Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert Chapter 693

Chapter 693

Zeon stared at the monitor screen with deeply sunken eyes.

The monitor screen was completely black, as though the power had been turned off.

Seo Taeran was sitting in front of the monitor with a tired expression.

Taeran said,

“The connection was cut off for a moment. It’ll take a little time to connect.”

“I’m sorry for troubling you.”

“No. The fate of Neo Seoul is at stake, so of course I have to cooperate.”

When she first heard from Zeon that a dragon had appeared in Neo Seoul, she had been incredibly shocked.

She knew very well that dragons were the strongest living creatures on the surface.

Come to think of it, the reason Neo Seoul had been able to develop such an advanced civilization and remain safe from monster invasions was thanks to the dragon’s corpse.

The monsters could not even approach Neo Seoul simply because of the energy emitted by the corpse of a dragon that had died long ago.

Although not a single piece of bone or scale remained now, it was thanks to the dragon’s corpse that Neo Seoul had remained safe for a hundred years.

On top of that, the dragon buried beneath Neo Seoul had apparently been a juvenile.

Just seeing the corpse of a young dragon had been terrifying enough to make her flesh crawl, so she could not even imagine how overwhelming a fully grown dragon would be.

Furthermore, the dragons that had secretly entered Neo Seoul were said to be dragons that had reached the rank of ancient dragons.

If such dragons had gone on a rampage, a great disaster would have befallen Neo Seoul.

To make matters worse, Neo Seoul's forces had been spread thin at the time while fending off the monsters' assault.

They had been in absolutely no condition to stop a dragon.

It felt as though the Grim Reaper had visited without her even noticing.

Just then—

―Beep!

The monitor lit up with a buzzer sound.

It was the signal that the connection to Divine Judgement had been established.

Seo Taeran hurriedly grabbed the microphone.

“Mayor?”

―Taeran.

“Are you all right?”

―Other than the mana engine being under strain and currently cooling down, I’m fine.

Although there was a mechanical quality mixed into it, it was unmistakably Jin Geum-ho’s voice.

Zeon spoke.

“This is Zeon.”

―You were there together?

“Yes! How is space?”

―Beautiful.

“Is it beautiful?”

―Beautiful beyond belief. Though it is a little lonely.

“Do you regret entering Divine Judgement?”

―I have not the slightest regret about my choice. I am only afraid.

“What are you afraid of?”

―A future without Taeran and you. Without you two, I won’t be able to have a comfortable conversation with anyone. I suppose I’ll simply be silent.

The time of Zeon and Seo Taeran, who lived human lives, and the time of Jin Geum-ho, who had settled on the satellite Divine Judgement, flowed differently.

Divine Judgement was equipped with a self-repair function.

Unless it was attacked from outside, it would remain there forever.

―That doesn’t mean you need to pity me. It’s the life I chose because I wanted it.

“I absolutely don’t pity you.”

―Thank you. But what is it? It doesn’t seem like you connected just to ask how I am.

“There’s something I’d like to ask you. Actually...”

Zeon once again explained what had happened moments ago.

After hearing everything, Jin Geum-ho’s voice sank deeply.

―The dragons may be targeting Neo Seoul.

There was a faint anger in his voice.

Jin Geum-ho had spent his entire life fighting to protect and expand Neo Seoul.

Neo Seoul was proof that he had not lived his life wrongly.

He could not allow such proof to disappear because of a dragon’s rampage.

“Can you find where the dragons are now?”

―It will take some time because of the magic field.

“That’s fine. I’ll head out first, so send me a signal when you find them.”

―I will.

“Then...”

Zeon immediately went outside.

He wanted to talk with Jin Geum-ho longer, but finding Nigel’s whereabouts was more important right now.

If Nigel was subdued by Raikas, a great catastrophe would occur.

He had to stop it somehow before then.

When Zeon returned to the slums, Damho and Teserina greeted him.

“You’re back.”

“Shall we leave now?”

“Yes!”

Just then—

“Let me come too, hyung!”

Levin, who had received treatment from Lemura, came running over.

“How’s your body?”

“Perfectly fine.”

“Good!”

Zeon nodded.

This was a time when he needed to borrow even a cat’s paw.

The four of them headed out into the desert together.

When they had gotten some distance away from Neo Seoul—

“Zeon!”

Brielle’s voice came from the sky.

Zeon raised his head, and a gigantic shadow was blocking out the sun.

Damho muttered with an incredulous expression,

“A whale...?”

The enormous creature large enough to block out the sun was indeed a whale.

The whale flying through the sky while slowly waving its pectoral fins as though swimming through the deep sea was Gaia.

Brielle was riding atop Gaia’s head.

Somehow, Brielle had returned to the World Tree Village, gotten on Gaia, and come all the way to Neo Seoul.

“Perfect.”

Zeon nodded.

This allowed them to expand the scope of their search even further.

Zeon said to Damho,

“Ride Gaia and search the south.”

“The whale’s name is Gaia?”

“Yes! She’s my friend.”

“You’ve got quite an impressive friend.”

“Thank you.”

Meanwhile, Gaia gently descended to the ground.

Zeon stroked Gaia’s forehead and said,

“Gaia, carry Brielle and Damho and search the south.”

―Beep!

“Yeah! Thanks.”

Gaia readily agreed.

Damho immediately climbed onto Gaia’s head.

“Brielle! Contact me as soon as you find Raikas.”

“Got it.”

Brielle answered with a stern expression.

Zeon then spoke to Teserina and Levin as well.

“Teserina, search the eastern region, and Levin, take the western region. I’ll go north.”

“Got it.”

“Don’t worry, hyung!”

“If you find them, don’t fight under any circumstances. Just tell me their location.”

“Yes!”

They immediately departed for their respective areas.

Finally, Zeon flew into the sky.

Zeon headed north at terrifying speed.

'Where are you?'

* * *

Thud!

Raikas’s body bounced off the ground dozens of times like a skipping stone before being buried in the sand.

Raikas’s condition was horrific.

His arms and legs were twisted at grotesque angles, and the chest pierced by the greatsword had been torn wide open.

His internal organs had all been burned or horribly crushed by the explosion inside him.

An ordinary creature would have died instantly.

But Raikas was not an ordinary existence.

Splat!

Even with his body destroyed, his eyes moved as he looked at Nigel.

Nigel was landing before Raikas with his enormous wings spread wide.

Nigel spoke while breathing heavily.

“Haa! Haa! A sneak attack like this wouldn’t have worked with a dragon’s oversized body.”

“Did you... improve your breath?”

“Yes! I modified the breath to suit a human body. As you can see, it has power surpassing the original.”

The impact of unleashing the breath had shattered the greatsword into pieces, and Nigel’s right hand had disappeared below the elbow.

It was truly a technique performed with the resolve to stake everything on one final gamble.

Fortunately, Nigel’s attempt had succeeded spectacularly.

It was only because Raikas had polymorphed that he had suffered this much damage. If he had been in his true form, Nigel would never have been able to inflict such damage.

This was the trump card Nigel had prepared.

To lure Raikas into lowering his guard before he returned to his true form and inflict a fatal wound.

His gamble had paid off brilliantly.

In exchange for inflicting a fatal wound on Raikas, he had lost his right arm, but this was still a tremendous gain.

Nigel raised his right wing.

Charr!

At that moment, the scales moved, and the wing transformed into a blade.

He intended to stop talking and cut off Raikas’s last breath.

Shick!

The wing fell toward Raikas’s neck like the blade of a guillotine.

“I have won.”

Baaang!

Nigel’s eyes widened as he declared victory.

His wing had been stopped midway.

“A barrier?”

What had blocked his wing was clearly a translucent barrier.

His wing was not something that could be stopped by a mere barrier.

And certainly not by a barrier formed while Raikas was in such a ruined state.

At that moment, Raikas rose to his feet.

The hideously gaping wounds regenerated in the blink of an eye, and his limbs, which had been bent backward, returned to their proper positions.

The wounds inflicted by the breath were healing in the blink of an eye.

Nigel’s eyes trembled.

“How?”

“If I had been an ordinary dragon, I would have died already. But I have already transcended dragons.”

A violet glow appeared in Raikas’s eyes.

The moment Nigel saw those eyes, their characteristic red gone and replaced by a violet hue, he felt a chill.

“Raikas!”

“I will kill you, become more perfect, and become the god of Earth. I will become the god of the New World.”

“You’ve gone mad. This isn’t some game anymore. You truly intend to become a god and rule the world?”

“This is not Kurayan. There is no reason or need for me to obey Kurayan’s outdated laws.”

“You think I’ll let you do that?”

Nigel shouted furiously and assumed a battle stance.

Although he had lost his greatsword and right arm, he could still fight.

He raised his wing again and brought it down on Raikas.

Bang!

But this time as well, it was stopped by the barrier without breaking through.

Just then—

Ssssk!

Suddenly, Raikas’s body twisted and began to tear apart.

His skin split, revealing a body covered in scales.

Shwoosh!

A gigantic dragon’s head suddenly burst out from the tiny human body.

The head that had torn through the skin emerged and looked down at Nigel from high above.

It was a grotesque sight that was unbelievable even when seen with one’s own eyes.

Ordinary polymorphing was not like this.

Since it only changed one's appearance through magic, one could return to their true form instantly.

The transformation happened in the blink of an eye, without the slightest sense of disgust.

Raikas’s polymorph was different.

It was as though a dragon trapped inside a human body was being forcibly pulled out.

In the process, the human body was being torn apart like a paper doll.

Jjiiik!

Flesh and muscles tore apart as the gigantic body forced its way out.

A body well over a hundred meters long emerged, followed by four wings, four legs, and a long tail.

Once Raikas had fully revealed himself, his size was truly enormous.

From head to tail, he appeared to be well over three hundred meters long.

It was difficult to believe that such an enormous body had been crammed inside that tiny human body.

Even when Nigel had been a dragon, he had not been this enormous.

For dragons, size was a measure of power.

The older an ancient dragon was, the larger its body, and the greater its power and authority.

But Raikas could not be satisfied with merely this.

“Become my fertilizer, Nigel!”

Kwaaa!

Raikas exhaled toward Nigel.

It was a dragon’s breath.