The temperature in the desert night gradually dropped, and Duke felt that the coldest moment must have reached ten degrees below zero.
Apart from the native inhabitants of the desert, foreign life found it hard to adapt to this environment.
Relying on the presence of Magic Power within their bodies, Duke and his team could resist the cold and endure the long night.
Sleeping was out of the question, as they all entered a state of Meditation to slowly recover Spiritual Power and physical strength, allowing their bodies a moment of rest.
The time at sunrise in the desert is one of the rare relatively comfortable moments; neither too hot nor too cold.
Duke and his team arrived early near the entrance of the Oasis, where they lurked silently, waiting for the Desert Lizardmen to arrive.
After about an hour, Abel, who had been responsible for the scouting, said: "Here they come, two of them."
These two Lizardmen carried a curved sword each, along with a giant water jug that seemed to be made from some kind of dried plant for water storage.
The two Lizardmen conversed in an incomprehensible language, appearing extremely relaxed.
They came all the way to the entrance of the Oasis, which was a downhill slope leading into the Oasis.
Just as the Lizardmen reached the middle of the slope, a sudden change occurred; two stout vines appeared, binding them tightly.
This was Anli's spell, who had previously planted two vine seeds there, allowing the power of the spell to sprout two vines when the Lizardmen reached the spot.
The physical strength of the Lizardmen was strong, but they couldn't break free of the vines' restraint in a short time.
Several Rock Spikes appeared, piercing the restrained Lizardmen, along with Fireball Technique and Wind Blade; these were the spells of Simon and Abel.
The yellow vertical pupils of the Lizardmen contracted instantly, realizing they were in extreme danger.
They glanced at each other, exhibiting great teamwork as they simultaneously condensed a small ball of sand grains, which shot out like a cannonball, hitting the base of the vine.
The vine instantly broke; with a burst of muscle strength, they tore off all the vines.
Once the vine broke at the base, its restraining power was significantly reduced.
The two Lizardmen then immediately dove into the ground, disappearing instantly, while various spells arrived at their standing spot, missing the Lizardmen.
"They disappeared!" Simon was very surprised, not expecting the Lizardmen to have this ability.
The Lizardmen differed from the sand worms they encountered before; sand worms move by tunneling through the sand, but the Lizardmen directly merged into the sand below.
This was similar to the Sand Ball Bomb they used, an Earth Magic spell; Lizardmen were naturally born with the ability to traverse sand.
Duke and his team, due to lack of intelligence, were unaware of this ability the Lizardmen possessed and hadn't considered this scenario.
"They're coming! One is heading towards you, Simon." Duke quickly sensed that there were two entities rapidly approaching within the sand below.
One headed towards Simon, while the other came toward Duke.
Their target choice was obvious, as if they recognized which two among the four were the strongest.
As soon as Duke spoke, the next moment, a Lizardman emerged from beneath Simon's feet, its curved sword aiming directly at Simon as if trying to cleave him in half.
The Lizardmen moved so fast within the sand, far exceeding Duke's expectations.
However, Duke's warning still proved useful; Simon transformed into a flame and disappeared instantly, reappearing ten meters away.
Having missed this ambush, the Lizardman swiftly retreated into the ground again.
Both were born warriors, showing no fear towards Duke's team, making very decisive battle judgments.
The Lizardman near Duke quickly reached beneath him; with Magic Power surging inside him, Duke soon generated several Rock Spikes in the ground, aiming directly at the rapidly approaching Lizardman.
This move clearly caught the Lizardman off guard; quick reflexes allowed it to dodge these spikes, avoiding a direct hit.
Yet in the next second, Duke manipulated these spikes to turn, striking the Lizardman instantly.
The Lizardman had just repositioned itself, unable to adjust its movement in time, and was caught off guard when the spikes turned, piercing it, causing blood to seep into the underground darkness.
It was too close to Duke, within a range where Duke could freely manipulate the spikes.
Moreover, with sand below, mostly yellow sand, it was easier for him to control.
The Lizardman was instantly severely injured, with a spike penetrating its entire abdomen.
Vomiting blood continuously, the Lizardman struggled desperately to escape, its movement significantly slowed.
Duke refused to give it a chance to flee, solidifying the sand below as a spike came up, piercing through the Lizardman's head.
The Lizardman died instantly, and Duke manipulated the surging sand to push the Lizardman's corpse to the surface.
The other Lizardman changed its target, preparing to ambush Anli, but smelling the thick scent of blood, immediately sensed danger and attempted to flee, only to feel its body becoming incomparably heavy, sinking downward.
Although originally able to move freely in the sand, now its movements became extremely difficult, almost unable to control its body, only able to move slowly.
The Lizardman's body was indeed very powerful; under triple the gravity, it didn't sink but slowly crawled its way out.
Utilizing his superior Perception Ability, Duke located the Lizardman's position, instantly surrounding it with several spikes, directly piercing through it.
Despite the Lizardman's desperate struggle to escape, movements too difficult, it simply couldn't avoid the spikes.
Moments later, as this Lizardman's body also was pushed out of the ground by the sand, marking the end of this battle.
The whole process went very quickly, but Duke's Magic Power consumption was significant; the Gravity Slowdown at triple gravity drained a large amount of his Magic Power.
Duke hurriedly took out a Potion, intending to replenish his Magic Power.
"Duke, luckily you warned me in time." At this point, Simon was still somewhat frightened, having not sensed the Lizardman's approach at all, not to mention their speed in the sand.
Almost the instant the Lizardmen broke the vines and disappeared, one had already reached the sand beneath Simon's feet.
If not for Duke's timely warning, Simon would now likely have been cleaved in half.
Holding a Basic Magic Recovery Potion, Duke was about to say something when he suddenly sensed something wrong.
Looking back, he saw the two Lizardmen's tails inexplicably breaking off, and then they burrowed into the sand and disappeared.
Duke immediately felt something was amiss, intending to manipulate the sand to trap the severed tails, but lacking enough Magic Power, he couldn't manage in time.
If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.