Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert

[Translator - Peptobismol]

[Proofreader - Demon God]

Chapter 222

It was as if a meteor had fallen; a giant crater, dozens of meters wide, had formed, and someone was embedded deep inside it.

The person buried so deeply that it was hard to discern their shape was Zeon.

Boom!

A giant-bodied monster landed in front of the buried Zeon.

It was the Great Chieftain Orca.

In Orca's hand was a gigantic battle axe that he had never wielded before.

It was Teratan, Orca's exclusive weapon.

Teratan was an item obtained by Orca after conquering a dungeon.

It was made of an unknown metal, but the strength of Teratan was beyond imagination.

Orca had never seen a metal this sturdy.

Typically, dungeon items come with additional abilities.

They either enhance the owner's abilities or grant special skills.

Teratan also had such an ability.

It was mass increase.

It could momentarily amplify the mass of its owner by more than ten times, along with its weight.

Teratan weighed 150 kilograms. Orca's body weight, nearing five meters, exceeded a ton.

Teratan could increase a total of 2,150 kilograms of immense weight by more than ten times in an instant.

An increase in weight meant an increase in destructive power.

If the weight increased tenfold, the destructive power would increase even more.

Thus, theoretically, the destructive power would be increased from ten to several dozen times.

The problem was that raising the destructive power meant that the user would also suffer immense backlash.

One of the reasons Orca had never used Teratan was because of the significant backlash from the destructive power, but also because his pride could not accept it.

Moreover, he was confident that he could crush all enemies with his bare hands. So he had sealed Teratan in a subspace.

Orca thought he would never use Teratan. However, facing an adversary like Zeon changed his mind.

Zeon was an opponent like none he had ever encountered.

There was no opponent stronger than Zeon in Orca's life.

Even the spotted Ogre he met recently was just a child compared to Zeon.

The term "the nemesis of the Orcs" was well deserved.

Orca had fallen countless times to Zeon's sand attacks and had been buried in the sand.

Thanks to his sturdy physique, he hadn’t suffered severe injuries, but his pride had been wounded. Thus, he took advantage of Zeon's moment of complacency to pull out Teratan and wield it.

Naturally, Zeon, who had expected an attack with bare hands, was struck by Teratan.

The result of his complacency was the crater.

With the immense mass attack, a crater formed as if a meteor had fallen, and Zeon was embedded in the center.

Orca raised Teratan high and said.

"Human, you are strong. But the one who will win is me. I will eat your heart and become stronger."

"Don’t treat me like I’m already dead. Ugh! It’s painful."

At that moment, Zeon, who had been lying as if dead, opened his eyes and spoke.

At the moment of being struck by Teratan, Zeon infused mana into his robe.

One of the abilities of the robe made from Leviathan hide was hardening.

In other words, it became hardened to protect the wearer.

The Leviathan's rank was SS-rank.

Naturally, the strength of the skin was beyond imagination.

Thanks to that, Zeon was able to save his life.

Although his whole body was almost paralyzed from the immense shock, his life was saved, so it wasn’t entirely a loss.

The problem was Orca’s Teratan.

Screech!

It was rapidly falling towards Zeon’s chest.

His whole body was numb, unable to move a single finger.

He could not evade it normally.

But Zeon was a Sand Mage.

Swish!

Zeon’s body fell straight down.

In the blink of an eye, Zeon’s body vanished into the sand, and Teratan fell where he had been.

Boom!

Another large crater formed, and sand rose like a cloud, obscuring the view.

"Kreuk!"

Orca's eyes gleamed with ferocity.

All his senses were sharply tuned.

Hiss!

He could feel the sand flowing underground several meters.

Orca swung Teratan without delay.

Bang!

With a thunderous sound, a crater several dozen meters wide was created.

If Zeon had been below, he would certainly have been crushed by this attack.

Zeon's presence was no longer felt.

A smile spread across Orca's face.

"I've got you. Human!"

Though he regretted not being able to eat his heart, he was satisfied with killing the Orcs’ nemesis.

Orca roared.

"Uwooo! My victory! I, the Great Chieftain Orca, have killed the Sand Mage."

"Kwwoor!"

"Chwit! As expected of the Great Chieftain."

The Orcs, inspired by Orca’s shout, attacked the Awakeneds.

The Orcs attacked with enthusiasm, while the Awakeneds were demoralized.

Such was the significance of Zeon.

"That Sand Mage is dead?"

"Damn it!"

Just hearing that Zeon was dead made the Awakeneds’ hands and feet tremble.

Such individuals lost their lives to the Orcs.

"Kuueek!"

"Ugh!"

Screams erupted from various places among the Awakeneds.

Brielle, evading the Orcs' attacks, looked at Orca.

Orca was reveling in his victory, holding Teratan high.

‘Is Zeon really dead? Just like that? No, it can’t be. He’s not someone who would die to such a monster.’

While the other Awakeneds accepted Zeon’s death, Brielle did not think so.

Zeon and she were bound by the High Elf's oath.

An invisible thread connected them.

Thus, she knew.

Zeon was not dead.

If he had been, the connected thread would have been severed.

‘Zeon is alive.’

At that moment.

Whoosh!

A wind blew from somewhere.

The inside of her mouth became instantly dry.

Because the wind was mixed with sand.

The yellow sandstorm quickly enveloped the area.

At first, it seemed like a natural wind.

But both the Orcs and the Awakeneds knew.

That the wind blowing now was absolutely not natural.

Their instincts told them.

‘It’s the Sand Mage.’

‘He is still alive.’

The Awakeneds gained courage, while the Orcs' morale plummeted.

Orca's expression also hardened.

"Could it be that you’re still alive, Sand Mage!"

He tightened his grip on Teratan.

Though the existence of Zeon was unexpected, Orca was confident he could kill him.

With Teratan, he could split any monster in two instantly.

"Where are you, Sand Mage! Don’t cowardly hide and show yourself."

Orca shouted loudly, but Zeon did not respond.

Instead, the sandstorm grew fiercer and thicker.

Whoosh!

The yellow sandstorm seemed to engulf the entire world.

Even so, Orca remained calm.

The force field created around him protected him from the fierce sandstorm.

No matter how intense the sandstorm, it could not affect him.

Creak!

The sandstorm was so powerful that even Orca's massive body was pushed back.

Only then did Orca realize something was wrong.

The sandstorm was more violent and sharper than he had anticipated.

Pipipit!

The sandstorm that penetrated the force field created cuts on Orca’s skin like blades.

Of course, these minor injuries were nothing to Orca. But as time passed, his tension heightened.

He knew that Zeon wouldn’t just attack him with this level of sandstorm.

Orca roared in frustration.

"What is this? Human! Show yourself. I’ll split you in two with Teratan."

"Sandstorm!"

At that moment, Zeon's faint voice came from within the sandstorm.

Just as Orca was about to swing Teratan toward where the voice came from, his massive body was suddenly pulled up into the air as if by a giant hand.

His massive body was lifted dozens of meters into the sky like a leaf.

"Kwwooo!"

Orca roared as he struggled to maintain his balance in mid-air.

He flailed to escape the sandstorm created by Zeon. But escaping from the sandstorm, with no place to step, was not an easy task.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Orca swung Teratan wildly.

But no matter how powerful his battle axe was, it could not cut through the sandstorm.

Pipipit!

Even at that moment, Orca’s skin was being cut like blades.

Orca knew that if this continued, even his mighty physique wouldn’t be able to withstand it.

At that moment, the sandstorm began to shrink.

It was not spreading over a wide area but concentrating only around Orca.

The power did not weaken but was being compressed.

As the sandstorm compressed, its power was maximized.

Orca realized it was time to use the skill he had been hiding.

Orca raised Teratan high into the sky.

"Kwwoor! The final blow that will bring down the heavens."

He unleashed his ultimate skill with the spirit concentrated in Teratan.

It was merely a simple axe strike.

There were no remnants of complexity.

But Orca knew that sometimes simplicity could wield greater power than any complicated technique.

With Teratan's mass increased tenfold and his overwhelming physique and spirit.

He focused everything on this final strike.

He didn’t think of the consequences.

He concentrated only on destroying the powerful enemy named Zeon and the sandstorm pressing around him.

Flash!

A powerful light erupted from Teratan, blinding everyone’s eyes.

At the same time, the sandstorm that had been pressing down on him was split in two.

Orca was sure that Zeon, who was beyond the sandstorm, would also be cut in two.

Orca declared his victory.

"I have won."

"Who says so?"

"What?"

At the sound of Zeon's voice from across the sand, chills ran down Orca's entire body.

At that moment, the sandstorm, which had been split in two, rejoined.

Boom!

The fierce swirling sandstorm.

The sandstorm was now compressed to just enough to trap Orca. Conversely, its power increased several times.

But Zeon knew that this level of power wasn’t enough to kill Orca, an S-rank beast.

So, he used the Inferno Gauntlet.

Whoosh!

Intense, superheated flames ignited within the sandstorm.

Inside was a hell of extreme heat.

In that, Orca was being roasted red-hot.

Neither his formidable spirit nor his diamond-hard physique could withstand it.

The sandstorm infused with flames cooked Orca from his core.

"Arrrrgh!"

Orca let out a desperate scream.

Boom!

The fiercely swirling superheated sandstorm swallowed Orca’s scream.

Moments later, the area fell silent.

[Translator - Peptobismol]

[Proofreader - Demon God]