Desert Tyrants' Ambush
"What the hell?"
"Sandworm?"
"Crazy!"
Jahar, Darren, and Seido's eyes bulged wide.
They hadn't expected one of the desert's tyrants—a sandworm—to show up at this exact moment.
Of them, Jahar's shock was the greatest.
"A sandworm? Why here? Is this its habitat?"
One sandworm wouldn't have been much of a threat.
The problem was the four sandworms emerging behind Zeon.
They poked their heads out as if savoring fresh air, then vanished back into the sand.
Rumble...
A fierce vibration followed.
The sandworms were charging straight at the three men.
Felix moved frantically as he shouted,
"Why's it ignoring that bastard...?"
Zeon stood between them and the sandworms, yet the beasts leaped over him to attack them instead. It made no sense.
"Fuck!"
Darren spat a curse and slammed his mechanical fist into the ground with all his might.
BOOM!
Sand erupted like a volcano from the impact. But the force didn't reach the sandworms below.
That was what made sandworms so tricky.
They lurked underground, approaching unseen and hard to hit. Meanwhile, they used the sand as a shield, waiting for an opening.
It wasn't for nothing they were called the desert's assassins and tyrants.
Jahar said,
"Everyone, stay put. It senses our vibrations. We have to crush them the instant they surface."
"Got it!"
"Understood, boss!"
Seido and Felix replied in unison.
Their responses were crisp, but confusion was plain on their faces.
Roooar!
In that moment, one sandworm thrust its head up.
Its massive maw targeted Darren.
"You fucking bug, who the hell you aiming at?"
Darren swung his fist in rage.
His mechanical arm gleamed, black aura rippling around the fist.
A color only those fused with machines could wield.
Black symbolized death and destruction.
Darren was dead set on bursting the sandworm in one blow. But just before his fist connected, a tiny variable intervened.
Crackle!
A small flame suddenly sparked on Darren's forearm.
Right at the mechanical arm's drive shaft, no less.
The shaft melted in an instant, freezing the arm. The black aura enveloping it vanished just as fast.
Darren's gaze snapped toward Zeon, standing a good distance away.
Instinct told him it was Zeon's doing.
And his suspicion proved right.
Zeon had raised his right arm.
A gauntlet encased his forearm and fist.
Embedded in the back of the gauntlet was a red gem.
The gem's center was slit vertically like a reptile's eye, emitting an eerie glow.
Eblis, the chimera forced to serve as guardian to the gold dragon Hai Elton.
It was the eye of a red dragon, once her power source.
Fused with the gauntlet, it had become the Superheat Gauntlet.
The Superheat Gauntlet let Zeon wield fire magic.
Not as precisely as his sand, but intuitively enough for basic use.
He'd focused the flames on a single point, melting only the drive mechanism.
No wide-area spell—just like focusing sunlight through a magnifying glass. Not hard at all.
A simple spell, but its ripple effect was huge.
Darren faltered as his arm locked up, and the sandworm swallowed him whole.
Crunch!
No time for a scream—Darren's body was shredded inside the maw.
"Darren!"
"No!"
Jahar and Seido bellowed at the gruesome sight right before their eyes.
Their shouts created vibrations, and the sandworms zeroed in.
Roooar!
A colossal maw burst through the sand.
Jahar punched at the sandworm's suddenly exposed head.
BOOM!
Screeeee!
The explosion came with the beast's death cry.
Its exterior looked fine, but its brain was pulverized.
The sandworm slumped lifelessly.
Having doused the immediate threat, Jahar searched for the one that ate Darren. But it had already vanished after its meal.
"Damn it..."
Jahar's shoulders trembled with fury.
"Gah!"
Seido's scream cut through suddenly.
He staggered, side burned badly. Distracted fending off sandworms, he'd taken a covert fire spell from Zeon.
The searing pain on his flank dazed him briefly.
The sandworm seized the chance and bit down. Then it dragged him underground in a flash.
No scream echoed.
"Arghhh!"
Losing two men in seconds, Jahar exploded in rage.
He charged straight at Zeon, the root of it all.
The sandworms no longer mattered.
His mind burned with one thought: kill Zeon.
"You won't die easy, you dog fuck!"
Jahar's bloodthirsty charge was terrifying. But it wasn't enough to wipe the smile from Zeon's lips.
Snap!
Zeon flicked his fingers. Sand hardened instantly, gripping Jahar's ankle.
He stumbled to a halt.
In that gap, a massive sandworm maw lunged at him.
"A mere bug dares...?"
Jahar tried to unleash a skill on it. But Zeon was faster.
Pop!
A tiny spark burst before Jahar's eyes.
It seared his retinas.
"Gaaah!"
Pain and darkness hit at once. He screamed as the sandworm engulfed him.
His cries muffled inside it.
Slurp...
The sandworm that swallowed Jahar sank back into the dunes.
That was Jahar's end.
Zeon muttered watching it,
"You don't always need a big skill to kill."
Zeon had long realized small skills, used right, could fell even the strong. And the perfect victory used no strength of your own.
Zeon turned to Mandy.
After taking Jahar's hit, she hadn't regained the offensive.
Felix and Anika hammered her relentlessly.
"Fuck! Die already. Die!"
Felix spewed curses like a madman.
Curse of Decay.
Curse of Rot.
He unloaded every curse he knew. Yet somehow, Mandy shrugged them off unscathed.
Anika's attacks cornered her instead.
"Flash Bomb!"
BOOM!
Anika's spell detonated right in Mandy's face.
Mandy flew back like she'd been caught in a gale.
Her clothes were shredded, hair a tangled mess.
Anika glared and yelled,
"How's that feel, bitch?!"
She'd seen her comrades devoured by sandworms.
Rage overrode reason. She'd die satisfied taking Mandy with her.
"You're done. Ripped to pieces!"
As Anika closed in triumphantly,
"Ha! Fucking knew it."
Mandy, sprawled on the ground, cursed as she rose.
She tossed back her blonde waves and lifted her head. But her vibe had shifted entirely.
Mandy was stunning, no doubt.
Deep wavy blonde hair, sapphire-blue eyes.
Beauty that turned heads anywhere. But in the desert, she seemed a tad short on venom.
Now, her face twisted with delinquent sneer and raw malice.
Same woman, totally different aura.
Most striking: her ears.
Pointed tips peeked from her hair, no longer hidden.
Anika pointed accusingly.
"What? You're an elf? Half-elf!"
"Who the fuck you pointing at, bitch? Ha!"
"What?"
"Want me to chop that finger off and make it chopsticks? Huh?!"
Anika blanked at Mandy's unexpected venom.
She stammered,
"You... what... the hell?"
"Half