Chapter 421: Waiting

Raging Wave Desert!

It was a silent dawn. Mila and Chikasa had just risen above the horizon, the scorching sun had yet to reach its zenith, and the lingering chill from the desert night still clung to the undulating sand dunes.

The desert was deathly still, and equally silent was Hazelwood Town at this moment, like countless grains of sand.

In this town, once inhabited by many residents and surrounded by lush hazelwoods, wispy trails of smoke slowly ascended into the sky. Embers still danced in the air, carried by the gentle breeze. As the morning sunlight gradually swept across, the grayish haze vanished without a trace, and the barely visible sparks quickly lost their last remnants of warmth.

The town had been utterly destroyed!

At this moment, Punk stood beside a pile of ruins, gazing at the distant sky. His icy eyes held only a calm and indifferent gaze, where the reflection of the azure sky intertwined with the magical radiance in his pupils.

He was waiting—a wait that had undoubtedly lasted a long time. By now, even the last remnants of wood in Hazelwood Town had been consumed by flames, and the scorching, fire-like heat in the air had gradually subsided. Yet… the enemy Punk was waiting for still had not arrived.

Bang!

It was the sound of Kane smashing a dilapidated house with his lance.

“Hey, hey, hey! What exactly are you waiting for? I’ve been stuck here with you for three days already. Even the last survivor in this shabby town has been burned to death. I don’t know what you’re waiting for, but your method doesn’t seem very reliable. How could any fool just walk into a trap by waiting around like this?”

After saying this, the impatient Kane kicked a heavy piece of timber from a house. Watching the half-burned wood fly swiftly into the distance until it became an invisible speck, Kane let out a frivolous whistle and hoisted his lance back onto his shoulder.

Clearly, Kane had grown extremely weary of this wait. During the waiting period, he had already tortured and killed the last two or three surviving girls in the town for amusement. Now, the utterly bored knight had resorted to kicking wood into the horizon to pass the time.

Even as Kane shouted and complained beside him, Punk’s face remained as expressionless as ever. Waiting was never a bother to him, for a moment of waiting was to hasten the path to success.

However… turning to look at Kane, who was bored enough to poke holes in the ground with his lance, the gaze in Punk’s eyes quickly turned icy:

“Kane! What are you waiting for? In fact, I don’t believe your waiting holds any meaning. Perhaps our goals were never the same from the start. So… why don’t you hurry off and chase your own target?”

Staring at Kane’s armor, which gleamed ever more brilliantly under the sunlight, a flicker of killing intent arose in Punk’s eyes. In his view, Kane’s willingness to wait with him for three days and nights in the ruins of what was once Hazelwood Town was definitely not out of goodwill. The most likely scenario was… Kane was waiting for something too.

“Ahaha, saying that really hurts my feelings.”Hearing Punk’s skepticism, Kane patted his forehead in an attempt to laugh it off casually. For someone like Kane, who was always ready to deceive others with his “Sunshine Knight” facade, spouting nonsense to mislead people had become an instinctive behavior.

However, upon seeing Punk’s icy gaze, Kane quickly realized who he was dealing with. Clearly, Punk was definitely the kind of shrewd person who wouldn’t be easily fooled by him.

Awkwardly stifling his smile, Kane thought for a moment before responding to Punk’s question with a grin:

“Well, first of all, I need to make one thing clear—both you and I are waiting for the enemy to show up. Don’t deny it; I saw the magical traps you set up, and I can tell the trouble you’re dealing with is no small matter. Coincidentally, the trouble I’m waiting for is no small matter either. Since we’re both facing formidable enemies, why don’t we cooperate? A knight and a mage teaming up is absolutely the coolest, isn’t it?”

Maintaining a “sincere” smile, Kane straightforwardly proposed cooperation. At that moment, encased in his gleaming golden armor, the knight resembled the legendary Heroes seeking companions, exuding sincerity and goodwill in both words and expression.

But… no one could see through the knight’s insincerity better than Punk. As for Kane’s proposal of cooperation, Punk was utterly dismissive. Expecting such a ticking time bomb to be a teammate? Unless there was a contract witnessed by the Eye of Judgment, trusting Kane would be nothing short of suicide. Given the chance, this seemingly righteous knight would undoubtedly turn on him without hesitation.

Thus, Punk outright ignored Kane’s offer of cooperation.

If Ovakain were to show up now, Punk believed Kane would intervene even without any talk of cooperation. After all, he had already deduced that Kane was clearly waiting for the Nightmare Cult to arrive. This fact also established one thing—if a vicious black dragon charged in menacingly, anyone would mistake it for an accomplice of the Nightmare Cult, and Kane would be no exception. When that happened, Punk was confident Kane would have no choice but to act. He didn’t need the knight to fight to the death; all he needed was for Ovakain to unleash a Dragon Breath at Kane, and Punk would come out ahead.

This was Punk’s plan—a classic case of using another to do the dirty work. Such a cunning scheme was already second nature to the current Punk.

However… as the saying goes, opportunities come with risks. While Punk sought to use Kane against Ovakain, Kane also intended to use Punk against the Nightmare Cult. This mutual exploitation was an unspoken understanding between Kane and Punk, and now it was just a matter of which side’s enemy would arrive first.

The temperature in the Desert could rise extremely rapidly during the day. It took only a few hours from sunrise for the sand to become scorching hot again. As time passed, the morning sunlight soon vanished, replaced by gentle breezes skimming the edges of the dunes and waves of blistering heat once again enveloping the desert sky.

Under the increasingly scorching desert winds, it wasn’t long before Punk and Kane’s waiting came to a temporary end.Squinting against the already glaring sunlight, Kane—who had just kicked away his three-hundredth piece of stone and timber—suddenly whipped his head around to stare at the distant sand dune. A cruel grin slowly spread across his face.

“Haha, I don’t know what you’re waiting for, but the prey I’ve been expecting has arrived. Let me remind you—you’ve seen the lunatics of the Nightmare Cult before. So… it’s time for another thrilling moment of fighting side by side!”

With a dazzling flourish of his spear, Kane’s gaze grew intense.

Clearly, when it came to waiting for people, knights always had better luck than mages. And when it came to seeking revenge, religious groups were always faster than certain cautious Avengers!

(End of Chapter)