Snake observed through the windows of an empty house, his green eyes shining with calm.
As he passed his hand through his black hair, he muttered to himself in a low voice,
"There are so many guards recently… someone must have done something."
He had noticed that recently, there were even more guards acting… and they were even more violent now.
If any native was seen holding something that could resemble a weapon, they were instantly killed by the burly flail soldier. If they tried to approach the sobbing woman statue, they were also instantly killed.
Snake called them "elites," as he easily noticed they were stronger than normal guards, and by quite a lot. He estimated that these "elites" would be at least aberrant level, but judging that they didn't use their full strength, their rank could be above that.
Because of his experience, he was able to notice these things—how strong one could be. That's what kept him alive until now, running from fights he couldn't win and fighting when he could.
"Hm… maybe it's because of that? Groups of guards are being killed by someone, probably another trial taker, as the natives hadn't done it before…" he scratched his head as he pondered about the matter, "The question is just who… who is making them fight… I should be careful, the people here are all worth of caution… I have to hasten my search, I don't have much time now."
******
A couple of days passed, and Faust was still shooting at the ceiling.
Little by little, he chipped away at the hardened material. By now, he had carved a hole over four meters long.
"Almost… hehehe… almost…"
Faust repeated to himself as he continued firing at the ceiling and recovering his mana. Until, eventually, a scarlet ray struck his face as the crimson moonlight seeped through a minuscule hole.
Upon seeing it, he immediately launched more explosive spikes at the ceiling. Cracks began to spread, and grains of sand fell into the underground chamber alongside more light.
The cracks widened rapidly.
Faust instantly formed two mana barriers above his head. Positioned horizontally in a triangular shape, they served as a shield as a torrent of sand poured through the hole, slamming into the barriers and scattering to the sides. It was as if the barriers had become an umbrella.
Gradually, the flow of sand lessened, and the hole became large enough for Faust to escape.
He conjured five mana barriers in succession, using them as makeshift stairs. Leaping from one to the next, he finally ascended out of the underground.
Faust took a deep breath as the weak wind fluttered his dark hair and the crimson light bathed his pale skin. His red eyes scanned the gray sand and the towering rock formations, some stretching over fifteen meters high.
"Hehehe… I've escaped once more…"
Wasting no time, he quickly began walking, storing the Plague Bringer inside his pouch. He didn't want it to be seen, and he'd already confirmed it could be stored that way.
He began to move toward the place he could feel—the one he assumed was the location of the seventh trial.
Only a day passed before a massive dark sandstorm overtook the horizon, closing in from all directions and engulfing the desert.
The grains of sand in the storm were fine, almost fog-like. Faust had experienced this before… the gargoyle-like creatures would appear soon, once the desert turned pitch black, dark enough that not even the crimson moonlight could pierce through.
Just seconds later, a few small creatures emerged from the darkness. They looked like stone goblins, with small horns and long, slender limbs.
Three of them surrounded Faust, slowly creeping closer before suddenly leaping toward him.
But instead of fear, Faust grinned.
Squinting his eyes, he focused and the miasma condensed into the shape of a rat at his side, it's body dark and with blue star-like glistening particles.
Leaping back, he shot two mana spikes through the legs of two of the monsters, bringing them down. When the third lunged at him, he kicked it in the chest and stomped on its leg, shattering it.
He had no intention of killing them himself.
Faust immediately commanded his miasma rat to finish the job. In one fluid movement, it pierced the skull of one monster, killing it instantly. As the body crumbled into the sand, a faint white light drifted into the lamp, increasing the miasma within.
With similar precision, the rat carved through the heads of the other two, further fueling the lamp.
Faust could feel the growing intensity of the miasma. When he tried to summon again, a second rat appeared. That confirmed it, three of these monsters were enough to create another rat.
He wondered how soon the stronger ones would arrive… and whether they'd provide more material for the miasma.
Before he could think further, five more monsters emerged from the darkness.
He pointed his finger at them and fired an explosive mana spike into the ground. The blast knocked all five down.
Without delay, he ordered the rats to attack. Swift and efficient, they tore through the monsters, whose bodies disintegrated into sand as white matter flowed into the lamp.
Faust willed once more, and one more rat materialized—numbering three now.
The best part was, the lantern didn't consume mana. It was a major boost to his power, especially since his greatest weakness was sustainability. His current mana was still at 88%, despite only using mana spikes and mana bomb.
One by one, he knocked down every monster that approached, relying mostly on mana bombs.
Gradually, the number of rats grew, soon over ten. They could now handle the creatures on their own.
With that, Faust created a platform of mana in the air and jumped onto it. Then he formed another one higher up, and leaped again—repeating the process to rise above the battle below.
From over six meters above the ground, Faust commanded his miasma rats like a general on the battlefield. His mana was down to 18%, but his expenditure from maintaining the mana barrier matched his recovery rate. While he wouldn't regain mana, he wouldn't lose any either.
He could now simply stand above the chaos and observe, with no risk to his life.
Naturally, with their main target gone, the monsters began attacking the rats but they were too quick to be hit. Within minutes, dozens of the creatures had been slain. Though many rats were also killed, their total number steadily climbed, surpassing twenty.
The monsters' numbers and strength continued to grow, yet Faust maneuvered his rats carefully, directing them to focus on the stronger enemies first and overwhelm them through sheer coordination.
Ten minutes passed. Beads of sweat formed on Faust's brow as he now controlled over thirty rats. However, the number seemed to stagnate, as they were now dying and multiplying at roughly the same rate.
Unexpectedly, the monsters' strength also stopped growing. And just a few seconds later, the pitch-black darkness began to fade. As the remaining enemies were slaughtered and turned back into gray sand, the storm subsided.
Faust didn't descend immediately. He waited several minutes, observing carefully. Only after confirming the area was completely clear and safe did he start his descent, forming another platform, leaping onto it, and finally reaching the ground.
His mana was nearly depleted. He needed time to recover...
Looking at the sand-covered terrain and the swarm of rats gathered around him, Faust smiled and murmured to himself:
"Only a few minutes and their numbers increased this much… This place is perfect for raising them. And I think I've figured out how it works…"
Faust knew he couldn't waste time. Even with his mana low, he resumed walking, mentally analyzing all that he had learned from the encounter.
He confirmed that the memories had been correct, the pitch-black fog lasted for about twenty minutes before dispersing. Initially, he doubted this, since the Old Rat Prince had experienced it only once, since he was quick in reaching the Grand Desert City.
But now, seeing it happen again with the same duration, it was nearly certain that the fog always lasted twenty minutes. A couple more encounters would confirm it definitively.
He also observed that the monsters' strength seemed to cap at a certain point. Near the end, they were clearly stronger than the initial ones, but still manageable in one-on-one combat. Their real danger came from their overwhelming numbers.
Now, having discovered a technique to deal with them, staying distanced and commanding his rats from above, he could accomplish two things at once: grow his army and improve his control over them without risking his life.
Fifteen days passed.
During that time, Faust repeatedly increased and lost miasma rats while battling through sandstorms and surviving the relentless waves of monsters.
He also took the opportunity to test their range limit, which turned out to be approximately ten kilometers and beyond that, he would completely lose connection with them.
Once a rat crossed that threshold, it would fully disperse, and the miasma wouldn't return to the Plague Bringer, resulting in the permanent loss of that rat.
And, on top of that, he learned that the monsters' strength held no importance when absorbing them into the lamp, the stronger ones provided the same amount as the weaker ones, which he found quite curious.
At the very least, he was now able to predict when the sandstorms would occur—once every four days—and their duration remained consistent at around twenty minutes. With that knowledge, he always prepared in advance, climbing onto his platforms and waging battle from a safe distance.
Thanks to constant repetition and practice, he vastly improved his command over the rats and their numbers grew steadily.
Now, he could summon up to fifty-eight rats.
If not for the stronger creatures that would emerge during the end of the storms and ravage through his rats, he would have easily surpassed that number by now.