A bright flash suddenly appeared over the desert.
Lily teleported directly into the area near the Earth Temple.
The moment she arrived, her feet touched the warm sand.
She slowly looked around.
A vast desert surrounded her from every direction. Huge dunes stretched across the horizon, while the ancient Earth Temple stood in the distance, partially surrounded by mountains of sand.
Lily sighed.
"So this is the Earth Temple…"
She looked toward the temple.
"Sahara should be somewhere around here."
A sudden tremor ran through the ground.
Lily immediately stopped walking.
"Yep. There she is."
The sand behind Lily suddenly began rising.
A gigantic wave of sand erupted from the desert.
BOOOOOOM!
Lily jumped into the air as the sand crashed down where she had been standing.
She floated above the battlefield and looked toward the enormous sand cloud.
"Sahara!"
The sand slowly settled.
A massive figure stood in the middle of the desert.
It was Sahara, the Earth Temple Guardian.
Her eyes were glowing red.
Sand constantly moved around her body, swirling through the air like a living storm.
Lily's expression became serious.
"So you've been sent here too…"
Sahara looked at her.
"Lily."
Lily blinked.
"At least you remember me."
"I remember everyone."
Sahara's voice was cold.
"But that changes nothing."
Lily slowly descended until her feet touched the sand.
"Sahara, we're not here to fight each other."
"You came here."
"Yes."
"Then why?"
"To bring you back."
Sahara stared at her.
"You think you can do that?"
Lily gave her a small smile.
"I'd like to try without punching you first."
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Lily crossed her arms.
"Come on, Sahara. You know us. You've fought alongside us before."
"I know."
"You know Chenwei."
"I know."
"You know Yuna."
"Yes."
"And you know me."
Sahara's expression didn't change.
"I know you."
"Then you should know that none of us wants to fight you."
Sahara slowly raised one hand.
Lily's smile disappeared.
"…Sahara."
The sand around them began moving.
"I was hoping you wouldn't do that."
Sahara's eyes glowed brighter.
"You should leave."
Lily shook her head.
"No."
The entire desert suddenly erupted.
BOOOOM!
A massive wall of sand rushed toward Lily.
She immediately jumped sideways.
The sand passed directly beside her.
Lily spun through the air and landed on a dune.
"Sahara!"
Another wave came from the opposite direction.
Lily jumped again.
"Can you seriously give me five seconds to talk?"
Sahara didn't answer.
Instead, she moved her hand.
The sand beneath Lily suddenly shot upward.
"Whoa!"
Lily jumped.
A sharp pillar of sand narrowly missed her.
She flew higher and looked down.
"Sahara, you're really making this difficult!"
Another sand pillar appeared behind her.
Lily sensed it.
"Oh, come on!"
She twisted her body.
The pillar passed her shoulder.
Lily landed again.
She looked at Sahara.
"You know, you're usually much easier to talk to."
Sahara raised her hand.
The desert responded again.
"Apparently not today."
Lily quickly raised her palm.
A small flame appeared.
She stared at Sahara for a moment.
"Fine. Just one attack."
She flicked her hand.
WHOOSH!
A fireball flew toward Sahara.
Sahara didn't dodge.
The sand surrounding her rose like a shield.
The fireball disappeared inside it.
FSSSSSH!
Lily stared.
"…It disappeared?"
The sand fell back down.
Not even a trace of the fireball remained.
Lily tilted her head.
"Interesting."
Sahara immediately sent another wave of sand toward her.
Lily jumped over it.
"Okay, so fire isn't working normally."
She created another fireball.
This one was larger.
"Let's try again."
She launched it.
BOOM!
The fireball struck the sand.
Again, the flames were swallowed.
Lily's eyes widened.
"You've gotten really good at this."
Sahara answered calmly.
"You already knew what I could do."
Lily smiled.
"I knew you could manipulate the earth."
She looked around at the endless desert.
"But I didn't expect you to turn the entire battlefield into your weapon."
Sahara raised both hands.
The ground trembled.
Lily's expression changed.
"Wait…"
The sand beneath them began spreading in every direction.
Dunes shifted.
The desert itself seemed to come alive.
Lily slowly looked around.
"Sahara…"
A massive sand wave rose behind her.
"…you're really serious."
The wave crashed toward her.
Lily flew upward just before it reached her.
BOOOOM!
She looked down from the sky.
The entire battlefield had changed.
Sahara stood in the middle of the desert, surrounded by countless streams of sand.
Lily sighed.
"I really didn't want to fight you."
Sahara looked up at her.
"Then surrender."
Lily shook her head.
"No."
"Why?"
"Because you're one of us."
Sahara's expression remained cold.
"You're wasting your time."
"Maybe."
Lily's flames slowly began appearing around her hands.
"But I'm not giving up on you that easily."
Sahara suddenly thrust her hand forward.
A gigantic wave of sand rose toward Lily.
Lily stared at it.
Then she smiled.
"Looks like you've left me no choice."