The sand sea churned like the end of days.
Countless tentacles hundreds of meters long burst from the yellow dunes, their sharp fangs glittering coldly in the sunlight, like endless meat grinders tearing everything within reach.
The air was thick with dust and killing intent, the giant roar deafening.
Zeroy and Patchouli flashed through the frenzy of tentacles, moving like lightning, perfectly in sync.
"Flames, Reignite!"
Zeroy shouted, the Liao-li armor flaring with scorching light as the black-red Striker Blade, wrapped in hellfire, slashed once more at the giant shark's rock-armored head.
Then—
"Flames, Reignite!"
"Flames, Reignite!"
"Flames, Reignite!"
"Flames, Reignite!"
You ask what comes after casting a skill? Cast it again.
"Vector Shockwave!"
"Vector Shockwave!"
"Vector Shockwave!"
Kids, spamming skills really works.
Under Zeroy's relentless assault, the blackened crater in the shark's head armor grew deeper and wider.
She had wanted to pit Hamp head-on against it, but Hamp's massive size and weaker defenses couldn't withstand the tentacle swarm; it was shredded the instant it was summoned.
She also considered diving into the shark's belly. For giant beasts with hard exteriors, attacking from the inside is usually a good tactic.
However, the giant shark gave no such chance. Facing such tiny enemies, it didn't need to bite; it merely controlled the sand sea to crush them.
While covering Zeroy and searching for a weak point, Patchouli paused when she saw Zeroy spamming her skills, quietly abandoning her own search and turning to something else instead...
Her teammate was a brawler who loved a straight fight, and it was actually working. The armor on the giant shark's head was already pierced deep.
What more was there to say? Forget the weak point—just keep pounding.
When Zeroy drove several more meters into the hole in the shark's head armor, the creature suddenly stiffened.
Then, without looking back, it dove straight into the sand sea.
Keep fighting, and something bad will happen—better flee!
"Huh? Don't run!"
Quick as lightning, Zeroy dove into the hole she'd smashed in the rock armor, planning to follow the shark into the depths.
Anyhow, when a creature that size is intent on fleeing, Zeroy had few options.
It was simply too big to hold.
Summoning Hamp again would only get it shredded instantly.
Clinging to it for a ride wouldn't work either—the moment she entered the hole, yellow sand shaped itself into tentacles that surged toward her.
Zeroy instantly shifted her armor to Water Blade mode, raising an energy shield for defense.
But as the shark dove into the sand sea, the sand around Zeroy flooded in, all under the creature's control, transforming into toothed tentacles.
These fanged tendrils wrapped her shield like a 360-degree meat grinder.
Countless teeth, like chainsaws, sawed against the energy barrier, high-impact collisions sparking endlessly.
The strength of Zeroy's shield weakened rapidly.
At this rate, she would soon have to abandon the creature.
And if she failed now, finding and luring it out again would be impossible in the short term.
Just as Zeroy was at a loss, the giant shark's body began to convulse violently.
With its thrashing, the shark that had dived deep underground suddenly surfaced again, even exposing Zeroy to sunlight beyond her shield.
She didn't know why, but because of this sudden turn, the surrounding sand reverted to ordinary grains.
Freed from the tentacles' obstruction, Zeroy returned to spamming her skills at the blackened crater.
This time, until she completely shattered the armor and even the giant shark's brain, it never tried to dive again.
Few tentacles even rose to hinder her.
...
Zeroy crawled out from the giant shark's skull, her body smeared with the reeking red and white of blood and flesh.
Emerging, she saw Patchouli waiting.
"So it was you, Patchi?"
"A binding magic circle, and I temporarily altered the conceptual property of the surrounding sand to Wood. The effect was unexpectedly strong."
"Impressive—you can even do that."
Zeroy gave a thumbs-up.
"How do we get the material you need?"
"Dig out the entire heart."
"The whole thing?"
Zeroy donned Kuenai armor—for a creature this huge, extracting the entire heart would be no small task.
"Let's do it!"
After half an hour of grueling work, Zeroy and Patchouli together extracted the still faintly pulsing core—a heart glowing with eerie blue light.
Even under the scorching sun, the sand around the core trembled faintly, as if resonating with some power.
Patchouli levitated the core, her magic book flipping open of its own accord. The sevenfold radiance of the planets surged around her, weaving an intricate alchemical array.
Her fingertips danced, chanting softly as alchemy and Seven Luminaries magic fused, streams of iridescent energy flowing to form a mysterious ritual around the core.
Zeroy watched, emerald eyes curious.
Though she knew nothing of alchemy, she wanted to see what Patchouli was doing.
Along their journey, they had gathered materials from over twenty Super Danger Beasts—scales, bones, blood, even crystals with strange auras.
Yet she had never seen Patchouli refine these materials into any finished product.
With so many rare materials, what exactly was she trying to create?
Her curiosity only grew as the collection expanded.
"Give me Yatsufusa."
Patchouli's voice suddenly broke her thoughts.
The ritual abruptly paused as Patchouli turned toward Zeroy.
"Eh? Yatsufusa as material too?"
Zeroy blinked, surprised.
She had thought her part was done, never expecting that Yatsufusa would be needed.
"But... there are still a few souls inside." Zeroy hesitated. "I need to move them out first."
Yatsufusa itself was not precious; if it were to be merged into the alchemical ritual, Zeroy didn't mind.
In any case, the pest souls sealed inside still hadn't paid their full price.
"I'll preserve them with magic first."
"No problem?"
"Just a few souls. What could go wrong?"
"Alright."
Zeroy handed Yatsufusa to Patchouli, unable to contain her curiosity.
"Patchi, what exactly are you forging?"
"What am I forging... probably... the prototype of Hell."
"Huh?"
...
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