Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert-Chapter 565
Chapter 565
“Uwooo!”
The roar of the Giants resounded thunderously across the desert.
Though they could not compare to large-type demonic beasts, the sight of giants averaging three to four meters in height charging in a group inspired chilling terror.
All of the Giants wore light armor.
It covered only the chest, heart, and head.
That alone was sufficient for defense.
All of it was crafted by the Dwarves.
The light armor, which would not so much as scratch under ordinary attacks, even had magic circles inscribed upon it that temporarily increased the Giants’ strength and destructive power.
Monsters already possessing overwhelming power were being upgraded to something even more formidable.
The enormous swords held in the Giants’ hands were also Dwarven creations.
Brandishing greatswords powerful enough to destroy even massive fortress walls in a single blow, the Giants advanced.
It was an expression of their confidence that they could break through the Steel Fortress’ attacks head-on.
Urtian’s expression twisted fiercely. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶
“They must think very little of us.”
He could tolerate many things, but he would never tolerate the Steel Fortress being looked down upon.
He knew well the strength of the Giants.
In terms of physical ability alone, no race could dare rival them.
But possessing powerful bodies did not mean one could achieve everything. If that were possible, the Giants would have long since ruled Earth.
Each race had its own characteristics, and each had its own field of excellence.
Just as the Zela excelled in magic, and the Dwarves excelled at crafting wondrous items.
In Urtian’s view, the most ideal existence was humanity.
Their strength could not compare to the Giants, their magical ability fell short of the Elves, and their craftsmanship was crude compared to the Dwarves.
But humans possessed one advantage that offset all those shortcomings.
“Imagination.”
The corners of Urtian’s mouth twisted upward toward the sky.
Even before the other races of Kurayan crossed over, humans had ruled Earth.
What elevated humanity to the dominant species was infinite imagination.
They imagined without limits, and they strove fiercely to turn what they imagined into reality.
Though Kurayan had countless races, none imagined and strove with such self-abusive intensity as humans.
Especially the humans of Earth lived several times more fiercely than the humans of Kurayan.
As though there were no tomorrow, they burned their time to create something.
The greatest result produced by Earth’s humans was Neo Seoul.
They burned everything to build their own city in the desert.
That was humanity.
A race with such immense potential and imagination that it could build a city even in a barren desert.
That potential was being displayed here.
Urtian looked at the large structure placed at the entrance of the Steel Fortress.
A massive rectangular box with dozens of holes pierced through it.
At a glance, it looked like nothing more than an unsightly box, but the humans called it ‘Sin'gijon’.
They said it was a reproduction of an ancient weapon recreated in a modern manner.
It used mana stones as its energy source and enhanced penetration and destructive power through several magic circles, though he did not know the detailed principles.
What mattered was that this weapon was not exclusive to the awakened.
Anyone could use it simply by pulling the trigger.
In fact, the one operating the Sin'gijon was not an awakened, but an ordinary person.
She was an ordinary woman in her early thirties.
She stood beside the Sin'gijon to protect her children.
There were five Sin'gijon in the Steel Fortress. At the others, too, stood ordinary people—someone’s mother or father—rather than awakeneds.
They had managed to create only five due to a lack of time and materials, yet their power was tremendous.
Now it was time to confirm that power in real battle.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
A strong vibration was felt beneath their feet.
The shockwaves created by the Giants kicking off the earth were reaching this far.
The faces of the Giants charging straight ahead, as though they cared nothing for the Steel Fortress’ attacks, came into clear view.
Upon those faces devoid of fear, he would carve great scars.
Urtian shouted,
“Fire the Sin'gijon.”
“Fire!”
The operators repeated loudly and pulled the triggers.
Fyu-fyu-fyu-fyuk!
Arrows were fired in succession from the holes.
They were not ordinary arrows.
Each arrow was an enormous projectile over two meters in length.
They had been made to face demonic beasts rather than humans.
Naturally, the materials were special.
The shafts were made of special alloy, and the arrowheads were crafted from demonic beast bones.
One Sin'gijon fired fifty arrows.
With five Sin'gijon firing simultaneously, a total of two hundred and fifty arrows were launched.
The two hundred and fifty arrows flew precisely toward the Giants.
Ramor, whose face was grotesquely scarred by burns, shouted,
“Hmph! Do you think this will stop the Giants? Break through headon!”
“Uoooo!”
The Giants neither avoided nor blocked the arrows.
For them, evading an enemy’s attack was shameful, so they chose to break through head-on.
They did not realize it would become the worst decision.
Arrows rained down like a storm upon the Giants’ massive bodies.
Puh-buh-buh-buhk!
The arrowheads mercilessly pierced into their flesh.
The areas covered by light armor deflected them, but the unprotected bare skin was deeply penetrated without exception.
The Giants’ eyes widened at the power of the arrows, which far exceeded their expectations. Yet not one screamed at wounds of this level.
To scream was shameful, and the injuries were not fatal enough to take their lives.
“Uoooo!”
Rather, they burned with greater fighting spirit and charged toward the Steel Fortress.
Watching the Giants rush like maddened bulls, Urtian sneered.
“Fools! Did you think that was all?”
At that moment—
Kwang-kwang-kwang!
The arrowheads embedded in the Giants’ flesh exploded.
All two hundred and fifty detonated in a chain reaction.
“Kraaaak!”
“Urgh!”
The screams of the Giants echoed across the desert.
No matter how sturdy their bodies, they could not endure the shock of arrowheads exploding within their flesh.
One Giant lost an entire arm, another suffered a massive wound to the chest.
In an instant, the Giant legion was drenched in blood.
Ramor’s eyes widened.
He too had suffered significant injuries from arrowheads lodged in his flesh.
It was only because he was far stronger than the others that he had fared this well.
The Giants who had taken the lead were in a truly miserable state.
Many were so gravely wounded it was a wonder they had not died.
“Tch!”
Ramor ground his teeth at the unexpected damage.
At that moment—
Fyu-fyu-fyuk!
The Sin'gijon fired again.
Ramor could not order another reckless charge like before.
“Block the arrows!”
“Grrr!”
“Damn it!”
With humiliated expressions, the Giants swung their greatswords.
Bang! Kwang! Boom!
The arrows that collided with the greatswords exploded one after another.
Whatever had been placed within the arrowheads, their explosive force was tremendous.
The powerful blasts cracked the greatswords and shook the Giants’ massive bodies.
Even so, true to their aggressive nature, the Giants did not retreat a single step.
Even as flesh was torn away and blood poured down from the aftershocks, they advanced stupidly.
It was to the point that the Beastfolk circling to the flanks sneered.
“Idiots!”
“They could have dodged, yet they chose to break through headon.”
At the same time, they too were astonished by the power of the Sin'gijon.
The might of a weapon created by mere humans far exceeded imagination.
Repo shouted,
“Beware those arrows!”
“Yes!”
Fortunately, the Beastfolk were not as reckless as the Giants.
They charged forward with nerves stretched taut.
Fyu-fyu-fyu!
The Sin'gijon turned toward them.
“Die!”
The middle-aged woman who fired it shouted hoarsely.
She was a woman who had struggled to survive with children in a survivor village.
Her husband had been eaten by a demonic beast, and she alone had stubbornly raised the children.
Had the awakeneds of the Steel Fortress not rescued them, she and her children would already have become food for beasts.
That was why the Steel Fortress was more precious to her than anything.
For her children’s sake, she had to protect it.
That was the reason she had taken charge of firing the Sin'gijon.
Once the Sin'gijon fired, all fifty holes had to be reloaded with arrows.
Carrying and loading the arrows was the task of the women and children.
Everyone stepped forward to defend the Steel Fortress.
While the awakened guarded the front lines, ordinary people like her did their utmost in the rear.
The traps and weapons placed throughout the Steel Fortress were operated by ordinary people pooling their strength.
Fyu-fyu-fyuk!
No sooner were the arrows loaded than they were fired.
When the mana stone used as a power source lost its energy, the woman’s son, who had been waiting nearby, quickly replaced it.
“Thank you, son.”
“Mom! There!”
Her son pointed to the Beastfolk approaching below the fortress.
The woman fired the Sin'gijon toward them.
“Kraaaak!”
“Urk!”
The Beastfolk tried to predict and evade the arrows’ trajectory, but it was useless.
The speed of the Sin'gijon surpassed their reaction time.
Thud! Thud!
The Beastfolk began to fall.
Even among the Beastfolk led by Repo, casualties mounted.
Kelota’s Giant Dwarves also suffered heavy damage.
At this rate, it seemed it would be an easy victory.
But the world did not unfold so predictably.
Boom!
With a thunderous blast, one Sin'gijon suddenly exploded.
Those operating it collapsed with screams.
The Zela, waiting in the distance, had fired magic and detonated the Sin'gijon.
“Destroy those arrow launchers.”
Taboaru shouted as he cast magic.
Following his command, the Zela relentlessly targeted the Sin'gijon.
Boom! Boom!
Under magical bombardment, the Sin'gijon exploded one after another.
Urtian gave the order without delay.
“Abandon the Sin'gijon and fall back.”
Since there were no arrows left to fire anyway, the people retreated without hesitation.
Boom! Kwang!
The traps and weapons installed below the fortress activated, and the vibrations shook the entire sandstone mountain.
“Urgh!”
“Damn it! How many traps did they lay?”
Even Repo looked exasperated.
Kelota was the same.
“Despicable humans! Stop using such cowardly traps and come out to fight.”
“Come out, humans!”
The awakeneds of the Steel Fortress did not budge at their provocation.
They had built all those traps and weapons precisely for moments like this.
They used everything they had laid around the fortress.
As a result, the other races of Kurayan suffered tremendous losses.
Before the battle had even begun in earnest, more than several hundred were already dead.
But because of that, every single trap and weapon installed by the Steel Fortress had been exhausted.
Not one remained unused.
Urtian gripped his shamshir in reverse and shouted,
“Defend our home!”
“Waaah!”
With a roar, Urtian and the awakened charged the invaders at once.
A brutal fight of flying blood and torn muscles awaited them.
But not one showed fear.
From somewhere within the Steel Fortress, a voice shouted,
“We will surely win.”
