"Almost there!"
"Just a little longer!"
"Hang in there!"
As he fled for his life, Will-Bukelin kept encouraging himself. The robe that had covered his body was already gone.
His half-human, half-skeletal body was fully exposed.
Holes pierced the human half of his body everywhere. Had Will-Bukelin not possessed undead attributes, those injuries alone would have killed him.
The Seven-Colored Heart unique to a [Wanderer] had lost its luster and grown dull.
It beat weakly, like an old man nearing the end of his life.
It seemed ready to stop at any moment.
At that moment, Will-Bukelin clung to a single belief: he had to rush into the Desert.
It was as though the Desert was the only place he could find refuge. This was also the final command Dong Lin had secretly issued without Will knowing...
"The Desert will save your life."
Will-Bukelin drew ever closer to the passage, the light in his eyes growing brighter.
In Dong Lin's script, Will-Bukelin was supposed to enter the Desert, only to be slapped to death rather than rescued.
Then, having trespassed into the Desert, the Spirit-Infused Orc would fight the powerful figure who had broken the "Undead Cage," helping Dong Lin test that figure's strength.
If that powerful figure had been any Desert resident other than An Kai, Dong Lin's plan would have had a ninety-nine percent chance of success.
Unfortunately, there were no ifs.
Behind Will, the Spirit-Infused Orc's grin grew increasingly savage.
He held a handful of pebbles. Each one he shot out pierced Will-Bukelin's flesh. His goal was to destroy the flesh Will-Bukelin valued most.
He would destroy Will's last "human" features, ensuring that Will died in true agony.
This was the punishment for Will-Bukelin daring to covet [Beast Taming]!
Making him watch his own flesh be destroyed