The vibrant green light around Elon had grown so dense it was almost tangible. Framed by the dark green glow surrounding Shane, they looked like a pair of seeds. Standing side by side on the sand slope, a strange resonance seemed to ripple between them.
“How much longer can you hold out?”
Shane spoke faster than usual, sensing that Elon’s mana was draining rapidly.
Indeed, fine beads of sweat had broken out on Elon's forehead, pasting his short, dark green hair to his brow. Yet he still gritted his teeth and held on. “A minute... no, maybe forty seconds left. The conversion efficiency is too low. I can only convert about thirty percent of the mana you gave me into natural mana.”
“In that case, let's begin.”
Shane’s gaze swept over the surrounding Red Willows and Suosuo. Under the influence of Elon's mana, the plants began to tremble slightly.
Beneath the sand, hidden from their sight, the roots of the plants, nourished by the natural mana, rapidly sprouted and stretched downward.
“I've reached my limit!”
A moment later, Elon let out a low cry. The light around him abruptly collapsed, and he stumbled back half a step, his face pale.
Bending over to pant heavily, he forced his head up to look down the slope. The quicksand had already spilled over the edges of the pit, slowly creeping toward the summit.
Elon took a deep breath to steady himself, then turned to Shane, his voice laced with tension. “What do we do next?”
Unlike him, Shane remained calm, his expression relaxed. Watching the encroaching quicksand, he said softly, “We've done all we can. Now we just wait for the results.”
“Wait?”
Elon raised an eyebrow, clearly unused to such a passive, fatalistic answer.
Shane merely offered a brief response: “The roots have taken hold. The rest is up to them. Life will always find a way.”
Hearing the somewhat familiar phrase, Elon frowned. Then he saw Shane summon a skeletal warhorse and turn to Ksaz. “Take Elon. Let's go.”
Receiving the command, Ksaz dashed forward, hoisted Elon onto his shoulders, and sprinted toward the camp. Shane swung himself onto his mount and followed closely behind.
Shortly after they vacated the top of the dune, the quicksand silently surged over the crest.
There was no loud noise; it washed over the first Red Willow at the top of the dune in absolute silence. Like a gentle wave lapping against the shore, it paused, only for a second wave to push it forward half an inch.
Then came a third wave, a fourth... relentless and unending, the quicksand behind steadily pressing forward.
After a dozen waves of sand crashed against it, the first Red Willow finally began to shift.
The Red Willow's branches trembled slightly as the sand at its base was gradually displaced. It slid backward inch by inch, drawing closer and closer to the second Red Willow behind it.
Draped over Ksaz's shoulder, Elon watched this unfold, his brow furrowed in deep worry. Unable to hold back, he said, “The plants are still too weak. Their roots aren't secure enough. They won't hold.”
“What's the rush?”
Shane’s voice drifted over, sounding far more relaxed than Elon. “You have to believe in them. Life is much more resilient than you think.”
Without looking back at the dune, he added, “A druid having less faith in nature than I do? That's a bit embarrassing.”
Elon glanced at Shane. Despite the necromancer's casual demeanor, Elon could see the stiffness in his posture.
Clearly, Shane wasn't as relaxed as he claimed to be.
However, Elon didn't feel like calling him out on it. He simply played along. “Fine, I'll trust you then.”
“You're not trusting me,” Shane said, shaking his head. “You're trusting them.”
Ksaz was incredibly fast. As long as he wasn't bogged down in quicksand, running on flat ground was no different from flying. It took only a moment for him to bring Elon back to the edge of the camp.
The princess and Isha had been waiting there for some time. The moment they saw Shane and Elon, they rushed over. “How is it?”
Elon slid down from Ksaz's shoulder. Perhaps due to exhaustion, he stumbled, but Ksaz's quick reflexes caught him.
Once he regained his footing, he didn't answer the princess's question immediately. Instead, he raised his hand and summoned an owl phantom, sending it flying toward the dune.
Closing his eyes, Elon began to share his sentinel's vision.
After a moment, he let out a long breath. “The quicksand is slowing down. The pit diverted about thirty percent of the flow. The rest is still pushing forward, but its speed has been cut at least in half.”
“Does that mean we succeeded?” Isha asked eagerly, her cheeks flushing with excitement.
“Not yet.”
Elon’s brow furrowed again, as if he had spotted something. “The main front of the quicksand is completely blocked by the plant barrier. It might just be a matter of time, but...”
“Is there a problem?”
Dmounting his horse, Shane approached Elon. The latter opened his eyes and looked at him with a heavy gaze. “A small stream of quicksand has been pushed to the very edge of the planted area. There aren't many roots there. If we let it spill over the dune and enter the oasis, it will grow again once it comes into contact with the water element.”
In an instant, everyone's expression darkened.
But Shane was quicker to react, immediately looking toward the sand slope. “Where is it?”
Elon turned, using the sentinel's vision to guide them. “The easternmost edge of the plant belt. There's a gap about five meters wide.”
“It's not large, but if it breaks through, it will flow straight into the low-lying area north of the pool.”
Shane stared in the direction Elon pointed. After a brief silence, he made a decision that caught everyone off guard.
“Call Sara.”
“What?”
Elon was stunned for a moment, but then he realized what Shane meant. “You want Sara to use her petrification ray on the quicksand?”
“Yes.”
Shane nodded, giving a brief explanation. “Desperate times call for desperate measures. We'll use the petrification ray to lock the water elements in place, forcing the quicksand back into the plant belt.”
“Will it work?”
“We have to try.”
Seeing the slightly wild look in Shane's eyes, Elon could only let out a soft laugh. “You really are something else...”
Then, Elon raised his hand, forming a ring with his index finger and thumb, and blew a sharp, loud whistle.
Within moments, the sand outside the camp bulged violently, and Sara’s massive, dark brown body burst from the dust.
Elon stepped forward quickly, making the distinct clicking sounds of an earth stinger while pointing toward the eastern edge of the slope to outline the target area.
“Click, click!”
Sara shook her body slightly in response, then turned and began heading toward the direction Elon had indicated.
Everyone's eyes were fixed on Sara, following her dark brown form as she moved.
As soon as Sara reached the top of the dune, she stabilized herself. Her tail hook arched high, its tip glowing with an eerie green light. Then, a beam shot out, striking precisely near the overflowing quicksand.
Instantly, the quicksand's advance stalled. A layer of grayish-white spread across its surface. Within a few breaths, the small stream of quicksand turned into a solid, grayish-white rock, firmly embedded in the sand.
“It worked! It's petrified! It stopped!”
Seeing this through his sentinel, Elon immediately opened his eyes to share the news, his voice trembling with uncontrollable joy.
He turned to Shane, his eyes shining with the thrill of victory. “The quicksand didn't cross the dune! It's completely blocked!”
“The plant belt was pushed back about a third of the way, but it's not moving anymore.”
Hearing this, Shane let out a long sigh of relief. His shoulders relaxed, and a smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
The princess took a step forward, looking at Elon. “So, we succeeded?”
Elon nodded vigorously, his voice ringing out. “We did, Your Highness! The oasis is saved!”
The moment the words left his mouth, a massive cheer erupted from the camp. In the distance, servants raised their arms in celebration, while nearby guards clapped each other on the back, pure joy radiating from every face.
Standing at the edge of the crowd, Ksaz raised a clenched fist toward his fellow clansmen and roared, “We won! The oasis is saved!”
Karu and the others leaped into the air, beating their chests to express their delight.
Isha stood where she was, her hands clenched into fists, her chest heaving with emotion.
She watched the cheering crowd, then looked at the smiling princess, before her gaze finally landed on Shane.
The necromancer stood at the edge of the gathering, gazing out at the sand slope. His aura was calm and serene, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.
Then, she turned to the princess, her voice trembling slightly with emotion. “Your Highness, you did it.”
The princess turned her head and looked at her, a soft light shining in her violet eyes. “We did it.”
Isha blinked, a light blush rising to her cheeks. She quickly lowered her head and whispered, “Yes.”
The princess didn't say more. She turned to face the cheering servants and guards, raising her arm as she called out, “The oasis is saved! We are victorious! Tonight, we celebrate our victory!”
Instantly, the cheers surged even louder, accompanied by whistles and playful jeers.
Listening to the rare bustle in the oasis, Shane turned to look at the crowd. Just as he was about to say something, he suddenly felt a slight tremor.
At first, Shane thought it was Sara returning, so he instinctively glanced toward the sand slope, only to find that she was still at the top, showing no signs of moving.
Then where was this vibration coming from...?
Shane's heart sank. Sensing the direction of the tremor, he looked toward the pool in the center of the oasis just as a dull, booming explosion erupted from its depths.
A massive geyser of water shot into the sky from the pool, reaching dozens of meters high. Thousands of crystalline water droplets poured down from above like rain.
Everyone stared blankly at the towering column of water. Only Shane wore a helpless smile.
“It seems the quicksand didn't just bring trouble.”
Rate on N.U.
