The Crimson Desert Within
Everything in sight was red.
Zeon's mindscape brimmed with something crimson.
Eun Su-jin reached out and grasped the red substance with her hand.
It slipped through her fingers like water.
"This is s-s... sand?"
It was fine, delicate sand.
Blood-red grains, dyed by the sunset glow, filled Zeon's mindscape to the brim.
"What the hell?"
Eun Su-young, who had infiltrated Zeon's mindscape alongside her sister, blinked in confusion.
She had peered into countless minds, but this was a first.
"Why is there sand in a mindscape?"
"Is this really a human's mind?"
"What is this guy...?"
"We knew he was weird, but this is too much."
So barren and desolate.
She had never imagined anyone could have a mindscape like this.
"How does a person have to live to end up with a mind like this?"
"No idea. Seriously, no clue."
"Not sure mental manipulation will even work on a guy like this."
"We have to try anyway."
"Yeah."
The twin sisters placed their hands on the sand.
They intended to manipulate Zeon's mind through his mindscape as the medium.
The moment they injected mana into the sand—
Slrrrp!
Suddenly, the sand around them began to undulate.
"What?"
"Eek!"
The two startled sisters recoiled.
The sand kept rippling.
At first, it was just a small section. But the ripples spread across Zeon's entire mindscape in an instant.
"What the—?"
Then, something emerged from the undulating sand.
It was a human figure made of sand.
One, two, three...
The sand humans multiplied endlessly.
Soon, Zeon's entire mindscape was packed with them.
Innumerable sand humans, beyond counting.
The sheer overwhelming presence crushed the twins.
"Ahh!"
"So many sand humans!"
Their bodies trembled involuntarily.
At that moment, the lead sand human spoke.
"Invading and manipulating someone else's mind, huh? Neat ability. Not so fun from the victim's side, though."
"That voice—Zeon?"
"How'd you get in your own mindscape? Don't tell me you're a telepath too?"
The twins asked in shock.
The sand human shrugged.
"What's so special about me entering my own mind? You two barging into someone else's uninvited—that's the real impressive feat."
"What are you? How's your mind just sand? You really human? Or some monster?"
"And what about you two?"
"Huh?"
"You gonna tell me you're human, messing with other people's minds on a whim?"
"That's different."
"How? To me, you look more like monsters."
"Argh! We're not monsters!"
"Normal humans don't just mess with other people's minds willy-nilly."
"What do you know, you little shit? Don't talk like you get it when you don't."
Eun Su-jin and Eun Su-young wailed as if deeply wronged.
Zeon just watched them for a moment.
It was absurd— these intruders acting like victims.
"This isn't working. Get out of my head, both of you."
The Sand Soldiers surrounded and crushed down on Eun Su-jin and Eun Su-young.
"Argh!"
"Let go!"
The twins thrashed, but it was futile.
This was Zeon's mindscape.
He was the master here.
Everything bent to his will.
"Nooo!"
"Get outttt!"
With their final screams, the twin sisters were expelled from Zeon's mindscape.
"Gasp!"
They snapped their eyes open simultaneously.
Back in reality, not Zeon's mindscape.
Their bodies were drenched in sweat, eyes bloodshot with burst capillaries.
Zeon followed soon after, emerging from his mindscape into reality.
He rubbed his temples, head throbbing, and muttered.
"Ow, my head."
"He kicked us out?"
"Unforgivable!"
Their hair stood on end like seaweed in a current.
"The nerve. Didn't that old geezer you hang with teach you manners?"
"Don't badmouth Gramps."
"We're gonna kill you."
Suddenly, nearby objects floated into the air.
Bricks, rebar, random debris—all orbiting the twins.
Zeon furrowed his brow slightly.
"Telekinesis?"
"Yeah! We can move objects with our thoughts alone."
"Gonna rip you to shreds."
Telepathy at its peak allowed thought-based object manipulation.
That was telekinesis.
The twins' level rivaled top A-rank Awakeners. That's why the High Elder had sent them to stall Zeon.
Subduing him might be impossible, but buying time? Easy.
"Raaah!"
With their shout, the floating objects hurtled toward Zeon.
Whiiish!
At supersonic speeds.
At that velocity, even bricks became lethal weapons.
Speed amplified destructive power.
BOOM!
Everything around exploded and shattered.
The area turned into a hellscape in seconds. But Zeon, their target, was unscathed.
He had dodged far away the instant they launched.
"Coward!"
"Don't dodge!"
The twins yelled, hurling more objects at the distant Zeon.
No confidence in fully evading this time, Zeon unleashed Fire Rain.
"Hah!"
Countless fireballs poured down like rain.
Fire Rain intercepted every incoming projectile.
Boom boom boom!
Bricks and rebar exploding midair was a spectacular sight. But the twins had no time to admire it.
"Argh! What the—?"
"Die! Die already!"
They flung whatever they could grab, screaming. But nothing touched Zeon.
Furious, they abandoned objects and targeted Zeon directly with telekinesis.
Zeon felt an invisible force constricting his body.
Like hundreds of tons of rock crushing him.
The twins tried ripping his limbs off.
Blocking with Superheat Gauntlet skills alone wouldn't cut it.
"No choice."
Zeon sighed faintly.
He'd have to reveal this power eventually, though not like this. But once decided, he didn't hesitate.
Shhh!
With a gesture, sand piled on the ground condensed into high-pressure streams.
One of Zeon's main skills: Sand Blaster.
The streams slammed straight into the twins.
Thud thud thud!
"Aaaack!"
"Ow!"
Caught off-guard, they screamed.
Luckily, their barrier skill activated on impact, preventing fatal wounds. But the pain was real.
A necklace with an embedded blue gem dangled from their necks.
An enchanted item that triggered a barrier three times a day.
It saved their lives.
Eun Su-jin's eyes wavered.
"Attacking with sand? You use telekinesis too?"
"No way! Telekinesis can't control that much sand."
"Then you influenced the sand itself? Wait—you're a Sand Mage?"
"Bullshit cheat."
Young but seasoned A-rank Awakeners, they instantly grasped his ability.
"Bingo. Sand Mage."
"Whoa!"
"Fuck!"
Zeon raised his hand like a confirmation kill.
Another Sand Blaster erupted.
Whiiish!
Over a dozen streams rocketed forth.
The twins clasped hands and leaped back.
Telekinesis lifting their bodies.
The blasts merely pocked the ground.
"Scary."
"So scary!"
Terror flickered across their faces.
Zeon's Sand Blaster wasn't overwhelmingly powerful. Plenty of Awakeners had similar skills.
The issue? He surely had more—and worse—in his arsenal.
Now his mindscape made sense.
An endless sea of sand.
His potential.
If he could wield even a fraction here, victory was impossible.
The slums overflowed with sand.
The unknown skills he might unleash with it terrified them.
Zeon fired another Sand Blaster.
This time, over thirty streams.
Screee!
Faster than before.
The twins yanked nearby debris into a wall.
BOOM!
The wall exploded in a deafening blast.
Tremendous power.
Their eyebrows twitched.
"This won't do."
"Run."
"But our pride—"
"Pride later. Survival first."
"You're right."
"Tch! Gramps'll chew us out."
"No choice."
They floated away as-is.
Zeon watched them vanish into the distance.
He could track them anytime, but now wasn't the time.
BOOM!
An explosion rocked the White Bear Caravan's fortress.
The ground vibrated underfoot—a massive blast.
Things were escalating fast.
'Demian!'
His powers revealed, Zeon held nothing back.
Whoooosh!
Sand coalesced into a pillar, lifting him skyward.
From atop the sand pillar, Zeon surveyed the White Bear Caravan.
Their fortress was over half-collapsed now.
The battle had intensified.
More Awakeners fighting—not just scavengers and Dongdaemun forces, but from other districts too.
Bwooo!
A mournful cry echoed as a massive mammoth toppled.
The caravan's star beast, key to their survival, was dead.
The tide had turned decisively against them.
Zeon rode the sandstorm aloft.