Chapter 428: Sand Beast
What kind of power, or what kind of person, could control everything within the Magic Tower?
"This place is full of oddities—one careless step and you'll run into danger. I suggest we don't split up..." Solan Monty said in a low voice, then looked at Leon, as if waiting for his reply.
"You're right, Master Solan. But there are ten paths here. If we all explore just one, when will we ever find the real passage?" Leon replied calmly, "Let's split up..."
After Leon spoke, everyone except Solan Monty nodded in agreement. Solan's suggestion was safe, but with ten paths to search one by one, how long would it take?
Ten people—just enough for ten paths.
Solan Monty's expression darkened, but he said nothing more.
"Then let's do as Magus Merlin suggests and split up..." Dalson nodded gravely, then took out a dozen purple crystals from his pocket, handing one to each person present. "If you find anything, use the crystal to inform everyone."
"Whisper Crystal..."
Leon knew these crystals were high-grade alchemical items crafted by the Crystalworks, usually used for transmitting messages. No matter how far apart, they could send news across great distances. The only catch was, the Whisper Crystal's messaging function was a bit unreliable—sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't...
Crystalworks is the largest alchemical shop in the Northend World, headquartered in the Odin Kingdom. Its branches are nearly everywhere—even the beakers and test tubes in Leon's alchemy lab back in Seaview City were made by Crystalworks. But Seaview City is too small; the branches never bothered to open there, so his lab's equipment was always outdated...
With a Whisper Crystal for each person and a few more moments spent hashing out the details, the ten of them each headed down a different path.
Leon chose the path on the far left. The instant he stepped forward, a violent spatial fluctuation nearly tore him apart. Then the turbulence vanished—his vision blurred, and suddenly he was standing on loose sand, beneath a gray sky and a blood-red sun that hung high, radiating heat and light. The wind howled, sweeping up endless yellow sand, and the air was bone-dry all around...
The scene before him left Leon utterly stunned!
He was in a barren desert...
"Damn it!"
Leon cursed instinctively, glancing around. A chill crept up from his feet to his scalp. He was certain this place was nothing like the Magic Tower—it was an entirely different world. He'd only stepped onto a path, so how the hell did he end up in a desert? Seriously, what the hell...?
Only now did he realize just how bizarre King Ronan of the Caucasus's Magic Tower truly was.
Before setting foot on that path, he'd observed for a while and even used his mana array to analyze it. Yet he hadn't noticed anything wrong—until he took that step and was swallowed by violent spatial turbulence. Thinking back, he had been far too careless...
He turned around and cast a detection spell. After a while, he was disappointed to find there was nothing like a teleportation alchemical array here.
His mind was filled with questions.
What the hell was going on...?
There’s no way he’d just end up here for no reason...
He stayed put for more than ten minutes, but still found nothing. Only then did Leon carefully move his feet, inching forward through the strange desert. The harsh sunlight baked every corner of the sand, and after just a short walk, sweat soaked his mage robes—only for the sun to immediately evaporate it again.
Gradually, Leon realized this desert was absurdly vast—like it stretched on forever. He walked for half an hour and saw no buildings, no life, just endless desolation in every direction.
Just then, the Whisper Crystal in his pocket suddenly lit up. He took it out and saw it was a message from Leon Merlin. Injecting a burst of mana, he heard a broken, intermittent voice from the crystal: "Where are you guys? Damn it, I'm seriously unlucky—ended up in the Pale Plane for no reason..."
Pale Plane...
Leon jumped in fright. What was going on? Leon Merlin, just like him, had walked down a path—so why had he ended up in the Pale Plane...?
Then where was he?
Somewhere in Northend, or on a plane of its own?
He couldn't be sure yet.
He had to keep moving, searching for more clues to unravel the mystery...
Just then, Leon clearly heard a faint 'shhh' from the scorching sand ahead. Suddenly, an enormous python—thick as a water barrel—burst out of the sand, its bloody maw gaping and reeking of foul stench...
Once the python had fully emerged from the sand, Leon got a good look at it. The creature was at least ten meters long, its body shimmering with pale blue light like a string of runes. Its speed was terrifying—covering more than ten meters in an instant. Its grotesque head lunged at Leon, fangs flashing coldly in the sunlight, the stench overwhelming as it attacked.
But instead of a tasty meal, the python was greeted by a blazing Fireblast, trailing a long tail of flame. With a thunderous boom, the massive serpent shrieked in agony, blasted back over ten meters by Leon's spell. Now Leon could see a head-sized burn on its once-smooth scales, bright blood pouring from the wound.
Leon frowned, eyes scanning the python, his doubts growing. What kind of place was this, to have such a powerful magical beast? That brief clash had told him the python was at least level thirty-three.
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Since arriving in this desert, the only living thing he'd encountered was this python—and its level was ridiculously high...
Even in the perilous Turin Mountains, you could count the number of magical beasts above level thirty-three on one hand. The floating palace built by the Long-Legged Emperor was pretty dangerous too, but not even a single beast there was above level thirty-three.
He really couldn't figure it out. What part of Northend was this desert, and how could it be so deadly, with random magical beasts over level thirty just wandering around?
If it were the old him, surviving in this desert would have been a struggle. Luckily, he’d recently established his core Meditation Codex, fusing three sets of codices into his mana array. Otherwise, killing a level thirty-three magical beast like this python would have taken a ton of effort—dozens of Fireblasts, and he still might not have managed it.
But now, things were different...
The blue glow and rune-like patterns on the python seemed to grant it strong magical immunity. If not for that, Leon’s Fireblast would’ve left it seriously wounded.
Now, Leon had fused three Meditation Codices—two of them with sixteen formulas each, the best Northend had seen in thousands of years. On top of that, he’d reached fifth-tier Magus level, with spellcasting speed, angles, and power all vastly improved.
Compared to two months ago, his strength was on a whole other level—at least ten times stronger.
A ghostly shape flickered past. The python, tongue flicking viciously and stench filling the air, locked its glowing eyes on Leon. Even wounded, it was still lightning-fast, instantly closing the gap and launching a furious barrage of attacks.
Leon didn’t flinch. He raised his staff and fired another Fireblast, trailing a long tail of flame. The spell smashed into the python, drawing another shriek—but Leon had no intention of stopping. His staff flashed again and again, launching Fireblast after Fireblast.
Three...
Four...
Five...
After the fifth Fireblast, Leon finally stopped. By then, the level thirty-three python had reached its limit—its body scorched all over, and in the end, it didn’t even make a sound as it collapsed into the sand.
That level thirty-three python died after just five Fireblasts...
Once Leon confirmed the python was dead, he gingerly stepped forward, ready to extract the soul mana crystal from its body. Walking on the scorching sand made him uneasy, and just as he bent down to retrieve the crystal, the sand beneath him began to tremble violently—an entire swath of desert was shaking.
There was something underground...
Leon jumped in shock, immediately casting an acceleration spell on himself and dashing away. Ever since arriving in this bizarre desert, he'd been on edge, his mana array running constantly. Yet even so, he hadn’t sensed a thing before whatever was underground appeared.
That was terrifying...
He thought back to when he was just a second-tier Magus. In the One-Line Sky Gorge, the Black Tower’s councilor Weiss was a master of wind magic, able to come and go without a trace. But even then, Weiss couldn’t evade Leon’s mana array.
Now, with his strength ten times greater, even his mana array hadn’t detected the underground presence...
Boom!
A thunderous roar sent clouds of yellow sand flying. Just after Leon escaped, a towering magical beast burst from the ground, jaws wide, swallowing the python whole. Its dark red eyes locked onto Leon from a distance.
Sand Beast... It really was a Sand Beast. How was this possible!
Leon nearly lost it, staring at the beast in disbelief. Since coming to this era, he’d never been so shaken.