Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert-Chapter 361

Chapter 361

The moment the old orc issued his command, the dark elves and orcs sprang into action.

They ignored the carcass of the Armored Ant Queen, which held actual value, and instead busily gathered only the eggs attached to the walls.

Thud!

The old orc slammed his bone spear into the ground and barked,

“Kwch! Hurry. The Armored Ants will soon devour the humans and return. We must be gone by then.”

“Kwch! Understood.”

The orcs responded and moved swiftly.

While the orcs chattered loudly as they gathered the eggs, the dark elves moved in silence.

Seeing this, Zeon muttered under his breath,

“Well, that’s a sight. Elves obeying orcs.”

“Kwch! Who’s there?”

Though Zeon had spoken quietly, the old orc caught his words and shouted.

Zeon had no intention of hiding, so he stepped out into the underground chamber.

The orcs and dark elves immediately raised their weapons and took up defensive stances.

“Kwch! It’s a human.”

“A human? Weren’t they supposed to be under attack by the Armored Ants?”

Their eyes, locked on Zeon, were filled with hostility.

Zeon, unfazed by such glares—having received them many times before—remained calm and composed.

“So it really was you who lured the Armored Ants with Flame Armadillo carcasses. Did you learn that by watching our hunt?”

His gaze locked onto the center of the group—the old orc.

The old orc’s wrinkled face contorted with irritation.

“Kwch! That’s right, human! Isn’t it only right to learn and share the good things?”

“Hm! Quite the vocabulary. Does even speech improve with age in orcs?”

Zeon wore a genuinely impressed expression, which only made the old orc’s face twist even more.

“Are you mocking me, human?!”

“No, I was honestly impressed. If it came off that way, then I apologize.”

Zeon replied with an expression that was anything but apologetic, only further aggravating the old orc.

“Do you wish to die, human?!”

“Nope! I’d rather not.”

“Where are the other humans?”

“At the camp.”

“Then you came alone?”

The old orc’s eyes glinted dangerously.

Zeon wasn’t naive enough not to know what that implied.

He raised both hands and said,

“Whoa, calm down. Let’s not resort to violence when we have this great thing called conversation.”

“As if I would speak with a mere human.”

“That’s a seriously racist thing to say, you know?”

“Silence, inferior race!”

“Hm! Getting called inferior by an orc. That’s a new low.”

Zeon scratched his head.

He had been through countless experiences, but it was his first time being insulted like this to his face by an orc.

And still, the old orc’s tirade continued.

“Humans are trash. Unrecyclable waste. The rightful rulers of this land are not humans, but us orcs!”

“That’s interesting. Where’d you even pick up the word ‘recyclable’? Not exactly vocabulary I expected from orcs.”

“Kwch! You insolent human. Kill him, blacks!”

Unable to contain his rage at Zeon’s provocation, the old orc gave the order to the dark elves.

The dark elves gently set down the Armored Ant eggs they had been holding and advanced toward Zeon.

They were armed with cold weapons—shamshirs, rapiers, and the like.

The dark elves immediately launched their attack.

Swish!

Slice!

Shamshirs and rapiers targeted Zeon’s vital spots with deadly speed.

Zeon evaded using Sand Strides.

‘They don’t seem to be under mind control, and their minds are intact. Then why are the dark elves obeying an orc? Are they bound by some kind of geas?’

Zeon knew dark elves to be just as prideful as high elves.

They considered themselves superior even to regular elves, and saw orcs as less than dirt.

Yet here they were, obeying the old orc’s every command.

To Zeon, this scene was completely incomprehensible.

The dark elves' movements were anything but ordinary.

Stealthy, swift.

Before he could even sense their presence, a rapier aimed for his eye, while a shamshir struck for his groin.

Zeon dodged just in time.

The dark elves pursued relentlessly.

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Their movements were as swift as swallows and as silent as owls.

The slightest lapse in focus could mean a blade through the chest.

Zeon deflected or dodged their attacks with his Scorching Gauntlets.

One of the dark elves finally spoke.

“Die! If you don’t, we’re all dead!”

“So the old orc has something on you, huh?”

“Shut up!”

The dark elf shouted and swung her shamshir.

Red aura coated her blade.

An Aura Blade.

Shlick!

The wall behind Zeon sliced like butter.

Had he failed to dodge, he would've been split just like that wall.

It was a chillingly precise attack.

If Zeon were a mere martial artist, he would’ve been rattled. But Zeon was neither an ordinary martial artist nor a typical Awakened.

Slice!

With a flick of his finger, the ground rose.

Sand Blaster.

Dozens of sand blasts pummeled the dark elves.

BOOM!

Explosions rocked the chamber as sand particles scattered in every direction.

Some dark elves sliced the blasts with shamshirs, some countered with magic, and others evaded.

Their reaction speed was incredible.

But Zeon’s was faster.

KABOOM!

The sand surrounding Zeon erupted all at once.

A Sand Claymore.

“Gah!”

“Argh!”

Caught in the explosion, the dark elves screamed as they were hurled away.

They never expected the sand to explode.

With no time to react, they were caught off guard.

The dark elves crashed into the ground, groaning in pain. All except one.

The one wielding the Aura Blade.

That figure, face wrapped completely in a turban, swung the blade with full force.

Zeon raised a wall of sand.

It barely bought 0.1 seconds.

The Aura Blade sliced clean through and came hurtling toward Zeon—but it was enough.

“Fire Rain!”

Flames poured down, filling the underground chamber.

A blend of blue and white fire rained down, focused on the Aura Blade wielder.

The dark elf’s eyes filled with despair.

Instinct told her—she couldn’t block this.

But she had no intention of going down without a fight.

“Hyah!”

She slashed with all her strength.

Pop! Bang! Boom!

The flames burst like fireworks, dispersing from her blade.

An aura shield formed before her. But it couldn’t stop all the flames.

One stream of fire slipped through and struck her.

The result was devastating.

BOOOOM!

“Aaaaagh!”

Explosion and scream rang out together.

The dark elf was flung backward and slammed into a wall.

The force unraveled the turban covering her face, revealing her true identity.

“She’s a woman.”

Bloodied and unconscious, the dark elf was as beautiful as a black pearl.

But her gender wasn’t important to Zeon.

What mattered was this:

While he had been occupied with the dark elves, the orc forces had vanished.

They’d left the elves to stall him, and quietly slipped away with the Armored Ant eggs.

“Tch! As ruthless as any human.”

Zeon clicked his tongue at the old orc’s cunning.

He’d faced many orcs before, but none this shrewd or manipulative.

The strongest orc he’d met was Orc Warlord Orca.

Orca was all about brute strength—like most orcs.

But outliers existed.

Orca’s high priest was one such exception, and so was this old orc.

These cunning old orcs were far trickier than their younger, brawnier kin.

Then the unconscious female dark elf stirred.

“Did we… lose? Damn it…”

Tears trickled down her face in frustration.

“Captain!”

“Are you alright?!”

The other dark elves, now regaining consciousness, rushed to her.

Fortunately, Zeon had held back on his attack strength, so they had only sustained minor injuries.

But the psychological damage was immense.

They had never imagined losing so utterly to a human.

Zeon approached.

The dark elves formed a tight circle around their captain to shield her.

Stopping just before them, Zeon asked,

“Why did you take the Armored Ant eggs?”

“Because of you… our entire tribe is going to die.”

The female dark elf glared at him with hatred.

The unexpected words made Zeon frown slightly.

“What do you mean?”

“If we don’t return, Chuangka, that old orc, will kill everyone.”

“Chuangka? That’s the old orc’s name? He’s holding your people hostage?”

“That’s… ugh!”

Suddenly, the female dark elf clutched her chest and groaned in pain. The others followed suit.

“Gah!”

“Kh!”

They gasped, choking, hands on their throats and chests.

Zeon frowned, watching them writhe in agony.

“This just got complicated.”

He didn’t know exactly what was afflicting them.

But he could guess it was tied to Chuangka.

Just then—

KIEEEEK!

A screech echoed from outside.

The Armored Ants had realized their queen was dead and were storming back at full speed.

If he left the elves here, they’d surely be devoured in the ants’ rage.

“No choice, then.”

Zeon summoned sand to lift the dark elves into the air.

Floating the group, he quickly fled the ant nest.

RUMBLE!

He could see the swarm pouring down the crevice walls.

A second slower, and they’d have been trapped inside.

Zeon let out a sigh of relief as he rose into the air.

Below, the Armored Ants shrieked in fury at the sight of Zeon and the dark elves floating above.

But bound to the ground, they could do nothing.

Leaving the angry roars behind, Zeon emerged from the crevice.

He hovered in the air and looked around.

Chuangka and the orcs were already gone.

“That old orc… fast on his feet, too. What’s he plotting?”

Something didn’t feel right.

To find out the truth, he needed to save the dark elves first.

And Zeon knew exactly who could help.

“Brielle will know what’s wrong with them.”

With the dark elves trailing behind him like a tail, Zeon flew through the sky.