Chapter 211

Chapter 211

More than ten people wearing camouflage robes the same color as the sand lay flat on top of a huge sand mountain.

From where they were, the scene of Zeon and the Orcs clashing was clearly visible below.

The eyes of those wearing camouflage robes were trembling.

“What was that?”

“What did I just see?”

Their faces, lifted from the sand, were full of disbelief.

They had arrived here five minutes earlier.

It was right before Zeon collided with the Orcs.

At first, they had laughed at Zeon.

The sight of him walking alone toward an Orc group without fear had looked like reckless bravado.

A man desperate to die, or a chick who had no idea how terrifying Orcs were.

They had expected Zeon to be torn apart by the orc riders in an instant.

Just as many elves and dwarves had been.

But what they imagined did not happen.

A sudden sand-laden wind rose, swallowed the Orcs, and ground them away in an instant.

It was a sight they had never seen before.

They had never even imagined something like this could be possible.

At first, they thought it was a natural phenomenon.

The desert storms that sometimes swept in were so fierce that they blew everything away in an instant. But grinding living creatures away without leaving even a trace was impossible.

At least, that was true according to their common sense.

That impossible thing had happened before their eyes.

Even without anyone telling them, they knew it instinctively.

The one who had summoned the sandstorm that had ground away all the Orcs was the very man who had stepped forward so fearlessly.

‘A person did that?’

‘Just what kind of Awakened Skill does he have?’

Fear lingered in their eyes as they looked at Zeon.

If it was that Skill, which had ground the Orcs away without a trace, they too could vanish from this world without leaving even a single mark.

Among those lying on the sand mountain, one especially slender figure and one plump figure spoke quietly.

“What should we do? Should we make contact?”

“Make contact with humans? The elders won’t allow it.”

“Then should we withdraw like this?”

“The orc riders are gone too, so let’s retreat.”

The two gestured to the group, signaling withdrawal. Then the people lying on the sand mountain carefully moved back.

From where Zeon stood, there was no way he could see this place, but they still had to be careful.

They carefully descended the sand mountain.

At the base of the sand mountain, more than ten Bactrian Camels were waiting for them.

They mounted the Bactrian Camels and immediately left the sand mountain.

“Hyaah!”

“Chaah!”

They kicked the sides of the Bactrian Camels. Then the Bactrian Camels raced across the desert at even greater speed.

The one driving the Bactrian Camel at the head of the group muttered,

“To think such a person existed among humans.”

The scene he had just seen still remained vivid in his mind.

The more he chewed it over, the more terrifying it became.

“To control sand. Could he be a Sandmancer......?”

“There’s no way a Sandmancer exists. He must have used another Skill to produce a similar effect.”

The plump one running beside him spoke bluntly.

“But we saw it with our own eyes.”

“Humans are cunning by nature and skilled at trickery. That man must be the same. A Sandmancer? Don’t be absurd......”

The plump one fiercely denied the slender one’s opinion. At that, the slender one could say nothing more.

After riding their Bactrian Camels for almost half a day, they arrived in the middle of a desert where there was nothing at all.

There was not a single object that could serve as a signpost.

This place was their destination.

After confirming that there was no one around, the slender one carefully stepped forward.

“Invisible light, veil of illusion, door that does not open, water flowing backward. Door of truth hidden by deception, show me your true form.”

At that moment, blue light burst before him.

Lines of light raced fiercely through the air and formed a magic circle.

Finally, when the magic circle was complete, a large door appeared before them.

The group led their Bactrian Camels through the door.

Immediately after they entered, the door closed, and the landscape returned to normal as if nothing had happened.

The moment they entered the door, they removed the hoods of their camouflage robes.

Their true appearances were revealed.

Golden hair, pointed ears, and copper-colored skin tanned by the sun.

They were Desert Elves.

Only the particularly plump one belonged to a different race.

A short, stocky body, a protruding belly, and a rich beard that covered his chest.

The man was a dwarf.

He was a nonhuman race that had crossed over from Kurayan to Earth together with the elves.

The dwarf brushed dust from his shoulders and grumbled,

“Damn it! Whenever I go outside, I get dirty like this. Isn’t scouting something only you pointy-ears need to do? I don’t know why they drag me along too.”

“It was the elders’ order, so we can’t help it either. Enough grumbling. Let’s hurry and report what we saw to the elders.”

“Hmph! I was going to do that anyway. If we don’t tell them quickly and set up countermeasures, our village will be in danger.”

The dwarf snorted and started walking.

His face was full of dissatisfaction, but he still had to report what needed to be reported.

That was their mission.

Before their eyes stood an enormous village.

The appearance of the square closely resembled Steel Fortress.

Countless houses lined the roads.

The only difference was that this place was not underground, but on the sand beneath the blazing sunlight.

Another difference was that the ones living here were not humans.

Most were elves, and dwarves could be seen from time to time.

This was a village created jointly by Desert Elves and dwarves.

The dwarves had built the village in the middle of the desert, while the elves had joined forces to cast a protective magic circle around it.

The protective magic circle contained the functions of illusion, concealment, and protection.

From the outside, instead of the village, one saw only endless sand. And if anyone approached, their senses would be disturbed, causing them to wander nearby before naturally leaving on the opposite side of the village.

Thanks to that, the village had been maintained for the past hundred years without being discovered by anyone.

Unless a tremendous shock was applied from the outside, the protective magic circle would not break. Thanks to this magic circle, the elves and dwarves had been able to maintain their purity.

The village was run through the agreement of six elf and dwarf elders.

The elders were gathered in the largest house the two were heading toward.

There were four old elves and two dwarves.

“We have returned.”

“Yes! What happened to the Orcs? Is their direction of advance toward us?”

The old female elf pressed him with questions the moment he finished greeting them.

At that, the elf who had gone scouting answered calmly.

“For now, the Orcs have stopped their advance, so it is difficult to judge.”

“They stopped their advance? Why?”

“I don’t know the reason, but they’ve stopped at a place one hundred kilometers from here.”

“That is fortunate.”

The old elf wiped the sweat from her forehead and let out a sigh of relief.

The magic circle protecting the village was not invincible.

It could deceive ordinary humans and monsters, but it could not deceive lifeforms with exceptionally sharp senses.

Orcs were such beings.

Despite being ignorant and warlike, their senses were damnably sharp, so they quickly noticed anything foreign. That was why the village had gone on alert when the Orc Great Chieftain was born and gathered the Orcs.

If the Orcs happened to pass near this place, they might notice the village’s existence.

If it were a small group of Orcs, there would be nothing to fear. But this was a great army led by none other than the Orc Great Chieftain.

If they descended upon the village, the protective magic circle would break in an instant, and every elf and dwarf in the village would be swept away.

Because of that, they had sent scouts to monitor the Orcs’ movements.

“However......”

“What is it?”

“On our way back, we saw a strange sight.”

“Mm?”

“Hundreds of orc riders moved in a hurry, so we followed them, and they were fighting a human Awakened. But that human was controlling sand at will.”

Then the dwarf who had gone scouting with him hurriedly said,

“That human definitely used trickery. An Awakened who controls sand? That makes no sense.”

“But he......”

“Even in Kurayan, Sandmancers did not exist. There is no way a mere human could possess an authority that controls sand.”

The dwarf who had gone scouting reacted fiercely to the elf’s opinion.

The elders frowned and listened to the dwarf’s words.

A little while later, they opened their mouths.

“So it is true that the orc riders were annihilated by a human.”

“That is correct.”

“To think a human that strong exists.”

The elders looked at one another with cautious expressions.

The six of them had ruled this village for a long time.

To them, humans were beings that could not be trusted.

“What are the chances the humans will come here?”

“At present, I cannot guarantee anything.”

The elf who had gone scouting answered carefully.

“Seina! I am disappointed. Your mission is to identify everything that threatens the village.”

The old elf looked at the scouting elf with an expression of disappointment.

The name of the elf who had gone scouting was Seina.

At that moment, the dwarf who had gone scouting with her spoke.

“It is certain those humans are quite strong. So why don’t we use them instead?”

“Deloru! Do you have a good idea?”

“We lure the humans to where the Orc group is.”

“You mean make them attack each other?”

“That is right. Then they will fight among themselves and destroy each other, and our village will be safe too.”

“That is a good idea.”

The elders’ eyes shone sharply.

They exchanged opinions in low voices so Seina and Deloru could not hear.

Watching them, Seina bit her lip.

‘No! Even if they are humans, we shouldn’t use them like that......’

But Seina could not speak her thoughts aloud.

In this place, the elders’ authority was absolute.

Because the village had survived until now thanks to them, defying them was something she could not even dare imagine.

At last, the elders made their decision.

“Good! The two of you will handle this matter.”

“Do not worry.”

“However, remember this. No matter what happens, this village must never be harmed.”

“Of course. I will handle it on my end so the village suffers absolutely no harm.”

Deloru thumped his chest and boasted.

The elders looked at Deloru with satisfied expressions.

“We will trust only you.”

---

The moment the sun set, the sand that had been burning hot cooled rapidly, and the temperature dropped to an unbelievable degree.

If one wore only thin clothes because it was hot during the day, they were likely to freeze to death at night. In truth, many people had died that way.

But that had nothing to do with Zeon’s group.

Zeon moved the sand and dug a pit large enough for four people to enter.

Once the four of them entered the pit, he moved the sand again and sealed the top. In an instant, he had created a sturdy shelter.

“No matter how I look at it, it’s absurdly unfair.”

Eloy shook her head.

She recalled the scene of Zeon grinding countless orc riders away with Sand Storm.

That alone made goosebumps rise on her arms.

She still could not forget the sight.

It was to the point that she doubted whether it was truly a human ability.

‘Is there really anyone in the desert who can match that man?’

Eloy did not think so.

She could not imagine the sight of Zeon kneeling to anyone in the desert.

‘What would happen if this man harbored malice toward Neo Seoul?’

Shudder!

Just imagining it made her tremble.

Without realizing it, Eloy held Mad Nine-Tailed Fox tightly and looked at Zeon.

‘I can only pray that this man never holds hostility toward Neo Seoul or humanity.’