The blazing light overhead scorched the sand until it felt like an oven floor.
Heat shimmered upward in thin waves, warping everything in front of him like a mirage.
Ao dragged his feet across the burning ground—"shu… shu…"
each step slower and heavier than the last. Sweat ran down his temples, soaking into his already-damp clothes.
He squinted into the wavering horizon.
"A desert… they really went all out with the weather simulation, huh…"
His voice was barely a mutter, swallowed by the rising wind.
In the next instant, the hot wind thickened into a sandstorm.
The howl of the wind roared like a beast from every direction.
Sand whipped into his face and neck, stinging like needles.
"Dammit—!"
He ducked his head and pushed forward against the raging wind.
The world vanished behind a wall of sand. He couldn't even see his own shadow.
His eyes burned. Sand scratched at the inside of his throat every time he breathed.
I need cover… anything…
He raised an arm to shield his face, crouching as he staggered ahead in no direction at all.
Every step plunged half his foot into the sinking sand. The storm drowned out even the sound of his own breathing.
Then— his fingertips brushed something solid.
Ao froze. He pulled his hand back, then tapped the surface.
Thok… thok…
"…A wall?"
He ran his palm across the surface, searching.
A metallic screech echoed beside him—
"eek—"
the cry of rusted hinges slamming in the wind.
A door?!
He grabbed it blindly and shoved with all he had.
THUD!
The door slammed shut behind him, muting the sandstorm to a dull, distant roar.
Something rattled the wooden window shutters violently, but they held.
It was dark. Silent.
Ao leaned back against the door, gasping for breath, heart still hammering.
"I'm alive… barely…"
His eyes adjusted slowly. The interior was an old building—dusty furniture, rotting wood, cobwebs hanging like curtains.
"Seriously… did I walk straight into a village…?"
He stepped cautiously across the creaking floorboards. The sweat cooling on his skin made his whole body shiver.
"Why is it so damn cold in here…"
A sudden chill crawled up his spine, forcing him to whip around—
and his eyes widened.
"GYAH—!!"
Inside the darkness, bodies were frozen inside massive ice crystals—
examinees— encased mid-motion, frost spreading from their limbs across the floor.
Some were melted into black sludge. Some were frozen stiff where they fell.
"What the hell happened in here…?!"
He rubbed his eyes hard— but the corpses didn't disappear.
There had been a fight here. Not a big one—only a single fallen chair— but traces of powerful magic scarred the walls and floors.
The rattling at the windows finally stopped. Ao hurried back to the front door, dread crawling up his throat.
But what he found outside wasn't a battlefield.
"…What?"
It was just an empty desert village. Dead quiet. Not a trace of violence.
"So the fight… only happened inside…? And it ended instantly too…"
Ao swallowed hard. His palms trembled. Cold sweat slid down his face as he steadied himself against the doorframe.
Calm down, Ao… don't lose it now…
He clenched his jaw and stared at the frozen remains.
It's nothing. You've seen worse. Don't freak out. Not now.
THUD!!
His fist slammed the wall, his knuckles already splitting.
He forced a shaky grin, pretending the fear wasn't clawing up from his gut.
But the world didn't wait.
A distant rumble— the sound of many legs skittering— echoed across the sand.
Something massive moved just beyond the village.
Large. Multiple. Getting closer.
A chorus of clicking mandibles drew nearer.
Huge desert scorpions—towering two and a half meters tall—crawled into the village in a pack.
"Are you kidding me—let me THINK for one damn second!!"
Ao roared, drawing his sword.
BOOM!!
A scorpion smashed straight through a nearby building, debris exploding outward in a cloud of dust.
Ao steadied himself, blade raised.
WHAM!!
The beast lunged from within the dust cloud, its iron-like pincer clashing with his sword.
The impact hurled him backwards.
CRASH!!
His body slammed through another structure, splinters flying everywhere.
"—Ghk!!"
The scorpion screeched and charged again.
"Strong as hell…"
Ao spat out black sludge, dragging himself from the wreckage as he wiped his mouth.
"Still barely hurts though… big waste of size, aren't you…"
He gripped his sword tighter.
CLANG!!
Steel met chitin again.
Ao inhaled, his muscles suddenly loosening—
his aura shifting.
"Release."
His blade deflected the stinger strike just enough—
then he brought it down.
SHRRK!!
The scorpion's tail snapped off at the base.
Its shriek ruptured the air.
Ao leapt up its back— and drove his sword into its head.
"One down. Five left."
He didn't even get a full breath before the rest lunged at him.
CLANG! CLANG! ROOOAAAR!!
Metal rang, sand exploded, and the village shook under the onslaught.