Chapter 222

Chapter 222

As if a meteor had fallen, an enormous crater several dozen meters wide had formed, and someone was embedded inside it.

The one buried so deeply that his shape was hard to recognize was Zeon.

THUD—!

A monster with a gigantic body landed in front of Zeon, who was buried in the ground.

It was the Great Chieftain, Orca.

In Orca’s hand was an enormous battle-axe that had not been there until now.

It was Teratan, Orca’s personal weapon.

Teratan was an item Orca had obtained after conquering a dungeon.

He did not know what metal it was made from, but Teratan’s hardness surpassed imagination.

Orca had never seen a metal harder than this.

Usually, dungeon-made items came with additional abilities.

They either enhanced their owner’s abilities or allowed them to use special Skills.

Teratan also possessed such an ability.

It was Mass Increase.

It instantly amplified Teratan’s weight and its owner’s mass by more than ten times.

Teratan weighed one hundred fifty kilograms. Orca, whose body was nearly five meters tall, weighed over two tons.

Teratan instantly increased the combined weight of two thousand one hundred fifty kilograms by more than ten times.

An increase in weight meant an increase in destructive power.

If the weight increased tenfold, the destructive power increased by even more.

In other words, theoretically, it would gain destructive power anywhere from ten times to several dozen times greater.

The problem was that if one raised destructive power that much, the user would also suffer tremendous impact.

The reason Orca had not used Teratan until now was partly because the backlash from that destructive power was not small, but also because his pride would not allow it.

He was also confident that he could crush any enemy with his bare fists. That was why he had sealed Teratan inside subspace.

Orca had thought he would never have to take out Teratan. But his mind changed when he faced the great enemy called Zeon.

Zeon was a powerful enemy unlike any Orca had ever experienced.

In Orca’s life, there had never been an enemy stronger than him.

Even the Spotted Ogre he had encountered recently was nothing but a child compared to Zeon.

The names archenemy of the Orcs or disaster were not wasted on him.

Orca had been blown away countless times by Zeon’s sand attacks and driven into the sand.

Thanks to his sturdy body, he had not suffered any major wounds, but his pride had cracked. So when Zeon let his guard down, Orca took out Teratan and swung it.

Zeon, who naturally expected Orca to attack barehanded, was struck hard by Teratan.

The result of that carelessness was the crater.

Under the tremendous mass attack, a crater formed as if a meteor had fallen, and Zeon was buried at its center.

Orca raised Teratan high and said,

“Human, strong. But I am the one who wins. I will eat your heart and grow stronger.”

“Don’t treat me like I’m already dead. Ugh! My head. That hurt like hell.”

At that moment, Zeon, who had been lying there like a corpse, opened his eyes and spoke.

The instant he was struck by Teratan, Zeon had infused mana into his robe.

One of the abilities of the robe made from Leviathan’s hide was hardening.

In other words, it became solid and protected the wearer.

Leviathan’s grade was Grade SS.

Naturally, the toughness of its hide also surpassed imagination.

Thanks to that, Zeon had survived.

Although the tremendous impact had nearly paralyzed his entire body. Still, since he had saved his life, it was not a complete loss.

The problem was Orca’s Teratan.

SWISH—!

It was falling at terrifying speed, aiming for Zeon’s chest.

His whole body was numb, and he could not move even a finger.

There was no way to dodge by ordinary means.

But Zeon was a Sandmancer.

SHOOOK—!

Zeon’s body dropped straight down.

In the blink of an eye, his body vanished into the sand, and Teratan fell where he had been.

CRASH—!

Another large crater formed, and sand rose like a cloud, blocking sight.

“Krrk!”

Orca’s eyes shone savagely.

All his senses sharpened like awls.

Sssss!

He sensed sand flowing several meters underground.

Orca swung Teratan without hesitation.

CRASH—!

With an explosive roar, a crater several dozen meters wide was created.

If Zeon had been underneath it, he would surely have been crushed to death by this attack.

Zeon’s presence could no longer be felt.

A smile appeared on Orca’s lips.

“Caught you. Human!”

Although it was regrettable that he had not been able to eat his heart, killing the archenemy of the Orcs was a satisfying result.

Orca roared.

“ROOOOAR! This is my victory. Orca, the Orc Great Chieftain, has killed the Sand Wraith.”

“ROOOOAR!”

“Snrrk! As expected of the Great Chieftain.”

The Orcs were filled with courage at Orca’s shout and attacked the Awakened.

The Orcs attacked in high spirits, while the Awakened shrank back.

That was how much weight Zeon carried.

“The Sandmancer is dead?”

“Damn it!”

Just hearing that Zeon had died was enough to make the Awakened’s hands and feet go chaotic.

Those people lost their lives to the Orcs.

“Kraaak!”

“Kuhk!”

The screams of Awakened erupted everywhere.

Briel dodged an Orc’s attack and looked at Orca.

Orca was raising Teratan high and savoring the joy of victory.

‘Zeon died? This pointlessly? No, there’s no way. He’s not someone who would die to a monster like that.’

The other Awakened accepted Zeon’s death, but Briel did not think that way.

Zeon and she were connected by the High Elf’s covenant.

An invisible thread connected them.

That was why she knew.

Zeon was not dead.

If he had died, the connected thread would have snapped too.

‘Zeon is alive.’

It was then.

Whoooong!

Wind blew from somewhere.

The inside of everyone’s throat turned gritty in an instant.

That was because sand was mixed into the wind.

The yellow sand-laden wind covered the area in an instant.

At first, they thought it was a natural wind.

But both Orcs and Awakened knew.

The wind now blowing was absolutely not natural.

Their instincts told them.

‘The Sandmancer.’

‘He’s still alive.’

The Awakened gained courage, while the Orcs’ morale plummeted.

Orca’s expression also hardened.

“Don’t tell me you were alive? Sand Wraith!”

His hand tightened around Teratan.

It was unexpected that Zeon was alive, but Orca was confident he could kill him.

As long as he had Teratan, he could split any monster in two with a single strike.

“Where are you? Sandmancer! Stop hiding like a coward and show yourself.”

Orca shouted loudly, but Zeon did not answer.

Instead, the sand-laden wind grew even fiercer and thicker.

Whoooong!

It was as if the yellow sand-laden wind had swallowed the entire world.

Even inside it, Orca remained calm.

The force field formed around his body protected him from the fierce sand-laden wind.

No matter how fierce the sand-laden wind was, it could not do anything to him.

Crrrreak!

The sand-laden wind was so powerful that Orca’s massive two-ton body was pushed backward.

Only then did Orca realize something was wrong.

The sand-laden wind was far more violent and sharper than he had expected.

Slice, slice!

The sand-laden wind that pierced through the force field left wounds on Orca’s skin as if he had been cut by blades.

Of course, Orca was not one to blink at wounds of that level. But as time passed, Orca’s tension grew higher and higher.

That was because he knew Zeon would not attack him with merely this level of sand-laden wind.

Orca shouted,

“What is this? Human! Show yourself already. I’ll split you in two with this Teratan.”

“Sand Storm!”

At that moment, Zeon’s low voice came from within the sand-laden wind.

Orca was about to swing Teratan toward where the voice came from. Suddenly, his enormous body was sucked into the air as if a tree had been ripped out by the roots.

His heavy two-ton body was pulled several dozen meters into the sky like a fallen leaf.

“ROOOOAR!”

Orca unleashed Fear and found his balance in the air.

He struggled to break free from the Sand Storm Zeon had created. But escaping from within the Sand Storm without a single place to step was never easy.

Whoooong! Whoosh!

Orca swung Teratan at anything and everything.

But no matter how powerful the battle-axe was, it could not cut down a sand-laden wind.

Slice, slice!

Even at that moment, Orca’s skin was being cut away as if sliced by blades.

Orca knew that at this rate, even his powerful body would not endure.

Even then, the Sand Storm was gradually shrinking.

It was not raging over a wide area, but only around Orca.

Its power was not weakening. It was being compressed.

The smaller Sand Storm was compressed, the more its power was maximized.

Orca realized that the time had come to unleash the Skill he had kept hidden until now.

Orca raised Teratan high into the sky.

“ROOOAR! Sky-Collapsing Strike.”

With the fighting spirit condensed into Teratan, he unleashed his final Skill.

It was nothing more than a simple axe swing.

No trace of complexity existed in it.

But Orca knew that sometimes simplicity displayed power greater than any complex technique.

Teratan, which increased mass tenfold, and his own overwhelming body and fighting spirit.

He focused all of it into this one strike.

He did not think of what came after.

He focused everything only on destroying the mighty enemy called Zeon and the Sand Storm surrounding and crushing him.

FLASH—!

A powerful light burst from Teratan, bright enough to blind people.

At the same time, the Sand Storm crushing him was split in two.

Orca was certain that Zeon beyond the Sand Storm had also been split in two.

Orca declared his victory.

“I won.”

“Who says you won?”

“What?”

At Zeon’s voice from beyond the sand, chills rose across Orca’s entire body.

At that instant, the Sand Storm that had been split in two joined back into one.

GRIIIIIND—!

The Sand Storm rotated fiercely.

The Sand Storm was compressed so small that it only enclosed Orca. In exchange, its power increased severalfold.

But Zeon knew very well that even this was not enough to kill an Orca-class Grade S monster.

That was why he used the Gauntlet of Extreme Heat.

FLAAARE—!

Tremendous ultra-high-heat flames were infused into the Sand Storm.

Inside was a hell of extreme heat.

Within it, Orca began to cook red.

His powerful fighting spirit and his body as hard as diamond were useless.

The flame-infused Sand Storm cooked Orca from the root.

“KRAAAAAK!”

Orca let out a desperate scream.

GRIIIIIND—!

The fiercely spinning, ultra-hot Sand Storm swallowed even Orca’s scream.

A little while later, everything fell silent.