Night has fallen.
Three hundred meters north of the camp, two bandits, carrying rifles, patrolled along the top of the sand dunes.
They were all wearing full-face masks similar to gas masks, their goggles reflecting a faint light in the night.
Did you hear anything?
The bandit on the left stopped and turned to look around.
The desert, shrouded in darkness, was empty except for the howling of the wind sweeping across the dunes.
As far as the eye can see, there is nothing but sand.
"No," his companion shook his head. "Let's go, just follow the route and we'll be fine. Nobody will dare cause us trouble here."
The two continued forward, their boots leaving two sets of footprints in the sand.
Shortly after they turned and walked down the other side of the dune, several dark figures silently crossed the dune and approached the camp.
The two patrolmen followed the route to the south side of the camp, and through the cracks in the earthen wall, they could clearly see the figures huddled together.
The precious tents wouldn't be given to these "goods" that were about to be sold to the Mining Town and Pejite.
One of the bandits glared fiercely at them.
"You ungrateful wretch, why don't you just obediently follow along? You have to cause trouble."
According to the original plan, today should have been a day of rest after the looting, a time for drinking, dividing the spoils, and having fun.
But because of last night's riot, Boss Ohara was furious all day, making everyone afraid to slack off, and even drinking was forbidden.
As they spoke, the two passed a sandy area outside the camp, where the sand was a darker color than in other places, with a faint dark red hue.
The two of them walked around it with disgust, preferring to take a few extra steps rather than step on it.
"See? This is what happens when you anger the boss." The bandit gestured towards the sandy area. "We even have to collect the corpses. What bad luck."
"Exactly," his companion chimed in, "We didn't find anything of value in that run-down village yesterday either. A dozen or so poor bastards, their homes didn't even have a decent thing."
"Thankfully, the captain said we can go to the Wind's Edge tomorrow..."
The words abruptly stopped.
The bandit walking behind suddenly felt a heat on his neck.
He tried to look down, but found his vision began to rotate.
In his last moments of consciousness, he saw a headless body wearing the same sand-proof cloak as himself, holding Storm Rifle.
And a longsword whose entire body was made of golden light, with a hilt shaped like a broken ring.
Hearing the unusual noise, the bandits traveling with him turned around abruptly and almost instinctively raised their guns to prepare to fire.
Explorers who can survive in the Sea of Corruption are all quick-witted.
But he was still a step too slow.
The golden dagger slashed through the air, offering no resistance whatsoever to the thick sand-proof leather clothing.
He opened his mouth, but his throat had been cut, and he could only make a hoarse, leaky sound.
Blood gushed out silently, and the two corpses fell to the ground. Por and Kamlin emerged from the shadows.
The two attacked almost simultaneously, and at the same time, the Order's Blade in their hands vanished. The golden light flashed and disappeared without attracting any attention.
Despite it being their first time killing someone, neither of them felt much emotional distress.
This scene was far gentler than when they were brutally tortured by Yupa during training.
Unbeknownst to them, an almost invisible wisp of golden light emanated from the dead bandit and quietly merged into their bodies.
Then, Por bent down to confirm that the bandit was dead, and casually took the bandit's rifle and slung it over his shoulder.
Such a good Sickle rare; even if you don't know how to use it, it's still a good trophy.
Immediately afterwards, the sound was transmitted to the other team members through the Blessing Link.
"Team one has finished and is reporting back!"
"Group Two has finished."
"All three groups are complete."
"Group four is also complete."
"Five groups resolved it."
A series of responses quickly followed.
Ten named Blessed Warrior cleared out all patrols outside the camp in just two minutes.
There were no gunshots, no alarms, not even a muffled groan.
A perfect infiltration.
But then, a panicked voice came through the communication.
"This is Group Four... It seems someone has spotted us!"
Kamlin frowned.
" Elphias Doge, you idiot! What's going on?"
"This patrol team is too close; their noise has alerted the people inside the wall... What should we do?"
Por and Kamlin exchanged a glance.
Their eyes met in the darkness, and they instantly reached a consensus.
Now that we've already gotten close enough to the enemy, then--
Por's orders were communicated to everyone via a link.
"Kill!"
On the other side.
Elphias Doge and his companions hid in the shadow of the low wall.
He clenched his fists, hearing his own heart pounding against his chest.
The sound of boots hitting the sand came from around the corner of the tent.
"The captain said to take action, what should we do?--"
Before his companion could finish speaking, a gigantic Order's Blade, comparable to Elphias Doge's height, had already materialized on the Ceramic Steel in his hand.
"Kill!"
Without hesitation, Elphias Doge swung his sword in a horizontal slash!
laugh--!
The giant sword slashed into the wall, treating the solid, rock-like rammed clay as nothing, and cut off the sand bandit who had just poked his head out from the corner, along with half of the earthen wall.
Blood was flowing profusely.
A corner of the low wall collapsed with a crash, burying the corpses beneath it.
The giant sword in Elphias Doge's hand vanished, and he gasped for breath, staring blankly at the scene before him.
Blood seeped from beneath the collapsed mound, staining the sand red. The head lay nearby, a look of vigilance frozen on its face.
He felt a churning in his stomach.
Even though he had seriously injured his comrades several times during training, this was the first time he had killed someone in actual combat.
"Don't stand there!" his companion grabbed him. "The battle has already begun!"
Elphias Doge snapped out of his daze, nodded vigorously, and the two of them immediately rushed around the corner.
At the same time, eight other incredibly fast black figures scaled the walls and entered the village from different directions.
Golden blades of various shapes drew dazzling yet deadly trails in the night.
Then, without alerting anyone, they split up and rushed into the tents.
When Por and Kamlin entered, there were only four bandits inside.
Two of them were already fast asleep, while the other two, who had just heard the noise, crawled out of their sleeping bags and reached for their sidearms beside the bed.
Too slow.
Two figures flashed past inside the tent.
The golden dagger and longsword slashed across, splattering blood and leaving radial bloodstains on the canvas wall.
Four murderers died without even having a chance to see their attackers' faces.
After scanning the tent and confirming there were no survivors, the two men turned and rushed to their next target.
Before the Blessed Warrior, these drowsy sand bandits were utterly powerless to resist.
This was a massacre.
But everyone, including Elphias Doge, knew that this was a life-or-death battle.
To protect their homes and families, they were unafraid to stain their hands with blood.
As more and more tents were breached, the bandits finally realized something was wrong.
"Enemy attack--!!!"