The desert sands had already changed color several times.
From the initial black-red hue, corrupted by the Endless Abyss, to the yellow-green taint caused by the death bombs' chemical pollution, and now…
Stained by the blue-purple blood of tens of thousands of Hayes soldiers.
The desert had become a macabre canvas—land as the board, blood and bones as paint.
On this canvas, the "late-arriving" demon forces effortlessly tore apart any Hayes soldiers and their vaunted heavy weaponry in their path.
And by "tore apart," it meant exactly that—in the most literal sense.
Evil-Eye stood on this multicolored ground, laughing while holding a barely-living Hayes soldier.
This soldier could be called the embodiment of bravery.
After Evil-Eye had torn apart dozens of comrades, the soldier had boldly plunged a knife into one of Evil-Eye's eyes… and that was the end of his defiance.
Now, his body lay like a rag, telling the story of his futile courage.
"(Demonic language) Oh~ You cost me an eye!" Evil-Eye remarked, pointing to the bloodied socket on his shoulder, smiling terrifyingly.
"Kill me…"
The soldier's helmet had fallen, revealing a face like a rat, his blue-purple eyes filled with fear and despair.
"I don't understand what you're saying…" Evil-Eye laughed.
"Perhaps it's pleading. Perhaps it's apologizing. But little darling, don't worry… I'm not angry, because…"
Opening his massive mouth toward the soldier, he continued:
"You'll soon make up for what you've taken from me!"
Moments later, a blue-purple eye regrew on Evil-Eye's arm, constantly scanning the surroundings.
Its pupils reflected emotions of confusion, fear, and disbelief—ultimately transforming into…
Utter despair.
Any life that fell into the demons' hands faced a fate beyond words.
Tortures worse than death, a despair that would endure eternally.
——————————
In the Hayes forward base, a report arrived at the commander's hands:
"The three Hayes corps, along with a heavy support corps, were completely annihilated within minutes of the massive gates' arrival…"
"No soul escaped the grasp of these creatures…"
"The entities we are facing seem utterly incompatible with this world."
"They not only exhibit absolute chaos and distortion but are highly sensitive to souls!"
"They seem naturally attuned to life forces, born in lands of sin, feeding on malice… absolute embodiments of corruption."
The report detailed, in horrifying clarity, the fate of the corpses and the nightmarish scenes left by the demons.
The cries and visuals were enough to drive any sane creature to madness.
Yet the Hayes commander, a dark being who injected multiple times the chemical suppressants weekly to dull his emotions, sat and absorbed the data.
Finally, after reviewing everything, he rose in front of the others.
"…"
"…"
"…"
Unbeknownst to him, snippets of footage and audio from the northwest battlefield began circulating quietly among the troops.
Curious soldiers managed to acquire some data.
But after fully seeing and hearing the horrors, even chemical suppressants could not quell their fear.
The enemies they faced were no longer merely living beings.
Those laughing, tearing apart comrades were incarnations of death and corruption itself.
Though terrified, the Hayes soldiers, hardened by their harsh environment and steeped in military tradition, clenched their teeth and resolved to obey orders.
All eyes turned to their commander—their fates depended on his decisions.
"We will not retreat…"
The commander spoke calmly.
"We cannot leave. We've already invested too many resources to reach this world."
"Our original world lacks resources, most are unusable now… so we must seize this world to replenish our mother world."
He turned to his deputy:
"Contact the command post on the other side of the portal. Inform them we encountered powerful enemies—terrifying creatures whose origin we cannot determine!"
"I suspect… though it's only a suspicion… these beings may come from another world. Their methods differ entirely from this world's creatures!"
"We need reinforcements from our mother world."
"Understood! But how do we request that they send the army?" the deputy asked.
The commander closed his blue-purple eyes, expressionless:
"First, the strongest: the Death Messengers and the Annihilators. Then the heavy Plague Corps. Next, the Grand Scientist Army and the Mana Envoy Army…"
Hearing this, everyone—including the deputy—was stunned.
These were the most elite armies of their mother world. Each corps could easily destroy a "small world."
But the true focus was the Grand Scientist Army and the Mana Envoy Army—specialized corps unlike any other.
After detailing the orders, the Hayes commander looked to the sky.
At the horizon, a black "star" hung, blending seamlessly into the darkness, nearly impossible to discern.
"These creatures… where did they come from?"
"Why do they take such forms?"
"Could there be an entrance to another powerful world hidden here? Like those spatial gates?"
The thought emerged in his mind:
"If true, the value of this world could be beyond imagination."
"We might be able to follow that passage to another powerful world, obtaining far greater resources than this one offers."