A searing, bone-dry heat slammed into Damien, replacing the cool, dust-choked air of the canyon.

He hit the ground hard, rolling in loose, scorching sand. The shock of the sudden transition made his vision swim.

"Ugh... my head," Isabelle groaned, coughing up sand as she untangled herself from Lyra. "Where... where did we land? It's burning!"

They had been teleported. The Voss Shadow Medallion, meant to grant a quick escape, had delivered them to a location far more hostile than the canyon.

Damien pushed himself up, spitting out grit. The scene was utterly foreign. They were in a vast, empty desert, the Sands of Drulgar, known for being the treacherous outer rim of the Dwarven territories. The sun beat down with brutal intensity on dunes that stretched to a hazy horizon.

"It's a desert," Damien rasped, his Dual-Core already screaming under the temperature fluctuation. "The Medallion sends us to a random shadow three kilometers away. It chose the wrong shadow."

"At least Baelor isn't here," Leona grunted, her lion ears flicking nervously. She knelt, inspecting the ground, her gaze fixed on the sand. "But we have bigger problems."

RUMBLE. RUMBLE.

The sand beneath them began to pulse and vibrate.

Damien looked around. Huge, defined ripples were surging through the dunes toward them, moving with frightening speed, like massive subterranean waves.

"What is that?" Lyra grabbed her bow, her gray skin blending poorly against the stark yellow sand.

"Sand Worms," Damien said, recognizing the attack pattern immediately. "Desert Scourges, Tier 3 Magic Beasts. They hunt by vibration."

The nearest ripple erupted. A colossal, segmented head burst from the sand, easily twenty feet high. Its maw was a terrifying circular saw-blade of bone and teeth, dripping corrosive saliva. Its yellow skin was tough, its eyes small and black.

ROAR!

The noise was a grating hiss that echoed across the dunes. The worm was quickly followed by two others, surrounding the party.

"Tier 3 is too easy for us now, Young Lord!" Leona roared, her eyes shining with renewed confidence. She rushed forward, activating her Berserk Aura to meet the nearest threat. "I'll take the lead!"

"Wait!" Damien commanded, extending his hand. "We aren't alone! Look!"

He pointed to a cluster of strange, metallic objects further up the dune.

Blink. Blink.

Small flashes of light flickered near the top of a small rise about five hundred meters away. A desperate battle was taking place.

The Dwarven Convoy

A small group of figures, short, stocky, and clad in thick, blackened iron armor, were pinned behind a hastily erected shield wall. They were Dwarves.

Their small, compact forms were surrounded by six more enormous Sand Worms, which were hammering the Dwarven shields with their massive heads. Sparks flew from the iron plating.

"They're Dwarves," Lyra confirmed, her vision enhanced by mana. "A transport convoy. And they're losing ground."

Damien's eyes narrowed. This wasn't just a rescue; this was an opportunity.

I need access to the Dwarven King, Durin, to get manufacturing tech for my Black Thread empire. The easiest way into a closed, suspicious society like the Dwarves is through an act of overwhelming, undeniable merit.

"We're going in," Damien stated, drawing his sword.

Leona instantly checked her injured arm. "My arm is cracked, Young Lord. And they outnumber us, nine worms in total!"

"A simple Tier 3 ambush shouldn't be enough to pin down a heavily armored Dwarven convoy," Damien observed. "They must be exhausted, or low on mana. This is perfect."

He looked at Isabelle and Lyra. "You two eliminate the ones attacking the Dwarves. Focus on separating the heads from the bodies. Leona, you take the three immediately surrounding us."

He activated his Dual-Core, a faint layer of black and golden energy swirling around his body. The pain of the exertion was minimal now, thanks to the Celestial Life Physique.

"Let's show the Dwarves the power of the Black Thread!"

The Rescue

Leona didn't need to be told twice. She grinned, a wild, predatory expression.

She rushed the nearest worm, dodging its crushing descent with pure agility. The massive worm slammed its head into the sand where she had been.

"My turn!" Leona roared. She activated her Berserk Aura and swung her good, powerful left arm. Her gauntlet, wreathed in blood-red energy, hit the worm's tough hide like a cannonball.

CRACK!

The outer segment of the worm's head shattered, spraying dark fluids. The worm shrieked and recoiled in pain.

Meanwhile, Lyra and Isabelle focused on the Dwarven flank.

"Lyra, blind them! Isabelle, follow through!" Damien commanded.

Lyra, agile and silent, dashed up the nearest dune. Her gray skin shimmered, and a dark emerald bow materialized.

Twang! Twang!

Two Phantom Arrows shot out, silent and invisible. They slammed into the tiny, black eyes of two worms, instantly dissolving the visual receptors.

"Blind worms, Young Master!" Lyra yelled.

Isabelle screamed, tapping into her Gravity Manipulation. "Gravity—SHOCK!"

The ground beneath the two blind worms instantly multiplied its mass. The creatures, paralyzed, slammed into the earth, their heads splitting open from the sudden, crushing internal force.

Three down.

Damien turned to the remaining six, three fighting Leona, three battering the Dwarves.

He didn't waste mana. He moved with the precision Aelinor had drilled into him. He vanished using Shadow Step and reappeared above the nearest worm fighting Leona.

"Dual-Art: Golden Blade!"

His sword, coated in a layer of rigid, dense Golden Aura, tore through the air. He sliced down, aiming for the soft, fleshy underside of the worm's segment.

WHICK!

The worm was cut cleanly in half, its front section crashing into the sand, writhing before collapsing.

Leona laughed, energized by the kill. She smashed the second worm with a devastating right-handed uppercut.

"Five down! Come on, Dwarves!" Leona yelled, turning her attention to the final three attacking the convoy.

Damien looked at the Dwarves' position. They were exhausted. Their formation was breaking.

"Isabelle! Get them out of there!"

Isabelle launched herself into a full run toward the struggling Dwarves. She ran right past the three remaining worms, which lunged at her.

"Gravity—PULL!"

Isabelle screamed, pouring her mana into the spell. The three worms suddenly jerked back, pulled by an invisible, powerful force that slammed their heads together.

BANG!

The three worms reeled, stunned. Isabelle reached the Dwarves' shield wall.

"MOVE!" she yelled, grabbing the nearest Dwarf by his massive beard. "You're coming with me!"

Using her enhanced speed and strength, Isabelle tore the three remaining Dwarves out of the battlezone and dragged them back toward Damien, leaving the three stunned worms exposed.

Lyra took advantage of the opening. Phantom Arrows flew, silent, invisible, and lethal ,taking out the final three worms in rapid succession.

Silence fell over the Sands of Drulgar. Nine colossal worms lay dead, their fluids steaming on the hot sand.

Damien put his sword away and surveyed the scene. His team was breathing hard, but whole.

The three rescued Dwarves, stocky men with intricate metal facial hair and oil-stained armour, stared at the silver-haired boy and the three terrifying women who had appeared out of nowhere to save them.

The lead Dwarf, wearing a cracked helmet, stepped forward. His expression was a mix of awe and suspicion.

"Who in the fiery pits are ye?" the Dwarf demanded, hefting a massive, multi-barreled rifle. "And what in the forge-fire magic did ye just do?"

Damien smiled, bowing slightly.

"My name is Damien Voss. I am an associate of King Durin, and we are here to hire the finest engineers in Elias."

He pointed toward the nearest horizon, where a pillar of smoke suggested they weren't far from the Dwarven cities.

"Now, lead us to your King."

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