I stretched out my arms, and the circles aligned themselves to the four cardinal directions. The air shivered. With how the sandworms were spaced, this would catch every single one.

  I shouted over the crackle of thunder, my voice cutting through the chaos: "Ones who excel in close combat, move in once I unleash it!"

  Six of us broke from the group, sprinting uphill through the shallow water, planting themselves just inside the circle of beasts. They crouched, ready, their eyes fixed on me, waiting for the signal.

  I clenched my fists. The circles flared, light searing against the sand, and then...

  BOOM.

  The lightning descended in four colossal lances, splitting the air with a deafening roar. Their bodies convulsed violently.

  When the light faded, they were still alive.

  Barely.

  The worms writhed, their segmented flesh twitching under the paralysis, unable to burrow, unable to strike—but not yet dead.

  That was enough.

  The six moved in unison, each attacking in their own way.

  Bullets flashed. Blades pierced. Fists cracked. Explosions of raw skill tore into the paralyzed beasts.

  The sandworms, who had once felt nearly impossible to beat before, fell one after another, carved apart by us survivors.

  Still... the Tower couldn’t have believed that would be enough to do us in. Not when we’re all together.

  I saw Malik lift his hand as if to cast, only to freeze mid-gesture. His face drained pale.

  I frowned, “What?”

  His voice cracked, “I... I can’t revive them.”

  My stomach dropped.

  Before I could ask what he meant, the answer revealed itself.

  The twelve sandworms, supposed corpses, began to melt. Their bodies sloughed together, flesh pressing against flesh, veins crawling into one another, scales splitting, bones knitting into something else. The sound was wrong—like boiling meat and grinding stone.

  They weren’t dead.

  They were becoming one.

  The mass swelled and swelled until it towered above the dunes, easily ten times larger than before. It let out a sound that didn’t belong in this world. Then, like a nightmare burrower, the giant beast dove under the sand, the desert rippling like water as it moved unseen.

  The six who had fought on the ridge were suddenly exposed, the ground quaking beneath their feet.

  “Come back!” I roared, panic shoving my voice raw.

  Feet pounded against burning sand, sliding and stumbling as they sprinted down. Sosuke blurred, practically teleporting back into the safety of the oasis.

  One by one, they all made it inside. Eyes wide with the knowledge of what lurked beneath.

  But safety was an illusion.

  I clenched my fists, mana already thrumming, my body trembling with the demand. If we were going to stand against that thing, I couldn’t hold back.

  Right now... I needed more power.

  Heavenly Wrath. That’s what I needed. The description alone said it all—uses all mana. Which meant... no charging, no building up. One chance. All or nothing.

  It reminded me of Soto, how his class required perks just to build power into his fists. Compared to that, was the Mage class better than I’d thought?

  Before I could think too hard, Sosuke’s sharp voice cut through the hot desert air. “West!”

  His blade flashed, his stance lowering as a white aura surged around his blade. He was about to strike.

  I snapped my head toward him, shouting before he could commit, “No! Even with your power, I’m not sure you can take it out. I got it. For sure.”

  For a heartbeat, I thought he’d ignore me. But to my shock, he held back. His eyes narrowed, but he gave me the space.

  The ground trembled. Then the sandworm erupted from the dunes just as Sosuke had predicted. It wasn’t just a lunge—it was an onslaught, the thing’s grotesque, fused body launching itself into the air in a wide arc, jaws gaping open to swallow all of us whole.

  I braced myself. My left hand wrapped tight around my right wrist, forcing my palm forward. My heart thundered in my chest, sweat dripping into my eyes. “Heavenly Wrath!”

  A magic circle bloomed before me. Unlike my others, it was different—pure, simple, radiant. A small golden circle, no emblem, just raw divine force. Immediately, my entire mana pool emptied. My chest heaved.

  Then came the light.

  A golden beam burst forth, starting as a lance but swelling as it crossed the air, until it became a column that tore across the desert. It struck the worm mid-flight, disintegrating flesh, bone, and carapace. The sound wasn’t a roar or an explosion. It was silence. A silence so absolute it shattered the air around it like cracking glass, ripples distorting reality itself.

  In less than a second, the monster was gone.

  The light vanished as quickly as it appeared, leaving only scorched sand and drifting motes of gold. My legs gave out. I collapsed onto the ground, drenched in cold sweat, lungs heaving like I’d just run a hundred miles. But it was dead. The threat was gone.

  I couldn’t shake the thought. Was that really an ability of the normal worms? If the normal worms could do that... If the evolving one had evolved further…

  Isabella’s gentle hand pressed onto my shoulder, kneeling beside me. "Are you alright?"

  I shook my head, still trembling. “I’m fine. Just no mana left. Give me another mana potion.”

  Without hesitation, she conjured one from thin air—one of her support skills. I snatched it, gulping it down.

  But before I could breathe, Sosuke spoke. His tone sharp, judgmental. “If you keep that up, none of us will make it past level eight.”

  “Huh?” I blinked at him, incredulous.

  A laugh escaped me, bitter and sharp. “If I didn’t do that, maybe we’d all be dead right now.”

  He strode forward, looming, his sword still humming faintly with suppressed power. He bent slightly, eyes boring into mine. “So narcissistic. I let you have that, you know. We all have our own powers that could’ve taken care of it.”

  My blood boiled. My fists clenched. My voice came out as a growl. “If it wasn’t for me finding this oasis, for sure we’d all be dead!”

  My anger burst outward, mana crackling from my body like arcs of static, the air around me vibrating.

  Sosuke answered in kind. A pure white aura flared around him, calm yet terrifying, a blade unsheathed in spirit form. “You aren’t the only one with that kind of skill.”

  I lowered my palm to my waist, fingers splayed. Sparks of lightning gathered, seconds away from coalescing.

  Desmond shoved himself between us, hands out, voice booming. “Stop it, you two!”

  The system chimed in.

  Whoosh!

  Suddenly, we were back in the white condo, in the exact same positions as the oasis, as if nothing had changed.

  Sosuke didn’t waste a second. He turned, walking straight up the stairs without looking back. His voice drifted down, cold. “It’s not worth killing you, Haruto. Stay away from me, and I’ll stay away from you.”