There!

  In the middle of the battlefield, something began to move beh the ground. The sand bulged upward, f a massive, elongated mound as though something enormous was burrowing just beh the surface.

  Paed as everyone’s fears came to life.

  And then—it appeared.

  Another monster! A Massive Desert Worm!

  A colossal dune worm emerged from the sands. Its segmented body was covered in thick, armored ptes that resembled sandstos gaping maw was lined with tless rows of razor-sharp teeth, ready to devour anything in its path. Along its sides, jagged ridges and spikes made the creature look even more menag.

  Ats swallowed hard as the image came into focus on the live broadcast.

  Seriously, this was anhtmare.

  [Epic-grade Sandsce Devourer Lv. 265]

  “So, this is exactly what you mentioned earlier, Edrik. Two Dungeon Bosses?” Ats muttered, his tone heavy.

  “Let’s hope this is the st one,” Edrik replied.

  “But the Lord already looks exhausted…” Ats murmured, his mind rag as he imagihe worst-case sario.

  The Dune Worm moved with terrifying speed, ung its massive body into the air before smming down onto the Dune Bastion. Another violent tremor shook the ey, but this time, the unthinkable happened—part of the city wall began to crack!

  The weary warriors hesitated, pulling baentarily, as if regrouping tize against this new, monstrous threat.

  Meanwhile, hundreds of other monsters tiheir relentless assault from all dires, g with the turrets that kept firing, as well as the Saharan Soldiers scattered across the battlefield.

  And Lord Kareem?

  He hovered in the air, clearly avoiding the Dune Worm as it rampaged dangerously close to the city wall, its massive body thrashing with destructive force.

  The camera focused on Lord Kareem, who remained motionless in mid-air.

  Was he exhausted? Or had he given up?

  Ats could clearly see the desperate expressions of those watg the live broadcast. For them, this might as well be the apocalypse. A city as grand and powerful as this, reduced to ruins if the Dune Bastion fell and the rampaging monster reached the heart of the city.

  The broadcast reyed mrim news: reinforts would arrive in 20 minutes.

  20 minutes?! Ats’s chest tightened. By then, the city would already be in ruins!

  But then, something ued happened.

  Kareem’s body was suddenly enveloped in a brilliant white energy, giving the floating warrior an almost ethereal appearance.

  Wait… why did Ats feel something familiar about this?

  The energy surrounding Kareem grew brighter and more intehe sheer force of it seemed almost overwhelming, prompting the camera to pull back as the light engulfed his entire figure. Kareem was no longer visible—just a radiant, blinding form.

  And then—

  A deafening roar ripped through the battlefield!

  What was that?!

  Where Kareem had been moments ago, a massive figure now emerged from within the radiant light. It resembled a beast with fs, but it was far rger than any ordinary creature, with two pairs of expansive wings stretg out majestically.

  Then, the light began to fade, revealing the creature fully.

  A lion?! But with two majestigs… and three flowing, fox-like tails?

  It ectral beast, its form both powerful and otherworldly. The creature had a muscur, regal lion’s body, glowihereal eagle wings, and three fox tails radiating ghostly energy. Its form shimmered with spectral energy.

  “Kareem… transformed into this beast?” Ats murmured.

  “It’s simir…” Edrik muttered softly, gng at Ats.

  Both of them uood immediately. This transformation was eerily simir to what had happeo Soren, the Lord Ats had faced in his first battle.

  “Eryndralis,” the waiter said.

  “What’s that?” Ats asked, curious.

  “This is the spirit form of Lord Kareem. He merged with the spirit beasts’ power, being oh it and taking its form. This form is called Eryndralis.”

  “What a unique name,” Ats remarked. “But it looks pretty cool too.”

  The faces of those watg the live broadcast shifted once more, their eyes lighting up with renewed hope. For the sed time, a glimmer of victory seemed possible.

  The spectral beast, majestid awe-inspiring, fpped its powerful wings. The lion with wings and three fox tails unleashed a massive on-like wave of energy from its mouth. Each beat of its wings sent spectral fox-like creatures hurtling toward the Dune Worm, striking it relentlessly.

  The Dune Worm writhed violently, its massive body vulsing as patches of its skin began to glow an ominous red.

  “Wait…” Ats muttered. “It’s not going to blow itself up, is it?”

  Suddenly, the live broadcast blurred, the s struggling to focus, and the air itself seemed to shimmer with heat.

  “What’s going on?” Ats asked, but the answer was obvious. The temperature in the café spiked as if the very air was on fire. The worm’s heat was radiating across the battlefield, even reag into the city itself.

  “Oh damn,” Ats muttered. Even he, aced to the heat, could feel the sweltering wave of disfng around, he noticed others in the café fanning themselves, some rushing to grab cold drinks to bat the oppressive heat.

  And Manna?

  She sat quietly, staring at her ice cream. It had melted almost instantly, leaving her with a soupy mess in her gss. Her eyes narrowed, her expression shifting to a ft, unreadable stare.

  The Spectral Beast tis relentless assault, its mighty wings beating fiercely as it fired glowing on-like bsts at the Dune Worm, each shot hitting with devastating force as if attempting to burn the creature alive.

  Dozens of spectral foxes unched from the beast’s wings, smming into the worm repeatedly.

  Despite this, the Dune Worm writhed violently, thrashing its massive body and occasionally smming against the Dune Bastion, sending tremors across the battlefield.

  Would this strategy work?

  Everyog held their breath, enduring the swelterihat had grown unbearable. The café’s air ditioning was no match for the oppressive temperature, and the heat only intensified as the battle dragged on.

  The battlefield itself was a chaotic mess of sandstorms, explosions, and scorg waves of heat.

  Then—gradually—the Dune Worm began to slow.

  The moment stretched on, feeling unbearably long and intense. Perhaps it wasn’t truly that long, but in situations like this, every sed felt like ay as everyone anxiously awaited a victorious oute.

  Finally, the Dune Worm’s massive, ondomitable body stilled, its wild thrashing ing to an end. It stopped pletely, with smoke rising from its thick, armored hide.

  The once-imposing creature y motionless, its scorched and battered form a sileament to the brutal battle.

  Was it over? Had the worm finally been burned from the i?

  Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, though a lingering sense of unease remaihey silently prayed this would truly be the final Dungeon Boss they had to face.

  As moments passed, the battle against the remaining hundreds of monsters tinued, with turrets, ons, and Saharan Soldiers w tirelessly to elimihe stragglers.

  Finally, the annou came:

  The broadcast s flickered, and the voice of an announcer, steady but charged with emotion, filled the airwaves.

  “Attention, citizens of the Veymar City, Saharan Empire!”

  The camera panned across the sm battlefield, showing the defeated forms of the Dune Godzil and the Dune Worm.

  “Both Dungeon Bosses have beeed! The threat treat city has beeralized!”

  The camera zoomed in on Lord Kareem, still floating in mid-air, already transformed back to his inal form.

  “This victory belongs to the brave defenders of the Dune Bastion and to the Saharan Soldiers who stood firm in the face of overwhelming odds. But above all—today, we owe our survival to Lord Kareem, a Rank-4 Sentinel, who led us to triumph!”

  The s dispyed an image of Kareem raising his greatsword.

  “The nightmare has ended. Our city stands tall! Let this day remind us of our strength, our resilience, and the heroes who walk among us!”

  A wave of celebratiohrough the city. It wasn’t the jubint kind of joy but rather a collective feeling of exhaustion and overwhelming relief.

  The nightmare had finally ended.

  ***

  (Author’s Note:)

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