Sand of Treason
When Azar learned that Lü Bu had taken Nahida hostage, he did not grow angry—instead, he was ecstatic.
He immediately raised a rebellion in the desert, working in tandem with Lü Bu from within.
Cyno and Candace fought valiantly, yet they could not withstand the pincer attack.
As the Sky Piercer pierced through Cyno's chest, Azar stepped on Candace's corpse and laughed wildly:
"所谓神明,不过是强者的玩物——从今往后,我便是新神!"
"So-called gods are nothing but playthings for the strong. From this day onward… I am the new god!"
The shadow cast by the Mausoleum of King Deshret stretched long across the afternoon sand, like a dying giant serpent. The wind whipped sand against the banners of Azar's temporary camp, making them snap loudly. He stood at the edge of the shadow, his fingers brushing a jade talisman from Liyue—said to block all detection. A broken yet terrifying vision had just come through it: the God of Wisdom, Buer, the Dendro Archon he outwardly obeyed but secretly longed to replace, had been captured by an otherworldly god of abnormal stature, shrouded in ominous crimson aura. The god's power was overwhelmingly domineering; even the fragment of the image sent a shudder deep into Azar's soul.
Not fear. Excitement.
His lips twitched at first, then an uncontrollable, ecstatic grin spread across his usually disguised face, growing wider until it erupted into muffled, deep laughter from his throat. A chance! A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! With Buer captured and the god dethroned, the ancient order covering Sumeru had finally suffered a fatal crack. And he, the wise Azar, would tear open that crack and become the founder of a new order.
"Send word!" He abruptly cut off his laughter, turning to snarl at his fully armored loyal general standing rigidly behind him, ambition blazing in his eyes. "All desert tribes, rise up at once! Target: the Grand Sage Cyno, who colluded with foreign gods and plotted against Lord Lesser Lord Kusanali, and his accomplice Candace!"
He bit down hard on the word "exterminate."
The command was like a boulder dropped into a still lake, ripples quickly swelling into a storm. The various groups of the Eremites, long lying in wait across the desert, surged out of their camps like sand ants sensing blood, stirred and promised by Azar's long-planned incitement. The glint of blades stabbed into the desert sky.
Cyno and Candace sensed something was wrong almost the moment the rebellion began. Dust billowed in the distance, shouts of battle drifted on the wind, and warning smoke rose from the once-calm direction of Aaru Village.
"It's Azar." Cyno's voice was cold as ice, his Staff of the Scarlet Sands already in hand, the tip pointing toward the rebel army. He needed no more proof. Azar's coveting of divine authority and infiltration of desert forces had long been an open secret—he just hadn't expected Azar to erupt in such a decisive rebellion at this moment.
Candace gripped her shield and spear tightly, her blue-gold heterochromatic eyes heavy with gravity and confusion. "How dare he… at a time when Lord Nahida has just met misfortune?" A god in peril, and a subject raised internal strife instead of seeking rescue. This exceeded her understanding of humanity's bottom line.
There was no time to think. Azar's rebel vanguard—mostly incited desert tribe warriors hungry for plunder and power—flooded toward their hastily built front line like a yellow tide. Cyno moved like lightning, wrapped in blazing lightning, charging into the enemy ranks. Each swing of his staff brought searing snakes of electricity and splattering blood; wherever he passed, men and horses fell. Candace held her ground firmly, her kite shield precisely deflecting incoming arrows and scimitars, her spear striking like a viper, piercing and flinging away anyone trying to break through.
The battle was brutal from the start. The rebels were numerous and fearless, but Cyno and Candace, with their overwhelming individual strength and tacit coordination, stubbornly held off the first and fiercest wave. Bodies piled up before the line, the sand dyed dark red.
Just as the rebel offensive slowed, Cyno unleashed a burst of Electro power to clear an area and catch his breath—then disaster struck.
From the flank, behind the dunes that should have been the safe rear, a suffocating pressure erupted without warning. A blood-red, violent blast crashed into the battlefield like a meteor, sending dozens of fighting soldiers flying, carving a dead zone into the chaos.
As the dust cleared, a colossal, godlike figure emerged. Grotesque dark-gold armor, scarlet towering tail feathers, and the Sky Piercer halberd radiating endless murderous aura.
Lü Bu.
Why was he here? Shouldn't he be far from the desert, holding Nahida hostage?
Cyno's heart sank. His worst fear materialized in an instant—Azar had colluded with this otherworldly god who had kidnapped the archon.
Lü Bu's appearance completely overturned the battlefield balance. He did not even glance at the ordinary rebels. His cold eyes, filled only with pure destructive desire, locked directly onto Cyno, the strongest presence on the field. He moved. One step, and the sand beneath his feet exploded into a shallow crater. His figure became a red lightning bolt tearing through the air, the Sky Piercer bearing down on Cyno with the might to crush everything.
"Look out!" Candace shouted, charging forward with her shield, trying to share the pressure.
Clang—!
A deafening explosion! The Sky Piercer slammed into Candace's shield. The shield, forged of tough wood and metal, infused with elemental power, snapped in half like paper. The tremendous force sent Candace flying backward, spitting blood, crashing heavily onto the sand, unable to rise for a moment.
"Candace!" Cyno's eyes split open, lightning erupting wildly. His Staff of the Scarlet Sands met Lü Bu's second strike with all his strength.
Halberd and staff clashed. Lightning and bloodthirsty aura collided and annihilated each other. But the gap in power was too great. Cyno felt an unstoppable, brutal force travel up the staff; his grip split, the staff nearly slipping free. He was forced to one knee, the sand beneath him cracking inch by inch.
A cruel, amused grin spread across Lü Bu's face, as if savoring his prey's dying struggle. He did not deliver the finishing blow immediately. Instead, he swept his halberd, bisecting several of Cyno's subordinates rushing to help, limbs and innards spilling across the ground.
At that moment, Azar—who had been coldly watching from the rear—struck. He saw the perfect opening: Candace gravely wounded, Cyno completely suppressed by Lü Bu, his old strength spent and new strength not yet arisen. Like a long-lurking sand fox, he lunged forward, a gorgeous, poison-dipped scimitar in his hand, stabbing precisely and viciously into the back of Candace, who was struggling to stand.
Squelch!
Blade sank into flesh, piercing her heart.
Candace's body stiffened. The light in her heterochromatic eyes dimmed instantly. She tried to turn her head, to see the traitor behind her, but finally collapsed powerlessly onto the warm sand. Her blue-gold hair soaked in blood, she breathed no more.
"Candace—!!!"
Cyno let out a heart-wrenching roar. His Electro power exploded uncontrollably from his extreme grief, forcing Lü Bu back half a step. His bloodshot eyes locked onto Azar, who held the bloodied scimitar with a triumphant smile. Endless rage and regret nearly burned his sanity to ash.
Yet this moment of distraction was a fatal flaw before Lü Bu.
The Sky Piercer, which had devoured countless lives, seized this split-second gap. Moving faster than the eye could follow, like a venomous dragon, it tore through the raging lightning and pierced straight into Cyno's chest.
"Ugh…"
All his movements, all his strength, seemed to drain away in an instant. He looked down, disbelieving, at the cold, ferocious tip of the halberd protruding from his chest. Blood gushed along the blood grooves, dripping beside Candace's cooling corpse, merging with hers.
His vision blurred. The thunderous shouts of battle faded quickly in his ears.
Azar stepped forward laughing, unceremoniously planting a foot on Candace's still-warm back as if on a trophy to boast of. He looked down at Cyno, pinned by the halberd, his life force fading rapidly, his face filled with unbridled arrogance and satisfaction.
"See this, Cyno? This is the fate of defying the tide!" His voice sharpened with excitement. "So-called gods are nothing but playthings in the hands of the strong! Buer is, and so are all the principles you believe in!"
He spread his arms as if embracing the entire bloody battlefield and the endless desert, his voice rising to a fevered, mad declaration:
"From this day onward, I, Azar, shall be Sumeru's only…"
Lü Bu's expression did not change. He twisted his wrist, and with a sharp sound, withdrew the Sky Piercer.
Cyno's body lost support, falling forward, finally collapsing beside Candace. His Staff of the Scarlet Sands clattered to the ground, its lightning extinguished completely.
Azar's final word, accompanied by unrestrained laughter, crashed heavily into the now-silent air:
"…new god!"