The massive maw of the worm loomed over him, its circular rows of razor-sharp teeth spinning like a saw. Hajin reacted instantly, pouring mana under his feet to propel himself out of the way before the creature could strike.

The explosive force kicked up a huge cloud of sand, launching him sideways just as the worm’s head slammed into the spot he had been standing.

He landed on a nearby dune, his boots sliding down the shifting sand before he stabilized his posture.

Without pausing, he willed his mana to circulate, summoning one of his glowing rings around his right wrist. The concentric halo hummed with dense power, immediately amplifying his base strength as he prepared to counterattack.

He jumped up, aiming for the side of the worm’s towering head. The sheer velocity of his leap surprised even himself, the wind whipping past his ears as he reached the peak of his arc.

He pulled his right arm back, channeling the dense energy of the ring into his fist. With a sharp grunt, he drove his fist straight into the temple of the giant beast.

A loud, wet crack boomed across the desert. His punch did not just dent the thick scales, it punched a clean hole right through the monster’s head.

Black blood sprayed into the wind, soaking his arm in a dark shower. The giant beast shrieked once, its entire body buckling before it crashed heavily into the desert floor.

The impact sent a shockwave of dust rolling over the dunes, the massive cloud obscuring the red horizon. Hajin descended through the falling blood, landing on the sand with a soft thud.

A dead silence fell over the entire area, the howling wind suddenly sounding much louder. The knights who had scrambled away stood frozen, their mouths wide open in absolute disbelief.

The Captain stood with his claymore lowered, his expression completely blank. Even Helen stared in silence, her hand still resting on the hilt of her rapier while the wind howled around them.

Nobody said a single word, the silence stretching long as the blood slowly dripped into the sand. Hajin raised his right hand, looking down at his fist.

Although it was completely coated in thick black blood, his skin was entirely unharmed. ’Since when was I that strong?’ he thought, his brow furrowing slightly as he turned his hand.

He had only activated a single ring for the attack, which granted a mere 1.5x multiplier to his base stats. If he had used both of his rings, his physical power would have doubled.

Yet, a single punch had shattered such a massive monster’s head like wet clay. It did not make sense, especially since he had barely put any effort into the leap.

His base physical strength must have grown significantly during his recent battles, his core adapting to the divine mana at a scary rate. A sudden realization of his own growth filled him, replacing his confusion with a quiet satisfaction.

The knights near the rear guard began to murmur, their arrogant smirks from earlier completely gone.

"Who is that guy?" one whispered, his voice shaking while he backed away.

"He just punched a hole through a seven shard Gate worm with his bare hands," another murmured, stepping back. "And what was that golden ring around his wrist?"

They looked at him like he was a monster, their eyes filled with sudden fear. Juna watched him from the edge of the dunes, her ears twitching with excitement.

Her tail swished rapidly back and forth, her chest puffing out in pride. "That is my master," she said, her claws sliding back into her fingertips.

Loccy stood next to her, staring in absolute awe. She clenched her own fists, a bright smile spreading across her face.

"Master is amazing!" she cheered, her ears flopping happily. Vella let out a soft chuckle, her arms remaining crossed as she watched the stunned knights.

"Of course he is," she said, her voice dripping with smug satisfaction. "You should not underestimate him."

A sudden chime rang in Hajin’s head, followed by the system screen listing his battle rewards. The prompt declared that a Rare core had dropped, which his permanent passive immediately upgraded ten rarity tiers.

[Rare Core dropped -> Rarity Tier x10 applied -> Divine Sand Worm Core obtained.]

He stared at the glowing text, a quiet smirk playing on his lips as the system deposited the item.

A worm of this level would usually drop a Rare core, but his cheat upgraded it straight to Divine. He reached down, grabbing the glowing golden crystal that materialized over the worm’s corpse before sliding it into his pocket.

The brilliant golden light radiating from the crystal caught the Captain’s eye from across the sand. Helen noticed it too, her gaze sharpening as she stared at the unmistakable glow of a Divine-grade core.

’That color,’ the Captain thought, his grip tightening on his claymore. ’There is no way a sand worm drops something of that grade.’

Before either of them could take a single step toward the rookie, the ground beneath their feet trembled violently. The two remaining worms thrashed back to life, their massive bodies coiling upward as they let out deafening shrieks that shook the dunes.

The Captain clicked his tongue, turning back to face his worm as it reared its ugly head once more.

’Tsk, I need to deal with this thing first,’ he thought, raising his claymore with both hands while his mana flared harder than before.

He had watched the rookie obliterate his target with a single punch while he had only managed to crack scales. The thought burned somewhere deep in his pride, fueling his next swing with far more force than the first.

Helen felt the same fire, her jaw tightening as she locked onto her target. She had been toying with her worm, conserving energy for deeper in the Gate, but that was no longer an option.

A rookie had just one-shot a seven hard gate worm with his bare fist. If she dragged her fight out any longer, every knight in the squad would be whispering about it for weeks.

She vanished from the sand, reappearing above her worm in the blink of an eye. This time there was no restraint, her mana-infused heel crashing down onto the creature’s skull with enough force to split it clean open.

The Captain followed suit, bringing his claymore down in a brutal overhead arc that cleaved through the remaining worm’s body. Black blood sprayed across the dunes as both monsters collapsed, their massive forms going limp almost simultaneously.

He let out a heavy breath, planting his blade in the sand as he turned his gaze back toward Hajin who was talking to his summons, his hands in his pockets like nothing had happened.

Helen landed gracefully, flicking the blood from her boot before falling into step beside the Captain. Neither of them spoke for a moment, both processing what they had just witnessed.

The Captain pulled his claymore from the sand, resting the it over his shoulder as he began walking toward Hajin. His boots thudded against the ground while Helen followed close behind.

Hajin was wiping more of the black blood from his arm when he noticed the Captain’s shadow falling over him.

He glanced up, his expression unchanged.

The Captain stopped a few feet away, his eyes scanning him from head to toe before locking onto the pocket where the golden crystal had disappeared. Without a word, he slowly lowered his claymore, the tip of the blade pointing directly at Hajin’s chest.

Juna immediately tensed, her claws sliding out as she stepped forward, but Hajin raised a hand to stop her.

"Hajin," the Captain said, his voice low and cold, the name rolling off his tongue like he had been chewing on it for a while. His grip on the claymore tightened, the four Shards around his wrist flickering with unstable mana.

"What exactly are you?"