Chapter 7: Assault of the Sand-Skeleton Beast

The wind in the canyon carried a metallic tang. As the X Squad's off-road vehicle rounded a bend, Lu Chen held up a hand to signal a stop. His nostrils flared as he caught a faint, elusive stench in the air, underlying the dryness of the sand—it was much like what he had smelled at the S Tribe drilling site, yet thinner, more insidious, like the breeze stirred by a viper’s tongue.

"Something's wrong." Old Knife tightened his grip on his bone blade, the totem carved into the steel-like surface shimmering matte in the sunlight. "The canyon is too quiet. Not even a single sand lizard."

Su Qing’s detector suddenly began to beep, a chaotic string of waveforms dancing across the screen. "Infrasound! The frequency matches the attack on our camp, but the intensity is higher, and..." She pointed to a series of peaks on the graph. "There isn't just one source. It’s as if something is moving inside the rock walls on both sides of the canyon!"

Before she could finish, a rustling sound echoed from above.

Lu Chen looked up sharply. Countless grains of sand were cascading down the canyon walls like a waterfall—not falling naturally, but gathering and flowing with a life of their own. In mid-air, the grains collided and fused, slowly coalescing into blurred silhouettes. They resembled wolves or hyenas, but larger, with limbs of exposed white bone and crystalline sand-fangs that glittered coldly in the sun.

"Sand-Bone Beasts!" Old Knife’s voice rose sharply as his blade cleared its scabbard. "All units, stand ready! They’re here!"

As the first beast hit the ground, it landed with a heavy thud. Its body, composed of shifting sand, shuddered, revealing a pulsing, ghostly blue light within its ribcage—an energy core sealed inside the bone. It opened its mouth, not to howl, but to erupt in a piercing, discordant shriek. It was not a single sound, but a cacophony of countless dying animals: the mournful wail of a camel, the frantic barking of a wild dog, and even the desperate screams of humans. The sound set teeth on edge and made the scalp prickle with dread.

"Open fire!" Lu Chen’s roar cut through the screeching.

Gunfire erupted in the canyon, but the bullets only kicked up clouds of sand upon hitting the beasts, unable to pierce the shell of fused bone and grit. Instead, the enraged creatures lunged. With a swipe of its claw, one beast shredded the door of the lead vehicle, sending metal shards and sand flying.

"Stop shooting! It’s useless!" Old Knife bellowed, lunging forward as his blade whistled through the air toward a beast’s neck.

*Clang!*

The crisp, resonant sound was like a bell tolling. The bone blade struck the beast’s cervical vertebrae, showering the air with sparks. Shockingly, instead of being deflected, the blade sank half an inch deep as if cutting through butter. The creature’s shriek cut off abruptly; its body began to disintegrate, the sand falling away to reveal the greyish-white spinal bone beneath.

Even more bizarre was the blade itself: at the point of impact, two dark red characters slowly emerged on the steel: *Suppressing Calamity*.

"That... that’s a new totem!" Su Qing gasped, her detector’s waveform suddenly spiraling into chaos. "Old Knife, your blade is countering them!"

Old Knife was stunned for a moment before snapping back to reality. He swung his blade again, cleaving another lunging beast. "Whatever the totem is, if it cuts, it works!"

He moved through the swarm like an aged leopard. Every strike brought down a cloud of sand, either snapping a spine or shattering a core, leaving behind small, wind-scattered piles of grit. But the number of beasts continued to grow; sand kept coagulating on the canyon walls, and their movements became increasingly coordinated, as if following a rhythmic command.

"Su Qing! Find the pattern!" Lu Chen shouted while parrying with his scimitar. His right index finger had been sliced by a sand-crystal; as the gold-flecked blood touched the sand of the beasts, it hissed with thin wisps of white smoke.

Su Qing crouched behind a rock, fingers flying over the detector. "It’s their attack frequency! Look at the intervals!" She pointed to the screen. "It’s perfectly synchronized with the infrasound from the S Tribe! Every time the infrasound hits a peak, they charge in unison!"

She realized the truth: "It’s fear sorcery! These beasts use infrasound to amplify our terror, then feed on that energy to grow! The more you fear them, the stronger they get!"

Indeed, the beast facing a trembling recruit was noticeably larger, its crystalline fangs sharper. The soldier’s legs were buckling, his hands shaking so violently he could barely hold his rifle, and the creature’s claw was already inches from his face.

"Don't fear it!" Old Knife roared. He threw his bone blade with pinpoint accuracy, pinning it directly into the beast's core. The *Suppressing Calamity* totem flared red, and the beast disintegrated instantly. "If you fear them, they eat you! If you’re fiercer than them, they’ll fear you!"

The recruit nodded, trembling, and grit his teeth. He leveled his rifle, and though he still couldn't pierce their armor, he at least had the courage to pull the trigger at the beast's eyes.

Lu Chen noticed a detail: every time Old Knife’s blade struck a beast, the infrasound on the detector would dim, and the coagulating sand on the walls would pause.

"Old Knife, focus your attacks!" Lu Chen commanded. "Your blade is disrupting their energy source!"

Old Knife caught his meaning and withdrew his blade, focusing solely on the cores. Each collision made the totem glow brighter, and the infrasound interference weakened further. Su Qing took the opportunity to activate the squad’s "Calm-Mind Melody" through the loudspeakers. The melodic notes of a bone flute echoed through the canyon, successfully drowning out the beasts' shrieks and significantly dampening the soldiers' terror.

But the reprieve was short-lived. A deep, low horn blast echoed from the depths of the canyon—not a human instrument, but something played on a massive bone, its vibration making the canyon walls hum.

At the sound, all the Sand-Bone Beasts stopped attacking. They turned in unison toward the depths of the canyon, their sandy bodies beginning to glow, their ghostly blue cores flaring with intense light.

"No! They’re merging!" Su Qing’s detector wailed a piercing alarm, the energy readings spiking off the charts. "Infrasound intensity is at maximum! They’re absorbing the fear energy to become a larger monster!"

Old Knife’s blade began to vibrate with a low hum, the *Suppressing Calamity* totem flickering as if struggling against an overwhelming force. His face drained of color. "It’s a matriarch! There’s a Sand-Bone Matriarch in this canyon, and it’s commanding them!"

Lu Chen stared into the depths of the canyon, where the darkness seemed to swallow the light. The horn blast continued, each note tightening the grip of dread on his heart. His right index finger grew searingly hot, and the golden markings on it shone with a fierce, blinding light, as if answering a call.

He knew the true battle was only just beginning—and the matriarch lurking in the shadows was likely more terrifying than all the other beasts combined.