A trio of ogres moved through the barren lands in a hurry, one of them leading the way as the others dragged us along with them in chains.

*RUMBLE~!*

"Shit! Walk faster, you idiot! Or do you want to get caught up in that!"

By now, the raging sandstorm made of rust-red sand was closing in on us with breakneck speed from the direction of the cursed lands.

"Haah...haah...I-I am t-trying..."

I replied in an exhausted tone, panting and wobbling while being ruthlessly pulled by the fat ogre in front of me.

"Tsk. What kind of tribe are you from? Even little toddlers in our tribe are better than that...!"

The ogre clicked his tongue with a slight grimace, as he shot an angry glare at me.

I tactfully didn't meet his eyes, keeping my head down and continuing to act like I was exhausted, not letting him see the irritated look on my face.

'Patience, Max. Patience. I can't afford to cause a scene here....'

Fortunately, their leader soon intervened, making me internally sigh in relief.

"Hey! Don't even think about harming the boy willy-nilly! What would his family think if they saw injuries on his body?"

The ogre that was leading the way suddenly barked from the front, causing the ogre that was glaring at me to withdraw his gaze.

"Graah! But Urgus, because of him, we are going to be caught up in that storm now! Who knows how long that storm will last?!"

Urgus, the leading ogre narrowed his eyes at the incoming sandstorm, before pulling out a strange bone-made pipe from the inside of his leather armor.

"Even if we hurry back, we still won't make it, you dumbass. I'm going to call the others, we are weathering through the storm!"

Hearing Urgus's words, the other two ogres showed an ugly grimace on their faces, but they didn't voice out any complaint against his decision.

Urgus nodded at them, before putting the bone pipe on his lips and blowing on it with all the force he could muster.

"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

A piercing, high-pitched screech came out of the bone pipe he blew on, making me slightly wince from its intensity, while Yera had a pained look on her face due to her sensitive ears.

After blowing on it once, the ogre put his bone pipe back inside his leather armor and sat down on the ground, staring at the distant horizon as if he was waiting for something.

Soon, we saw two other ogres slowly walking up to us, each carrying three huge leather bags strapped to their bodies.

They might have seemed to appear out of nowhere, but since I had my eyes focused, I managed to spot them in the distance once they stopped camouflaging themselves.

"Seems like you guys can't avoid the storm after all, eh? Sooo, are we all camping here then, Urgus?"

One of the two ogres called out to the leader with a lopsided smile on his face, making the ones holding our chains grit their teeth in irritation.

"Just shut up and set the camp!"

"We do all the hard work, and then these punks show us this attitude. It must be nice, staying in the shade while we stake our lives!"

Though the words were harsh, the two newcomers didn't seem to mind them too much.

"Hmph, we still have to weather through the storms you hate so much almost every day. You're not the only ones working your ass off here."

"Just ignore those idiots. Let's be quick, the storm is closing faster now!"

They just snorted and started setting up a small camp using materials from their leather bags.

'All the pieces are in place now...'

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

These hidden members were the reason why dealing with the Slaver gangs was so difficult for most newbies coming to the scavenger cities.

Because of scout units like these, the main base of these slavers couldn't easily be found out by anyone, and also the reason I couldn't just assault them without painting a huge target on my back.

...Especially now, with the nearby Hobgoblin tribe soon coming after me.

The clothes and leather pieces were gradually assembled into a rampart-like structure, supported by the dry wooden poles they used to carry the heavy bags on their backs, as well as their waists.

The front of the structure had a mild slope, facing the sandstorm's direction; while the back was a straight wall of thick cloth and leather. The structure was mainly supported by two big wooden poles joined in a 'T'-shape on the back of the tent.

"Gwaah... Urgus, it's done! Get in before the storm reaches here!"

After pinning the bottom of the tent to the ground, the two newcomer ogres called out to Urgus, before sitting down on the ground and wiping their sweaty foreheads.

"Okay, you two. Get these prisoners inside, and then come and help these two in packing their tools. Go!"

""Ohh!""

The two ogres unceremoniously pulled us inside the tent and left us shackled to a stake that had been plunged into the ground, before going outside to help their team members.

Yera, who had her eyes on the ground since a while ago, now finally turned them in my direction with a skeptical look.

"...we are almost at their base! What are you doing? Aren't you going to do something? At this rate, our lie is going to be exposed, and we will really end up being sold to the other side as slaves!"

Her voice was barely above a whisper, but I could feel the strong feelings of anxiety behind those words.

But unfortunately for her, my plan was bound to multiply that feeling many times over by the time I was done.

Meeting her gaze with a neutral expression, I opened my mouth after a short pause.

"You don't need to tell me that. I know what I'm doing. Believe me or not, that's purely your business, but..."

My eyes bore down on her, causing her to shift uncomfortably in place.

"...but your belief should never come in the way of my plans. You better remember who let you live that day, and who can kill you anytime in the same way. Just play your role quietly, and it'll be over before you know it."

She just silently lowered her head once again, her shoulders slightly trembling.

I knew that she was somewhat different from the usual demons, but I couldn't change my habits that easily. Not to mention, I still wasn't powerful enough to let down my guard in this world.

News of the Demon King's seal being broken would soon spread among both the demons as well as the Goddess' followers. And when that happened, both the worlds would seek me out to either exterminate me, or to devour my powers and seize rulership of the Demon Realm!

I couldn't leave any loose ends, nor could I make any mistakes before cleanly cutting off my connection to the seal dungeon, as well as the Demon Realm.

"Oof... Get in, get in!"

"Shit! I got some of it in my eyes!"

"Gahaha, you should have closed your eyes and held your breath like me!"

"Tsk. Seal the entrance first before barking, you all!"

The ogres rushed inside at this moment, pulling me out of my idle thoughts.

"Hmm..."

Urgus, the leader of these ogres swept his gaze over us, before looking at his two old companions.

"You two, stay close to the prisoners. The lights will go out during the storm, so make sure they don't make any sudden moves at that time."

"Huh. What can these two even do in those chains?"

"Well, it doesn't hurt to be a little careful. The little kid's worth a lot, maybe, so make sure he doesn't get buried under the sand, even by accident."

"Okay."

Our old handlers sat down near us, one of them pulling out a leather bottle from his waist belt.

"F*ck, this is my last bottle, don't drink it all in one go! I'll kill you if you do!"

The other one swiftly stole his bottle, making its actual owner curse out in irritation.

*RUMBLE~!*

The sandstorm finally reached us along with a loud thunderclap, plunging the tent that was dimly lit from the twin sun's glow into pitch-black darkness...

*WHOOSH–!*

...darkness that was filled with nothing but the rumbling of clouds outside and the rustling of the sand-carrying wind colliding with the tent.

"[Inventory]"

A small, inaudible murmur resounded in the tent, immediately silenced by the deafening sound of wind raging outside.

As I felt the cold sensation of a short, yet sharp blade appearing in my hands, a small smile slowly crept up on my face.

'[Uncanny Form]!'

"Ugh...!"

The bones and muscles in my arm twisted painfully as I felt them shrinking down in size, freeing me from the shackles placed on me by the ogres.

'Now, let's hope I don't miss my shot...'

Confirming the positions of all ogres by sensing their presence, I silently pulled back my hand as far as I could....

*Shiiiing~!*

...and launched the blade fueled by every bit of my strength and agility points at the upper corner side of the tent!

*CRRAAACCK–!*

"Wha–!"

"What is–?"

An ominous crack resounded, and the laboriously constructed tent suddenly collapsed to the ground!