How to Quell the Sandstorm (6)
Now it was perfect.
"Han Seohyun, you get close to that thing and dye as much sand as you can."
Han Seohyun's mana reserves were enormous enough to earn him an A-grade potential rating. The only issue was that he still couldn't properly wield necromancy.
"If you feel like you can't control it anymore, grind it away and repeat. Keep doing that."
Han Seohyun nodded at my words. Next, I turned to Kim Jaeho.
"Jaeho, you protect Seohyun. Oh, carrying him around isn't a bad idea either. Anyway, make sure Han Seohyun doesn't get hurt while maximizing contact with the sand."
Kim Jaeho was sturdy. Plenty strong to carry Han Seohyun like he weighed nothing, compensating for the kid's lack of mobility.
That settled their roles.
I glanced behind me.
Teika was still locked in a one-on-one with Evrika. But his firepower was waning. No amount of mana could help if he couldn't sustain it.
He still couldn't create multiple focal points yet.
Evrika seemed to have figured out who was harassing it, targeting Teika directly now.
Every time sand rushed toward him, Teika deleted the focal point he'd made on Evrika's body and created a new one in front of himself, switching between offense and defense. It didn't look easy.
"Gotta go help him soon."
Han Seohyun spoke up at my words.
"Wait, what're you gonna do, Boss?"
"Draw its attention my way."
Compared to those two, my firepower was lacking. No way could I clear out the countless grains making up Evrika's body.
But I couldn't just stand around idle.
I'd roughly mapped out a plan in my head. I sent Han Seohyun and Kim Jaeho to Evrika's right side.
From here on, it was a battle of time and stamina.
First, I headed to Teika's side, who'd bought me that time.
"Yeah, thanks. Your distraction let me figure out how to take this thing down."
I quickly explained what I'd figured out. Teika's jaw dropped.
"Yep."
Facing an unfamiliar monster, the hardest part was always figuring out its weakness. But nothing in this world was truly new. Frame it as a swarm-type, and it was predictable.
Just an absurdly huge one.
Teika grinned wide at my explanation.
With that, Teika thrust out his hand. The sand rushing toward me got sucked away somewhere.
"Gah."
I nearly died.
"Right."
Teika's mana surged. The scale was worlds apart from his earlier distractions.
His previous focal points had been fist-sized. This one was big enough to swallow a person whole. The black dot formed in the center of Evrika's left wing mercilessly yanked at the sand comprising its body.
The sand bird flapped desperately, as if refusing to be pulled in, but the black point at the wingtip greedily devoured it.
A hazy cloud of dust billowed below.
And on the opposite side, the right wing—Han Seohyun got to work. Clinging to Kim Jaeho's back, half in tears, he desperately reached out toward the wing.
"Uwaaaah, too faaaast!"
He'd look cool if not for the sobbing.
Still, the black wave spreading from his fingertips was a sight to behold.
Confirming the right wing starting to blacken, I lifted myself with wind.
While those two chipped away bit by bit, I'd search for the core hidden inside this sandstorm. I'd considered the torso, but when Teika targeted it earlier, no core appeared.
Maybe it was swimming freely within the sand.
Assaulted on both wings, Evrika began shrieking madly.
Not pain.
Fear.
I floated up to where its "head" should be. Only possible in mana-dense air. No fear of heights, but dozens of meters up still made my chest tighten.
Couldn't show it now, though.
Spotting me, it hurled sand my way.
I dodged.
My biggest advantage right now was mobility. Mana-thick air synergized perfectly with wind. Mana consumption was less than half normal, and air resistance negligible.
So I'd play hide-and-seek in the sky with the pursuing sand.
Where sand moved, gaps formed. They refilled instantly now, but with Han Seohyun and Teika grinding it down, the losses were mounting.
Even seemingly infinite sand had a bottom.
The sand chased me, weaving perilously close yet never quite catching.
Couldn't use the wings' sand anymore. That left the torso. As it followed me, I spotted it.
A particularly shiny clump at the neck, unlike the rest.
"Whoa!"
It risked exposing its core with a ferocious assault. Thousands of sand feathers speared toward me.
I redirected all my enveloping wind into a shield.
Naturally, I lost propulsion and plummeted. But blocking the feathers came first. Just before hitting ground, I summoned wind again. Feathers remained.
No time to react. The survivors stabbed into the ground where I stood.
"Ngh."
I'd dodged the vitals, but couldn't avoid feathers piercing my forearms and shins. Had to take solace in that. My body was bloodied in seconds. No need to pull them—the sand simply dispersed.
"Whew, that was close."
I stood. Body creaking, but wind would handle movement. Lucky.
Then I saw a black sand dog tearing into the giant bird's wing. Impressive improvisation. Han Seohyun's furious yell echoed.
"I'm gonna puke!"
Communication with Kim Jaeho wasn't going well, apparently. Good thing his rage targeted only Evrika.
Sand poured from the bitten spot, soon touching Han Seohyun's fingers and turning black.
At first, it seemed impossible—an overwhelming giant. But wresting control grain by grain, the end was in sight.
Standing, I sliced incoming sand spears aimed at Kim Jaeho and Han Seohyun with wind.
"Not on my watch."
I launched skyward again.
"You still haven't killed me."
A pincer—no, tri-pronged assault.
Against such a massive monster, overwhelming confusion was best.
Right wing? No, left? Deal with this pest first?
The more jumbled its thoughts, the more breathing room I had.
Roughly pinpointed the core. Problem: still way too much sand. Rush it now, and it'd relocate.
Back to this tedious chase.
So buy a little more time.
Until I could nail the core for sure.
Nothing distracted it like the gnat buzzing before its eyes, drawing all focus to me.
Spotting me, it couldn't hide its fury. Intent on finishing me this time, it summoned sand. I slammed to the ground. Sand exploded behind me. Razor spears dogged my steps.
I sprayed water backward.
Like a flare, the sand touching water scattered.
Damn, didn't want to reveal this. Wind alone wasn't cutting it.
A sandstorm loomed ahead.
"Tch."
Dispersing its body to shake us all off.
We countered differently. Han Seohyun cloaked himself in black sand, forming a dome. Teika brute-forced incoming sand straight into the ground.
My clothes frayed where the storm grazed. Unlike before, anything it touched ground to dust.
—This is dangerous!
As Ray warned, standing in this was like a blender.
I drew up mana, excavating the ground beneath me in an instant.
"Burrow and hide."
Inside the tunnel, I checked my mana-assist bracelet.
Mana critically low. I quickly dumped prepped mana stone powder into it. Sizzle—flesh searing on my arm, ignored.
Mana refilled.
Gathering mana in my eyes, I peered at the sand.
Storm formation left its body hollow.
"There."
A golden glow. The core hidden in sand was pathetically small.
Like a newborn condor chick.
Fancy sand guise, but true form a runt. Storm calmed as it recalled sand to its core.
Couldn't miss this.
Dagger from thigh sheath. Poured 30% of fresh mana stone power into my legs, detonating it.
"Hrngh!"
Strain wrung a groan.
But effective. Explosion rocketed me skyward like a bullet. Chained with wind. Already propelled, I outpaced an SS-grade momentarily.
Body screaming—shin bone cracked, spine jarred. Didn't matter.
Bought the window. Good enough.
I hurled the dagger with all force.
It sank perfectly into the core. I shouted.
[Teika!]
He looked up, understanding.
[Now!]
Another 30% for lightning.
Momentary stun sufficed.
Just halt it from reforming its sand shield.
Lightning arced through my dagger-conductor.
Krzzzt—dazzling even to me amid the storm.
And atop it.
A tiny dot appeared.
Teika's immense mana dominated the space.
Everything sucked toward the speck.
Teika's ultimate from ten years ahead.
Black hole.
Not quite yet, but enough to crush a top-tier monster.
The world hushed for an instant.
Screeeeech!
The beast's death cry rang out.
And finally.
The storm stopped.