The giant scorpion suddenly extended its stingers toward them. With a sinister hiss, several jets of viscous liquid were projected at high speed.
Without hesitation, Daru erected a massive invisible barrier around himself, Aika, and the hostage. The liquid crashed violently against the immaterial wall, splashing the surface without cracking or even scratching it.
The remaining substance fell back to the ground.
The instant it made contact with the sand, the sand began to melt, liquefying as if it had never existed. The desert transformed into an unstable, seething mass.
Daru narrowed his eyes.
"This is extremely corrosive..." he thought.
"A single drop is enough to completely annihilate the sand." He immediately deactivated the barrier. With a single flick of his wrist, he swept his index finger through the air. An invisible slash shot through, severing the scorpion's first two forelimbs cleanly. The enormous pincers slammed heavily to the ground, scattering molten sand all around.
But barely a second later, before their very eyes, the dark flesh began to ripple. The severed limbs instantly grew back, reforming with a damp, repulsive sound, as if nothing had happened.
Daru managed a smile, despite the tension.
"Regeneration? Interesting…" No sooner had he uttered these words than the giant scorpion plunged abruptly into the sand, disappearing as if swallowed by the desert itself. A heavy silence fell… before being shattered.
The ground exploded all around them. Scorpion limbs, nearly two meters long—similar to those they had faced previously—burst out from around them, piercing the sand with a dull thud. They emerged in a perfect circle, encircling Daru, Aika, and the hostage.
The creatures froze for a fraction of a second… then charged.
Their sharp limbs sliced through the air, aimed straight at Daru.
But suddenly, their trajectory changed. All of them, without exception, veered off course and charged toward Aika and the hostage. The hostage's face crumpled.
"It's over... it's over...!" he screamed, panicked.
"I should have stayed home, in my bed, with my wife instead of coming here... Damn it... SHIT!" Daru clicked his tongue.
He pointed his index finger at the ground and delivered two low slashes. The sand billowed up in violent waves, forming an opaque cloud that temporarily blinded the scorpions.
"Tch..." He was about to intervene, to teleport away or dismantle them... But at that precise moment, the giant scorpion, hidden beneath the sand, attacked.
A jet of viscous liquid shot from the ground at terrifying speed.
Daru didn't have time to completely dodge.
The liquid touched his left hand.
There was no explosion, no immediate pain.
Just a hiss.
Then the horror.
The flesh of his hand began to disintegrate instantly, as if dissolved by pure acid. The muscles melted, transforming into a shapeless mass before disappearing completely. A fraction of a second later, the bone, in turn, was eaten away, reduced to black dust.
In just a few seconds, Daru's left hand was utterly annihilated.
Aika's eyes widened.
"Daru…!" The hostage remained frozen, unable even to cry out.
Daru, for his part, did not cry out.
He stared at the void where his hand had been, his arm severed cleanly by corrosion.
A faint breath escaped his lips.
"…I see."
A pure, vibrant white aura condensed around Daru's stump.
At first invisible, then growing denser and denser.
Each fiber regenerated, one by one.
The nerves rewoven themselves like filaments of light.
The muscles reformed, perfectly aligned.
Finally, the bone reconstituted itself, solid, intact, identical to the original.
In just a few seconds, his left hand was back.
Daru opened and closed his fingers, then stretched his arm, striking the air randomly, as if testing its mobility.
"Perfect." He turned slowly toward the scorpions, his gaze now icy, devoid of all emotion.
A simple gesture.
The air vibrated.
Thousands of invisible blades fell instantly. Each scorpion was severed into countless pieces, pulverized before even hitting the ground. The remains crashed heavily into the sand, splattering the desert with greenish blood and black liquid dripping from their stingers.
Silence returned.
Daru observed the smoking wreckage.
"The giant scorpion is behind all this," he said calmly.
"It sends these creatures to create a diversion and take us by surprise."
He paused, then sneered.
"An age-old tactic… pathetic."
He remained motionless, scanning his surroundings.
No tremors.
No sound.
The desert seemed frozen.
The wind blew softly, making his hair ripple in the cold moonlight.
Too still.
Then—" The sand vibrated again.
An invisible ripple spread beneath the surface, and the giant scorpion attempted the same maneuver. A jet of viscous liquid shot through the sand, tracing a deadly line straight toward Daru.
This time, he dodged.
His body vanished in a fluid motion, and he plunged directly into the sand, as if passing through an invisible liquid.
Aika's eyes widened.
"He went... into the sand...?"
The hostage turned to Aika, his voice trembling, his eyes wide with panic.
"Your friend... he's finished."
"Before we're next on this monster's menu, let's leave right now!" Aika didn't even look away from the desert.
"No."
"It's not over yet."
"Daru is still alive, we just have to wait." The hostage stared at her in disbelief, then almost exploded in a mixture of rage and fear.
"Still here?!"
"Tell me... are you out of your mind or something?"
"The guy dove into the sand! This isn't the sea, he can't breathe in there!"
"He's dead, I tell you! Right now, that bastard is devouring him!" Aika turned sharply. She seized the hostage's hand and twisted it without the slightest hesitation. A sharp crack echoed through the air.
"If you don't shut up right now, I'll break both your hands..."
"And I'll throw you to that creature myself."
"Is that clear?" The hostage swallowed hard, his face pale, beads of sweat trickling down his forehead.
"I... I understand... all right..."
"I'll be quiet..." Suddenly, the ground trembled violently. The sand exploded skyward, hurling the giant scorpion out of the desert as if violently expelled by an invisible force. Its colossal mass was lifted into the air, spinning uncontrollably.
At the same instant, Daru emerged from the sand, unharmed.
He raised his hand toward the creature, ready to deliver the final blow. But something was wrong.
Before Daru even attacked, the scorpion's body began to fragment… not into pieces, but into luminous dust, drawn in by a silent force. In a few seconds, nothing remained. No corpse. No trace. As if it had never existed.
Daru frowned slightly.
He turned his head.
Aika stood motionless, her hand outstretched toward the spot where the scorpion had vanished, her eyes calm, almost indifferent.
Daru approached her, a smile of admiration and disbelief playing on his lips.
"Wow… not bad."
"You completely made a monster of that size disappear."
"What exactly is your power?" Aika slowly lowered her hand.
"Generally speaking," she explained, "I manipulate mathematics applied to reality." "Not abstract numbers… but fundamental values." She paused briefly, then added in a perfectly neutral tone,
"I simply multiplied the scorpion's life force by zero."
"Result: zero value."
"So… total non-existence." Daru froze for a moment. His eyes widened slightly before a short laugh escaped him.
"…"
"Okay. Now you've clearly exceeded my expectations."
Daru nodded slowly, his gaze fixed on Aika.
"No wonder the extremist organization wanted to capture you at all costs."
"You possess monstrous power." He paused briefly, then added more gravely,
"With such an ability, you could undoubtedly have become one of their most formidable adversaries... or their ultimate weapon." Aika looked away slightly, the wind billowing the edges of her hood.
"Exactly," she replied calmly.
"I refuse to let this power be used to enslave or destroy."
"I want to use it for the greater good... to protect those who truly need it." A faint smile stretched across Daru's lips.
A genuine, rare smile.
Suddenly, a violent gust of wind swept across the makeshift camp. The sand spiraled upwards before being violently blown outwards. With a low rumble, a plane landed a few meters away, its engines still belching heat.
The hatch opened.
Yamero and Maki emerged, unharmed, looking determined.
"So you finally joined us," Daru said with a smirk. "Well done."
Yamero shrugged.
"You can keep your congratulations to yourself."
"We didn't come here to receive medals."
On the horizon, the sky was beginning to change color.
Night was slowly receding, giving way to the first glimmers of dawn. The Sahara Desert, bathed in gold and pale blue, offered an almost surreal contrast to the palpable tension.
Aika grabbed the hostage roughly by the collar of his uniform and forced him to stand upright.
"Good."
"Now, be useful."
"Contact Oswald." The captive's face crumpled. Trembling, he activated his communication device. A few seconds passed in heavy silence… then a cold, confident voice spoke.
"So, Captain Zair…"
"Do you have the package?"
The hostage swallowed hard.
"Y-yes, Sir Oswald."
"I've captured them all… and severely tortured them." Daru, Aika, Maki, and Yamero exchanged meaningful glances.
The voice continued, even more interested:
"And the little girl?"
"The one named Aika?" A moment of stunned silence fell over the group.
"Yes, Sir Oswald," the hostage replied, his voice strained.
"She's alive." A deep, arrogant laugh echoed through the device.
"Perfect."
"I'll send a convoy to retrieve them immediately."
"Remain at your post." The connection was abruptly cut off.
Silence fell once more.
Yamero slowly cracked his knuckles, a dangerous smile spreading across his face.
"Finally…"
"Now, the final battle can truly begin." The sun rose fully over the horizon, illuminating the desert.
And in that nascent light, everyone knew that this day would mark either the end of the extremists' organization… or the beginning of even greater chaos.