Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert

[Translator - Peptobismol]

[Proofreader - Demon God]

Chapter 280

The Grey Ogre was in a frenzy.

Its eyes rolled back as it relentlessly hammered away at Moby Dick's shield.

Boom! Boom!

Each time the aura-imbued club struck, the shield trembled, as if it might shatter at any moment.

If it had only been the Grey Ogre attacking, Moby Dick’s shield wouldn’t have shaken like this. But it was the combined assault of all the other beasts that made it possible.

The Crimson Drake was wildly firing its Fire Breath, and the Giant Spider was hammering at the shield with all ten of its legs.

To add to the chaos, small and medium-sized monsters joined in, thrashing about violently, driving the confusion in the area to its peak.

Crack!

Screech!

Smaller monsters were crushed underfoot by the larger ones, like the Grey Ogre. Yet, not a single creature retreated.

Their resolve to break through Moby Dick’s shield was beyond belief.

No one knew what was driving these monsters to such extremes. But one thing seemed clear.

They were desperate.

It was at the height of this frantic assault that something changed.

Swish!

The fine dust particles floating in the air like plankton began to stir silently. But the beasts, with their crazed eyes, failed to notice.

Each time a monster struck the shield, the air quivered.

Riding the waves of this trembling air, the plankton-like particles settled on the monsters' heads and bodies.

Some were even inhaled into their respiratory systems.

Roar!

Shriek!

In an instant, the smaller monsters went mad.

These plankton-like particles were parasitic life forms.

They lived on Moby Dick's enormous body, symbiotically connected to the giant beast.

These creatures had a unique trait—they resonated with Moby Dick’s emotions.

Normally, they were harmless. But the moment Moby Dick experienced negative emotions, they transformed into deadly toxins.

Once inhaled into a creature’s respiratory system, they stimulated the brain, driving the host into a frenzy.

While B-rank or higher monsters, protected by their force fields, remained unaffected, the lower-ranked beasts lost their minds almost immediately.

Just like now.

The lower monsters forgot all about attacking the shield and began turning on each other.

The crazed beasts, their eyes wild, even launched attacks against the A-rank monsters like the Grey Ogre and Crimson Drake.

Furious at being attacked by such lowly creatures, the A-rank monsters shifted their focus.

They decided to wipe out the weaker beasts before resuming their assault on Moby Dick’s shield.

Though the smaller creatures were no match for the A-rank monsters, they could still be a nuisance. The more of them there were, the more annoying they became. And there were plenty of small monsters in this place.

They swarmed like waves, endlessly charging at the A-rank beasts.

Mixed among them were some C-rank and B-rank monsters.

The B-rank creatures, protected by their force fields, were not affected by Moby Dick’s parasitic life forms. But their instincts told them that they couldn’t get close to Moby Dick without first defeating the A-rank monsters, so they joined the assault.

Roar!

Screech!

Boom! Boom!

The roars of the beasts and the explosions of their clashes echoed throughout Moby Dick’s territory, creating a deafening racket.

“This is insane!”

“This makes no sense…”

Pavilsia and Kailey, momentarily forgetting the danger they were in with Lee Jung-ho, stared dumbfounded at the scene unfolding before them.

Pavilsia, who had wandered the desert for nearly a century, had never seen anything like this—a battle with so many different types of monsters mixed together.

“What in the world is Moby Dick, for so many monsters to gather like this…?”

At first glance, it seemed chaotic, but even monsters had their own ecosystem.

Typically, A-rank monsters wouldn’t invade the territory of another A-rank monster unless they were absolutely confident in victory.

In the monster world, there was no such thing as a 100% guarantee of victory, so they tended to avoid conflict.

The same held true for B-rank and C-rank monsters.

Once they established their territory, they didn’t leave unless absolutely necessary.

That’s why it was impossible for so many different types of monsters to gather and fight in one place under normal circumstances.

Clearly, Moby Dick was the cause.

Something about this mysterious whale was disrupting the monsters’ ecosystem.

Pavilsia looked anxiously at Lee Jung-ho.

While they were wasting time here, Archelon was getting weaker and weaker.

If they delayed any longer, they might miss the golden opportunity to save Archelon.

With that thought, Lee Jung-ho’s sword no longer seemed like a threat to him.

‘Let’s go, Archelon.’

He spoke to Archelon in his heart.

After over a century together, they didn’t need words to understand each other.

Thud! Thud!

Archelon, who had been motionless out of concern for Pavilsia’s safety, finally began to move, albeit with great effort.

Lee Jung-ho’s expression changed immediately.

“Why did you make Archelon move?”

“I didn’t. It’s moving on its own.”

Pavilsia lied without changing his expression, but Lee Jung-ho didn’t believe him.

“If you don’t stop Archelon right now, you’ll die.”

“Haha! How could I stop such a giant turtle? You’d better kill me instead.”

“Killing you won’t cancel the orders, will it? What about your granddaughter then?”

Lee Jung-ho’s blade shifted to Kailey’s throat.

Gulp!

The cold steel touching her neck made Kailey swallow dryly. But like Pavilsia, she didn’t beg for her life.

Seeing the defiance in both of them, Lee Jung-ho’s expression grew even harsher.

He hadn’t expected them to resist like this.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Even as this happened, Archelon continued to march toward Moby Dick.

Lee Jung-ho’s blade bit into Kailey’s neck, drawing blood.

“Hruk!”

Kailey let out a small gasp, startled by the sudden pain, but even as tears welled up in her eyes, she didn’t tell Pavilsia to stop Archelon.

Lee Jung-ho suddenly smiled.

“I guess you’ve all been underestimating me. You’re no longer useful now that we’re here anyway.”

The only reason he’d come with Archelon was to use the turtle as a guide to Moby Dick.

Having achieved that goal, he no longer needed Archelon, nor did he care about Pavilsia and Kailey’s lives.

Just as he was about to slice Kailey’s throat—

Boom!

A loud crash shook Archelon’s massive body like an earthquake.

Lee Jung-ho momentarily lost his balance.

Pavilsia and Kailey didn’t miss their chance, quickly retreating into a hidden compartment within Archelon’s shell.

It was a kind of refuge.

Normally invisible to the naked eye, it only appeared and activated when Pavilsia gave the signal.

Pavilsia had been preparing the escape route ever since Lee Jung-ho began threatening them.

“Damn it!”

By the time Lee Jung-ho realized what had happened, the two had already disappeared inside.

Shing!

He swung his sword, but it was in vain.

The refuge was like a pocket dimension of sorts.

“Damn it!”

Lee Jung-ho cursed at his first failure in a long time.

He wanted nothing more than to drag them out and cut them down, but the situation didn’t allow for it.

Boom! Boom!

With another thunderous crash, Archelon’s body shook again.

Outside, the Grey Ogre was attacking with its aura-imbued club.

The massive turtle made for an easy target.

In its current state, Archelon had lost its force field and was severely wounded, leaving it defenseless.

For the enraged Grey Ogre, who had been fuming from the lower monsters’ attacks, Archelon was the perfect target for its wrath.

Boom! Boom!

Roar!

Each time the Grey Ogre’s massive club struck Archelon’s shell, the turtle let out a cry of agony. But still, Archelon stubbornly marched toward Moby Dick.

Crack!

The Grey Ogre’s attacks finally began to shatter Archelon’s shell.

The sheer power was staggering.

Claire shouted at Lee Jung-ho.

“At this rate, we’ll all be in danger. We have to escape!”

“Can’t you control Archelon?”

“Not with my current ability. I’d need to use the Rainbow Pendant to take full control of him, but then we wouldn’t be able to use it on Moby Dick.”

“I guess we’ll have to abandon Archelon, then.”

“You’ve made the right choice.”

The two of them simultaneously jumped off Archelon’s back.

But as soon as they landed, they faced another problem.

The ground was crawling with monsters.

Shing!

“Stay close and don’t fall behind.”

Lee Jung-ho said as he slashed through the monsters in front of him.

Claire nodded silently and stuck closely to Lee Jung-ho’s back.

The place was swarming with monsters.

Smaller creatures leaped at Lee Jung-ho and Claire.

With their gaping mouths, sharp teeth, dripping saliva, and crazed eyes, they were terrifying.

If Claire had been left alone in this situation, she would have quickly become monster food. Thankfully, she had someone to protect her.

Shiiiik! Shing!

Lee Jung-ho mercilessly cut down the lower-ranked monsters.

Claire didn’t like Lee Jung-ho.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

She knew he was cold-hearted enough to kill even his own blood relatives if it served his mission.

But for that very reason, she knew she could trust him more than anyone when they were on the same side.

Claire stuck close to his back as Claire stuck close to his back as they moved.

Screech!

Roar!

All around them, lower-ranked monsters surged like a tidal wave.

And then there was the Grey Ogre, still attacking Archelon.

There was no time to relax or let their guard down for even a second.

It was then—

Roaaaaar!

The Crimson Drake, suddenly roaring in rage as it was swarmed by flying low-ranked monsters, unleashed its Fire Breath in all directions.

The searing flames consumed not only the nearby airborne creatures but also the ground-based monsters, burning them to ashes.

At the same time, the Giant Spider's webs spread out like a vast net.

The sticky, venomous threads disintegrated countless lower-ranked monsters, melting them away.

The overwhelming number of monsters that had once blanketed Moby Dick's territory was quickly thinned out.

Only a handful of large monsters remained—chief among them, the Grey Ogre, the Crimson Drake, the Giant Spider, and Archelon.

“Huff… Huff…”

Claire panted heavily, her face smeared with soot.

She had narrowly avoided the Crimson Drake’s Fire Breath. Had her reflexes been any slower, she would have been roasted alive.

Lee Jung-ho was no different.

Wiping the sweat from his brow, he surveyed the area around them.

The landscape had changed drastically.

Most of the lower-ranked monsters were gone, and the parasitic plankton-like creatures that had been floating in the air had been burned away as well.

Despite the chaos from earlier, the scene was now eerily quiet, as if none of it had ever happened.

And then—

Fwooooosh!

Moby Dick’s shield, which had been protecting the giant beast, flared brightly one last time, like a candle flickering before it goes out. In an instant, the shield vanished.

With the protective barrier gone, Moby Dick’s enormous form was now clearly visible.

A towering beast, over 120 meters in length and with a body circumference of more than 30 meters, floated silently in the air, looking down at them.

For a moment, both Lee Jung-ho and Claire felt their minds go blank.

It wasn’t just a massive beast—it felt like they were staring at an all-powerful deity.

The sheer difference in scale sent a chill down their spines.

“Unbelievable!”

Just gazing at Moby Dick inflicted a mental blow so severe that blood began to trickle from Lee Jung-ho’s mouth.

Claire, who was mentally weaker than Lee Jung-ho, was faring even worse.

And then Claire spotted something beneath Moby Dick, something looking back at them.

A smaller creature, a pure white baby whale that looked like a miniature version of Moby Dick, was poking its head out.

“It… it couldn’t be. Did it have a baby?”

[Translator - Peptobismol]

[Proofreader - Demon God]