Chapter 411

Zzzzzt! Zzzzzt!

The fine sand melted away in an instant and began to boil like mad.

The ground within several dozen meters around Jang Wu-hang had turned into a field of lava.

If it were just the environment changing, Jang Wu-hang would not have been startled.

His beast-transformed body was unaffected by most environmental changes.

The problem was that Zeon’s skill was not just Sand Gehenna.

“Sand Mixer!”

Kaaaaang!

The moment Zeon’s words fell, the land of lava began to spin at a terrifying speed.

Having already experienced it once before, Jang Wu-hang knew all too well how frightening this skill was.

Once caught in this skill, one had no choice but to suffer enormous damage.

That was why the very moment Zeon unleashed Sand Mixer, Jang Wu-hang hurled his body into the air.

Shwaaaak!

Soaring high into the sky, Jang Wu-hang plummeted toward Zeon like a meteor.

At that instant, Zeon unfolded a new skill.

It was Sand Viper.

Jang Wu-hang, charging down on Zeon at breakneck speed, widened his eyes.

Because the Sand Viper flying at him was made of lava.

The Sand Viper had sprung forth from the very lava field where the sand had melted—so it too was formed of molten lava.

Naturally, its mass and destructive power were incomparable to an ordinary Sand Viper.

Bababababang!

The Sand Vipers struck Jang Wu-hang’s body in succession.

Trusting in his beast-transformed physique, Jang Wu-hang pressed forward with a reckless charge.

“I’ll kill you.”

Every time a Sand Viper struck him, his body staggered briefly, but he never stopped.

He believed that as long as he could close the distance to Zeon, he would surely kill him. That was why he chose a head-on breakthrough instead of evasion. But that became his fatal mistake.

Boom!

An unusually massive Sand Viper smashed into his torso.

Even then, Jang Wu-hang did not dodge.

Zeon was right in front of him.

If he flinched away just because of a slightly larger snake, he might never get such a chance again.

“Yaaahhh!”

Jang Wu-hang swung his blade at Zeon with full force. But the speed of his strike was pathetically slow compared to the image he had in his mind.

In shock at his unexpected body’s reaction, Jang Wu-hang widened his eyes and looked at himself.

Only then did he realize why he had slowed.

The cause was none other than the barrage of Sand Vipers Zeon had unleashed.

The lava Sand Vipers, after crashing into his body, rapidly cooled and hardened.

The solidified lava clung to Jang Wu-hang’s body, hampering his movement and preventing him from gaining speed.

Thanks to that, Zeon could easily evade his attack.

“You bastard!”

Boooom!

When Jang Wu-hang roared in fury, the hardened rocks clinging to his body all shattered and flew off.

Just as he regained freedom of movement and was about to attack Zeon—

“Sand Soldier.”

Zeon summoned Sand Soldiers.

Dozens of Sand Soldiers rose up from the once empty desert.

But they were not ordinary Sand Soldiers.

They were reinforced Sand Soldiers.

Their sand bodies had turned into stone.

The enhanced Sand Soldiers, following Zeon’s will, rushed at Jang Wu-hang.

“You think you can stop me with dolls like these?”

“Aren’t you yourself just a doll guarding the tomb of the old emperor?”

“How dare you compare Jin Yong to such scarecrows, Sand Sorcerer!”

“Then you’ll soon see who the real scarecrow is.”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The Sand Soldiers assaulted Jang Wu-hang ferociously.

Each time a stone fist slammed down, cracks spread across Jang Wu-hang’s chitinous body, or fragments broke off.

“Graaaah! Out of my way!”

He swung his hand, transformed into a blade, and slashed at the Sand Soldiers.

Slash!

The closest Sand Soldier was cleaved in two with a single strike. Yet Jang Wu-hang’s expression was hardly bright.

Because the so-called “feeling of the cut” was terrible.

Though he had managed to slash it, he felt immense resistance.

An ordinary Sand Soldier would have been sliced apart like tofu. But the reinforced Sand Soldiers were as hard as actual rock—difficult even for his blade to cut cleanly.

Ssshhhk!

The real problem occurred when he cut down the second one.

In the moment his swing slowed, the Sand Soldiers latched onto his body and legs.

“Begone!”

Jang Wu-hang tried to shake them off with brute force, but it was useless.

The reinforced Sand Soldiers weren’t just tougher—their strength had increased severalfold.

Already massive in size, they clung to him with terrifying strength. Even Jang Wu-hang, with power on par with an S-rank awakened, couldn’t shake them off easily.

Just like when he faced Cullinan, countless Sand Soldiers held him down, pressing upon him.

Without exaggeration, the crushing weight and pressure felt like being buried beneath a mountain.

Boom! Kwooom!

On top of his pinned body, the Sand Soldiers unleashed merciless blows.

His chitinous shell couldn’t withstand the accumulating impacts and shattered like brittle snacks, while cracks spread like spiderwebs across his sharp blades.

“You curs!”

Jang Wu-hang tried to unleash his internal energy outward in one burst to throw off the Sand Soldiers. But they were simply too heavy; they would not fall away so easily.

Meanwhile, his body was being pressed lower and lower.

“What…?”

Pinned beneath the Sand Soldiers, Jang Wu-hang looked down at the ground.

From the earth below, an overwhelming heat surged upward.

Zeon had once again deployed Sand Gehenna.

This time, there was no escaping.

The Sand Soldiers pinning him down were the problem.

As the lava boiled, the Sand Soldiers’ bodies began to melt as well. And yet they didn’t budge.

That was the terror of the Sand Soldiers.

As summons created by Zeon’s authority, they had no fear of death.

Feeling no pain, the soldiers gladly chose to die alongside Jang Wu-hang.

Jang Wu-hang’s body, crushed under them, was steadily consumed by the lava.

Thanks to his beast-transformed body, he hadn’t melted yet, but once fully submerged, it was only a matter of time.

“Move! I said move!”

He went berserk, flailing his blade-formed arms wildly.

The Sand Soldiers covering his body were slashed apart and shattered.

In an instant, half the Sand Soldiers were destroyed or crippled.

At last, he felt like he could breathe again.

But then, despair swept over him like a tidal wave.

For Zeon’s quiet voice rang out.

“Sand Mixer!”

Kaaaaang!

The lava-turned sand spun violently at terrifying speed.

The molten rock burrowed into the cracks of his chitinous shell, tearing him apart from within.

“Graaaghhh!”

A scream burst past Jang Wu-hang’s lips.

He writhed in agony, desperate to escape, but it was useless.

Zeon kept summoning Sand Soldiers.

The newly summoned ones dove straight into the inferno, clinging to Jang Wu-hang.

Like a man sinking into a swamp, Jang Wu-hang was dragged deeper and deeper underground.

Crack!

His arm was torn off at the shoulder—ripped out by the Sand Soldiers.

Through the exposed wound, the lava poured in.

‘Graaaaghhh!’

Jang Wu-hang screamed, but no more sound came out.

Because the lava, flowing in through his gaping mouth, filled his insides.

His mind went blank.

Before the sheer agony consuming his body, he could form no thoughts at all. Except for one face that surfaced vividly.

Zeon.

The instant he thought of Zeon, rage surged.

‘That demon! How could the world produce such a fiend?’

Jang Wu-hang cursed the heavens that had birthed Zeon into the world.

That was his final thought.

And then, suddenly, his consciousness was cut off.

The lava had melted even his brain.

Thus ended Jang Wu-hang.

Fssshhh!

Everything that made up the existence known as Jang Wu-hang vanished from the world.

“Phew.”

Only then did Zeon exhale a faint sigh.

To cast Sand Gehenna followed by Sand Mixer, and on top of that churn out Sand Soldiers—

Even for Zeon, whose mana was nearly infinite, it was quite taxing.

That was why, when he finally ceased his skills, a light fatigue washed over him.

Zeon looked down at the still-boiling, scorching ground.

Once the heat subsided, it would solidify into stone.

No one would ever know that within lay the vanished remains of Jang Wu-hang.

After a brief rest, Zeon turned his gaze west.

It was the direction Levin had gone, pursuing Mo Yong-han and Heuk-no.

At once, Zeon invoked Sand Step and sprinted over the desert.

After nearly an hour, he saw Levin locked in battle with a swarm of bugs.

They were the spawn of the Brood Fiend.

But this time, it wasn’t just the spawn.

The Brood Fiend itself was attacking Levin alongside them.

On one side of the battlefield lay the dead body of Mo Yong-han.

Nearby, Heuk-no sat on the ground, one knee severed, screaming hoarsely.

“Yes! Brood Fiend, spill out more spawn!”

As if answering his call, the Brood Fiend shook its tail. Countless eggs spilled out, hatching immediately.

The newly hatched spawn charged straight at Levin.

Boom! Boom!

The immature hatchlings, no larger than fingernails, exploded near Levin.

They had triggered upon contact with Levin’s Purple Lightning.

With their self-destructing nature, the spawn were the worst possible match against Levin.

First, Levin, in his ghost-form, took no damage from explosions. No matter how many spawn detonated, they couldn’t harm him.

Second, the Purple Lightning he radiated—

The moment the high-voltage current touched them, the Brood Fiend’s spawn exploded in a chain reaction.

Thus, unable to even approach Levin, they perished in vain.

No matter how many the Brood Fiend spewed, it was useless.

For the creature to truly unleash its might, it needed to rear its spawn to some degree. But now it had no time, birthing only half-formed young.

Naturally, the explosions were weak.

Levin unleashed dozens of volleys of Purple Lightning at once. The last batch of spawn the Brood Fiend spat out were all charred black before detonating.

Kieeek!

Having lost every last child, the enraged Brood Fiend let out an ultrasonic scream.

An attack that bypassed the eardrum to strike the brain directly.

But to Levin, such an attack meant nothing.

In ghost form, Levin approached the Brood Fiend.

Kiiik!

Again it screamed, as if issuing one final warning. But Levin ignored it.

Watching this, Heuk-no bit his lip hard.

His eyes wavered in conflict, but only for a moment. Then he gave the Brood Fiend its final command.

“You’ve done well, Brood Fiend! Because of me, all your children have died. But we can’t just lose our lives in vain. Let’s go together!”

Kiii!

As if understanding Heuk-no’s heart, the Brood Fiend let out a sorrowful cry.

A smile rose on Heuk-no’s lips—and at that moment, the Brood Fiend’s body glowed bright red.

Moments later, the Brood Fiend exploded.

It had self-destructed.

Kwoooooom!

The blast, incomparable to that of its spawn, swept across the area. Heuk-no, and even Mo Yong-han’s corpse, were obliterated without a trace.

Fortunately, Levin, still ghost-formed, was unharmed.

“You bastards!”

As Levin released his ghost form and cursed, Zeon approached him.

“Well done.”

“Huh, brother?”

“So the Wolf Brigade has all been dealt with?”

“But brother…”

“What is it?”

“I made a mistake.”

“What kind?”

“They strapped the Blue Gem onto the back of a Bladeback Shipbird and sent it away.”

“Bladeback Shipbird?”

“I think they tamed it. What should we do? That gem seems to contain the secrets of the Magistone Power Plant. If the bird returns safely to Geoseong, they’ll build one too.”

Levin berated himself for his mistake, but Zeon’s expression was unconcerned.

“Well now… do you really think that will happen?”

“What do you mean?”

“The Jin Geum-ho I know isn’t the sort of man to hand over what’s his so easily.”

“Huh?”

“So don’t worry.”

At Levin, who still wore a puzzled expression, Zeon smiled.