Chapter 447

Even in El Harun, protected by barriers, sand existed.

For El Harun itself was built amid sandstone canyons made of sand.

What rolled on the ground was sand, piled up here and there in heaps.

It was something that existed all around but to which no one paid attention.

Now that same sand was moving, like a living creature with its own will.

Pashhhh!

The tiny grains scattered in all directions gathered together as if pulled by a magnet, forming into human shapes.

“What is that?”

“What kind of trick is he pulling with sand?”

The Awakened who didn’t understand what was happening looked on in confusion.

To their eyes, Zeon simply seemed to be using some strange skill.

What use could there be in clumping sand into a human shape like that?

He’s wasting his strength on something pointless.

But the moment the sand men straightened their backs and opened their eyes, the nearby Awakened felt an immense chill run through them.

For an ominous power was emanating from those sand beings.

Dozens of evolved Sand Soldiers simultaneously took up battle stances.

“They, they’re moving?”

“How? Are they golems or something?”

It was a phenomenon beyond their understanding. Yet Zeon had no reason to explain the Sand Soldiers to them.

There was no need for words when he could simply show them.

“Go.”

At his command, the Sand Soldiers kicked off the ground all at once and charged toward Neria.

“It’s useless.”

“No matter how many of those things he summons, he won’t put even a scratch on that gigantic Black Queen.”

Those who had already fought Neria knew well how hard her scales were.

To break through scales harder than diamond required immense physical strength and overwhelming mana.

They couldn’t believe, no, they didn’t want to believe, that such power could come from mere sand soldiers.

If the Sand Soldiers truly managed to harm the Black Queen, it would only prove their own incompetence.

Before everyone’s eyes, the Sand Soldiers clung to the Black Queen’s massive body and began to strike her scales with fists and feet.

Bang! Boom!

It looked as if ants were clinging to a giant serpent.

But the Sand Soldiers were no mere ants.

Their bodies, already enhanced, had transformed into solid rock.

Each time their rocky fists struck, sparks burst from the impact against the scales.

Every blow against those scales harder than diamond shattered the Sand Soldiers’ own fists instead.

“See? I told you, it’s pointless.”

“With that kind of skill… seriously.”

Some of the Awakened clicked their tongues.

To them, the Sand Soldiers seemed pathetically weak. But they didn’t understand the true terror of the Sand Soldiers.

The Sand Soldiers did not feel pain or fear.

Any normal creature whose fists shattered would lose the ability to fight, but that did not apply to them.

When their fists broke, they attacked with their wrists.

When their wrists were crushed, they rammed with their shoulders.

When their shoulders were smashed, they struck with their heads or drove with their knees.

They continued their assault until their bodies were completely destroyed.

And the moment they were broken, Zeon instantly regenerated them.

Sand was everywhere around them.

As long as the sand didn’t disappear, and as long as Zeon’s mana didn’t run dry, he could summon Sand Soldiers endlessly.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The number of Sand Soldiers clinging to the Black Queen’s scales quickly grew to hundreds.

Zeon had multiplied their numbers severalfold.

Crack! Snap!

The Black Queen’s scales, once seeming like an impregnable fortress, finally began to shatter under the relentless swarm.

―Saaaaaa!

The Black Queen’s scream echoed through the air.

Though she didn’t speak, everyone could feel it, she was in real pain.

Scales that had withstood countless attacks from Awakened warriors were breaking apart one after another under the Sand Soldiers’ merciless onslaught.

Of course, the Black Queen didn’t just take the beating.

She twisted her body and slammed herself onto the ground, crushing Sand Soldiers beneath her.

The Sand Soldiers caught under her massive frame were flattened without a trace. Yet the next instant, they were reborn anew.

“Insane!”

“How is that even possible? How much mana does he have?”

“No, more importantly, what class is he? To create soldiers from sand… don’t tell me he’s a sand… sorcerer?”

Only then did the Awakened realize that Zeon was a Sand Sorcerer.

Council leader Krudu muttered in disbelief.

“A Sand Sorcerer? That ability really exists?”

Krudu was the one who had lived the longest, second only to Deva.

He had seen and experienced many things, but never this.

At least, no Sand Sorcerer had ever existed in Kurayan.

“Then that means… it’s an awakening ability born on Earth.”

His already stern face hardened even further.

That was how shocked he was by Zeon’s power.

Zeon wasn’t attacking with Sand Soldiers alone.

He unleashed Sand Vipers, Sand Spears, and countless other constructs to bombard the Black Queen without pause.

Boom-boom-boom-boom!

The blasts from Zeon’s barrage shook the Black Queen’s massive body violently.

Watching the scene, Taboaru murmured,

“Impressive… but this alone won’t bring the Black Queen down.”

They had managed to break her scales before, too.

The real challenge was piercing the muscle beneath and inflicting internal damage.

Though the Black Queen looked battered, it was only surface wounds.

She was still very much alive.

In fact, her fury exploded as she spewed venom and petrifying beams in all directions. But the Sand Soldiers were barely affected.

Their bodies were made of stone, after all.

Even when struck by petrifying rays, nothing changed.

When hit by venom, only their surfaces melted slightly, they kept moving without hindrance.

No matter how enormous the serpent, if ants kept biting, pain was inevitable.

That was exactly what the Black Queen was feeling now.

Her eyes rolled furiously and locked onto Zeon.

She had realized that he was the one summoning the Sand Soldiers that tormented her.

―Saaaa!

The Black Queen unleashed her fear.

Ordinary beings and even Awakened would freeze instantly before that aura, but not Zeon.

He rode the sandstorm upward, rising smoothly into the air.

He ascended to a height level with Neria, who sat atop the serpent’s head, and called out.

“Lady Neria!”

“Zeon! So you stand before me at last.”

“Wasn’t this what you wanted?”

“I wanted someone worthy to stand before me.”

“How do I look now? Worthy enough?”

“This is still not enough.”

Neria looked down indifferently at the Sand Soldiers clinging to the serpent’s body.

It hurt, yes. The pain was real.

But that was all.

It was painful, but not fatal.

Wounds like these would heal within a few hours of rest.

That was the kind of being the Black Queen was.

No matter how grievously she was wounded, as long as her life wasn’t severed, she would recover and resume her destruction.

Neria had tried to suppress that nature, but it was useless.

For the divinity of Mars that had taken root within her was stronger than her own will.

It was impossible for a mere Dark Elf to resist the will of a god.

Likewise, it was impossible to bring down the Black Queen, Neria fused with Mars, with mere brute force like this.

Even with Neria’s firm words, Zeon didn’t erase the faint smile at his lips. His expression looked strange to her, and she asked,

“Why are you smiling?”

“I just find it amusing… the way the world works. I never imagined that after Dyoden, I’d end up facing a god again.”

“Dyoden?”

“There’s a man by that name. Damn old bastard.”

“So… did this Dyoden kill that god?”

“Yes.”

“Truly?”

“Yes.”

“Where is he now?”

A flicker of hope lit Neria’s face.

If there was a human who had slain a god, perhaps he could also kill her.

But Zeon’s reply shattered that fragile hope.

“He’s dead.”

“Dead?”

“He killed a dragon, and died himself.”

“Such a thing…”

Disappointment crossed Neria’s face.

If a man who could slay gods and dragons was gone, then surely there was no one left who could stop her.

Then Zeon spoke.

“There’s no need to be disappointed. What Dyoden could do, I can do as well. Like this.”

Snap.

Zeon flicked his fingers.

At that moment, a chilling noise rumbled from beneath Neria’s body.

Grrrrrr!

It was the sound of sand rotating at high speed.

Zeon had kept her talking for one reason, to buy time to gather all the sand in the area.

While Neria’s attention was fixed on him, the sands of all El Harun had converged into one place.

So much that half of Neria’s massive body was now submerged.

Grrrrrr!

Like a colossal mixer, the sand began to whirl violently, grinding away at her scales.

Sparks flew as sand struck scales harder than diamond.

To the eye, it seemed to cause no damage, but in truth, the scales were being ground away, their dust indistinguishable from the sand itself.

―Saaaaaah!

The Black Queen writhed in agony.

The Sand Mixer brought a pain unlike any before.

It was the agony of feeling one’s body being literally ground apart.

If it continued, she would truly be reduced to dust.

Thud!

The Black Queen coiled her serpent’s body like a spring and leapt out of the Sand Mixer.

Her seventy-meter mass soared into the air for a brief moment.

But she didn’t just escape, she opened her massive jaws to swallow Zeon whole.

Yet Zeon rode the sandstorm again, effortlessly evading her attack.

Then his counterattack began.

Boom-boom-boom-boom!

Sand Blasters and Sand Vipers pounded the Black Queen’s body relentlessly.

The Sand Soldiers, who had momentarily fallen back, rushed forward again to resume their assault.

“Insane. He can do both ranged bombardment and close combat?”

“A one-man army?”

“Damn it!”

The Awakened of El Harun stared in disbelief at Zeon’s might, their jaws hanging open.

Their faces burned with jealousy.

Not only because of his power as a Sand Sorcerer, but because he alone could fight evenly against the colossal Black Queen.

Then someone muttered with a puzzled look,

“But why isn’t he using fire magic?”

“What are you talking about? You think a Sand Sorcerer uses fire magic too? Come on, you’re imagining things.”

“No. Corin, who came here with him, said it. His specialty is actually fire magic. But he hasn’t used it at all.”

“Really? Fire magic is his main skill?”

“Corin wouldn’t lie about something like that.”

“Then why isn’t he using it?”

Zeon’s skills were certainly powerful.

But against that enormous Black Queen, they still seemed somehow lacking.

So why was he keeping his fire magic sealed away?

Their question was soon answered.

Waiting for the right moment, Zeon unleashed his trump card.

“Sand Gehenna.”

The moment he spoke, the sand beneath the Black Queen’s body began to melt into a sticky, blazing mass of heat.

A hell of searing fire unfolded.

―Saaaaah!

In heat beyond imagination, the Black Queen let out a scream of agony.