Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert-Chapter 543

Chapter 543

The moment he saw Tridgion’s gigantic body, he knew.

It was Atlas, the S-rank golem he had captured together with Oh Jinho.

“I definitely destroyed the core—don’t tell me it restored itself?”

At that moment, Tridgion’s steps came to a halt.

It wasn’t Tridgion’s will.

The body of Atlas, which he had seized, reacted on its own.

Though it had been consumed by Tridgion, Atlas’s body had not forgotten Zeon, the one who had destroyed its core.

The human who had planted the emotion called fear into a golem without emotions was Zeon.

—Why?

Perplexed by the body that wouldn’t obey him, Tridgion discovered Zeon.

In that instant, Tridgion’s emotions also wavered like Atlas’s.

The one who had killed him again after he broke the seal and revived was Zeon.

If the auxiliary AI Hyunmu’s return protocol hadn’t activated, he would have been wiped out for good.

Even while hiding as he parasitized Triox Five, he had never forgotten Zeon for a single moment.

He had vowed to take revenge on Zeon the moment he obtained a body. But when he actually came face to face with Zeon, his resolve could not help but shake.

Like Atlas, fear toward Zeon was engraved deep in his soul.

—Ze… on!

“Is it Atlas? No, the feeling is different.”

Zeon tilted his head.

Having fought Atlas directly, he knew its mana signature better than anyone.

The mana he felt now was far rougher and more ominous.

Zeon’s eyebrows twitched.

He had experienced this mana signature before as well.

After searching his memory for a moment, Zeon glared at Tridgion with terrifying eyes.

“Don’t tell me… you’re Tridgion?”

—Zeon! Cursed Sand Mage. You remember, after all. That’s right. I am Tridgion, the great king of the knights.

“So it really is Tridgion. How did you come back to life?”

—Thanks to you.

“Thanks to me?”

—Yes. Because you killed the owner of the body I was inhabiting, the data of the auxiliary AI installed on him was transmitted here, and…

“So you hid inside the transmitted data.”

Zeon’s face hardened.

Ignoring his reaction, Tridgion continued.

—Thanks to that, I learned there was such a wonderful world, so I should thank you. It’s truly amazing! To think a city like this exists in the middle of the desert.

Tridgion spread both arms wide and looked around Neo Seoul.

At the overly theatrical gesture, Zeon frowned.

“So what are you going to do with this city?”

—I will make it mine. From here, I will write a new legend of the great king Tridgion. Of course, to do that, I’ll have to get my hands on the Dragon Heart over there…

Following Tridgion’s hand, Zeon’s gaze went to City Hall.

“Do you think the Dragon Heart is still there?”

—It doesn’t matter even if it isn’t. There are plenty of things inside there that can replace it.

“Hoo.”

Zeon let out a light sigh.

From Tridgion’s voice, he felt deep greed and madness.

A monster as dangerous and greedy as a dragon had obtained the body of a golem.

He knew well, because he had fought it directly.

Just how terrifyingly tough that metal golem was.

If he fought that monster here, the West District would be completely reduced to ashes. That was absolutely not what Zeon wanted.

Just then—

Bang!

With a thunderous crash, Tridgion took a tremendous blow and staggered.

Someone had attacked Tridgion.

“Zeon!”

“What is that monster?”

“Is it a golem?”

Three men landed beside Zeon.

They were members of the Numbers: Sung Hoyun, Grain, and Old Go.

Sung Hoyun spoke to Zeon.

“I’ve heard a lot about you, Sand Mage! Let’s say hello after we deal with that golem.”

Even with the unbelievably gigantic golem right in front of him, he didn’t look intimidated at all.

The attack that had just made Tridgion stagger was his skill.

Old Go stared at Tridgion and said,

“If we fight that thing here, not just the West District but the Central District will be devastated too. We have to lure it outside.”

“Mm.”

Sung Hoyun nodded. But he too had no ready method.

Then Zeon spoke.

“Mr. Grain!”

“Hm?”

“Can you make it lighter?”

“With gravity?”

“Yes!”

“It’s possible! I can’t float it high like a balloon, but I can use gravity inversion to lift it some distance off the ground. Why?”

“When I give the signal, lift it into the air.”

“Sounds like you’ve got a plan. Let’s do it.”

Grain nodded.

This time Zeon’s gaze turned to Old Go.

“Can you take down Neo Seoul’s barrier for just a moment?”

“About ten seconds.”

Old Go was a barrier mage.

It was impossible for an ordinary barrier mage, but as a member of the Numbers, he had access to Neo Seoul’s barrier.

Sung Hoyun asked Zeon,

“Looks like you’ve got a plan. What should I do?”

“It’s simple.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes. The moment we expel it from Neo Seoul, we destroy it.”

“That’s my specialty.”

Sung Hoyun grinned.

Zeon nodded and said to Grain,

“Then let’s start.”

“Good!”

Grain used his skill on Tridgion, who was still staggering and hadn’t regained his senses.

As gravity inverted, Tridgion’s gigantic body floated up.

Even so, it was only a few meters above the ground at most.

Veins bulged on Grain’s face as if it were about to burst. He was giving it everything he had to lift Tridgion’s massive body.

He shouted to Zeon,

“I can’t hold it long. Hurry!”

Instead of answering, Zeon opened a subspace.

Chwahahaha!

An enormous amount of sand poured out of the black subspace.

In an instant, a tide of sand filled the street.

Zeon activated his skill.

“Sand Tornado.”

Kwa-kwa-kwa!

The sand that had poured out of the subspace spiraled and shot up into the sky.

At its center was Tridgion.

Tridgion’s gigantic body, floating in the air from Grain’s gravity inversion, was swept up by the Sand Tornado and flung high into the sky.

Zeon shouted to Old Go,

“Now. Open the barrier.”

“Got it!”

Old Go immediately lifted the barrier spread over Neo Seoul’s sky for a moment.

—No!

Only then did Tridgion come to his senses and shout as he tried to anchor himself with magic. But by then, he had already been blown outside the barrier.

Kwaaang!

By inertia and gravity, Tridgion’s body slammed into the desert outside Neo Seoul.

Like a meteor falling, a mushroom cloud rose and a shockwave swept over Neo Seoul. But by then, Neo Seoul’s barrier had already been fully restored.

Thanks to that, Neo Seoul was safe even from the shockwave.

Instead, part of the slums took damage. But since the shockwave had occurred so far away, the damage was less than expected.

“Now we can really fight.”

Sung Hoyun muttered, already outside the barrier.

Grain, his face deathly pale, couldn’t say a word.

He had overexerted himself to lift Tridgion’s huge body.

Zeon said to Old Go,

“He’ll try to get back into Neo Seoul no matter what. So…”

“I know. I’ll reinforce the barrier. Don’t worry.”

“Please.”

“No, I should be the one asking. You must bring that monster down.”

“Yes.”

Zeon nodded and stepped forward.

Kuuu!

At that moment, Tridgion rose from the sand.

His eyes were dyed red with rage.

—How dare you interfere with my procession. I will never forgive you.

Thoom!

Tridgion’s massive body sprang into the air like a coiled spring and then came crashing down toward where Zeon and the others were.

It was unbelievable agility for what should have been a lump of metal weighing hundreds of tons.

His two gigantic fists swung toward Zeon.

Zeon stepped back with Sand Step and immediately counterattacked.

Shu-shu-shu-shu!

Dozens of sand serpents flew toward Tridgion. But they did no real damage and vanished uselessly.

—With attacks like that, you can’t even scratch my body, Sand Mage!

“What you should be paying attention to isn’t him—it’s me.”

At that moment, Sung Hoyun joined the fight.

In his hands was now a large sniper rifle.

Bang!

The anti–monster sniper rifle roared.

Kwaaa!

The force field surrounding Tridgion rippled.

Though it didn’t break through completely, it delivered a heavy shock to the field.

Sung Hoyun’s attack was only the beginning.

Bang! Kwaang! Bang! Kwaang!

He fired the sniper rifle in rapid succession until the magazine was empty.

With Tridgion’s body so huge, there was no need to aim.

—It doesn’t even tickle. With bullets like that, you can’t do anything to me.

“Is that so?”

A cold smile touched Sung Hoyun’s lips.

—What?

“Those aren’t ordinary bullets.”

—What?

Only then did Tridgion sense something strange and look around. He saw metal objects floating all around the force field.

It wasn’t hard to realize they were the bullets Sung Hoyun had fired.

The bullets that had hit the field hadn’t shattered and had kept their shape.

Tridgion blinked.

—Don’t tell me… with bullets?

“Yeah! A magic array to strip off your force field.”

The bullets floating in the air were being linked by mana, forming a magic array.

It was one of Sung Hoyun’s trump skills.

“Shear the wool!”

Kwaaaang!

In an instant, the magic array made by the bullets exploded.

Tridgion didn’t even have time to dodge.

With the shock of the explosion, the force field protecting Tridgion vanished without a trace.

It was Sung Hoyun’s unique skill—shaving off the field like shearing wool.

Sung Hoyun switched his weapon from the gun to a greatsword.

With the enemy’s defense neutralized, it was time to attack.

Charging at Tridgion, he said,

“I’m counting on you, Sand Mage!”

“Count as much as you like!”

As if to answer that trust, Zeon unleashed Sand Mixer.

Gaaaang!

The sand beneath Tridgion’s feet spun violently, dragging his gigantic body underground.

In an instant, Tridgion’s body was buried up to the waist in sand.

Tridgion struggled to break free, but Zeon had no intention of giving him freedom.

“Sand Gehenna!”

The sand surrounding Tridgion began to boil violently.

“Die!”

Sung Hoyun’s greatsword plunged down over the sand, where Tridgion was trapped in the torture pit.

Bang!

A bursting sound erupted where the greatsword struck.

Sung Hoyun pulled two anti–great beast bombs from his tactical vest and attached them to Tridgion’s head where the sword had gouged it.

Then he threw himself back and detonated them.

Kwaaaang!

A tremendous explosion smashed into Tridgion’s head.

It was an attack powerful enough to bring down an ordinary large great beast, but Tridgion was fine.

—Kuuwooo!

Tridgion roared and leapt into the air.

Breaking out of Sand Gehenna with ease, his fist smashed into Sung Hoyun.

Sung Hoyun raised his greatsword to block the punch, but he couldn’t absorb all of the tremendous impact.

Bang!

“Kkh!”

With a stifled groan, Sung Hoyun’s body was hurled backward.

Leaving Sung Hoyun, Tridgion charged straight at Zeon.

Because he knew Zeon was the real threat.

Watching Tridgion rush at him with terrifying momentum, Zeon muttered,

“Eruption.”