The convoy of three armored crawlers rumbled through the eternal twilight of Sector 5. The wheels churned up plumes of fine grey dust that clung to the windshields like powdered bone.
Inside the lead vehicle, Kaelen watched the horizon. The air filters hummed loudly, struggling to scrub the [Mana Stagnation] from the atmosphere. Every breath tasted metallic.
"Sector 5," Lyra said from the passenger seat, consulting the map Vex had stolen from the King. "According to the data, this is Nomad territory. But I don't see any tracks."
"Nomads don't leave tracks," Kaelen replied, scanning the dune lines with his [Abyssal Sight]. The heat signature of the desert was a monotonous grey, making it hard to spot ambushes. "They move with the wind. And right now, the wind is changing."
He pointed ahead. The horizon wasn't a straight line anymore. It was a towering wall of purple and black clouds, stretching from the ground to the sky. Lightning—not blue, but a sickening violet—forked silently inside the cloud bank.
[System Warning.]
[Weather Phenomenon Detected: The Ash-Storm.]
[Danger Level: High (Rank C+ Environmental Hazard).]
[Effects: Visibility Zero. Mana Draining Wind. Corrosive Lightning.]
"A Mana Storm," Seraphina's voice crackled over the radio from the second crawler. "Kaelen, my sensors are going haywire. The ambient mana density just spiked by 400%. It's... angry mana."
"It's not angry," Kaelen corrected. "It's hungry. It drains everything it touches."
He grabbed the radio.
"All units, full stop. Form a defensive triangle. Nose-in. Secure the cargo hatches."
"Stop?" Lyra looked at him, alarmed. "Boss, if we stop, we get buried. We should try to outrun it."
"You can't outrun the weather, Lyra," Kaelen said, stopping the crawler. "We dig in. We weather the storm. And we pray the Mana Well holds out."
The convoy ground to a halt in a depression between two massive dunes. The mercenaries, trained by the live-fire exercise in Sector 9, moved quickly. They angled the crawlers inward, creating a small, protected pocket in the center.
They had just finished locking the external armor plates when the wall of ash hit them.
ROAR.
It wasn't wind. It was a physical blow. The 20-ton crawlers shuddered violently. Visibility dropped to zero instantly. The windows turned black as ash slammed against the reinforced glass at hurricane speeds.
Then the lightning started.
CRACK-BOOM.
A bolt of violet lightning struck the sand ten meters away. It didn't just explode; it turned the sand into glass, leaving a steaming crater.
"Hull integrity at 80%!" Vex reported from the rear crawler. "The wind is stripping the armor plating!"
"Hold position," Kaelen ordered. He looked at Seraphina. "Seraphina, the Mana-Well. How's the charge?"
"It's draining fast!" Seraphina shouted over the roar of the storm. "The storm is sucking the energy right through the hull! We have maybe an hour before the life support fails."
If life support failed, the filters would stop. They would suffocate in the toxic ash.
"An hour," Kaelen muttered. "Not enough."
He unbuckled his seatbelt.
"Lyra, you have command of the convoy. Keep them calm. If the hull breaches, patch it with Ice Foam."
"Where are you going?" Lyra grabbed his arm. "You can't go out there. The lightning will vaporize you."
"The lightning targets mana sources," Kaelen explained, putting on his respirator mask. He pulled the Mithril Sword from under his seat. "It's hunting the crawlers. I need to give it a better target."
"You're going to be a lightning rod?" Lyra stared at him, horrified.
"I'm going to be a distraction," Kaelen corrected.
He kicked the side hatch open. The wind tried to rip the door off its hinges. Ash filled the cab instantly.
Kaelen jumped out into the maelstrom.
The world was noise and violence. The ash flayed any exposed skin. The wind tried to lift him off his feet.
Kaelen dug his boots into the sand. He activated [Null-Breaker Stance] to ground himself against the kinetic force of the storm.
He looked up at the swirling violet clouds. He could feel the mana hunger in the air. It was like the Abyss, but dumber. Wilder.
He raised his sword high.
"Hey!" Kaelen roared into the wind. His voice was swallowed instantly.
He needed to be louder. Not acoustically. Magically.
He released the limiter on the [Sin Eater].
[Skill: Abyssal Aura]
A pillar of black smoke erupted from Kaelen's body, piercing the grey ash storm. It was a beacon of pure, concentrated Void energy—the ultimate chew toy for a hungry Mana Storm.
The clouds swirled above him, drawn to the sudden spike in energy density. The lightning stopped striking the dunes.
All of it focused on him.
A massive fork of violet lightning, thicker than a tree trunk, arced down from the sky.
CRACK-DOOM.
It hit the tip of the Mithril Sword.
Kaelen didn't try to block it. He didn't try to ground it.
He tried to eat it.
[Sin Eater: Active.] [Consuming Environmental Energy (High Density).]
The surge of power was agonizing. It felt like his veins were being filled with molten lead. The electricity arced over his body, melting the sand around his boots into a glass circle.
[-50 HP]
[-50 HP]
[-50 HP]
His health plummeted. The sheer volume of mana was overloading his system.
'Too much,' Kaelen realized, gritting his teeth so hard a molar cracked. 'I can't store this. I have to vent it.'
He aimed the sword at the ground.
[Technique: Grand Severance (Overcharged).]
He channeled the lightning through his body, into the sword, and released it into the earth as a massive kinetic vibration.
BOOM.
The ground exploded. A shockwave of force rippled outward, pushing the ash storm back for fifty meters, creating a temporary eye of calm around the convoy.
Kaelen fell to one knee, smoke rising from his armor. His sword was glowing red hot.
[DING!]
[Feat Accomplished: Storm Breaker.]
[You survived a direct hit from a Rank C+ Mana Storm.]
[XP Gained: 5,000.]
[Permanent Resistance Gained: Lightning (Minor).]
The storm didn't stop, but its intensity faded. Having discharged its biggest bolt, the cloud bank began to dissipate, rolling onward toward the horizon.
The wind died down to a manageable howl. The lightning stopped.
Kaelen tried to stand up, but his legs refused to obey. He collapsed into the hot glass crater.
The side hatch of the lead crawler flew open. Lyra and Seraphina ran out, ignoring the lingering static.
"Kaelen!" Seraphina knelt beside him, her hands glowing with healing magic. "You idiot! You could have died!"
"Did the crawlers take damage?" Kaelen rasped, his throat burned raw.
"Minor hull scarring," Lyra reported, helping him sit up. She looked at the crater he had made, awe in her eyes. "We're operational. You... you ate lightning."
"Tasted like ozone," Kaelen coughed.
He stood up, refusing Seraphina's help.
"Get back in the vehicles," Kaelen ordered. "The storm cleared the air. Visibility is good."
He looked toward the south, where the map indicated the Oasis should be.
Through the settling dust, he saw something.
Pillars of rock rising from the desert floor. And nestled between them, green vegetation.
"The Oasis," Kaelen confirmed.
But it wasn't empty.
His [Abyssal Sight], supercharged by the lightning intake, picked up hundreds of heat signatures among the rocks.
And something else. A massive, cold energy signature. Not life. Not mana.
[System Warning.]
[Entity Detected: The Sand-Worm Queen (Rank B).]
[Status: Dormant (Buried).]
Kaelen smiled, his lips cracking from the dryness.
"Looks like the Nomads have a pet," Kaelen murmured.
He limped back to the crawler.
"Lyra, wake the men up. Tell them break time is over."
He climbed into the cab, the smell of ozone still clinging to his skin.
"We have a pest control job to do."