Versatile Mage: Get the Desert Emperor clone at the start

Chapter 157 Parasitic Sandworms, The Trial Meeting That Was Ambushed
However, the wolf was also corrupted by the toxin.

Just when the wolf thought it had won, it was unknowingly parasitized by sandworms.

His movements became stiff, and his pupils began to turn an eerie grayish-white.

“Look, what a wonderful transformation.” Salang watched as sand-like bumps began to appear beneath the wolf’s skin. “These sand worms will first control the host’s nerves, and once the toxins have fully penetrated…”

Before she could finish speaking, the demon wolf suddenly let out a shrill howl, and green venom seeped from its pores, instantly transforming into a new "Sand Poison Demon".

Salang stared at the writhing, twisting experimental subject before him, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

Her slender fingers gently brushed across the sand-covered face of a "Sand Poison Demon," feeling the restless wriggling of sand worms beneath its skin.

"Not perfect enough," she murmured to herself, her red lips pressed into a cold, straight line.

Although the test subjects showed astonishing lethality, these sandworms were like wild horses, and once they parasitized, they would immediately begin to devour the host's consciousness.

The parasite's brain is turning to sand at an alarming rate—completely contrary to her carefully crafted script.

Salang suddenly grabbed a test subject by the neck in a fit of rage, watching its pupils frantically shift between gray-white and dark green.

"Stop!" she shouted, but the sandworm only paused briefly before devouring even more frantically.

The test subject's eyeballs suddenly burst, turning into two wriggling clumps of sand.

"Damn beast!" She flung aside the already destroyed experimental subject, her black robes fluttering wildly in her rage.

Only the Sandworm Monarch can fully control the movement rhythm of these lower-level Sandworms.

However, she cannot yet fully control the Sandworm Monarch.

The Sandworm Monarch is now severely injured, his nerves paralyzed by her toxins, and his consciousness is somewhat confused.

Salang had already begun to sketch out the wonderful scene in his mind: thousands of citizens being parasitized by sandworms without their knowledge.

These tiny invaders would lurk inside their bodies until a specific signal would trigger them to suddenly awaken and take over the parasitic bodies. The thought of that collective desertification made Salang burst into silvery laughter.

What's even more amazing is that these parasites show no signs of abnormality under normal circumstances.

“Then,” she whispered to the void, as if declaring to someone, “the entire city will be my puppet.”

Moreover, the arrangements for the ancient capital are almost complete. With the help of the sandworm, she believes that people will definitely remember her name, "Sarang".

The moonlight cast dappled shadows on her beautiful face, but her smile was more sinister than any demon's.

A few days later, Leng Qing arrived here with a team of members of the Tribunal.

The air was filled with a nauseating stench of decay and dust.

Dozens of twisted corpses lay scattered on the ground, their skin an eerie grayish-white, covered with a layer of fine sand.

“These beasts.” Leng Qing squatted down and looked at a female corpse.

Her eyes were open, her pupils had turned a sandy gray-white, and a painful expression was frozen at the corners of her mouth.

"They don't even spare the elderly and children."

The judges behind him silently dispersed and began examining the other bodies.

"Let's bury them first, so they can rest in peace." Leng Qing stood up and patted the sand off his hands.

Just as the judges were preparing to move the body, something unexpected happened.

"Watch out!" the wind mage in the group suddenly shouted.

Three “corpses” on the ground suddenly sprang up and lunged at the nearest judge at an incredible angle.

They move very quickly, and the sand beneath their skin rustles through them.

An ice mage reacted swiftly, unleashing several icy chains from her palms that instantly restrained the onrushing monster.

But shockingly, although the monsters were restrained, they managed to unleash sand magic, causing small sand vortexes to appear on the ground in the distance. "Earth magic?"

A judge exclaimed in shock, then roared as his right arm crackled with violent lightning, exploding with blinding flashes of electricity, blasting the "corpse" to pieces.

The battle ended quickly, but the judges' expressions grew even more grave.

Leng Qing frowned, looking at the remaining sand on the ground. "These corpses could actually use magic."

As soon as she finished speaking, another wave of sand monsters rose from the pile of corpses in the distance.

This time the number was much larger, with more than a dozen bodies.

They stood up unsteadily, their gray eyes fixed on the members of the inquisition.

The fire mage struck first, unleashing a blazing wave of fire; the wind mage followed up by spreading the flames; and the lightning mage precisely targeted and eliminated the sand monsters that broke through the fire net.

However, a shocking scene unfolded—one of the "corpses" slapped the ground with both hands, summoning a sand wall that blocked part of the flames!

This ability surpasses that of some mages.

"How is this possible?!" someone exclaimed.

"Don't get distracted!" Leng Qing calmly commanded, "Ice magic to seal off the ground, lightning magic to focus fire on any spellcasters!"

The ice spread rapidly across the ground, freezing the flowing sand.

The lightning-type judges focused their firepower, blasting the sand monsters that could use earth magic into dust.

After a fierce battle, all the corpses were finally completely wiped out.

"Check the casualties," Leng Qing ordered.

Just as everyone relaxed their guard slightly, a scream suddenly came from the back of the line.

"ah--!"

Everyone turned around abruptly and saw Judge Kobayashi kneeling on the ground in agony, his hands tightly gripping his neck, veins bulging on his face.

"Xiao Lin!" The companions wanted to step forward, but Leng Qing stopped them.

"Don't go over there!"

Only then did everyone see clearly that countless tiny grains of sand were wriggling under Xiaolin's skin! His eyes began to roll back, his mouth twitched uncontrollably, and inhuman gurgling sounds came from his throat.

"When was it?"

Leng Qing suddenly remembered a detail from the battle—Xiao Lin had once scratched his arm with a bit of sand.

The wound was very shallow at the time, and no one paid much attention to it.
"Everyone, check yourselves immediately!" Leng Qing shouted sternly. "Check yourselves for any wounds, especially small scratches!"

The judges hurriedly checked their own bodies.

Two more people discovered small cuts on their arms or necks, causing their expressions to change. What should they do?
"Damn it!"

"Ugh..." Xiaolin groaned in pain from deep in his throat. His pupils began to dilate, and the whites of his eyes were quickly filled with grayish-white grains of sand.

With each breath, tiny grains of sand seeped from his nostrils and the corners of his mouth, falling softly onto the already sandy back of his hands.

With the last vestiges of consciousness, Kobayashi struggled to raise his half-furnaceous arm, and whispered, "Kill me."

At this moment, the sand worms were devouring his internal organs, and the pain he was enduring was unimaginable. He wanted someone to kill him immediately so that he wouldn't have to suffer like this.

The sound then abruptly stopped, replaced by a gurgling sound coming from the throat—the sound of sandworms gnawing at the vocal cords.

His abdomen shrank visibly, and countless tiny bumps appeared on the surface of his skin.

(End of this chapter)