* * *

The fierce sandstorm slowly moved past the cave after lingering for about three hours. It was relatively calm outside, but the sky was already darkening as the sun had set.

Cadel stood in the entrance, staring blankly out.

‘Smells like blood…….’

As the sun set, a frightening breeze carried the thick odor of blood. It wasn’t just the smell. A sandy breeze disturbed his vision, and the countless grains of sand in it glowed a fiery red.

It was as if a large amount of blood had been sprayed across the desert.

‘Where is it coming from?’

It didn’t look like human blood. Enough to drench a desert. There couldn’t possibly be enough humans to spill this much blood in an area that no one but the crazies and fugitives would even think of entering.

So was it monsters’ blood? Monsters needed to eat, too, and without humans, their only option would be to hunt each other.

‘That would be more convincing.’

I wish they could just eat each other to extinction. As Cadel munched his way through his thoughts, the walls of the cave vibrated violently.

Rumble—

He pushed himself to his feet and saw his subordinates on alert.

‘It’s finally coming.’

Cadel pressed his index and middle fingers together. With a snap, several fireballs floated up from the dark cavern ceiling. Along the illuminated interior, the source of the sudden vibration was revealed.

Kuarrgh! Kuargh!

A thick body with a jagged cross-section of large and small stones. Stone dust rained down as it moved, and a small boulder sat atop it. The delicate features carved into its face were not unlike those of a human.

It was a Rock Man.

“Wow, it has such a small face. Ahaha! I think it’s smaller than Cadel!”

The Rock Man was derived from the inner walls of the cave. By day, it would become the wall of the cave to hide itself, and by night, it would begin to act in this way.

Ignoring the amused Lydon, Cadel aimed [Wind Blade] at the Rock Man’s head. The intangible, sword-like attack struck its target with precision. The neatly severed head of the Rock Man crashed to the ground with a dull thud.

The headless body shuddered and twitched, and then the stones that made up its body slid away and crashed to the ground. Cadel watched impassively, then turned to his subordinates.

“See? Aim at the neck.”

After some trial and error, Cadel realized that actions speak louder than words.

“You look so cool, Cadel! I think I’m going to fall for you again.”

“Shut up and blow ice, fairy.”

Vann used the least amount of sword energy he could muster, aiming precisely for the Rock Man’s head as Cadel had demonstrated, Lumen was quick to dismember the Rock Man’s entire body, including his head, and Lydon, ignoring the demonstration, froze the Rock Man in place and shattered it.

Cadel watched, a faint smile on his face.

‘How can they only listen to half of the command properly?’

It was better for his mental health to trust that they would be properly aware of their weaknesses. Shaking his head, Cadel turned his attention back to the outside of the cave. The Rock Men were still spawning, but he couldn’t focus on them.

Cadel eyed the sandy floor, which had been boiling slightly for some time. It wasn’t a single boiling point, it was bubbling everywhere as far as the eye could see.

The wait was not long. Cadel’s eyes narrowed as he spotted a long, thick head poking out of the ground.

‘It’s the Sand Snake.’

With scales similar to the color of sand, the Sand Snakes slithered gently to the ground, boasting a thickness close to that of a serpent.

He counted at least thirty of them by eyes. Their heads snapped up, tongues lolled, and their gazes all pointed in the same direction. Toward the cave where the mercenary corps was.

Cadel showed disgust at the clear gaze that moved at once.

“That’s creepy. Am I having a nightmare?”

Sand Snakes were pack animals. They were characterized by their ability to pounce on a single prey, surround it, and crush it to death. Once captured, the prey was incapacitated, and unless the victim had a large enough blood pool, they would suffer near-instant death.

‘But hey, it’s nice to see them all here. I was worried I would be wasting a lot of mana.’

Sensing their target, the Sand Snakes slithered across the ground at a furious pace. Their unstoppable flexing bodies approached the cave in a giant wave.

Cadel faced them, not dodging. And.

Ping! Ping!

When the Sand Snakes neared the cave, thin bolts of fire rained down from the sky.

[Fire Arrows].

The magic he had loaded for the night struck the ground without mercy. The rain of arrows, denser than it had been in the tutorial quest, covered a vast area, destroying the desert.

Pierced by the flames, the Sand Snakes shriveled into a fiery heap. The unrelenting barrage of flames slaughtered the swarming monsters one by one. Fighting the unpleasant sensation of his mana draining away, Cadel gradually reduced the firepower of his technique.

‘Looks like all the monsters I see are dead.’

Unless another one grew in the same place, all the nearby monsters were cleared. It would be quite a while before a monster in another location would find this one, so he would leave the next battle to one of my subordinates.

If they could secure the cave, they could fight this way all night. As Cadel thought this, he turned to check the situation inside.

Pitter patter.

A shower of stone dust fell overhead. Startled, Cadel shook his head to clear it, and as he looked up, a hand shot out of nowhere grabbed him by the back of the head, and dragged him outside.

It was Lumen. He snapped irritably at Cadel, who was flustered by the outburst.

“Lydon broke down the cave.”

Cadel’s plan, which he had hoped would provide both stamina and safety, went with the wind the moment Lydon destroyed the cave. The mercenary corps were forced to spend the night on the lookout for a new hiding place, wary on all sides, and eventually faced the morning without finding one.

Fatigue at its peak, energy at its lowest. As soon as the day dawned, a gust of sandy wind that seemed to have been waiting for them washed over them.

“My eyes are stinging, Cadel. Can’t you make me a wind barrier?”

“I can’t lose all my mana because of someone. If you have a conscience, walk quietly.”

“You’re so mean.”

It’s you who hit the cave with an ice spear. When Van glared at Lydon and recited viciously, he grinned as if it was a good thing.

“But thanks to me, we were able to keep moving without wasting time, right? You know Cadel’s least favorite thing is wasting time. So shouldn’t you say ‘Thank you, Lydon!’ at times like this?”

Van’s fists clenched and unclenched as if he were trying to channel his anger. It was Lumen who spoke for him, who was ready to spew profanity at any moment. His eyes were sharpened, and he wanted nothing more than to throw Lydon to the ground.

“Stop talking nonsense and find the temple.”

“Hmph, I’m sad, Lumen. So is Van, and you guys are so cranky. If you were a little less funny, I would have just frozen you! Haha!”

The momentum of the two men was fierce. Cadel slapped Lydon on the back to make sure he didn’t offend Lumen and Van more. The pair of wings stiffened in surprise at the stinging pain, and a pouty face looked back at Cadel.

“It’s violent, Cadel.”

“Noisy, what about the temple? Still far away?”

“No? We’re almost there.”

“……What?”

“I told you, we didn’t waste any time traveling. We should be there in…… about 20 more minutes.”

You should have told me that first! Lydon winced as the enraged Cadel punched him in the back several times.

He was a selfish and fairly condescending fairy, but he was also an honest man who told the truth for the most part. True to Lydon’s prediction, the mercenary corps found themselves in a massive temple after 20 minutes.

“Wow, that’s a lot of power. This is going to be fun. I can’t wait!”

Lydon, standing before the temple, clapped his hands in satisfaction. Cadell pulled back the cloth covering his face and looked up at the temple before him.

Countless columns supported the triangular roof. Ivory-colored marble, untouched by the harsh climate. The temple was standing strong, unaffected by the strong sandy winds.

The entrance was not very wide. It looked cramped for one or two people, and it was hard to tell how deep it was inside. This was due to the cliffs that covered more than half of the temple. Carved into the crimson rock, the temple gaped open, just barely missing the entrance.

‘How can a building be embedded in a cliff? It’s a wonder it holds the weight of the rock……. Is it because of the special power that Lydon is feeling?’

The ‘Temple of Balance’ was a single stage in the game. You could only enter if you had a sealed Fairy Knight in your deck. Cadel remembered there were quite a few monster waves involved in the stage’s progression, but other than that, it wasn’t anything special.

‘I think there was a cutscene in the middle, but……. Well, it was probably just an introduction to something in the temple.’

He didn’t even watch the story, let alone the cut scenes. If they subjugated the enemy step by step, it would proceed on its own. Cadel, who had organized his thoughts neatly, called in his subordinates to inspect the entrance.

“Unfortunately, there’s no resting place nearby, and it’s better to go straight into the temple than to face a sandstorm outside, so let’s all pull ourselves together and survive another day.”

Entering the temple fully prepared in this hellish desert was an impossible task from the start. Lydon made it even harder, but it wasn’t like he was going to be grumbling about it.

Let’s focus solely on breaking Lydon’s seal for now. With a fireball in the air, Cadel led his men into the temple.