It seemed badly injured, and grievous wounds covered its entire body. It was struggling to get to its feet. Blood poured from its mouth and body, dyeing the bottom of the sandy crater crimson. A small red lake was forming beneath the beast.
“A xenogeneic has fallen!” Li Keer rejoiced. She quickly raced toward the crater.
Han Sen followed behind her. Even though it was injured, he could feel the fierce presence exuded by the giant monster. It was deified class, that was for sure.
“Back off, guys!” Before they could even get close to that xenogeneic, a plume of sand rose near them. It took on the shape of a sand god; it was Li Keer’s father again.
Before Li Keer could answer, a sandstorm swept over them and sucked them in. Within a second, they were tossed far, far away.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
As they got back to their feet and watched from a distance, they saw countless sand dragons emerging from the ground. They looked like ancient, deadly creatures. They followed the sand god’s commands to go for the injured beast.
The beast roared angrily. It quickly stood up, and an endless silver light erupted into a wild storm that consumed the sky. It battered against the sand dragons that now surrounded it.
The ancient-looking dragons had been shaped from sand, and they couldn’t withstand the power of that silver light.
Pang!
The silver light then swept over to shine on the sand god’s body, blasting the shape of the sand god back into nothing, as well.
Han Sen watched with wide eyes. It was very fortunate that they had been pulled away from the creature. If they hadn’t, the creature’s remaining dregs of power would have been enough to destroy them.
Li Keer stared at the sight in terror. If her father hadn’t appeared in time to keep them from getting close to the giant beast, the creature would have killed them in a moment.
“Li Keer’s father can’t have gone down that easily, surely.” As Han Sen pondered this, he saw the sea of sand swell and boil like a tumultuous sea. Fountains of sand sprayed everywhere, and a pillar of sand shot straight up into the sky, then fell back to the ground, forming itself into the figure of a sand god. That process then repeated itself over and over, creating an army of the sand beings.
The sand gods raged as the remaining dragons roared. The surface of the desert had become a battlefield for ruthless giants. Despite the distance between them and the battlefield, the ground was shaking so violently that Han Sen and Li Keer were having difficulty staying on their feet. They had no choice but to retreat.
They finally reached a safe distance from the fight, but Han Sen could still detect that frightening presence. He could no longer see the actual fight, though. He could only see the distant clouds of sand as some of the sand creatures were ripped apart. His ears reverberated with the sound of dragons roaring at deafening volumes.
“My father’s real body is deep inside the Three World Desert. These sand gods are just manifestations of his power,” Li Keer explained with a laugh. She could sense that Han Sen was worrying about the safety of her father, but she knew he would be safe since he was deep within the sand.
Han Sen couldn’t see what was going on in the fight anymore. That whole desert was shrouded in screens of sand. After a very sad scream, the scary rumblings in the desert came to an end. And then, all the dust settled. A sand god appeared on the horizon and came toward them, telling them they could proceed.
“Father, you killed the xenogeneic? What was its level? Why was it injured and still so scary?” Li Keer curiously asked the sand god.
“I don’t know. It was dragged into the anti-material world,” the sand god answered. Then, it disappeared.
Li Keer wished to ask something more, but he was already gone. So, she resumed her journey across the desert with Han Sen.
The massive battle had changed the sandy landscape. Many of the weird buildings and items had been revealed from beneath the sands that once buried them. And the buildings and battleships that had once been there were now gone. Han Sen didn’t know if they had been destroyed, or buried deep beneath the sands of the desert, or what.
Han Sen looked around. When they reached the location where the giant beast had fallen, a large section of the desert was dyed red. But they couldn’t see the body of the giant beast anymore.
“It is a shame that the beast was sucked into the anti-material world. Despite its injuries, it was able to do battle with my dad for so long. It must have been a larva class deified xenogeneic, at the very least.” Li Keer looked at the red sand regretfully.
Han Sen felt that it was a shame, too. If he had been able to stab the creature once, he might have been able to nab a beast soul. That xenogeneic was so strong, and its beast soul might have been equally powerful.
Han Sen kept walking, looking around as he went. Then, suddenly, he froze. Some distance away in the desert, Han Sen saw a tower that was built from stone.
That old tower was leaning visibly, and it looked as if it might fall over any second. Han Sen looked at the stone tower’s plaque. Written there were the two words, “Destiny’s Tower.”
The tower was styled just like the Destiny’s Tower controlled by the Extreme King.
Han Sen was stunned at the sight, but he immediately clamped down on his thoughts. He wasn’t going to let out any memories associated with this tower. He had to suppress everything he knew about Destiny’s Tower.
Li Keer could feel that Han Sen’s mind was struggling with something. She looked at the stone tower, too. After a while of looking at it, she said, “I’ve never seen that stone tower before. It must have been revealed by the battle earlier. Do you recognize it?”
“It is exactly the same stone tower I saw when I was with the Extreme King.” Han Sen knew he couldn’t hide this from Li Keer completely, and so he had to explain it a bit.
Li Keer thought for another moment. She nodded and said, “Now that you mention it, I think I remember something like that. When I visited the Extreme King, I once saw a tower like this, too.”
“Let’s go. We should check it out,” Li Keer suggested, and so they went toward it.
She wasn’t interested in the tower, but she could feel Han Sen doing his best to suppress the desire to visit the place. Han Sen was trying to keep his thoughts away from the nature of Destiny’s Tower so Li Keer wouldn’t be able to see everything he knew about the structures. But that sort of control on his mind suggested to Li Keer that Destiny’s Tower had some relevance to Han Sen. If it didn’t, Han Sen wouldn’t have tried so hard to control his thoughts about the place.
“Being watched sucks.” Han Sen sighed and followed Li Keer toward Destiny’s Tower.
The tower looked very old, and it was impossible to tell how many years it had been there. While the structure might have been old, it wasn’t broken. Li Keer reached the door and twisted the handle. The stone door swung open smoothly.
The two of them walked inside. The tower was full of dust and sand, but otherwise, it seemed to be empty. It looked like an ordinary watchtower.
“Let’s go up and see.” Li Keer walked toward the stairs.
Han Sen followed Li Keer, trying to keep a lid firmly over any sensitive topics that might otherwise come to mind.
The second floor was still so empty. There was nothing there. Li Keer didn’t give up, though. She kept ascending the tower. The whole tower seemed to be empty until they approached the seventh floor.
“Huh? There is someone here.” Li Keer looked at the top floor’s stone platform in shock.