The gale swept up coarse, gritty sand.
It was as though an invisible giant python raged across the vast saline wastelands of the Desolate Lands.
It constantly let out a chilling wail.
Zahid and his handpicked hundred-man squad moved like ghosts skimming close to the ground.
They struggled onward through the yellowish dust haze, where visibility was less than a hundred feet.
The howling sandstorm was the best cover, but it also continuously sliced at exposed skin like tiny, icy blades.
Zahid and several other Legendary Tier confidants could endure it.
But everyone else found every step difficult in the violent wind.
To remain concealed, they did not dare raise their shields and move at full speed.
After running for a while, they had to slow down again whenever they encountered patrols.
The Northern College of Cardinals had chosen a transfer station deep within the Desolate Lands as their meeting place.
It was entirely for the sake of secrecy.
After all, the College's covert reception of Zahid was, to the northern nobles of Saland, somewhat like aiding an outsider at the expense of their own.
Whether geographically or in practical terms, the northern nobles were the College's truly vital allies.
Yet the unity within the Crescent Moon Cult meant that the Northern Diocese could not ignore the Eastern Diocese's plea for aid.
So they could only quietly send Zahid, this hot potato, back to Golden Neverfall.
That way, it would neither affect their close cooperation with the northern nobles
nor harm the cult's internal unity.
It would also help the Eastern Diocese, led by Golden Neverfall, regain stability as soon as possible.
Zahid, caught amid the struggle between multiple powers, was the one truly suffering.
But he who wished to wear the crown had to bear its weight.
A prince's