Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert - Chapter 194
Sand Mage Of The Burnt Desert Chapter 194
Episode 194
Urtian looked at the woman kneeling in front of him with an expression of interest.
It looked like he had been through a great crisis as his entire body was covered in sand and his clothes were torn in various places.
That was actually the case.
The woman survived even after being attacked by a sandworm.
He was almost swallowed by a sandworm, but managed to escape and fell to the floor.
He was so shocked that he lost consciousness, but Urtian and the Red Storm were passing by and found him.
Urtian asked.
“So what’s your name?”
“My name is Sarah.”
“okay! Sera. So, you’re saying there’s a place called the Steel Fortress near here?”
“That’s right.”
Sarah’s voice suddenly trembled.
She came out of the steel fortress with Jacob Lucy and others to collect sunflowers, but was attacked by sandworms.
When she came to her senses, instead of her colleagues, there were Urtian and the Red Storm in front of her.
A look of fear was evident on her face as she looked at the Red Storm.
The steel fortress was completely isolated.
Most elders did not like the fortress members having contact with the outside world. For that reason, a strict closure policy was implemented.
Entry from the outside is strictly prohibited except for teams hunting demon beasts and those collecting sunflowers.
The elders brainwashed them into believing that all outsiders could not be trusted and were like demonic beasts targeting the steel fortress.
Sarah was also educated that way and was therefore afraid of outsiders.
Actually, Urtian was scary.
Although he didn’t intentionally make a fierce expression or threaten, his atmosphere itself was very scary.
Urtian said with a smile.
“You’re scared. Sera! Don’t worry. “Because I’m not that scary of a person.”
“yes!”
“Let’s have a conversation.” So, Serah came from a place called the Iron Fortress, right? “Is that steel fortress safe from demonic beasts?”
“that’s right.”
“Is there a space large enough for 2,000 people to live?”
“yes!”
Sarah answered, looking almost like she was about to cry.
She really didn’t want to talk. However, Urtian’s momentum was so strong that he kept answering without even realizing it.
“Best of all, there is drinking water, right?”
“yes!”
“Good! good!”
A smile appeared on Urtian’s lips.
Being able to obtain stable drinking water was a huge advantage.
I was fortunate to find an oasis with a sand angler, but such an oasis was not common.
I was able to catch the sand anglerfish I caught the other day because I was really lucky. If I had been a little late in catching it, it would have disappeared somewhere along with the oasis.
Therefore, Urtian always considered obtaining drinking water a top priority.
“Sera, we’ll take you to the Iron Fortress.”
“Oh no! There’s no need for that. “I can go alone.”
“That can’t be possible. A lady spends this dangerous night alone. “That is not a man’s duty.”
“It’s really okay.”
“It’s because we’re not okay. “Isn’t that right?”
Urtian asked his subordinates behind him.
“sure. “How can you send a weak woman alone?”
“Of course we have to protect it. Hehehe!”
The subordinates answered as if it was obvious.
Urtian shrugged his shoulders and looked at Sera.
“I heard it’s like this?”
“That…”
“You don’t have the right to refuse. So don’t talk nonsense and just guide me. Right Now!”
“Right now?”
“okay!”
It was now night.
Night was the time of the devil.
No matter how good an awakener he is, he doesn’t move at night. But the Red Storm didn’t care.
Although I was confident in my skills, the situation was also urgent.
There are not only awakened people in the Red Storm.
Most of their family members were ordinary people.
A safe place to live was needed just for them.
A steel fortress was suitable.
Urtian gave an order.
“Everyone head to the steel fortress immediately. And Aslan Duduyan!”
“yes!”
“Leader!”
Aslan and Duduyan, who had been called, stepped forward.
“Did you hear?”
“yes!”
“Can we find it without Sarah’s guidance?”
“No problem.”
Aslan answered right away.
A smile appeared on Urtian’s lips.
“You guys go first and scout out the inside of the steel fortress. And…”
“I will even do the preliminary work. Do not worry.”
Duduyan answered and left first, taking Aslan with him.
They instantly disappeared into the darkness.
Urtian looked at Sera.
“Sera! “Let’s leave too.”
“Huh!”
Sarah couldn’t hold it back and burst into tears. But no one in the Red Storm sympathized with her.
Urtian picked her up.
“hurry!”
It was a soft but firm voice.
＊＊＊
Elder Gewen’s house was the largest and most luxurious in the steel fortress.
As if to show his authority, there were numerous houses of awakened people around his house.
By placing the awakened people’s houses at the center of their own homes, they built an iron-clad border network.
There was a party going on at Gerwen’s house.
“Whoa!”
“Hmm!”
Awakened people were sitting on chairs or on the floor and groaning.
Everyone’s eyes were glassy and open.
This is because I inhaled processed sunflower powder.
The sunflower, which Zeon called magic plant, had narcotic properties and caused those who inhaled it to hallucinate.
There was no way there was anything to enjoy in a closed space.
Powder made from processed sunflower was the best thing to enjoy.
Gerwen controlled the awakeners of the steel fortress with sunflower powder.
Once you become addicted to sunflower powder, you can never escape it.
However, collecting sunflowers was difficult.
Sunflowers only bloom on the corpse of a specific demonic beast, and finding the corpse of this demonic beast was not easy.
Fortunately, the corpse of a demonic beast with a sun flower blooming was recently discovered deep underground.
However, the passage leading down to the basement where the beast’s body was buried was narrow, so there was no choice but to mobilize children.
That was why Jacob and Lucy were sent in.
Although this expedition ended in failure.
Gewen sat on a chair and muttered.
“Tsk! This expedition was a complete failure. “I couldn’t even see the sunflower, and it came with a hump.”
His eyes looked out the window toward Matthew’s house.
I wasn’t sad at all that Matthew had died.
Because he was a follower of this elder Holtran.
The problem was the strangers who came into Matthew’s house.
Gerwen has strictly implemented a lockdown policy.
The safety and purity of the steel fortress has been maintained by completely cutting off contact with the outside world.
He did not stick to this policy from the beginning.
In the past, we interacted with nearby survivors and even exchanged goods. So, life was a little rich.
However, those who were greedy for the steel fortress attacked and suffered a lot of damage.
Many people were killed or injured, and the incident prompted Gerwen to implement a lockdown policy.
The attempt was to cut off exchanges with the outside world and create a completely self-sufficient ecosystem.
At first it seemed like a success.
Since there was no interaction with the outside world, there was no chance of being invaded and there was no reason to worry.
The problem emerged over time.
It became increasingly difficult to find food, and children with genetic diseases resulting from incestuous marriages were born.
People lost their sense of challenge and stopped taking risks.
Because of this, the steel fortress gradually degenerated and people began to distrust Gewen.
The breakthrough for Gerwen, who felt a sense of crisis, was Sunflower.
It is about addicting and controlling people with drugs.
The person who opposed this was the elder Holtran.
He disapproved of Gewen’s behavior and opposed everything.
It was Holtran who brought Zeon and his party into the steel fortress this time.
On the surface, the reason was to repay the benefactor who saved Jacob and Lucy, but in reality, it was clear that the intention was to somehow use them to keep Gewen in check.
Gewen smiled and murmured.
“Do you think I don’t know your dark intentions? What is Holt? This is my kingdom. No one can take this place away from me. The stranger you brought in will be eliminated before the end of the night. Hehehe!”
＊＊＊
There were people moving secretly in the middle of the night.
Their destination was a house outside the Red Fort.
Those who arrived in front of the house looked around for a moment.
The lights were off in every house.
After confirming that there were no people around or watching, they took out a well-sealed pouch from their arms.
They opened the window and carefully stuffed their bags inside the house.
Tuk!
The bag that fell to the floor was unsealed and invisible gas flowed out from inside.
The colorless, odorless gas quickly spread throughout the house.
After some time had passed, the intruders opened the door and entered the house.
The house they entered was the house where Zeon and his group slept.
The intruders checked each room.
Zeon and the others were unconscious in the room.
A smile appeared on the intruders’ lips.
“Everyone is asleep. “I was injected with sleeping gas made from the venom of the four-eyed bat, so I won’t be able to wake up for at least a day.”
Four-Eyed Bats are magical beasts that live underground in the Red Fortress.
This creature had four eyes and fangs in its mouth that paralyzed its prey.
Sleeping gas, made by processing venom extracted from the poison glands of the four-eyed bat, had the power to cause even large demonic beasts to fall asleep.
The intruders surrounded each other one by one.
“This girl is really pretty. How can I not do this before I kill him?”
The man carrying Eloi muttered as he massaged her buttocks with both hands.
At that moment, the head man spoke out.
“Don’t talk nonsense. That bitch is also an awakened person. “If you wake up from clumsy manipulation, you’ll have a headache.”
“Who really touched you? Sheesh! “Don’t even let me talk.”
“Okay, let’s go now.”
“I understand.”
The man carrying Elroy on his back answered with a dissatisfied expression.
The intruders left the house with Zeon and the others on their backs.
The place they headed was deep inside the steel fortress.
Inside the steel fortress was a narrow vertical cave leading underground.
It was a cave where four-eyed bats lived.
An iron grate was placed at the entrance of the cave to prevent four-eyed bats from coming out.
They planned to kill Zeon and his group here and throw them into the vertical cave.
“Let’s deal with it quickly and go back. “The others are probably inhaling sunflower powder by now.”
“yes! “I will pick you up soon.”
The subordinates answered and placed Zeon and his group on the floor.
All four of them were asleep, oblivious to the world.
The man carrying Elroy on his back looked at the head man with an earnest expression.
“Brother, how could it not be the last time?”
“You bastard!”
“I’m going to give it to bats anyway. “It’s not like you get a mark for touching it.”
“Ten minutes. “Finish it in there.”
“Hehe! “That’s enough.”
The man gleefully dragged Eloy to a corner.
The head man sighed and muttered.
“phew! “You beastly bastard.”
“You talk as if it’s not you.”
At that moment, I heard someone’s voice from behind me.
The leader, who thought his subordinate was making fun of him, got angry and turned around.
“What kind of bastard…”
The moment he identified the owner of the voice, his eyes shook.
Zeon, who should have fainted from sleeping gas, was standing there looking fine. Even Levin and Brielle were looking at him with wide eyes, as if asking when he had fainted.
The men who carried them all collapsed.
It happened to the head man without him even realizing it.
‘Uh, when?’
It was when cold sweat ran down his back.
“Ahh!”
A desperate scream was heard from the man who dragged Elroy to the corner.