"It's one of the people who reached the island before us," a guard muttered.

An older guard with more experience stepped forward to inspect the body. His expression turned grim.

"He's been dead for less than a month," he said. "But these wounds… It doesn't appear to have been killed by an ordinary weapon or a wild beast. Looks like he was instantly pierced by some kind of incredibly fine, sharp energy beam."

Suddenly, Dustin's head jerked up. His sharp eyes locked onto something behind a half-buried, cauldron-like bronze structure.

"Watch out!" he shouted.

Before the warning finished leaving his mouth, several thin, translucent gray energy beams shot out from behind the wreckage with a sharp hiss. Their speed dwarfed that of any crossbow bolt as they aimed at the guards who had cried out in alarm earlier.

Dustin reacted instantly. After sensing the danger a split-second earlier, he formed a sword finger. A curved blade of sword aura shot forward, intercepting the gray streaks wi