Episode 62: The Coronation of the Sand Scorpion

The final sliver of daylight leaked through the fracture in the temple dome, landing directly on Williams’s mechanical heart.

The heart, forged from sand crystal and alloy, was beating violently. Every pulse sent ripples across the ground, and black-purple tribulation flames crawled up his torso along vein-like pipelines. The bone core hovered before his chest, its deep blue glow more unearthly than ever before. The black curse seals on its surface wriggled like living creatures, greedily licking his bare skin.

"Finally... it’s my turn." Williams’s cybernetic eye flashed with a scarlet hue. He reached out with his remaining human left hand, his fingertips brushing the surface of the bone core. Traces of Alicia’s blood still lingered there, currently being devoured bit by bit by the curse seals, transforming into black mist that drilled into his palm.

The surrounding undead suddenly knelt down in unison, their grey-blue skulls pressed against the ground as if paying homage to a monarch. Their spines protruded inexplicably, forming pairs of tiny bone spurs on their backs that shuddered slightly with the beating of the bone core—this was the sign of the Sand Scorpion coronation ceremony beginning, a taboo ritual forbidden by the Sand Wardens a millennium ago.

Williams threw his head back and burst into wild laughter, his mechanical arm suddenly tearing open his own chest. The teeth-grating sound of alloy separating from flesh and blood revealed the mechanical heart beneath, continuously spewing tribulation flames. He grabbed the hovering bone core, ignoring the searing heat radiating from it, and shoved it fiercely into the recess of his heart!

"Ughh—!"

The instant the bone core made contact with the mechanical heart, Williams let out an inhuman roar. The black-purple tribulation flames erupted along the bone core like countless venomous snakes drilling into his blood vessels. Wherever they passed, flesh and blood were rapidly replaced by sand crystal. His back suddenly exploded open as six pairs of grey-blue bone wings tore through his skin, extending rapidly amidst the tribulation flames. Translucent sand crystal wing membranes condensed over the bone lattices, with deep blue light flowing through every wing vein.

"Not enough... not enough!" Williams’s roar escalated into a greedy howl. He flung his arms wide, and the sand grains on the temple floor suddenly rose into the air, surging toward his body crazily as if drawn by an invisible pull.

These sand grains condensed into armor across his body surface: the shoulder plates curved like scorpion pincers, the breastplate was embedded with dual totems of anti-entropy and a scorpion, sharp bone spurs extended from the edges of the leg greaves, and even his mechanical arm was covered by sand crystals, turning into a giant pincer flashing with a chilling gleam. When the last grain of sand adhered to his helmet, his entire figure had transformed into a nearly three-meter-tall sand scorpion warrior, six pairs of sand crystal wings beating slowly behind him, stirring up airflow that caused the surrounding undead to prostrate themselves.

"Let’s test this power..." Williams flexed his mechanical giant pincers, the sound of sand crystals grinding resembling metal scraping against rock. He casually waved his hand toward the adjacent stone wall, not employing tribulation flames, but pure physical force driving the airflow—

"Boom!"

A hundred-meter-tall sand pillar suddenly rose from the ground, crashing into the dome like a roaring yellow dragon. Wherever the sand pillar passed, the hard rock instantly softened and crystallized, turning into sand crystals flashing with deep blue luster, and even the load-bearing walls of the temple were eroded into honeycomb-shaped holes.

"Hahaha! This is the power of a god!" Williams’s frantic laughter shook loose the rubble of the dome. Looking at the crystal dust lingering on his sand crystal giant pincers, he suddenly leaned down, grabbed an undead creature, and pressed it into his palm.

The undead emitted a silent struggle beneath his palm, its grey-blue body withering at a speed visible to the naked eye before finally transforming into a sand crystal the size of a pigeon’s egg, which Williams tossed casually into his mouth. The sound of the sand crystal shattering between his teeth was clearly audible, and the glow of the bone core swelled accordingly, even dyeing the black-purple tribulation flames with a layer of golden radiance.

"Sand Wardens? Tribe X?" A crack split his sand crystal helmet, revealing the flashing scarlet cybernetic eye beneath. "From today on, I am the god of the vast desert! Every living thing must lick my sand crystals!"

His six pairs of wings beat violently, and Williams’s figure vanished instantly from the spot, reappearing atop the highest spire of the temple. Looking down at the Tribe X camp at his feet, he saw the warriors who had been injected with the sand blood serum fighting among themselves, only to suddenly freeze amidst the aura he emitted, falling to their knees one after another. The skin on their backs bulged, growing tiny bone spurs just like the undead.

"Behold your new king!" Williams spread his arms wide, the light of the bone core piercing through his sand crystal armor to cast a gigantic scorpion-shaped shadow across the firmament. "Those who surrender shall share the bounty of the bone core with me; those who resist shall become nourishment in the dead sands!"

The sand crystal warriors in the camp uttered fanatical roars, their eyes turning deep blue simultaneously as they bowed uniformly toward the spire. Even the Tribe X captives bound by iron chains trembled under the oppression of this aura, faint scorpion-shaped patterns vaguely emerging beneath their skin.

At that exact moment, the bone core on Williams’s chest suddenly changed.

The original deep blue glow faded at a speed visible to the naked eye, replaced by pure blackness like a solidified piece of ink stone, with only the curse seals on its surface continuing to pulse with dark red light. This bizarre transformation startled him slightly, causing him to instinctively press a hand to his chest—the bone core was transmitting a strange sensation of hunger, stronger than at any previous moment, as if urging him to devour more life.

"What is happening..." Williams’s sand crystal giant pincers trembled slightly. He could sense that a certain metamorphosis was taking place within the bone core; the pure energy belonging to the Sand Wardens was being swallowed by the darkness, transforming into even more violent and corrosive power.

An even more bizarre event occurred.

The undead surrounding the temple suddenly fell collectively still.

Maintaining their prostrating posture, their grey-blue skulls slowly rotated at angles defying physical laws. The deep blue light in their eye sockets extinguished, replaced by the same pure black as the bone core. When all the undead turned toward the exact same direction, even Williams felt a trace of chill—

They were facing the direction of Tribe X, specifically the location of the Crescent Spring Altar.

"What are you doing?!" Williams’s sand crystal giant pincers pointed toward the horde of undead, the black-purple tribulation flames condensing into a spear. "I am your master! Get back here!"

Yet the undead showed no reaction.

Led by some invisible thread, maintaining an eerie uniformity, they marched step by step toward Tribe X. Their grey-blue feet trod upon the sandy ground, leaving behind strings of black footprints. The sand grains touched by those footprints rapidly blackened, refusing to disperse even under the blowing wind.

Williams’s scarlet cybernetic eye constricted sharply.

He suddenly recalled a record in the ancient texts of the Sand Wardens—the ultimate form of the bone core possessed the ability to manipulate the sand grains of both life and death realms. However, the actions of these undead clearly exceeded his control parameters, appearing much more like... being driven by the will of the bone core itself.

"Bone core... what kind of game are you playing?" He pressed the black crystal on his chest, sensing an unfamiliar consciousness emanating from within—cold, indifferent, carrying an arrogance that looked down upon all living beings, bearing no resemblance to the greedy energy entity of before.

The horde of undead had already moved beyond the temple’s perimeter, their black footprints forming a winding serpent across the sand, extending toward the Crescent Spring. Williams suddenly realized that the movement route of these undead cleverly bypassed all Tribe X camps, targeting solely the sphere of influence of Tribe X.

"It's Lu Chen..." His sand crystal teeth gnashed audibly. "That brat’s Three-Precept Totem has stimulated the bone core!"

Beating his six pairs of wings once more, Williams’s figure transformed into a black rainbow, pursuing the direction of the undead horde. He could not tolerate anything slipping out of his control, especially these undead weapons capable of flattening Tribe X.

Yet he failed to notice that on the black bone core upon his chest, those dark red curse seals were reorganizing, gradually linking together into an unprecedented totem—neither the Anti-Entropy Array nor the scorpion shape, but a ring composed of countless tiny skulls.

As the vanguard of the undead horde reached the borders of Tribe X, the black footprints suddenly began to emit light. The sand grains contaminated by those footprints automatically aggregated, transforming into palm-sized black sand scorpions that sprinted wildly toward the altar. Wherever they passed, even cacti rapidly withered and blackened.

At the Crescent Spring Altar, Lu Chen was tuning the final parameters of the Anti-Entropy Array when the golden totem in his palm suddenly transmitted a sharp, burning pain. Looking up toward the northwest, he saw a black line appear on the horizon, approaching at an astonishing speed and dyeing even the wind-blown sand ink-black.

"What is that?" Alicia’s silver bird totem suddenly grew scalding hot. She could sense a familiar presence belonging to her mother, yet it was wrapped in a much heavier darkness. "The aura of the undead... but somewhat different."

Chen Yu raised his binoculars, the image reflected in the lenses making him draw a sharp intake of breath. "It’s those undead! They... they’ve turned completely black! And there are countless little black scorpions surging over like a tidal wave!"

Lu Chen’s gaze fell upon the quicksand timer at the edge of the altar; only a sliver of sand remained. The activation of the Anti-Entropy Array had entered its countdown, precisely when a surprise assault by an undead tide struck.

Gripping the golden totem in his palm tightly, he felt the Three-Precepts warning emanate from it—behind the undead horde, an even more terrifying power was approaching, carrying the aura of the bone core yet possessing a ferocity ten times greater than Williams’s previous form.

"Prepare for battle!" Lu Chen’s bone blade flashed from its scabbard, the golden blade-light cleaving through the oncoming black sand scorpions. "Chen Yu, take half the men to hold the left flank! Alicia, come with me to the right! Wang Lu, protect the Sand Speakers!"

The black undead tide drew closer. The very frontmost creatures had already surged into the outer perimeter of the Anti-Entropy Array, their black palms making contact with the golden light barrier and producing a sizzling corrosive sound that caused the barrier to flicker violently.

At the far end of the undead tide, a massive sand scorpion figure was breaking through the sandstorms, its six pairs of sand crystal wings flashing coldly in the sunlight, while the black bone core on its chest beat like a ceaseless heart, exuding a suffocating pressure.

Williams had arrived.

Surveying the golden light barrier of the Anti-Entropy Array, with black-purple tribulation flames condensing upon his sand crystal giant pincers, a cruel smile curved the corner of his mouth:

"Lu Chen, let me teach you what true despair means."

The black bone core suddenly erupted with dazzling black light, causing all the undead and sand scorpions to halt simultaneously, forming a colossal ring outside the boundaries of Tribe X that enclosed the entire altar within its center. The sand grains of the ring began to spin, gradually forming a black storm wall that completely isolated even the sunlight.

Lu Chen’s heart shrank abruptly.

He recognized this formation—it was the "Dead Sand Strangling Array" recorded in the ancient texts of the Sand Wardens, capable of draining the vitality of those trapped within and converting it into nourishment for the bone core.

And the one activating this array was clearly no longer Williams, but that blackened bone core upon his chest.

This object had genuinely birthed its own will.

Through the gaps in the black storm wall, countless pairs of black eyes were faintly visible watching the altar like a pack of beasts awaiting a feast. Gripping his bone blade tightly, Lu Chen was suddenly struck by a premonition—

What they faced might no longer be Williams, but the true Shadow of World Annihilation descending through his body via the bone core.

At the center of the storm wall, the black sand grains began to aggregate, gradually forming a vague humanoid shape devoid of both sand crystal and flesh, consisting of pure darkness.

Lu Chen’s golden totem suddenly burned fiercely, scorching him so severely that he could barely maintain his grip on the bone blade.

That was... the aura of the Sand Source.

Had the moment the bone core turned black actually summoned the will of the Sand Source?

This Sand Scorpion coronation had been a trap from the very beginning.

Williams had believed himself a god, unaware that he was merely a sacrifice chosen by the Sand Source and the bone core.

The humanoid figure of darkness slowly raised a hand, pointing toward Lu Chen at the center of the altar. The storm wall accelerated its rotation abruptly, emitting a piercing screech, and the golden light barrier atop the altar dimmed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Lu Chen drew a deep breath, tightening his grip on the half-section of the Requiem Bone Flute.

It seemed he had no choice but to activate the ultimate contingency plan ahead of schedule.

Even if the price... was perishing together with this Shadow of World Annihilation.