Brother from the Sands
Aleksandr was furious.
He had led his caravan all the way to this distant place for a legitimate trade.
The goods he carried were practically lifelines for the people of the Akutsuk Colony. Yet Kim Jae-kyung and Brickston had tried to seize them through brainwashing skills.
It was an unforgivable act.
"I'll kill you."
Boom!
His fist slammed into Brickston's chest.
"Kuhk!"
Brickston's face twisted in an instant.
The tremendous shock had ravaged his entire body.
If not for his heavy plate armor, his ribcage would have caved in completely.
It was a strike of truly monstrous power.
But Aleksandr's assault wasn't over yet.
"Chaat!"
Another ferocious blow followed.
Brickston hurriedly swung his hammer.
Boom!
Fist met hammer with a resounding metallic clang.
Brickston's body skidded backward, while Aleksandr's massive frame jolted slightly.
One wielded a hammer—a proper weapon—while the other fought bare-fisted.
Yet the hammer-wielder was the one pushed back.
The hierarchy was crystal clear.
But Brickston couldn't accept it.
"A desert peddler stronger than me? In your dreams."
In that moment, the black pupils vanished from his eyes.
It was the telltale sign of his Berserker skill activating.
Once fully triggered, the Berserker skill more than doubled his attack power in an instant. The downside: he lost all reason, unable to distinguish friend from foe.
It had to be stopped before it fully engaged.
Kim Jae-kyung shouted.
"You idiot! Don't activate the skill. We need to retreat now."
But her cry came too late.
The black had completely vanished from Brickston's eyes, leaving the whites bloodshot red.
The Berserker skill was fully active.
"Kill."
Reason obliterated, Brickston charged at Aleksandr with terrifying momentum.
Boom!
With an explosive roar, Aleksandr was the one shoved back this time.
Rage flickered across the caravan leader's face at the setback.
The moment he prepared to unleash his full power in anger—
"Fall back."
A youthful voice reached Aleksandr's ears.
Without a second thought, he retreated instantly.
At that exact moment, the boyish voice rang out again.
"Direction Disturb."
A red light plunged down onto Brickston's body.
Devoid of reason, he couldn't dodge and took the full brunt.
In an instant, Brickston's senses went haywire.
His enemy was right there in front of him, yet he couldn't figure out how to approach.
The skill disrupted the target's spatial awareness, sowing utter confusion.
For someone like Brickston, lost in Berserker frenzy and incapable of sound judgment, its effect was amplified severalfold.
The more he lunged at Aleksandr, the farther he drifted away.
"Captain!"
"Damn it all!"
His accompanying warriors cried out desperately, but he had already stumbled beyond the fortress walls.
Kim Jae-kyung yelled.
"Everyone, retreat!"
In the end, the Dongdaemun Awakeners suffered heavy losses and fled the caravan.
"You bastards!"
"Kahk! Ptooey!"
The victorious White Bear Caravan Awakeners heaved ragged breaths, spitting phlegm in contempt.
Even in triumph, their fury remained unquenched.
Unexpectedly, it was the boyish-looking young man who calmed their heaving rage.
"Everyone, good work. Let's cool down now. This kind of disruption was expected anyway."
As if under a spell, the White Bear Caravan Awakeners regained their composure.
That was one of the boy's powers.
The youngest among them, yet more reliable and trustworthy than anyone.
The boy's name was Demian.
Aleksandr approached and clapped Demian on the shoulder.
"Well done."
"Nah, it was nothing."
Demian flashed a bright smile, white teeth gleaming.
"You know you're always a rock for us, right? Keep leading us well from here on out."
"People might misunderstand if they hear that. The caravan's real leader is you, Captain."
"But everyone knows you're the one actually steering us. We wouldn't have made it here without you."
"Don't say that. The others are around."
"Got it."
Only then did Aleksandr remember the others inside the caravan, watching from the side.
His gaze shifted to Zeon and his group.
Naturally, Demian's eyes followed.
The moment Demian laid eyes on Zeon's group, they widened in shock.
"Hyung?"
An unexpected term slipped from Demian's lips.
"Hyung? What're you talking about?"
Aleksandr beside him asked, but Demian didn't respond. He couldn't.
His gaze was locked on Zeon.
Zeon spoke up.
"Demian, it's you."
"It really is hyung. I thought I was seeing things, but it's you for real."
"I thought I was hallucinating too. You showed up out of nowhere."
"Haha!"
Demian burst into laughter.
A mix of joy and sheer absurdity.
He never imagined running into Zeon here.
He knew Zeon was from Neo Seoul.
But Zeon was a wanderer, with no set time for returning.
Demian hadn't expected to meet him at all.
The utterly unforeseen reunion felt wondrous and delightful.
Zeon approached Demian.
"You've grown a lot."
"It's been seven years already."
"You've changed quite a bit."
"Really? Everyone says I look the same."
"That's how it looks to me."
"Then you must be right. Anyway, I'm thrilled to see you like this. When did you get back to Neo Seoul?"
"Not long ago."
"Ah, that explains why I didn't know."
Demian nodded vigorously.
Then Aleksandr stepped up beside him.
"Won't you introduce me too?"
"Oh! Let me introduce you. I've mentioned him before, right? The hyung I met in the desert seven years ago."
"Ah, you're that guy. Nice to meet you. I'm Aleksandr Furzenko, leader of the White Bear Caravan."
"Zeon."
Aleksandr and Zeon shook hands.
Aleksandr scanned Zeon head to toe with sharp eyes but found nothing remarkable.
Demian asked Zeon.
"You here to buy stuff too, hyung?"
"Nah, just tagging along with this guy to browse."
Zeon pointed to Briel with Eaton's group. Briel approached Zeon and greeted cheerfully.
"I'm Briel. Nice to meet you!"
"Nice to meet you too. But you don't strike me as ordinary."
"What?"
"Just a feeling..."
"You don't seem ordinary either."
"Guess we're even then."
Demian chuckled softly.
Briel, meanwhile, glared at him with eyes full of wariness.
Thankfully, her conical hat hid the glare.
This guy's weird.
She was a High Elf.
Though her senses were dulled by drugs, her innate elven intuition remained sharp.
Something off-putting emanated from Demian.
A High Elf like her wasn't prone to mistakes.
Then Demian spoke to Aleksandr.
"Captain, just open up to the third floor for them. Prioritize anything they need—I'll take responsibility."
"Understood. Consider it done."
Aleksandr nodded.
Zeon told Briel.
"I'm gonna talk with that guy, so check out if there's anything useful."
"Be careful!"
"Of what?"
"Demian. Something feels off about him."
"Got it."
Zeon nodded, and Briel trotted off.
Zeon said to Demian.
"Wanna walk?"
"Sure."
The two left the fortress and strolled across the sands.
Zeon spoke first.
"From Akutsuk Colony?"
"As you know, I couldn't go back to Kamchatka. Had to find somewhere else."
Demian hailed from the Kamchatka Colony.
His father, Bellov, had run a caravan there, and Demian had toughened up in its harsh world.
But Bellov had lured Dayton and Zeon into a trap under pressure from heteromorphs, only to be killed by them.
Returning to Kamchatka was impossible.
Demian had wandered the desert alone.
After months of drifting, he finally reached Akutsuk.
Akutsuk back then was a husk of despair, devoid of dreams or hope.
Relentless monster assaults had left the barriers on the brink, short on food, weapons, and will.
Its fall was only a matter of time.
Demian was the one who proposed the solution.
He manipulated the caravan for trade with other colonies, smuggling in vital supplies.
Easier said than done—the path was brutally arduous.
Scarce few trusted the unassuming boy.
And he wasn't even from Akutsuk.
Naturally, suspicion abounded.
The sole believer was Aleksandr, leader of the White Bear Caravan.
Back then, Aleksandr captained the self-defense squad, shielding the colony from monster raids.
Even in utter hopelessness, he clung to a thread of faith and fought on.
Believing someone would find a breakthrough.
That someone was Demian.
While others dismissed his ideas as delusions, Aleksandr inexplicably trusted him.
In the end, Aleksandr partnered with Demian to form the caravan—the birth of White Bear.
Demian proved astonishingly capable.
He navigated the compass-defying desert flawlessly and sensed monster movements ahead, averting disasters.
A perfect Navigator awakening.
His abilities grew stronger over time.
Eventually, he located another surviving colony far from Akutsuk.
"Honestly, the beginning was the hardest. After that, it got easier. Luckily, they had what we needed, and our goods helped them too."
After the first successful trade, faith in Demian soared.
White Bear Caravan expanded rapidly, improving Akutsuk's fortunes in tandem.
Barriers rose higher, weapons lined the walls against monster hordes.
Residents gained security and a sliver of leisure.
"That success made me want to scale up. That's when Neo Seoul came to mind. Trading with it could really boost Akutsuk."
"The road here must've been rough."
"Brutal. The dangers en route to Neo Seoul are on another level."
"Figured."
Zeon nodded.
No monsters lurked near Neo Seoul. But beyond the anti-magic field's reach, the desert teemed with them.
Some too vast even for high-rank Awakeners.
Finding a safe path through that gauntlet bordered on impossible.
Yet the boy who made it possible stood before him.
Demian smiled at Zeon.
That smile felt strangely ominous.