Hunting the Crown Bison
Everyone knew that the endless desert was a dangerous place.
Even the monsters that lived there were always cautious and on guard.
There were as many monsters as grains of sand in the desert, scattered everywhere, and among them were plenty with an S-rank threat level.
S-rank monsters usually had their own firmly established territories. They rarely ventured out unless something extraordinary happened, but once they did, they turned the desert upside down.
That was why the desert's monsters—strong or weak—never let their guard down.
The Crown Bison was one such monster.
This massive bison, standing over three meters at the shoulder, had horns shaped like a crown on its head. That was how it got its name: Crown Bison.
Bison were herbivores by nature, but the Crown Bison was carnivorous.
In a world covered entirely by desert, where grass was impossible to find, it had evolved to eat meat.
The Crown Bison's prey consisted of small monsters and insects.
To find food buried deep in the sand, it always kept its nose to the ground as it roamed.
The sun blazed high overhead, but the Crown Bison paid it no mind, relentlessly searching for prey.
To sustain its enormous bulk, it needed a massive amount of food. That meant foraging diligently from morning until evening.
As it searched obsessively, the Crown Bison suddenly glanced down at its front hoof. Something felt off.
Whoosh!
Sand began to trickle down.
At first, it dismissed it as nothing. But the flow of sand quickened, and soon the bison's body started sliding down the dune along with it.
Mooo!
Sensing something ominous, the Crown Bison scrambled to escape the sand. But the more it struggled, the faster the sand poured away beneath it.
In the end, the Crown Bison tumbled down the dune with the sand.
Thud!
With a heavy crash, its massive body slammed into the ground.
The Crown Bison shook its head and tried to rise. But the sand had hardened like iron, constricting it tightly.
The harder it thrashed to break free, the greater the pressure became.
That was when it happened.
Splat!
A Sand Missile the thickness of a child's arm shattered the Crown Bison's head.
"Nice! That should cover our food for a while."
Someone rose from the sand nearby.
It was Zeon.
This had all been his doing.
He had lured the Crown Bison from atop the dune into a quicksand trap and finished it off with a Sand Missile.
An utterly efficient hunt of the massive beast.
Zeon pulled a dagger from his pocket and began skinning the Crown Bison.
Its body was enormous, but the edible parts safe for humans weren't all that plentiful. Only a small section of the chest was free of magic contamination and fit for consumption.
Zeon sliced away that edible portion with his dagger.
Even that "small" section was as big as Zeon's torso.
He picked up the meat and activated Sand Step.
Gliding across the desert sands, he arrived at a massive cactus.
Sitting beneath the house-sized plant was Dayton.
In front of Dayton lay a huge magic stone.
It was from the A-rank monster Titanoboa they had hunted the day before.
The Titanoboa had been over twenty meters long—a true behemoth.
True to its A-rank status, it wielded powerful skills, but Dayton had dispatched it with ridiculous ease.
The Titanoboa possessed a massive magic stone brimming with potent energy, befitting an A-rank monster.
Dayton plunged Clayon into the magic stone.
Clayon glowed red-hot.
It was absorbing the energy stored within.
The power was so immense that the process took considerable time.
Dayton focused every ounce of his concentration, aiding Clayon's absorption.
Zeon sat down carefully and began preparing the meat he had brought.
He sliced it into thin strips and laid them out in the shade.
The moisture evaporated quickly, turning the meat into tough jerky.
Zeon stored all but one piece in his subspace.
He chewed on the remaining jerky as he watched Dayton.
The absorption was nearing its end; Clayon was radiating intense heat.
It had been over a month since they left the Black Forest.
In that time, Dayton had cleared two dungeons.
Both had been buried deep in the sand, but Zeon's help had allowed them entry.
The Titanoboa had been the boss of yesterday's dungeon.
Impressive as its might was, to Dayton it was little more than a worm.
It's so unfair. How does a monster like that even exist?
To Zeon, Dayton didn't look human anymore—he was a monster.
Zeon himself had grown spectacularly in that month.
He had mastered sand manipulation, making short work of most monsters. But even he couldn't compare to Dayton.
Sizzle!
Finally, Clayon had absorbed every last bit of the magic stone's energy.
Drained of power, the stone reverted to an ordinary rock.
Clank! Clank!
Clayon suddenly disassembled in midair.
Its parts orbited Dayton before reassembling into one.
It had evolved anew, drawing on the magic stone's energy.
The evolved Clayon exuded even deadlier menace. But Dayton's expression as he gazed at it was far from pleased.
"Still not enough."
Zeon was dumbfounded by the mutter.
Clayon, which had evolved time and again, was already the world's strongest weapon. To call it insufficient was absurd.
What the hell is he planning to fight?
To an outsider, it might seem like the ravings of a madman. But Zeon, who had watched up close, knew there was a consistent logic to it all.
Every action Dayton took was tied to getting stronger.
Whether strengthening himself or Clayon, it was always one or the other.
He obsessed over power like someone gripped by compulsion.
Zeon's conclusion was simple: Dayton was preparing for war.
He didn't know the enemy, but it was clearly a match for the current Dayton. That was why he pushed so desperately to grow stronger.
Damn it! Did I regret sticking with him to the end?
A flicker of regret crossed his mind, but turning back now was out of the question.
Zeon tossed a piece of jerky to Dayton. Without a word of thanks, Dayton chewed it down.
"Let's move!"
Dayton stood after finishing the jerky.
Zeon nodded and swallowed the last of his own.
Dayton was already striding far ahead. Zeon hurriedly activated Sand Step to catch up.
The direction was east again.
Zeon wondered what lay at the end of it all.
They say there used to be an ocean this way.
The ocean.
He had only heard of it in old tales; almost no one alive had seen it for real.
Maybe someone like Dayton, who had lived so long. Those born after were out of luck—no chance to behold it.
Whoosh!
A fierce wind blew in.
Zeon pulled his robe tight.
The elf-made robe was lightweight and mobile, but it offered less protection than his old sand gator leather one. He had to cinch it hard to block the gusts.
No sand gators showing up this time?
Back then, he was confident he could take one without getting careless.
As Zeon grumbled and trudged on, Dayton—who was ahead—suddenly collapsed.
Bang!
A gunshot echoed across the desert heartland.
"What the—?"
Zeon dove flat to the ground.
He threw up a sand barrier around himself, bracing for more shots. Fortunately, no second one came.
"Where'd that come from?"
Nothing living registered within Zeon's sensory range.
It had to be a sniper shot from far beyond where he could control the sand.
That was when he spotted it.
Out on the distant plain, black silhouettes appeared.
Humans.
Not just one or two—easily over a hundred by rough count.
They raced toward them on desert buggies.
"Scavengers?"
Zeon focused mana into his eyes.
The distant figures sharpened into view.
"Them?"
Zeon recognized familiar faces on the lead buggy.
It was Jang Yong-beom's party, who had saved him from the sandworm.
Jang Yong-beom, Aiden, Mountain, and Giselle rode together.
About twenty buggies trailed theirs.
Zeon's eyes locked on the one right behind Jang Yong-beom's.
A man stood atop it, hefting a massive gun.
White smoke still curled from the barrel—he was clearly the shooter who hit Dayton.
"A magic bullet sniper?"
Rare as they were, some Awakeners wielded guns.
They could land shots with perfect accuracy from any distance.
Against giant monsters or those with barriers, they lacked punch, but against humans, they were supreme killing machines.
Neo Seoul had crafted guns blending magic and science for them.
Designed for sniping beyond detection range, their reach exceeded ten kilometers.
Coupled with the snipers' hawk-like eyes and precise senses, the result was devastating.
As it was now.
The one who had sniped Dayton from ten kilometers away was Rio Palona.
Rio was a sniper in the Numbers, Neo Seoul's mayor's direct execution squad.
The mayor wielded absolute power, using the squad to eliminate rivals.
Clack!
"I tensed up hearing it was the Butcher, but he's nothing special."
Rio smirked as he ejected the spent casing.
A snipe from ten kilometers—no Awakener, no matter how great, could sense the bullet coming.
Then Jang Yong-beom shouted from the lead vehicle.
"Don't get cocky. It's Dayton. The crazy old bastard."
"Heh! What's to fear from a dead geezer?"
Rio sneered at Jang Yong-beom.
He was certain Dayton was done for.
It was embarrassing having dragged all these other Awakeners along "just in case."
"By the way, there was one more guy."
Rio muttered as he chambered a round.
The rifle was perfect in every way—except it fired only one shot at a time.
That created a delay between shots. But Rio wasn't worried.
Zeon was still far off, and at that range, his rifle could handle it easily.
He peered through the scope, searching for Zeon.
Something writhed into view beyond the magical scope.
The instant he confirmed the image, Rio muttered unwittingly.
"No way! I aimed for the head!"
The figure rising was the old man he had just shot dead.
Sizzle!
White smoke rose from Dayton's forehead where the bullet had struck.
"Heh!"
Through the scope, Dayton was laughing.
Dayton reared his arm back with all his might and swung forward at full force.
Whoosh!
A terrifying whoosh ripped through the desert.
Jang Yong-beom yelled urgently.
"Everyone, watch out!"
Boom!
No sooner had he spoken than Rio's buggy exploded.
A massive greatsword was embedded in the wreckage.
Clayon.
Jang Yong-beom frantically scanned for Rio.
When he spotted him, his face twisted in horror.
Rio had been impaled by Clayon, splayed out like a frog.
No need to check—he was instantly dead.
Jang Yong-beom's lips curled in rage.
"You monstrous old fuck!"