Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert
Chapter 57

[Translator – Peptobismol]

Chapter 57

“What is it?”

“Sandworm?”

“Crazy!”

Zahar, Darren, and Seido opened their eyes wide.

They hadn’t expected a Sandworm, one of the tyrants of the desert, to appear at this time.

Among them, Zahar’s surprise was particularly pronounced.

“Why Sandworms? Could this be a Sandworm territory?”

If it were just one Sandworm, there wouldn’t be much to fear. The problem was that, behind Zeon, not one but four Sandworms emerged.

The Sandworm that had briefly protruded its head into the air, as if taking a breath of fresh air, disappeared back into the sand.

Thud!

Following that, a powerful vibration was felt.

The Sandworms were charging towards the three individuals.

Felix urgently spoke, moving quickly.

“Why are they leaving that bastard alone…?”

Between them and the Sandworms was Zeon. However, Zeon was not leaping to their defense, and the behavior of the Sandworms skipping Zeon and rushing towards them was incomprehensible.

“Damn it!”

Darren cursed, delivering a punch to the ground with his mechanical fist.

Kwaang!

With a single punch from him, the sand erupted like a volcanic explosion. However, the force didn’t reach the Sandworms beneath the surface.

This is exactly what made dealing with Sandworms challenging.

It wasn’t easy to attack them as they hid beneath the surface, making it difficult to approach. Conversely, the creatures used the sand as a defensive barrier, patiently waiting for an opportune moment.

It’s not for nothing that Sandworms were known as the assassins and tyrants of the desert.

Zahar spoke.

“Don’t move recklessly, everyone. They can sense our vibrations. We need to kill them the moment they reveal themselves.”

“Yes!”

“Understood, Leader!”

Seido and Felix replied simultaneously.

While their responses were confident, a perplexed expression lingered on their faces.

Kwaaa!

At that moment, a Sandworm suddenly raised its head.

Its large, gaping mouth targeted Darren.

“Who does this bug bastard dare to target?”

Darren, infuriated, swung his fist.

It was a fist made of machinery.

A black aura emanated from the fist.

It was a color exclusive to those integrated with machines.

Black symbolized death and destruction.

Darren had determined to obliterate the Sandworm in one blow. However, just before his fist could unleash its force on the Sandworm, a small variable occurred.

Crackle!

Suddenly, a tiny flame ignited on Darren’s forearm.

Of all places, it happened to be the drive shaft of the mechanical prosthetic.

As the drive shaft melted in an instant, the mechanical prosthetic ceased to function. Simultaneously, the black aura enveloping the mechanical prosthetic vanished in the blink of an eye.

At that moment, Darren’s gaze shifted towards Zeon, who was standing at a distance.

Instinctively, he realized it was Zeon’s handiwork.

His suspicion turned out to be true.

Zeon was holding up his right arm.

A gauntlet enveloping the entire forearm and fist.

Embedded in the back of the gauntlet was a red gem.

The red gem was vertically split in the middle, resembling the eyes of a reptile, emitting a sinister light between the two halves.

Chimera Eblis, who was forced to become a guardian of the Gold Dragon Haeltoon.

The eye of the Red Dragon, which had served as the power source for Eblis.

Through the fusion of the Red Dragon’s eye, the gauntlet transformed into the Gauntlet of Scorching Heat.

The Gauntlet of Scorching Heat allowed Zeon to wield fire magic.

While not as refined as manipulating sand, it still allowed him to unleash fire magic somewhat intuitively.

Concentrating the fire magic on a specific point, he melted only the drive mechanism of the prosthetic.

He hadn’t spread magic over a wide area, and concentrating it on a single point, like gathering sunlight through a magnifying glass, wasn’t particularly difficult.

Although it was a simple spell, the aftermath was anything but insignificant.

As Darren hesitated when the prosthetic stopped working, a Sandworm seized the opportunity and swallowed him in one gulp.

Squelch!

Without a chance to scream, Darren’s body was gruesomely torn out of the Sandworm’s mouth.

“Darren!”

“No!”

Zahar and Seido shouted loudly at the sight of Darren being ruthlessly devoured before them.

The sound created vibrations, and the Sandworm, detecting the vibrations, attacked the two of them.

Kwaaa!

A massive mouth emerged, cutting through the sand.

Zahar aimed a punch at the head of the Sandworm that suddenly appeared.

Kwaang!

Keee!

With a deafening sound, the Sandworm let out a scream.

While its exterior seemed unharmed, its brain was completely scrambled.

The Sandworm collapsed, lifeless.

[Translator – Peptobismol]

Zahar, quickly putting out the flames, searched for the Sandworm that had devoured Darren. However, the Sandworm that had filled its belly had already concealed itself.

“This is…”

It was when Zahar’s shoulders trembled with anger.

“Ughh!”

Suddenly, Seido’s scream echoed.

Seido was staggering, suffering from a severe burn on his side. In the midst of restraining the Sandworm, he had fallen victim to the flame magic secretly cast by Zeon.

The pain from the burning side temporarily overwhelmed Seido’s senses.

Seizing the opportunity, the Sandworm attacked Seido, disappearing into the sand in an instant.

No screams were heard.

“Uwaahh!”

Zahar, who had lost two subordinates in an instant, was enraged.

He charged towards Zeon, the culprit behind the whole situation.

Now, he no longer cared about the Sandworms.

In his mind, there was only the determination to kill and eliminate Zeon.

“Don’t think you can die peacefully! You bastard!”

Zahar’s charging figure, radiating fury, was extremely threatening. However, it fell far short of wiping the smirk off Zeon’s face.

Thud!

Zeon flicked his finger. In an instant, the sand solidified, gripping Zahar’s ankle.

As a result, Zahar momentarily staggered.

During that moment, the enormous Sandworm’s mouth targeted him.

“How dare a mere insect like you…”

Zahar attempted to unleash his skills against the Sandworm, but Zeon was quicker than that.

Boom!

A small flame erupted before Zahar’s eyes.

The flame directly seared Zahar’s retina.

“Kraaagh!”

Suddenly, pain and darkness engulfed Zahar as he screamed. In the meantime, the gigantic mouth of the Sandworm swallowed him.

Zahar’s scream vanished, consumed by the Sandworm.

Swoosh!

The Sandworm that swallowed Zahar disappeared into the sand.

That was Zahar’s end.

Observing this, Zeon muttered.

“You don’t always need to use a grand skill to kill.”

Zeon had long realized that even a seemingly insignificant skill, when used strategically, could easily eliminate a formidable opponent. Moreover, the most perfect victory was achieved without exerting one’s own strength.

Zeon turned his head to look at Mandy.

After allowing Zahar to deliver the blow, Mandy couldn’t escape unscathed.

Felix and Annika relentlessly attacked Mandy as if they had gone mad.

“Fuck! Die. Just die.”

Felix cursed vehemently.

The Curse of Collapse.

The Curse of Decay.

Felix unleashed every curse he could muster onto Mandy. However, strangely, Mandy remained unscathed by his curses.

Instead, it was Annika’s attacks that pushed her into a corner.

“Flash Bomb!”

Boom!

Annika’s magic exploded right before Mandy’s eyes.

Mandy was sent flying as if caught in a storm.

Her appearance was in disarray.

Clothes torn, hair tangled messily.

Seeing Mandy in such a state, Annika, fueled by anger, shouted.

“How is it? How does it feel? You damn bitch!”

She, too, had witnessed her comrades being devoured by the Sandworms.

Rage had consumed her reason, and she vowed to kill Mandy even if it meant her own death.

“You’re finished. You’re dead. I’ll tear you apart limb by limb.”

Annika approached Mandy with great vigor.

“Ha! Damn it! I knew it would come to this.”

Mandy, who had been lying on the ground, spat out curses as she rose.

Sweeping her blonde hair back, Mandy lifted her head. However, there was an inexplicable change in the atmosphere.

Mandy was undeniably a stunning beauty.

Deep golden waves of hair and azure eyes that resembled embedded sapphires.

She possessed a noticeable beauty that stood out wherever she went. However, it seemed somewhat lacking in fierceness to survive in the desert.

But now, as Mandy lifted her head, her face bore a disdainful expression and a hint of venom.

Certainly the same person, yet the entire atmosphere had completely shifted.

Most notably, her ears were impressive.

The pointed ears, previously concealed by her blonde hair, were now revealed.

Annika, looking at her ears, made a sarcastic remark.

“What’s this? You, an elf? No, a half-elf.”

“What the hell, why are you making sarcastic comments? Ha!”

“What?”

“Should I cut off your fingers and make them into chopsticks? Huh!”

Annika’s mind momentarily blanked at Mandy’s unexpected retort.

She stammered.

“You, what…? What are you saying?”

“As you can see, I’m a half-elf. Idiot!”

“What?”

“Let’s deal with you first.”

Mandy drew a little rod from behind her waist.

Shaaah!

As she pressed the handle, the rod instantly transformed.

Extending far taller than her, the rod now had a spearhead at its tip.

“What’s this?”

“What do you think it is?”

Thud!

Mandy kicked the sand and propelled herself into the air.

Shahahak!

In an instant, Mandy arrived before Annika, swinging the spear.

“Yeek!”

Annika hastily unfolded her Aero Boom. However, Mandy’s spear ruthlessly cut through the Aero Boom.

The air failed to explode, fading away without any impact.

The spear’s edge didn’t only cut through the Aero Boom; it also slashed Annika’s neck.

As if a red thread appeared on Annika’s neck, her head promptly tumbled down to the ground.

That was Annika’s end.

“Annika!”

Felix called out to Annika, shouting at the top of his lungs.

“Wow, that’s really noisy.”

Mandy sneered, gripping the spear in reverse. As she did, the spearhead split into nine branches.

Mandy threw the split spear.

Squelch!

“Keuk!”

The spear pierced Felix’s chest.

The spearhead, split into nine pieces, tore through the inside of Felix like a rag.

Felix collapsed, coughing up blood.

Mandy clapped her hands lightly and muttered.

“It was annoying to keep dealing with this ugly face flirting with me. Mandy, this girl is the problem. Why give him chances? How long do I have to clean up after her?”

At that moment, a Sandworm unexpectedly raised its head from beneath her. However, Mandy didn’t panic; she gracefully stepped back.

The Sandworms quickly dragged the corpses of Annika and Felix inside.

It felt like the Sandworms, now satisfied with their feast, were retreating.

Zeon, paying no attention to the Sandworms, looked at Mandy.

Though her appearance remained the same, everything about her temperament, atmosphere, and gaze had changed. It was as if her inner self had transformed.

Zeon spoke.

“Two personalities in one body?”

“Hmm.”

At that moment, Mandy, with a peculiar sound, looked at Zeon.

A captivating expression and lustful eyes.

It was enchanting enough that any man who laid eyes on her would be captivated instantly.

She approached Zeon with her back to him.

“As expected, you are not an ordinary young man. Mandy can’t handle you.”

“What is your name?”

“I’m Eloy. As you can see, I’m Mandy’s guardian.”

“Fascinating. Being a half-elf is surprising enough, but having a dual personality? Do others know about this?”

“This is the first time someone has heard my name and remained alive. So far.”

“It sounds like a threat that I’ll be killed if I make a wrong move? Or is it just a misconception?”

“It’s no misconception. I can do anything to protect Mandy.”

“Then you should keep me alive even more. Without me, Mandy would wander the desert and eventually die.”

“That’s the dilemma. How to dispose of you.”

Eloy grinned, revealing her white teeth.

[Translator – Peptobismol]