Blazing West (side story)

*For former name of the skin series, see Blazing Bounties.*

"**Blazing West**" is a three-chapter, tie-in side story and animated short films that was released to promote  Clint's revamp, alongside  Mathilda's and Blazing Bounties squad's game debut. The story is the long version of Clint's lore, where the Sheriff is later joined by tribesperson Mathilda and thief  Claude on his pursuit of Waldo Kane, Los Pecados' most powerful crime lord.

The side story was released on 28 November 2020 and is the second-longest written story with 7928 words only before "Outlaw". Animated short films and the cinematic trailer was released between November and December 2020.

## Side story

### Chapter One

#### Act One

The vast Agelta Drylands are littered with the remains of various civilizations. In the huge, expansive desert, many ancient tribes that differ wildly from one another have thrived in this harsh environment, passing on their own cultures from generation to generation.

This story is about one of these thousands of tribes.

One hot afternoon, a large group of villains and sand hunters from Los Pecados charged toward the tribe's village on carefully modified Sand Hunter trucks and riding Dinozards. They quickly surrounded the village and gathered everyone together using the force of their weapons.

A man with a lame right leg slowly got out of his truck that was surrounded by his thugs. His face was pale, as if he hadn't seen the sun for a year. The man swept his eyes across the tribal people gathered together before him. In a raised voice, he demanded:

> "Call out your leader! I have a few words to say!"
>
>

This gloomy looking guy was called Blandy, the most hated character in Los Pecados. His uncle was the famous Waldo Kane, the city's biggest evil leader.

"Is there anything I can help you with, guests from afar?" A middle-aged man slowly walked out from the group of tribesmen. He was the leader of this tribe. His name was Thasgard. Even though he had some misgivings about these rude people, he still maintained the greatest courtesy and respect. This had been the tribe's tradition for many years.

"Hey, it's you guys' lucky day." Blandy snapped his fingers as he spoke. When the thugs behind him saw the instruction, they immediately took a few heavy bags off a sand hunter truck and placed them in front of Thasgard.

"Look, there's 50,000 Kane gold coins in these bags." He kicked the bag with his lame leg as he spoke.

Then, Blandy raised his voice and pointed to the mountain behind the village and said loudly: "My uncle, the benevolent godfather has taken a fancy to this mountain behind your tribal village. If you move away from here and help make things easy for him, then you may receive this most generous gift."

Although the people in the tribe never dealt with the people in Los Pecados, they had heard from passing merchants that 50,000 Kane gold coins was an amazing amount of money there. The tribesmen began lots of discussions, wondering why this land they had lived on for generations held such charm.

"Please help us thank the godfather for his kind offer, but our tribe has been living on this land for hundreds of years, and I don't think anyone will want to leave." Thasgard's answer cut off the discussions of the crowd, and also interrupted the triumphant Blandy.

In Blandy's mind, Waldo Kane's name was like a gold card on this land. No one had ever dared to defy Kane's wishes in this way.

Blandy, who had always had an aggressive streak, was angered. He narrowed his eyes and turned to look at Thasgard.

"So, you're just not going to accept this kind and generous offer?"

"I'm sorry, but we can't leave this land. This is our..." Before Thasgard could finish, Blandy suddenly struck Thasgard to the ground with the butt of his rifle.

He spat savagely and ordered some of his thugs to punch and kick Thasgard, while the others pointed their weapons firmly at the tribesmen, preventing them from coming forward.

Thasgard was quickly knocked unconscious from the beating. Blandy kicked the unconscious Thasgard with his lame leg and smiled with satisfaction.

Afterwards, he took a sweeping look around the group and said viciously: "Out of kindness, I will give you some time to reconsider."

"Either you do what you're told and leave this place, or...be completely erased along with it!"

#### Act Two

After leaving his vicious warning, Blandy and his thugs strode away, leaving the injured and unconscious leader Thasgard and the natives stood where they were not knowing what to do.

What the kind-hearted tribesmen hadn't realized was that some of these thugs were "guests" of the tribe a dozen or so days before. A group of sand hunters hunting down giant desert beasts had lost their way in the winds and sands of the desert, and ended up trapped soon after.

As food and water supplies diminished day by day, hope gradually faded. As night fell, there was not only the violent wind of the vast desert, but also the low roaring of various unfamiliar animals – enough to scare the bravest of sand hunters.

The Eschackans in the west believed that death was the beginning of reincarnation, so they carefully "stored" the body in a unique way and waited for a new reincarnation. A burial in the belly of a beast was tantamount to an interruption in the reincarnation process, which made them feel more desperate than if they were facing any other way of dying.

The fragile-willed young men couldn't bear this fear and began to weep, which made for an even stranger scene in the pitch-dark desert. Time passed slowly. This was just about the longest night of their lives. Everyone stopped struggling and sat quietly where they were, waiting for their strength to be completely exhausted, whereupon they would eventually become the dinner of these giant beasts that were once supposed to be their prey.

Each breath sounded particularly heavy, as if death was approaching step by step. But just when the last person who still held on to some hope closed his eyes, passing tribesmen found this group of pitiful, hungry and cold people. Not only did they rescue these poor sand hunters, they also warmly invited them to their own village as guests.

The sand hunters, having cheated death, received warm hospitality in the village. Not only did they get enough rest and supplies, they also got a detailed map telling them how to return to Los Pecados.

When they left, they rightfully shed tears of gratitude and solemnly vowed to the tribesmen:

> "You will be rewarded, kind people!"
>
>

However, during their time receiving this hospitality, experienced sand hunters saw right away that this seemingly ordinary tribal village had a huge gold mine hidden in the mountain behind it. As long as they could take this place for themselves, it was enough for these people who lived hand to mouth to receive the reward of eating and drinking comfortably for the rest of their lives.

The sand hunters, dazzled by the prospect of riches, had long forgotten their promise and gratitude. After returning to Los Pecados, they immediately reported the news to Waldo Kane. Soon after, a large army of soldiers and cavalry headed by Blandy came to the village.

The villagers gathered together, looked at the unconscious Thasgard, and talked for a while.

> "These sand hunters come from Los Pecados. They come and go like wind in groups. No one dares to offend them."
>
>

> "But if we leave here, where can we go?"
>
>

> "So what can we do? Our leader has been beaten. Are we just going to wait for our deaths?"
>
>

The discussion continued, and the will of more and more people began to waver. In the face of suddenly appearing enemies, the simple tribesmen had exposed their weakness.

"No, we must not compromise!" A crisp and tender voice interrupted the discussions. The crowd turned around and found that it was Mathilda, the daughter of their leader Thasgard.

"My father often tells me that no matter what becomes of the world, we cannot give up our insistence on justice. So we must take up arms and defend our homeland!"

However, looking at the immature Mathilda and their comatose leader, the originally shaken crowd was even more shaken. They would not believe that this young girl had the ability to lead the tribe in a fight against the well-equipped sand hunters. The crowd began to disperse, and they went home silently to pack up, or figure out where to move.

As night fell, only Mathilda was left in the center of the tribe. She looked silently at the sacred mountain the tribe had guarded for generations, and clenched her fists.

#### Act Three

Clint rode his old partner all the way eastward in the scorching sun. This was the 32nd day since he'd left his town. Clint was originally going to go to Los Pecados alone to find Waldo Kane and settle the score between them, but was held up all along the way there because of his proclivity for putting his nose into affairs when it wasn't needed, and he was already running out of money.

Thinking of what had happened to him and what he had seen in the recent past, Clint intensified his determination to eradicate Los Pecados and its thugs. He slapped his horse on the back and speeded up his journey to his next destination – Thunder Roar.

In the little town Thunder Roar, little Mathilda was confronting a group of thuggish kids at the entrance to a bar. A few days prior, thugs from Los Pecados had charged into Mathilda's tribal village, wounded Mathilda's father Thasgard, and threatened everyone to move out of the area they had lived in for generations. If they didn't move away, the village was to be razed to the ground.

Right when everyone was wavering and giving up, Mathilda's grandma told her that the sacred mountain behind the village not only symbolized the sacred nature of tradition, but also contained mysterious power that was waiting for someone who could inherit it. As long as there was a glimmer of hope, the sacred mountain could not be given up.

On the grandmother's request, Mathilda left the village and set off alone. She wandered small town after small town, searching for heroes with a sense of justice to help her resist the thugs of Los Pecados.

After this, Mathilda sought out many famous bounty hunters. They either offered an exorbitant price that nobody would ever accept, or made some excuse to not do it. In fact, as the reputation of Los Pecados and the "Iceberg Sand Hunters" had spread far and wide, not many people were willing to risk offending Kane to help the weak Mathilda and her tribesmen.

And when she came to Thunder Roar, Mathilda encountered a lot of trouble. Some uneducated and unskilled young people in the town had found admiration for the prestigious Kane, and tried their best to imitate the behavior of his thugs by running amok in the town. To avoid having their lives affected, the residents, who had always been quiet and obedient, could only choose to swallow their breath.

But in Mathilda's view, this kind of tolerance would only encourage their evil thoughts and turn these kids into real thugs. So, right when they were carrying out their evil deeds, Mathilda stood bravely and angrily denounced their stupid behavior. Feeling insulted and looked-down-upon by this unscrupulous young girl from their own town, they surrounded Mathilda and threatened to teach this foolish girl a good lesson.

Just as Mathilda was gritting her teeth and about to deal with them once and for all, a burst of rapid gunfire sounded off and the young thugs were taken aback. They turned around and saw their hats had been shot to the ground, whereupon they fled into the wilderness.

The wind and the sand cleared. Mathilda looked behind her, and an old cowboy with a stubbled face was standing there, wiping the muzzle of his gun.

"Are you having some trouble, young lady? Sheriff Clint at your service!" There was a hint of banter in the old cowboy's tone, but when Mathilda saw the confidence and bravery flashing in Clint's eyes, she believed she had found someone who could help her defend her home.

#### Act Four

Time passed quickly, and the day of the handover of the land soon came. Blandy promised his beloved uncle: Every last one of those tribesmen will definitely be gone. Before long, a gold mine was to be constructed that would bring them a steady stream of wealth.

Accompanied by a retinue of his thugs, Blandy rode arrogantly in a black-smoke spewing sand hunting truck to Mathilda's village.

Blandy was extremely satisfied with everything in front of him: the tribesmen seemed to have submitted to his "good will" and moved away from the land completely. The whole tribe seemed quiet and depressed, as if no one had been around for many days.

Without carefully investigating, Blandy and his men could not wait to break their ranks and go their own way. They entered the village to enjoy the fruits of their victory, and did everything possible to search for valuables that could be taken away.

Right as the mob was satiating itself with loot, a bullet flew out from a place unknown, and the thugs collapsed with their treasures still in their arms. Immediately afterwards, a burst of rapid gunfire sounded off. Bullets shot from seemingly all directions. The unsuspecting Blandy and his thugs descended into chaos. They were falling to the ground shot here and there, screaming and wailing as they went down.

"Hide up, now! Idiots!" Blandy cursed angrily while directing his thugs to find the source of the ambush. He couldn't have even dreamt that these bumpkins, who had given them a promise not long ago, would set a trap for him. But even more unexpected for him was that it was none other than his old enemy Clint who had come to help the tribesmen.

In Thunder Roar, Mathilda, who was looking for a helper, was rescued by Clint. After listening to Mathilda's story, Clint promised without hesitation that he would help Mathilda and went with her back to her village.

Clint's quick shooting speed and precise marksmanship soon won over the villagers. They began to believe that this rough-looking old cowboy had what it took to protect them. Every family took out the guns they normally used for hunting. Others went to the nearest town to buy weapons and ammunition.

In order to deal with Blandy and the others who were soon to arrive, Clint formulated a meticulous battle plan. He divided the tribesmen into three groups. One group was to be on the periphery observing and guarding. As soon as Blandy and his men would arrive, the entire tribe would hide up and wait for them to take the bait; the second group were to set up various traps inside and outside the village to cut off the enemy path; and the last group was composed of young and strong adults in the tribe, most of whom had hunting experience and could meet Blandy in the main battle and hold their own.

The plan went well. Clint's group, who was waiting for the enemy to tire themselves out, met the arrogant Blandy head-on. Blandy's thugs were wiped out in an instant. Apart from those who were shot to death and those who luckily managed to flee, the rest of the enemy was captured alive, tied up and thrown before Clint.

At this time, Blandy no longer had the arrogance he had had before. He lowered his head, thinking about how to escape with his life and wait for an opportunity to retaliate, but then his eyes looked at Clint viciously.

"So it's you again, huh, hillbilly! I should have burnt your town to the ground last time!" said Blandy.

Clint looked at Blandy coldly, showing an expression of disdain.

"Leave. Go back and tell Kane I've taken over this place."

"I can't believe you've got the gall to let me go. I'm coming back for revenge." Blandy said as an empty threat.

"Go. Come back again if you've got the guts. I'll be right here waiting for you, ready to break your other leg!"

Although he was very resentful of his broken leg, there was a hint of joy in Blandy's eyes when he heard Clint say he was willing to let him go.

"No matter how many times you come back, we will never give up our homeland!" Mathilda said from the side.

Amidst the cheering tribesmen, the thugs helped up the injured Blandy and fled the town with their tails between their legs. The sun gradually set, bathing the sacred mountain in its afterglow, from which it emitted a sacred light.

A pleasant evening arrived, and everyone gathered in the center of the village, singing and dancing, and celebrating the defeat of a powerful enemy. But Clint knew that this was not the end of the matter, and that bigger troubles were on the horizon.

### Chapter Two

#### Act One

In the magnificent conference hall of a manor at the east end of Los Pecados, Waldo Kane was sitting high on his own chair with a cigar in his mouth. He stroked the cat in his arms with his left hand, while the iron fingers of his right lightly and rhythmically tapped the armrest of his chair.

Standing next to Kane was his precious nephew Blandy. Although he was not seriously injured, his face was looking even more gloomy because of his frustration.

The shadow of the setting sun covered Kane's face, obscuring his expression. Standing across from him were those thugs who had just been beaten up by Clint and the others. They had been standing there trembling for several hours, but they still had to wait a little longer for their punishment.

"That damn hillbilly Clint, I should have burned him to death last time." Blandy said angrily, looking at his lame leg with a vicious expression.

"Unbelievable..." Kane's tone was not loud, but it made the people who heard it shudder.

"A bunch of useless fools." The overlord of the city sat up straight from the shadows, watching everyone under the steps.

The hall became so silent you could hear a pin drop.

"Send them to Downey for some hard labor, and say hello to Downey for me while you're there." A long time passed before Kane let out a sigh of relief and announced how these men were to be punished. Downey was the most famous butcher in Los Pecados who controlled the biggest beast slaughterhouse, punching and kicking his workers at every turn. He was a very vicious character, but compared to other punishments they might have received, this was undoubtedly a huge gift.

The thugs, who had been scared silly, felt like they had been spared their lives. They crawled out to the hall for fear that Kane would change his mind and kill them.

Kane paused, lit a cigar silently for himself, turned his head to look at Blandy and smiled.

"Well, dear Blandy, now you come and tell me. What help do you need to take that gold mine?"

"Err... It's all because of that damned dog Clint..." Blandy, who had always been arrogant, only showed his cowardly side when facing Kane alone. He stuttered as he made his excuses with cold sweat running down his forehead.

Just as Blandy's nerves were fraying, the cat in Kane's arms suddenly let out a strange cry, frightening Blandy and sending him to the ground. Kane slowly turned around and looked at the entrance of the hall.

"Long time no see, old man." A frivolous and slightly cheerful voice came from the door, and Blandy knew just by the voice and shadow that this was his "brother", who he hated more than anyone else – Claude was back.

"My boy is back!" Kane flicked the cigar in his hand and revealed a sullen smile.

Claude sauntered into the hall and looked around from time to time, joking with the noisy monkey on his shoulder, which disgusted Blandy.

"I say, you bastard, why would you suddenly appear here when I've heard that you've been going around stealing things everywhere." Blandy asked Claude impatiently.

Claude scratched his head and said, "I just wanted to come back and see my old pals..."

"And the old man." Claude stretched his voice out on purpose.

"What I didn't expect was to hear about some idiots messing up the old man's affairs when I first got here, so I came especially to take a look."

"Say that again if you dare!" said the enraged Blandy and he charged forward fiercely.

"Enough." Kane interrupted the quarrel, and Blandy on the side could only reconcile himself to standing back where he was.

"So, are you here to help me?" Kane squinted and stared at Claude.

"You could say that. Anyway, we've been serving you since we were young, old man." Claude met Kane's gaze and smiled.

"Then it's settled. I'll leave this matter to you. Don't let me down." Kane said.

"I'm not like some idiots. However, I may need some manpower." Claude said as he walked out.

"You may choose who you need." Kane looked at Claude's back with a weird smile.

#### Act Two

After returning to this city after many years, Claude couldn't help but sigh with emotion, after all, this was where he was born and grew up. Everything here was so disorderly and dark, yet it fascinated many people.
From as far back as he could remember, Claude and his little brothers, who were also fatherless and motherless, lived from one meal to the next, and were often bullied and sent on the run. Until that day they met Waldo Kane.

At that time, Kane, who only held a small amount of power, became the children's support, and he would often give these helpless children some small "tasks" to help him realize his sinful ideals step by step.

This continued until Claude was 18 years old. As long as he could complete the tasks his old man assigned him, his little brothers could have their own houses instead of living in the dirty slums. However, all of this was wishful thinking on Claude's part. This conspiracy-like missions changed Claude's life, but also led to him meeting two other people who would change his life in the future. It was with this that he also achieved his reputation as a thief.

But when Claude completed his agreement with the "Grand Thief Master" and returned to Los Pecados, he found that his former brothers were not given any preferential treatment. Some were used by Kane and abandoned, while others were straying further and further from the correct paths in life. This distressed Claude greatly, and he secretly vowed to make this "old man" pay a heavy price for his hypocrisy, something he would remember for a long time.

And Blandy's humiliation was a godsent opportunity for Claude. Claude had looked down on this idiot since he was a child, thinking that he was just relying on Kane's power, but in reality he was just a complete waste of space.

In Claude's plan, he would select his own little brothers to "solve" those troubles together, and then, together with the tribesmen who rebelled against Kane, make the rampant "Iceberg Sand Hunters" get what was coming to them.

But as he set off for Mathilda's tribe, Claude had a vague premonition in his heart: everything seemed to be going too smoothly. He had come back after such a long time, and in that time he had been to Eruditio. But Kane did not doubt his motives at all. This was extremely inconsistent with Kane's usual cunning and crafty nature. There also seemed to be a few strange faces in the group, as if Kane had sent them to monitor him.

More importantly, the sneaky Blandy was nowhere to be seen. This guy may have just been preparing to strike somehow from the shadows. These suspicions kept flashing through Claude's mind, but he had already crossed the point of no return. The group had left Los Pecados, and there was no room to look back. If he went back now, there might be rows of machine guns waiting for him.

Facing the rising sun, Claude and his party came to Mathilda's tribe, and on the opposite side was Clint who was leading the tribesmen as they stood ready for battle.

"Hey, brothers. You wait for me outside. I'll go in and talk to them. If they're willing to surrender, we can save some of our strength."

As Claude spoke, he looked at the strange faces with a smile.

Seeing that they had no objections, Claude walked into the village alone. Seeing that he was alone, the tribesmen took up their weapons one after another and surrounded him.

"Are Kane's men all dead? They sent a foolish clown in to his death?" Clint said loudly.

Claude sighed, winked at Clint, and said, "Relax, brother, Kane has hundreds of sand hunters and the biggest gang in Los Pecados. It would be hopeless for you if you went up against him."

"I've got a better idea that can help you through this crisis!"

But obviously, Clint was very dissatisfied with Claude's frivolousness, he gave a cold snort and held on to the gun at his waist with his right hand.

"Wait a minute, let me talk to him." Mathilda stopped the impulsive Clint, and walked up to Claude alone.

Claude said something aloud unrelated to the situation at hand, which was heard by the people Kane had sent to monitor him in the distance, while giving constant hints to Mathilda.

The hints were not lost on the clever Mathilda and she kept nodding her head, receiving the useful information. Just when Claude thought his plan had been half-successful, a sudden gunshot interrupted his conversation with Mathilda.

#### Act Three

"Watch out! Mathilda!" A bullet flew past Mathilda and hit a villager beside Clint. Clint's anger was ignited in an instant. He yelled for Mathilda to hide while at the same time drawing his gun to shoot at Claude. Meanwhile, the villagers, whose circumstances were unknown, also began to fire at the former little brothers of Claude who were outside the village, and the two sides came together almost instantly.

"Don't shoot, I have something to say."

"I'm here to help!"

Claude shouted loudly, but his voice was completely drowned out by the violent gunfire. At this time, Claude fully realized that he had fallen into the old man's trap: those strange faces were not there to monitor him at all, but take the opportunity to make trouble.

At the same time, something that had been worrying Claude even more happened. A harsh and noisy engine sound came from a short distance away. Dozens of sand hunter trucks surrounded the entire village, and the leader was the person he hated the most – Blandy.

Blandy jumped off his sand hunter truck and commanded his men to attack everyone present.

"Listen up! Grab all these stubborn hillbillies and traitors. If they don't want to surrender, just kill them!"

The cruel sand hunters filed out from the sand hunter trucks one after another in single file, attacking everyone in the tribe with various weapons, and yelling triumphantly to Claude: "Haha, Claude, we guessed long ago that you wouldn't feel at ease when you got back. You really want to collude with these hillbillies!"

Although he was struggling to avoid the bullets that were flying in, Claude still didn't forget to hit back at Blandy: "This was probably the old man's idea. An idiot like you could never have thought of it."

"Watch out for your other leg, the old cowboy's marksmanship is second to none!"

"Bring this traitor in alive. I want to take his tongue back and feed it to the cat!" Blandy was completely enraged. He picked up a cannon from a sand hunter truck and fired frantically at the buildings in the village.

Claude might have gotten the better of him with his words, but the situation was now very bad. A large number of Blandy's thugs launched an indiscriminate attack on everyone. Clint and his group also believed that these thugs were brought over by him so they kept chasing him.

"Damn it." Claude rolled to the side and hid behind a fairly solid wall, preparing to get away with the holographic mirror device stolen from Dr. Rooney. But at this moment, he saw Mathilda trapped in the middle of the battlefield, and some sneaky thugs were raising their guns at her.

"Watch out!" Claude yelled. He flew out and pushed Mathilda away. Bullets flew by Mathilda's face, cutting off a strand of her hair.

"That was close." Claude lay on the ground and took a deep breath, then hid in a bunker with Mathilda.

On the other side, Clint's situation was not much better. Their plans had been disrupted by the spies mixed in with Claude's group, and things had become extremely chaotic. Although these villagers had been trained for some time, their real combat effectiveness was completely incomparable to those experienced sand hunters.

As some fell down to the ground, even more chose to lay down their weapons obediently and become prisoners.

Clint shouted angrily and had to continue to back away. Soon, he, Claude and Mathilda were surrounded in a small space.

Looking at the scene in front of him, Clint felt anger from the depth of his heart, thinking that it was all Claude's fault. But the situation forced him to cover Claude's back. He fired shots back at Blandy and the others.

"Mathilda, I'll cover you in a moment. You find a chance to dash out." Clint called out to Mathilda while shooting.

"Hey, brother, maybe there's another way?" Claude said with a hinting expression to Dexter.

#### Act Four

Blandy saw that his archenemy Clint, along with Claude, who he had always hated, had nowhere to escape and were about to be captured alive, but they slipped away under the noses of Blandy's men, which annoyed the always conceited Blandy. While scolding his useless subordinates, he kicked the sand with his lame leg to vent his anger.

No matter how much brainpower Blandy expended, he never would have thought that Claude and others would use the holographic mirroring device to escape behind them and then slip away quietly.

If they succeeded in occupying the tribal village but failed to capture Clint and Claude, there would be no way to explain this to Kane.

"Humph, tie up these hillbillies and the traitors who defected with that bastard Claude!"

"Leave a few people here to stay guard and the others will follow me. I must catch those three guys."

With Blandy and the others unrelentingly chasing them, Clint, Claude and Mathilda had to escape into the desert. Under the blazing sun, the three felt immensely tired and sleepy. They took a short break.

Clint's fist slammed into the sand with a "thump". He was annoyed that Blandy had plotted against him and that he had allowed innocent villagers to be captured.

To his side, Claude was relaxed, teasing Dexter as if nothing had happened. Seeing this, Clint could no longer restrain his anger, he drew his gun and pointed it at Claude, and yelled:

> "You bastard! It's all because of you that we ended up like this!"
>
>

Claude waved his hand and said innocently: "I said at the beginning, I'll find another way to solve this thing. You're too excited, my friend."

"Your conscience might be better, but your temper is as bad as Blandy's!"

"If you show even a little bit of patience, we won't have been fooled."

"Of course, I wasn't lucky this time. Have pity on my brothers. That bastard Blandy will definitely take it out on them..." Claude chattered to himself, completely unaware of Clint's uncontrollable anger.

"You're just Kane's lackey. I want to bring you to justice!" Clint pulled out his gun and aimed it at Claude. In the end, Clint didn't shoot his gun, but he did hit Claude with a backhand, knocking him to the ground. Claude hated people slapping him in the face. This made him incredibly angry. He turned around and leaped towards Clint with his gun. The atmosphere suddenly became extremely tense.

"You crude idiot!" Claude scolded him bitterly.

At this time, Mathilda, who had been silent, suddenly stood in between the two, interrupting their dispute.

"All this is a misunderstanding. It was Claude who saved me from the rain of bullets." Mathilda turned around and explained to Clint.

"He came here because he wanted to help us, and then for everyone to work together to teach those thugs a lesson."

"It's only because there were spies in his group that someone stabbed us in the back." Following Mathilda's explanation, Clint gradually calmed down and slowly put the gun in his hand down.

"It can only be said that fate is not on my side, and some people are not very smart." Thinking that the misunderstanding had been completely resolved, Claude once again returned to his slapdash appearance, and continued to chatter about Clint.

"If you talk any more nonsense, I will knock out your front teeth!" Clearly, although Clint had temporarily let go of his hostility toward Claude for the time being, his anger had not yet dissipated.

After the dispute, the sun gradually set, and the three continued to walk towards the desert, leaving long shadows behind them.

### Chapter Three

#### Act One

Night fell. Another day had passed. The tired group found a place left behind by passing merchants where they could rest. Looking at the star-filled sky, the three sat quietly with their own thoughts and said nothing.

Mathilda cared about her people, especially her elderly grandmother and her father who was still in a coma; Claude was worried about whether his brothers had been persecuted by Blandy; and Clint looked back on himself in the past, his enmity with Blandy and Los Pecados.

It was a long time before someone broke the peace.

"I say, we were lucky enough to escape, but Blandy's chasing troops must be right behind us and we have to think of something." It was Claude who was speaking, and he rarely spoke in a serious tone.

"The others are in Blandy's hands. I wonder how they're doing right now." Mathilda said worriedly.

"Don't think about going back to save people. They must have set up ambushes on every road." Claude replied.

Clint listened coldly to Claude and Mathilda without saying a word.

"Maybe we can find some helpers." Claude said while teasing Dexter.

"Really? Who would be willing to help a thief whose mouth constantly lies?" As Clint spoke, he stood up, ready to leave.

"Where are you going?" Mathilda asked anxiously.

"I'm going back to save them." Clint replied.

"Wait a minute, maybe Claude really has an idea." Mathilda pulled on Clint and turned around to look at Claude.

"Some people want to be heroes and die, so let him go." Claude said mockingly.

"Mathilda, come and see this." As Claude spoke, he took out a wad of crumpled paper from his arms, and under the dim light, Mathilda saw several bounty posters imprinted with the seal of the Iceberg Sand Hunters.

"Think about it another way. The enemy's enemy is our friend." Claude said, with a hint of excitement in his eyes.

Although she had never been to Los Pecados, Mathilda had heard of the people on the wanted list from the mouths of passing merchants. Although they were also enemies of Kane, they were not kind people.

"But, will these people really want to help us?"

"Besides, they..." Mathilda said worriedly.

"Don't worry, let me deal with them. We can split up. You draw away Blandy and his men. Dexter and I will go and look for reinforcements. In three days, no matter where you end up, I will come and rescue you! " Claude said with a serious look on his face.

But before Claude could finish talking, Clint turned over the bounty poster in his hand and said angrily: "I knew you couldn't come up with any good ideas! Look at these guys, they're all bandits skirting around the edges of crime!"

"Even if Kane doesn't put a bounty out on them, I'll arrest them!" Clint said, unable to restrain his fury.

Claude no longer answered back sarcastically, but calmly said: "Do you really think you can save everyone by yourself?"

"I do. They were or are doing the bad things you were talking about, but no one has not been squeezed out by Kane. These people are like us, forced out with nowhere to take shelter."

"If we each go up against Kane, it will be like eggs smashing against a rock, but what if we stick together?" Claude said.

Clint snorted coldly, unmoved: "These villains are just like you. You're all the same in essence. You're all criminals!"

"So what!? Can't people who do bad things have a chance at redemption!?"

"Your sense of justice relies on those old rules that restrain everyone. What's the difference between you and Kane!" Claude asked loudly.

Although Clint thought this was a good idea in his mind, he still didn't want to give up the identity of sheriff he was once proud of by turning to these criminals for cooperation.

Seeing that Clint was remaining silent, Claude stood up angrily and turned to leave.

"Let's go Dexter. Let this bastard go and lose his life!"

Seeing Claude's back silhouetted in the distance, Clint clenched his fists tightly.

#### Act Two

Time passed slowly. Clint and Mathilda had already been walking in the desert for four whole days. On the way, they found a spring and took a short break, but they were soon caught by Blandy's chasing troops.

Even though vocally, he was extremely dismissive of Claude's plan, with Mathilda's persuasion and consideration, Clint chose to trust Claude. After Claude left, Clint and Mathilda took the initiative to show up and help Claude distract the chasing troops and lead them all the way to the desert hinterlands.

Chased by the soldiers, Clint and Mathilda hid in an abandoned mine and discussed countermeasures there.

"It's been four whole days. We shouldn't have trusted that thief!" Clint said angrily.

Mathilda stood at the entrance of the mine and said anxiously: "Maybe he's come into some difficulties..."

"I wonder what happened to grandma, dad and the others in the tribe." She sighed and turned back to the mine.

Clint took stock of his inventory. He didn't have many bullets left, and he didn't know if he could make it through the next battle.

"Take a rest, Mathilda. We'll have to move on again tomorrow. I'll be on guard." Clint said as he turned and walked towards the entrance of the mine.

Before Clint had finished speaking, a loud "boom" came from the entrance of the mine, followed by the shouting and hollering of a large number of thugs. Clint didn't expect them to catch up so quickly, so he could only rush to the entrance of the mine and shoot through the narrow entrance.

Thugs fell down continuously, but more soon poured in. Blandy's extremely annoying voice came over right afterwards.

"Kill this hillbilly. It would be even better if you can break his legs first!"

Bullets were running out. Looking at the flood of enemies, Clint bit his teeth and shouted to Mathilda: "Mathilda, follow me, let's rush out together!"

"OK!" Mathilda said firmly.

As soon as a thug approached, Clint would knock him down right away, and Mathilda, through her deft actions, would take this chance to quickly gain an advantageous position to attack the thugs behind Clint. They used this method to break through the enemy's encirclement bit by bit. The sunlight at the entrance of the mine was getting closer and closer to the two, and they were only one step away from escaping the mine.

These thugs, who were cravenly clinging to their lives rather than braving death, were also shocked by the demeanor shown by Clint and Mathilda in their desperate situation. Instead of regaining their bravery, they had a faint urge to retreat.

"Whoever dares to run away, I will drag them out and feed them to the dogs!" Blandy was very angry upon seeing the retreat of his subordinates. He made threatening gestures towards the person closest to him and hit the hapless guy fiercely with the butt of his gun.

Right after, he snatched the heavy weapon away from his subordinate and charged towards Clint menacingly. The alert Clint caught a glimpse of Blandy rushing towards him from the side using the remaining light. He pretended not to notice, but secretly planned to deal this unforgivably heinous guy a fatal blow.

Watching Clint focusing on dealing with the thugs at the front, Blandy quietly approached Clint, preparing to get close enough to strike him and wound him so that he could capture his biggest enemy alive and humiliate him completely.

But while Blandy was still fantasizing about how he was going to torture Clint, Clint turned around to one side as if he was expecting it, and aimed his gun at Blandy.

And just when Blandy wanted to get up, he felt something hard against his forehead. Looking up, Clint had actually broken through the encirclement and was pointing a gun at his head.

"Farewell, Blandy."

"No no no no no no no..." Blandy's heart was beating fast, his eyes closed tightly. He was not willing to accept death.

"Click."

A light breeze blew through the silent desert. Blandy opened one eye and looked tremblingly inside the dark bottomless muzzle.

"Damn...no bullets!" Clint pulled the trigger twice, but his gun did nothing.

The thugs reacted immediately and surrounded him.

"Hahahaha! Tie him up. We shall have some fun first!" Blandy gave a ferocious laugh.

The thugs understood and charged forward to grab Clint. On the other side, Mathilda was also being trapped by a few thugs. Seeing that Clint was outnumbered, Mathilda became flustered and was firmly grasped by two strong female sand hunters.

Seeing his big enemy Clint and Mathilda, who had always gone up against him, finally caught, Blandy couldn't help laughing and dancing triumphantly, not noticing whatsoever that on the small hill in the distance stood yet another shadow.

#### Act Three

"Let me see. Is this not the awe-inspiring sheriff? How did it end up like this?" Blandy took Clint's hat and mocked him wildly.

"Oh, yes, there is one less traitor, Claude." Thinking of the person he hated the most, Blandy regained a sense of sanity and turned to look at Mathilda.

"OK? One person is missing. Looks like I'm gonna need this little girl to tell me where that damn Claude is." Mathilda turned her head away, no longer looking at this odious man.

Blandy pointed his gun at Clint's head and threatened him: "If you haven't told me where Claude has gone by the time I could to three, I will blow this guy's head clean off."

> "One......"
>
>

> "Two......"
>
>

> "Three!" A bang sounded. Mathilda dared not look any more and closed her eyes, but then Blandy screamed. Mathilda opened her eyes to see Blandy clutching his bloody left hand, cursing angrily.
>
>

"I say, Blandy, were you looking for me?" Everyone followed the voice and looked up. Claude was standing relaxed on a small hill in the near distance with his companion Dexter.

"That's it! You've just dug your own grave, you bastard! Seize him!" Blandy screamed fiercely, and the surrounding thugs quickly took up their weapons and prepared to charge toward Claude.

"You never learn. Some old friends want to see you!" Claude snapped his fingers as he spoke. Then, behind him, four figures that Blandy couldn't be more familiar with appeared. They were fully armed and their guns were aimed squarely at Blandy and his thugs.

After breaking up with Clint and Mathilda, Claude kept following the clues of the bounty posters to find the characters featured on them. Although these people had their own unique skills, they had weird personalities. Claude had spent a lot of effort trying to persuade them, and four days had passed.

Right when Clint and Mathilda were in their desperate situation, Claude finally arrived with his helpers and patted his horse.

"I guess I'm not too late." Claude smiled at Mathilda, then plunged into the battlefield.

These helpers had been persecuted by Blandy or Kane, and harbored a deep hatred of Kane and his "Iceberg Sand Hunters". The other reason they came here to help was because Claude told them that this battle would win back their dignity as human beings.

Blandy was shocked at seeing his old and new enemies appear at the same time. He sternly commanded his thugs to step forward to block Claude and the others, while trying to figure out how to escape.

Clint, who had been pinned to the ground the whole time, broke out while the thugs were not paying attention. He knocked over a few thugs with a several punches and kicks, regained his gun, and snatched a sufficient number of bullets from the thugs.

Seeing that Clint had also broken free from his restraint, Blandy kidnapped Mathilda into a sand hunter truck when he saw how bad the situation was, and commanded his underling to start the truck and flee.

With Claude and the others attacking, the thugs who remained at the scene fell down one after another. They began to flee in chaos. Seeing that Blandy was about to flee, Clint and the others immediately turned their guns and pursued Blandy.

With everyone chasing him, Blandy panicked and drove the truck to the edge of a cliff.

"Stop the truck and surrender, and I'll let you get a fair trial!" Clint shouted anxiously, seeing that the sand hunter truck was about to fly off the cliff.

"Dream on! Let me take this little girl on the road with me!" Blandy, having come to a dead end, went into a rage and set about taking Mathilda with him to his grave. He stepped fiercely on the accelerator and charged to the edge of the cliff.

Claude yelled out and prepared to risk using the holographic mirroring device to rescue Mathilda. But without waiting for him to take action, Clint flew out and caught Mathilda who had been thrown out of the sand hunter truck. Seeing that Clint was also about to fall off the cliff together with her, Claude didn't have time to think, so he flew up and grabbed Clint's left hand. The three of them hung down from the edge of the cliff in a straight line.

Meanwhile, the vicious Blandy was falling down the bottomless cliff, his life of sin now at an end.

### Epilogue

"Look, the sun is setting!" Mathilda stood up suddenly and pointed to the distance.

Clint and Claude, who were sitting on the ground panting, followed Mathilda's gaze. The afterglow of the setting sun filled the sky and illuminated the whole land.

The crisis was over, and the heroes were each to embark on their own path. They waved goodbye in the sunset, and went their separate ways. Little Mathilda followed Clint and embarked on a new adventure with him. Kane had been operating in Los Pecados and its surroundings for many years; eradicating his evil forces overnight was by no means an easy feat.

In Los Pecados, Kane looked at the body of his only nephew, the successor to his career of sin, Blandy, with a brutal smile. He wanted to go out into the mountains himself to catch Blandy's murderers and then hang them all in the desert.

## Videos

### Parting Ways (Chapter 3)

Even as the two are on the run, they are constantly bickering.Although Mathilda's reconciliation and their common enemy Kane make the two men put aside their animosity towards each other for a brief moment, they ultimately cannot bear each other.
Eventually, Claude part ways with Clint and Mathilda to get help...

## External links

* Blazing West side story on Legends of Dawn website
* Blazing West YouTube playlist

## References

1. ↑ "Mobile Legends: Bang Bang - Posts Facebook". 28 November 2020. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
2. ↑ "Justice Prevails: Blazing West Chapter 1". Retrieved 20 June 2022.
3. ↑ "The Trap: Blazing West Chapter 2". Retrieved 20 June 2022.
4. ↑ "Parting Ways: Blazing West Chapter 3". Retrieved 20 June 2022.
5. ↑ "Blazing West". Retrieved 20 June 2022.