”

“Based on the circumstances... that appears to be the case.”

“The cause?”

“We've already dispatched an investigation team. We should have news soon.”

Seo Taeran bit her lip firmly.

Never before in Neo Seoul's history had ten teams failed to return all at once.

The disappearance of more than five hundred Awakeners in a single moment was anything but an ordinary incident.

That was why she had immediately dispatched an investigation team to determine the cause.

“Who's in charge?”

“Supervisor Mandy Systein.”

“Mandy?”

“She has survived numerous high-risk missions. If it's her, she'll definitely uncover the cause of this incident.”

“Hmm.”

Jin Geumho let out a thoughtful hum at Seo Taeran's confidence.

“Have the Steel Fortress and the Primordial Forest been informed?”

“Yes. We've already sent people to notify them.”

“Well done.”

Jin Geumho nodded.

They were both far from the mana stone mine, but there was no harm in being cautious.

An anxious stretch of time passed.

Every minute, every second felt as long as an hour.

Just as everyone was growing weary of waiting, someone violently threw open the door to the situation room.

It was a woman drenched head to toe in blood.

Seo Taeran recognized her instantly.

“Mandy!”

It was none other than Mandy, the leader of the investigation team.

“Fuck!”

She cursed as she brushed back her disheveled hair.

Her eyes gleamed fiercely.

Eloy, her alternate personality, had emerged.

Unaware of that, one of the executives asked,

“Did you find the cause?”

“Fuck! Fuck!”

Instead of answering, Eloy only cursed.

That alone showed how badly shaken she was.

Seo Taeran waited for her to calm down before asking again.

“What happened? Your subordinates?”

“Th... they're all dead.”

“What?”

“They all became monster food.”

“Monsters?”

“They were all eaten by those damned monsters.”

“......”

Eloy's desperate cry left everyone temporarily unable to think.

Even Seo Taeran, who was normally exceptionally composed, was no exception.

Eloy continued,

“A monster army is moving south from the north. The missing people were definitely all eaten by monsters.”

“Are you certain?”

“I saw it with my own eyes. If I'd been even a little slower escaping, I would've become monster food too.”

“How many? And where are they now?”

“There were too many to count. Thousands... tens of thousands... maybe even more. Small-class, mid-class, and large-class monsters were all mixed together.”

“Are you sure?”

“I told you, I saw it with my own eyes.”

“Very well. Then their location?”

“I confirmed they'd advanced as far south as forty kilometers from the open-air mana stone mine.”

“Forty... kilometers?”

Seo Taeran's eyes trembled.

The monsters had already approached far closer to the mana stone mine than she had expected.

“Time has passed since then. They may be even closer now.”

“Did you notify the mana stone mine?”

“Of course. I put them on full alert, then came here through the portal immediately.”

“You did well. Leave the rest to us and get some rest.”

“How can I rest when all my subordinates are dead? I've delivered my report, so I'm going back to the mana stone mine.”

“Understood. Do that.”

Without another word, Seo Taeran accepted Eloy's decision.

Eloy immediately ran toward the portal.

Just as she had said, she was heading back to the mana stone mine.

After Eloy left, silence settled over the situation room.

Everyone simply stared at Jin Geumho's face as he sank into thought.

After a long while, he finally spoke.

“Now that we know the cause, we need a solution. Request cooperation from every district and organize the forces to send to the mana stone mine. Monsters may appear elsewhere as well, so dispatch additional investigation teams.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Understood.”

The executives hurriedly rushed out in response.

Once only the two of them remained, Seo Taeran spoke.

“So it really is related to Neo Seoul's anti-magic field nearly disappearing.”

“It must be. Otherwise, there'd be no reason for the monsters to suddenly migrate south in such massive numbers.”

There were quite a few monsters living around the mana stone mine.

But never enough to form hordes numbering in the thousands or tens of thousands.

Moreover, it was impossible under normal circumstances for large-class and small-class monsters to migrate together in a single massive force.

The monsters must have instinctively sensed that Neo Seoul's anti-magic field had nearly vanished.

To them, Neo Seoul had become nothing more than a warehouse full of food.

More than twenty million people lived there.

In other words, there were twenty million meals waiting for the monsters.

They had more than enough reason to come charging toward it.

“Calculate how much time we have left. We must launch Heavenly Punishment before then.”

“Yes, sir.”

Seo Taeran answered and hurried out.

Left alone, Jin Geumho let out a deep sigh.

“...Sigh.”

His gaze suddenly drifted to the mirror hanging on the wall.

The reflection staring back at him looked exhausted.

The golden eyes that had always shone brilliantly had noticeably faded.

“My time is running out as well.”

---

“Hm?”

As Zeon was leaving the prison and heading home, he spotted a woman running toward the portal.

Covered head to toe in bright red blood and charging forward like a madwoman, it was Eloy.

With a spear in hand and a savage aura pouring from her body, she caused everyone around her to recoil and clear a path.

Seeing her alarming state, Zeon instinctively realized that something major had happened.

Calling out to her, he approached.

“Lady Eloy!”

“Zeon!”

“What happened? That blood...”

“Fuck! A monster army is advancing toward the mana stone mine.”

“A monster army?”

“I saw it with my own eyes. Thousands—tens of thousands of monsters moving together.”

“Are you certain?”

“All the subordinates who went with me died. I barely escaped alive.”

“Does City Hall know?”

“I've just finished reporting it.”

Eloy answered without slowing her pace.

The only thing on her mind was getting back to the mana stone mine as quickly as possible.

Her sole purpose was to kill as many monsters as she could and avenge the subordinates who had died alongside her.

Zeon couldn't stop her.

If it had been Mandy, she would have acted more rationally, but even he found it difficult to restrain Eloy once she was in one of her rampages.

“I'm going.”

“Please be careful.”

“Don't worry.”

With that, Eloy stepped through the portal and crossed over to the Steel Fortress.

Left alone, Zeon immediately headed out into the desert.

After confirming no one was nearby, he rode a sandstorm and flew south of Neo Seoul.

A journey that would take an entire day by vehicle took only an hour riding the sandstorm.

When Zeon arrived several hundred kilometers away from Neo Seoul, his eyebrows twitched.

The color of the desert was strange.

At this time of day, the desert sand should have been bathed in orange light.

Yet almost everything before him was black.

Something pitch-black covered the orange sand.

“Hmm.”

Descending closer to the ground, Zeon unconsciously let out a low murmur.

The black mass covering the desert was monsters.

Countless monsters had gathered together and were on the move.

Large-class, mid-class, and small-class monsters were all mixed together.

Such a thing could never happen in a normal monster ecosystem.

As if possessed by something, they were all marching north.

“Have they sensed that Neo Seoul's anti-magic field has nearly disappeared?”

Whoosh!

Just then, a sharp tearing sound split the air.

A flying monster shot toward him at terrifying speed.

Zeon immediately recognized it.

“Even Blade Battleships?”

Without another thought, he raised a wall of sand in front of himself.

Boom!

The Blade Battleship smashed apart upon impact.

But Zeon's expression did not brighten.

He had already spotted numerous other flying monsters approaching.

Unlike the Blade Battleship, they did not recklessly charge.

Instead, they advanced slowly.

Almost as though they were matching the pace of the monsters on the ground.

“Damn it!”

Zeon immediately moved elsewhere.

The situation was the same everywhere.

Countless monsters were heading toward Neo Seoul.

There was no need to confirm any further.

“They've realized there are no longer any dragon corpses left in Neo Seoul.”

Even so, one question remained.

There were still two beings who had once been dragons currently in Neo Seoul.

The monsters should have sensed their presence, yet they were still advancing so recklessly.

After thinking for a moment, he believed he had found the answer.

“Tesserina is no longer a dragon... and Lord Nigel is concealed by the magic circle.”

Tesserina had transferred herself into a chimera body, causing the dragon's innate pressure to disappear.

Everyone now perceived her as a human.

Having completely become human, even her way of thinking had changed considerably.

Now, she herself had almost forgotten her past as a dragon, thinking and acting like a human instead.

Her magical abilities remained extraordinary, but the distinctive aura unique to dragons had vanished.

That was why the monsters failed to recognize her existence.

Nigel's case was different.

Tesserina's lair was covered with countless barriers and magic circles.

As a result, Nigel's unique aura did not leak outside in the slightest.

That was an absolutely necessary precaution to avoid Raykas's pursuit.

If Nigel's aura leaked outside, Raykas would certainly notice.

Neo Seoul was already in danger because of the monster horde. If Raykas joined the fray, the city would be placed in even greater peril.

One way or another, Nigel had to remain hidden until he fully recovered.

Naturally, that meant he could offer no help in stopping the monsters' advance.

“...Sigh.”

Zeon let out a deep breath.

He could feel the situation rapidly spiraling toward the worst possible outcome.

But he couldn't remain here sighing forever.

He had to return to Neo Seoul and come up with a plan.

—Kraaa!

—Kyaaa!

Several flying monsters spotted Zeon and flew toward him.

There was no reason to fight them, so Zeon activated the concealment enchantment woven into his robe.

In an instant, he vanished from their sight.

The flying monsters looked around in bewilderment at Zeon's sudden disappearance.

Leaving them behind, Zeon immediately rode the sandstorm back toward Neo Seoul.