"I Reincarnated But Have No System? You Must Be Kidding Me!"

Not long after Auren returned to their position, the faint peace that had settled over the camp cracked apart.

A loud commotion erupted near Croko's tent—the kind that makes even the sleepy wake up.

Samuel had just come back from his patrol, pale and breathless, his report carrying words no mercenary wanted to hear: someone had slipped past their watch. A stealth user. And even managed to knock him out.

And the effect was immediate.

Croko went red with fury, veins bulging on his neck as he stomped toward the group of adventurers.

"Are you telling me," he bellowed, his spit flying under the moonlight, "that despite all these guards—despite this army of so-called professional adventurers—a rat bastard managed to sneak in, reach the prisoner, and all it took was a damn sleeping powder?!"

No one answered.

Croko's eyes burned. He punched the nearest guard, sending the poor man tumbling into the dirt.

"Useless pieces of crap!" he roared, his voice echoing into the night.

The struck adventurer was one of Jonas's men. He kept his head down, shame painted across his face. Everyone knew he had fallen asleep on duty when he was supposed to be closely guarding the elven prisoner.

Unfortauntely for him, the sleeping powder had done its job perfectly.

Samuel's men stood still beside him, watching the merchant's fury boil over, while Alyssa lingered in the back, silent and curious. Her arms crossed, eyes flicking between faces.

She wasn't one for chaos, only results.

Jonas, sensing things were about to spiral, stepped forward with his usual grin.

"Come on, Sir Croko, no need to lose your hair over it."

Croko turned to him, eyes still burning.

"At least look at the bright side," Jonas continued.

"Your carts and treasures? All still here. Not a single piece is missing. And your elf prisoner? Still caged, untouched, not even a single strand of her hair gone."

Croko's voice thundered back. "And you want me to celebrate that a rat can come and go as it pleases?!"

Jonas chuckled lightly, trying to cool the storm with humor.

"Not celebrate, my good man—trust. Because we, the Aces, don't let things like this slide."

He grinned wider, confidence sharp as a blade.

"Before sunrise, I'll have that rat's head in your hands. Consider that a promise."

Croko folded his arms, jaw tight.

"Oh yeah? And how do you plan to catch something that's already vanished? Are you going to leave us unguarded just to chase ghosts?"

"Don't worry," Jonas replied smoothly, turning to one of his team members with a nod.

"We wouldn't be called the Aces if we couldn't live up to the name."

Then, to Croko: "Sleep tight tonight. Leave the guarding—and the chasing—to the experts."

Croko snorted but said nothing more. He stomped off, muttering curses under his breath and went inside his tent.

The tension bled out of the air slowly after that, like the final hiss of a dying flame.

The guards tightened their watch, doubling their shifts.

Magicians stood on alert now, eyes glowing faintly as they scanned the perimeter for any unusual mana activity. No one wanted to be the next target of Croko's wrath—or Auren's tricks.

And speaking of tricks…

Auren sat quietly near the campfire beside Essel, sipping the last of his bitter coffee.

The others thought him calm. But his mind was a storm.

His eyes kept wandering toward thelocation of the caged elf—Jaira. Inside, her silver hair caught the moonlight even through the iron bars, and every flicker of the fire cast her wounds in sharper relief.

'You've done it now, Auren,' he thought grimly. 'You got her attention, but what's next?'

The sleeping powder was only a message—a whisper in the dark that she wasn't alone. But now the camp was on edge, their guard doubled, the Aces prowling closer to her carriage. He never expected Samuel's detection ability to be that good.

Jonas's crew had even repositioned their tents near the cage, their silhouettes dark against the firelight.

'If I try again, they'll notice for sure,' Auren mused, fingers tapping his knee. 'I'll have to use more than just sleeping powder tonight.'

Essel, seated beside him, glanced quietly in his direction. She didn't ask questions. She could see it in his eyes—that silent storm of thoughts.

Blas, half-drunk as usual, was humming something beside the fire, while Alyssa remained standing near the edge of the camp, sword unsheathed and eyes sharp. No one has an idea what she was thinking.

Tonight, the air felt heavy. Too heavy.

Even the desert insects had gone quiet.

And beneath that uneasy silence… the ground stirred.

Around midnight, the tension finally snapped.

Jonas entered Croko's tent, expression grave. The torchlight flickered across his face as he began reporting to their client,

"We've got something. Our trackers found signs that the intruder didn't flee far. He's still here."

Croko's head jerked up. "You're telling me the rat is with us?"

Jonas leaned closer. "His tracks are leading us to the Blue-"

But before he could finish the sentence, Samuel's voice rang from outside, sharp and urgent.

"Mana fluctuation! Everyone, get down and activate shields!!"

The air thickened instantly. A deep, thrumming vibration swept through the ground—then silence.

A heartbeat later, the earth roared.

A wide-area spell detonated from somewhere beyond the dunes, a wave of null-magic spreading like wildfire. Every enchantment, every magical torch, every rune—snuffed out.

The world went dark.

"What the hell—my spell's gone!" one of the magicians screamed.

"Mana suppression!" shouted Samuel. "They're cutting off our casting!"

Then came the real chaos.

Explosions thundered from beneath the sand as shapes erupted upward—dwarves, clad in dark desert gear, riding monstrous lizards that burrowed like sharks in water.

The leader stood out immediately: a massive dwarf with one eye and a scar across his face, his axe dripping with old rust and fresh mana. It was none other than Maldito.

"Kill the mages first!" he roared, his voice carrying over the dunes.

"Leave the elven prisoner to me."

From beneath the sand, dozens of dwarven bandits emerged. Their mages already in the move, their spells and artifacts already igniting.

[RAIN OF FIRE]

Croko stumbled out of his tent, wide-eyed. "What in the abyss—"

He didn't finish.

A meteor spell streaked from above, painting the night sky crimson before smashing into the center of the caravan.

The explosion ripped through tents and carts, shaking the ground.

Screams filled the night. Three adventurers were instantly crushed, several more flung by the blast.

Alyssa reacted first. With her shield on her hand, she used them to block the incoming inferno.

The meteor fire splashed against it harmlessly, the shockwave rippling like waves on glass.

Auren shielded Essel with his arm as debris rained around them.

Blas whistled low. "Now that's one way to wake everyone up."

Auren's gaze snapped toward the cages.

The meteors had avoided Jaira's area. Her prison stood untouched amidst the flames.

He frowned. "They're targeting adventurers, not her. That means—"

"They're here for the nobles' goods," Alyssa said, tightening her grip while blocking another fireball. "Or something worse."

"Not goods," Auren corrected, eyes narrowing. "They're protecting the cage."

Alyssa blinked. "Protecting?"

"They are probably after the elf."

That realization hit like a blade of ice.

He stood quickly, scanning the battlefield. The spell suppression field was wide—far too wide for a simple ambush.

Jonas, Samuel, and several team leaders rallied the survivors. "Move out of the suppression zone! We need to fight back!"

"Too late!" someone shouted.

More sand erupted nearby as atleast twenty more dwarves burst from underground, their massive sand-lizards snarling.

With magic sealed, the adventurers fought with steel alone. The dwarves attacked in waves—some firing crossbows from afar, others used magical ropes and dragging victims beneath the sand to suffocate them alive.

The air filled with screams and the metallic clang of chaos.

But the Blue Bound moved like a machine.

Alyssa took point, slashing through one dwarf that lunged from below.

Blas loosed arrow after arrow, each shot precise even in the dark.

Essel, though her magic was muted, swung her wand like a staff, knocking one attacker off balance.

Auren, meanwhile, fought and analyzed the whole situation. Calculating angles, movement, breathing—he saw the rhythm behind the madness.

"Keep close!" he shouted. "They're using the burrowers as cover! Don't spread out!"

Jonas and Samuel's forces were breaking formation fast. Many had no idea how to fight an enemy they couldn't see.

The ground rippled again.

Another dwarf burst from below, grabbing a screaming adventurer by the leg before dragging him down into the sand.

"Pull him out!" someone yelled, but the man was gone before they reached him.

"Son of a—" Blas cursed, loosing three more arrows into the ground - it was futile.

"Stay mobile!" Auren shouted. "The lizards sense vibration!"

For every step they took, the enemy adapted. The dwarves fought dirty, diving and reemerging like shadows beneath water.

And yet, amidst that chaos, Auren's gaze found the cage again.

Jaira was still there—terrified, her hands gripping the bars.

That was enough.

He made a decision.

"Alyssa, cover me."

"What are you—Herbon!"

But he was already gone, sprinting through the smoke and sand, dodging the streaks of fire and steel.

His eyes locked on the cage.

'I'm coming!'

But just when he was a getting close, the ground before him erupted and out from it, the leader of the Dwarven Bandits appeared.

With a wide grin and sword on his hand, he broke the cage lock with a swift slash and shouted.

"Hahaha! Finally, this beauty of a dark elf is mine!-"

BANG!

Before he could finish, a bullet hole to his head was enough to stop him from celebrating.