The hot sand erupted under another wave of explosions, the blast waves tearing through the remaining knights.

Hajin moved before the next spike could detonate, the chain unfurling like a snake. With a flick of his wrist, the links shot across the basin, wrapping tightly around two knights who were frozen in fear.

He yanked his arm back, tossing both men over a ridge before the spike beneath them blew apart.

The chains returned to his forearm, only to shoot out again toward a soldier who was crawling away from the whirlpool. He dragged the man out of the path of a collapsing dune, his breathing getting heavier from the effort.

Despite his quick reactions, he could not save everyone.

A knight to his left was impaled by a sudden spike, the point exploding a second later. Another soldier was swallowed by the sinking sand, his armor dragging him deep into the dark whirlpool.

’i can’t protect all of them,’ he muttered, retracting his chain with a flick.

Juna shot past him before he could call out, keeping low as she weaved through the exploding spikes. She grabbed a knight by the collar and hurled him toward the ridge, then pivoted and kicked another soldier clear of a rising pillar.

Loccy followed right behind with her ears pinned flat, catching a falling knight mid-air and landing hard enough to dig deep trenches in the sand.

She set him down, grabbed two more, then dragged them toward safety with raw strength.

Vella on the other hand did not move.

She stood on a small dune to his left with her arms crossed and her head tilted, watching the chaos as the explosions lit up her hair, a slow, quiet smile spreading across her face.

Hajin noticed it, his brow furrowing as he followed her gaze. She was watching the knights die, watching them get impaled and blown apart, and she was enjoying it.

Another spike detonated near the rear guard, sending a screaming soldier tumbling across the sand with his arm torn off, and Vella’s smile widened.

"Vella," he called out, his voice sharp.

She turned her head toward him, her smile softening into something gentler, "Yes, Master?"

"Help them."

She tilted her head the other way and looked back at the slaughter, "Why would I?"

Before he could answer, a deep rumble shook the entire basin.

The sand beneath the whirlpool began to rise, forming a massive column that stretched toward the red sky before splitting open at the top to reveal a colossal worm’s head ringed with layers of red scales.

The boss had surfaced.

Its eyes were the size of wagon wheels, burning with a dark orange light as they swept across the scattered knights like they were ants.

"The insects squirm so beautifully," its voice rolled across the dunes, slow and cruel.

The Captain stood at the front of the formation with his claymore held in both hands and his face twisted with rage, "Show yourself, monster."

The worm’s head lowered until its massive eye was level with the Captain, "I am right here, little thing. You killed my children," its voice dropping into something colder, "you slaughtered them while they were sleeping beneath the sand, tore their cores from their bodies, and left their shells to rot."

The Captain’s grip on his sword tightened, but the worm kept going.

"So now I will return the favor. An eye for an eye, a child for a child."

A spike erupted from the sand behind the Captain. He spun to cleave it in half before it could detonate, but another one shot up a few feet away and impaled a knight through the chest. The knight’s scream cut off as the spike exploded.

The worm’s head tilted, its burning eyes fixed on the Captain, "How does it feel?" it asked, its voice carrying a mock curiosity, "watching your own children die?"

The Captain’s jaw clenched so hard his teeth creaked.

"You cannot protect them all," the worm continued, its voice almost gentle, "just as I could not protect mine. Is this not fair?"

Juna grabbed another knight and threw him over her shoulder, carrying him toward the ridge with her breathing ragged while Loccy stood covered in sand and sweat, her hands shaking from the constant strain of catching falling soldiers.

Helen saw Juna hauling another soldier to safety and Loccy pulling a third from the edge of the whirlpool, realizing Hajin had the rescue covered.

She turned her attention to the massive head looming over the dunes and shot forward without a word, her rapier trailing a cold blue arc as she closed the gap in three quick strides. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

She jumped, channeling mana into her leg and spinning mid-air before driving her heel into the side of the worm’s head with a crack that echoed across the basin. Black blood sprayed across the sand as the worm’s head snapped sideways, its massive body stumbling while it let out a deep, pained hiss.

She landed on the sand and turned toward the Captain, her voice sharp enough to cut through the chaos, "Captain! What are you doing? Snap out of it and take charge before we lose this entire squad!"

The Captain’s head snapped toward her, his eyes widening slightly as the rage seemed to break.

He looked at the scattered knights, at the bodies, at Helen standing there with her rapier still dripping with the worm’s blood before letting out a slow breath and nodding.

"I lost myself for a moment," he said, his voice rough, "sorry."

Helen gave him a short nod, then turned back toward the worm without wasting another word.

The Captain did the same, his mana flaring as the four Shards around his wrist began to spin faster, the crystals pulsing with a brighter and denser light until a fifth Shard materialized beside them with a sharp crack.

Helen followed suit, her own mana surging as a fifth crystal appeared in the orbit around her wrist.

They moved at the same time, the Captain charging forward with his claymore raised while Helen blurred to the side, her rapier already tracing a cold arc through the air.

The worm watched them come and laughed, a deep, rumbling sound that shook the sand beneath their feet as the wound on its head began to knit itself closed, the torn scales reforming and the black blood stopping until nothing but unblemished red hide remained.

"You remind me of someone," the worm said, its massive eye fixed on the Captain, "a foolish knight who came crawling through this Gate not long ago."

The Captain froze mid-step, his blade stopping mid-swing.

"He had the same look in his eyes, the same desperate fire," the worm continued, its voice almost nostalgic, "he abandoned his children, you know. Left them to die while he ran ahead, thinking he could save himself."

The Captain’s face went pale, the color draining as the words sank in.

"He came back later, crawling through the sand on his hand and knees, crying like a child," the worm said, a low chuckle rumbling from its throat, "it was such a pitiful sight, such a fun performance, that I let him live."

"Kenny," the Captain whispered, his voice barely audible.

The worm’s eye gleamed, "So you know him."