chsdbacks Chapter 833: Rescuing Beast Tamers
Chapter 833: Rescuing Beast Tamers
We are Back! This time for good and I have got quite the Chapters stacked so expect Updates from now on! We also have a discord Channel now.. it’s in the authors note. If you want to reach out to me then that’s the place...
The wagon moved slowly between two sloping dunes.
The false merchants had just begun to relax, their tense shoulders finally easing after hours of cautious travel, when the sand in front of the lead wagon exploded upward.
Nox stepped out of Phantom Cloak with Glacier’s End already in his hand.
"Stop the wagons."
The escorts reacted fast, too fast for common merchants. Three drew hidden blades from beneath their robes in one smooth motion. Two began chanting fire spells without hesitation, flames gathering around their palms. The man at the front ripped off his headscarf, revealing a numbered badge sewn into his collar.
Number 47.
"Ambush!" he shouted. "Kill the captives first!"
One of the riders immediately turned his horse toward the nearest wagon and raised a blade toward the bound prisoners inside.
Nox moved before the man could strike.
Glacier’s End flashed once.
The rider’s arm never finished its arc.
It spun through the air before landing heavily on the sand. The man barely had time to scream before blood poured from the severed shoulder.
Akira descended from the left like a white comet, her spear driving through the chest of the second attacker before he could reach the canvas. Her momentum carried her cleanly past him as his body collapsed from the saddle.
Ants poured over the dune behind her, hundreds of black bodies rushing forward in perfect formation. They cut off the left side of the caravan in a living wall of chitin and mandibles, surrounding the remaining escorts before they could scatter.
Nyx appeared at the rear pass, holy light already forming in her palm.
"Nowhere to run."
Panic broke through the Flaming Rose squad.
Number 47 cursed and raised both hands. A whip of fire snapped through the air, twisting like a burning serpent as it shot straight toward Nox’s throat.
Nox did not dodge. Instead, he launched an attack of his own.
FWOOOSH!
Dark purple fire surged from Nox’s palm.
The whip of fire collided with the starlight colored flames and vanished as if it had never existed, completely devoured without leaving behind even a spark.
Number 47’s eyes widened when he saw this. Confidence disappeared from his face as he stumbled backward in disbelief.
"What"
Not giving him time to react, Nox closed the distance in one step and drove his knee into the man’s chest.
The numbered agent flew off his horse and hit the sand hard enough to raise a cloud of dust before tumbling several more meters.
The remaining escorts lasted less than a minute under the combined onslaught of the ants, Akira, and Nyx.
Any attempt to regroup was crushed almost immediately. The ants overwhelmed those who tried to flee, Akira intercepted anyone who reached the wagons, while Nyx’s holy magic disrupted every spell that the surviving fire mages attempted to cast.
Akira freed the first wagon. Nyx shattered the locks on the second. The ants dragged the last resisting fighters down without killing all of them.
The captives were shaken. They looked thirsty and terrified. Their faces were pale, lacking any color, and some of their bones were visible beneath their stretched skin, showing just how long they had been starving. Their wrists and ankles were rubbed raw by the ropes, while several younger children instinctively shrank away from anyone who approached them.
Nox immediately put Glacier’s End away and knelt beside the nearest wagon.
He handed them water from his storage space while Akira checked the boy who had stopped moving. The others watched nervously as she examined him.
He was only unconscious. Thankfully, for a brief moment, Nox had thought the boy was already dead.
One by one, the rescued tamers slowly accepted the water and drank in careful sips. Some cried quietly while others simply sat there in stunned silence, unable to process that they had actually survived.
One of the older girls, maybe sixteen, clutched her tamed fox against her chest and stared at Nox with tears in her eyes. The little beast trembled just as much as its master but refused to leave her embrace.
"Thank you, big brother. Thank you for saving us."
"It’s fine. The bad men are no longer here," Nox said, stroking her hair. "Can you walk?"
The girl nodded weakly.
"I... I think so."
At that moment, Nyx returned from the rear pass with two bound prisoners.
One was already dead. The other was Number 47, blood on his lips but still conscious.
His robes were torn, and dried blood stained the front of his clothes, yet hatred still burned in his eyes.
Nox crouched in front of him.
"Where were you taking them?"
Number 47 laughed weakly through broken teeth.
"You think... I’ll tell you?"
Nox pressed Glacier’s End against the sand beside the man’s hand.
The frozen blade released a faint chill that spread across the ground.
"Try again."
The agent’s smile faltered as he swallowed.
His eyes briefly shifted toward the unconscious captives before returning to Nox.
"West," he muttered. "Deep west. The dunes that look empty. There’s nothing on the surface, but the ground opens if you know the signal."
Akira’s eyes narrowed.
"Underground tunnels?"
Number 47 said nothing more. That silence itself was an answer. Nox studied him for a second longer before standing.
"Who gave the order?"
This time, the man stayed silent until Nyx’s holy light pressed against his chest.
The radiant energy made his expression twist in pain. His breath hitched as if every second of contact burned him from the inside.
"Number 1," he spat. "Everything goes through Number 1."
There was silence for a few seconds before it was eventually broken.
The desert wind drifted across the battlefield, carrying away the smell of blood and burned magic.
"Good," Nox said quietly to himself. "It’s time to get rid of this nuisance once and for all."
...
Some time later, they made camp on the leeward side of a high dune as the sun slowly sank below the horizon.
The rescued tamers huddled around a small fire while the ant scouts formed a wide perimeter around the camp. Several worker ants carried supplies from the wagons while soldier ants disappeared into the surrounding dunes to keep watch.
Akira treated the worst injuries with practiced efficiency, carefully cleaning wounds before applying medicine. Nyx kept watch over the prisoners, making sure none of them had an opportunity to escape.
Nox stood at the edge of the camp, looking west.
The desert looked empty.
Nothing but endless waves of sand stretched toward the horizon.
But Number 47 had not lied about that.
Nox had learned long ago that the most dangerous places in this world were the ones that looked like nothing at all. Hidden strongholds, forgotten ruins, and underground kingdoms rarely announced their existence. They waited beneath ordinary landscapes until the unsuspecting wandered too close.
Footsteps approached from behind.
Even without looking, Nox could tell who it was.
The person stopped, then spoke.
"Nyx was worried too. She just won’t say it."
"I know. She’s my sister. I’m already used to her."
Akira stood beside him for a moment, both of them facing the darkening horizon. The last traces of sunlight reflected across the dunes before fading into deep orange and crimson. Her hand brushed against his, brief, fleeting, but deliberate.
Neither of them pulled away.
"Do we go after Number 1 tomorrow?" she asked moments later.
Nox’s eyes reflected the last red light on the sand as he said, "Tomorrow we find the opening in the dunes. After that, we tear the Order out by the root."