The Lamias.
In the annals of the Southern and Eastern Regions, no name carried quite the same weight of visceral terror as these creatures.
They were the apex predators of the shifting sands, a race whispered to be born from the blood of ancient demons and desert serpents.
Myths portrayed them as fierce, aggressive, and utterly devoid of mercy—monsters that viewed human flesh not just as an enemy, but as a delicacy.
Huo Yue, like every other child raised in the Eastern Region, had grown up under the shadow of these stories.
She vividly remembered her mother, frustrated with her picky eating habits, threatening that the "Scales of the Desert" would slither through her window and devour her if she didn't finish her vegetables.
And these legends weren't just bedtime stories; they were the foundation of a centuries-old geopolitical stalemate.
