#25 How to Quell the Sandstorm (5)
Of course, I had no intention of charging in headfirst. Just like it had devoured the Hound in an instant, getting too close would be fatal on its own.
[Mr. Cooper, can you draw its attention?]
Teika nodded at my words.
[But I still can't quite control the 'range' properly, so we have to be careful.]
[That's fine. I just need to investigate a few things. Just pull its focus.]
Ending my conversation with Teika, I turned to Han Seohyun and Kim Jaeho.
"While they're drawing its attention, I'll get close. You two stay back in a safe spot and hold position."
Han Seohyun's jaw dropped at my words.
"Sorry, have you lost your mind?"
"Nope, not at all."
"You're saying you're going to approach that thing alone?!"
"I said while they draw its attention, didn't I?"
"What if it squashes you like it did the Hound?!"
"I've got confidence I can pull back if needed. Don't worry."
Han Seohyun bit his lip at that. He looked thoroughly pissed, but we didn't have time. I turned to Kim Jaeho.
"You keep Seohyun safe in the meantime. Don't let him get hurt, no matter what."
"Jeez! You're the one rushing off to die."
I frowned at Han Seohyun's retort.
"Han Seohyun, I get that you're worried about me, but I'm the leader here. Talking like that just sounds like you don't trust me. You really doubt my abilities that much?"
I could control the wind. I could throw up a shield in an instant or burrow into the earth to hide. No one else here could disengage from that thing as quickly as I could.
Only then did Han Seohyun seem to realize his mistake, hanging his head.
"...That's not what I meant."
I'll have to talk to him later about that attitude, I thought as I stepped forward.
"Keep it at 500 meters."
The Hound had been attacked inside 300 meters. 500 should be safe.
I asked Teika,
[What's the range on your ability?]
[Anywhere I can see is fine.]
Cheat-level bullshit, I thought. Every visible spot as his range?
[When I approach, start your attacks from the farthest points away from me.]
[Got it!]
Teika saluted like a soldier, flashing a cheeky grin. But the playfulness didn't last—murderous mana began surging around him in an instant.
A mana storm whipped up around his body.
It was an unbelievable amount of mana for a mere human.
Is that guy really human?
I couldn't judge him by his sloppy demeanor so far.
America's strongest—no, humanity's strongest. That title wasn't for show.
I levitated on the wind and kicked off the ground. My body shot forward like a bullet, the air in front of me blasted away to zero out friction resistance in a split second.
Absurd instantaneous acceleration.
I closed in on Evrika in a flash.
The moment its gaze fixed on me—
[Now.]
As if hearing my whisper, a black focal point warped into existence above Evrika's head.
Unlike before, he'd successfully created a 'focal point' in midair.
Genius is genius, huh.
All I'd given was a bit of advice.
He'd looked totally lost when I explained it.
Yet in just one day, without proper practice, Teika Cooper had implemented it perfectly.
"Insane,"
I let out a hollow chuckle.
The space around Teika's black dot contracted. The sand nearby was inexorably sucked toward the center.
Evrika twisted its entire body in response to the sudden assault. It had no attention left for me hovering nearby.
The distraction ploy was a perfect success.
Seizing the opening, I snatched a handful of the sand comprising Evrika's body.
What are you checking?
"I need to know what properties this sand has."
This was my first time facing something this massive, but I'd encountered clustered monsters like this before. Corpse Boomer, made of mashed-up bodies; Phantomos, fused from vengeful spirits; Insect Bouquet, swarms of bugs clumped together.
They all shared the clustering trait, but their properties and counters varied wildly.
Corpse Boomer's clump was the main body—damage to the mass hit home directly. Bigger size actually made it easier to dismantle.
Insect Bouquet only looked clustered; treat it as one entity and you'd fail. Attack the school like fish, and it'd scatter, exploiting your openings.
Phantomos was the trickiest—lesser spirits absorbed by a dominant one took no damage except the true core. Finding the 'real' one was key.
Just the clustered types off the top of my head varied that much. This giant before me was just a sand cluster. Learn its form, whittle it down, and I'd expose the hidden weakness inside.
So, time to test its nature.
The sand in my hand writhed, desperate to rejoin the body. Even at a distance, same story.
How about this? I clenched my fist, crushing the sand. It wasn't indestructible. Reduced to fine powder, it went inert. Tossed into the air, it scattered on the wind instead of merging back.
"There we go."
I had the counter figured out, more or less.
Evrika was like Phantomos. The sand was illusory. Attacking it wouldn't touch the core.
Clear the sand, hit the real body, and Evrika was done.
But my triumph was short-lived.
"Whoops."
Even with most of its focus on Teika, my loitering at its feet must've annoyed it. Evrika counterattacked, sand ribbons lashing toward me. Detached from the body, sand snakes lunged like living predators. I levitated just in time to dodge.
But slamming into the ground wasn't the end.
The snakes were bait to grab my eyes.
Shadows bloomed overhead once more.
Sand feathers rained down from the sky. My balance wrecked from evading snakes, I couldn't dodge the absurd volume.
Don't underestimate sand feathers. Their tips shimmered with mana like razor glass.
No way to evade them all.
I drew mana from my bracelet, wrapping an air shield around me.
Ting! Ting!
The blocked feathers plummeted to the ground.
Even at max output, my shield shuddered.
More incoming—I had to bail. I gathered mana at my toes and 'kicked' the air.
A feat possible with the mana-saturated sky. Near this mana behemoth, even outside a gate, the air was thick with it.
Combined with the floating sand, everything felt sticky.
Perfect timing—Teika's gravity field activated again. Wing clippings this time.
Following my advice to raise the focal point, a massive hole tore through the giant bird's wing center.
Sand funneled in, ground to powder like a blender from mutual collisions and friction.
I desperately widened the gap to Evrika, shouting at Teika.
[Mr. Cooper! Keep it up like that. Turn all that sand to dust!]
[Whoa, that's gonna take forever!]
No kidding—pulverizing the entire colossal bird's worth of sand wasn't easy.
But we had humanity's ultimate blender.
Did I mention? When I was a kid, my favorite thing was playing in the sand!]
Blender, huh. Sounds like a brutal nickname.
'Praise in this situation.'
Having endured enough, the massive sand bird began to rise. One more check.
Reaching Han Seohyun, I thrust my fist at him.
"What's that?"
"Infuse some black magic into the sand in my hand."
"Huh?"
Physically grinding it to powder stripped its power—that much I'd confirmed.
Evrika's body looked made of massive sand. But precisely, it wasn't the body—just structured to mimic one. The true core hid inside.
Counter like Phantomos: sweep fakes, find the real deal.
But this sand had substance. That's the difference.
Unlike plain sand, it twitched like it was alive. Each grain a mini-monster, like bugs.
Counter to Insect Bouquet? Smash each bug properly.
Or, for charm/summon talents like kids with those gifts, lure the bugs to self-destruct.
Maybe the same for this sand.
Since we could physically steal it. Who knows—maybe seize control.
Usurping bodies and dominating them was a necromancer's bread and butter, right?
"Blow some mana into it. You might be able to take control."
Han Seohyun's eyes lit up at the writhing sand in my fist.
"Open your palm."
I did—the sand immediately thrashed to rejoin the body. But only briefly.
Touching Han Seohyun's fingertip, it jerked like struck by lightning, then slowly absorbed his mana, turning black. At his gesture, it crawled up to the back of his hand.
Jackpot.