Sand Dunes (4)

The Sand Collector standing in the middle of the road released a dangerous air that made the hairs of the few innocent. soldiers inside the dark green military truck stand up. Their hearts' had already started to beat uncontrollably a while ago, but they didn't know that it could go even faster. Rose, who was near the back of the truck, tried to wet her lips with her tongue. Yet the soft red tongue only met the rough edges of the thin layer of skin covering her lips.

Hot isn't even close to describing what the four of them felt inside the truck. In just a short few minutes, not even ten minutes, all the water in Rose's water canteen dried up mysteriously — and everyone else's canteen soon dried up, too.

'If this is not magic, then it must be some kind of sorcery.'

Lieutenant Mickey can't even voice out his thoughts anymore. He just pressed his feet firmly on the pedals and drove seriously. Mark, who was on his side, is already starting to faint. Soon enough, Rose's head started swaying.

Only Anthony seemed to be holding on better than the others, but even his lips are obviously chapped now. It's like all the water inside their bodies dried up.

'How can that Collector do this? Is that a magical beast or something? Can it change the temperature at will?'

That was the only plausible explanation Lieutenant Mickey could come up at the moment. Ridiculous, it may be, but what they are experiencing cannot possibly be explained by science! There's no way that this is real, right?

'Shit, I'm fainting!'

After realizing that his vision is being clouded, Lieutenant Mickey immediately realized that something was wrong. He thought he was fainting, but he was not.

The truck they are all riding on is currently surrounded by some kind of fog. But it isn't just the truck. In fact, this entire part of Malagamot Road is currently being surrounded by a thick fog. It wasn't here before, after all, they could still see the residential area back when they were still turning the truck for the road. But after Lieutenant Mickey's group entered the residential area and saw the Sand Collector, the fog suddenly appeared.

However, unlike the white mist of fog that one could see every morning or every storm, this particular fog is a mixture of ashes and gravel! Not only is it not refreshing, but it is also very hot!

The ashes from the large fire that burned the surrounding area before wasn't entirely washed out by rain. Normally, it would have turned to mud and joined the earth below it. But it didn't, and this gave birth to an extremely dangerous area that will soon be called the Dry Burning Desert.

Even until now, after the three-year war had already ended, there are still some parts of the surrounding area that are engulfed in flames. How could fire even survive that long? No one really knows. Maybe the fire had already been put out by the numerous storms and typhoons that pass by the country. Maybe the reason why there are still some parts burning is because of lightning or something. But knowing why it happened wouldn't change the dangerous circumstance of the group of soldiers inside the truck.

Lieutenant Mickey's group had already neared the Sand Collector, and that was when Lieutenant Mickey noticed that it wasn't that he was fainting, but that he was losing visibility. He could still see clearly what is inside the truck, but he couldn't even see the silhouette of the Sand Collector anymore.

The ash fog had thickened, and it looks like it will soon cover the entire area like the inside of a sandstorm, a very hot and blinding sandstorm.

The inside of the truck continued to become hotter, and the metal case of the truck even started to hurt Lieutenant Mickey's group.

Thankfully though, Lieutenant Mickey had already moved the truck to the side of the road where there would be no way that they would cross paths with the Sand Collector. Soon, they should be able to pass by the Existence.

But if nothing wrong happened, how did the Sand Collector collect the bodies that are pasted on it?

"Sh-sh-shit!"

Lieutenant Mickey could not help but exclaim despite the pain of his dried up throat. He could hear the whirring of the engines, but he could not hear the wheels moving at all!

'No, it's not that the wheels aren't turning, but that it's stuck! But isn't this road concrete?'

Why were they stuck? Several thoughts immediately passed by Lieutenant Mickey. He saw it very clearly when they were still far away that the road, starting from the turn, was grey in color. It looked very much like a regular asphalt road besides the fact that they couldn't see the broken white lines in the middle of the road.

He thought the paint just faded due to time, but clearly something was wrong.

The more they stay inside the ashstorm, the more the truck will heat up, and then they will really be stuck inside this ashfog. That should be how this Collector fights, this Existence isn't a tank, support, or a damage dealer, but an AOE crowd control human-eating monster.

And it looks like the road was never concrete to begin with. It just looked like concrete because of the black scorch marks on the gravel road that hasn't been washed away!

In a way, Lieutenant Mickey's group is really in very deep trouble, so deep that they might not be able to climb out of it. Without visibility, Lieutenant Mickey would never know where they are and what the truck is stuck on; and without mobility, he can never drive his juniors away from the Sand Collector!

But a storm doesn't just bring rain, soon, another news would make their hearts drop.

"S-sir? A-ar-e we sink-king?" (Sir, are we sinking?)

Rose who was at the very back of the truck, noticed that the multicab they are riding on is currently slanted. This caused a thought to dawn upon Lieutenant Mickey.

'Sinking? Shit, are we in a quicksand?!'

Not only can the Sand Collector control the ashes to create fog, it can even create quicksand! The monsters of this novel need to be nerfed, or else humanity would never have a chance to survive these monsters who can even control sand.

Quicksands aren't even that dangerous, but if placed in this situation where there is a literal monster who is standing right next to them, the quicksand is definitely the worst place that one could ever be in.

Anthony, who saw all this, mumbled something.

'Looks like it couldn't be helped. Sand Collectors really are too powerful. If we want to survive, we need to push this truck forward.'

A memory flashed in Anthony's mind. A memory that should not be there.

Or should I say, a memory that should not yet be there.

Even in despair, there is hope. But this path to survival would kill all four of them if not done properly. Knowing all this, the shaking body of Anthony stood up and went outside.

Soon, Rose will know the reason why Anthony said earlier not to open the windows.