Chapter 32: The Black Pillar
The sandstorm raged fiercely.
They had been walking for days, but far from weakening, the wind whipped even more violently around them.
Zeon and Dayton pressed forward, cutting through the blinding gale.
Dayton had wrapped a cloth around his nose and mouth. Without it, every breath would choke him with sand.
It was a grueling ordeal for any traveler crossing the desert—not just Dayton. But Zeon was the exception.
Unlike Dayton, Zeon walked with his face fully exposed.
The sand pelted his skin like it was trying to flay him alive, but it had no effect whatsoever.
He wasn't consciously shielding himself with his powers.
It was a natural phenomenon that had emerged as his abilities grew stronger and his talents blossomed.
He resonated with the sand as effortlessly as breathing.
Though the howling storm limited visibility, Zeon could sense everything dozens of meters away as clearly as if it were etched in the palm of his hand.
Then, something alien intruded on his senses.
It wasn't sand. It was something else entirely.
What the hell?
Zeon frowned in confusion. But Dayton strode straight toward it, as if he knew exactly what lay ahead.
A massive cubic pillar loomed before them.
Its black surface was etched with indecipherable characters.
Dayton caressed the pillar and murmured,
"It's been a while, old friend."
"You've been here before?"
"Thirty years ago, by pure chance. First time since."
"What is this thing?"
"Beats me."
"What?"
"Pure chance."
He meant it literally.
Back then, Dayton had been consumed by far more rage than he was now.
These days, he at least clung to some rationality. But then? Nothing of the sort.
Madness ruled his mind. That's why he'd unleashed a massacre in Neo Seoul.
He'd slaughtered the heteromorphs living inside the city.
Most slum dwellers didn't know it, but heteromorphs had dwelled within Neo Seoul's walls.
Stragglers from their own kind for one reason or another, they'd carved out territories and lived as part of the city.
Their contributions had been crucial to blending magic and science in Neo Seoul.
But for reasons unknown, Dayton had wiped out most of them in a single night.
Few survivors remained.
Neo Seoul had erupted in chaos, naturally.
That's how Dayton earned his moniker, the Butcher.
The city slapped a massive bounty on his head and hunted him relentlessly. But every pursuer lost their life.
After that, Dayton wandered the desert until he stumbled upon this pillar protruding from the sands.
"This pillar is the heart of a barrier."
"A barrier? What kind?"
"You think this sandstorm is natural? Even for a desert, this endless gale is unnatural."
"Hmm."
Zeon glanced around.
The wind blasted so fiercely that he couldn't see an inch ahead, unrelenting.
Only because Dayton transcended human limits and Zeon had awakened as a Sand Mage could they endure. Any ordinary Awakener would lose their bearings, wander, and collapse.
"Definitely not natural."
"Exactly. The barrier's blocking human intruders."
"Then destroying the pillar should collapse it."
"Physical attacks won't touch it. The pillar is both the barrier's core and a dungeon."
"A dungeon?"
"That's right. It's why I brought you here."
"What?"
"You'll see inside."
Dayton channeled mana into the pillar.
The inscribed characters lit up one by one until the entire structure blazed with light.
The glow swallowed Dayton and Zeon whole.
A moment later, Zeon cautiously opened his eyes.
"Where...?"
"A desert!" Dayton answered from beside him.
Just as he said—the landscape before Zeon was a desert.
The difference? No sandstorm.
"So the dungeon mimics a desert environment."
"Yep. Identical to outside."
Dayton still remembered his bewilderment the first time.
Finally find a dungeon, dive in, and it's a goddamn desert.
What was the point if it was indistinguishable from the outside world?
"What's in here?"
"No idea."
"Huh?"
"One difference from the outer desert: sensory distortion. Can't pinpoint directions."
"Hmm."
Zeon looked up at the sky.
No sun, despite the scorching heat.
That was the only way to tell inside from out.
"Something's definitely here. But I can't find it."
Dayton's instincts whispered it.
Whatever lurked inside was crucial.
The catch: find and destroy the dungeon core—boss or item—within seven days.
Fail, and on the eighth, you'd be ejected outside.
He'd challenged it multiple times. Failed every one.
No monster terrified him. But this enigmatic dungeon left him powerless.
"We must conquer it. Only then can we pass the barrier."
The outer barrier rejected Dayton too.
Ignore the pillar, wander the storm, and you'd loop back to square one.
That's when it hit him: no progress without conquering this dungeon.
Zeon was his only hope.
This sand-filled dungeon was perfect for a Sand Mage.
If Zeon couldn't find the core, no Awakener ever could.
"Lead the way from here. I'll follow."
"Hah. Heavy responsibility. If I find the core, you gonna stop calling me a bitchin'?"
"I'll upgrade you to 'slightly competent bitchin'."
"You senile old bastard."
Zeon grumbled but took point, his expression more serious than ever.
Even the great Dayton hadn't conquered this place.
Not due to lack of power, but mismatch. Still, taking on what had stumped him stirred quiet excitement.
Zeon maxed his dominion. His senses rippled out through the sand.
"What the—?"
He jolted.
His sensory range stretched hundreds of meters.
His domain had expanded rapidly lately, but not this insanely.
The dungeon's influence, probably.
He checked Exion too.
Its activity was off the charts compared to outside.
What is this dungeon? Tied to Sand Mages?
Dayton had mentioned it before.
Sometimes dungeons linked to specific Awakener classes appeared.
Conquering them was exponentially harder for outsiders.
This might be one for Sand Mages.
We'll see.
Zeon unleashed Sand Step and advanced.
In months traveling with Dayton, this was the first time Zeon led.
Dayton followed with arms crossed—full trust in Zeon's calls.
Charging ahead blindly won't work. Need a direction first.
No compass needed.
If this dungeon was truly his, the sand would guide him.
Tsssss!
Fine Exion particles seeped from his body, hovering around him.
Coated in it, Zeon resembled a black specter.
The drifting Exion soon rippled toward one direction.
Zeon Sand Stepped that way, Dayton trailing.
Activating Exion expanded his senses further.
He could detect sand shifts nearly a kilometer out.
The sensation would vanish outside, but for now, it was euphoric.
Like he was the god of this dungeon.
Zeon savored the thrill as they pushed on.
Two full days like that.
The dungeon's world felt impossibly vast, like the outside.
Sand everywhere.
No landmarks. Featureless terrain.
No clues for direction.
Any Awakener—even Dayton—would be disoriented.
Zeon halted his Sand Step and muttered,
"This must be it."
Exion floated idly now, no longer pointing.
As if its job was done.
Zeon reabsorbed it and scanned around.
Identical to everywhere else.
But different.
Dayton sensed nothing off, but Zeon felt it in his skin.
The sand's flow, hue, grains—all subtly altered.
Huuu!
Zeon inhaled deeply, ramping dominion.
Shrrrk!
Ripples spread from his feet.
Sand waved outward in circles.
"Hm."
Dayton watched with interest.
The sand seemed alive.
As it parted, Zeon's body sank slowly underground.
He'd once opened a path to a dungeon a hundred meters down, but this dwarfed it.
Already hundreds of meters deep.
The displaced sand volume was staggering.
No amount of Neo Seoul heavy machinery could match this speed.
Hundreds of meters down, a massive cavern emerged.
Zeon entered without hesitation, Dayton following.
The sands rushed back, sealing the path seamlessly.
Dayton clicked his tongue.
"No wonder I never found it, no matter how much I wandered."
Even he couldn't probe hundreds of meters underground.
Without Zeon, he'd never have spotted it.
Definitely a Sand Mage dungeon.
"Wonder what's inside."
Dayton had cleared countless dungeons, including S-rank boss lairs.
No monster was his match.
He'd claimed everything worthwhile, growing ever stronger to his current might.
If this was for Sand Mages, it'd yield something perfect for Zeon.
Then—
Shrrrk!
Sand erupted from the cavern floor, clumping together.
In seconds, it formed a humanoid shape.
Crude, unrefined—lumpy all over.
Eyes, nose, mouth, fingers, toes: all blunt and rough.
No one taught him, but the moment Zeon saw it, he knew.
"Sand... Soldier!"
A Sand Soldier.
As if hearing him, it lunged to attack.