Chapter 51
There were people crossing the scorching desert where not a single patch of shade could be found.
They rode double-humped camels, scanning their surroundings.
“Damn, it’s hot as hell.”
“Seriously, this is insane.”
Thick beads of sweat streamed endlessly down their faces.
There were six of them in total.
Four men and two women.
Not a single one looked ordinary.
And in truth, they weren’t.
They were a party composed entirely of Awakened.
Their official designation: Pathfinder Team 7.
They had been dispatched from Neo Seoul with a mission to pioneer the southern regions.
The distance from Neo Seoul to this place exceeded a thousand kilometers. It was their first time being sent this far.
In total, seven Pathfinder teams had been deployed.
They had established a shelter about a hundred kilometers from here and were scouting the surrounding area.
The leader of Pathfinder Team 7 was Zahar.
True to his Russian lineage, he stood over two meters tall, his body wrapped in armor-like muscle.
He didn’t just look strong—he was.
A C-rank martial-type Awakened, he led the team with exceptional skill and powerful leadership.
He had four team members.
Felix, a curse user.
Anika, a magic-type Awakened.
Darren, whose arms and legs had been replaced with machinery.
And Seido, a martial-type fighter who used a sword as his primary weapon.
Lastly, there was Mandy—a supervisor sent from Neo Seoul to monitor their progress.
That made six in total.
Mandy was a stunning woman with long, flowing wave-like blonde hair.
Her sapphire-like blue eyes and bright smile drew the attention of all the men.
The only other female team member, Anika, glared at her with sharp hostility.
Mandy fanned herself with her hand as she chatted.
“Oh my, it’s so hot. You all are amazing, working in such harsh conditions.”
“What’s this compared to a dungeon? This is nothing.”
Felix, the curse user, replied eagerly, as if he had been waiting for the chance.
His gaze toward Mandy was anything but pure.
Felix’s appearance was far from appealing—short, rough-skinned, and with an unsettling look in his eyes.
Women tended to avoid him.
Mandy, on the other hand, was the kind of beauty any man would desire.
For Felix, it was the first time being so close to such a woman.
So he hovered around her like a satellite.
Zahar clicked his tongue as he watched.
“Tch.”
His displeasure was obvious.
Mandy had been sent from Neo Seoul as a supervisor.
There was no way they would dispatch an ordinary woman to such a dangerous place.
Even if her abilities were unknown, she was surely hiding something.
More importantly, there was no chance someone like Mandy would take interest in someone like Felix.
And yet, Felix kept circling her.
At that moment, Darren—the cyborg—approached Zahar.
“Are we really going to let that dwarf keep acting like that?”
“Leave him.”
“But—”
“He’s not interfering with the mission yet. So let him be.”
“…Fine.”
Zahar glanced at Darren.
“How’s your body holding up?”
“It’s already starting to grind. I can still manage for now, but not for long.”
“I figured.”
Zahar frowned slightly.
Darren’s limbs were mechanical.
By fusing with machinery, he gained tremendous power—but the desert sand was the natural enemy of machines.
It wore down moving parts, shortening their lifespan.
They had applied special coatings to prevent sand from getting inside, but there was no guarantee how long it would hold.
That was also why they were riding camels instead of vehicles.
Vehicles and mechanical devices couldn’t endure the desert for long.
Recent technological advances had allowed them to reach this area—but that was the limit.
Back at the nearby shelter, crews were busy repairing vehicles that had broken down on the way here.
So they traveled by camel instead.
Whooosh!
Another gust of sand-laden wind swept over them.
“This place is seriously hell.”
Sandstorms were the greatest threat to human survival in the desert.
If heated sand entered the respiratory system, it would instantly burn the airways and lungs.
That was why ordinary humans couldn’t survive here.
Just then—
“Leader!”
Seido, who had been scouting ahead, suddenly called out.
Zahar guided his camel over to him.
Seido had already dismounted and was examining the ground.
“What is it?”
“Look here. The sand’s melted.”
Zahar looked where Seido pointed.
That specific patch of sand had melted and crystallized like glass.
“This is…”
“Traces of fire magic.”
“Fire magic in the middle of the desert? Could it be another team?”
“No. As far as I know, none of the Pathfinder teams deployed here use fire magic.”
Seido shook his head.
Zahar’s eyes sharpened.
Seido had an extraordinary memory—once he saw something, he never forgot it.
There was no chance he was mistaken.
Zahar called Mandy over and showed her the traces of fire magic.
Her expression turned intrigued.
“This is definitely worth investigating.”
“So we’re investigating it?”
“Our mission is to identify all threats near the shelter. Naturally, whoever used fire magic is included.”
“Understood. Then we’ll begin tracking.”
Zahar nodded to Seido, who immediately began following the trail.
The group followed behind him.
Zahar and Mandy rode side by side.
After a moment, Zahar spoke carefully.
“What exactly is the higher command thinking? Building a shelter in a place like this out of nowhere, then ordering us to investigate the area… this kind of mission is a first.”
There had been several oddities from the moment they first received this mission.
Sending Pathfinder teams out from Neo Seoul wasn’t unusual—but dispatching them this far was extremely rare.
Especially since this area had once been ocean, meaning it had barely ever been touched by human presence.
No one knew what kinds of threats or monsters existed here.
Zahar couldn’t understand why they had been sent to such a place.
After watching him for a moment, Mandy spoke.
“Do you remember what happened seven years ago?”
“Seven years ago… you mean that mana explosion?”
“That’s right. Exactly seven years ago, a massive explosion occurred deep within the desert.”
The blast had been so enormous that a super-powerful mana storm had struck even Neo Seoul.
Fortunately, Neo Seoul itself was protected by defensive magic—but the outer slums were devastated, collapsing and killing countless people.
The scale of the mana storm was so immense that it resembled the Sixth Cataclysm.
It was definitely not a natural phenomenon.
Neo Seoul had sent Pathfinder teams to investigate the cause—but they found nothing.
The explosion had occurred beyond their observable range.
They simply couldn’t get close enough to its source.
In the end, Neo Seoul abandoned the attempt to uncover its cause.
Seven years passed.
Mandy continued.
“After that incident, the desert ecosystem completely changed.”
“…I see.”
“The monsters underwent a massive migration, making all previously collected data useless.”
When even a single A-rank monster moves, it affects B-rank and C-rank monsters as well.
That ripple effect triggers a chain migration, reshaping the entire ecosystem.
Neo Seoul had once cataloged all nearby monsters and dungeons—but after that event, all their painstakingly gathered data became obsolete.
Because of that, they had to send countless Awakened outside to collect new data.
During that process, entirely new monsters, unknown dungeons, and labyrinth-like zones were discovered.
It took seven full years to stabilize the situation.
“Recently, monsters have been detected moving up from the south—types that don’t exist in our database.”
“…Then don’t tell me…”
“Yes. Headquarters suspects that a boss-level monster may have appeared. That might be what triggered the chain migration.”
“You’re not saying we’re expected to deal with an A-rank monster ourselves, are you?”
“Of course not. Our mission is simply to confirm whether such a monster exists.”
Monsters at A-rank or boss level usually possessed unique abilities.
To hunt them, detailed prior intelligence was essential.
“If we want to minimize losses, we need to gather information quickly and withdraw.”
“Exactly.”
“Hmm…”
Zahar stroked his chin with his large hand.
Now he understood why they had been sent all the way out here.
Still, an uneasy feeling lingered.
Mandy glanced at her reddened forearm and spoke.
“Alright, let’s gather the information quickly and head back to the shelter. The desert sun and sand are the worst for your skin. Look at this—it’s already damaged. Ugh, I’m so upset.”
“We’re investigating an A-rank monster, and you’re worried about your skin?”
Anika, who had been waiting for a chance, snapped at her.
But Mandy showed no sign of being flustered.
“Of course. For a woman, skin is everything. You should take better care of yours too, Anika. If you keep wandering the desert like that without protection, sudden aging will hit you before you know it. Don’t regret it later…”
“What did you just say?! You—!”
Anika flared up at Mandy’s sharp words and tried to lash out—but Zahar intervened.
“That’s enough. This is not the time for internal conflict.”
“But she started it!”
“Don’t forget—she’s the supervisor.”
“So what if she is?”
Anika’s face twisted with anger.
But under Zahar’s cold gaze, she couldn’t push any further.
In the end, she turned her head away, avoiding his eyes.
Mandy watched her with a faint smile.
Just then—
“Leader!”
Seido called out.
“What is it?”
“I think something’s wrong.”
“What do you mean?”
“These… they’re our equipment.”
Seido pointed ahead.
Breastplates, shields, and other gear lay scattered across the sand.
Half-buried—but unmistakably equipment used by Awakened from Neo Seoul.
Zahar’s face hardened.
“You’re sure it’s ours?”
“It belongs to Team 2. I remember it clearly.”
At Seido’s words, all of Team 7 tensed up.
They knew Team 2 well.
Their strength was at least on par with Team 7.
If they had been taken out, then Team 7 was also in danger.
“Who attacked them?”
“Why aren’t there any bodies?”
No matter how much they searched, they couldn’t find any corpses.
They even dug through the nearby sand—but found nothing.
“Were they kidnapped?”
“Monsters kidnapping humans? That would mean intelligence…”
Confusion spread across the team’s faces.
“Can you tell who attacked Team 2?”
“The sand has covered everything. I can’t tell.”
“Can you track them?”
“I’ll try.”
“Do it quickly.”
“Yes!”
Seido resumed tracking.
They crossed over more than a dozen massive sand dunes.
By the time the team began to feel fatigue setting in, Seido, who was ahead, spoke again.
“I found it.”
“You did?”
Zahar brightened and moved to his side.
But Seido’s expression was strange.
His pupils were dilated, as if he had seen something he shouldn’t have.
“What is it?”
“Well…”
Zahar followed Seido’s gaze.
And instantly, his expression changed as well.
What they saw—
was a massive village.
Large enough to house over a thousand beings.
“A… goblin settlement?”
There was only one type of monster capable of forming such a large settlement in the desert—
low-rank monsters: goblins.
And indeed, goblin corpses were scattered throughout the village.
The settlement had been completely destroyed.
Most of the ruined structures were buried under enormous amounts of sand.
The goblin bodies were the same.
“What the hell… did a sandstorm pass through here?”