The sun shone brightly that day, and the viscount who was with [ Practice More If You're Bad ] was in high spirits.
In just two hours, he found four or five skilled men who could serve as elite soldiers or household servants in the civilian districts and villages surrounding the capital.
The young viscount was particularly keen on helping his father recruit elite troops, seemingly because it was a rare and legitimate opportunity to fleece His Majesty the Emperor.
Regardless of whether the recruited civilians agreed or not, he immediately offered empty promises, informing them to report to a certain military camp near the east gate before dark, leaving behind the words "no waiting for those who miss the deadline" before hurriedly leading everyone away.
However, not everyone was satisfied with the sunshine that day, such as those on the imperial border, thousands of miles away from the imperial capital...
In the vast desert filled with yellow sand, two people dressed in dark hooded robes are moving along the top of a sand dune.
Even though they had minimized the synchronization of pain and discomfort, the two could still sense that their physical condition was gradually declining.
The levels of [ Clear Soup Master ] and [ Dark Archmage ] are approaching twenty, but they are still somewhat inadequate in the face of the unimaginable power of nature in this World of Disorder.
The vast desert located at the border of the Skeleton Alliance and the Starlight Empire is a "hot land" even more dangerous than the Wilderness of Chaos.
In the Wilderness of Chaos, at least sparse vegetation and the occasional strange animal could be seen, but looking across the entire desert, the two could only see three things besides themselves:
Dead sand, living sand, and sand that's difficult to categorize simply as alive or dead...
"Enemy!"
The Dark Archmage glanced at a sand dune to his side and rear, and his expression changed instantly.
Because right now, standing there was a skeleton knight in every sense of the word...
A skeleton knight, with a scimitar and longbow at his waist, riding a tall skeletal horse.
The other side had clearly spotted them and was now staring blankly in their direction, resulting in a brief stalemate.
"It's like a persistent ghost."
[ Clear Soup Master ] muttered under his breath:
"I remember you shook her off before?"
"They're probably professionals; shaking them off won't be that easy..."
"No, I don't think we did anything wrong, right? Why are you so fixated on this? Like a stray dog."
[ The Dark Archmage ] thought for a moment and said:
"Infiltrating the territory of the Skeleton Alliance, surveying the border terrain, taking numerous photos... In reality, that would be asking for a bullet."
"You said it yourself, that's reality."
[ Clear Soup Master ] disagreed with this:
"This is World of Disorder; our behavior is already above moral standards, isn't it?"
"If you ask me, we should just say we're border residents of the Empire or the Theocracy, and they should believe us."
"Besides, how did he know we took pictures?"
[ The Dark Archmage ] sighed:
"Putting aside the photos, the reason you're giving is completely unbelievable."
" The Theocracy is based on plants, the Empire on animals, and the Skeleton Alliance is all desert, so they're completely unrelated."
"All right."
[ Clear Soup Master ] was so angry his teeth itched, and he looked up at the skeleton knight again, saying hatefully:
"Damn it, how come he doesn't catch fire while he's sunbathing?"
[ Clear Soup Master ], already somewhat red from the long journey, was completely unaffected by the sun. His skeleton was impervious to the heat, and he even had a mount, making his life in the desert incredibly comfortable.
Looking at the two of them, it seemed that a person in a vegetative state was really not suited to fighting in such a hot and dry environment.
As soon as they grow any appendages with tender leaves, they wither away at a speed visible to the naked eye, and one can even feel the rapid evaporation of water from their own body.
Looking at the unmoving skeleton knight atop the sand dune, he finally cursed under his breath:
"Prepare for battle! There's only one enemy, but the two of us can handle it—do they really think I'm a pushover? Let's go for it!"
"Good."
[ The Dark Archmage ] agreed, and the two Soul Returner, specializing in plant-based magic, quickly entered combat mode. The skeleton knight, seeing their movements, also reacted swiftly.
He, she, or it took off the longbow slung over its shoulder and drew an arrow from behind, which reflected a strange light.
The skeleton knight deftly drew his bow and nocked an arrow, aiming it at its target...
Sky.
"Call out!"
The arrow, reflecting multicolored light, shot straight into the sky, exploded with a loud bang, and formed a spherical, somewhat dazzling area.
"Holy crap, they even have signal arrows?!"
The two realized something was wrong, but it was too late.
Soon, a second and a third skeleton knight appeared beside the first one. Seeing this, the [ Dark Archmage ] couldn't help but feel indignant.
Is it necessary to fire a signal arrow when the time is only three seconds?
She soon realized it was necessary, because skeleton knights soon appeared on the sand dunes on the other side of the two.
"The situation has really taken a sharp turn for the worse..."
The [ Dark Archmage ] realized something was wrong and asked his companions:
"What do you mean? There are at least twenty of them right now. Should we run or fight?"
"Smack!"
A dull thud echoed as [ The Dark Archmage ] saw [ Clear Soup Master ] naturally raise his hands:
I choose to vote.
"It wasn't you..."
"Don't rush."
[ Clear Soup Master ] moved their interaction online:
"I've used a similar method to infiltrate the Twin Towers Cathedral of Antiya Lisi before. Let's see if I can pull off another success this time!"
"What about the questline related to the ' Base Body '? All clues now point to the Empire."
"What else can we do? Let's leave it to [ Practice More If You're Bad ] and see what's going on with this ' Skeleton League ' first."
"..."
The Dark Archmage was actually somewhat disgusted by this behavior, but when he thought about how he had also been captured by the Holy Crusaders Grand Knight Nuolun, he lacked the confidence to refute it.
After thinking it over for a while, she felt that her teammate's words made sense, so she followed suit and put down her weapon and surrendered.
The skeleton knights scrambled over the nearby sand dunes and quickly arrived beside the two.
Using their scimitars to lift the hoods of the two men, the skeleton knights began to examine their human faces.
Meanwhile, the two Soul Returner were carefully observing the shapes and features of these skeleton knights, trying to find some useful clues.
However, the only thing the two can confirm so far is that almost all the knights have some degree of crystallization, and even those that are not visible on the outside are likely hidden beneath their armor.
"We surrender! Please don't harm us! We are... we are messengers from the Second Holy See!"
[ Clear Soup Master ] has considerable experience in this area, and many lies come easily to him.
A group of skeleton riders exchanged empty stares, as if asking:
What is this guy saying?