Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert

Gothic-style buildings reminiscent of the medieval era, the suffocatingly heavy air, and the hardened expressions on people’s faces all conveyed a bizarre sense of madness.

Levin and Brielle sat by a window on the second floor of a building that overlooked the street below.

They were in an abandoned house.

For reasons unknown, the owner had left long ago, and it had been neglected ever since.

Levin and Brielle had fortunately found this empty house.

They had ghosted in, entering stealthily, so no one had noticed them sneaking in.

Through the window, they could see a massive church.

It was the church where Johan usually resided.

It was the heart and symbol of Dongdaemun.

Levin muttered.

“There’s a high probability that the highest-grade Mana Stone is underground there, right?”

“That’s the information we got from the Goblin Market.”

Brielle responded.

Before entering Dongdaemun, they had contacted Yoo Se-hee, the leader of the Goblin Market.

Yoo Se-hee had provided them with the information she had gathered.

On the day the highest-grade Mana Stone was stolen and NSSC Team 2 was annihilated, suspicious activities were observed at this church.

Although they couldn’t get close due to the strict vigilance, many Paladins and clerics were seen coming and going.

Given that this church was the center of Dongdaemun, it wasn’t unusual for Paladins to frequent it. But there was a certain average.

On an average day, the number of people going in and out was consistent. However, on that particular day, the traffic was unusually high, which was definitely strange.

Levin had a puzzled expression.

“But would they really be stupid enough to store the highest-grade Mana Stone in their own base? If it’s discovered, they wouldn’t even be able to deny it.”

“They must be confident that it’ll never be found.”

“Is that the kind of confidence fanatics have?”

“They’re too set in their ways to think that deeply.”

“So we have to go in there?”

“Why, are you not confident?”

“Hah! Who do you think I am?”

“The only Phantom Awakened in Neo Seoul?”

“That’s right. Just trust me.”

“Of course I trust you.”

“Hmph!”

Levin snorted exaggeratedly.

Brielle, knowing she did this to relieve tension, just smiled.

‘We just need to find the highest-grade Mana Stone. Then everything will be over.’

The highest-grade Mana Stone was the most solid evidence they could get.

If they found it in Johan’s base, there would be no way for them to talk their way out of it.

The problem was how to infiltrate the church.

It looked like an ordinary church from the outside, but it was likely fortified with all sorts of barriers and magical formations. Not to mention the numerous Paladins guarding its perimeter.

No matter how skilled Levin was at ghosting, infiltrating wouldn’t be easy.

Brielle, understanding this, didn’t rush Levin.

They had to wait for the right moment to infiltrate.

“By now, they should have noticed.”

“Noticed what?”

Just then—

“Suspicious individuals detected.”

“Intruders spotted at Block 3.”

Urgent voices could be heard from the street opposite the church.

The Paladins guarding the church reacted immediately and rushed toward the commotion.

Brielle stood up abruptly and said.

“It must be Ethan’s crew that’s been spotted.”

“Really?”

“Who else would be doing something suspicious in Dongdaemun?”

“True! Perfect.”

Levin cheered, throwing an uppercut into the air.

Ethan’s crew might have thought they were moving discreetly, but avoiding the watchful eyes of the fanatics in Dongdaemun was impossible from the start.

Their suspicious actions were naturally detected by the fanatics.

Levin and Brielle had hoped for exactly this.

To divert the attention of the Paladins guarding the church.

Thanks to them, a gap in the previously tight security had opened up.

Levin extended his hand to Brielle.

“Let’s go!”

“Yeah!”

As soon as Brielle took his hand, their bodies blurred like ghosts.

In their ghosted state, they approached the church.

Zap!

As they got closer, strong resistance and sparks appeared.

The barrier protecting the church had been activated.

At that moment, Brielle took out a blue gem from her pocket and pressed it against the barrier.

It was an item prepared by Yoo Se-hee from the Goblin Market.

‘It’s supposed to disable the barrier temporarily by causing an anomaly, right?’

Though she wasn’t particularly fond of Yoo Se-hee, she acknowledged her skills. That’s why she used the item without hesitation.

Swoosh!

Like magic, a gap appeared in the barrier.

Levin and Brielle quickly slipped through the barrier.

As soon as they infiltrated the church, the barrier returned to normal as if nothing had happened.

The Paladins guarding the entrance were also gone, so they entered the church without any hindrance.

‘Hmm!’

As soon as they entered the church, Levin and Brielle’s expressions stiffened.

A strange aura was grating on their nerves.

A sinister energy filled the church, ominously pricking at their senses.

The murals inside the church were also far from normal.

Most of them depicted Johan floating in the sky, being worshipped by people.

The people worshipping him were shedding tears of joy, but the madness in their expressions made it look anything but normal.

In this place, Johan was the god.

It was clear that the god Johan taught about was none other than himself.

‘A false god.’

‘He wants to become a god?’

Even the thought of it made them feel nauseous.

Suppressing the urge to vomit, they pressed on.

Suddenly, Levin pointed to a bookshelf standing against the wall and whispered softly.

“That place looks suspicious.”

“Why?”

“A bookshelf inside a chapel? And it doesn’t even have any books on it.”

“You’re right!”

Indeed, there wasn’t a single book on the shelf.

The fact that there wasn’t even a Bible was particularly suspicious.

The two of them peered behind the bookshelf.

Being in a ghosted state, they easily slipped behind it without any resistance.

Just as Levin suspected, there was a suspicious space behind the bookshelf.

A staircase leading underground was revealed.

A secret passageway going down to the church’s basement.

Levin and Brielle looked at each other.

“I think we’ve found it.”

“Let’s head down.”

Without further hesitation, they descended the stairs.

The spiral staircase extended several meters below the ground.

Once they reached the bottom, Levin reverted from his ghosted form.

“We can probably walk normally from here.”

“Good job.”

Brielle nodded and started walking.

A long corridor stretched out before them.

On both sides of the corridor, small rooms with iron doors tightly shut lined up.

“What is this?”

“Hold on, let’s check it out.”

Brielle opened a small window at the top of one of the iron doors to peer inside.

Her face instantly turned pale.

“Crazy!”

“What is it?”

Instead of answering, Brielle clamped her mouth shut and stepped back.

Levin, puzzled, looked inside the room.

“Shit!”

His face twisted as soon as he saw what was inside.

The scene inside the room was horrifying.

A person of unknown identity was nailed to the wall as if crucified.

The problem was that the person’s abdomen had been split open, and their entrails had spilled out onto the floor, piling up.

Naturally, the person nailed to the wall was dead.

Their entire body bore the marks of torture.

Not only had their fingernails and toenails been pulled out, but their teeth had also been removed. Their flesh was sliced as if filleted, and their left leg had been severed just below the calf.

Maggots and flies swarmed around the rotten wounds, and the stench of decay filled the air.

Levin hurriedly checked the other rooms through their windows.

The situation in the other rooms was the same.

Each room contained someone who had died after being tortured.

“This place is a torture chamber.”

“Those sick bastards! They call themselves believers of God, yet they torture and kill people?”

“Those bastards!”

Brielle and Levin’s eyes were bloodshot with anger.

They went on to check the other rooms.

Every room held the same grim sight.

There wasn’t a single living person left.

Even living in the slums, they had never seen such a gruesome scene.

In the slums, where daily life was a struggle, people didn’t kidnap and torture others en masse like this.

“What crime could they have committed to deserve this?”

“Did no one know about this? Surely the City Hall isn’t unaware, right?”

“The City Hall probably doesn’t care about this place.”

Levin gritted his teeth.

The City Hall generally didn’t care about the slums.

Their only concern was Neo Seoul.

Whatever happened in the slums was outside their interest.

Though the people living inside Neo Seoul and those in the slums were all human beings, the value of their lives was different.

Even if this were reported to Neo Seoul, they wouldn’t take action.

Levin tried to push away these thoughts as he moved on.

They searched the last room, but all they found were the corpses of tortured people—no highest-grade Mana Stone.

“Is this not the place?”

As the two of them exchanged confused looks, they suddenly heard a sound from the opposite end of the corridor.

Clank!

Footsteps accompanied the sound of a door opening.

Judging by the footsteps, it wasn’t just one or two people.

“Hide!”

The two quickly ghosted and slipped into one of the cells.

Just after they hid, a group appeared.

They were Paladins clad in heavy armor.

Unaware of the two hiding in the cell, the Paladins conversed.

“Why are we moving the item all of a sudden?”

“Because it’s suspicious.”

“What’s suspicious?”

“Isn’t it strange? That Ethan suddenly appeared in Dongdaemun.”

“Well, that’s…”

“All the Paladins in Dongdaemun are chasing after him. But he boldly showed up here. There’s no way he would act like that without some ulterior motive.”

“Hmm!”

The young Paladin, who had been questioning the older one, frowned as if he found his superior’s reaction overly cautious.

The older Paladin’s name was Victor.

He was the Deputy Commander of the Paladin Order, second only to the Commander.

When Victor reached the end of the corridor and placed his hand on the wall, a brilliant light burst forth.

A concealed magic circle on the wall activated.

Levin and Brielle, secretly watching, widened their eyes.

‘There’s a hidden space there.’

Unaware of the two, Victor and the Paladins entered the secret chamber.

Levin and Brielle quickly followed them into the hidden space.

They moved so stealthily that Victor and the Paladins didn’t notice their presence.

At the center of the secret chamber, a large crystal emitted a dazzling light.

Levin and Brielle immediately recognized it.

‘The highest-grade Mana Stone?’

‘So this is where it was.’

Their breaths quickened as they finally found what they had been desperately searching for.

“Who’s there?”

Suddenly, Victor shouted, his gaze snapping toward the ghosted pair.

He had sensed a slight disturbance in the air.

Victor’s eyes gleamed with a blue light.

He was using the skill called “Eyes of Truth” to detect their presence.

Hiding was useless now.

Brielle quickly dashed toward the Mana Stone while shouting to Levin.

“Hold them off for a moment.”

“Damn it!”

Crackle!

Levin’s purple lightning filled the secret chamber.

———