The first day of travel to The Heartforge passed relatively easily. There wasn't any incidents, not even a single attack from a stray mana beast, which allowed the students to relax and look at the scenery around them.

For Albedo, he spent all this time just training silently, continuously flowing his mana throughout his body and using the Crimson Apocalypse Flames to burn away any impurities he could find to perfect himself.

The more and more he used the Crimson Apocalypse Flames and channeled the power of his physique, the more he learned about it, so Albedo stuck to himself, spending any free time he had during this trip training.

With how much the Novel's timeline had already changed, Albedo couldn't be confident he wouldn't face an enemy he couldn't defeat soon, he needed to be stronger, fast.

As he was training, the carriages had already steadily rolled through the last fringes of the forestry area it had found itself in, the aura of the Shadow Isles long fading away as the group were in the clear.

Above, the skies were clear, though even sunlight here felt alien, too sharp, like glass glinting off a blade's edge. Now, the carriage had moved into a new biome.

What had once been lush forest was beginning to shift. The dark soil thinned into gray dust, and the trees gave way to stretches of brittle grass. In the distance, the horizon shimmered like a mirage, the faint outline of dunes rising beneath a steadily reddening sky.

By the time the sun began to dip toward the edge of the world, the transformation was complete. The forest was gone. In its place lay an endless desert, an ocean of sand that breathed heat like a living thing.

The sun was supernaturally hot, to the point the group could see multiple patches of flames spontaneously appearing in various parts of the desert through the carriage windows.

The carriages did not stop when night fell. Instead, faint blue wards ignited along the rims of the wheels, casting protective circles of light beneath them. The spectral horses didn't grow tired at all, and their hooves left no prints in the sand.

From his seat, even while training, Albedo could sense the dunes shifting in the moonlight. Every few seconds, he caught glimpses of small tremors, faint, almost invisible ripples moving across the surface, too rhythmic to be just the natural wind.

Almost instinctively, he opened his eyes, and immediately, Havoc & Ruin materialized themselves in his hand, Havoc in Infernal Mode whereas Ruin was in Graviton Mode.

Then came the first sound, a low thrumming, deep and resonant, rising from the ground itself. The carriage wheels shuddered.

Elara froze mid-sentence, "Did anyone?"

The second sound interrupted her. A hollow, echoing boom beneath the earth, followed by another, then another. The sands outside were moving.

"Stop the carriage!" Lilian called sharply to the shade driving, but before that spectral being could even respond, the ground around them erupted.

A massive plume of sand shot into the air, exploding outward like a geyser. The carriage lurched violently, nearly tipping as something enormous crashed against its underside. Albedo grabbed the wall to steady himself, his eyes already narrowing as his mana flared.

From the swirling storm of dust came a roar, guttural and heavy, echoing through the dunes like thunder in a hollow canyon.

"Sand Worm!" someone screamed from a nearby carriage.

Outside, the other carriages had come to a halt, spectral horses rearing and crying out in strange, high-pitched tones. The wards around them flickered, reacting to the surge of mana beneath the ground.

Albedo kicked the carriage door open and leapt out, boots sinking into the hot sand. His senses expanded immediately, the air was thick with vibration, the dunes trembling as if the world itself were breathing through the earth.

Then, he looked around and immediately saw the attacker burst up through the sand below. A titanic worm, easily fifty meters long, its armored hide glistening like obsidian glass, every movement grinding against the earth with a sound like cracking stone.

Rows of teeth spiraled down its gaping maw, each the size of a blade. The beast screamed, spraying a wave of sand across the carriages.

Elara shielded herself with a mana barrier, the impact still forcing her backward, "There's more!" she cried, pointing to the east.

Indeed, the dunes all around the group were alive with movement. Smaller creatures, Sand Burrowers, spider-like things with crystalline shells, tore their way free from beneath, chittering as they skittered toward the horses.

In the distance, shapes prowled along the dunes, sleek and golden-eyed, Sand Lions, their bodies rippling with mirage heat.

"Unless things get too bad, I won't intervene, handle things yourselves," The voice of Ysvara echoed in all of the student's minds at this very moment, and they all knew they were on their own for the time being.

Hearing that, the students knew what they needed to do.

"Lilian!" Albedo called, charging up Havoc and Ruin as he prepared to attack, "Take the front carriages. Keep them from being overturned."

She smirked, flames igniting along her palms, "With pleasure."

Her body blurred in a burst of crimson fire, the heat crackling across the sand as she launched herself forward. The first wave of Burrowers barely had time to screech before they were reduced to molten shards under her spellfire.

Albedo raised his pistols, the barrels humming as he readied himself, mana coiling like a living flame around his hand.

"Come on, then," he muttered.

The Sand Worm lunged towards him, and Albedo fired off. The first shot from Havoc tore through the side of the Sand Worm, an explosion of fire blooming outward in a spiral that burned through chitin and sand alike.

The creature howled, thrashing violently, but it wasn't alone, as two more shapes rippled beneath the dunes, moving closer to their location with frighteningly quick speed.

The carriages behind them were already surrounded. Students scrambled out, summoning weapons and familiars, their spells painting the night in chaotic light. Bolts of lightning and spears of ice streaked across the air, striking at the smaller beasts, but there were too many.

Elara extended her hand, vines of glowing mana bursting from the sand to ensnare a Burrower before it reached one of the spectral horses. "Go!" she shouted, her eyes glowing with focus. "Keep them moving!"

A shadow passed overhead, one of the Sand Lions had leapt, its claws glinting with a shimmer of heat distortion. It would've landed on her if Albedo hadn't moved first.

He twisted mid step, Ruin already aimed ahead as a single Graviton slug caught the Sand Lion mid air, dragging it sideways before detonating, pressing the beast to the ground.

All it took was to more Infernal Shots from Havoc to burn the Sand Lion to death, ending its existence as it turned into a rain of molten dust.

"Thanks," Elara breathed.

"Don't mention it." He charged up multiple other shots in a smooth motion.

The sand quaked again,stronger this time. A deep rumble, followed by a blinding glow from beneath.

The ground exploded outward. The second Sand Worm rose, larger than the first, its body wrapped in molten sigils that pulsed like arteries. It screeched, the sound tearing across the dunes, sending waves of heat through the air.

Even Lilian paused, eyes narrowing. "That one's… different."

"It's older, probably the head of this pack," Albedo said quietly, mana flaring through his veins. He felt Ember stir within his soul, their shared flame flickering in resonance.

He took a step forward, eyes glowing faintly violet, "I'll handle it."

Lilian grinned, her aura flaring crimson as she turned to the others. "You heard him! Keep the smaller ones busy!"

The desert became a battlefield of color and sound. Flames met sand, lightning split the air, and the shrieks of beasts echoed beneath the stars.

Albedo walked toward the worm, each step leaving faint cracks of light in the sand. The creature lunged again, but this time, he didn't dodge.

He raised his weapon, the sigils across it shifting, merging into a single, blazing circuit.

"Execution Mode."

The pistol split and reformed into a long, elegant rifle that hummed with power, the core glowing with spiraling crimson-white energy.

The worm's maw opened wide, shadow and heat blending into one blinding vortex that fired off towards Albedo, but all he did was was use his Crimson Apocalypse Flames to shield him from the attack.

Albedo's eye gleamed as he readied himself, "Let's see if you bleed."

The rifle fired, and the first Execution Shot smashed the creature right in the middle of its body, causing an immense explosion that rocked the entire environment, causing a mini-earthquake as it screeched in pain.

The second shot immediately followed into the worm's carapace with divine precision, another perfect shot that left the creature reeling.

The third shot was right in the creature's mouth as it had charged up another vortex attack, leaving it falling down.

Finally, the 4th shot hit the creature's core.

For a second, nothing happened. Then the desert erupted. A column of fire and molten glass shot skyward, painting the night in red and gold. The worm's scream was swallowed by the explosion as its body disintegrated into shards of crystallized sand.

The shockwave rippled outward, throwing heat and ash into the wind. When it faded, only silence remained.

Albedo exhaled slowly, lowering his weapon. The dunes around him were blackened glass.

In the distance, Lilian finished off the last of the smaller beasts with a final burst of fire, her crimson aura flaring before fading.

"Show-off," she muttered under her breath, walking toward him through the settling dust.

He didn't respond, just looked up at the stars, the faint ember-glow of the Heartforge reflecting far beyond the horizon.

One day down.

One more to go.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.