"Yes, sir!"
With a sharp command from Lucius, the Vanguard moved into position.
The group, composed of roughly two hundred elite soldiers, was an imposing sight of white and gold against the gray of the desert.
They advanced in a perfect wedge formation, forming a "V" with the twelve battle mages at the center, protected by shield knights, while soldiers flanked both sides, keeping their catalysts active and ready to strike at any moment.
The horses galloped in a steady rhythm, their hooves producing a muffled sound against the gray sand. Lucius kept his mount alongside the General's, his excitement practically overflowing from his expression.
"So far, the purification of this sector has been the most efficient of the campaign, General," he commented, raising his voice above the sound of the wind.
"My group eliminated more than three hundred specimens in the last forty-eight hours alone. Between the smaller worm nests and those scorpions, we left nothing standing."
The vice-commander gestured with one hand, pointing toward the dunes rushing past them.
"I noticed that the deeper we advanced, the monsters' physical resistance increased, but their intelligence seemed to decrease. They fought like cornered beasts with no strategy." His tone carried a hint of amusement as he said it.
Valerius did not take his eyes off the horizon for even a second. He remained like a statue atop his mount, the reins firm and his expression icy.
"And what else?" he asked.
"We've killed seven brood queens since this morning," Lucius continued, clearly eager to impress the General with the numbers.
"If we keep this pace, the Ashen Desert will be nothing but a myth by the end of the week. You should have seen how the mages handled the last underground nest—absolute incineration. Not even ashes were left to tell the story."
Lucius smiled, his eyes shining with the thought of imminent glory.
To him, this incursion was a display of power.
He didn't seem to notice that as they pushed deeper, the sound of the wind was changing and the gray sand had begun to accumulate in the folds of their armor.
Valerius, however, felt the change.
He narrowed his eyes, watching the shadows dancing between the ashen dunes ahead, remaining silent while Lucius continued listing enemy casualties.
"Lucius," the General called, his voice cutting through the young man's report of achievements. "Do you have any idea how many Cindralisk tribes exist in this desert?"
Lucius hesitated for a moment, but quickly recovered his confident smile, striking his chest with a fist.
"The exact number is irrelevant, sir. The deeper we go, the stronger they may become, that's true... but with our squad? Even a Platinum-Rank adventurer would think twice before standing in our way—let alone with you leading us."
He finished with a slight bow of his head, placing Valerius on the same level as the living legends of the continent.
Valerius gave no reply. His horse continued forward while his eyes remained fixed on the dunes.
Suddenly—
"We're close!" the soldier responsible for tracking shouted, raising his arm while holding the crystal staff.
"The [Solar Aether Link] is vibrating. It's telling me the trail ends just ahead. They're right beneath us!"
The General raised his right hand.
In perfect unison, the two hundred mounts stopped, kicking up a curtain of gray dust.
"Step forward," Valerius ordered the tracker. "Lead the way."
"Yes, sir!"
The soldier obeyed, moving cautiously. He followed the invisible threads of mana that only his trained eyes could see, stopping in a depression between two massive dunes.
He turned back, excited.
"Here, General! Beneath this layer are the main tunnels! It's an entire tribe!"
"Lucius, take command," Valerius ordered without bothering to dismount.
Lucius happily accepted the order and jumped down from his horse in a fluid motion, unsheathing his sword, which gleamed with intense golden light under the sun.
He walked to the front of the army and turned toward the men with an inspiring smile.
"Prepare yourselves, sons of the Sun!" he proclaimed. "Today the desert calls for purification! We will not allow the shadows to find refuge beneath our feet. By the Light—eradicate the plague!"
Lucius pointed to the ground and roared the attack order.
The mages and soldiers began bombarding the area with impact spells, forcing the collapse of the upper crust.
The sand gave way, revealing the dark cavernous architecture of underground tunnels—a vast network capable of housing hundreds of monsters.
But the moment the entrance was exposed, the ground didn't simply collapse.
It exploded.
BOOM!
A colossal serpent burst from the depths like a volcano of scales.
It was at least twenty meters long, with rigid scales above its eyes that protruded like demonic horns. Its eyes were milky white orbs devoid of pupils, shining with predatory hunger.
Lucius reacted quickly, reaching out to pull the tracker beside him—but the snake was faster.
It erupted beneath the soldier, launching him into the air in a spray of dark sludge. The man let out piercing screams before crashing down heavily, his body coated in a thick greenish liquid.
It was a corrosive venom so potent that the white armor blessed by the Empire began to melt and hiss like wax in fire.
"Help him!" Lucius shouted, dragging the writhing soldier back into formation while the troops reacted, unleashing volleys of magic at the creature.
Healing mages rushed forward, pouring potions and regenerative spells over the melting metal fused to the soldier's flesh, desperately trying to save him.
Lucius, his face speckled with sand, looked toward the General, waiting for a counterattack order.
But Valerius remained motionless on his horse, watching the serpent with cold disdain.
"It's an Abyssal Sand Serpent," he said, his voice sounding like a final verdict. "Its level should be around 110. It's a solitary monster—it does not live with Cindralisks."
Lucius paled, his hand trembling around the hilt of his sword.
"You were deceived, Lucius."
"W-what?" Lucius froze.
"The Cindralisks used their own trail to lure you into this beast's feeding territory," Valerius continued, glancing at the now-destroyed tunnel entrance. "The underground tribe is empty. They left long ago."
Lucius felt the blood drain from his face.
He had fallen into a monster trap?
His expression collapsed instantly, the flush of pride giving way to corpse-like pallor. He stammered, his voice losing its earlier authority.
"G-General... I beg your forgiveness. I could not have predicted that these... vermin... possessed the cognitive ability to forge false trails and use a higher-level predator as bait. I assumed that—"
"Your mistake," Valerius interrupted, his voice sharp as a guillotine, "was underestimating the enemy. Cornered monsters are not merely monsters—they become survivors."
While the General spoke, his eyes remained fixed on the battle ahead, ignoring the vice-commander's pleas.
The Empire's soldiers had already reorganized with formidable discipline. The elite horses neighed under the tension but remained firm, their hooves planted in the gray sand, trained not to falter even before the breath of death.
"Go," Valerius ordered with an indifferent wave of his hand. "Correct your mistake."
"Yes, General! Your wisdom is... absolute!" Lucius exclaimed, regaining composure through desperation to redeem himself.
The Abyssal Sand Serpent was a blur of fury.
It moved with unnatural speed for its size, lashing its tail and sending soldiers flying like rag dolls.
From its fangs, jets of emerald-green acid sprayed continuously.
"Barriers!" a sergeant shouted.
The battle mages acted in unison, projecting hexagonal shields of light that hissed and smoked as the acid struck them, preventing the venom from bathing the troops.
Of course, not everyone was lucky. A soldier to the left let out a short, horrific scream when the corrosive liquid struck his arm, melting flesh and metal in seconds.
"Bind it!"
Chains of solid light were fired again, whistling through the air before embedding themselves in the serpent's scales. The creature roared, thrashing its massive body and dragging the soldiers holding the restraints.
That was when Lucius advanced.
He drew his sword, the blade vibrating with unstable solar energy.
"[Aether Reinforcement: Strength of Helios]... [Blade of Sacred Judgment]!" he murmured hurriedly, feeling power surge through his muscles, his golden hair seeming to ignite.
With an explosive leap that sank the sand beneath his feet, Lucius launched himself toward the serpent's body.
"Support! Now!" he roared.
Below him, the twelve battle mages raised their catalysts.
"Incinerate!"
A pillar of white fire struck the serpent's flank, distracting it and forcing it to open its guard.
Lucius seized the opening, his mind pounding with the shame of failing before Valerius.
He needed that blood to stain his blade so his honor could shine again.
Lucius descended like a golden comet, his blade driving into the upper body of the serpent as the General watched from atop his horse.
The impact was brutal.
The moment Lucius's blade met the serpent's flesh, it tore through the scales like paper, plunging deep into the creature's spine.
Blood—thick and nearly black—erupted under high pressure, bathing Lucius's golden armor and turning the gray sand around them into a steaming, viscous sludge.
The battle did not last long.
Faced with two hundred men of the Imperial elite, the level-110 creature was already wounded and had only seconds left to live.
Under the rhythmic commands of the sergeants, golden chains of light multiplied, crossing over the serpent's body and anchoring it to the ground.
The monster thrashed violently in a final attempt to retaliate, raising clouds of gray sand, but every movement only tightened the burning restraints as blood continued to spill.
"Finish it!" Lucius roared, driving his empowered blade into the monster's neck.
At the same moment, the twelve mages unleashed a continuous stream of white flames.
The serpent's massive body was engulfed in a pyre of purification, its screams turning into a hissing agony until all movement ceased.
The smell of burned flesh filled the air as the smoking carcass collapsed against the dune.
The soldiers quickly reorganized, breathing heavily while healers began treating the acid burns of the wounded.
Lucius wiped the blood from his blade and mounted his horse again, riding back to Valerius's side.
His head was lowered, his golden hair now stained red with blood.
"General... I apologize for the delay and my poor judgment. The monster has been slain, but the trails were completely lost during the fight... I..." Lucius began, his voice faltering with shame.
Valerius did not look at him.
Nor did he respond.
His pale eyes remained fixed on the horizon, where the dunes seemed to thin slightly beneath the wind.
"They haven't gone far," he said coldly, his voice heavy.
Without waiting for a response, Valerius gave the signal to move.
The army quickly reorganized and continued advancing deeper into the desert.
It took only a few minutes of riding before, in the distance near the crest of a tall dune, a shape moved.
Hidden and crouched low, watching the troop with attentive eyes, was a lone Cindralisk.
He appeared to be monitoring the army's progress, keeping himself as low as possible against the sand.
Valerius let out a cold smile—a movement of the lips that never reached his eyes.
He raised one finger, pointing directly at the distant silhouette.
"Looks like we've found the one who deceived us."