Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert

Chapter 468
From the outside, the building appeared to have twelve floors, but inside, there were only eight.
That was because the first through fourth floors had been completely opened up into a single vast space.
Whatever purpose it once served, the Western District had clearly needed a very tall interior, which explained why four floors had been merged into one.
Thanks to that, the first through fourth floors were now an empty, hollow expanse, and that was exactly why Zeon liked it.
“Not bad.”
“The interior’s unusual. I’ve never seen a building like this before.”
“Yeah.”
“By the way, how are you planning to use it?”
“I haven’t decided yet.”
It had only been thirty minutes since he received the building.
Naturally, he hadn’t had time to think about how to make use of it.
A building like this held considerable value in Neo Seoul.
Even in the slums, a structure of this scale would have people lining up to move in. But Zeon had no intention of renting it out.
After a moment of thought, he said,
“What if we connect the underground of this building to Jetoya’s village?”
“That would be perfect. Jetoya and the awakened in the underground city could come and go freely without worrying about being seen.”
“Then let’s do that. We’ll think about how to use the other floors later.”
“Got it. I’ll tell Jetoya. He’ll be thrilled.”
Levin’s face lit up as if it were his own good fortune.
The underground city led by Jetoya had grown immensely.
Its population had increased several times over, and expansion was still ongoing.
The problem was that more people meant greater demand for supplies.
Their old method of delivering through the sewage tunnels had reached its limit.
Transporting goods had become too difficult.
They had to avoid the eyes of those on the surface, and the scorching sunlight forced them to move only at night.
Conditions were harsh, and everyone was struggling.
A safe passage to the surface had become a desperate need.
“With these tall ceilings, we can stack supplies here and move them out whenever needed. This’ll be the best gift for Jetoya and Lemura.”
“Before that, clean out the entire interior. Who knows what kind of tricks the Western District might have left behind. They claimed to have cleared everything, but still…”
“You can’t trust words like that. Don’t worry, hyung! I’ll get the kids to search for and remove every bug, magic array, and barrier they planted.”
“Good.”
“Oh, and hyung, can I use one of the empty floors? I’ll pay rent.”
“Forget the rent. Why?”
“I want to start some work with the kids.”
“Work?”
“Yeah. Just sitting around doing nothing is boring, so I’m thinking of starting a fixer office.”
“Fixer?”
“Yes! Aelon and Dominic have gotten a lot stronger since awakening, and we’ve got quite a few capable kids among the orphans.”
“Then go ahead.”
Zeon agreed readily.
Levin was like the leader of the orphans living in Sinchon.
Even before awakening, many of them had followed him.
The problem was that there were too many, and it was impossible for him to look after them all.
That was how the idea of becoming a fixer came about.
The slums were full of incidents and troubles.
Some matters required adults, but there were also problems beyond their reach.
Levin wanted to handle those.
If the kids worked with him, they would naturally grow stronger,
and someday they’d be able to handle things on their own even without him.
Hearing Levin’s full plan, Zeon smiled faintly.
“It’s a good idea.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Excellent. Use the entire building if you need to.”
“Ah, no, that’s too much. One floor’s enough. I’ll take care of it with the kids and manage the building while we’re at it.”
“Do that.”
“Thank you, hyung! I’ll stay loyal to you forever.”
“What loyalty? Just take care of yourself.”
“Hehe, I mean it.”
“I’ll be off. You handle the rest. Change the access key and set up a new barrier. If you need help, ask someone at the Goblin Market.”
“Don’t worry, hyung. I can handle that much on my own.”
“Then I’ll trust you.”
“Yes! Take care, hyung.”
Zeon waved his hand and left the building.
Once he was gone, Levin looked around the interior with satisfaction.
He hadn’t expected it, but suddenly he had a base of his own.
He liked the building’s exterior, but the inside pleased him even more.
He immediately called his friends, Aelon and Dominic.
The two arrived and gawked at the space.
“This is Zeon hyung’s building?”
“Zeon hyung’s rich.”
“From now on, this will be our hideout.”
At Levin’s words, both their eyes gleamed.
“So we’re really starting that business?”
“Yeah, we’ll start here. But first, we have to turn this place into a proper fortress.”
“There’s a lot to fix. We’ll need to reinforce the structure, install defensive magic circles, and set up perception-blocking barriers… You said we need an entrance to the underground city too, right? We should build rails for moving supplies.”
“How long do you think it’ll take?”
“If we mobilize all our contacts and work fast, ten days. But if we want to keep it secret, it’ll take longer. Maybe a month.”
“Okay. Let’s do it.”
At Levin’s words, the two immediately got to work.
---
After entrusting the inspection and renovation to Levin, Zeon stepped out into the desert.
“I need to test the Ring of Purification myself.”
Ever since receiving the ring from Arkaid, he hadn’t had a chance to try it.
It was a gift from the ancient dragon Arkaid.
It could not possibly be an ordinary item.
He already had an idea of what it could do, but he needed to test its effect and limits with his own hands, so he could use it flawlessly in real combat.
“The problem is finding a suitable dungeon. Looks like I’ll have to search the desert.”
Near Neo Seoul, there were almost no unclaimed dungeons left.
And even if there were, most had already been occupied by Neo Seoul’s raid teams.
He needed to find one they hadn’t yet discovered.
It wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t impossible either.
Zeon was a Sand Magus.
He had the ability to locate dungeons buried beneath the sands with ease.
Activating his Sand Step, he sped across the vast desert.
A journey that would take an ordinary man three full days took him only half a day.
His expression didn’t change, nor was his breathing unsteady.
Traveling that distance meant nothing to him.
After scanning his surroundings, Zeon raised his dominion.
Shhhhhhh!
His power spread through the sand, radiating outward.
Along with it, his senses expanded.
Everything within his range flowed into his perception.
“Nothing nearby…”
Zeon didn’t look disappointed.
Hidden dungeons were never easy to find.
Even professional explorers only succeeded once after dozens or hundreds of attempts.
And the deeper the dungeon was buried under the sand, the harder it was to locate.
Even if they found one, reaching it would be nearly impossible.
But that didn’t apply to Zeon.
He moved slowly, scanning for any sign of a dungeon.
Along the way, he encountered beasts, Sandworms and Great-horned Hyenas.
None of them posed any threat.
“Sand Mixer!”
Ka-boom!
In one strike, the beasts were ground into bloody sand and vanished.
He continued eliminating monsters and searching for a dungeon until the sun began to set.
“That’s enough for today. I’ll continue tomorrow.”
Still, a faint sense of regret tugged at him.
So he expanded his dominion one last time.
Then, he felt it.
A strange disturbance.
“A dungeon.”
He walked toward the source of that alien sensation.
Before him rose a massive sand mound.
The dungeon was clearly deep beneath it.
A place so hidden that no exploration team would ever dare to reach it.
If Zeon hadn’t found it, no one would have ever known it existed.
After confirming there was no one nearby, Zeon used his power to move the sand.
Shrrrk!
The sand split to either side, revealing a passageway descending underground.
He stepped into the dark tunnel and walked downward.
After descending about a hundred meters, he found a round portal, the dungeon’s entrance.
Zeon entered immediately.
A brief sensation of floating, and the scenery changed in an instant.
Zeon wrinkled his nose.
A foul stench assaulted his senses.
“This dungeon reeks of death. A perfect find.”
Just from the smell, he knew what kind of dungeon it was.
A place ruled by the dead,
a dungeon of the departed.
As if to prove his guess right, zombies began shuffling toward him from all directions.
The dead, driven by instinctive hatred for the living, closed in.
Their half-rotten bodies crawled with flies and maggots.
Uwooooh!
Upon seeing Zeon, they screamed and charged.
He responded by unleashing Sand Blaster.
Pababababak!
The zombies hit by the sand blast were blown apart instantly.
They were never a match for him.
Even if the undead could not die,
they could not move once their limbs were shattered.
Soon, countless zombie corpses lay scattered across the ground.
Zeon walked calmly among them.
He was searching for the dungeon’s boss.
Fortunately, this wasn’t a high-ranked dungeon, at best, a C-rank.
Dangerous to ordinary awakened, perhaps, but no threat to him.
Zombies rushed and burst apart one after another.
He slaughtered them all, yet his expression remained unchanged.
To fully clear a dungeon, the boss monster had to be defeated.
But for some reason, there was no sign of it.
“Hiding out of fear?”
Zeon frowned slightly.
Some undead, though mindless, had unusually strong survival instincts.
When such creatures cowered in fear, it could be annoying.
“Tch. Fine.”
Glancing around, Zeon summoned a sandstorm.
If the enemy refused to come out, he would simply destroy every hiding place.
Kwagagagagaga!
A massive sandstorm tore through the dungeon.
Everything caught in it was shredded to pieces.
The C-rank dungeon quaked violently, as though it would collapse at any moment.
The destructive power was overwhelming.
As the devastating storm consumed everything, an undead finally appeared, an armored Undead Knight.
Its empty eyes fixed on Zeon, wide with shock.
It had never expected its lair to be obliterated so swiftly.
Zeon had no intention of dragging things out.
Pabababak!
Flaming spears rained upon the Undead Knight’s body.
Kuwaaaah!
It fell to the ground, letting out a mournful scream.
In an instant, Zeon subdued it and raised his ring.
“Purify.”
Hwaaaah!
A burst of blue light exploded from the Ring of Purification.
The light swept through every corner of the vast dungeon,
as if a blue sun had ignited within.
The aura of death that filled the dungeon vanished instantly.
The Undead Knight’s body dissolved into the light.
Yet its expression was serene.
“Thank you…”
Its final words of gratitude echoed softly, stirring Zeon’s heart.
One by one, every cursed soul that had become a zombie thanked him as they disappeared.
Left alone, Zeon gazed down at the ring.
“A C-rank dungeon was purified in an instant. At this level, it’ll be devastating even in A or S-rank dungeons.”
He had gained a formidable new weapon.