"He is yours now."

This sentence was spoken to the Flame Warriors around him.

After reverting from the Desolate Beast form back to human form, these Flame Warriors wouldn't truly come back to life.

Instead, like that mountain and sea, they could only exist temporarily in a state akin to an undead.

And then... they would completely disappear from this world.

"It seems Mountain and Sea was indeed formidable. Not all Flame Warriors who become Desolate Beasts were as powerful in life as Mountain and Sea."

Andrew sighed inwardly.

It could be seen that the vast majority of Flame Warriors present, even after returning to human form, couldn't recover much of their former consciousness and memories.

In fact, even someone as strong as Mountain and Sea had incomplete memories after reverting to human form.

However, unlike Mountain and Sea—

All the remaining Flame Warriors on the scene, despite having little consciousness left, still had an instinctual "hatred."

Hatred for the Magic Guild that turned them into Desolate Beasts and abandoned them in this Inner Sea Desert, a place they once considered home!

Hatred for Ross, who discovered their secret but chose to exploit and drive them!

"Ah... oh no... what are you going to do...?!"

Ross's terrified screams suddenly rang out in the desert, "Don't... don't come any closer!!"

Then, one by one, those Flame Warriors, either ran, walked, or crawled... came at him from all directions!

Not long ago, it was Ross who drove the Desolate Beasts to besiege the Wildfire Territory.

Now, Ross himself had become the target of the Flame Warriors, who were once Desolate Beasts, attacking on their own!

From Ross's perspective, this scene looked like countless zombies coming from all sides to devour his flesh and blood.

And he was completely immobilized by the magic power Andrew had left within him!

He could only watch helplessly!

"Ahhhhh!!"

Ross screamed in anguish.

He hadn't even been touched yet.

Just witnessing the scene in front of him, he was already scared to wet himself.

He truly wet himself.

Both urine and feces flowed.

His very soul was shattered!

This infamous Desert Speaker among the younger generation was now begging Andrew for mercy, snot and tears streaming: "Spare me! Please spare me! I... I still have great value, I can provide you with important information, truly!!"

He pleaded desperately, looking at Andrew: "My mission is to complete the task that Grand Mage Humboldt couldn't— capturing Barbara!

I can tell you why those above value Barbara so much and why they insist on capturing her alive!

It's not just because our Magic Guild, after going to war with the Warm Fire Commerce Association, wanted to capture the president's most beloved daughter to coerce the president of the Warm Fire Commerce Association!

Also... also because... this year is actually the 'Sacrificial Year'!!

This year is the Sacrificial— ahhhhh!!"

Ross suddenly screamed.

A Flame Warrior pounced on him, biting into his face!

Then a second Flame Warrior, a third...

"No... don't... save... me..." Ross's screams quickly became muffled and intermittent.

The screams did not last too long, nor were they too brief, either.

When the Flame Warriors finally stopped, under the blazing sun in the vast desert, not even the smallest bone fragment or piece of clothing remained of Ross.

"A death like this, even the Puppet Fire Series in Earth Fire Magic couldn't die for him, could it."

Andrew thought to himself, "Constantly scheming to disgust others, ultimately you can't escape rebounding, can you."

So yes, this time, Ross was truly dead.

He had thought that the intelligence about the 'Sacrificial Year' could at least buy him some time.

Little did he know, when Andrew used the 'Enchanting Dance' to restore the human form of all Desolate Beasts, he had already found a lot of crucial information from the remnants of the Flame Warriors' memories, including the intelligence about this so-called 'Sacrificial Year'.

The so-called 'Sacrificial Year' refers to a secret tribute within the Magic Guild, done roughly every ten years.

The recipient of the tribute... unknown.

It's only known that the offerings are not things, but people—

People with the 'Eight Strange Fires'!

In Andrew's mind, he immediately recalled the duel with Senior Pete, the owner of 'Shadow Erosion Fire', when he himself was still an Intermediate Magic Apprentice.

That was on the way back to the temporary camp, carrying an unconscious Barbara on his back.

It was after the duel with Pete that he successfully advanced from Intermediate Magic Apprentice to Advanced Magic Apprentice, gaining the 'Fingertip Series', 'Invisible Enchantment', and 'Long-range Water Needle'.

At the time, he defeated Pete, asking him why, despite clearly having the strength of an Advanced Magic Apprentice and combat prowess not inferior to Humboldt's best underlings, Cook and Sally, he willingly disguised himself as an ordinary Intermediate Magic Apprentice, and what was the reason for hiding.

Pete's answer was: "Because of fear."

In this Flame Realm, the 'Eight Strange Fires' are seen as a rare talent, but at the same time, they are also seen as a curse.

The owners of the Eight Strange Fires are more prone to bizarre disasters than other Fire Mages.

Especially prone to mysterious 'disappearances'!

Disappearance!!

This made Andrew couldn't help but think: "Could it be that those who disappeared were actually secretly captured by the Magic Guild and offered as tribute during the so-called 'Sacrificial Year' to some unknown powerful existence?"

It feels like this explanation would completely make sense of why the owners of the Eight Strange Fires were prone to strange incidents, and why the frequency of incidents was not uniform, but periodic. Could this periodicity coincide with the frequency of the Sacrificial Year?

"...In any case, regarding the 'Sacrificial Year', Ross, what you know now may not be more than what I understand." Andrew returned to his senses and once again looked at the sandy ground where Ross last existed, thinking, "Since that's the case, I no longer need you to provide any information."

From the remnants of the Flame Warriors' memories, Andrew also tried to search for information about the 'Outer Battlefield'.

Previously from Mountain and Sea, Andrew first heard the concept of 'Outer Battlefield', which seemed to be the place where Water Mages retreated when they were hunted and persecuted by the Magic Guild.

Andrew wanted to know, where is that place? How to get there? And if it's accessible, are there still Water Mages existing there?

But unfortunately, Andrew couldn't find any relevant information from the remnants of the Flame Warriors' memories.

He didn't know whether someone knew the information but forgot it, or if regarding the 'Outer Battlefield', only beings of Mountain and Sea's level had access, while ordinary Flame Warriors had no qualification to touch upon it?

Andrew couldn't help but silently stand in place, falling into contemplation.

Not far away, Fleur witnessed the Desolate Beasts turning into Flame Warriors and watched her partner Ross being overwhelmed and devoured by the enraged Flame Warriors.

Throughout the process, she went from crying to suffering, to numbness.

Strangely, as Ross's partner and accomplice, she didn't feel much fear.

Instead, she felt a faint sense of empathy with the actions of the restored Flame Warriors.

"If I, like them, lost control and turned into a Desolate Beast after Dragon Transformation, not only would I have to roam as an undead in this Inner Sea Desert, but I would also be controlled by someone with Desolate Language Magic, what... would happen to me? Would it be like this?" Fleur couldn't help but entertain such thoughts.

Seeing is believing, no matter how unwilling she was to believe the harsh truth presented by Andrew, she had to admit that this was indeed the reality.

Her gaze slowly turned, and Fleur looked at Andrew again, saying woodenly: "Kill me."

Ross's death made Fleur a little sad, but she didn't feel much about it. She didn't particularly like Ross from the beginning. Being partners doesn't mean being lovers, not even necessarily friends.

However, the revelation that Desolate Beasts are Flame Warriors was too much of a blow to Fleur.

At this moment, she felt ashen-hearted and lost the will to live.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

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.