[Western Continent, Vast Desert]

As the battle grew fiercer even more, Asmaveth held on tight in between the Scorpioche's carapace, as he witnessed his undead creature smacked down Ester with a choke slam. However due to the lion's mane, the Scorpioche's pincers weren't able to penetrate to its skin, as this gave leeway for Ester to morph once more and turn back quickly into a human, before he went under the Scorpioche and morphed into a huge snake that blew it down  under.

Biting down on the hard carapace of the Scorpioche, Ester then threw it towards the sand dune, as Asmaveth flew off the Scorpioche's back when it crashed landed. Of course Ester saw this opportunity as he quickly slither towards Asmaveth in quick pace, only to be stopped when the Scorpioche suddenly slammed its arm towards his head.

Luckily for Ester, he was able to stop just right in time, as he saw the arm fell in front of him, and dust accumulate all over the place. But as if using the sand as a cover for its attack, the Scorpioche suddenly jumped out of the sand, as it slammed against Ester and pushed him down at the foot of the sand dune. 

Upon seeing this, Asmaveth felt a complicated feeling inside his chest. as he screamed out towards the creature he has conjured and even attempted to help it out against Ester. However the moment Asmaveth aimed his power towards Ester, he suddenly realized that he was attempting to actually kill a person under his own will and recognition. After all, throughout his time when he received this powers, he had no intention to actually kill any person with his power that could harm others, All the kills he had accumulated along the way, were done unwillingly or when he least expect it.

So despite his record of kills, he had never actually killed a person consciously and willingly, all the kills he had accumulated were all done passively. With that, this will be the first time that Asmaveth would willingly use his own power against other people.

When he thought of this, his hands begun to shake intensely, as his morality begun to reason out of him in regard to actually killing a person life. After all this is life that we are talking about and the experience of first kill would leave a heavy impression on him. The choices was stacked on him. Will he choose to stay human if he doesn't kill the person he is targeting or will he turn into a monster if he actually decides to kill the target.

As Asmaveth was pondering about this, Ester attacked the Scorpioche once more with heavier attacks, which caused its carapace to show signs of breaking apart. Just like that, he had downed the Scorpioche once more, as it sprawled all over the sand and was somewhat in a half knock out state.

When the Scorpioche  got slammed down once more, Asmaveth then snapped back into reality, as he realized that he had actually hesitated to attack Ester. Because of his mistake, Rueben then used this chance, as he popped out from the dune from afar, and fired off its bolt towards Asmaveth.

In just one shot, Asmaveth was blown back by the force of the bolt fired, as his shoulder got punctured, which cause his whole body to take a recoil and fall down.

This actually came in a surprise, never did Asmaveth thought, that someone would snipe him down like that. So when Rueben aimed towards Asmaveth once more, his whole body then tensed up, as he saw Rueben from afar, which caused the Scorpioche to mistaken him  being in danger, and hurriedly blocked the following projectile aimed his way.

Surprised that his undead Scorpioche  actually protected him, he was even more surprised when he as how fast it reacts, when it saw Ester popped out of the sand and used its pincers to hold him down and fighting against the will of the world. For the first time since forever, Asmaveth felt helplessness.

Using its whole body to defend itself against Ester  and Rueben's attacks, Asmaveth felt despair even more as he realized that he was slowly losing the only thing he currently cares right in front of him. but despite his plea to defend itself, the Scorpioche kept him under his body, as he blocked the attacks from above and guarded from the attacks from below with its innate skill to detect anything within the sand approaching their direction.

In that moment wind started to grow violent, as everyone realized that the wind was packing up with even more strength, that was completely different from the strong winds of the dessert. After all not only was the wind packing up, even the sand was starting to be blown harsher, as everyone felt the shaking of the sands.

In that moment as everyone wondered what is happening around them, everyone then all simultaneously turned their heads towards the direction of the wind, as they all saw a huge sandstorm heading their way in approximately a few seconds apart. When Asmaveth saw this, he then realized that the sandstorm may help him escape from this place, as he quickly issued a command to its creature by bringing herself deep within the sandstorm.

The moment the Scorpioche received such orders, it then swung its tail towards Ester, as it stinger stabbed ester on its side, causing him to be poisoned and paralyzed die to the Scorpioche's poisonous stingers.

Of course Ester roared in pain when he got punctured and fall down on the sand dune. Because of what happened to him, Asmaveth then used this chance to get away while under the protection of its undead Scorpioche. Naturally with Ester down from the poison and paralysis, Rueben then took the matters into his own hand, as he tried to obstruct the target, only to be blocked by the thick carapace of the Scorpioche itself and force himself to consider his options when he saw the huge sandstorm coming his way.

"Freaking hell"

With a curse and a click of a tongue, Rueben then decided to fall back with the rest of the town brigade, before looking back at the downed Ester. Since it was recorded that the Scorpioche's stinger's carry a deadly poison, he then assumed that Ester wouldn't survive such an attack, since he got stinged by the undead Scorpioche's stinger.

"Everybody! fall back retreat!"

"But what about captain Ester?" asked by one of the soldier among their brigade

"He got stinged! we cant do much for him in this situation, we need to prioritize ourselves first! the sandstorm is coming, retreat!!!"

"But...."

"I said retreat!" shouted by Rueben as he pulled along the soldier who was adamant to leave Ester behind.

As the town brigade was making their retreat, Asmaveth running for his life, and Ester struggling to neutralize the poison while forcing his body to catch up to the target, the violent sandstorm then hit all of them, as some were blown away, while others were smacked by the sand right at their faces. In just a few second their whole world turned into zero visibility, as they literally cant even see in this violent sandstorm that enveloped the whole vast desert.

Sandstorms generally occur in areas where the ground is covered with loose dust or sand. Sometimes, after having travelled great distances, they may be observed over areas where no dust or sand covers the ground. The forward portion of a dust storm or sandstorm may have the appearance of a wide and high wall that advances fairly rapidly. Walls of dust or sand often accompany a Cumulonimbus that may be hidden by the dust or sand particles. They may also occur without any clouds along the forward edge of an advancing cold airmass.

The storms can be accompanied by 60 mph winds, visibilities of barely a few feet and a suffocating concentration of dust particles that can pose a respiratory risk to virtually anybody. They can lead to deadly pileups on interstates, and can render ports inoperable until conditions improve. Aside from the wind, sandstorms themselves aren't as hazardous to people indoors. However, if a person is caught outdoors, the dust can be very problematic from a respiratory standpoint.

In that moment everyone lost sight of each other, as each and every single person present struggled just to survive the sandstorm. As for Ester, by semi-morphing his body into a lizardman which enables him to sense people within his vicinity using tremor tracking, he was able to locate the direction that Asmaveth took to escape the pursuit as he ran up to the target while trying to fight against the current of the sand storm. But unknown to him, he is slowly losing focus as his whole body is fatigue and poisoned, as it was just trying to move on further by his own will. However everything has a limit and so is his body.

As for Asmaveth, he struggle to trudge forward, as he took one step at a time while going against the wind itself. Usng the Scorpioche to temporarily roof himself from its harsh wind, Asmaveth carefully took one step at a time as he continued to move forward despite everything he struggled to go against.

*********

Just like that, 5 hours elapse throughout the land as the storm lasted that long, which literally affected anyone that passes through it. after the sandstorm passes, the once disturbed land, then suddenly went silent, as all manner of destruction on the land, was completely wiped off by the sand and returned to how it was.

Since 5 hours has passed, the day was naturally almost over, as the sun was about to set and the sky welcome the night. once the land darkens, cold winds blew the land, as anyone who experienced the wind shivered in coldness and the unbearable temperature itself.

As darkness slowly crept up the land, Rueben and the remaining people of the town's brigade then grouped up as they  begun to search from high and low  in order to find Ester in this vast sand. After all despite going missing, Ester still held quite an importance as an officer and leader of the town's brigade. Because of his reputation, his own brigade naturally came back for him as they tried to rescue him as fast as possible.

"Captain! where are you?"

"Captain!!!"

"Hello? please call out captain!!!"

As the others were frantically searching for Ester, Ruben on the other hand was in deep thought as he looked over at the place where he last saw Ester, in fact he even tried to follow its trail, but no matter what he do, he seemed to realize that even the tracks itself were erased in the passage of the sandstorm.

So after thinking this through and the fact that the captain is missing, all authority then falls unto the vice captain to struggle to keep everything in balance. This was the opportunity that Rueben was waiting for, as his goal to move further up in the society's hierarchy is finally being granted. So after making sure that Ester is completely untraceable, Rueben then turned towards the town's brigade unit and claimed authority over everyone.

"Despite all our effort, we still cant find captain Ester.... at this very moment captain Ester is either considered dead or missing in action... Since we cant vacate the captain position for long, I as the assistant of captain Ester and his vice captain, then take all responsibility as the temporary leader and everyone should follow my command"

"Since the sun has set and we are having a hard time looking for captain Ester, i then issue my first command to retreat back to the town quickly"

Hearing Rueben's command, some unit questioned his leadership and orders, as they raised questions and opposition from Rueben's decision to retreat back to the town.

"But what about captain Ester? we cant just leave him behind here! we need to save him quickly!"

When Rueben heard this, he then calmly approached the opposing unit, as he said his reasoning behind his decision.

"We cant find him and we're searching in the dark... it is quite disadvantageous for us against our target a necromancer, when fighting in the dark... we must not be careless and retreat to ask for aid from the city"

"But the captain!"

"Listen to me! i know just how important captain Ester's life is, but you should also remember that we also have our own life and people waiting for us back home... so instead of searching in the dark, in this disadvantageous terrain, we need to prioritize our own safety first! the only way for us to be able to find him, is to have ourselves survive through this"

"I have no qualms against your point Rueben! but i cant leave captain Ester behind knowing that he is still out there trying his best to survive"

As the unit said this, the other people who held his same view, seconded his opinion and tried to go against Rueben's decision.

"Yeah! he's right!"

"Yeah!"

Unfortunately as the opposition grows further, Rueben finally lost his patience, as his expression turned dark and raised his crossbow towards the unit who started this pathetic opposition. If no one tries to listen to him, then there is no point in letting them live. In just one pull, he fired off his crossbow and squarely hit the unit right in between his eyebrows.

Being blown back by the force of the attack, its body then fell to the sandy ground, as it lay flat on the sand and blood drip out of its forehead. In that moment Rueben finally showed his true colors as he killed the very person who annoyed him in this very moment.

Of course this came into a shock for everyone, but before they could ask him why he killed his comrades. Rueben then raised his aura to the maximum he could produce and glared back at the other unit's in the brigade.

"The next one who opposed my decision, will end up like him, so its better if you guys listen to me rather than ending up as a corpse.... when i say that we will retreat, i meant every last word of it... now lets retreat, unless someone else wants an arrow between their eyebrows"

As Rueben threatened them with his words and actions, all the unit in the brigade were shocked by this shocking reveal of Rueben's true colors, as they followed his orders in fear of being killed. As for the reason why everyone seemed scared and unable to go against him anymore, all of then naturally sensed Rueben's aura which completely paralyzed them on the spot which indicated that he was stronger than all of them combined.

In that moment, they got a swift of Rueben's true power, just from that reveal alone. With that the brigade then marched away as they retreated back to the town itself.

***ReadAtWebnovel***