One full day had passed since the mission began.

For ordinary people, Baeldum was a massive world large enough to make travel between regions feel impossible. But for Grand Magus experts, a planet of this scale could be crossed several times within a single day if they traveled at full speed.

And yet—

An entire day had passed, and neither Anderson’s team nor Supreme Dunadan’s group had managed to locate their targets.

The ghost city incident itself was believed to have occurred nearly two days earlier, only hours after Supreme Marc’s advance team disappeared. Unfortunately, the violent desert winds sweeping across Baeldum constantly erased tracks and spiritual traces, making pursuit extremely difficult.

Even so, both groups possessed specialists capable of tracking.

Supreme Dunadan’s group had Ayla and her spirit beasts, creatures capable of following even the faintest scent across thousands of miles. As for Anderson’s side, Hubert was supposedly a certified high-level diviner.

And surprisingly—

The strange man truly lived up to his reputation.

After performing some kind of ritual using candles and a small altar constructed from black stones, Hubert transformed his cane into a temporary tracking artifact. Strange runes continuously flickered along its surface while the cane itself slowly rotated on its own like a compass searching for invisible trails.

Within only an hour, the group found their first real lead nearly one eight hundreds miles away.

It was a small desert village.

Not one of Baeldum’s eleven major or minor cities, but still home to roughly five thousand residents.

Or at least—

It used to be.

When Anderson’s group arrived, they found the exact same scene as before.

An empty settlement.

No corpses.

No wreckage.

No signs of battle.

The entire population had seemingly vanished without resistance.

Doors remained open.

Cooking fires had burned out naturally.

Several meals still rested untouched atop wooden tables as though people had simply stood up and walked away mid-conversation.

The silence was unbearable.

Afterward, tracking became increasingly difficult.

Hubert’s cane repeatedly pointed in multiple directions at once, forcing the group to choose between separate trails. Considering they were hunting a mysterious figure powerful enough to defeat three cosmos Monk Ru Lai, Anderson ultimately decided against splitting their forces.

They followed one lead first, intending to return for the others afterward.

Unfortunately, that trail led only to another empty town.

Then another.

And another.

For more than half a day, the group continuously traveled across Baeldum, investigating six separate locations scattered across thousands of miles.

Every single one was empty.

Every single one carried the exact same eerie silence.

"Where the hell could he even go?!" the Sword Demoness finally snapped in frustration before glaring toward Hubert. "Can you actually do your job properly?!"

Hubert merely smiled casually while twirling his golden coin between his fingers.

"All six locations were correct," he replied calmly. "Personally, I think I’ve done a superb job."

That response only irritated the Sword Demoness further.

Her emotional outbursts no longer came solely from Ru Lai’s death. Two of the six locations they investigated had not merely been villages, but full sect compounds.

The Crimson Sand Sect.

The Jade Pillar Monastery.

Both were medium-sized organizations possessing thousands of members and multiple Grand Magus experts among them.

Now—

All gone.

Without a trace.

The situation gradually led the group toward a terrifying conclusion.

This mysterious figure was not wandering randomly across Baeldum.

It was deliberately searching for populated areas.

Every place it visited became another source of expansion for its growing army.

The more people it encountered, the larger and stronger its forces became.

Naturally, Anderson and the others immediately considered dispatching additional scouting teams to monitor surrounding settlements and establish evacuation routes ahead of the creature’s movements. Unfortunately, the idea quickly proved unrealistic.

There were simply too many populated areas scattered across Baeldum’s deserts and mountain regions. Beyond the eleven major and minor cities, there were still dozens of villages, caravan settlements, mining outposts, sect compounds, and isolated cultivator communities spread throughout the planet.

At the same time, Alliance forces were already stretched dangerously thin trying to contain outbreaks across the remaining cities.

Worse still—

Sending weak scouting forces against an enemy capable of corrupting even Grand Magus cultivators would only create more victims for the enemy to absorb.

No one dared underestimate the danger anymore after witnessing what happened to Monk Ru Lai.

In the end, the only thing they could realistically do was deploy flying drones and long-range communication arrays to warn nearby settlements. Priority evacuation messages were continuously transmitted across the surrounding regions, urging civilians and cultivators alike to abandon isolated locations and move toward fortified cities immediately.

Even then, nobody truly knew whether the warnings would arrive in time.

Anderson eventually spoke, attempting to stabilize the increasingly grim atmosphere surrounding the group.

"Don’t worry," the Alliance commander said firmly. "We are only the first responder force. The Alliance already prepared reinforcements before launching this operation. Additional troops should arrive within two or three days."

Hearing that, Archbishop Stephen released a long sigh.

"General... with how quickly this corruption spreads, I fear the entire planet may already fall before then."

The group fell silent afterward.

No one could deny the possibility.

After a moment, Emery finally voiced the concern that had been bothering him since the beginning of the mission.

"It’s strange," he said slowly. "Ordinary civilians becoming infected rapidly is understandable. But for Grand Magus cultivators to fall completely within just one or two days..."

His brows slowly furrowed.

"That’s extremely unusual."

"That is true indeed," Archbishop Stephen agreed immediately.

Normally, cultivators at the Grand Magus realm possessed powerful souls, strong physiques, and highly refined spiritual energy. Even dangerous corruption techniques should require time to fully erode such existences.

According to the latest intelligence gathered from dozens of cases across the frontlines, it should normally take at least three to four days to fully infect a weaker one-cosmos Grand Magus, and up to several weeks for stronger three-cosmos figures.

Anderson’s expression gradually became even more serious after hearing this.

He immediately contacted central command on the hovering space station, intending to establish a revised containment perimeter between all nine operational groups and the surviving local forces.

If the infection rate truly exceeded expectations, then the original projections were already outdated.

It was during this process that Anderson suddenly found something disturbing.

The subordinate team remaining behind at the crashed Proxima flagship had failed to report in and had become completely unreachable.

Immediately, the general’s expression darkened.

A heavy sense of foreboding filled the atmosphere.

He turned sharply toward Emery.

"We’re going back."

Emery immediately nodded before raising one hand to cast a spatial gate. Layers of spatial law spread outward from his palm as silver cracks slowly tore open across the air, forming a stable portal large enough for the group to pass through.

While maintaining the spell, his thoughts drifted toward Lambert’s safety.

The distance between them and the crash site was enormous. Even with Emery’s improved mastery over spatial law, he was still forced to create two consecutive portals rather than one direct jump.

During the brief transition between portals, Hubert suddenly flipped his coin again.

Clink.

The coin spun through the air before landing neatly against the back of his fingers.

Without saying a word, the diviner quietly pulled out his revolver.

That single action immediately made everyone alert.

The second portal finally opened.

Anderson charged through first without hesitation, his muscular figure exploding forward like a cannonball. Emery, Hubert, Archbishop Stephen, and the Sword Demoness followed immediately behind the general.

What greeted them on the other side was another terrifying silence.

The entire area surrounding the crashed Proxima flagship felt unnaturally still beneath the dim desert winds. The broken warship remained embedded into the mountain slope exactly where they had left it earlier, yet the atmosphere now felt completely different.

It was as though the place itself had become abandoned.

"Something definitely wrong?" Anderson muttered grimly.

The general’s expression immediately darkened as he strode toward the damaged flagship. Nearby, the Sword Demoness turned to check on the enormous corpse of Parasite X.

Meanwhile, Emery expanded his divine sense to the limit while positioning himself slightly ahead of Archbishop Stephen. Hubert calmly remained guarding the rear of the formation, revolver already prepared while his sharp eyes continuously scanned the surroundings.

As they approached the flagship entrance, bodies gradually came into view.

Proxima warriors.

Alliance enforcers.

Dozens of corpses littered the wreckage around the hangar entrance, many showing signs of violent close combat.

The sight immediately made Anderson’s expression sink further.

Then suddenly—

Emery sensed a faint spiritual fluctuation.

Something concealed was moving from inside the ship.

Without hesitation, one of Emery’s willow swords shot forward like a streak of green light toward the hidden figure.

CLANG!!

The attack was casually deflected.

"Don’t attack... it’s me."

A blurry figure slowly emerged from concealment.

The distortion faded, revealing Ura.

The concealment master was pale while the aura surrounding him fluctuated unevenly.

"What happened here?!" Anderson demanded.

Ura frowned heavily before answering.

"I don’t know. I sensed movement near the perimeter a while ago and left briefly to investigate."

His eyes turned toward the wrecked flagship behind him.

"When I returned..."

A rare trace of frustration appeared on the normally emotionless man.

"Everyone inside was already dead."

The news immediately shook the group.

Anderson’s expression darkened drastically before he strode forward without hesitation toward the ship entrance, clearly intending to inspect the situation personally.

It was at that exact moment—

Ura moved.

His previously weakened aura suddenly exploded with terrifying speed. Dark energy burst from beneath his robes as his body twisted sharply toward Anderson.

A dagger silently slipped from his sleeve.

Then the blade struck.

SHHKK!!

The dagger pierced deeply into Anderson’s side.

Blood sprayed instantly across the broken metal floor.