Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert

Chapter 23

[Translator – Peptobismol]

Chapter 23

“Crazy! Hahaha!”

When pain becomes unbearable or verges on madness, laughter bubbles up.

At this moment, Zeon’s condition was exactly that.

Leaning against the wall, Zeon was gasping for breath, his legs devoid of strength to stand, relying on the wall for support.

His face was scattered and torn, blood flowing from various wounds all over his body.

Fortunately, the breastplate made from the carcass of the Queen Wolf Ant and the robe crafted from the Sand Angeler’s hide provided some protection, limiting the damage.

If he lacked either one, Zeon’s life would likely have been cut short.

“Haah!”

As the pain reached a manageable level, breathing became easier for Zeon.

Taking a deep breath, he surveyed his surroundings.

Broken rock debris filled the dark space, remnants of the Centaurus Golems.

Zeon had fought with all his might—dodging, throwing punches, evading, and striking again.

He repeated this chaotic dance in a daze until he regained his senses and saw the Golems resembling Centaurus lay defeated.

“Damn! It hurts like hell.”

Zeon stood up, holding on to his ching legs.

Despite such intense combat, there was no change in Zeon’s rank insignia.

Perhaps it was because he hadn’t utilized sand in his attacks.

Walking with difficulty, Zeon mumbled.

“Is there no potion that can restore my health if I drink it?”

Even if such an item existed, it couldn’t be in a corridor like this.

At least the probability was higher in the place where the statue of the god of this temple was enshrined.

Since he didn’t know when more formidable foes like the Centaurus Golems might appear again, Zeon cautiously moved forward.

Suddenly, a massive door appeared before him.

It was so huge that it could not even be compared to the door of the passage where the Centaurus Golems had appeared.

“Shit!”

Without even confirming with his eyes, Zeon knew there was an enormous Golem behind that door.

Given his experience, the size of the door was proportional to the size of the Golem.

However, turning back was not an option.

“Phew!”

Zeon took a moment to take a big breath before summoning his strength to open the door.

The space beyond the door was colossal.

It was hard to believe such a vast space existed within the temple.

It was a hundred meters wide and over thirty meters high.

In the center of this gigantic space stood a statue.

Two enormous horns, reminiscent of a water buffalo, protruded from the head of the statue.

The statue, towering over five meters, exuded an overwhelming aura.

Without confirmation, Zeon knew the owner of this room was that statue.

The enormous Golem seemed unaware of Zeon’s entrance, showing no signs of movement.

Zeon’s gaze, however, shifted to a small door behind the giant Golem.

It seemed like the exit.

‘If I dash in before it notices, there might be a chance…’

Zeon thought the Golem’s movements would be slow, given its colossal size.

Normally, Golems had limited agility unless specifically designed for it, like the Centaurus Golems.

Thump!

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Zeon kicked off the floor and ran as hard as he could.

Gathering every ounce of his remaining strength, he dashed towards the door on the other side.

He passed the gigantic Golem in an instant and was almost in front of the door on the other side.

Right as a light of joy appeared on Zeon’s face.

“Almost there…”

Bang!

Zeon’s body was thrown backwards with an explosion.

Suddenly, the gigantic Golem was standing in front of him.

“Cough!”

Spitting out blood, Zeon struggled to lift his head.

The massive Golem acted like a gatekeeper, blocking off the door.

Zeon hadn’t noticed such a colossal Golem moving. It moved so discreetly, not making a single sound.

A black aura emanated from the entire body of the colossal Golem.

The meaning of the black aura was clear.

“B-rank or higher?”

Even dealing with C-rank would be challenging for Zeon, let alone B-rank.

Dyoden tore through B-rank monsters like they were toys, but that was because Dyoden was an Awakened beyond standard classifications.

Zeon was now at E-rank, and his main abilities were also forcibly sealed away.

Engaging in combat with such a colossal Golem in this state was tantamount to suicide.

If only he could use sand, the situation might not be so grim.

Wiping off the blood from the corner of his mouth, Zeon stood up.

He knew it was an impossible opponent, but he also couldn’t just sit there and wait for death.

“Alright! Let’s do this. Once dead, twice dead.”

One thing he learned from Dyoden was to never give up, no matter the circumstances.

He believed that if he somehow endured, an opportunity would eventually arise.

The problem was surviving until that chance came and whether he could seize it when it did.

“Let’s start by finding out where its core is”

The first Golems he encountered had their cores in the neck, while the Centaurus Golems had their cores in the chest.

He needed to locate the core hidden somewhere in the colossal Golem’s body.

That’s when it happened.

Flash!

A burst of light erupted from the colossal Golem, and suddenly, it appeared in front of Zeon.

“What?”

Zeon widened his eyes.

Only now did he realize how the colossal Golem had attacked him moments ago.

It was using a skill called Blink, a skill that allows one to instantly teleport as far as they can see.

Desperately, Zeon rolled on the floor.

Whoosh!

At that moment, the colossal Golem’s fist narrowly missed Zeon’s head by a hair’s breadth.

If Zeon had reacted a bit slower, that attack would have crushed him like a bug.

Cold sweat trickled down his spine.

Then, a human voice emanated from the colossal Golem’s mouth.

–Gigarain, exterminate the intruder.

“Gigarain? Is that your name?”

Zeon asked, but the colossal Golem Gigarain didn’t respond and continued its assault.

Once again, a flash of light erupted as Gigarain appeared in front of Zeon. But this time, Zeon was not left helpless.

The moment the flash erupted, he managed to swiftly dodge it by leaping out with his body.

Zeon had noticed that a flash of light erupted whenever Gigarain was about to use its skill Blink.

It wasn’t that difficult to dodge once he knew when the Blink would be used.

As Zeon expected, Gigarain appeared where he was just a moment ago.

Then, Zeon delivered a blow to Gigarain’s torso.

“Whaaah!”

Clang!

But his attack merely bounced off with a metallic clang.

Gigarain’s strength surpassed any Golems Zeon had faced so far.

Moreover, not a scratch appeared on its surface, protected by the black aura barrier.

Zeon despaired.

He had no idea how to fight against such a monster.

Perhaps this was how the creatures facing Dyoden felt.

[Translator – Peptobismol]

Whoosh!

Once more, Gigarain’s fist aimed at Zeon.

The size of that fist was almost as large as Zeon himself.

If struck squarely, it would be the end for Zeon.

Zeon fell to the ground and managed to dodge Gigarain’s fist by lying flat. Immediately after, he rolled his body over and stood up.

Infusing a lot of mana into his gauntlet, Zeon attacked Gigarain.

Kwaaang!

But once again, his strike failed to damage Gigarain.

Not even a single crumb fell off from its body.

It was an insane level of resilience.

Kwang! Bang!

Despite this, Zeon continued to attack several times.

It was similar to trying to break a rock with an egg.

However, Zeon still continued his assault, trying to find its weakness and the core.

Even though he couldn’t locate the core, he found Gigarain’s weakness—the joints at its knees.

The enormous weight of Gigarain applied immense pressure on its knee joints with every movement.

That’s why it used the Blink skill to minimize the stress on its joints.

Then it happened.

Sizzle!

Sparks suddenly flew from Gigarain’s colossal horns.

Zeon wasn’t sure what it meant.

‘A offensive skill?’

A B-rank monster having no attack skills was quite odd.

Zeon sharpened his focus on Gigarain’s horns.

At that moment, a barrage of lightning bolts shot out from Gigarain’s horns.

It was a chain lightning, spreading like a net, filling the massive underground chamber.

Zeon instinctively realized that he couldn’t dodge it.

In an instant, he covered himself with his robe and crouched down.

He had no choice but to trust the defensive power of the robe made from the Sand Angler’s hide.

Crackle! Crackle! Crackle!

The massive chain of lightning struck Zeon.

“Argh!”

Even though he covered himself with the robe, he felt a tremendous impact and current surging through him.

Zeon gritted his teeth and endured the pain.

Finally, what felt like an eternity came to an end.

When he emerged from the attack, Zeon’s appearance was truly wretched.

The robe draped over his body was either burnt or torn, revealing Zeon’s flesh beneath.

Although the robe, made from Sand Angler’s hide, boasted exceptional regeneration, it was useless in the face of shocks that exceeded its limits.

The tattered robe completely lost its functionality.

Still, sacrificing the robe had saved his life. However, he also couldn’t escape unscathed from the tremendous electrical assault.

The currents that the robe couldn’t absorb or deflect struck him. He endured the pain with nothing but the resilience of an Awakened individual’s body and willpower.

Thud! Thud!

Gigarain approached Zeon.

As Zeon observed its approach, he couldn’t move.

Fortunately, he had survived, but his nerves were paralyzed by the electric current.

While the paralysis slowly eased, he still couldn’t move his body.

‘Shit!’

Zeon cursed inwardly.

Gigarain was closing in, moving as if it didn’t need to use Blink on a captured prey like Zeon.

Watching it come closer while being unable to move filled Zeon with despair and anger.

‘If only I could use sand…’

Gathering the last of his mana, he increased his dominance.

Despite knowing there was no sand within the temple, he couldn’t give up like this.

Then it happened.

He vaguely sensed something akin to sand.

‘What is this?’

Clearly, there was not a single grain of sand inside the temple. Still, something akin to sand was reacting.

Zeon focused on this faint sensation of sand.

Unexpectedly, the source of this faint sensation was coming from within his pocket.

‘Inside my pocket? Surely…’

He recalled the hourglass he had obtained by spending a fortune in the Magic Stone Mines.

It never responded like this before, but unexpectedly, it was reacting at this very moment.

While Zeon concentrated on the hourglass, Gigarain arrived.

Observing Zeon for a moment, Gigarain kicked him aside.

Kwaaang!

With a thunderous sound, Zeon’s body was flung away, crashing into the opposite wall.

Zeon’s state was dire.

Even the chestplate made from the Queen Wolf Ant’s carcass shattered into pieces, and Zeon’s entire body crumpled as if it were run over by a colossal armored vehicle.

Yet, against all odds, he somehow clung to life.

Thud! Thud!

Gigarain was approaching Zeon to finish him off for good.

A handful of sand flowed out of Zeon’s pocket.

When the Golem kicked him, the hourglass inside his pocket had shattered, and the sand was spilling out.

Tssss!

At that moment, the tiny particles of sand flowing out suddenly began to be absorbed into Zeon’s pores.

In an instant, all the sand particles were absorbed into Zeon.

It was then that a change occurred within Zeon.

Thud! Thud!

In a blink, all his wounds healed, and even the broken bones returned to their original state.

Everything was due to the sand, absorbed into Zeon’s pores.

Although no one told him, Zeon recognized the identity of the sand absorbed into his body.

“Exion!”

The finest particles of sand that exist on Earth.

Exion, the greatest weapon for a Sand Mage.

[TL/N: The hourglass activated at the perfect time (get it? lmao). Anyway, looks like it’ll give him a temporary boost in power. But I wonder if it can be used again or if it’s a one time use type item. What do you guys think? ]

[Translator – Peptobismol]