Leylin stood amid the chaos, his yellow, vertical-slit eyes glinting with cold calculation, the bodies of his foes strewn across the sand.
The old geezer lay dead, his skull crushed, his soul devoured by Leylin's Soulbound Devourer, its essence fueling his power.
The three Magi—the large bloke and the two silent grey-robed ones staggered from the crimson inferno of Leylin's Ignis Mortis, their forms withered and beaten, their robes tattered, skin blistered and blackened.
Their innate spells shattered, they suffered grievous injuries from the relentless onslaught: Latent Fireball's searing flames, Greem and Dexter's brutal assaults, the black Horrall Snake's thunderous strikes, and the final explosive wrath of Ignis Mortis.
Their breaths came in ragged gasps, their voices hoarse with pain and fury, "You'll pay for this, traitor!"
Leylin's gaze locked onto the large bloke, whose massive frame swayed, blood dripping from gashes, his eyes burning with hatred.
"You think you've won beating us? The Golden Giant wouldn't spare you either, its a mindless beast! You would die too!" the bloke spat, his voice a weak growl, trembling with defiance despite his broken state.
Leylin's lips curled faintly, his voice low and devoid of emotion, "Eyes of Petrification."
His yellow eyes glowed, a malevolent light pulsing within them. The bloke's gaze met his, and a shudder ran through him, his voice choking, "No… stop!"
Starting from his eyes, a grey sheen spread, his flesh hardening, his face twisting in a frozen scream. The petrification crept downward, his chest, arms, and legs turning to stone, until his entire body stood as a grim statue, the sand around him dusted with ash from his final struggle.
Leylin turned, his voice sharp, "Dexter, Greem, capture one. Snake, take the other."
Greem and Dexter, their armor dented, moved with grim precision, lunging at one silent Magus.
"Got him!" Dexter grunted, his voice strained as he pinned the Magus's arms, the man's tired body fizzling, his voice a desperate, "Let me go!"
The black Horrall Snake, its scales shimmering in the dark, coiled around the second silent Magus, its tail tightening, its hiss a low rumble.
The Magus thrashed, his voice a panicked scream, "Please, mercy!" as the snake's grip crushed his resistance.
Leylin approached the two cowering Magi, their bodies beaten, their faces pale with exhaustion and fear.
The captured Magus in Dexter's grip whimpered, his voice breaking, "I'll serve you, I swear!"
The other, held by the snake, could only gasp, his voice a faint, "Why are you doing this…?"
Leylin's expression remained blank, his voice flat, "No need."
He raised his hand, shadow tendrils erupting from his palm, piercing both Magi's chests. Their screams cut off, blood pooling in the sand, their bodies slumping lifelessly, the desert swallowing their final breaths.
Leylin stood over the three fallen Magi the large bloke's stone corpse and the two silent ones, their blood staining the sand.
He raised his hand, his voice a low chant, "Bind!"
Soulbound Devourer activated, a dark vortex swirling above each body, shadow tendrils coiling around their fading essences. The air grew cold, a faint wail echoing as their souls were torn free, shimmering wisps drawn into Leylin's grasp.
He channeled the essences, as the souls twisted, reshaping into three spectral summons, each a distorted echo of the Magi: the large bloke's summon, a hulking shadow with stone-like skin; and the two silent Magi, wraith-like figures cloaked in grey mist, their eyes glowing with faint malice. The summons knelt before Leylin.
Leylin glanced at the golden glow in the west, the Golden Giant's approach now a tremor in the ground.
[Beep! High energy species life form spotted, determined to be a Golden Giant, recommended to leave immediately!] The A.I. Chip's red warning flashed in his mind. He turned to the summons and the black Horrall Snake, its horn crackling faintly.
"Stall the Giant," he commanded, the enegy radiation from the summons would definitely attract the Golden Gaint towards them.
The summons and snake surged toward the glow, their spectral forms radiating power, the snake's hiss echoing as they charged to their destruction.
Leylin barked, "Everyone, grab a wolf!"
His Grand Knights and Anna moved swiftly, their faces etched with fatigue. Leylin originally had three Seated Lupin Wolves, but now the rest were captured by them as well, their glassy eyes unresisting, subdued by the tranquility potions.
Anna, Faisal, Freed, Fraser, and Mandal each took one of the remaining five, their voices low murmurs, "Move, now!" as they mounted, the wolves' fur warm against the desert's chill.
Greem and Dexter sat astride their wolf, their faces pale, eyes sunken, their breaths shallow. Their armor was scorched, their movements sluggish, the Saint Knight runes' glow dimmed from the battle's toll.
Leylin glanced at them, his dark eyes narrowing slightly, registering the large amount of vitality they'd expended.
Their anemic pallor spoke of days needed to recover, though basic movements posed no issue. Greem's voice was a tired rasp, "We'll manage, Master." Dexter nodded.
Leylin said nothing, his expression blank, turning back to the horizon, his mind on escape, not their condition.
Leylin seized Lancey by the neck, his grip firm almost crushing her throat, his voice a low command, "Move."
Lancey didn't resist, her head bowed, her voice silent as she suppressed her energy fluctuations, her body trembling from her injuries. Leylin cast a Transfiguration Spell, his enegy shimmering down, his energy cloaked into a normal human.
The wolves surged forward, their paws kicking up sand, the desert blurring past in a haze of gold and shadow.
After a small distance, Leylin glanced back. The Golden Giant loomed, a towering figure of molten light, its roars shaking the dunes.
The three Magi summons and the black Horrall Snake fought frantically, their voices a spectral wail, as they hurled shadow bolts and thunder strikes.
The large bloke's summon swung a stone fist, the silent Magi's wraiths weaving mist-like spells, but the Giant's blows shattered them, their forms dissolving into wisps, the snake's final hiss fading as it crumbled.
Leylin watched, his face impassive, their loss were mere spiritual force expended, nothing more. The wolves ran on, the Giant's glow fading behind, the distance now a shield.
Leylin halted, throwing Lancey to the ground, her body hitting the sand with a soft thud. Her robes were scorched, her skin burned and bruised, her breath shallow but not fatal.
He loomed over her, his voice cold, "Tell me why should I spare your life, Lancey?"
Her eyes, dim with pain, met his, her voice weak but steady, "I don't know why you killed them, but I'm willing to serve you."
Leylin's lips twitched, his voice flat, "So did the old geezer. I bashed his head in."
Lancey forced a faint smile, her voice strained, "Well, he wasn't a beautiful girl."
"Do you think your beauty can save you?" Leylin scoffed, his voice edged with mockery as he raised his hand, a dark spell gathering in his palm, its glow promising death. "How naive."
"I'll be your slave!" Lancey cried, her voice cracking with desperation, her body trembling as she leaned forward.
"I don't lack slaves, and I have better uses for corpse," Leylin said, his voice unchanging, the spell's light intensifying.
"You didn't kill me instantly sir, neither left me to die back there," Lancey pleaded, her voice urgent, eyes wide with a flicker of hope. "Please tell me what I can do to live."
Leylin's smile was thin, his voice almost amused, "Ouh direct to the point."
He lowered his hand, the spell dissipating. He'd half-expected her to beg or seduce, a common desperation, but her quick grasp of her situation impressed him faintly. Magi were never to be underestimated. "I like smart people Lancy. The way you gambled attacking that old guy to survive shows cunning. That does make you a bad companion though." He paused, his eyes narrowing.
"I don't care much for your strength to be honest, but your wits can be useful."
Lancey's face paled, her voice a whisper, "I'll prove my worth."
"I hope so, you barely survived my Latent Fireball, you are a long way from proving your worth."
"Open your sea of consciousness," Leylin said coldly, his voice a command. "Become my subordinate and bear my imprint on your soul."
"I agree," Lancey said, her voice resigned but firm, her eyes closing as she complied. She knows from this day onwards she would be reduced to a mere slave but that's the price she is willing to pay.
....
Two Days Later
Crash! The wolf pack thundered across the Golden Desert, kicking up clouds of sand that glittered with a faint golden glow under the risen sun. Leylin and his party had resumed travel immediately after he branded Lancey's sea of consciousness, binding her soul to his will.
The air was dry, the heat rising, the dunes stretching endlessly, a landscape of death and danger.
Leylin had killed four Magi, devouring the old geezer's soul and crafting summons from the other three to stall the Golden Giant. The summons' destruction was a minor cost, their energy serving to buy time. From the pitch-black night to the blazing day, nearly half a day had passed in their relentless flight.
"Master, shall we rest?" Lancey's voice came from the back, faint and weary, riding with Anna on a Seated Lupin Wolf. "If we don't meditate and recuperate our spiritual force…"
Her injuries and the constant travel had drained her, her face pale, her eyes shadowed. She assumed Leylin was strained, unaware his summoning spells cost only 1 spiritual force, his reserves barely touched.
Leylin glanced at his party, their faces etched with exhaustion—Greem and Dexter's anemic pallor, Anna's slumped shoulders, the knights' sluggish movements.
"No need," he said, his voice flat, unyielding. "We're still in the danger zone. Encountering threats here would be catastrophic."
The party sank into solemn silence, their voices stilled, the wolves' paws pounding the sand in a relentless rhythm.
Whoosh! Whoosh! A gale swept up, carrying golden sand that shimmered in the sunlight, the desert's beauty a cruel mask over its perils.
Leylin studied a map projected by the A.I. Chip, his voice bright with certainty, "We're here! Before us is the Golden Oasis!"
The oasis loomed ahead, a shimmering expanse of water and greenery, the only large water source in the Golden Desert.