Episode 173
As they wandered through the pale glow of the desert night, an unexpected sight emerged.
“Holy… damn.”
Master Baro gasped in shock.
The carcass of a desert horse lay sprawled out in plain view, as if it had been waiting for them to find it.
“Isn’t that the horse the elf girl was riding when she made her escape?”
Dale nodded silently.
After a moment of silence, Dale spoke.
“Seems like they didn’t intend to just leave us to die out here in the desert.”
“Ah, another one of those ridiculous tests, is it?”
“That’s their way.”
The elf society is rigid, conservative, and obsessively adheres to tradition and rules. To integrate with them, one must submit to their regulations. That’s why Dale’s mentor, Sephia, became an outcast, wandering the empire.
“Didn’t you learn some survival skills from the mountain crone? Got any tricks up your sleeve?”
Dale asked, and Master Baro pondered for a moment.
“Hmm, well, I do have something, but…”
“But?”
“It’s a bit… extreme.”
“Do we really have the luxury to be picky right now?”
“Haha, seeing you, the noble gentleman, with such foul language is oddly satisfying.”
“Dammit.”
Master Baro chuckled, and Dale bit back another curse.
Just then—
”……!”
Swoosh!
Master Baro swiftly drew a dagger and plunged it into the desert horse. The two horses, meant for Dale and Baro, didn’t even have time to scream before they were dead.
Blood gushed from the horses, soaking the desert sand.
“What are you doing?”
“Well, we can’t exactly cut ourselves open, can we?”
Master Baro replied, and Dale tilted his head in confusion.
“There’s an old saying.”
Master Baro continued without missing a beat.
“Blood calls to blood.”
The blood of the desert horses had barely soaked into the sand when it happened.
From afar, a predator of the desert, drawn by the scent of blood, was swiftly cutting through the sand.
“These creatures can smell blood from miles away and come running.”
Master Baro adjusted his grip on the dagger and slashed at the approaching predator.
At nothing but empty air.
Swoosh!
“Kiieeek!”
But as soon as he thought he had slashed at nothing, a sand monster charging at them screamed and revealed its form. Blood splattered across the sand, and Master Baro slashed again at the air.
The power to manipulate dimensions, befitting the continent’s greatest assassin.
Twisting the coordinates to connect the point of his slash with the sand monster’s hiding spot.
An ability truly worthy of the name “killing blade.”
“Haha, are you speechless because I’m just that good?”
Master Baro laughed as if it were someone else’s business, and Dale extended his arm. It was a shadowy prosthetic.
Bang!
The shadowy arm shimmered, and a bullet of darkness shot from his fingertip. It struck the sand, and blood splattered as a monster’s scream echoed.
A sand lurker.
“Blood calls to blood, you said.”
The two horses had summoned the desert predators, and now those predators were spilling blood. Yet even these predators were not the apex of the desert’s food chain.
Rumble!
The ground shook as if an earthquake had struck, and a massive creature, far larger than anything before, slid across the sand.
A giant desert worm.
The blood of the predators had summoned an even higher-tier predator. A desert predator so massive that the sand lurkers seemed insignificant.
Dale turned to face the giant worm racing toward them.
“Gatling style.”
The shadow cloak, now more a part of Dale than mere equipment, began to form black barrels.
Shadow bullets rained down, splattering the giant worm’s blood across the sand. A sea of blood covered the desert, incomparable to anything before.
“Is there anything above this?”
“Oh, this is just the beginning. That thing is literally just a ‘worm.’”
Master Baro laughed heartily.
“Looks like we’re getting an impromptu tour of the desert’s ecosystem.”
Amidst the endless cries of predators echoing from beyond the horizon, Dale muttered as if it were someone else’s problem.
The dawn’s dim light seeped over the desert horizon. A purple hue where darkness met the first light, soon to be replaced by the scorching heat befitting the name “hot sands.”
“Smells like something’s cooking.”
Master Baro commented, wiping the blood from his blade.
The Shadow Lord, clad in armor of shadows, and Lady Shadow beside him, adjusted their blades, ready for battle.
As the moon set and the sun rose, blood continued to call to blood.
The place had become a gruesome mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. Yet among them, there were no human-shaped bodies.
Only the endless carcasses of predators.
Dale and his group had inadvertently become a disruptive force in the ecosystem, and the hunt was far from over.
As Master Baro had said, it was an absurdly reckless method. Even with the skill to match, continuously fighting against an endless horde of monsters was another matter entirely.
Had Dale not enveloped himself in the armor of shadows and overlaid his heart with the ‘Igniter’ of red magic, he would have long since run out of power and become a meal for the monsters.
Dale’s secret technique, projecting a thermal engine onto his heart based on the imagery of another world, providing endless magic.
“Haha, you’re full of energy.”
In contrast, Master Baro maintained his composure without even deploying an avatar, his breathing steady and calm.
‘Indeed, not just anyone can be one of the continent’s Seven Swords.’
Despite his crude behavior, Master Baro was undeniably strong. Even Dale couldn’t confidently claim victory against him.
Moreover, even he couldn’t guarantee victory against the lords of this continent.
The world is vast, and there are many strong ones.
In that regard, this place was the perfect training ground to endlessly test and hone one’s abilities.
The army of predators filling the horizon.
Against them, Dale’s black barrels unleashed a barrage of shadow bullets.
Dale’s appearance, unleashing a gatling-style barrage against the desert monsters, was reminiscent of “Starship Troopers.”
“Sure, blood calls to blood, turning the place upside down is all well and good.”
Pouring out endless magic and otherworldly firepower, Dale asked.
“But how does this call the mountain assassins?”
“Imagine some unknown troublemaker causing chaos in your duchy.”
Master Baro slashed the air again with a blood-red aura.
“Wouldn’t you be too curious not to come and see for yourself?”
”…That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
Master Baro replied nonchalantly, and just as Dale was about to curse again—
The movement of the predators filling the horizon came to a halt. The howls ceased. As if the world had gone silent, a sandstorm whipped up.
“Finding a needle in the desert is a fool’s errand. It’s a hundred times better to cause a ruckus and let them come to you.”
Amidst the gale that could rival a sandstorm, Master Baro murmured quietly.
No sooner had he spoken than the sandstorm subsided.
And there they were.
Silhouettes, each wrapped tightly in hoods.
“Oh, I forgot to mention.”
At the same time, the desert predators bowed their heads toward the silhouettes.
“These desert predators are like hunting dogs raised by the mountain assassins.”
Understanding the implication, Dale was left speechless.
It was then.
“That troublesome personality of yours hasn’t changed a bit.”
From within the silhouettes, a voice spoke, distinct and different. It was the voice of a girl, not yet rid of her accent.
“Huh, damn.”
For the first time, Master Baro swallowed his breath and fell silent.
An unmistakable silhouette of a child stepped forward from the sandstorm. She removed her hood, revealing a young dark elf with bronze skin.
“Grandma… no, Master.”
The great Master Baro knelt without hesitation, paying his respects.
Seeing this, it all made sense.
“I never thought you’d leave the mountain and come down.”
“You still have the nerve to speak after witnessing this chaos you’ve unleashed, you wretched disciple.”
The Mountain Crone spoke, her voice sharp and cutting.
She was a dark elf, trapped in the body of a young girl who had yet to shed her childish appearance.
“Well, perhaps if you hadn’t been circling around and just showed yourself calmly, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”
Master Baro replied, his tone a mix of exasperation and amusement. The Mountain Crone responded with a knowing smile.
“I intended to do just that, even without your incessant chatter. Isn’t that right, my child?”
“E-Elder…!”
One of the dark elves beside him stammered, unable to hide their shock. The voice was unmistakably familiar.
“Ah, isn’t this the young lady who abandoned us and fled?”
Master Baro remarked, and the Mountain Crone nodded in agreement.
“Yet these fools dare to usurp the name of the Shadow Empire…!”
The dark elf never finished the sentence.
Slash!
The movement was too swift to follow. All they could sense was the deadly intent slicing through the air.
“My child, I tasked you with completing your mission, not with thinking.”
The hooded dark elf was split apart, as if fed through a slicer, the pieces collapsing into a heap of flesh and bone.
“So, you are the so-called ‘Shadow Lord’ that the world is buzzing about?”
The Mountain Crone turned her gaze to Dale, who stood clad in his shadowy armor. He nodded in acknowledgment.
Intrigued, the Mountain Crone asked, “But tell me, are you truly human?”
“I am human.”
Dale replied without a moment’s hesitation, his voice steady and unwavering.