Chapter 381: Bye, Job.

Job’s face turned purple. He couldn’t understand what was giving her so much confidence. He had a gun so close to her head. Even if there were others around, as long as he shot, they would not save her in time.

"I mean it Zyra," he threatened, voice trembling. "Just hand over the family heirlooms. I am your uncle, your elder. I am doing this for the good of the Scorpion family. With those things, we start an independent Scorpion clan, or a new one. With a strong clan, you will be safer in the post apocalypse. You are not a true Soul maiden. Those things are useless to you anyway."

Zyra leaned forward, pressing her own forehead to the mouth of the gun. "Shoot." She barked.

"You_!" The words trailed off as he shoved her away and pulled the trigger.

Before the sound could even fully register in anyone’s ears, Elfy moved faster than a streak of lightning. She caught the speeding lead bullet midair with two fingers, looking completely bored.

Job’s eyes nearly popped out of his sockets. "What the_!?"

Zyra burst into a laugh. "Elfy, you are ruining my fun."

With a growl, Job shifted his aim to a completely different angle and pulled the trigger a second time.

This time Elfy did not stop it and the bullet flew straight at Zyra’s neck. But before it could touch her, shimmering green scales automatically burst across her skin like a shield of beast armor.

The bullet bounced right off her neck with a metallic ringing sound and dropped uselessly to the ground.

Job dropped his gun. His mouth hung open so wide that he drooled. "What... what are you!?"

Hunter, who had been standing behind Job the entire time, just rolled his eyes hard enough to strain them. God, what an annoying leech, Hunter thought. This is my chance.

Before Job could even scream, Hunter reached out, grabbed the man by the throat, and gave a sharp, effortless twist.

Hunter let go, and Job collapsed to the floor like a doll.

A collective groan of disappointment echoed through the crowd. Half of Zyra’s commanders had been itching to tear Job to pieces for daring to shoot at their boss, but since Job was family, nobody wanted to cross the line without Zyra’s direct order. Now, Hunter had stolen the kill right out from under their noses.

"See what you have done?" Bullet hissed at Bianca.

Bianca huffed and raised her hands in confusion. "How is this my fault?"

Bullet couldn’t explain, he raised his gun and shot up Job’s corpse, leaving a dozen holes in it, before he could be satisfied.

Hunter wiped his hands together, then glanced back at Zyra with an innocent look, waiting for her reaction. "Wife, have I performed well?"

Zyra didn’t even look at the body. She just gave a single, firm nod.

Hunter’s ears turned red, as if he had been teased. The others were confused about what it meant.

"Alright," Zyra said smoothly, stepping over the corpse. "Let’s go."

Etania stepped forward with a grin, raised her hand, and tore open a massive, swirling portal. One by one, the army marched straight into the light.

******

Candy was lucky. She had flown to another town in the Wild lands where Trinity’s soldiers were stationed. There was a Soul maiden with the group, who opened a portal for her Waterhurst.

Candy landed her flying transport beast in the scorching desert like a total lunatic. The poor creature tumbled across the dunes, kicking up a huge cloud of dust, and Candy rolled off its saddle, hitting the hot, yellow sand near the main oasis.

She stumbled to her feet, her hair wildly sticking out in ten different directions, her face covered in black soot, and her clothes ripped.

"Attack! We are under attack!" she shrieked, running frantically toward the Sanctum encampment like a headless chicken. "Julia! the Twigs base is under attack."

A short distance away, Julia was standing under a shady tent, reviewing the next territory to take over. Hearing the shrill, hysterical screaming, she stepped out, squinting through the desert heat glare.

"What in the heavens is the Duggar girl doing here?" Julia muttered, frowning as she watched the woman flail her arms. "Why is she yelling like a lunatic? I can barely hear a word!"

Candy kept running and screaming, "They have alien weapons! They have evolved beasts! The main base is gone!" To Julia and the surrounding Sanctum troops, it just sounded like muffled screeching in a mosquito like voice.

"Is she drunk?" a guard asked Julia, scratching his helmet.

"I think she said attack," Julia said, her brows furrowing. "But why is she_ wait."

Julia’s eyes suddenly went wide.

Right behind Candy, the yellow sand began to ripple like water. Deep subterranean rumblings vibrated through the earth, making the palms near the oasis shake violently. Candy’s heavy, frantic running had just woken up the absolute worst thing you could wake up in Waterhurst.

"Get out of the sand!" Julia screamed, waving her hands wildly at Candy. "Duggar, You Idiot! Move!"

Candy stopped in her tracks, panting heavily. She had a smile on her face, jumping up and down, waving frantically. She thought Julia was waving to indicate she had noticed her.

But the sanctum soldiers and Julia weren’t looking or waving at Candy. They were all screaming and pointing terror-filled fingers at the space directly behind her back.

Candy raced through the sand, like a monkey stepping on hot coals. "It’s her. It’s Zyra. She---" Suddenly she stopped, because she managed to catch the words, ’behind you,’

She slowly turned her head around.

Rising forty feet into the air directly behind her was a giant, terrifying segmented Saw Worm. Its mouth split open into four fleshy petals lined with thousands of razor-sharp, spinning teeth, releasing a stench that smelled like rotting fish and burnt hair.

The giant worm slammed down, swallowing the transport beast in a single gulp.

"Holy heavens!" Candy shrieked, her voice reaching a pitch only dogs could hear.

She turned and sprinted for her absolute life. But the sand was soft and deep, and with every step she took, her feet sank right up to her knees!

"Help! Save me! I am one of you." she screamed, flailing her arms like a drowning duck.

The giant worm dived into the sand and burrowed toward her like an underground train. The sand beneath Candy’s feet caved in. Realizing she was about to be swallowed whole, Candy gathered every ounce of the energy left in her body, jumped with all her strength, and hurled herself through the air like a flying sack of potatoes.

Candy plunged headfirst into the deep water of the oasis just as the giant worm’s mouth snapped shut right over the spot where she had been standing half a second ago.

The beast thrashed once, sending a tidal wave of sand and dirty water spraying over the camp, before diving deep back into the earth.

The dust settled. The desert went dead silent.

The water in the oasis rippled softly, floating a single, wet shoe back to the surface.

Julia stood frozen at the edge of the camp, staring at the bubbles popping in the water. "Did... did the worm get her?"

Commander Roman swallowed hard. "She is dead, why was she here anyway?"

Julia chuckled lightly, "Good riddance, she was just too noisy and it got her killed."