Hot sand erupted across the basin while another chain of explosions tore open the royal formation.
Hajin moved before the nearest dark-red spike finished brightening, sending golden links toward two knights frozen beside its widening base.
The chain wrapped both breastplates, then pulled the men over a low ridge as the spike burst behind their boots.
Stone fragments crossed the place where their bodies had stood, cutting sparks from the moving links before sinking into the sand.
Hajin recalled the chain around his forearm, then sent it toward a soldier crawling from the edge of the whirlpool.
One broken leg dragged behind the man while heavy armor pulled the rest of him into the sinking slope.
The links closed beneath both arms, letting Hajin drag him free before the dark sand reached his throat.
Repeated rescues burned through Hajin's shoulders, though the basin produced another scream before he returned the wounded man to stable ground.
