The desert illuminated by moonlight was surprisingly bright….yet, unexpectedly dark as well.
The dunes that receive the moonlight directly gleam like radiant sapphires, but the places the light cannot reach are shrouded in darkness, like the ocean at night.
“Phew. Hundreds of Water Source Stones, huh? If we get our hands on those, I guess we won’t have to worry about water for a while?”
“They’re of much lower quality than standard Water Source Stones, so it might not be that easy…but yeah, it should definitely ease the pressure.”
“Let’s hope so. We need a lot of water for working with iron, after all.”
Unlike the other tribes, the Cow Tribe who primarily worked with weapons said this as one of them tossed a piece of dry firewood into the campfire.
Even that was a rare commodity in the desert, so the fire had to be handled with care.
“Still, thanks to the Saintess, aren’t we in a relatively better position?”
“That’s true, but…”
Hearing his fellow tribesman’s words, the young Cow Tribesman barely held back from blurting out his true feelings.
How am I supposed to say I don’t trust that woman they call the Saintess?
They were currently receiving support from her, yet the young Cow Tribesman couldn’t shake off a strange sense of unease.
It felt like eating a sweet fruit laced with poison.
If he kept eating it, the poison would eventually spread through his body, putting down roots in his corpse…something like that.
But not every Cow Tribesman felt the same, and with trust in the Saintess running high, saying such things aloud could get him branded a heretic…or even killed.
So, he quietly focused on tending the fire.
After staring at the flames for so long, his eyes grew tired. He turned his gaze toward the darkness of the desert and then, something strange caught his eye.
“Have I been looking at the fire too long?”
Countless lights shimmering in the darkness.
But those lights didn’t have the warm amber color of fire, nor the soft glow of stars in the night sky.
They simply glowed blood red, like spilled blood.
“……!!”
The chill that ran down their spines and the screams echoing from all directions happened almost simultaneously.
“Evil spirits!!”
“They’re evil spirits!”
“Wh-What the hell is this…?!”
In an instant, chaos erupted among the transport convoys gathered in the desert.
Though they were all seasoned veterans who had each fought evil spirits at least once, even they couldn’t help but be shaken by what they saw.
Normally, the number of evil spirits would be in the tens at most. But now, they were in the tens of thousands.
With what felt like the gaze of hell itself fixed on them, tens of thousands of eyes stared at the convoy. Their reaction was only natural.
***
It didn’t take long for Batukan and the others within the orc stronghold to realize that the uproar outside was the sound of battle.
“An attack?!”
“Who could it be?!”
“No way…?”
Some of the tribe representatives turned suspicious glares toward the orcs, but their misunderstanding was quickly resolved.
“We’re under attack!”
“What’s going on?!”
“Evil spirits! Their numbers are at least in the tens of thousands!”
“T-Ten thousand…?!”
At those words, the representatives’ faces turned pale with shock.
Even the appearance of just a few hundred evil spirits was enough to put an entire tribe on edge and now, there were a hundred times that number?
Granted, the troops brought for the transport were all elite.
Even if tens of thousands of evil spirits charged in, they wouldn’t fall so easily.
However, the real problem lay in the nature of the evil spirits themselves.
The moment you were wounded by one, your life force would drain from your body, and you’d become one of them. A worst-case scenario.
And if the slain bodies weren’t purified with water immediately afterward, they would multiply and return…double in number.
And now they were dealing with tens of thousands?
“If purification is the issue, then rest assured. We have all the water we need.”
“….…!!”
That, at least, was one hopeful piece of news: there was enough water here to purify the evil spirits.
By infusing magic into the Water Source Stones to draw out water, it wouldn’t be impossible to purify even this many evil spirits.
However…
“Tremendous losses are inevitable.”
An ambush in the dead of night of all times.
It was hard to believe that no one had noticed the enemy approaching until they were right on top of them, but the representatives chose to head outside nonetheless.
“There must be someone to command them.”
Seeing this, Batukan gave a subtle nod of approval.
Even now, they exchanged wary glances, showing little sign of unity. But having survived in this harsh desert for so long, they didn’t panic even in the face of a sudden ambush.
“We must drive out those wicked evil spirits at once!”
Even the Toh Tribe’s representative who had brought mostly mercenaries due to their tribe’s lack of fighting strength was burning with fighting spirit. That said it all.
And so, Batukan, Parimash, and the representatives of each tribe stepped outside to take command and just as expected, the battle was fierce.
But surprisingly, the fighting was proceeding in an orderly fashion.
These were all veterans who had survived the desert, and they remained composed as they fought.
However, the lack of commanders meant that casualties began to mount, and signs of the front lines collapsing started to appear.
“Rotate the rear troops to the front! Have the front-line fighters fall back! Get down there and begin purification immediately!”
Once proper commands began to flow, those who had been holding the line dutifully fell back, and fresh forces surged in to push back the evil spirits.
Even so, casualties that had already occurred couldn’t be helped.
“Don’t forget to douse the wounded with purified water!”
“Yes!”
“We’ve got plenty of it in the back! Don’t hold back—use it generously!”
Fortunately, splashing water on the corpses before they turned would make them vanish, and if done right after someone was wounded, it could slow the process of turning into an evil spirit.
In such cases, the wounded didn’t hesitate to amputate the affected area cleanly using clean weapons.
Thanks to this swift and decisive response, the situation didn’t spiral into catastrophe.
“This is war! Glory calls to us!”
“Kill them! Rip them apart! Uooooooh!!”
The normally peace-loving orcs now fought with eyes full of madness, driving the desert evil spirits back.
In truth, the orcs’ might played the most crucial role in this battle.
Unlike the desert tribes, the outsiders who had come from beyond did not undergo the process of turning into evil spirits.
“Uooooooooh!!”
“Urburak is right in front of us!”
“We’ll prove ourselves in battle!”
And just like a disturbed ant nest, orcs kept pouring out of their stronghold, becoming reliable allies on the battlefield.
“Guh!”
“Uranos! Damn it!”
Still, there was no avoiding the growing casualties among the beastkin.
The enemies had to be not only completely killed but also purified with water which was an exhausting task. On this side, even a single mistake meant risking the loss of at least part of one’s body.
That kind of psychological pressure was something even veteran warriors couldn’t escape.
After all, no matter how skilled they were, few had ever experienced fighting this many evil spirits at once.
It wasn’t long before a change came to the fierce and relentless battle.
“So many living souls… It seems the lost lambs have found their way here. What a tragic sight.”
A noble voice, more graceful than the moonlight itself, echoed across the desert.
Unlike before, when the sun loomed overhead, the false saintess Lucid Rem appeared in the sky with the moon at her back, and her very presence was enough to command the chaos of the battlefield into silence.
***
Moments when a chaotic battlefield suddenly falls silent are not something one experiences often.
Especially not in the middle of such an intense and prolonged clash. Could such a thing even be possible?
But the appearance of Lucid Rem, commander of the Legion of Lust, made it so.
The holy aura that immediately captured the attention of all who looked upon her was certainly part of it, but the most important factor was this: the evil spirits, who had moments ago been viciously attacking the living, had all stopped moving.
As if even they wished to behold that holiness with their own eyes, they turned their gaze toward Rem just like the beastkin did.
“There’s no need to continue this meaningless battle. Lost lambs, the Dragon has not forgotten you. One day, all will see a better tomorrow.”
The beastkin realized she was referring to the evil spirits as lost lambs and turned to look beside them.
Then, a wind of change began to blow across a battlefield that, until moments ago, had been filled only with killing intent.
“Gaaaaah…”
“Guuuh…”
“Grrrk, grrrk…”
As if they understood Rem’s words, the spirits began nodding and then they actually started to move.
The beastkin, witnessing this miraculous scene, couldn’t take their eyes off the saintess. One by one, they fell to their knees and brought their hands together in prayer.
“It’s the Saintess.”
“It’s truly her…”
“She’ll lead us back to the glory of the past.”
“Only she can…”
Just like during the subjugation of the Mega Sandworm, they all wore blank, vacant expressions, creating a solemn, reverent atmosphere.
Meanwhile—
“Sniff. What’s wrong with them?”
“No idea. They just started acting like that.”
“We haven’t fought enough. My blood’s still boiling.”
“Control yourself. Restrain your rage!”
“It’s not enough…”
“She might be watching us.”
“Kwiiik?! My blood’s cooled!”
Unlike the beastkin, the orcs were unaffected by the saintess’s presence.
This was due to the nature of the dream magic that Rem wielded. It had a different affinity.
The aura of holiness she was deliberately projecting had been tailored exclusively for the beastkin.
Even so, Rem’s eyes narrowed slightly.
No effect at all? Seriously?
Even if the dream’s affinity was different, the power she wielded as the Queen of Lust, combined with her own inherent charisma, was enough to overwhelm minds with sheer ecstasy from just a glance.
And yet, the orcs showed no signs of being affected.
Before long, Rem sensed an unfamiliar yet oddly familiar energy radiating from the orcs. A conflicting aura.
It was divine energy.
Having once accepted the divinity of the Mountain King, they were not so easily swayed by Rem, whose rank was lower than that of the Mountain King.
Something else is building a resistance in their system. How irritating…
Still, those orcs weren’t part of Rem’s original plan.
So she turned her attention back to the beastkin, her true objective from the start.
“Soon, the Dragon will appoint the day of union. Until then, let there be no discord among the tribes. Prepare for the dawn of destiny with harmony in your hearts.”
“……”
“……”
“……”
Even though they couldn’t understand the language she spoke, the beastkin kept nodding in agreement to her words.
They looked unmistakably like puppets with strings attached, yet none of them seemed the slightest bit aware of their condition.
Then, suddenly—
The sky brightened.
Not just a gentle glow, but as if the sun itself had begun to rise.
Blinded by the mysterious flash of light, the beastkin came to their senses all at once and shielded their eyes.
And when they looked toward the source of the light, they saw a sun floating in the night sky.
“What is that…?”
“How… how can the sun be…?”
Opposite the saintess who had emerged under the moonlight—
In the heart of that sudden sun, a dark spot appeared.
No, perhaps it was more accurate to call it a shadow.
Hair as red as the sun shimmered, and within that radiant, heated light, eyes blazing like fire burned themselves into the minds of the beastkin.
“……”
The figure who had appeared with the sun at their back said nothing. She just made a single sweeping motion with her arm.
And then, another miracle occurred.
A dark energy began to pour out from those who had been wounded on their chest or abdomen and had no hope of avoiding corruption.
The intense life force contained within the sun reversed the corruption sown by the evil spirits, restoring the pallor of their skin to its original color.
One beastkin muttered without thinking and the words rippled outward, spreading among the others.
“A miracle… it’s a miracle…”
“The s-saintess…”
“Ahh…”
And Rem, who was watching this unfold…
With a blank expression, Rem stared at the red-haired woman standing within the artificial sun which was clearly a creation of someone’s magic.
A stark contrast to the benevolent smile she had worn just moments before.
If there was any small consolation, it was that no one seemed to notice the sudden shift in her expression because they were too captivated by the newly arrived figure.
“…So this actually works.”
And yet, the red-haired woman Raviata now being hailed as a saintess…just as Shane had said had nothing more to say about the unfolding situation than that dry remark.
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