Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert Chapter 698

Krasias was despair.

It was not simply because of his enormous size.

It was because he possessed power mighty enough to determine the beginning and end of an entire world.

That enormous body was a crystallization of countless powers.

Countless powers filled every inch of his three-kilometer-long body.

It was because of Krasias that Awakeneds had appeared on Earth in the first place.

The powers he had collected had been released onto Earth when he vanished from the backlash, affecting humanity.

In a sense, Krasias was the very origin of the new human race known as Awakeneds.

Without him, the Awakeneds would never have appeared.

That was why ordinary Awakeneds could not stand against Krasias.

There could be no stem or branch capable of rebelling against its root.

That was also why every living creature within the area affected by Krasias’s fear lay trembling as though dead when he released his fear.

Awe toward the root.

Fear had been engraved deep within the bones of every being on Earth, making it impossible for any of them to dare oppose Krasias.

Even Tesserina, who had once been a dragon, could not defy Krasias and remained frozen in place.

But Zeon was different.

The power he had awakened as a Sand Mage had been created by Earth to oppose Krasias.

The power capable of displaying the greatest might in Earth’s environment, which had been turned into a desert by the backlash of terraforming, was precisely that of a Sand Mage.

That was why Zeon could resist Krasias’s fear without submitting.

Zeon became one with the enormous sandstorm and attacked Krasias.

“Kwaaaaaa!”

The sandstorm relentlessly battered Krasias’s enormous body with terrifying force and speed like Wind Cutter.

But the gigantic body, more than three kilometers long, calmly absorbed all the impact.

There was no need to even deploy a barrier.

Even without a barrier, Krasias’s body was so hard that nothing on Earth could even scratch it.

There was, however, one exception.

The scales Damho had broken.

Sand that had flowed through the broken scales was burrowing into Krasias’s flesh.

But even this was not enough to inflict serious damage on Krasias. For a human, it was no more than a wound caused by a tiny ant bite.

“Yaaaaah!”

Zeon released Exion and pushed his control to the extreme.

The already enormous sandstorm grew even more monstrous in size.

It was impossible to bring Krasias down with a mere sandstorm.

Zeon asked Damho.

“Can you draw Krasias’s attention?”

“As you can see, I have no means of flying.”

“Ride Arisedon.”

“A dragon?”

“He’ll carry you.”

“If that is the case…”

Damho nodded.

Meanwhile, Arisedon flew to within arm’s reach of the two.

Even his two-hundred-meter body seemed as small as a loach or a snake before Krasias. But Arisedon neither became frightened nor intimidated.

Arisedon was a dragon born on this land.

And because he also had the World Tree’s blessing, he was free from Krasias’s fear.

Even knowing that he was outmatched, Arisedon stepped forward without hesitation to protect the World Tree and Earth.

Arisedon willingly offered his head to Damho.

Thus, human and divine beast became one and flew toward Krasias.

Kwarrrr! Flash!

Rain fell, and storms raged.

And lightning struck.

Arisedon was displaying his power to Summon Wind and Rain.

Lightning struck Krasias’s body through the pouring rain without pause. But even that could not inflict any damage on Krasias’s body.

“Kwaaaa!”

Arisedon’s body shook violently.

The air currents around Krasias were raging madly.

It was only because Arisedon could manipulate the wind that he was able to endure this much. If it had been another monster, it would already have fallen.

Even atop Arisedon’s wildly shaking head, Damho maintained his balance.

“Hoo!”

Terrifying internal energy gathered in his fist.

The Dokhaengryu he had created was fundamentally a close-combat martial art. But that did not mean he had no means of attacking from a distance.

“Kwaaaa!”

Terrifying gravitational force arose around Damho’s body.

The external energy spread throughout the area was drawn into Damho’s body.

The external energy gathered in this way was converted into internal energy and concentrated into Damho’s fist.

The internal energy condensed to its limit synchronized with the external energy once more, creating a storm.

Damho called this the Explosive Demon Realm.

Even Arisedon trembled for a moment at the extraordinary energy he sensed above his head.

Damho gritted his teeth.

He could feel excruciating pain as though his insides were being torn apart. But he forced himself to ignore the pain.

Krasias was clearly a being beyond all standards.

If he failed to land his attack in a single blow, he would never be given another opportunity.

This was his only chance, while Krasias was still off guard.

“Chaah!”

Damho thrust his fist toward Krasias’s forehead.

At that moment, a powerful mass of light shot from his fist.

It was Fist Aura.

It was a technique that released Fist Aura from a distance to kill an enemy, like Shaolin’s Hundred-Step Divine Fist.

The difference from ordinary Fist Aura was that it contained the mysteries of the Explosive Demon Realm.

Damho was staking everything on this one move.

The Fist Aura accurately targeted Krasias’s forehead.

The head, containing the brain, was a weak point for any living creature.

At that moment, Krasias sensed danger.

Instinctively, he realized that the power contained in the technique unleashed by this tiny creature was extraordinary.

Just before being struck by the Fist Aura, Krasias turned his head.

As a result, Damho’s Fist Aura struck Krasias’s horn instead of his forehead.

Craaaack!

A crack appeared in the enormous horn, which was as large as an ordinary monster.

At that moment, Krasias felt tremendous pain.

Normally, a creature’s horns contained no sensory organs, but Krasias was different.

His horns also possessed sensory organs.

Thus, when it cracked, he felt tremendous pain.

The Explosive Demon Realm contained within the Fist Aura did not disappear when it struck its target.

Rather, it possessed the property of burrowing into the target’s body and exploding.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The Explosive Demon Realm repeatedly exploded inside Krasias’s cracked horn.

Naturally, Krasias felt great pain and anger.

The creature he had thought was merely a tiny ant had actually inflicted pain greater than that of a fire ant.

―I will not forgive you.

“Kwaaaa!”

Hundreds of black spheres appeared around Krasias.

The spheres, condensed with immense amounts of mana, flew toward Damho and Arisedon like meteors.

―Be careful.

Arisedon sensed the ominous atmosphere and warned Damho.

He also deployed his barrier with all his strength to brace for the impact.

Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!

At that moment, an enormous impact shook Arisedon and Damho.

Like the black holes Reykas had used, the black spheres possessed the property of sucking everything in, then amplifying and exploding it.

The explosion, more powerful than a volcano, even penetrated Arisedon’s barrier.

―Kuwaaar!

In the end, Arisedon could endure no longer and fell toward the ground together with Damho.

Zeon could only watch them.

He wanted to save them with all his heart, but if he missed this opportunity, there was no telling when he would ever get another chance to kill Krasias.

Fortunately, thanks to Damho and Arisedon putting their lives on the line to buy him time, Zeon was able to turn a skill he had only imagined into reality.

Countless lights were sparkling within the sandstorm surrounding Krasias.

The objects shining like jewels were diamonds the size of an adult’s head.

Thousands of diamonds created by Zeon with the powers of sand and flame were mixed among the grains of sand.

“Sand Mixer!”

“Kwaaaaa!”

The instant Zeon finished speaking, the sandstorm spun furiously around Krasias.

The grains of sand rotated violently, grinding away at Krasias’s scales.

Krasias ignored Zeon’s attack.

He was certain that sand like this could never do anything to him. But he soon realized that he had been terribly mistaken.

“Pakakakang!”

With white flames, the surface of his scales was being ground away.

―What?

An incredulous expression appeared on Krasias’s face at the unexpected situation.

Ten percent of his scales, which were several meters thick, had already been ground away.

At this rate, it was obvious that before long, all his scales would lose their shape and disappear.

The cause was the diamonds mixed into the sand.

The diamonds created by Zeon’s power had amplified the destructive force of Sand Mixer dozens of times over.

When grinding diamonds, saw blades coated with diamond powder were originally used. Zeon had attacked Krasias using the same principle.

A terrifying killing intent appeared in Krasias’s eyes.

Only then did he fully realize Zeon’s terrifying potential.

If he did not kill Zeon for certain today, he would undoubtedly become a threat for a long time to come.

“Kuwoo!”

Sparks flew from Krasias’s horn.

The horn on his head was not a mere ornament.

It was Krasias’s symbol and a medium that allowed him to wield the power of destruction.

Flash!

A beam of light containing the power of destruction pierced through the sand and struck Zeon directly.

Boom!

With a thunderous explosion, Zeon flew away like a kite with its string cut.

The power of destruction was literally the power to destroy all existence.

Like Dyoden’s power of death, no being could escape it.

Crack, crack!

Numerous fine cracks appeared across Zeon’s body as he flew into the distance.

Destruction that began at the cellular level had started to decompose him.

Boom!

Zeon lost consciousness and crashed into the sand. Then the sand and diamonds that had been violently rotating around Krasias lost their centripetal force and scattered like mist.

Crackle!

Sparks once again flew from Krasias’s horn.

He intended to finish off Zeon, Damho, and Arisedon for good with the power of destruction.

“This can’t be!”

“Ahhh!”

Levin and Brielle could not hide their fear at Krasias’s overwhelming presence.

Setting Damho aside, Zeon and Arisedon were beings who could be called the strongest on Earth.

The fact that such beings had been defeated by Krasias without being able to put up much of a fight was unbelievable.

It was as though they were dreaming.

They could not even think of how to confront such a being.

As if cursed, their bodies and reason were paralyzed, leaving them unable to move.

―Piiii!

Gaia moved her pectoral fins and flew into the sky.

She intended to block the power of destruction aimed at Damho and Arisedon. But Gaia’s movement only made Krasias snort in contempt.

Although Gaia was certainly a unique being, she did not possess enough power to block his attack.

―Yes! I shall erase you along with them.

It was at that very moment that Krasias was about to fire the power of destruction.

Swoooosh!

Suddenly, something fell from high in the sky at a terrifying speed.

The object, falling engulfed in red-hot flames like a meteor, was a metal rod.

The metal rod was falling straight toward Krasias’s head.

―What is that?

Surprised by the ominous appearance of the metal rod, Krasias deployed a barrier.

It was too late to evade it because it was moving too fast.

A barrier dozens of meters thick instantly surrounded Krasias’s body.

Craaaang!

At that moment, the metal rod collided with the barrier.

Krasias was naturally confident that the barrier could stop the metal rod.

Crunch! Crack!

But the barrier he had been so confident in shattered like glass before the metal rod.

Astonishingly, the metal rod was far stronger than Krasias’s barrier.

On top of that, its acceleration from falling from high above increased its destructive power exponentially.

The Rods from God, a weapon the U.S. military had only conceptualized before the Great Cataclysm.

It was a strategic weapon that used rods made of depleted uranium or tungsten, launching them from satellite orbit toward the ground and striking the surface with the resulting kinetic energy.

Upon reaching its target, the metal rod’s speed would reach Mach 10, or more than ten times the speed of sound.

When striking a target at this speed, it would immediately vaporize into a plasma state and explode.

The ultimate weapon mounted on Divine Judgement was the Rods from God.

KWAANG!

The metal rod that had pierced through the barrier slammed into Krasias’s head and exploded.