Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert

Chapter 456
A dizzying sense of weightlessness washed over Zeon, and in an instant, the space around him shifted.
Just moments ago, he had been in the dense forest, but now he stood within an underground passage.
He had been transported before he could even realize it.
Zeon looked down at his palm.
The key he had picked up earlier was gone without a trace.
It seemed the key from the boss twin-headed panther had been the medium for this teleportation.
“Could it be that others are brought here the same way?”
Zeon opened all his senses wide, but he felt no other presence.
It appeared that he was the only human within this underground tunnel.
Zeon sat down briefly to recover his mana.
He could have restored it instantly by using Elura’s Tear, but since he didn’t know what lay ahead, he focused on recovering naturally.
It felt as though two or three hours had passed.
Even after his mana had sufficiently recovered, there was still no sign of anyone else in the passage.
No matter how long he waited, it didn’t seem like anyone else would be coming.
In the end, Zeon decided to move alone.
More than anything, he was curious about what kind of monsters and rewards awaited him after going through such a complicated process to get here.
The passage was so narrow that only one person could barely squeeze through.
Zeon had experienced countless dungeons, yet this was the first time he’d encountered a passage so cramped.
Then it happened.
Sasasak!
A faint rustling reached his ears.
An ominous feeling made Zeon bite his lower lip slightly.
And as always, his instincts never lied.
“Insects?”
Creatures the size of a child’s palm crawled along the narrow walls, swarming toward him.
They resembled beetles but had large pincers and fanged maws, making them even more grotesque.
And there were countless of them.
Zeon hurled a Fireball toward them.
BOOM!
The Fireball exploded amidst the horde.
Fire was the natural enemy of insects, most would die just from brushing a spark. But these were different.
Not a single one died, nor were any even injured.
There wasn’t so much as a singe mark on their shells.
Kaga-kak!
The insects clacked their pincers together angrily and charged at him with even greater ferocity.
Zeon launched a Fire Missile toward them.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A series of explosions erupted, but once again, the insects took no damage.
Zeon swung his fist at the nearest one.
It was the same fist that had smashed the twin-headed panther’s skulls, powerful enough to crush most beasts in a single blow. Yet this time, it did nothing.
KAAANG!
With a metallic clang, the creature was flung back, only to start moving again immediately.
Zeon frowned slightly.
“They’re made of metal.”
A sharp tingling pain ran through his hand.
In that brief impact, he could tell for certain,
Their exoskeletons were metal.
Solid, high-density metal, cast as if in a single mold.
“As expected, not ordinary insects.”
Zeon’s gaze hardened.
There was no way a living creature could naturally have a metallic shell.
“Chimera?”
A life form created through magic.
A forbidden craft for any human.
As far as Zeon knew, only one race could use such magic.
“Dragons?”
Only dragons possessed that kind of power.
Even Hieltun, Daioden’s great enemy, had created chimeras to use as guardians.
Whoever owned this dungeon, whether dragon or something equal in power, was no ordinary being.
“I’ll find out soon enough.”
Kaga-kak!
Even as he spoke, the metallic insects were still rushing toward him in a frenzy.
Zeon infused mana into his Incandescent Gauntlets.
Normal fire attacks were useless against metallic enemies, metal didn’t burn easily.
But that only applied to ordinary fire.
What Zeon unleashed now was White Phosphorus Flame.
Once ignited, it would never extinguish until it devoured everything in its reach, the fire of hell itself.
The White Phosphorus Flame fell among the oncoming swarm and exploded.
FWOOSH!
The flame spread violently.
This time, the insects reacted differently.
―Kieeeeh!
Those caught in the flame screamed.
Their metallic shells melted under the white fire.
Even chimeras with high flame resistance melted like ice cream under such extreme heat.
Zeon turned and cast another White Phosphorus Flame toward the swarm coming from the opposite side.
FWOOSH!
Again, the hellish fire engulfed them.
Countless insects melted away.
Zeon advanced, continuously summoning White Phosphorus Flame.
The narrow passage filled with the acrid stench of burning metal.
Anyone other than Zeon would have surely perished here, there was no space to evade within this narrow corridor.
For the chimera insects, their greatest misfortune was that their target happened to be Zeon.
He burned through them all as he pressed forward.
“Hoo…”
Sweat trickled down Zeon’s face.
The White Phosphorus Flame consumed tremendous mana with every cast.
Each time he used it, a vast amount of energy drained away.
Naturally, exhaustion began to set in.
After walking for nearly an hour, the end of the passage finally came into view.
Zeon cast one last White Phosphorus Flame, melting the insects blocking his way.
After clearing them all, he stepped out of the narrow tunnel.
The moment he exited, he let out a deep breath.
“Haah…”
His body felt heavy, as though soaked in water, drained by the mana and mental strain.
He wanted nothing more than to sit and rest, but the sight before him wiped away that thought instantly.
Beyond the passage lay an enormous underground chamber.
At its center, towering over everything, stood a creature of impossible size, gazing down at Zeon.
Its head bore massive horns, its body was covered in gemlike blue scales, and from its back spread two pairs of wings and a long sweeping tail.
Only one kind of being possessed such traits.
A dragon.
From its horned head to the tip of its tail, it easily exceeded a hundred meters.
The dragon radiated an overwhelming presence as it looked down upon Zeon.
Then a voice echoed in Zeon’s mind.
―A human has reached this place for the first time.
“I didn’t expect to find a dragon here.”
―Nor did I expect to exist here, so it makes no difference.
“What do you mean?”
―You already know, do you not? That I no longer truly exist.
“So it’s true.”
Zeon nodded slightly.
The dungeon was a fragment of Kurayan, a remnant of a destroyed world existing in the rifts between dimensions.
What no longer existed in reality, the lingering echoes or shades of the past, became dungeon bosses.
Zeon had faced countless dungeons and many bosses, but this was the first time he had encountered one ruled by a dragon.
He asked the dragon,
“Someone like you could easily break free from the dungeon’s bindings and leave, couldn’t you?”
―It would be possible.
“Then why…”
―Why remain here, you mean?
“Yes.”
―Because I am already long dead. For one such as I to wander freely beyond would be intolerable, even to myself.
“A wise sentiment.”
Zeon nodded in understanding.
A dragon who chose to remain by his own will.
He began to wonder what its name was.
Then suddenly,
WOOONG!
A strong vibration pulsed from Zeon’s subspace.
The dragon’s eyes gleamed.
―That is my scale.
The object trembling within Zeon’s subspace was the scale he had received from the Black Queen.
As Zeon took it out, he spoke,
“So you are Arkaid.”
―Indeed. I am Arkaid.
“I never thought I would meet the owner of this scale here, Lord Arkaid.”
―Nor did I expect to see a trace of my living self again. I thought I had returned everything to nature, yet that scale remains. Where did you obtain it?
“From Lady Neria.”
―Neria? The Dark Elf child?
“You remember her?”
―I met her once, when she was very young. I remember her well, an unusually bright and beautiful child.
A dragon never forgets.
No matter how distant the memory, they can recall it clearly whenever they wish.
―Is Neria well?
“To be direct… she is not.”
―You speak in the past tense, so she no longer exists, then.
“The truth is…”
Zeon recounted Neria’s life exactly as it was.
Arkaid closed his eyes, listening in silence.
When Zeon finished, Arkaid let out a deep sigh.
―That such a bright, intelligent child lived such a sorrowful life… Still, it is some comfort that she departed having fulfilled her wish.
“I think so too.”
―And I thank you, for bringing me word of one I once cherished.
“I didn’t expect that, Lord Arkaid. I’d heard dragons look down on elves.”
―Live as long as I did, and your heart softens a little.
“How long did you live?”
―Aside from Krasias, I was the oldest being in Kurayan. I lived for more than ten thousand years by human reckoning.
“Krasias?”
Zeon frowned slightly.
He hadn’t expected to hear that name here.
Seeing his reaction, Arkaid looked intrigued.
―So you know Krasias.
“He’s the one who turned Earth into what it is.”
―Earth? So that is the world where this dungeon formed.
Since awakening within this dark dungeon, Arkaid had never once left it or taken interest in the outside world.
He considered himself a phantom who should not exist.
For such a being to act in reality was a violation of nature’s law, and Arkaid would not allow it.
Thus he concealed his presence completely, never showing himself.
After the Dark Dungeon’s existence became known, many came seeking to conquer it.
They were the races of El Harun.
Arkaid welcomed their visits but also found them bothersome.
So he blocked them with moderate trials and rewards.
The other races believed the dungeon changed over time, but in truth, it was merely the barrier Arkaid had set long ago reacting to intrusion, designed originally to protect his lair.
Arkaid was a dragon without greed.
Compared to others of his kind, his hoard was small and modest.
And whatever remained, he had already given away as rewards to those who passed through his barrier.
Now, there was almost nothing left.
For that reason, he had stopped offering rewards entirely.
Arkaid looked at Zeon.
―You said Krasias made Earth this way. I would know the story.
“Before that, I have a question.”
―Ask.
“What was your relationship with Krasias?”
―You’re worried I might have been his ally, aren’t you?
“Yes.”
―Ha! He and I could never be on the same side.
“What makes you so certain?”
―Because the one who killed me was Krasias himself.