The thunder of hooves echoed like war drums across the dunes. The horizon blazed, not with the sun, but with fire—the kind conjured by wrath and magic. Eshar, the Flame-Hunter of the Sands, descended with his warband like a firestorm, aiming to reduce Kael's newly fortified outpost to cinders.
From the ramparts, Kael's eyes locked on the crimson-armored Lord. Eshar sat astride his basilisk-mount like a monarch of destruction. His glaive shimmered, its blade curved like a serpent's fang and wreathed in dancing flames.
Nira stood beside Kael with excitement practically leaking from her. "He looks cool! Can I keep his basilisk if we win?"
Kael smirked. "Only if you fuse it into something that doesn't explode near my face."
Lyssa leaned her bow over the rampart, arrow nocked and ready. "Let's put that new passive to the test, Lord Kael. I want to see if 'Plague Sovereignty' lives up to its name."
Kael raised his hand. "Archers—volley fire! Focus on the mounts!"
The desert cracked as skeletal archers released ghostflame arrows. The air shimmered with heat and curses as the first wave of fire beasts entered the Contaminate zone.
[System Alert: Contaminate Zone Engaged]Effect on Hostile Beasts:
Defense reduced by 10%
Movement Speed -5%
Plague Infection: Spread Success – 7 of 10 unitsBonus Active:
Undead Units +5% Attack Speed
Fusion Enhancement Boost: +3% (Synergized with "Plague Sovereignty")
Kael reached out with his thoughts and summoned a unit he'd saved for emergencies: Bone Maw Hydra—a three-headed skeletal serpent fused with acid sac remains and a sand wyrm's husk.
It emerged behind the gates with a roar of screeching bone and writhing tongues.
Nira cheered, throwing both arms up. "YES! You brought out Boney! Go get 'em, hydra boy!"
From above, the enemy's flame archers launched volleys of exploding bolts. Walls shuddered as sandstone cracked under fire. A few skeletons crumbled into ash, but Kael didn't retreat. He reached toward the swirling necrotic energy around the altar, letting the Plague Core resonate with his soul.
[System Alert: Command Skill Activated – "Wraithbound Convergence"]Unit Count Summoned: 5 | Tier: ISkill Bonus Applied: Fusion-Ready (Elemental Affinity Detected Nearby)Modifier: "Ashbind" Skill Synergy – Auto-Ignite on Impact
Flaming wraiths with skeletal spines and shifting forms appeared. Nira's little hands danced through her alchemy pouch. "Let's make something nasty."
She tossed a fire shard into the summoning basin and channeled her Fusion Skill.
[System Alert: Fusion Skill Activated!]User: Nira [Adopted Kin – Fusionist of the Undying Sand]Elemental Fusion: Undeath + Flame Core FragmentResulting Entity: Emberghast Revenant – Tier I.5 Fusion ConstructStatus: Stable | Loyalty: 100% | Growth Potential: EvolvingTrait: Immolate Burst – Explodes on death, spreading necrotic fire
The Emberghast hovered forward, crackling with unholy flame.
Below, Eshar dismounted, dragging his glaive through the sand with murderous grace. His warbeasts shrieked, charging the gates as he raised his hand and cast a burning sigil into the sky.
"KAEL! Lord of Bones! Step down and face ME!"
Kael didn't wait.
He leapt from the rampart, dark mist curling beneath his boots as he landed like a phantom just meters from Eshar. His necrotic armor glowed green under the heat, but he kept his cool.
"You'll burn like the rest."
They clashed.
Sparks exploded where glaive met blade. Kael's longsword, forged from soul-iron, hummed with deathly resonance. Eshar's strikes were wild, flaming, brutal—yet Kael's parries were precise, each one deflecting the inferno just wide enough to avoid combustion.
Behind them, the Bone Maw Hydra coiled around a pillar and struck down firewolves like a god of pestilence. Lyssa picked targets through the flames, sending arrows through eye sockets and shattering enemy morale.
Kael ducked under a sweep and activated a new command.
[System Alert: Active Skill – "Contaminate Strike"]Effect: Necrotic flame added to next melee attackBonus: If target is a living entity, inflicts Plague Status (Tier I)Status: Critical Hit Achieved!Eshar – Status: Infected (Tier I Plague)
Eshar screamed in fury, his movements slowing as the plague began to eat away at his stamina. He backed up, trying to cast a purging flame—but Kael lunged forward with a savage upward strike.
The glaive spun into the air, and Kael's boot slammed into the warlord's chest, sending him tumbling through sand and fire.
Around them, his troops began to falter.
The battle was turning.
"Lyssa!" Kael called.
"On it!"
Lyssa fired a charged arrow wrapped in shadow—a Skillshot unique to her Shadow Huntress class.
[System Alert: Active Skill – "Umbra Pierce"]Target: Eshar – VulnerableResult: Armor Penetration Success | Internal Bleed: TriggeredTarget Status: Critical | Health Remaining: 8%
Kael didn't hesitate. He raised his hand, summoned a final Wraithbolt, and hurled it with necrotic force.
Eshar screamed as the bolt buried into his chest and erupted.
When the smoke cleared, only a cracked glaive remained behind.
[System Alert: Lord Eshar Defeated]Achievement Unlocked: "Warlord Slayer I"XP Gained: +12,000Resource Gained: Fire Basilisk Core (Elite Beast – Tier II)Loot:
Glaive of the Blazing Sand (Epic – Fire Elemental Weapon)
1400 Gold Coins
Blueprint: Flame Spire WatchtowerFusion Material Detected: YesFusion Token Awarded: x1System Upgrade Progress: 18% → 21%
Kael stood over the battlefield, the undead cheering with eerie silence.
Nira ran down from the ramparts with her hands full of glowing shards. "Can I have the basilisk now?"
Kael chuckled. "You can fuse it. But we keep the mount type for our cavalry."
She beamed. "Deal!"
Lyssa approached, bruised but smirking. "You handled yourself well, warlord."
Kael's expression sobered. "There are more like him. That was just a taste."
From the remains of Eshar's forces, a lone scout barely escaped.
Far, far beyond the horizon, his transmission rune glowed as he whispered to his superiors.
And in a dark obsidian tower, a Supreme Lord stirred from slumber.
[System Alert: Sub-Quest Updated – "Fragmented Lords"]Progress: 1/3 Lord-Class Passives AcquiredThreat Response Level Increased: Tier II Lords MobilizingWarning: Supreme Beacon Reaction Detected in Sector D13
Kael turned his eyes east.
The real war was just beginning.