Its body was a husk, more ancient and desiccated than any mummy. The demigod’s corpse served as a macabre skeleton, giving the Guardian of the Authority its horrifying form. And woven throughout that corpse, Orion could sense the distinct, intricate traces of powerful magic.

He had a growing suspicion that this entire sea of sand, this entire constructed reality, was the handiwork of that Eltar Mage Alliance.

The thought made him sober.

"Hahahaha! You see now, invader?" Faraday’s disembodied voice boomed, dripping with smug satisfaction. He seemed to think Orion was intimidated by the display. All the frustration and anger he had suppressed moments ago now erupted in a torrent of arrogant laughter. "This realm is far beyond the likes of you!"

"An ant is still an ant," Orion replied, his voice flat. "And I told you, you have no grasp of real power."

He had to admit, the Dune-Wyrm Roc’s entrance was impressive. Its sheer mass was staggering. Its emergence had displaced so much sand that the entire desert floor had visibly sunk by several meters, the roar of shifting dunes adding a terrifying, unnatural soundscape to the battle.

"This is not how you wield the laws of reality."

Orion’s form flickered. He ignored the barrage of Sandstone Shells and the scything claws of the monster’s wings, phasing directly through the attacks. He appeared before the Dune-Wyrm Roc’s chest, a faint aura of cosmic law shimmering around him.

Then, to Faraday’s utter astonishment, Orion began to merge with the construct, passing through its outer shell as if it were made of smoke.

Hiding in a control space within the monster’s chest cavity, Faraday felt a spike of pure terror.

"How...? How did you... get in here? Impossible!"

Orion ignored his panicked shouts, moving slowly, deliberately toward him.

Faraday’s reaction was swift. He commanded the Roc’s massive talons to tear into its own chest, trying to claw Orion out. But whenever the claws touched Orion’s body, they passed through him as if he were a ghost. He directed the writhing sand-drakes to strike, their fangs snapping at Orion from all angles.

The result was the same.

"Such a monumental waste," Orion sighed. He was standing directly in front of Faraday now. He reached out and clamped his left hand around the mage’s head.

"No... it can’t be... no..."

Seeing it was hopeless, Faraday tried to dissolve into sand and escape. But to his horror, the process stopped at his neck. His body could turn to sand, but his head remained solid, trapped in Orion’s grip.

"I told you. You don’t understand the laws of power," Orion said, his voice a low murmur. "You don’t understand how to counter them, how to bind them, how to negate them." He tightened his grip. "You’re all flash, no substance."

CRACK.

With that final word, he crushed Faraday’s skull. The mage’s half-sand body went rigid for a second before collapsing completely, becoming just another part of the desert.

"No... please... I beg you, spare my life! I will give you all my treasures! I’ll swear fealty to you, I will be your servant!"

Where the head had been, a translucent body of faith now hovered, clad in yellow and white mage robes. It was Faraday’s true essence.

"No need for that," Orion said with an unnervingly pleasant smile. "You can repay me in a much better way."

The next moment, he opened his mouth and inhaled, consuming Faraday’s body of faith in a single, violent act. Titan’s Maw.

He wasn’t about to let that energy debt go unpaid. Phasing into the Dune-Wyrm Roc had looked easy, but in reality, it had required an immense amount of faith energy to constantly negate and push back against the Desert’s Authority. Swallowing Faraday’s essence was the only way to recoup that loss.

With Faraday’s death, the Dune-Wyrm Roc lost its pilot. It froze in place, a soulless monument in the oasis.

"Just as I thought," Orion muttered to himself, taking control of the construct. "If this was a naturally occurring law, it wouldn’t be so... mindless." A swirl of sand coalesced in his palm, spinning without wind. The Desert’s Authority.

It was his now.

With a mere thought, Orion commanded the Dune-Wyrm Roc to dissolve, its sandy form sinking back into the earth.

Far across the wastes, every single mummy froze, then slowly crumbled back into the dunes, reburying themselves in their ancient tombs.

High in the sky, the phoenix Fenyra, who had been fighting a desperate battle, summoned a massive plume of phoenix fire for a final, all-out attack. But just as she was about to unleash it, the Sandstorm Monstrosity before her simply collapsed into a gust of wind and sand, returning to the desert.

"What... did the enemy just vanish?" she chirped, confused. "Did the master make a breakthrough?"

It was Fenyra’s first time fighting outside the Cretaceous World, and she was thrilled by the challenge. The battle against the monstrosity had pushed her to her limits, giving her a new understanding of her own power. While she had been on the back foot, in a way, she was having the time of her life.

After circling the sky once more to be sure, she shrank her form and landed as a small firebird on the edge of Soraya’s Nest.

"Soraya, come out! I think the enemy’s gone!"

Soraya, who had been directing her forces with grim determination, hesitantly emerged. As they both wondered what had happened, Orion’s voice echoed directly in Soraya’s mind.

"The enemy is dead. I have the Desert’s Authority. Bring your small scorpions to the center of the oasis."

Soraya’s eyes went wide, her heart hammering in her chest. He did it. He actually seized the Desert’s Authority! In that moment, to her, Orion was nothing less than a god.

"Lady Fenyra, we’re heading to the oasis!"

Fenyra nodded. She’d clearly received a similar message.

Back at the oasis, standing in the ruins of the old tower, Orion gave his orders. Then he squinted. A new structure was rising from the rubble where the tower had been.

It was a Mage Tower, but this one was shaped like a pyramid.

As Orion contemplated what it was and what he should do about it, the pyramid began to glow with an intense golden light, pulsing with immense magical energy.

WHOOM!

A pillar of golden light erupted from the pyramid’s apex, shooting into the heavens and illuminating the entire sea of sand.

Crap.

Orion realized what was happening. He raised his trident to strike, but he was too late. The golden beam pierced the veil of reality and vanished into the void between worlds.

The pyramid that had launched it promptly disintegrated, collapsing into fine dust.

"So the bastard wasn’t lying," Orion muttered, staring at the empty space. "This sea of sand really does belong to the Eltar Mage Alliance, and he was just a tenant."

He wasn’t a fool. He’d seized control of the Desert’s Authority, and that pyramid must have been a pre-set warning system left by the Alliance.

He sighed in frustration. He’d been sloppy with the cleanup, and it had just created a massive, dangerous loose end.