Chapter 21

Despite the elf incident, nothing changed between Deioden and Zeon.

They hadn't been close to begin with, so the distant atmosphere between them felt natural.

Deioden walked ahead, and Zeon followed behind.

Sometimes, they would go an entire day without exchanging a single word.

Deioden no longer gave Zeon any advice.

He had already taught him enough—now it was up to Zeon to figure things out on his own.

Zeon, too, stopped asking questions.

Instead, he thought for himself—constantly searching for ways to better utilize his abilities.

He explored countless ways to manipulate sand, testing them against the demonic beasts that occasionally attacked.

Now, low-grade beasts were no longer a match for him.

Boom! Boom!

With each Sand Missile Zeon fired, the heads of low-grade beasts burst apart one after another.

Brains and blood splattered across the sand.

Zeon stared at the corpses for a moment before continuing forward.

Deioden was already far ahead.

Even though he knew Zeon was fighting, he didn't spare him a single glance.

By now, Deioden understood—

There was no way Zeon would die to something like low-grade beasts.

Zeon, for his part, no longer let his guard down under any circumstances.

That was the result of Deioden's brutal training.

Then—

Deioden, who had been walking ahead, suddenly stopped.

Zeon looked at him in confusion.

They had been together for quite some time, but this was the first time Deioden had stopped before sunset.

Deioden muttered,

"It should be around here…"

After scanning the surroundings briefly, he pulled something out from his chest.

It was a compass, about the size of a child's palm.

But it wasn't an ordinary compass.

It was an item created by combining science and magic from Neo Seoul—essentially a location recorder.

It could store and recall places one had visited before.

Deioden had been here decades ago. It had been so long that even his memory was hazy.

The needle spun several times before pointing in a single direction.

Deioden began walking in that direction.

After walking for quite a while, he finally stopped.

"This is it."

Click.

He closed the compass and tucked it away.

Zeon approached him.

"What's here?"

No matter how he looked, it was just the same endless desert.

Identical to everything they had passed so far.

Deioden glanced at him with a look of mild disdain.

"You don't feel it?"

"…Feel what?"

"You've still got a long way to go."

For a moment, anger surged up from deep within Zeon's chest.

But he suppressed it and carefully observed his surroundings again.

If Deioden said something was here, then something had to be nearby.

But no matter how much he looked, nothing stood out.

Could it be beneath the sand?

Zeon raised his control and resonated with the sand.

Ten meters… twenty meters…

He felt nothing.

Still, he didn't give up.

He pushed deeper.

Seventy meters… eighty…

At around one hundred meters, he finally sensed something.

"…This?"

There was definitely something foreign buried beneath the sand.

Deioden asked,

"Found it?"

"Yes!"

"How deep?"

"About a hundred meters underground."

"Deeper than I expected. More sand must've piled up over time."

When he had first discovered this place, it hadn't been buried this deeply.

Clearly, years of accumulated sand had buried it further.

"Dig."

"Yes."

At his command, Zeon began moving the sand.

Ssssh—

Massive piles of sand flowed aside like collapsing hills.

He pushed the displaced sand far away.

Beads of sweat formed on his face.

The mana consumption was immense.

A hundred meters underground might not sound like much—but removing all that sand was like dismantling an entire mountain.

It was impossible to do it all at once.

Zeon worked slowly, bit by bit.

Deioden didn't rush him.

He knew exactly how difficult this task was.

Sand lacked cohesion—dig it out, and it would collapse back in.

The only reason this was even possible was because Zeon could control sand.

For an ordinary person, digging this would take a hundred years—if it could be done at all.

There was nothing Deioden could do to help.

He simply sat at a distance, waiting.

The excavation continued for nearly three days.

When Zeon's mana ran dry, he rested.

Once it recovered, he resumed digging.

After pushing himself to the limit again and again, Zeon finally reached a depth of one hundred meters.

"…What is this?"

He frowned.

What lay beneath the desert was something completely out of place—

A stone structure.

More precisely, a massive stone door.

It was strange enough to find something like this buried deep in the desert.

But the fact that it was shaped like a door made it even more bizarre.

Deioden descended to stand beside him.

"You found it."

"…What is this?"

"A dungeon."

"A dungeon? Then this door… leads to one?"

"I assume so."

"Assume? So you're not sure?"

"I found this place by chance decades ago. It disappeared into the sand before I could enter."

"Then why come back here?"

"Because I need to get stronger."

"You're saying you'll get even stronger from this?"

Zeon looked at him in disbelief.

Deioden was already strong enough to slice apart even B-rank monsters like paper.

His estimated strength was at least S-rank or higher.

And yet, he had come back to a dungeon he found long ago just to grow stronger.

At this point, it felt like he didn't even have a concept of limits.

Zeon couldn't understand him.

No—he chose to stop trying.

Deioden was not someone he could measure with his own standards.

Deioden briefly ran his hand across the stone door.

Strange, indecipherable symbols were carved all over its surface.

They looked familiar.

Zeon recalled the elf books he had stored in his subspace.

The symbols were identical.

Is this connected to the elves?

At that moment, as Deioden touched the door, it suddenly emitted a bright light and swung open.

Without saying a word, Deioden stepped inside.

He didn't tell Zeon to follow.

Nor did he tell him to stay.

The choice was entirely Zeon's.

Well… I've already risked my life once. What's one more time?

Even someone as strong as Deioden had entered this unknown dungeon to grow stronger.

There was no reason for Zeon to hesitate.

He quickly stepped inside before the door closed.

Boom!

The moment he entered, the stone door shut behind him.

As soon as he stepped into the dungeon, Zeon felt as if he were falling through empty space.

But having experienced entering a dungeon before, he quickly regained his composure.

He steadied himself and looked around.

Massive stone pillars supported an immensely high ceiling.

The stone walls were engraved with the same symbols from the door, along with images that seemed to praise a god.

"…Is this some kind of temple?"

Judging by the atmosphere and scale, it was clearly a temple dedicated to some deity.

He had never heard of a dungeon made of stone structures like this.

But then again, nothing about dungeons followed human logic.

Suddenly, Zeon realized Deioden was nowhere to be seen.

"Did he get sent somewhere else?"

Just because there was one entrance didn't mean everyone arrived at the same place.

Sometimes, like this, people started in completely different locations.

"I'll have to reach the boss area to meet him."

That was something Deioden had told him before.

If he wanted to find Deioden, he needed to reach the boss.

The problem was choosing a path.

The chamber he stood in had four passages.

There was no way to tell which one led to the boss.

"Tch."

Zeon clicked his tongue.

There was no information, no markers.

Nothing to base a logical decision on.

This was the kind of situation he hated most.

But he couldn't stand here forever.

Even now, Deioden was probably advancing toward the boss.

There was no time to hesitate.

"I'll take the smallest passage."

Out of the four, Zeon chose the narrowest one.

There was a reason for that.

"The bigger the passage, the bigger the monster."

Generally, larger beasts were stronger.

And larger creatures needed larger spaces.

So a smaller passage meant smaller enemies.

Zeon stepped into the narrow corridor without hesitation.

Inside, it was pitch black.

There wasn't even the faintest light.

He had to rely entirely on his senses to move forward.

"…Hoo."

Even the underground magic crystal mines hadn't been this dark.

It felt as if the temple itself rejected all outside light.

His vision was useless.

Even when he focused mana into his eyes, he couldn't see anything.

"I'll abandon sight."

Letting go of reliance on vision, Zeon focused on hearing, smell, and touch.

Whoosh—

A faint breeze brushed past him.

Air doesn't move in a sealed space.

If there was wind, it meant there was an opening somewhere.

Zeon walked in the direction the wind came from.

A temple-shaped dungeon… Why would something like this even exist?

He had been an awakened for some time now, but he still knew nothing about how dungeons were created.

He had asked Deioden before, but Deioden had refused to answer.

From his reaction, it was clear he knew something.

Could dungeon creation be related to the destruction of the world?

It was just speculation.

He had no way of knowing for sure.

Then—

Thud… Thud…

A heavy sound echoed.

Something massive was moving.

Zeon stopped and listened carefully.

Thud… Thud… Thud…

The sound continued.

"What is that?"

The answer was obvious.

In a dungeon like this, anything moving could only be a demonic creature.

Zeon raised his control, preparing for battle.

"…What?"

As he tried to gather mana, his expression turned grim.

There was no sand.

Not even a grain.

He was a sand mage.

All his power came from sand.

Without it, he was only half an awakened.

"There's really… no sand at all?"

Within the range of his control, not a single particle could be felt.

It was the first time he had ever experienced this.

"Damn it…"

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The heavy footsteps drew closer.

Then—

In the darkness, countless eyes appeared.

Zeon instinctively stepped back.

But behind him, more eyes emerged.

The faint glow of their eyes revealed their forms.

They looked human.

But their bodies were made of stone.

They were roughly Zeon's height, but far bulkier and more rigid.

There was only one type of creature like this.

"…Golems?"

And not just any—stone golems.

Even with sand, they would be a difficult opponent.

And now—

Dozens of them surrounded him.

"…Damn it."