Chapter 38 : Chapter 38

Chapter 38 : Sand Hell (1)

Every time I took a breath, scattered sand grains entered my nose and mouth.

I pulled up the turban I had bought from a nearby village to cover my mouth and nose.

An endless expanse of sand desert.

Not a single shade to escape the scorching sun.

Climbing over one sand dune only revealed another.

In this sand hell, pinpointing my location by terrain alone was nearly impossible.

Yet, I walked forward without hesitation.

- It seems like the demons are controlling beasts by embedding yellow crystals into their hearts!

- It looks like some kind of authority, but I don’t quite understand their intentions. What could they want by connecting with so many beasts… Can you find out?

I accepted Nofen’s request without a second thought.

Tracking demons was something I wanted to do as well.

Nofen tracked the demons, and I analyzed them.

That was why we became a team.

Above all, he had a special ability tailored for tracking demons.

[Nofen has activated ‘Demon’s Trace Lv.2.’]

[You are sharing the caster’s vision.]

The traces of the demon Nofen was tracking became vividly visible to me.

A purple thread-like strand of magical energy.

It was an ability that visualized the direction of a target linked to the demonic residue Nofen had extracted from the yellow crystal.

Since there were more than a few beasts tied to the yellow crystal, the purple threads were tangled like a knotted skein.

I followed the thickest thread among them.

I had heard that the thickness of the thread was proportional to the amount of demonic energy it carried.

My judgment was that the entity with the strongest demonic energy was likely the demon behind this disturbance.

With that in mind, I followed the thick thread.

…The problem was that this desert was filled with threats beyond just beasts.

The scorching sunlight and the harsh natural environment where my feet sank into the sand were bearable, but there were places so dangerous that a wrong step could leave no trace of me.

A prime example was the Atelier of the Dark Mages.

These were magical workshops where dark mages holed up to pursue their grand ambitions.

In their ateliers, they conducted nefarious experiments to achieve their goals.

As a result, each atelier was like a booby trap, unpredictable in what dangers might erupt.

After the Adjak Expedition set out for Myeolji and waged a large-scale war, dark mages—little more than pawns of the demons—faced even harsher persecution.

Consequently, the number of dark mages hiding in the barren land of Hamdel surged.

Rumors even spread openly that Hamdel had nothing but sand and dark mages.

Now, aside from desert tribes, almost no one visited Hamdel.

Groooar…

Right in front of me, a chimera was roaming.

Its legs and body were those of a cow, but it had an unnaturally small reptilian head.

Wings, torn from who-knows-what, were also grafted onto its back.

It charged at me with murderous intent, but tears streamed down from its slit-like reptilian eyes.

After achieving a qualitative enhancement, my refined mana infused the Branch of the World Tree.

I raised the branch and sliced through the chimera’s neck in a single stroke.

Thud.

The massive body collapsed, kicking up sand.

I left the corpse behind and moved to follow the magical thread, only to meet another pair of eyes staring at me.

“Here we go again.”

Crunch!

I stomped on the Arlook’s eyeball, crushing it.

These creatures, intermittently found where the purple thread led, seemed connected to the demon wielding the yellow crystal.

The increasing number of beasts suggested I was heading in the right direction…

As I rubbed my foot in the sand to clean off the Arlook’s remains, I felt an unusual sensation beneath my feet.

Not the soft, sinking sand, but a solid surface. I adopted a cautious stance and brushed away the sand with my foot.

Beneath the sand was a wooden roof. Sand poured through a hole in it.

Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be an atelier that had already been overrun.

Could the chimera I just killed have come from here?

No special aura emanated from within, suggesting the atelier had been raided long ago.

‘There are ateliers in Hamdel that the Adjak Expedition raided…’

But my priority now wasn’t finding ateliers the Adjak had conquered—it was completing the mission.

I continued following the purple magical thread.

* * *

I walked without unfurling [Wings of Ainsitel], which attracted the attention of beasts.

After crossing the desert for quite some time, I finally reached my destination.

To be precise, I discovered that the magical thread led into the sand.

I began digging through the sand with my hands.

Even after digging deep, I found no clues.

Yet the thick purple thread still pointed downward, as if insisting that traces of the demon were here.

‘Well, the atelier I found earlier was too easy to discover. That’s probably why it was raided.’

After checking for nearby beasts, I subtly unfurled [Wings of Ainsitel].

Floating into the air, I began flapping my wings forcefully toward the ground.

Whoosh—Whoosh—

The wind pushed the sand away far faster than my hands could.

After flapping my wings for a while, I discovered a massive stone gate buried in the sand.

I folded my wings, landed, and heaved the gate open.

Its weight was considerable, requiring me to augment my strength with mana.

Inside was a hole leading downward.

A faint light flickered within, as if a torch had been lit.

Tap-tap.

I tapped the communicator linked to Nofen and relayed briefly,

“I’ve found the demon’s stronghold. I’m going in.”

* * *

I prepared thoroughly.

To respond instantly to any crisis, I circulated mana through my body to enhance my physical abilities.

Gripping the Branch of the World Tree tightly, I leaped into the space visible inside the stone gate.

The interior was far larger than I had imagined.

It was a vast chamber surrounded on all sides.

Torches burned on the walls, but their light didn’t reach the deeper parts.

To survey the interior, I had to walk for quite a while.

“No immediate threats detected. I’ll proceed carefully, following the thread’s direction.”

- Got it, be careful…

Nofen’s voice, tense and quiet, whispered through the communicator.

No demonic energy was detectable.

Aside from the ceiling, where stone slabs had been removed, the space was practically sealed.

Given that the magical thread led inside, there had to be a demon here—or at least something touched by its energy.

But the absence of demonic energy in the air only heightened my tension.

To sharpen my senses, I removed the turban covering my mouth and nose.

Step, step.

My footsteps were the only sound.

The echo suggested the space was vast.

The torches flickering on the walls provided some light, but they were too far to illuminate the chamber’s depths.

Still, I kept following the purple thread…

Then I saw a single stele standing upright.

The purple thread was embedded in its center.

I hadn’t expected this to be the final destination, but I could vaguely guess the stele’s nature.

“There’s a Boundary Stone.”

A Boundary Stone was a rare artifact, even in Myeolji.

It could seal anything inside.

While sealing artifacts weren’t uncommon, Boundary Stones were renowned for not letting even a trace of the sealed entity’s energy escape.

They were also highly convenient, able to be opened and closed remotely.

- What? That rare thing? Why?

“It feels like a trap.”

Nofen’s bewildered voice came through the communicator.

But there was no time to respond.

Rumble-rumble-rumble—!

As I approached, the Boundary Stone began to tremble.

Crack!

The Boundary Stone split open, revealing an overwhelming surge of dense demonic energy.

Flash! A burst of light erupted from the cracked Boundary Stone, and a Grade 2 beast, Alkmyon, emerged.

‘The thickest thread wasn’t leading to a demon—it was connected to Alkmyon.’

Standing three meters tall with bulging muscles, its forearms were as thick as my torso.

A single direct hit from its fist could be fatal.

In Tune World’s lore, Alkmyon was practically the origin of ogres.

Grade 2 beasts were said to be manageable only by those of Fifth-Rank or higher.

The Fifth-Rank was a realm difficult to reach through mere effort.

It required knights who could wield aura, mages who had awakened their unique magic, or those who had mastered a single Tune to its extreme—individuals who had surpassed their limits.

The Carnot I encountered at Chilgong Fortress was an exception among Grade 2 beasts, but I couldn’t think of a way to defeat this one now.

I tapped the Tello communicator and briefly informed Nofen,

“It’s an Alkmyon.”

Freshly released from the Boundary Stone, Alkmyon stood dazed, as if it hadn’t fully regained its senses.

This might be my only chance. I took a cautious step back, turned, and began to run.

But Alkmyon outpaced me, blocking the passage.

It didn’t seem fully aware, but its instincts were driving it to corner its prey.

“Escaping won’t be easy.”

- I’ll request backup right now! Just hold on a little longer!

Could I hold out until help arrived?

The only silver lining was that Alkmyon had no armor or club.

I launched myself forward, darting past its side and slashing its flank with the Branch of the World Tree.

The cut felt shallow—[Cutting] barely took effect.

But in its dazed state, Alkmyon couldn’t react immediately to my movements.

As I tried to escape the chamber, an odd sight unfolded before me.

The purple threads, tangled in every direction, began to writhe all at once.

They were closing in on me—or rather, the entities attached to the threads were.

Kieeeek!

Shaaa…

Demonic energy mixed into the air.

The footsteps and cries of countless beasts echoed from nearby.

Soon, a flood of beasts poured through the stone gate I had entered.

So many surged in at once that some were crushed to death under the weight of those above.

Rumble-rumble-rumble!

As the beasts regained their senses and charged toward me, the chamber filled with the sound of their footsteps.

Alkmyon behind me, a horde of beasts in front.

A monster wave had begun.

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