Chapter 33

The Sand Soldier's attacks were simple.

To someone at Deioden's level, they were enough to make him yawn.

But for Zeon, it was a fight for his life.

'My sand control doesn't work.'

Whether it was because they were made of the same sand, or due to some special force, attacks like Sand Blaster or Sand Mixer had no effect on the Sand Soldiers.

In fact, the more sand he used, the more they absorbed—growing larger and stronger.

'What the hell…'

Zeon's expression twisted in disbelief.

The Sand Soldiers clearly used sand as their power source, just like him.

'Then what about Exion?'

Zeon quickly switched tactics, channeling Exion to attack.

BAM!

When he struck with Exion infused into his fist, one of the Sand Soldier's shoulders shattered.

Earlier, it would have absorbed sand and regenerated instantly—

But this time, it didn't heal.

'As expected… it can't absorb Exion.'

Unlike ordinary sand, Exion was practically fused with him.

That must be why the Sand Soldiers couldn't absorb it.

Zeon condensed Exion around his gauntlet.

BOOM!

With a single punch, the Sand Soldier shattered into pieces.

But he didn't even have time to celebrate.

Sssrrrk!

A new Sand Soldier appeared.

This time, there were two.

"Good… let's do this."

Zeon activated Sand Walk and closed the distance, attacking with Exion.

BAM! BAM!

With successive explosions, the Sand Soldiers were destroyed.

A stunned look appeared on Zeon's face.

This time, four Sand Soldiers appeared.

"…What is this? Every time I destroy them, they double?"

If his theory was correct, then defeating these would result in eight next.

And sure enough—

Eight Sand Soldiers appeared.

The problem was, unlike the earlier ones, these new Sand Soldiers moved more fluidly—and far more lethally.

"Oh? They're learning?"

Deioden let out a sound of admiration.

The newly formed Sand Soldiers compensated for the weaknesses of the previous ones.

It was as if they were learning from their battles with Zeon.

Deioden watched the fight with great interest.

Of course, he had no intention of helping.

If this dungeon was meant for Zeon, then he had to overcome it himself—just as always.

BAM! BAM!

Even as Sand Soldiers shattered, new ones rose behind them.

They attacked Zeon with even greater force.

Zeon bit his lip.

"Fine! Let's see who wins!"

At this point, his competitive spirit flared up.

He fought the Sand Soldiers with everything he had.

They shattered into sand—then reformed again.

It was a battle that seemed like it would never end.

But it wasn't just the Sand Soldiers who were learning.

Zeon was too.

Through the fight, he refined his control over Exion and sharpened his techniques.

Both Zeon and the Sand Soldiers grew rapidly, studying each other.

There was only one difference between them.

Exion.

While Zeon could use Exion for versatile attacks, the Sand Soldiers were limited to close combat.

"Haah!"

BOOM!

With a massive explosion, over a dozen Sand Soldiers shattered at once.

Zeon dashed past them toward the deeper part of the cave.

Even as he ran, more Sand Soldiers continued to appear and attack him.

Zeon destroyed every one of them and kept running.

After what felt like an endless sprint, he finally reached a vast underground chamber.

At its center stood a large altar.

Above it floated a mysterious cluster of light.

It was undoubtedly the dungeon's core item.

"…Hoo."

Instinctively, Zeon knew—

Something within that light was connected to him.

Hummmm!

At that moment, the light grew brighter and began to vibrate intensely.

Then—

The entire chamber filled with Sand Soldiers.

Even at a glance, there had to be over a thousand.

"…Damn it!"

Zeon's face twisted.

He had finally reached his destination—

Only to face far more enemies than ever before.

A curse slipped from his lips.

Just then, Deioden's voice came from behind him.

"You idiot… giving up already?"

"Who said I'm giving up?!"

Zeon snapped back.

If he were going to quit, he would never have come this far.

He would've gone back to Neo Seoul long ago.

Zeon took a deep breath.

'I can do this. I *can* do this.'

At that moment, the Sand Soldiers charged.

They surged forward like a tidal wave, filling the massive chamber.

As Zeon faced them, fine particles swirled around his entire body.

It was the result of rotating Exion in a hemispherical field around himself.

It was a method that consumed an extreme amount of mana.

With Zeon's current reserves, he couldn't sustain it for long.

Even so, he chose to use it because he trusted Elura's Tear—

An overpowered item that restored all mana once per day.

In that state, Zeon hurled himself straight into the center of the Sand Soldiers.

CRRRAAASH!

The violently rotating Exion shredded the Sand Soldiers like a storm.

Those that were torn apart crumbled into sand.

Even as hundreds were destroyed, the remaining Sand Soldiers showed no hesitation in charging him.

BAM! BAM!

They struck the spinning Exion with their bare fists.

The Exion rippled as if it might shatter at any moment.

Each impact sent shockwaves back to Zeon.

Blood had already begun to trickle from the corner of his mouth.

Still, he did not stop controlling Exion.

By the time he had destroyed around three hundred Sand Soldiers, Zeon's mana was completely depleted.

At that very moment—

Elura's Tear worked its miracle.

In an instant, his mana was fully restored.

The Exion, which had been on the verge of collapse, began spinning fiercely once more.

KRRRRAAAASH!

Zeon charged forward in a straight line.

His target was the altar.

The Sand Soldiers threw themselves at him to block his path.

There were far more charging at him than those being shredded.

Before long, Zeon was completely buried beneath them.

Being made of sand, the Soldiers felt no fear.

Even with arms torn off and legs shattered, they continued to hurl themselves at him.

If not for Zeon being armed with the overwhelmingly powerful Exion, any ordinary awakened would have already been swallowed and erased like drift in a tide.

Zeon fought like a madman.

Eventually, his mana ran low again, and he could no longer maintain the storm-like rotation of Exion.

By then, a significant portion of the Sand Soldiers had already been eliminated.

From that point on, he switched to close combat.

Using only minimal Exion, he relied on raw martial skill.

Fortunately, he had the crude combat techniques he had learned while fighting golems in an unknown dungeon.

It wasn't a formal skill, nor was it structured—

But because he had forged it himself, it flowed naturally.

BAM!

A Sand Soldier's head shattered.

Without a moment to breathe, Zeon drove his knee into another's torso.

Like a beast, he fought the sand-made soldiers in a frenzy.

Watching the scene, Deioden muttered,

"What a mess… but not bad."

That kind of spirit was necessary.

If you had no teeth, you bit with your gums.

To stand still or retreat just because you lacked mana or couldn't use skills—

That was nothing more than advertising your own incompetence.

To survive, you had to do something.

Failing even to struggle or resist was an abandonment of life itself.

That was the mindset Deioden had used to survive this brutal world.

Neo Seoul might have walls and awakened protecting it—

But out here in the wasteland, there were no rules.

You survived on your own.

Before long, the battle began to wind down.

BAM!

The last Sand Soldier collapsed back into sand.

"Haa… haa…"

Zeon gasped for breath, on the verge of collapse.

His body was already in ruins.

It was a miracle he was still standing.

Even as he staggered, he forced himself toward the altar.

The cluster of light atop it flickered more intensely, as if welcoming him.

Zeon reached out his hand.

At that moment, the light rushed into his palm, as if it had been waiting.

Zeon accepted it without resistance.

Instantly, his battered body was healed, and his drained mana was completely restored.

Only then did his breathing finally steady.

Zeon kept his eyes closed for a long while.

Deioden silently waited.

"…Hoo."

At last, Zeon exhaled and opened his eyes.

Deioden asked,

"So? Did you get something useful?"

"Would you like to see?"

Zeon channeled his mana.

At once, two Sand Soldiers appeared at his sides.

"So you can control them now?"

"I've only grasped the basics. My mana is still limited, so I can only summon two for now—but as I grow stronger, I'll be able to summon more."

"Soldiers made of sand, huh? Useful for overwhelming tactics."

Summoning thousands at once like in the dungeon would likely be impossible.

The dungeon itself had been optimized for generating Sand Soldiers.

Outside, Zeon had to rely solely on his own mana—so two was his current limit.

On Zeon's left arm, a new tattoo had appeared.

It depicted two spears intertwined like a coiling serpent.

The light he absorbed had taken this form.

Deioden asked,

"Anything else?"

"No."

Zeon shook his head.

There was no information about who created the dungeon or why.

At that moment—

RUMBLE!

The entire underground chamber began to shake.

It was collapsing.

Because Zeon had absorbed the dungeon's core.

CRACK!

Like glass fracturing, space itself began to split around them.

Then—

Their bodies vanished, as if erased.

A moment later, they reappeared outside, where the dungeon entrance had been.

The entrance itself had completely disappeared.

Neither of them seemed surprised.

That was the usual end of a conquered dungeon.

Deioden looked around—and was visibly startled.

"The sandstorm… it's stopped. The barrier is gone."

The relentless storm that had blocked his path was gone.

The barrier had been broken.

At last, the path forward was open.

"Let's go."

Deioden immediately started walking.

Zeon looked at him with mild disbelief.

After going through all that inside the dungeon, you'd think they could at least rest for a day—

But no, they were leaving right away.

"Well… I'm the only one who struggled anyway. You didn't even lift a finger, so of course you're full of energy. Seriously…"

Swallowing the words 'damned old man', Zeon followed after Deioden.