Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert
Author: Woo-Gak
Chapter 462
Chapter 462
Pachachang!
KWAANG!
Metal clashed against metal, tearing through the air with explosive sound.
“Graaaah!”
Oh Jin-ho roared and flooded his engine with mana.
A mana engine powered by mana itself.
For someone like Oh Jin-ho, whose entire body had been replaced with machinery, a powerful mana engine was essential.
The better the engine, the greater the power it could unleash.
Among mechanized Awakeners, one of the key measures of strength was how advanced one’s mana engine was.
In that sense, Oh Jin-ho was lucky.
The engine embedded in his chest was the RX-2, a masterpiece even by West Sector standards.
The RX-2 mana engine was the crowning achievement of Kim Jang-woon, a master craftsman from the West Sector. The RX-2’s defining feature was its overwhelming output.
Of course, it consumed mana at a terrifying rate, but if the user could handle it, it granted monstrous strength.
Oh Jin-ho was the perfect match.
He had been born with an unusually vast amount of mana for a mechanized Awakener. For him, the RX-2 mana engine was like a set of wings.
Wiiiiiing!
The engine in his chest spun furiously, generating a torrent of energy.
Kwachijijik!
The metal wolf gripped in his hand was being ripped apart from the waist up.
The beast bit down on Oh Jin-ho’s arm and thrashed wildly, but against his metal body, it did nothing.
Kwa-jik!
The metal wolf split in two with a sharp crack.
Oh Jin-ho threw the torn halves aside and searched for the next target.
While he and the large mechanized Awakeners held the line, those in the rear opened fire.
They aimed with precision, targeting only the metal wolves to avoid hitting their allies.
—Kyaang!
—Kreugh!
Under their precise fire, the enemy ranks began to collapse.
The mechanized Awakeners showed no hesitation.
In the blink of an eye, they annihilated the pack of metal wolves and pushed forward.
Waiting ahead were more metal beasts.
The Awakeners’ faces twisted in disbelief.
“What kind of dungeon is this? Monsters made of metal?”
There was no way creatures made entirely of metal could be natural.
“Could these be golems?”
“Metal golems… this place is a gold mine.”
Ordinary Awakeners would have struggled terribly here.
Metal golems were nearly immune to standard magical attacks. But to mechanized Awakeners, they posed no problem.
They only needed to crush them with greater force.
Sometimes their mechanical parts broke under the impact. Even so, it wasn’t a problem.
“Mechanics! Parts replacement!”
Those damaged fell back, calling for support.
The mechanics rushed forward, removing shattered parts and attaching new ones.
Step by step, the mechanized Awakeners advanced, replacing broken limbs as they went.
“Impressive.”
From the rear, Zeon murmured as he watched.
It was truly a remarkable battle.
A style of combat no ordinary human would dare attempt.
Only mechanized Awakeners could fight this way—abandoning humanity to pursue sheer efficiency.
Before them, the metal beasts fell like autumn leaves.
“Hold on. Extracting metal.”
“Beginning analysis of the magic circle.”
The mechanics rushed to the corpses of the fallen metal beasts.
They, too, were Awakeners—specialists in metal extraction and magic circle analysis.
Even in the midst of the chaos, they tore valuable metals from the carcasses and used them to reinforce the frontliners’ parts.
The mechanized Awakeners guarded them fiercely, knowing that the mechanics’ work ensured their own survival.
“This metal doesn’t exist on Earth. Mana conductivity exceeds double the normal rate.”
“The magic circle will take time to decode. I’ll remove only the inscribed section.”
“I’ll fuse the extracted metal into existing parts.”
The mechanics moved like clockwork.
In moments, they achieved their goals and retreated to safety.
With the rear secure, the frontliners once again threw themselves into battle.
While they fought, the mechanics continually upgraded their equipment, feeding the frontline with freshly enhanced parts.
“Magnificent.”
Zeon’s voice carried genuine admiration.
He had never seen combat like this before.
Only the mechanized Awakeners of the West Sector could wage war in such a way.
Before their might, the metal beasts were obliterated.
Thanks to that, Zeon had no need to intervene. He calmly observed the temple instead.
His eyes lifted to the ceiling, to the mural etched there.
A divine being surrounded by light.
No, not just divine—a god.
Zeon read the letters hidden in the design.
“The same script as El Harun.”
He had stayed there only a few days, but it was enough to recognize the writing.
“Graawen?”
Zeon frowned.
It was a name he had heard before.
One of Uslan’s subordinates, the dwarf Dempleton, had once said that all dwarves worshiped Graawen.
One of Kurayan’s Twelve Gods, and the god of the dwarves.
He had babbled on about how Graawen would one day descend upon the world to save them.
“So this is a temple to Graawen, the smith god?”
That would explain the metal beasts.
With Graawen’s authority, creating metal golems would be effortless.
The deeper they ventured into the temple, the stronger the metal monsters became.
“Damn it!”
“Ugh!”
Injuries mounted.
Arms were torn off, legs crushed.
The mechanics rushed to repair and replace damaged parts, but the tide was turning against them.
Even elite mechanized Awakeners could not withstand such overwhelming numbers forever.
Oh Jin-ho shouted,
“Save your ammo! Switch to melee! Draw the vibration blades!”
“Yes, sir!”
Those providing covering fire holstered their weapons and drew long blades.
Jiiiiing!
The blades hummed at an invisible frequency.
Forged from the pinnacle of West Sector technology, the ultrahigh-frequency vibration blades could slice through metal and beast alike as if cutting paper.
“Go!”
“Kill them!”
Every mechanized Awakener, save the mechanics, switched to melee and charged.
Sseok!
Swaaak!
The vibrating blades carved through their foes without resistance.
Thanks to them, the massive mechanized Awakeners at the front finally had a moment to breathe.
“Huff… huff…”
Oh Jin-ho gasped for air.
Even with his entire body replaced except for his head and heart, the intensity of battle pushed his systems to their limit.
Kwachik!
While he caught his breath, a beast lunged from behind and sank its fangs into his arm.
The metal limb crumpled under its jaws, rendered useless. But there was no pain.
At times like this, he wondered if he was still truly human.
He grabbed the beast’s head with his remaining hand.
Crunch!
Its skull caved under his brutal grip.
The headless beast collapsed at his feet.
He glanced down at his ruined arm and shouted toward the rear.
“Hey! Damn it! Any spare left-arm parts?”
“Sorry, sir! All used up!”
“Then I’ll fight one-handed!”
He tore off the broken arm and dove back into battle.
Not just him—all mechanized Awakeners fought the same way.
Broken parts could always be replaced back in Neo Seoul.
If luck favored them, they might even upgrade.
As long as they lived.
As long as they survived, everything could be repaired. That was why they did not fear damage.
Zeon’s expression hardened slightly as he watched them.
“Savages, the lot of them.”
It was ironic.
In a sense, mechanized Awakeners were the most perfectly evolved humans of their era.
By merging with machines, they had drastically increased their chances of survival and maximized physical potential.
But the problem was, they no longer felt pain.
Without pain, they fought recklessly, like beasts.
After a brutal struggle, the last monster finally fell.
“Huff! Huff!”
“Ha, ha, ha!”
The mechanized Awakeners stood panting, exhaustion etched across their faces.
Then it happened.
Kuuuung!
The air inside the temple trembled violently.
Sensing danger, Oh Jin-ho shouted,
“The boss is coming! Everyone prepare for battle!”
“Yes, sir!”
The mechanized Awakeners scrambled into formation.
Thund, thud.
Heavy footsteps echoed through the temple.
Even without seeing it, they could feel it—something massive was approaching.
Tension filled every face.
Oh Jin-ho swallowed hard.
“Maybe… we’ll need his help after all.”
Even before it showed itself, the pressure was suffocating.
He had never felt such intensity before.
“It might really be an S-class beast…”
Then, from the shadows, it appeared.
A colossal humanoid figure—a golem.
Standing over ten meters tall, its broad shoulders and posture resembled a gorilla’s.
But the most shocking thing was that every inch of it was made of metal.
“Impossible…”
“A metal golem that huge? How is that even possible?”
The mechanized Awakeners’ eyes trembled.
Their own bodies were machines, yet even they were nothing compared to this.
The gouges it left in the floor revealed its immense weight.
Dozens of tons at least.
The fact that such a massive being could move at all was astonishing.
The giant metal golem looked down upon the intruders of the temple.
—This is the sanctuary of Lord Graawen. All who trespass shall be eliminated.
Its metallic voice reverberated through the hall.
Oh Jin-ho bit his lip.
“Don’t make me laugh. You’re just a damn tin can.”
—Atlas, initiating combat mode.
Kuuuuuu!
The massive golem, calling itself Atlas, leapt into the air.
“Damn it!”
“Everyone, move!”
The mechanized Awakeners scattered, shouting.
But one failed to react in time.
His leg joints had been shattered. He could not move.
Despair spread across his face.
“Damn it!”
KWAANG!
Atlas’s enormous foot came crashing down, crushing him flat.
He didn’t even have time to scream before being obliterated.
And then something even more terrifying happened.
Srrrkk!
The crushed parts of the fallen Awakener began to melt and absorb into Atlas’s body.
—Analysis complete. Assimilating.
Pachachang!
KWAANG!
Metal clashed against metal, tearing through the air with explosive sound.
“Graaaah!”
Oh Jin-ho roared and flooded his engine with mana.
A mana engine powered by mana itself.
For someone like Oh Jin-ho, whose entire body had been replaced with machinery, a powerful mana engine was essential.
The better the engine, the greater the power it could unleash.
Among mechanized Awakeners, one of the key measures of strength was how advanced one’s mana engine was.
In that sense, Oh Jin-ho was lucky.
The engine embedded in his chest was the RX-2, a masterpiece even by West Sector standards.
The RX-2 mana engine was the crowning achievement of Kim Jang-woon, a master craftsman from the West Sector. The RX-2’s defining feature was its overwhelming output.
Of course, it consumed mana at a terrifying rate, but if the user could handle it, it granted monstrous strength.
Oh Jin-ho was the perfect match.
He had been born with an unusually vast amount of mana for a mechanized Awakener. For him, the RX-2 mana engine was like a set of wings.
Wiiiiiing!
The engine in his chest spun furiously, generating a torrent of energy.
Kwachijijik!
The metal wolf gripped in his hand was being ripped apart from the waist up.
The beast bit down on Oh Jin-ho’s arm and thrashed wildly, but against his metal body, it did nothing.
Kwa-jik!
The metal wolf split in two with a sharp crack.
Oh Jin-ho threw the torn halves aside and searched for the next target.
While he and the large mechanized Awakeners held the line, those in the rear opened fire.
They aimed with precision, targeting only the metal wolves to avoid hitting their allies.
—Kyaang!
—Kreugh!
Under their precise fire, the enemy ranks began to collapse.
The mechanized Awakeners showed no hesitation.
In the blink of an eye, they annihilated the pack of metal wolves and pushed forward.
Waiting ahead were more metal beasts.
The Awakeners’ faces twisted in disbelief.
“What kind of dungeon is this? Monsters made of metal?”
There was no way creatures made entirely of metal could be natural.
“Could these be golems?”
“Metal golems… this place is a gold mine.”
Ordinary Awakeners would have struggled terribly here.
Metal golems were nearly immune to standard magical attacks. But to mechanized Awakeners, they posed no problem.
They only needed to crush them with greater force.
Sometimes their mechanical parts broke under the impact. Even so, it wasn’t a problem.
“Mechanics! Parts replacement!”
Those damaged fell back, calling for support.
The mechanics rushed forward, removing shattered parts and attaching new ones.
Step by step, the mechanized Awakeners advanced, replacing broken limbs as they went.
“Impressive.”
From the rear, Zeon murmured as he watched.
It was truly a remarkable battle.
A style of combat no ordinary human would dare attempt.
Only mechanized Awakeners could fight this way—abandoning humanity to pursue sheer efficiency.
Before them, the metal beasts fell like autumn leaves.
“Hold on. Extracting metal.”
“Beginning analysis of the magic circle.”
The mechanics rushed to the corpses of the fallen metal beasts.
They, too, were Awakeners—specialists in metal extraction and magic circle analysis.
Even in the midst of the chaos, they tore valuable metals from the carcasses and used them to reinforce the frontliners’ parts.
The mechanized Awakeners guarded them fiercely, knowing that the mechanics’ work ensured their own survival.
“This metal doesn’t exist on Earth. Mana conductivity exceeds double the normal rate.”
“The magic circle will take time to decode. I’ll remove only the inscribed section.”
“I’ll fuse the extracted metal into existing parts.”
The mechanics moved like clockwork.
In moments, they achieved their goals and retreated to safety.
With the rear secure, the frontliners once again threw themselves into battle.
While they fought, the mechanics continually upgraded their equipment, feeding the frontline with freshly enhanced parts.
“Magnificent.”
Zeon’s voice carried genuine admiration.
He had never seen combat like this before.
Only the mechanized Awakeners of the West Sector could wage war in such a way.
Before their might, the metal beasts were obliterated.
Thanks to that, Zeon had no need to intervene. He calmly observed the temple instead.
His eyes lifted to the ceiling, to the mural etched there.
A divine being surrounded by light.
No, not just divine—a god.
Zeon read the letters hidden in the design.
“The same script as El Harun.”
He had stayed there only a few days, but it was enough to recognize the writing.
“Graawen?”
Zeon frowned.
It was a name he had heard before.
One of Uslan’s subordinates, the dwarf Dempleton, had once said that all dwarves worshiped Graawen.
One of Kurayan’s Twelve Gods, and the god of the dwarves.
He had babbled on about how Graawen would one day descend upon the world to save them.
“So this is a temple to Graawen, the smith god?”
That would explain the metal beasts.
With Graawen’s authority, creating metal golems would be effortless.
The deeper they ventured into the temple, the stronger the metal monsters became.
“Damn it!”
“Ugh!”
Injuries mounted.
Arms were torn off, legs crushed.
The mechanics rushed to repair and replace damaged parts, but the tide was turning against them.
Even elite mechanized Awakeners could not withstand such overwhelming numbers forever.
Oh Jin-ho shouted,
“Save your ammo! Switch to melee! Draw the vibration blades!”
“Yes, sir!”
Those providing covering fire holstered their weapons and drew long blades.
Jiiiiing!
The blades hummed at an invisible frequency.
Forged from the pinnacle of West Sector technology, the ultrahigh-frequency vibration blades could slice through metal and beast alike as if cutting paper.
“Go!”
“Kill them!”
Every mechanized Awakener, save the mechanics, switched to melee and charged.
Sseok!
Swaaak!
The vibrating blades carved through their foes without resistance.
Thanks to them, the massive mechanized Awakeners at the front finally had a moment to breathe.
“Huff… huff…”
Oh Jin-ho gasped for air.
Even with his entire body replaced except for his head and heart, the intensity of battle pushed his systems to their limit.
Kwachik!
While he caught his breath, a beast lunged from behind and sank its fangs into his arm.
The metal limb crumpled under its jaws, rendered useless. But there was no pain.
At times like this, he wondered if he was still truly human.
He grabbed the beast’s head with his remaining hand.
Crunch!
Its skull caved under his brutal grip.
The headless beast collapsed at his feet.
He glanced down at his ruined arm and shouted toward the rear.
“Hey! Damn it! Any spare left-arm parts?”
“Sorry, sir! All used up!”
“Then I’ll fight one-handed!”
He tore off the broken arm and dove back into battle.
Not just him—all mechanized Awakeners fought the same way.
Broken parts could always be replaced back in Neo Seoul.
If luck favored them, they might even upgrade.
As long as they lived.
As long as they survived, everything could be repaired. That was why they did not fear damage.
Zeon’s expression hardened slightly as he watched them.
“Savages, the lot of them.”
It was ironic.
In a sense, mechanized Awakeners were the most perfectly evolved humans of their era.
By merging with machines, they had drastically increased their chances of survival and maximized physical potential.
But the problem was, they no longer felt pain.
Without pain, they fought recklessly, like beasts.
After a brutal struggle, the last monster finally fell.
“Huff! Huff!”
“Ha, ha, ha!”
The mechanized Awakeners stood panting, exhaustion etched across their faces.
Then it happened.
Kuuuung!
The air inside the temple trembled violently.
Sensing danger, Oh Jin-ho shouted,
“The boss is coming! Everyone prepare for battle!”
“Yes, sir!”
The mechanized Awakeners scrambled into formation.
Thund, thud.
Heavy footsteps echoed through the temple.
Even without seeing it, they could feel it—something massive was approaching.
Tension filled every face.
Oh Jin-ho swallowed hard.
“Maybe… we’ll need his help after all.”
Even before it showed itself, the pressure was suffocating.
He had never felt such intensity before.
“It might really be an S-class beast…”
Then, from the shadows, it appeared.
A colossal humanoid figure—a golem.
Standing over ten meters tall, its broad shoulders and posture resembled a gorilla’s.
But the most shocking thing was that every inch of it was made of metal.
“Impossible…”
“A metal golem that huge? How is that even possible?”
The mechanized Awakeners’ eyes trembled.
Their own bodies were machines, yet even they were nothing compared to this.
The gouges it left in the floor revealed its immense weight.
Dozens of tons at least.
The fact that such a massive being could move at all was astonishing.
The giant metal golem looked down upon the intruders of the temple.
—This is the sanctuary of Lord Graawen. All who trespass shall be eliminated.
Its metallic voice reverberated through the hall.
Oh Jin-ho bit his lip.
“Don’t make me laugh. You’re just a damn tin can.”
—Atlas, initiating combat mode.
Kuuuuuu!
The massive golem, calling itself Atlas, leapt into the air.
“Damn it!”
“Everyone, move!”
The mechanized Awakeners scattered, shouting.
But one failed to react in time.
His leg joints had been shattered. He could not move.
Despair spread across his face.
“Damn it!”
KWAANG!
Atlas’s enormous foot came crashing down, crushing him flat.
He didn’t even have time to scream before being obliterated.
And then something even more terrifying happened.
Srrrkk!
The crushed parts of the fallen Awakener began to melt and absorb into Atlas’s body.
—Analysis complete. Assimilating.