Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert-Chapter 507

Chapter 507

In this world, there are beings that can never mix—just like water and oil.

Even if placed in the same bowl, they stay separate, unable to blend.

Monsters were the same.

They all fell under the large category of “monsters,” yet each monster belonged to an entirely different species.

Even within the category of large-type monsters, species diverged; the same was true for medium and small types.

Naturally, creatures of different species could never get along.

The strong devoured the weak, and the weak fled in fear of the strong. That was the law of the desert.

But now, that very law was being overturned before their eyes.

Among the swarming small monsters charging fiercely, huge medium monsters were mixed in, and behind them, massive large-type monsters were thundering forward.

The sight of monsters that should never coexist all rushing together as one was utterly surreal.

“What the hell? Fire Wolves, a pack of Great-Horned Hyenas, Ironclad Rhinos… and isn’t that a Thunder Gorilla—one of the large types—back there? How can those things even move together?”

Levin muttered in disbelief.

Then Liri said:

—Look to the sky. Flying-type monsters.

“Damn it! Griffins, Wyverns… even those man-eating Swallows are mixed in.”

Brielle shook her head, unable to understand.

Zeon looked down at the ground and spoke.

“That’s not all. Subterranean monsters like Sandworms are cutting through the sand and heading this way.”

“Did the monsters hold a conference or something? How is this even possible?”

“You handle the flying monsters.”

“Got it, hyung!”

Levin immediately turned ghostly and shot up into the sky.

“Brielle, you—”

“Don’t worry. I can protect myself just fine. And Liri’s here.”

Brielle said this as she pulled several round objects from the pointy-hat subspace.

They were bombs—specifically made for dealing with large monsters.

She had made them after much thought to protect herself.

Zeon nodded, then looked at Tesserina.

“Tesserina. This is related to you, isn’t it?”

“That’s…”

“We talk later. First we handle the monsters.”

“…All right.”

Tesserina answered stiffly.

Without pressing her further, Zeon pulled his dominion upward.

Rumblle…

The vibrations grew stronger.

The monsters were now close.

Their figures were clearly visible.

In the monsters’ eyes, as they barreled toward the group, was nothing but pure hostility.

They weren’t here to feed.

They were clearly rushing in with one purpose: to kill Zeon’s group.

Zeon murmured quietly:

“Sand Storm.”

BOOOOM!

In an instant, all the sand in the area surged upward.

It was nothing like the colossal storm monster they had encountered before, yet still far too massive to believe it had been created by human hands.

The fierce sandstorm hurled small monsters into the air in one blow. But medium and large types, with their massive bodies, didn’t even shake—they charged through with terrifying speed.

—Kruaaah!

—Kyaoooo! 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

The sandstorm only ignited their savagery further.

As the medium and large monsters accelerated, Zeon unleashed his next skill.

“Sand Mixer!”

Gaaaarng!

The sand beneath the monsters’ feet spun violently, dragging them inside.

—Gyaaaah!

The medium monsters screamed.

The fine grains scraped their hides to shreds.

Their skin vanished in seconds, exposing raw red muscle.

Medium-types simply couldn’t withstand the Sand Mixer.

Large-types were different.

Their hides were several times tougher than those of medium monsters.

Even scraping them was difficult—and some had force fields, making the Sand Mixer barely effective.

Seeing this, Zeon immediately used his third skill.

“Sand Gehenna.”

Sizzle…!

The sand liquefied instantly, boiling like molten heat.

Only then did the large monsters let out cries steeped in agony.

Even those with force fields writhed desperately, trying to break free.

That was the moment Tesserina—who had been waiting for such an opening—moved.

“Wind Storm.”

WHOOOOSH!

A blade-wind turned into a storm, sweeping over the monsters.

The razor gale tore through their force fields and mercilessly shredded their flesh.

The monsters that had barely endured the burning hell below could not withstand Tesserina’s assault.

—Kuaaarh!

—Kreeeh!

Medium and large monsters collapsed in heaps.

Brielle and Liri fought hard as well.

Boom! Boom!

Brielle hurled the bombs she had crafted.

They barely harmed the medium-types, but they dealt heavy damage to the remaining small monsters.

Liri, right at Brielle’s side, fired Wind Cutters nonstop.

Shwaaaak!

Blades of wind sliced apart any small monsters approaching Brielle.

KRRRRAK!

Thunder erupted repeatedly in the night sky.

Levin was unleashing lightning at the flying monsters.

The flying monsters tried to rip into him with sharp beaks and fangs, but they could not harm a ghostified Levin.

Levin detonated bursts of Purple Lightning at the monsters swarming him.

Crackle!

—Kyeeeh!

—Graaaah!

Purple currents spread like a net, shocking the flying monsters as they charged.

The smaller ones, or those without resistance, burst apart instantly. The larger or more resistant ones were paralyzed mid-air and fell—but soon spread their wings again and took flight.

Levin didn’t give them a chance to target Zeon, Tesserina, or Brielle on the ground—he kept firing lightning relentlessly.

Thus, every flying monster fixed its rage on Levin.

Lightning tore through the night sky without pause; on the ground, the sand boiled like molten earth.

Bladed winds raged like a storm, and explosions from the anti–great monster bombs shook the terrain.

The entire area became a battlefield of chaos.

The monsters’ assault continued all night.

Even brainless monsters feared death—but none of the monsters attacking Zeon’s party seemed to feel that fear.

Normally, by this point, the remaining monsters would be terrified and flee. But these attackers followed no such logic.

Even as the monsters beside them fell screaming, even as their kin were ripped apart, the rest charged on in madness.

Because of that, Zeon’s group couldn’t afford to hold back.

They had to fight to the bitter end.

The battle raged through the entire night.

—Kruoooooh!

By the time the last large monster fell and the fight finally ended, the sun was already high in the sky.

A battle that began in the night ended only at midday the next day.

“Huff… huff…”

Levin—who had faced the flying monsters alone—collapsed flat on the ground, gasping for breath.

His entire body was soaked in blood; his physical exhaustion was so extreme he couldn’t move a finger.

His mana was completely drained—if monsters came again, he would be helpless.

Brielle lay sprawled across Levin’s stomach, utterly exhausted.

Liri, who had fought with her, was nowhere to be found; once Brielle’s mental and mana reserves were depleted, the summon had been released.

Zeon and Tesserina’s conditions were no better.

Fighting nonstop through the night had left them battered as well.

Zeon, protected by a robe made of Leviathan hide, had no major injuries, and Tesserina healed her minor wounds with her immense regeneration.

But the fatigue was the same for both.

“Huuh…”

Zeon let out a long, suppressed breath.

Even for him, last night’s battle had been unending tension.

He would rather have fought a single powerful S-rank monster.

Dealing with endless waves like these was far more exhausting than facing an S-rank foe.

Tesserina slumped to the ground, muttering blankly:

“To think it’s already exerting this much dominion…”

She knew the cause of this situation.

Because there was only one being capable of moving so many monsters at once.

But she hadn’t expected that time to come so soon.

Zeon’s voice shattered her thoughts.

“Isn’t it time you told us the truth?”

She looked up to see his cold eyes.

Until now, she had dodged and redirected, but the time to hide the truth had long passed.

Even Levin and Brielle were staring at her, curiosity obvious.

Tesserina exhaled deeply.

“Haa… The truth is… this is all because of my main body.”

“What do you mean? Isn’t the main body’s consciousness the same as yours?”

“We do share consciousness. But the problem is… the control of my main body was taken from me.”

Everyone was shocked by her honest answer.

Levin had no experience with dragons, but Zeon and Brielle knew well how terrifyingly powerful they were.

The strongest beings on earth.

Aside from the gods themselves, nothing could stand against them.

A dragon had the power to obliterate a nation on a whim.

And such a dragon had lost control of its own body?

Unbelievable.

“I’d like a detailed explanation.”

“Before coming to Earth, I fought another dragon and suffered a severe wound.”

“You fought another dragon?”

“Klatulas. A Red Dragon I always clashed with. When Kurayan fell, he lost his mind.”

“Dragons… go insane?”

“He said, ‘If the world is ending anyway, why not kill as I please,’ and slaughtered countless lifeforms indiscriminately.”

“He really was insane.”

Zeon shook his head.

At that level, it was madness indeed.

“Completely insane. Even if the world was doomed, a dragon shouldn’t behave like that. We’re supposed to be rulers of harmony and balance. Even if we couldn’t stop the destruction, slaughtering everything in sight…?”

Tesserina couldn’t sit and watch Klatulas’s madness.

They already had a poor relationship, but that wasn’t the main reason.

She couldn’t allow innocent beings to die helplessly to his lunacy.

Tesserina and Klatulas fought ferociously.

Since destruction was certain, Klatulas held nothing back.

And Tesserina used every ounce of her power to stop him.

They fought almost a full day and night.

Breath attacks, magic, close combat—they used every method they had.

In the end, Tesserina emerged the victor.

Klatulas’s wings were torn apart, and his heart was destroyed—his end was certain. But Tesserina’s condition was far from good.

Her true body was badly wounded.

And wounds inflicted by a Red Dragon like Klatulas did not heal easily.

Thus, Tesserina crossed over to Earth with those wounds still open.

“I managed to make the jump to Earth, but because of the strain, the wounds deepened.”

“So that’s why you slept so long.”

“Right. Dragons heal or grow through long slumber.”

Tesserina believed that, upon waking, her injuries would be healed. But when she opened her eyes, sensing something wrong, she was shocked.

Not only had the wounds not healed—they had worsened.

Some injuries were rotting, turning black.

Something impossible for a dragon.

Tesserina immediately searched for the cause. And soon, she discovered it.

“I was infected by a parasite.”

“…What?”

“A parasite has taken control of my brain.”