"Ten Gold Lion Coins? Can you really hire an awakened of this level for ten Gold Lion Coins?" Marcus was a bit stunned. He could never have imagined that the caravan had secured the protection of a level 1 awakened for merely ten Gold Lion Coins—utterly unbelievable.

He then realized that the person in front of him was likely mocking him, and anger surfaced on his face. "So, you insist on protecting this caravan?"

Marcus could sense Duke's strength, but still felt that their powers weren't too disparate, and that he had the upper hand.

He had plenty of apprentice awakened allies on his side, and their cooperation was sufficient to deal with the person before him.

Duke looked at the group of Gray Forest Thieves and softly said, "I offer you two choices: either retreat or die. If any other words come from your mouth next, I can only grant you death."

Marcus heard these arrogant words and immediately snorted coldly, "Big words..."

But before he could finish his sentence, the Yellow Sand Barrier moved, transforming into a towering wave of yellow sand that swept towards them.

Marcus couldn't believe Duke's decisiveness; he actually took action directly, as if intending to face their group of two hundred men single-handedly—his arrogance was off the charts.

"Everyone, attack! Take care of this person first!" Marcus didn't flinch at all, directly ordering all his subordinates to deal with Duke.

He believed that as long as he could hold Duke at bay, others would find an opportunity from the side, and even the strongest level 1 awakened would make mistakes.

However, Marcus could never have expected that he was facing not a regular level 1 awakened, but a level 1 mage.

The arrows shot by the Gray Forest Thieves were meaningless to Duke, as a veil of sand always appeared in time to block them.

Occasionally, energy-type attacks from apprentice awakened were no different—Duke treated them like regular arrows, as they'd be halted by the automatic defense of the Sand Guardian.

These apprentice awakened were not even as strong as first-class wizard apprentices, so how could their attacks threaten Duke?

With the Talent Magic of Sand Guardian, Duke's level of strength naturally surpassed these awakened on another level.

Even if he stood still, these awakened had no means to harm him—the outcome of the battle had been determined from the start.

A massive wave of yellow sand erupted skyward; instead of forming a Yellow Sand Barrier, it became countless streams of fine, sharp, high-speed rotating sand—like billions of minuscule, sand-formed poison needles—emitting a dense, buzzing sound, forming a deathly sandstorm over the entire canyon passage.

The target of the sandstorm was every Gray Forest Thief still standing on the rock walls and within the canyon.

Marcus's pupils contracted; he felt the terrifying penetrative power and destructive aura contained in the sandstorm, a type of attack no ordinary person or apprentice awakened could possibly withstand.

He frantically wielded his warhammer, forming layer upon layer of thick, gray-blue ice shields to protect his men.

Yet, the rotating streams of sand needles seemed to ignore the hardness of the ice.

Piercing through point after point, they effortlessly penetrated layer upon layer of ice shields.

The ice shields emitted dense sounds of cracking, like glass being shot through by countless bullets.

"Ah!!!"

"My eyes!!"

"Help! Leader!"

Screams instantly echoed throughout the canyon, more piercing than any before.

Whether archers hiding behind rocks, small leaders standing by the edges of rock walls, or thieves in the canyon not yet ensnared by the sand beneath their feet—if exposed under the deathly sandstorm, their bodies were instantly riddled like sieves.

High-speed rotating sand streams easily pierced through leather armor and chain mail, raising puffs of bloody mist. On rocks and ground, countless crimson flecks of blood bloomed in an instant.

The once imposing Gray Forest Thieves, who held absolute advantage, suddenly crumbled completely.

"What kind of awakened ability is this..." Marcus remained unscathed, but witnessing the almost complete annihilation of the Gray Forest Thieves, his eyes were red, and his anger knew no bounds.

The force he'd painstakingly built over three years shattered in an instant, leaving him a mere lone commander.

Though there were still some people at the Gray Forest Thieves' hideout, they were either women or ineffective in combat.

Nearly all of Marcus's fighting strength was here, annihilated in an instant by Duke alone.

He'd never encountered such domineering, overwhelmingly powerful abilities—with extreme defensive fortitude and attack methods that were exceptionally strong, diverse, and unpredictable.

Those sands were no ordinary sand; they completely ignored the defenses of his ice shield, directly penetrating all of them, killing the Gray Forest Thieves behind the shields.

When Duke took action, he held no mercy. Not only were these natives of another plane, but these Gray Forest Thieves were bandits—who knows how many lives they had harmed over the three years. When they chose to be bandits, they had to accept the possibility of being killed by others.

Marcus realized he'd completely underestimated Duke's strength, not anticipating his awakened ability to be so formidable.

To manipulate such a large scale of sand, consuming vast amounts of energy, and then condensing it into precise sand spikes for attack—such control required immense power.

Marcus, being himself a level 1 awakened, knew well the difficulty of achieving this level—none of the strongest level 1 awakened he'd previously encountered matched Duke's power.

He never expected that in just routine banditry, he'd encounter such a fierce character.

The setting sun was blood-red, casting hellish shadows across the canyon scene.

The drifting sand continued to move slowly, the pervasive scent of blood mixed with sand dust was nauseating.

The members of the caravan stared wide-eyed, their mouths agape, at the figure standing atop the sand—like a deity—with reverence and a sudden-flooding fear in their hearts.

To slay nearly two hundred people in an instant and remain unfazed—such a person was enough to evoke fear in ordinary individuals, even if they were allies.

Bal and Finn felt their hearts churn as they sensed the terrifying power surrounding them, yet tightly protecting them with sand.

They knew Duke was strong, but never imagined he was this strong.

This surpassed their limits of understanding of a level 1 awakened; such skill and awakening ability were immensely powerful in any setting.

Duke felt little emotion; his gaze finally fell once more on Marcus, who in an instant became a lone commander.

That gaze remained calm, yet it chilled Marcus a hundred-fold more than his own released cold.

"Now," Duke's voice carried no emotion, yet it announced the arrival of the final judgment, "it's your turn."

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