Elira's pupils contracted in a flash. With a sharp cry, she lunged forward, yanking White Butterfly to her side—
But the centipede's gaze snapped to her in the same instant.
And then—
A low, thunderous rumble rolled in from deep within the desert.
At first, it was just a faint tremor, like something massive slithering beneath the surface.
But within seconds, the entire sea of sand began to quake.
Cracks split open like serpents, winding and branching across the dunes, stretching all the way to the horizon.
Then the sand exploded.
Hundreds—no, thousands—of massive centipedes burst from the ground.
Their bodies were sheathed in black chitin, each segment etched with glowing runes that shimmered like a living script crawling across their armored hides.
The air grew heavy with their presence—oppressive, suffocating. These weren't ordinary beasts. They were something else entirely—monsters straddling the line between living creatures and rune-forged constructs.
