Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert-Chapter 570

Chapter 570

Grrr! Grrr!

With heavy rumbling sounds, numerous vehicles were moving.

They were vehicles carrying the Awakened who had come out from Neo Seoul.

Their types were varied.

From vehicles covered with thick armor plating to the extreme to maximize defense, to vehicles loaded with unknown equipment.

Every vehicle developed by City Hall until now had been mobilized for this battle.

It was proof that City Hall was approaching this war with utmost seriousness.

Naturally, even the elite Awakened drafted from each district could not help but feel tense.

In the history of Neo Seoul, there had not been many times when so many Awakened were mobilized.

Each time had been a war upon which Neo Seoul’s fate depended.

And by winning those wars, Neo Seoul had become what it was today.

In the lead vehicle rode Seong Hoyeon, along with the captains of the Awakened from each district.

Among them was a man who exuded an atmosphere similar to Seong Hoyeon’s.

He was a soldier with a thick beard.

A scar that ran from his forehead down to the tip of his chin was extremely ghastly. It seemed he had lost his eye when his face was injured, for one pupil could not focus. But the gaze of his remaining eye was as sharp as a blade.

With his single eye, he looked at Seong Hoyeon.

“It’s been a while.”

“It has. About ten years?”

Seong Hoyeon replied as if it were nothing.

The soldier stroked his useless eye as he said,

“Yes! It was ten years ago that I lost this eye to you.”

“You’re not still sulking over that, are you? We clashed during a mission.”

“Yes! We clashed during a mission, and I was utterly defeated.”

The corner of the soldier’s mouth twisted.

At his murderous smile, Seong Hoyeon chuckled.

“That seems to be the case.”

“Because of that, I lost all my subordinates.”

“It was a tragedy.”

“You speak as if it were someone else’s affair. You’re the one who killed them all….”

“It was a mission. You’re not suggesting we settle our grudge now, are you?”

“I’m not so lacking in judgment. Protecting Neo Seoul comes first right now. But after that, you may look forward to it. The new ones I’ve raised won’t fall so futilely like before.”

“I’ll look forward to it, Mac Krieger.”

“I won’t disappoint.”

The soldier, Mac Krieger, put strength into his single eye as he stared at Seong Hoyeon.

He was the captain of the SRT Team, the Eastern District’s special task force.

Unusually, the SRT Team was composed entirely of magic-type Awakened rather than martial-type.

Typically, special task forces that carried out special missions were formed of martial-type Awakened, with a small number of magic-type Awakened assigned for support.

But the Eastern District’s SRT Team was composed of magic-type Awakened.

The SRT Team’s objective was the maximization of destructive power through the harmony of magic and weaponry.

For that purpose, the magic-type Awakened underwent training as grueling as that of martial-types.

Their captain, Mac Krieger, was also a magic-type Awakened.

Mac Krieger and Seong Hoyeon had clashed ten years ago.

Seong Hoyeon represented City Hall, while Mac Krieger prioritized the interests of the Eastern District. When those two collided, the battle could only be fierce.

In the end, the battle returned in Seong Hoyeon’s victory.

In combat, Seong Hoyeon was a killer without blood or tears.

He inflicted a grave wound upon Mac Krieger and killed all his subordinates.

The scar on his face now was from that time.

If he followed his heart, Mac Krieger would have ground Seong Hoyeon to drink him down immediately. But he was a soldier who placed his mission above personal feelings, so he forcibly suppressed his desire for revenge.

Now was not the time to resolve his ill fate with Seong Hoyeon.

He changed the topic.

“So this giant magical beast called Behemoth is heading toward Neo Seoul?”

“That’s right.”

“Estimated rank?”

“Impossible to estimate.”

“Impossible?”

“Yes. S-rank, or higher.”

“That’s insane. A magical beast like that exists? Couldn’t there be some mistake?”

“It’s information sent by Zeon. There’s no mistake.”

“Sand Mage Zeon?”

“Yes. He was the first to discover Behemoth and sent word to prepare.”

“If it’s information from Zeon….”

Mac Krieger trailed off.

He had never met Zeon in person, but he knew he was someone trustworthy.

“A magical beast whose rank cannot be estimated. It’s been a while since I’ve had a fight that makes my flesh tremble.”

“Remember this! If we fail to stop it, Neo Seoul will fall.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll do my utmost to bring it down. But how are we going to find it? We don’t know from which direction it will come.”

Neo Seoul stood tall in the middle of the desert.

It was open on all sides. The enemy could come from anywhere.

It was physically impossible to block all three hundred and sixty degrees.

They had to specify one direction and prepare.

At Mac Krieger’s question, Seong Hoyeon pointed to the vehicle they were riding.

“It’s a vehicle that embodies City Hall’s magi-engineering.”

“And what does that have to do with finding Behemoth?”

“The larger the magical beast, the stronger the mana it possesses. This vehicle is equipped with a device that can detect abnormal surges of mana.”

“A mana radar.”

“That’s right. A mana radar. The stronger the mana it holds, the more strongly it is detected. This one is three times more powerful than the previous version. With this, we’ll be able to detect Behemoth before it reaches Neo Seoul.”

“So City Hall has been using something this good for itself?”

“If you’re upset, develop one yourselves.”

“Damn it!”

A look of defeat crossed Mac Krieger’s face.

The Eastern District had also tried to develop such a device. But in the end, they had failed.

Only City Hall possessed the technology to create something this precise.

At least they could take comfort in the fact that City Hall was not stingy in distributing such equipment.

It was then.

—Beeeeep!

An ominous signal rang inside the vehicle.

An Awakened watching the mana radar shouted urgently.

“Abnormal mana amplification detected.”

“Direction?”

“Fifty kilometers west. The mana is continuing to amplify.”

“Move all units in that direction. Inform the other vehicles as well.”

“Yes! Understood.”

The vehicles carrying Neo Seoul’s Awakened immediately moved toward the direction where the abnormal mana surge had been detected.

The massive vehicles raced at terrifying speed, raising clouds of sand.

The closer they came to their destination, the stiffer the expressions of the Awakened became.

Kwooooom!

As if the end of the world had arrived, dark clouds filled the sky, and the atmosphere churned ominously.

Blade-like winds raged like a storm, and thick sand mixed with the wind, obscuring vision.

“What the hell is this?”

“Damn it! Where is it?”

The Awakened widened their eyes and searched for Behemoth, but it was nowhere to be seen.

Mac Krieger frowned.

“Why can’t we see it? Is the mana radar wrong?”

“No! This is the exact location. It will appear here. Without a doubt!”

Seong Hoyeon glared at the center of the storm with terrifying eyes.

Every hair on his forearms stood on end. Goosebumps ran along the back of his neck.

An immense sense of crisis was pressing down upon him.

It was the first time he had felt such an intense premonition of danger.

Seong Hoyeon shouted to the Awakened.

“Prepare for battle!”

Though the enemy was not yet visible, when Seong Hoyeon ordered them to prepare for battle, all wore puzzled expressions. But they obeyed without complaint.

Whatever they felt inside, they had to absolutely obey the commander’s orders.

The Awakened all got out of their vehicles and prepared for combat.

Their faces were filled with tension.

It was then.

Kiiiiing!

With a heavy mechanical sound, the roofs of the vehicles that had carried the Awakened opened, and large cylindrical objects rose up.

“That is?”

“It’s the new mana particle cannon. Developed by City Hall.”

It was a weapon created in anticipation of large magical beasts approaching Neo Seoul.

Only Awakened could properly face magical beasts. But that did not mean Neo Seoul’s safety could be entrusted solely to them.

So City Hall created a decisive weapon to deal with large magical beasts.

That was the new mana particle cannon.

Its power was several times stronger than previous mana particle cannons, and its destructive range was wider.

It possessed enough power to vaporize ordinary magical beasts in a single shot.

However, it consumed mana to an extreme degree, requiring a separate mana stone generator. To operate that generator required mana stones sufficient to supply Neo Seoul for several months.

To consume that many mana stones at once was a burden even for City Hall.

Thus, the new mana particle cannon was never used in normal times.

Ten new mana particle cannons were deployed.

City Hall was pouring years’ worth of finances into stopping Behemoth.

That was how thoroughly they had prepared.

The Awakened muttered,

“They’re really splurging.”

“Only City Hall could do something like this. Still, it’s reassuring since they’re on our side.”

When they were enemies, City Hall was troublesome. But when they stood on the same side, it provided limitless support. That support was immensely reassuring now.

Kwoooom!

Even at that moment, the storm was growing fiercer.

It had grown so dark that one could barely see an inch ahead, and the wind intensified.

If they were not Awakened, their entire bodies would have been shredded by the blade-like winds or blown away.

Tension rose on the faces of Seong Hoyeon and the other Awakened.

With senses sharpened befitting Awakened, they instinctively knew something was about to happen.

Squeeze!

The Awakened tightened their grips on their weapons.

Thick veins bulged on the backs of their hands at that very moment.

Jjeeeong!

From the center of the storm came the sound of something shattering, and the mana that had been confined burst free, striking the area.

“Ugh!”

“Cough!”

Some of the Awakened swept up by the mana storm were blown backward.

Thanks to the soft sand, they were not injured, but their faces showed clear dismay.

Normally, other Awakened would have mocked those who were blown away. But not a single person here laughed.

All eyes were fixed on the center of the storm.

A massive crack was forming there.

A tremendous fissure reaching a height of a hundred meters.

Through the crack, a black silhouette could be glimpsed.

At the sight of a crimson silhouette filling the hundred-meter fissure, every Awakened froze.

It did not take long to realize that the two lights visible at the top of the silhouette were the magical beast’s eyes.

“That’s Be…hemoth?”

“Insane!”

Though they had only seen its silhouette, their hearts pounded wildly, and their lips dried.

It was not at the vague level of magical beast they had imagined.

It was as if the storm itself had manifested in the form of a beast.

“I had a bad feeling from the moment Zeon sent word….”

“Hoo! We have to fight something like that?”

Even the Numbers let out a sigh the moment they saw Behemoth’s silhouette.

But they did not despair.

If they fell, Neo Seoul would be next.

The sense of duty to protect Neo Seoul at any cost drove them forward.

Seong Hoyeon gripped his weapon and muttered,

“Does it possess teleportation ability? Even so, for that massive body to cross space. Hard to believe.”

Naturally, the larger the body, the more mana teleportation consumed.

Even rare Blink skill users often collapsed from exhaustion after moving a few times within their field of vision. Yet that gigantic body spanning a hundred meters had crossed space.

It was impossible to even imagine how much mana had been consumed.

Kwoooom!

At that moment, Behemoth finally stepped out through the fissure.

The appearance of Behemoth, revealed before the Awakened, had changed greatly from before.

Its red scales emitted a sharp brilliance like diamonds. A massive horn had grown from its forehead, and enormous wings spread from its back.

On its way here, it had devoured countless magical beasts and made their authorities its own.

In that process, its teleportation ability had strengthened.

The moment Behemoth revealed itself, Seong Hoyeon shouted,

“Fire!”

Kwakwa-kwa-boom!

The mana particle cannons roared and spat fire.

There was no need to aim separately.

Its body was so large that firing in any direction would hit.

Though the mana particle cannons struck, Behemoth did not budge.

A force field completely protected its body.

Now it was Behemoth’s turn.

—Burn, all of you.

Flash! Kwarurur!

With Behemoth’s majestic voice, a rain of lightning poured down upon where the Awakened stood.