The Giant Burrower

This girl looks a lot like Tazan; she has the same brown skin and hair, many freckles on her face, and thick eyebrows and big eyes that make her look very energetic. If I hadn't heard her speak, I would have thought she was a boy. «-(¯`v´¯)-« »-(¯`v´¯)-»

"Yes, I'm using the Wind Power. You know about elemental power?"

"Yes, I know. My father and I are also users of elemental power, except we use Rock Element!"

I looked at Tazan, who scratched his head sheepishly. "I can indeed use the Rock Power, but it's very weak. At most, I can pave a path when I encounter difficult places."

"Everyone has their strengths, and it's equally admirable that someone can support so many people through business."

"Hehe, thank you for the compliment, but my daughter is amazing! She's only sixteen and already has strength almost as good as mine. She'll definitely become an excellent team leader when she grows up!" Tazan said proudly of his daughter.

I noticed the girl's hair was a bit messy, probably related to her previous escape, so I used the Wind Force to blow it out for her. But when I finished and she looked up, I suddenly felt like I recognized her!

"Child, what's your name?"

"Taliyah, my friends all say I'm like a happy little sparrow, so they call me Rock Sparrow. What about you, big brother?"

"My name is Yasuo, and I am the successor of a Wind Master from Ionia."

"Your Wind Power is amazing! Could you teach me the secrets to mastering Elemental Power?"

"There are no shortcuts to Elemental Power; it requires gradual familiarization and mastery through practice. I'm sorry, I don't have time right now."

Do you have something urgent to do?

"Yes, it's very important."

"Then I can go with you!"

Upon hearing her daughter's words, Tazan scolded her, "Don't be rude, Taliyah!"

"I wasn't being rude, I just wanted to control my own power so that we wouldn't be constantly running around in danger."

I remember that in Rock Sparrow's backstory, she was Yasuo's apprentice, but I didn't expect things to develop in this direction.

Should I say yes or no? Just as I was pondering this, a commotion suddenly erupted at the rear of the caravan— the Sand Shark Beast were chasing after us!

I rushed to the rear of the caravan and finally saw this terrifying creature. No wonder Varus had never heard of this name before; if he had seen it, he would definitely recognize it: Void Burrower!

At this moment, more than a dozen Void Burrower launched an attack on the people. Just as Tazan said, these guys appeared and disappeared in the yellow sand, and their location could only be determined by their backspins when they got close.

My strength alone was insufficient to protect more than twenty members of the caravan, and the fierce winds could not stop the attack from underground. It would have been much better if we were on solid ground. At that moment, I remembered the strength of the Tazan father and daughter.

"Don't you two possess the Rock Power? Are you capable of conjuring solid rock here?"

"It's impossible. We can only form a thin layer; it's not enough to stop them!"

This is a real problem. Several people have already been killed, and I can only protect the few around me.

Taliyah kept trying to use the sand to condense rocks, but they were no thicker than a palm and shattered with a single impact from the Void Burrower.

There was no other way; it seemed we had to sacrifice some lives. I focused on protecting Tazan and his daughter, along with a few of the more agile individuals, hoping Varus would arrive soon.

But before Varus could arrive, the giant burrowing beast came first. Good heavens, Tazan said it was over ten meters in size. I thought he meant length, but it turned out it was almost as tall as that. It was practically a small mountain!

Seeing this Void Burrower, I knew I could no longer protect everyone. "Good luck to you all, I can only deal with it!"

Those smaller burrowing beasts were difficult to attack, but this one was different. I used Wind Form to condense several Wind Spear into its body. Although I didn't pierce through, it still caused intense pain. The big guy roared and charged at me.

I quickly lured it away from the group and then launched a fierce attack. This guy reminded me a lot of the Vastaya!

But that's understandable; the Vastaya were influenced by the Void to become what they are now. It seems this is the Dark Element Strength!

The power of the Void Burrower is extremely violent, and their bodies exude a restless malice. In their eyes, there seems to be only devouring and hunting!

Fortunately, it lacked intelligence and didn't know how to dodge. I kept attacking the same spot on its body, and soon I cut a crack in its armor!

Stealing a glance at Taliyah and the others, I saw that several more members of the caravan had fallen. This can't go on; I need to hurry and launch an attack!

I kept increasing my power. The Gale Sword went from making a loud clanging sound to emitting a white light, and then slowly becoming ethereal and indistinct, very much like the state I was in when I faced Syndra before!

At the time, I thought it was because of Janna's influence that I became like this, but I didn't expect that I could do it on my own. It seems that my training these past few days has not been in vain!

Such a powerful move deserves a nice name... let's call it "Wind Slash"!

When I felt my power reach its peak, I slashed down with my sword, cleaving the Void Burrower in two as if splitting Syndra's dark energy!

Before I could even feel happy, I immediately returned to the group and drove away the smaller creatures, using the residual force of my previous attack to cut down two small burrowing beasts.

At this moment, the Gale Sword had returned to its original form, but unfortunately it couldn't last much longer, otherwise I would have been able to annihilate them in one fell swoop!

Just when I thought the pressure of the battle was lessening, an even worse situation arose: the remaining small burrowing beasts devoured the corpses of their companions, and they swelled up considerably after consuming the larger burrowing beasts!

Although it's not as big as the large burrowing beast from before, it's still much stronger!

I still have the strength to fight on, but what about Taliyah and the others? I felt a pang of sorrow as I watched her continue trying to condense rocks.

"Damn it, why can't I do it!" Taliyah was on the verge of tears.

"Be prepared, you may have to say goodbye to the caravan forever!" I decided to run away with her.

Let me try again!

Taliyah, unwilling to abandon the others, raised her hands and slammed them heavily onto the ground. Her fists were cut by the shards of stone she had conjured, and her blood mingled with the yellow sand.

Her efforts paid off this time, because a large area of rock had indeed solidified on the ground, hard and thick!

The burrowing beasts pounded and thudded below, unable to emerge, and could only attack from all sides. I stopped attacking them and instead used my protective aura to shield everyone.

Of the caravan of about twenty people, only nine remain. Apart from Tazan and Taliyah, the rest are strong and healthy men responsible for carrying the goods.

Their bodies trembled, still gripped by fear, terrified that the burrowing beast would burst through the ground.

After holding on for a while, Varus finally returned!