Chapter 46: Brutal Harvest, The Wyrms Nest

The blistering sun beat down relentlessly on the deep sands.

Twenty miles east of the Heretic bunker, the desert was a totally dead, empty wasteland.

Saile stood completely still at the top of a massive sand dune. Mrog, Alis, and fifty elite Diamond-Rank assassins stood silently behind him.

He did not sweat. The heavy, dark mana circulating through his veins kept his body perfectly cooled.

"This is the nesting ground, Sovereign," Mrog grunted, keeping his heavy warhammer ready. "The ground here is entirely unstable."

Saile simply looked out over the shifting golden dunes. His plain brown eyes were completely cold, entirely devoid of any human empathy.

He was no longer a scared orphan fighting to survive. He was a ruthless Sovereign preparing for war.

Suddenly, the sand beneath their boots began to violently vibrate.

"Formation!" Alis screamed, igniting her red spear with bright fire.

The fifty elite assassins instantly drew their weapons, forming a tight defensive circle around Saile.

Four massive, terrifying creatures exploded directly out of the ground.

They were Level 40 Sand Wyrms. They were easily forty feet long, covered in thick, jagged brown scales that looked like solid rock. Their massive, circular mouths were filled entirely with rotating rings of razor-sharp teeth.

One of the giant beasts lunged directly toward Alis.

Saile did not wait for his soldiers to defend him. He completely bypassed them.

With a burst of explosive, blinding speed, Saile activated [Phantom Step]. He transformed into a violent blur of black lightning, shooting straight past the S-Rank warlord.

He met the massive Sand Wyrm entirely head-on in mid-air.

Saile did not draw his sword yet. He wanted to break them first.

He dropped his weight slightly and launched himself upward with massive kinetic force. He executed a devastating, rising uppercut.

His heavy fist slammed directly into the soft underside of the beast’s lower jaw.

Crack!

The brutal impact generated a deafening sonic boom. A visible ring of displaced air blasted the sand away.

The raw Platinum-Tier strength shattered the wyrm’s thick jawbone instantly. Heavy, dark blood sprayed violently into the dry air.

Before the giant beast could even scream, Saile chained his momentum perfectly.

He spun his body in mid-air, whipping his right leg around in a blistering aerial twist kick. His heavy combat boot crashed down perfectly on the top of the wyrm’s skull.

Smack!

The sheer, skull-crushing force snapped the monster’s thick spine right behind its neck. The giant wyrm crashed heavily into the sand, completely dead.

"Do not let a single one escape," Saile commanded coldly, landing smoothly on his feet.

The remaining three Sand Wyrms shrieked loudly, diving back toward the safety of the underground sand.

Saile reached over his shoulder and drew the Calamity Fang.

He effortlessly compressed his dark EX-Rank aura, pushing the heavy, freezing magic directly into the razor-thin edge of the black blade. The metal hissed violently, glowing with a condensed line of purple lightning.

He dashed forward, moving like a shadow of pure death.

A second Wyrm burst from the sand, aiming its rotating teeth straight for his torso.

Saile stepped cleanly inside its guard. He swung the Epic-grade odachi upward in a brutal, blinding arc.

The compressed dark magic sliced through the beast’s thick, rocky scales with absolutely zero resistance. He cleanly bisected the massive monster from its lower jaw straight down to its stomach.

Hot, foul-smelling guts spilled violently onto the dunes.

Saile completely ignored the mess. He stomped his heavy boot down on the dying

beast’s face, crushing its remaining teeth into powder just to use it as a stepping stone.

He leaped high into the air, perfectly targeting the third beast.

"Domain of the Fallen," Saile whispered flatly.

He didn’t expand the Mythic skill to its full radius. He sharply concentrated the reality-warping magic into a tight, ten-foot sphere directly around the Wyrm’s head.

The absolute gravity instantly multiplied by fifty.

The giant monster was violently ripped out of the air. It crashed face-first into the desert floor with a sickening, ground-trembling thud. Its skull was completely flattened into bloody paste by the invisible, crushing weight.

"Kill the last one!" Mrog roared, swinging his heavy hammer into the side of the fourth beast.

The elite strike team swarmed the final monster, tearing it apart with spears and poisoned daggers.

Saile landed softly in the bloody sand. He sheathed the Calamity Fang with a cold, metallic click.

He looked completely bored by the slaughter. It was entirely too easy.

Then, the true harvest began.

Golden system screens instantly flooded his vision. They flashed wildly with overlapping, blinding light.

[Multiple Level 40 Threats Eliminated!]

[Massive EXP Gained.]

[Notice: Rapid consecutive kills detected against high-tier beasts.]

[2x EXP Multiplier Activated!]

The Endless Devourer flared violently inside his chest. Thick chains of pitch-black lightning shot out of Saile’s body, wrapping tightly around the massive wyrm corpses.

The dark magic violently dissolved the monsters into glowing purple dust. The system greedily vacuumed the pure energy directly into Saile’s core.

[Loot Acquired: Weapon Fragment x45]

[Loot Acquired: Skill Shard x12]

Saile smiled coldly. That was exactly what he needed.

But the desert was not done. The smell of fresh blood had completely saturated the dry air.

The ground began to shake much harder this time. The deep, vibrating hum echoed

for miles.

Dozens of massive sand dunes erupted all around them.

More than forty Level 40 Sand Wyrms exploded out of the ground, completely surrounding the small strike team. They hissed aggressively, blocking out the punishing desert sun with their massive, rocky bodies.

Alis gripped her flaming spear, her hands trembling slightly against the impossible numbers.

"Sovereign," Mrog warned, stepping back. "There are too many."

"No," Saile corrected him softly, his brown eyes flashing with absolute, terrifying authority. "There are just enough."

Saile didn’t wait. He charged directly into the massive horde of giant monsters alone.

He was a walking, breathing natural disaster. He did not fight to survive. He fought to completely annihilate them.

He ducked under a massive snapping jaw and drove a heavy, bone-breaking jab straight into a wyrm’s windpipe. The monster collapsed instantly, choking on its

own blood.

Saile chained the kill into a rapid [Phantom Step]. He reappeared directly above another beast, driving his heavy combat boots straight through its eyes.

The slaughter was incredibly fast, kinetic, and totally ruthless.

He used his highly condensed dark magic to cleave through three beasts in a single, devastating spin sweep. He used short bursts of his Domain to crush skulls into powder before moving on to the next target.

The elite assassins could do nothing but stand back and watch their Sovereign go to work.

For twenty straight minutes, the deep sands turned into an absolute meat grinder.

The golden system screens never stopped flashing. The 2x EXP Multiplier stayed completely active, feeding massive amounts of raw power directly into his core.

When the dust finally settled, the desert floor was entirely covered in massive, bleeding corpses.

Saile stood completely untouched in the center of the carnage. His black cloak was perfectly clean. He wasn’t even breathing heavily.

The Endless Devourer ripped the remaining loot from the dead monsters.

[Loot Acquired: Weapon Fragment x180]

[Loot Acquired: Skill Shard x30]

"This is true power, kid," Naicul whispered darkly in his mind. "We are entirely

ready."

Saile turned his cold gaze back to Mrog and Alis.

The Diamond-Tier warlords were staring at him in complete, unadulterated awe. They had never seen a human fight with such brutal, god-like efficiency.

"Collect the cores," Saile ordered flatly. "We return to the bunker immediately."

Two hours later, the elite strike team marched back into the dark stone halls of

the Remnant base.

Saile walked straight toward the massive lower forges. The air down here was sweltering hot, filled entirely with the loud ringing of heavy hammers hitting iron anvils.

Dozens of grandmaster blacksmiths stopped working when the Sovereign walked into the room.

Saile stopped in front of the head blacksmith. He opened his High-Tier Storage Ring and dumped a massive mountain of glowing Weapon Fragments directly onto the floor.

Over two hundred rare fragments completely lit up the dark room.

"Take these," Saile commanded softly. "Melt them down. Forge heavy armor and sharp weapons for the frontline soldiers. I want every single piece finished by tonight."

The blacksmith stared at the impossible pile of rare materials. He immediately dropped to his knees, completely weeping with gratitude.

"Yes, Sovereign!" the man cried out. "We will not sleep until it is done!"

Saile turned around and walked out of the hot forge.

His elite soldiers were finally getting the heavy gear they desperately needed. He had a Mythic-Grade AoE skill. He had an Epic-Grade weapon.

He was completely prepared to massacre Warlord Neleak’s army.

Suddenly, a loud, terrifying sound echoed through the entire underground cavern.

A massive war horn blew from the very top of the entrance tunnel. It was a long, desperate, blaring sound that instantly stopped every single person in the fortress.

Lady Vesper sprinted down the stone hallway, her face entirely pale.

"Sovereign!" Vesper shouted, completely out of breath. "The scouts just reported back!"

Saile stopped walking. He looked at her with totally blank, cold eyes.

"They are early," Vesper gasped in panic. "Warlord Neleak’s army is already here! Twenty thousand men have just entered the narrow desert canyons leading to our gates!"

The war had officially arrived.

Saile didn’t flinch. He didn’t show a single ounce of fear.

A deeply ruthless, chilling smile slowly spread across his face.

"Good," Saile whispered. "Let them come."