After passing through the Atonement Mountains, they arrived at an abandoned city.

This area was known as Desolate City and as its name suggested, it was completely abandoned. The area around it was an endless desert that spanned as far as the eye could see. This city was one of the locations where the dark forces had garrisoned but it was necessary to bypass it to reach the frontlines.

After entering the city itself, the players still didn't let their guards down. They were all constantly on the lookout for any more Dark Assassins.

Although it was just dying, the main reason everyone was so resistant was that they would have to restart the entire quest from scratch! To even accept the job advancement quest, they had to first spend money. All the players suspected that this was a ploy by the game designers.

Out of the whole group of players, the only one who looked relaxed was Wang Yu. Standing behind Dawn's First Ray, he looked as though he didn't have a care in the world.

"Brother Bull aren't you afraid?" Dawn's First Ray couldn't help but ask after he saw Wang Yu's expression.

"Afraid? Of what? I'm not even supposed to be protecting your item anyway!" Wang Yu lightly replied.

"But won't you fail your quest if we fail ours?"

"Nope! The moment I see that you guys aren't able to keep it safe then I'll just take it and run!" Wang Yu laughed.

"Urgh… Please don't do that..." Dawn's first ray hurriedly begged.

"I'm just joking with you!" Wang Yu chuckled.

"Really?"

"Of course! I swear on the name of the Quan Zhen Sect!" Wang Yu declared.

"But… That doesn't mean anything..." Hearing Wang Yu's response really made him want to throw up a mouthful of blood.

While he chatted with Wang Yu, Dawn's First Ray's finally began to relax slightly.

When they were passing through the centre of the desert, Wang Yu suddenly blocked Dawn's First Ray and shouted: "Careful! There's an ambush here!"

"But… There's no one around!" Dawn's First Ray replied after thoroughly scanning the surroundings.

In the centre of the sand dunes was just an empty patch of desert. There wasn't any tall cliffs or large rocks that enemies could use to conceal themselves. If there really were enemies here then they would have long been exposed already!

Still, Dawn's First Ray turned around and asked a nearby Archer: "Do you see anything suspicious?"

"What's there to look for? It's a barren desert!" The Archer scoffed.

"En… That's true… Brother Bull, I think you're just overthinking things!" Dawn's First Ray nodded.

"No! I can feel something staring at us!" Wang Yu insisted.

"You can feel it? Feel what?" Dawn's First Ray gulped.

"Killing intent!" Wang Yu seriously replied.

"Pfft!" Hearing this, all the players standing around Wang Yu immediately burst into laughter.

Killing intent? What was this, a light novel? Who still believed in that kind of nonsense??

"Be careful!" Wang Yu's face suddenly tightened as he hurriedly grabbed Dawn's First Ray arm.

"Brother Bull please, no..." Thinking that Wang Yu was going to kill him out of rage and embarrassment, Dawn's First Ray began to beg for his life.

However how could a piece of trash like him compare to Wang Yu? With one swift motion, Wang Yu grabbed Dawn's First Ray's shoulder and tossed him behind.

Just as Dawn's FIrst ray was about to apologise to Wang Yu, he suddenly noticed that there was a small hole where he had previously been standing. Following that, a skinny figure draped in a yellow cloak emerged from the hole and slashed towards him with its saber.

"Ah!" In his fear, Dawn's First Ray completely forgot what position he was in and bent down while clutching his head and screaming. Wang Yu instantly reacted and raised his left hand up and redirected the monster's strike while at the same time placing his right hand on its chest and firing off a [Rippling Wave]. After being blown away, the monster landed on the ground and instantly vanished.

Seeing this, the players who had been laughing at Wang Yu a few seconds ago were at a loss for words. To them, Wang Yu wasn't any different from a monster either...

Was killing intent really a thing?

Walking over to Dawn's First Ray, Wang Yu casually picked him up and shouted to the others: "Quickly lean against someone else's back! Don't make any sudden movements!"

Just as the players formed up, the previously still desert began to shift. One by one, counteless figures wearing yellow cloaks began to emerge from the sand, completely surround all the players.

HP: 20000

MP: 1000

Skills: [Plunder], [Conceal].

HP: 300000

MP: 50000

Skills: [King's Call], [Sand Of Concealment], [Sand Of Time], [King's Blade].

Being a leader of a major guild, Dust Free was the first to recover from the shock and hurriedly shouted: "Quickly form a circle! And protect Master Dawn and the rest!"

Hearing his command, the players immediately reacted and soon regained their footing.

"Foolish invaders, hand over the item in your hands and maybe we'll give you a quick death!" The Scorpion King loudly bellowed.

Hearing this, the players weren't even shaken. Even if they didn't surrender, they were all still confident that they would be able to kill their way out of this encirclement.

Seeing that the players weren't cowering in fear, Scorpion King Manus began his next scripted line: "Since you don't know what's best for you then don't blame me! Men, kill them all and retrieve the soul of our lord!"

After Manus' short speech, the Dark Sand Bandits all began fanatically chanting: "For our lord! Death to the invaders!!"

With a flash of golden light, all the Dark Sand Bandits began charging towards the players.

The skills of these Sand Bandits were only mediocre at best. [Conceal] just meant using their clothes to blend in to their surroundings. It was a far cry from the Thief's [Stealth].

[Plunder] on the other hand was more annoying than actually dangerous. It would prevent players from using their currently equipped weapon for 3 seconds. However because of how the skill was telegraphed, it was very easy to dodge.

These Dark Sand Bandits were nothing more than level 25 elite monsters. For these level 20 experts, they really didn't pose much of a threat. Even if they had all received the buff from [King's Call], the players were still able to handle them relatively easily.

However, for some strange reason, no matter how many of these Dark Sand Bandits were slain, they didn't seem to decrease in number…

Even if everyone present was a top expert, they would still have some trouble when facing an endless wave of enemies like this.

"What's going on? We're definitely killing these Dark Sand Bandits so why aren't they getting any lesser?" Dawn's First Ray worriedly asked Wang Yu.

It wasn't just Dawn's First Ray who had this thought, all the other members of the escort quest were thinking the same thing.

Wang Yu on the other hand had been staring at Manus since the start of the fight. After hearing Dawn's First Ray's question he pointed at Manus and replied: "It's the boss that's screwing with you!"