Chapter 217

With a chilling sound, the sand across the area began to rotate around Zeon at its center.

“What the—?”

“Waaah!”

The Awakeners who had barely escaped the full force of the Sand Mixer let out cries.
Sand within a radius of dozens of meters was spinning like a giant blender.

And inside it—were orcs.

Not ordinary orcs.

They were berserker orcs empowered by tattoo buffs.

Mad orcs that felt neither pain nor fear.

But at this very moment, their faces were filled with extreme terror.

The sand had risen up to their knees.

The orcs tried to force their way out through sheer strength, but an unseen force seemed to bind the sand in place—they couldn’t move at all.

Meanwhile, the sand was grinding away at their ankles and shins.
The agony of being crushed alive was unimaginable.

“Kuwoooaaaar!”
“Chiiit! Save me…!”

“Guhk!”

Orcs who would normally sneer at pain were now screaming at the top of their lungs.

Their bodies were slowly being dragged deeper into the sand.

Now it had reached their waists.

And with it, their screams intensified.

“Kkiiieeek!”

“Kkeuak!”

The desert echoed with sounds like pigs being slaughtered.
The Awakeners’ faces twisted.

The orcs’ pain felt as if it were their own.

That was how desperate the screams were.

Goosebumps covered their bodies, and a chilling dread crawled up their spines.

They had never experienced anything like this before.

They were people who lived alongside death.

Always prepared to die at any moment from magical beasts or human threats.
But the Sand Mixer unleashed by Zeon was so horrifying that even such Awakeners felt fear.

At some point, the orcs stopped screaming altogether.

Their chests had already been ground away.

A creature without lungs or organs could not scream.

The violently spinning sand devoured even their remaining upper bodies.

Gaaaang!

In the suffocating silence, only the sand continued to spin ferociously.

At its center stood Zeon.

The Awakeners couldn’t say a word.

It felt like if they even opened their mouths, Zeon’s skill might turn on them next.

To them, it was hell.

They finally exhaled the breath they had been holding only when the sand completely stopped.

“Puhah!”

“Kuhhh!”

Their faces were flushed red from holding their breath.

They looked at Zeon with expressions full of fear.

But Zeon himself calmly walked across the sand.

Where he headed—Jang Yongbeom was there.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. This level of injury is nothing.”

“You lost an arm.”

“When we get back to Neo Seoul, I’ll just attach a prosthetic. It won’t be like those mechanized Awakeners, but there should be decent mechanical arms.”

“So there was a way.”

“Heh! As long as you’re alive, Neo Seoul fixes you up. Especially valuable combat forces like me—they take special care. So don’t look at me with that expression.”

“Understood. Then we’ll rest briefly before moving. Recover your condition until then.”

Just as Zeon turned his body—

“Wait! The captain needs proper rest. Moving immediately is too much.”

Aiden’s voice stopped him.

“I’d like that too, but we don’t know when the orcs might pursue us.”

“Hmm…”

Aiden groaned.

If the orcs realized the ones who attacked them had been wiped out, others would surely track them.
Still, something about blindly following Zeon’s words felt uneasy.

So he said,

“Can’t you block them with your ability? If you use that skill from earlier, no matter how many orcs come, you could handle them, right?”

“It’s not a skill I can casually spam. It consumes a large amount of mana, so I need time to recover as well.”

“Hmm! That makes sense.”

Aiden nodded in understanding.

The more powerful the skill, the more mana it consumes.

And once spent, mana doesn’t recover easily.

A skill with the level of power Zeon just displayed must have consumed an enormous amount.

‘Right… that’s only fair. Being a Sand Mage is already overpowered. If he could use skills like that without limits, who could possibly stop him?’

Aiden felt somewhat relieved.

Zeon gave a faint smile.

He could tell exactly what Aiden was thinking.

In truth, he could use Sand Mixer several times a day, but there was no need to reveal that.

Zeon turned toward Eloi.

In front of her, two elves were kneeling.

Lafyuna and her subordinate.

Both were completely battered.

Eloi had used excessive violence during their subjugation.

‘Her emotions were involved.’

There was nothing to criticize.

Eloi’s hatred toward pure-blood elves was etched deep into her bones.

As Zeon approached, Lafyuna and her subordinate showed terrified expressions.

They couldn’t help it.

They had just witnessed what Zeon did to the orcs right before their eyes.

If that cursed skill were turned on them, they would be ground down without leaving a trace.

They weren’t afraid of dying.

But they didn’t want to die like that—erased without a trace, reduced to nothing.

‘Is he… the god of death? Where did a human like this even come from…?’

Overwhelming fear seemed to paralyze her thoughts, and Lafyuna had to grit her teeth to keep from losing consciousness.

Her subordinate, in a state of panic, screamed,

“You cursed being! How could the gods grant an unpermitted power like that to a human like you? It’s infuriating!”

His eyes were completely rolled back—he was clearly not in his right mind.

He had gone mad from sheer terror.

“Haah! This one seems pretty useless.”

Thud!

Eloi struck the back of the elf’s head with the butt of her spear.

The elf lost consciousness instantly without even letting out a scream.

Zeon knelt down on one knee, meeting Lafyuna’s gaze.

“Why did you do it?”

“W-What do you mean?”

“Why did you lure the orcs to us?”

“That never happened. The orcs were tracking us, so we had no choice but to flee.”

“So you’re saying you didn’t lure them intentionally?”

“That’s right.”

Lafyuna desperately tried to explain.

No matter what, she had to hide the existence of their village.

If Zeon found out that they had lured the orcs to protect it, she didn’t know what he might do.

Zeon stared into her eyes.

Lafyuna clenched her teeth to hide her agitation, but she couldn’t deceive him.

“There’s an elf village nearby, isn’t there? Where is it?”

“Our village is hundreds of kilometers away from here.”

“You’re still not used to lying. The activity range of desert elf rangers barely extends a few dozen kilometers from their village.”

“H-How do you know that?”

Instead of answering, Zeon let out a faint smirk.

There was probably no one who understood the desert elves’ lifestyle and range better than he did.
And elves, by nature, were poor liars.

Not because they were pure—but because they were inexperienced.

The elves who had settled in Neo Seoul had become somewhat cunning after being influenced by humans.
But those who survived independently in the desert had none of that sharpness.

Suddenly, Lafyuna threw herself to the ground.

“Wait! Don’t touch our village. Everything was my decision alone.”

“Yours?”

“That’s right. I lured the orcs to protect our village.”

“You expect me to believe that?”

“It’s true. I swear it.”

“An ordinary elf’s oath isn’t very convincing.”

“Th-That…”

Lafyuna’s face turned deathly pale.

She had to keep making excuses somehow, but her mind had gone completely blank.

At that moment, Brielle stepped forward.

“Zeon!”

“What?”

“You’re not actually going to attack the elf village, are you?”

“Well…”

“Can’t you let this one go? For my sake…”

“For your sake?”

“In a way, they’re outcasts too. And the hearts of those who’ve been cast out inevitably grow narrow.”

…like the High Elf village.

Brielle swallowed the rest of her words.

The village she had been born in was also stagnant.

Even after more than a hundred years since crossing over to Earth, it had remained exactly the same as it was in the beginning.
The elves’ way of thinking hadn’t changed much either.

When she lived there, she believed that was the right way to preserve purity.
But after spending a long time in the human world, she clearly realized just how stagnant they had become.

Humans had adapted to this hellish world and were advancing at a terrifying pace.

In contrast, the elves were trapped in a prison of time.

Perhaps they were being punished for having once harmed the world.

Because of that, their perspective had narrowed, and in order to survive, they had sacrificed innocent humans.

Even without Zeon punishing them, they would eventually fall behind and disappear with the flow of time—

Unless there was a dramatic change.

Now, only Zeon’s decision remained.

Whatever decision he made, Brielle was prepared to accept it humbly.

At last, Zeon spoke.

“I’m not some blood-crazed murderer. I’m not going to wipe out an entire village.”

“Then?”

“But a warning is still necessary.”

Zeon turned his gaze to Lafyuna.

“Deliver this clearly to your village elders.”

“What?”

“I’ll let this pass once. But if you pull a stunt like this again, I’ll destroy your entire village.”

“…!”

“You saw it yourself, didn’t you? If it’s me, I can collapse the village you’ve built over a hundred years in an instant.”

He didn’t know exactly where the desert elf village was, but finding it wouldn’t be difficult.

They would have dug a large pit beneath the sand and built it there—

Just like most desert elf villages.

If it was within the sand, it couldn’t escape Zeon’s senses.

The sand was on his side.

Lafyuna quickly responded,

“I—I’ll deliver the message.”

“Then go. Before I change my mind…”

At Zeon’s gesture, Lafyuna hoisted her subordinate onto her shoulder and fled in a hurry.

At the sight, several Awakeners burst out in anger.

“What? You’re just letting those elves go?”

“People died because of them!”

“And you’re making that decision on your own?”

A cold smile spread across Zeon’s lips.

This was the problem with Awakeners.

Even if you saved them, their gratitude didn’t last long—and they forgot their fear just as quickly.

He understood their anger, but that didn’t mean he would let them cross the line.

“Then let’s part ways here.”

“What?”

“If you can’t accept my decision, let’s split up and go our separate ways.”

“Th-That’s…”

“Even if the elves hadn’t lured them, we would’ve encountered the orcs eventually. It just happened a little sooner. Still, if you can’t accept my decision, we can separate right now.”

At Zeon’s cold words, the Awakeners fell silent.

Then Jang Yongbeom pushed himself up and spoke.

“Just ignore those idiots. They’re cowards pretending to be Awakeners.”

“So you accept my decision?”

“Of course. If you want to survive in this desert, whether you like it or not, you’ve got to stick by your side.”

“Then will you follow my lead from now on?”

“Yessir! Captain.”

Jang Yongbeom replied with a sly grin.