Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert

Chapter 349

Brielle let out a sigh.

“Haah… We were a bit late.”

She glanced between Heather, collapsed on the ground, and Chen Xi.

Through the gaping hole in Heather’s back, the floor beneath her was visible.

Blood gushed from the wound as Heather convulsed.

A fatal injury—she was on the verge of death.

“Mom!”

Remura tried to rush to Heather, but Chen Xi stopped her.

“It’s dangerous.”

“Let me go! I have to save her!”

Remura struggled to break free of Chen Xi’s grasp, but there was no way a young girl could overcome the strength of an Awakened.

Bakum, who had been guarding Remura, was too busy attacking the Awakened who had ambushed Heather to pay her any attention.

“It wasn’t me! I didn’t do it!”

The Awakened who had struck Heather desperately tried to defend himself, but no one was listening.

All eyes were locked onto him.

That too was Chen Xi’s doing.

Inducing conflict through hypnosis was one of her specialties.

The trace amounts of mana she subtly released had lulled people into a hypnotic state, making rational judgment impossible.

Levin looked at Chen Xi.

“This was your doing, wasn’t it, Ajumma?”

“Calling a lady an Ajumma?”

“You’re totally an Ajumma. Now let Remura go and let’s talk calmly.”

“Oh, how adorable. And why should I?”

“Because that’s the only way you live.”

“You think I fear death?”

“What nonsense? Everyone fears death.”

“Not I. For God and Lord Johan, I’ll gladly lay down this life.”

Chen Xi grinned, baring her white teeth.

Madness flickered behind that smile.

“Sigh…”

Levin sighed again.

He had felt it before—but dealing with fanatics like her was always exhausting.

‘How does Zeon-hyung deal with these types without flinching?’

The more he thought about it, the more impressive Zeon seemed.

At that moment, Brielle stepped forward.

“Ajumma! I’m telling you nicely—let Remura go and leave.”

“Tch! Damn brat…”

Hearing herself called “ajumma” again—from Brielle, right after Levin—Chen Xi’s face twisted.

No matter how composed she pretended to be, hearing “ajumma” repeatedly was bound to sting.

Levin and Brielle were calling her that precisely because they knew it would get under her skin.

Then Zetoya spoke up.

“Why are you doing this?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why’re you hypnotizing people and turning them against each other?”

“To take this little lady, of course.”

“You didn’t even ask what she wants?”

“She’ll love it once we’re in Dongdaemun. Clean, rich, worshipped—why wouldn’t she be happy?”

Zetoya sighed at Chen Xi’s response.

Then he asked Remura,

“Remura, do you want to go to the surface?”

“No! As long as I have Mom, I’m fine. I don’t want to go to the surface.”

Remura shook her head, tears streaming down her face.

“You heard her, ajumma. Wake up and let her go.”

“Seriously, you brats are pushing it. One more step and she dies!”

Chen Xi tightened her grip around Remura’s neck.

Remura’s face instantly turned pale.

Zetoya instinctively flinched and stepped back.

Levin placed a hand on his shoulder and said,

“She won’t kill Remura. If she did, Johan would explode in rage. So go stop the others. If we’re too late, this whole place goes up in flames.”

“Okay, hyung.”

Zetoya nodded and walked toward Bakum.

Due to Chen Xi’s hypnosis, Bakum’s eyes were bloodshot.

He was a C-rank martial-type Awakened—far stronger than D-rank Zetoya.

Normally, Zetoya wouldn’t even dare approach him. But after the brutal training under Levin and Brielle in the desert, his skills and confidence had soared.

“Bakum-nim! It’s me, Zetoya.”

“Get out of the way, Zetoya. Stand in my path, and you’ll regret it.”

“This is all that woman’s doing. Please, come to your senses.”

“Shut it!”

Bakum bellowed.

His mind was consumed with the need to kill the Awakened who had attacked Heather.

Fwoosh!

Bakum pushed off the ground, lunging toward the attacker.

“Damn it!”

Zetoya leapt as well.

Now wasn’t the time for infighting among Croc Hole’s Awakened.

They needed to unite against Dongdaemun’s schemes.

Crash!

Zetoya and Bakum collided midair.

The tremendous impact twisted Zetoya’s expression in pain.

Blocking Bakum’s repeated attacks, he shouted at Levin,

“Hurry up and take her down!”

“Okay!”

Levin responded, closing in on Chen Xi.

Chen Xi, who had been keeping a close eye on the situation, clicked her tongue.

“Tch! These little brats, getting in my way.”

Since Levin and the others had appeared, Chen Xi had been watching for an escape route.

Like most hypnotic abilities, hers had little effect on people with strong minds.

The weakened Awakened of the underground were easily influenced, but Levin and Brielle were not.

They had blocked every escape route and were tightening the encirclement.

Chen Xi reached into her coat and murmured,

“Please get here quickly…”

She pulled out a tiny angel figurine.

A miniature angel, poised to shoot an arrow—an adorable statue specially granted to her by Johan.

Its name: Angel of Salvation.

Just as the name suggested, it was used to call for help.

No matter where she was, it would fly to Dongdaemun and reveal her location.

“Go!”

Chen Xi infused the figurine with mana as she whispered.

At once, a brilliant light burst from the angel figurine, and it shot off at blinding speed.

Before Levin or Brielle could react, it vanished into the darkness.

Chen Xi smirked in triumph.

“Hoho! Lord Johan will be here shortly.”

“Will he, though?”

“What?”

“Guess you forgot whose turf this is.”

Levin grinned.

* * *

Whoosh!

With a burst of light, an angel shot out from the underground sewer.

Fluttering its tiny wings, it soared high into the sky and fired a tiny arrow.

Boom!

The arrow burst like a firework, creating a brilliant explosion.

Johan, en route to Sinchon with the paladins, saw the spectacle.

“That’s…”

His eyes trembled.

There was no mistaking it.

He was the one who had given Chen Xi the Angel of Salvation.

The item activated only when a rescue was requested from Dongdaemun.

Dark Saints like Chen Xi would never request help, even in mortal danger.

There was only one case where they did:

When the mission was nearly complete, and something critical went wrong.

A smile crept across Johan’s lips.

Chen Xi’s mission had been to secure the Saint.

Firing the Angel meant she had either secured or located her—and something had gone wrong.

“So she did it, after all.”

The only issue was that the angel had been launched from Sinchon.

But to Johan, obsessed with the Saint, that wasn’t a dealbreaker.

He immediately tried to push into Sinchon with the paladins—but was forced to stop at the entrance.

Because a man was blocking the road.

Johan’s face twisted.

“Zeon!”

“Johan.”

Zeon stood before him, smiling.

As he approached Johan, he said,

“This is a breach of our agreement.”

“Breach?”

“We agreed to one month, did we not? I allowed Dongdaemun’s agents to operate freely for that period. And now you come dragging in troops?”

“So this was your plan all along?”

“I’m not sure what you mean, sir.”

“You imposed a deadline to chain us down. You knew all along, didn’t you? That the one we’re looking for was in Sinchon’s sewers.”

“Talking nonsense again. All I know is this—you broke our agreement and invaded.”

“Trying to play word games with me now?”

Johan’s brow shot up.

His fury stirred the bloodlust of the paladins standing behind him.

Their very presence was enough to make one’s knees buckle—but Zeon faced them without flinching.

“This isn’t wordplay. I’m asking you to honor our deal. You agreed: one month of activity in Sinchon. So what’s the problem?”

“And so what?”

Johan’s face grew even darker.

He thought Zeon was mocking him.

A murderous aura flared as he growled,

“Move aside, Zeon!”

“I’m afraid I can’t.”

“You dare go against the will of God?”

“I don’t particularly believe in God, to be honest.”

The calmness in Zeon’s voice made the paladins bristle.

“How dare he deny God!”

“That heretic…”

The paladins looked ready to leap at Zeon.

They had long held resentment against him.

Thanks to Zeon alone, they had to withdraw from Sinchon when they were on the verge of total control. That humiliation still burned.

Johan spoke.

“This is your final chance. Open the way, Zeon! Secure the Saint, and we’ll withdraw peacefully.”

“Did God really say that? That a healer is the Saint?”

“You dare question the words of God?”

“I’m just curious. What kind of god would whisper that a healer is the Saint and urge you to seize her?”

Zeon wasn’t outright denying God.

He knew Dyoden had slain a god.

Even if it was only a hollow shell stripped of its divinity and power.

If dragons could cross over, there was no reason gods couldn’t.

But what bothered him was why this god would urge Johan to claim a healer as the Saint.

No way it was without purpose.

“Haa…”

Johan sighed.

All the emotions he’d been bottling up poured out with that breath.

Rage toward Zeon, fear, jealousy—every negative feeling was released.

Only one emotion remained:

Killing intent.

“Now I understand. You and I cannot coexist under the same sky. If Dongdaemun and I are to live, you must die.”

“Took you long enough. I knew from the moment we first met.”

Zeon smiled.

It was fate that they should clash. The only reason he’d delayed until now was Dongdaemun’s reach.

He had no idea how many within Neo Seoul had been co-opted by them. Hidden believers shielding them from the shadows.

Leaving them alive would only bring future disaster.

But that problem had been resolved.

In their search for the Saint, Dongdaemun’s believers had stirred up conflict all over Neo Seoul.

Now their identities were exposed, and they were no longer feared.

Around Johan stood paladins and other core personnel—Dongdaemun’s main force.

If Zeon could wipe them out, he could uproot the organization entrenched in both the slums and Neo Seoul.

Swoosh!

Behind Zeon, dozens—no, hundreds—of sand soldiers rose up.

They were the Sand Soldiers who would fight alongside him.