Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert

"Whoa! Double sixes! Both of them!"

"Crazy."

Cheers erupted in the underground gambling den.

The focus of that uproar was a gaunt middle-aged man.

Two dice lay in front of him.

Both showed six.

In the simple game of dice throwing, the highest result was double six, and with it, the man had won.

People looked at him with envy.

The pot for this round was over a thousand Sol.

Enough money to buy a kilogram of mana stones—won in a single throw.

It wasn't the kind of fortune that could change one's life, but it was more than enough to make up for the losses he'd suffered over the past few days.

"Lucky bastard."

"Won't last. He'll be cleaned out before the day's over."

The twin brothers who ran the den chewed on snacks, watching the man who had thrown the dice.

He was grinning ear to ear, looking like the happiest man alive.

If he walked out with his winnings right now, he'd be the victor. But the twins knew better.

That man would never leave with the money.

Once someone stepped into the den, they never left by their own will.

Even without coercion or threats, they stayed until every last coin was gone.

One might win for a while, but money almost never left the gambling hall.

In the end, all of it went to fatten the twins' pockets.

Clunk!

Just then, the door to the den opened.

The twins looked up, expecting another fool to walk in. But the moment they saw who it was, their faces drained of color.

The man entering was the one they feared more than even the mayor of Neo Seoul.

"Zeon?"

"What the hell is he doing here?"

These were the same twins who had once crossed paths with Zeon because of Park Man-ho—and had been stripped down to their very souls.

Never in their worst dreams had they expected Zeon to return here. Their terror was all the greater for it.

Zeon walked toward them.

"Been a while. Judging by your faces, you've been doing well?"

"Uh! What brings you here, sir?"

The older brother managed to recover first and greet him.

"Nothing serious. I just want to know a few things."

"Here? In the gambling hall?"

"This place knows more about the mines than anywhere else, doesn't it?"

"Ah… right. That's true."

Only then did the brother's face ease slightly.

He realized Zeon hadn't come here with malice.

Information about the mana stone mines naturally flowed here.

The twins didn't have to gather it themselves—gamblers blabbered while they played.

By simply sitting here, one inevitably came to know the inside news of the mines.

The brother offered Zeon a seat and asked,

"Any particular information you're after?"

"Two things. First, I want to know if any raid parties or hunting teams have recently gone missing. If so, where they were headed."

"Ah! Now that you mention it, there are a few hunting teams that haven't returned."

"Really?"

"Yes. Their return dates have passed, and there's talk of sending scouts after them. All of them had gone hunting north of the mines."

"Was that recent?"

"Yes. I heard it from one of the mine officials just a few days ago—it's certain."

Zeon frowned.

It meant the victims of the Red Locusts might be far more numerous than he'd thought.

The younger twin carefully asked,

"And the second thing?"

"I want to know about a man who entered the mines today."

"Sir?"

"His name is Uslann. He came into Neo Seoul today."

"Who is he?"

"That's what I want to find out."

"Shall we put someone on him?"

"If you try to shadow him closely, he'll notice instantly. Just keep watch from a distance tomorrow. All I need to know is who he meets."

"Understood."

The younger brother felt a quiet sense of relief.

Even if Zeon had asked for something far more demanding, they would have had no choice but to comply.

If he wanted, Zeon could erase their gambling den without leaving a trace.

"Then I'll leave it to you."

"Already leaving?"

"Sticking around here would only make you nervous, wouldn't it?"

"Mm."

"Then I'll go."

"Ah—where should we send the information?"

"I'll come back here tomorrow evening."

Zeon rose and left without hesitation.

"Whew!"

"Shit! I nearly pissed myself."

The twins both let out sighs of relief the moment Zeon was gone.

It felt like they'd aged ten years in an instant.

That was how heavy his presence was.

The older twin spoke.

"Get the boys out on the streets. Find that Uslann or whatever the bastard's name is."

"Got it."

The younger answered, rising at once.

＊＊＊

Zeon spent the day in the mines gathering information.

He had asked the twins for help, but collecting it firsthand was more reliable.

And so he learned that the number of people who hadn't returned was far greater than expected.

Over three hundred.

And yet, most didn't even realize it.

They simply thought those teams were late.

The situation was more dire than he had guessed.

In the evening, he stopped by the gambling den.

To hear what they had learned about Uslann.

But there was almost nothing.

After parting ways with Zeon, Uslann had vanished.

The twins believed he had already left the mines.

Zeon agreed.

If he had stayed, there was no way they wouldn't have noticed.

"Perhaps we'll cross paths again in the desert."

That was the feeling he had.

Meeting him here had not been coincidence.

In his world, there was no such thing as chance encounters.

Those meant to meet always did, and such meetings inevitably tied into greater destinies.

He felt that same pull with Uslann.

It was certain: this was someone he would meet again.

Zeon shook his head lightly and made his way out of the mines.

The Awakeners guarding the entrance looked at him curiously.

"You're not taking a vehicle?"

"I prefer to walk."

"Ah!"

They understood instantly.

For ordinary people, traveling far required transport. But to Zeon, the Sand Master, vehicles were nothing but a hindrance.

The moment he stepped outside, Zeon invoked Sand Step.

He walked away as lightly as if out on a stroll, leaving the Awakeners staring in awe at his retreating figure.

"Wow, his feet don't sink into the sand at all."

"Of course not. He's a Sand Master. The sand itself helps him along."

Zeon let their voices drift past one ear as he walked.

In moments, he was far from the mines.

When he reached a place out of sight, he quickened his pace.

An ordinary man would have feared traveling the desert alone.

With monsters always lurking, and with the difficulty of keeping direction in that vast expanse, even the strong would eventually collapse from exhaustion.

That was why Awakeners always moved in teams.

The longer one survived in the desert, the more valuable one's experience—and the higher the respect given.

But Zeon needed no companions.

His power itself was specialized for the desert.

Ssshhk!

Just by watching the flow of the sand, he could tell what kind of beast lay beneath.

"Black Scorpion."

Even as he spoke, one burst from the sand.

Its specialty was lying in wait and ambushing prey.

But its ambush meant nothing to Zeon.

He had already sensed it. And the terrain was nothing but sand.

Crunch!

Before it could even reach him, the sand tore it apart.

Its hard shell shredded instantly, collapsing into bloody sand.

Zeon walked on without a second glance.

Again and again, beasts hidden in the desert struck at him.

All failed.

He spent the entire day walking north.

At last, he stopped when he reached a vast basin.

Surrounded by towering dunes, it held the skeletal remains of a massive beast.

Five meters tall, ten meters from head to tail—a colossal C-rank beast known as the Blast Hippo.

As its name suggested, it resembled a hippopotamus.

When exposed to the sun too long, it sweated red fluid, streaming from its body like rain.

When it met an enemy, it shook itself, spraying that sweat. And any droplet that touched flesh would explode.

Its hide was so thick that even the fangs of beasts its own size couldn't pierce it.

Its temper was so foul it tolerated no intruders in its territory.

Few hunting teams dared attempt it.

The risk was immense, but the carcass wasn't worth much.

And since it wouldn't react unless its territory was entered, no one had reason to provoke it.

Yet here it lay, reduced to bones.

Zeon frowned as he approached.

"The Red Locusts…"

Even from the bones it was clear.

The white skeleton was riddled with scars—marks of locusts gnawing even at bone.

Yet they hadn't been able to finish the job. The Blast Hippo's bones were simply too hard.

Zeon reached out, brushing a hand over them.

"Recently."

Had it happened long ago, the bones would have darkened. That they were this white meant only a day or two had passed.

"To strip a beast this massive down to bones… their numbers must have grown."

No mere hundreds could have done this.

There was a reason the Blast Hippo was C-rank.

To tear through its hide and kill it, thousands must have attacked at once.

Now, having devoured such prey, they were surely breeding again somewhere.

That was the Red Locusts' life: eat, excrete, reproduce.

Zeon looked around, muttering.

"They'll have hidden themselves somewhere fit for laying eggs."

Even he didn't know everything about desert beasts.

He had no idea where Red Locusts laid their eggs.

"Still, underground seems most likely."

Most insect-type beasts preferred the dark, the underground. Naturally, they would breed there.

Zeon reasoned Red Locusts would be no different.

"Underground… hmm."

He climbed a dune and surveyed the area.

He extended his dominion, but felt no underground space nearby.

"Better to search from higher up?"

At his words, the sand rose like a pillar, lifting him into the air.

Dozens of meters up, he scanned the horizon.

No sign of any swarm.

"Phew. This is going to take some time."

But he had no thought of giving up.

If there was one thing Zeon had in abundance now, it was time.