Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert

Chapter 53

“Snap out of it.”

Someone whispered, tapping *Mandy on the cheek.

[*Changed from “Mandria” to “Mandy”.]

Only then did Mandy regain consciousness.

The first thing that entered her sight as she opened her eyes was the dim ceiling of a cave.

“Where is this?”

“The Cyclops’ nest.”

“What?”

“Hush!”

The person gestured to be quiet, covering his mouth with his finger.

It was a man Mandy knew.

Unlike herself, he had features of East Asian descent – black hair, black eyes, and a young face with still acne on his face.

“Korean, Kim Sangsik, right?”

“Yes. Lower your voice.”

Kim Sangsik nodded.

As Mandy said, he was of Korean descent.

Contrary to Mandy, he was not an Awakened but a technician dispatched to repair vehicles.

Mandy shook her head and sat up. Then, the situation inside the cave became clear.

The cave’s height reached an astonishing ten meters.

It was high enough for Cyclops to lift its head and walk around freely

Inside the cave, numerous corpses of monsters were scattered around, undoubtedly leftovers from the Cyclops’s meals.

Mandy and Kim Sangsik were trapped in a cage-like structure hanging from the cave ceiling.

Made of an unidentified metal, the cage was so tightly woven that there seemed to be no visible holes to escape from.

Mandy snorted.

“Hmph! If I break this flimsy cage, that’ll be the end of it.”

Although she had been knocked out by Annika’s unexpected attack, she was an exceptional Awakened with remarkable abilities.

Otherwise, Neo Seoul would not have bothered to send her out as a supervisor.

She was a Magic Awakened, specializing in wind magic.

Mandy attempted to cut through the cage with blades of wind, but strangely, her internal mana wouldn’t respond.

“It’s no use. We can’t use mana in here.”

“Why? What happened to the mana?”

“It seems like the cage we’re in is some kind of item that restricts mana.”

“What? No matter how smart Cyclopes are, it’s impossible for them to create such an item.”

“Cyclopes didn’t make it. It seems like something they found as loot in a dungeon.”

“Hmm!”

Finally, Mandy understood.

In a dungeon, finding unusual items was not uncommon. The existence of Neo Seoul itself was made possible by items obtained from dungeons.

“Hah! So, we’ve become Cyclops’s lunch.”

The only reason they were still alive was probably that the Cyclops wasn’t hungry enough to devour the creatures in the nest.

Mandy clenched her fist and said.

“What happened to Team 7? Did you see it?”

“No. I also lost consciousness…”

“To dare to strike me on the back of my head. If we get out of here, I won’t forgive them.”

Mandy vowed revenge.

Being a supervisor in Neo Seoul wasn’t a position earned through poker games. It required great skills and abilities.

As long as she returned safely to Neo Seoul, she could handle Team 7 without any issues.

The problem was escaping this place before that.

Just then,

Thud! Thud!

A dull sound echoed inside the cave.

It was undoubtedly the sound of the Cyclops returning.

Kim Sangsik’s complexion changed drastically.

“Cyclops… Ahaha! We’re going to die.”

His face turned pale.

Unlike Mandy, he was not an Awakened but an ordinary person.

Despite maintaining composure until now, in the face of the Cyclops, he collapsed without a trace of hesitation.

Mandy comforted him.

“Stay calm. We won’t die.”

“How? How can we face that monster, which even the attacks of an Awakened can’t penetrate?”

“…”

Mandy couldn’t provide an answer.

She, too, felt the same sense of gloom.

The creature called Cyclops was the natural enemy of Awakened.

Especially for magic-based Awakened like her. Even now, she couldn’t think of a way to deal with the Cyclops.

Thud! Thud!

The footsteps of the Cyclops grew louder and soon revealed its massive form.

Grrr!

The Cyclops approached with its single eye flashing.

Up close, it looked even more terrifying.

“Ugh!”

Kim Sangsik crouched down, covering his head with both hands. In his eyes, focus disappeared, and saliva dripped from his mouth.

Kim Sangsik was succumbing to the unique aura emitted by the Cyclops. It was one of the reasons why non-awakened individuals couldn’t resist monsters like the Cyclops.

The three Cyclopes, stained with blood around their mouths, seemed to have recently hunted. Despite that, hunger drove them to scan the surroundings for prey.

In the Cyclopes’ view, the two trapped in the cage were visible.

Grrr!

Thud! Thud!

The Cyclopes approached with great strides.

As they were three Cyclops, but with only two prey, they fought among themselves.

The enormous cave shook as if it would collapse at any moment.

The winner was the giant Cyclops.

After swiftly subduing the other two, it arrogantly walked towards Mandy.

As the Cyclops drew near, Mandy’s face turned dark.

Squelch!

Finally, the cage’s door opened, and the Cyclops’s massive hand descended upon Kim Sangsik.

With the door opening, the effect of the item seemed to vanish, and the pressure suppressing her mana lifted.

“Get away!”

Mandy hastily unleashed blades of wind, Wind Cutter. However, her attacks dissipated without piercing the Cyclops’s formidable anti-magic resistance.

Her attacks only served to provoke the Cyclops.

Grrr!

The Cyclops redirected its attention towards Mandy.

“Ugh!”

Under the immense force, Mandy gasped, and her consciousness blurred.

The Cyclops, in its arrogance, took the distraught Mandy towards its mouth.

‘Eloy!’

It was the moment when Mandy desperately called out someone’s name.

Shwaaah!

A strange sound reached Mandy’s ears.

It was a sound akin to when a stream of water passed through a narrow passage.

However, this was a deep cave in the heart of a desert, and there was no way for a water stream to flow.

Mandy thought it was an auditory hallucination on the verge of death.

However, the reaction of the Cyclops was peculiar.

As if a formidable enemy had entered, the Cyclopes raised their clubs, turning their attention to the direction from which the sound echoed.

Kwaaah!

Even at that moment, the strange noise continued to grow louder.

Sensing an unusual atmosphere, the lead Cyclops, the chief among them, swiftly returned Mandy to the cage and, along with the others, turned to face the approaching sound.

‘What’s happening?’

Mandy, who had narrowly escaped death, gazed at the Cyclopes.

Due to the pressure applied when caught by the Cyclopes, the blood vessels in her eyes had burst, making her vision unclear.

And then, it happened.

Kwaaah!

An enormous amount of sand rushed into the cave.

The noise that Mandy initially thought was water turned out to be the sound of sand flowing through the cave.

The problem was that the speed at which the sand flowed through the cave surpassed imagination.

The sand, like a tidal wave, engulfed the Cyclopes.

Whoosh!

Roaarrrr!!

Struggling against the sand, the Cyclopes roared.

However, no matter how gigantic the Cyclops was, it couldn’t push back the overwhelming tide of sand filling the cave.

Kwakwakwa!

Like a high-pressure stream of water, the sand rushed in with tremendous force.

The Cyclopes swung their clubs desperately as the sand engulfed them. However, the sand did not yield; instead, it fiercely collided with their bodies.

Kwaaah!

The Cyclopes roared, but it wasn’t a threatening roar.

Rather, it was a cry close to terrified wailing.

However, Mandy and Kim Sangsik couldn’t discern this fact as they had lost consciousness just before.

Gaaah!

Meanwhile, the sand that rushed into the cave rotated at an incredible speed, grinding the Cyclopes without leaving a trace.

Their hide, equipped with anti-magic abilities was torn away by the sand, revealing bulging muscles.

Muscles boasting overwhelming mass and strength were torn apart by the sand, revealing the bones hidden inside. But even the bones were swiftly eroded by the sand.

Unfortunately for the Cyclopes, the cave was the worst terrain to maximize the power of the sand.

In the tightly sealed cave with no escape, the sand rotated like a mixer, grinding the colossal monsters, Cyclopes, into nothingness.

Gaaah!

The terrifying noise of the sand spinning at high speed swallowed even the Cyclopes’ desperate screams.

***

Mandy and Kim Sangsik groaned, regaining consciousness almost simultaneously.

“Where is this?”

“Umm!”

In their slightly blinking eyes, a white fabric covering the sky came into view.

At that moment, an unfamiliar voice reached their ears.

“You’ve regained consciousness. Fortunately.”

“Gasp!”

In Mandy’s instinctively defensive stance, a man came into view.

He wore a crimson robe with a hat pulled on, obscuring his face. Therefore, his true appearance remained unknown.

Preparing to unleash the Wind Cutter, Mandy cautiously asked.

“Who are you?”

“I was just passing through. Don’t worry; I’m not your enemy.”

Removing the hat, the man answered, revealing long hair extending down to his shoulders and fair skin.

A rather tall figure with a handsome face and a gentle smile that left an impression.

Most notable were his deep eyes, resembling black gems, deep and clear, revealing nothing of his inner thoughts.

Mandy asked cautiously, seeing that there was no hostility in his eyes.

“Did you rescue us from the Cyclopes?”

“I wouldn’t say that. I just happened to find you two collapsed while passing by here.”

“You found us?”

“That’s right! You were lying trapped in a cage-like structure, seemingly unconscious. I thought leaving you there might lead to trouble, so I brought you here.”

As the man answered, Mandy briefly put her hand on her head.

Her head felt dizzy.

The memory of an enormous amount of sand pouring into the cave came back to her.

‘Did we get swept away by the sand?’

Mandy couldn’t figure out why the sand had poured into the Cyclops’ nest.

She wasn’t curious about what happened to the Cyclopes.

What mattered was that despite being engulfed by such an enormous sandwave, they survived.

And not only that, they were fortunate enough to be swept outside and rescued by someone passing nearby.

Luck couldn’t have been better.

Behind the man, a Bactrian Camel laden with luggage came into view.

Where they lay, wooden pillars had been erected, and white fabric were warped around it to provide shade, blocking out the sun.

Thanks to this, they were unharmed.

Mandy bowed her head.

“Thank you. Thanks to you, we survived.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“I will definitely repay this kindness. May I know your name?”

The man answered with a smile.

“Zeon! My name is Zeon.”