WITCH OF THE END

The ground trembled with a deep, resonant rumble as a giant sandworm suddenly emerged from beneath the shifting dunes. Its massive, serpentine body stretched out in undulating waves, each segment of its form covered in thick, armor-like scales that glinted dully in the harsh desert sun. The scales were a mottled blend of sandy reds and ochres, blending seamlessly with the surrounding landscape, providing the creature with a natural camouflage that made it nearly invisible when burrowed.

As the worm reared up, its gargantuan head loomed high above the sand, casting a long shadow that stretched out like a dark omen across the desert floor. The head was a fearsome sight, dominated by a circular maw rimmed with row upon row of razor-sharp, serrated teeth. These teeth rotated and clicked menacingly, creating a grinding, churning sound that sent shivers down the spine of any who heard it. The mouth itself was a dark abyss, capable of swallowing a man whole with a single gulp.

‘Shit.’ Luna cursed before she commanded the arachnid pilot to release the full force of his machine’s arms.

Immediately, its guns started running as countless rounds of energized bullets struck the giant creature’s tough skin. However, the bullets didn’t even manage to damage the creature’s skin or even get its attention because its focus seemed to be fixed on the flying ascender who kept circling it while firing down his magical arrows that easily bypassed the tough hide and dealt real harm to the cursed creature. Because of that, the creature was more bothered by him than the rest of the group. This was the opportunity they needed.

Adam and Monic didn’t hesitate to open their third gates and call upon their summons. There was a bright flash before a winged lion and a black Pegasus came into reality to assist their masters in their battle against the Cursed Creature. The fierce mystical beasts roamed the sky awhile and dived to pick up their masters. Adam mounted the Winged Lion while Monic reached for the black Pegasus.

The pair then shot off into the sky and flew towards the giant worm with nothing but steel expressions on their faces. The two looked like ants compared to the cursed creature, but its size was the least of their problems.

Darkness let out a glorified laughter and launched herself into the air, catapulting her body to the giant worm.

Luna watched as the warmonger threw her shield at one of the small cracks on the sandworm’s body with her gravity ability active. The shield struck true and sent a powerful shockwave through the worm’s entire body, pushing it to Monic’s side. The Navy-haired Ascender roared and threw her spear with practiced accuracy. As it whooshed through the air, the spear suddenly lit up with black tendrils of electricity and delivered an explosive blow after it shattered a lot of the creature’s armor with ease.

At the same time, Adam jumped from his mount, his twin blades glowing with a reddish-brown energy. He swung the pair of weapons with flawless precision and delivered a single powerful cut that tore through the creature's flesh. He jumped off its body and back flew away on his summon before turning around.

The sandworm cried out, its attention snapping to the attacking group. The red sand on its scales stilled, then shifted, hardening into razor-sharp spikes. In a blur, the spikes launched toward the nearest Ascenders like a hail of deadly projectiles.

Monic’s Pegasus was fast enough to dodge the spikes and her black lightning coming from the spear effortlessly destroyed the crimson spikes whenever they got close to her.

But the same couldn’t be said about Adam’s griffin which was moving slower than the flying horse. Unfortunately, one of its wings was caught by the one red spikes and he dismissed it into a rain of sparks. He couldn’t risk losing it now because a new summon would take him a year at most or four months to retrieve.

After his desperate attempt to save his summon, the muscular man let himself fall from a distance before landing on his feet and letting his suit absorb the impact.

As soon as he was on the ground, though. The sandworm noticed him and more crimson sand spikes were fired in his direction. He braced to take on the attack, but a large machine came between him and the rain of spikes to shield him. The pilot pushed a lever within the arachnid and activated a charged barrier, blocking most of the spinning spikes before more could damage the machine.

The arachnid fired more charged bullets that destroyed some of the falling spikes, its body trembling from the force of the rail gun running as the pilot inside desperately fought to protect Adam and himself.

Finally, the spikes stopped but the gunfire didn’t.

“Thank you…” Adam’s voice was inaudible through the sound of continuous gunfire, but he spoke anyway right before he charged forward. His twin swords hummed with energy as he poured zenshi into them and opened his second gate to unleash his Aura.

The arachnid pilot caught on quick enough to take down the barrier and give way to his comrade. With a loud and powerful grunt, Adam plunged his swords into the red sand, and spikes—twice as large as the machine guarding him and almost as tall as the giant warm—exploded around the sandworm and trapped it in a sand cage.

“This is my domain, you bastard.”

Noticing that it was trapped, the creature roared and prepared to burrow back into the ground. It twisted its body to retreat into the sand, but Adam’s spikes were too powerful to just shatter after a single motion.

Darkness, Monic, and Gail then shot forward into a series of explosive attacks that could be heard across the desert. Monic leaped off her Pegasus and managed to latch onto the creature’s body and thrust her powered spear into its skin. This time, however, cackles of black lighting exploded from where her spear had struck as she pushed it deeper.

Darkness on the other hand manipulated the gravitational field around her sword and delivered a very deep cut that shattered its stone armor and drew blood.

Luna watched all of this from a distance with her sword drawn. She was studying the fight as it unfolded.

The diviner was standing close to her. Just like Mira and Luna, he was also impressed by the display of power. Diviners were usually not very suited for combat like other Ascenders. Also, they were too valuable since ascenders with Auras connected to divinations were rare.

“Aren’t you going to join the fight?” He asked Luna who hadn’t taken her eyes off the fight since it started. The cohort’s ascenders seemed to be holding their own against the sandworm.

And soon, it was going to fall if the battle continued like this .“Of what help would I be?” she replied. “Aside from the pilot, Mira and I are the only unblessed. We’re useless in such a fight.”

The man stared at the fight and smiled. “Then why do you have your blade drawn?”

When he asked that question, the desert trembled when the worm managed to shatter Adam’s crimson sand spikes and burrowed into the ground. It moved with surprising speed and agility, its massive size cutting through the sand like a ship through water.

At first, Luna hadn't noticed what the sandworm was doing. But when she did, her feet were already sinking into the sand. The ground heaved and buckled as the sandworm burrowed, creating a cascade of shifting sand that made it difficult for Luna and her group to keep their footing.

"It's here."