Kazhan felt as though countless blades had pierced his back, leaving him unable to catch his breath. He gritted his teeth at once and crawled desperately toward the nearby shallows. Only then did he realize that the earlier pattering, oppressive sounds had clearly been bullets punching through the water's surface.
The Sandfolk chieftain braced himself and sprang from the lake with all his strength. In that instant, he felt as though every bullet was rushing toward him, only to be either brushed aside with a wave of his hand or stopped by his darkened scales.
Enduring the searing pain, Kazhan finally rolled beneath the cliff wall, entering the blind spot of the shooters above. Only then did he let out a long, ragged breath. Yet immediately afterward, grief and despair crashed down upon him like an avalanche, nearly crushing this steadfast chieftain completely.
"They set up a cordon here too? They really aren't leaving us any way to live!" Kazhan almost wanted to cry. It was despair, of course, but even more than that, it was fear. He felt like an insect caught in a spiderweb—no matter how he struggled or fought, he only tangled himself more tightly.
He looked toward the lakeshore, and this time he truly nearly wept. Mi Xun floated face-down on the lake's surface. Her azure scale armor had taken on a ruined grayish-blue hue, while the water around her had been stained a dark reddish-brown with blood. Her body still rose and fell with the ripples, but there was no longer any sign of life.
Kazhan himself was a "Guardian," a martial-type ability user whose physique and defenses had been enhanced. That was perhaps why he had survived a burst of gunfire—indeed, those bullets had not inflicted fatal wounds. They had merely lodged themselves in