The battle was under way, and two Sand Shark Surfers had been defeated, as well as four others who had been beaten by Codey previously.
With the air manipulation still following Devia, who continued to surf across the sand, dodging the sand piles in the way as the blockage, Codey continued to inflict havoc throughout the environment. Devia was struggling to gain pace as the sand continued to flow and grow in size.
"This isn't good. I've been slowing down. There haven't been any little cliffs that Ro could take advantage of to gain speed. We'll surely be eaten alive by the avalanche of sand, and there will be nothing we can do."
"However, the curly-hair claimed to have a medium range for manipulating the wind. So, if I keep moving in the same way, I'm confident I'll be able to avoid the avalanche. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how far away the medium radius is. I could be getting closer to the radius's exit, or I could be miles away..."
Elliott pinned Tisch on the floor and watched over him with a serious face, standing next to shark which was incapable of moving due to it being tied around the jaw and fins, as well as electrified from the attack.
"Your sharks can't compete with lightning's speed. It was naive to believe you could outrun someone who could move at top speed."
"Damn you, scumbags! We were all set to execute the rule breaker, but you just had to get in the way! You only have to wait. There's no denying that, even if the king kills us. You're not strong enough to defeat our monarch! You'll be eaten alive by his might in no time! Just keep an eye out!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. I'm sorry, but I don't have time to deal with this nonsense. If you don't tell me which way the Golden Wasakona is, my blade will cut off half of your fingers."
"There's no way I'll tell you! Not in the million of years!"
"Fine then, you gave me no choice."
Elliott took a step over Tisch's immobilized body, raising the blade high above his head. It started zapping electricity and charging up its heat. He then sliced from top to bottom, aiming for Tisch's fingers, frightening Tisch, whose eyes shook in response and he felt a loud thump close to his hands. Despite having a terrible face apparent behind his eyes, visibly shaded by the irritation, he cried loudly and looked away, only to discover that Elliott had missed his fingers.
Tisch continued to shake and feel the enormous horror as the blade was stabbed into the earth between his fingers. He sweated and swallowed as a result of his fear.
"I'll give you one more chance to tell me where the Golden Wasakona is, or I'll cut your fingers off like metal. Since my blade became heated by the electricity, it'll easily be able to cut through the skin smoothly and flawlessly with only a single swipe. So hurry up, you just have a few seconds to save all five of your fingers. Unless you want to experience genuine dread and misery."
Karisa stood in front of Dora's feet, looking around at the others who were still fighting. She looked around, instantly recalling the path Tim and the others had run through, and then felt the temperature drop and the sky darken.
"I don't get it. Why is it suddenly becoming so cold? This doesn't sit well with me. It isn't yet evening, so the night shouldn't be approaching so soon. What exactly is going on?"
Karisa began to feel cold before she realized it, which was extremely unusual for the desert. She swiftly turned back, recognizing the full chaos that was about to hit their location.
"No... It can't be!"
Her eyes shivered as she froze in place, terrified. She saw what was causing the rapid shift in the atmosphere.
Natan stepped back with his right foot as Vrook's cutlass flew by his chest and darted passed his position. Vrook dashed in and pulled the trigger six times in a row, while Natan aimed his weapon in the same direction. The five bullets fired in a volley in the air, missing due to Vrook's excellent shark maneuvering, while the fifth bullet detonated behind him, causing a smaller shock wave to toss the sand around, nearly destroying Vrook's balance as he changed directions by rotating his shark to the side.
Natan then leaned forward with his torso, placed his right palm on the floor, and began to turn his body into a flowing darkness that swept about him like smooth water. "Rondo!" With the darkness transmuted, he sprinted forward to the opposite side of his position, rapidly reloading his revolver and pointing his weapon forward, heading straight for Vrook.
He flicked forward one more time after shooting several shots with a locked target. "Rhapsody!" Vrook bent forward to gain speed on the shark and prepared to slice straight through Natan's head as the rounds were fired in a row. However, the bullets stopped him from approaching, as all six of them detonated on hit, blasting and utterly destroying Vrook's equilibrium. He managed to survive five of the bullets, but lost control of the sixth, which exploded just in front of the route.
It knocked him off the shark and into the air, where he yelled and dropped the cutlass, which swirled and pierced itself in the sand. Natan hurriedly flung his right leg behind his back and bent it in front of Vrook's falling torso. He then dragged it to the front and slammed his shin into the middle of Vrook's stomach, causing him to spit up saliva and fall backward into the sand heaps.
After seeing Vrook slowly reaching for the cutlass, who noticed the pistol before him and surrendered the fight, Natan stepped by and quickly realized that Vrook was incapable of moving any longer, neither on the shark nor on his feet, and directed his gun forward, after seeing Vrook slowly reaching for the cutlass, who noticed the pistol before him and surrendered the fight, and finally try to regain his breath and stamina.
Codey continued to manipulate the sand while balancing on the airborne platform and gazing down at the ground below him, struggling and feeling his right arm tremble.
"Crap... She's gradually creeping away from me, yet the sand hasn't completely swallowed her. This is bad; if I don't catch her soon, I'll lose control of the wind and my stamina, and it'll all be for naught."
Devia smiled and bowed downward on the shark, then utilized one of the smaller sand mounds as a boost to regain speed as the avalanche of sand began to lose height and sink back into the ground.
"Looks like this is as far as his range can go. What a pity."
Shortly later, the sand entirely plummeted back into the floor, utterly destroying Codey's endurance and leaving him frail and exhausted. He exhaled heavily in response, glancing at Devia as he slowly descended to the sand's bottom.
"I'm too exhausted to continue, and there's nothing I can do to recoup my strength. It's all over, I've lost..."
Karisa's loud voice suddenly yelled and drew everyone's attention to her. She'd been sprinting with Dora on her back and was visibly terrified, her eyes trembling.
"Everyone, let's hurry up! Take the Surfers and get out of here! A massive sandstorm is threatening to devour the desert! We need to find a place to stay as soon as possible! Hurry!"
Everyone looked in the same direction and witnessed a massive sandstorm barreling through the desert, smashing their plans utterly.
"What's the point of grabbing them?! They attempted to assassinate us!"
"That's unimportant! Pick them up as soon as possible! They're people just like us! If we let them die now, then we have no rights to call ourselves people!"
Codey, Elliott, and Devia paused in their tracks, but immediately forced themselves to sprint together toward Settlement of Hatly, the nearest town. Natan and Elliott both grabbed their vanquished opponents and leaned them against their backs before sprinting behind Karisa, whose eyes remained shaky.
"This is absolutely absurd! Why did a sandstorm have to blow itself out at this hour? This is the worst possible situation, and we aren't even in a nearby town! Even on the backs, we have to deal with these guys."
Dora was upset as they ran in a line with sharks behind them, but she eventually decided to steer them in the right path.
"There's a town not far away! There should be enough houses for us to hide in and create a shelter if we get there!"
"Okay! I'll entrust you with the lead, so don't screw up, woman!"
As he glanced at Devia from behind and conveyed his obsession with women, Elliott's eyes continued to whirl with pink hearts.
"Ah, even if you tried to kill us! You're just as sexy as Karisa when confident and angry!"
"SHUT UP, YOU PERV. AND KEEP RUNNING!"
"Whatever you say my darling Karisa!"
With a big sandstorm after them, the young pals are compelled to leave in the hopes of escaping it and finding a safe place to stay, despite the Sand Shark Surfers being right behind them. Tim, Nina, Ireene, Kou, and Tomomi were also able to spot the sandstorm in the distance, but Ellie and Walmo remained motionless, preparing for a possible duel in a sandstorm.
The journey continues...