The desert trembled.
Lily floated above the battlefield, surrounded by the endless storm of sand created by Sahara.
She had already tried talking.
She had tried avoiding the attacks.
She had even tested her flames against Sahara's sand.
Nothing had worked.
Sahara raised her hand again.
A gigantic mass of sand gathered behind her.
Lily looked at it and sighed.
"Okay…"
Her expression became serious.
"I really didn't want to do this."
Sahara launched the attack.
BOOOOOOM!
A massive sand wave rushed toward Lily.
Instead of dodging immediately, Lily remained completely still.
Her eyes closed.
The flames around her body suddenly began growing brighter.
Sahara's sand wave was only a few meters away.
Then—
WHOOM!
A massive burst of fire erupted from Lily.
The sand wave was pushed backward by the sudden heat.
Lily opened her eyes.
They had turned bright red.
Her hair began glowing.
One strand after another transformed into flickering flames.
The clothes covering her body disappeared beneath a layer of living fire, forming a fiery outfit around her like armor made entirely from flames.
Her entire body was now surrounded by a powerful red-orange aura.
Lily slowly raised her head.
"First Form… Fire Body."
The desert became strangely quiet.
Even Sahara paused for a moment.
Lily looked at her.
Her fiery hair moved like flames in the wind.
"If you aren't going to wake up…"
She clenched her fist.
"…then I'll beat you until you do."
Sahara's expression hardened.
"You believe you can defeat me?"
Lily smiled.
"I don't need to defeat you."
She lowered her stance.
"I just need to bring you back."
Sahara immediately attacked.
A gigantic sand fist formed above Lily and came crashing down.
BOOOOOOM!
Lily disappeared.
The fist smashed into the desert.
Sahara looked around.
"Where—?"
WHOOSH!
Lily suddenly appeared beside her.
"Here."
Lily punched.
BAAM!
Sahara blocked with a wall of compressed sand.
The impact sent a shockwave across the battlefield.
Lily immediately jumped backward.
Sahara swung her arm.
A giant blade of sand appeared.
SHING!
Lily ducked underneath it.
Another sand blade came from the opposite direction.
Lily twisted her body in midair and avoided it by inches.
"Your attacks are getting faster!"
Sahara sent three more sand blades toward her.
Lily spun through the air.
One passed above her.
One passed below.
She slipped between the other two.
"Not bad!"
She suddenly accelerated.
WHOOSH!
Sahara barely raised a sand shield before Lily's flaming fist struck it.
BOOOOM!
The shield cracked.
Sahara was pushed backward several meters.
She immediately planted her feet.
The sand beneath her erupted.
SHHHHHHH!
A huge wave surrounded Lily from every direction.
Lily looked left.
Sand.
Right.
Sand.
Above.
More sand.
She laughed.
"You're really not giving me any room, are you?"
The sand closed in.
Lily's entire body suddenly became a streak of fire.
WHOOSH!
She shot through the gap before the sand could close.
Sahara turned.
Lily was already behind her.
"Sahara!"
Lily swung her leg.
BAAM!
Sahara blocked the kick with a thick layer of sand.
But the force still pushed her backward.
Lily landed.
"Come back to your senses!"
Sahara answered with another attack.
"Silence!"
A massive sand dragon erupted from the desert.
Its jaws opened and rushed toward Lily.
Lily's eyes widened.
"That's new!"
She jumped onto its head.
The sand dragon twisted violently.
Lily ran across its back.
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!"
It suddenly threw its head upward.
Lily was launched into the sky.
Sahara raised her hand.
Hundreds of sand projectiles appeared.
Lily looked down.
"…That's a lot."
The projectiles fired.
SHHHH! SHHHH! SHHHH!
Lily moved through them.
Left.
Right.
Up.
Down.
She twisted around one projectile, kicked another away, and narrowly passed between two more.
One sand projectile grazed her arm.
Lily looked at it.
Then she smiled.
"Okay."
She raised her hand.
A massive flame gathered in her palm.
"If you want a serious fight…"
Her eyes glowed brighter.
"I'll give you one."
She launched the flame downward.
BOOOOOOOM!
A huge explosion of fire spread across the desert.
Sahara surrounded herself with layers of sand.
The flames struck the sand and spread across its surface.
But Sahara emerged from the smoke.
Still standing.
Lily looked surprised.
"Seriously?"
Sahara raised both hands.
The entire desert moved.
A gigantic sand vortex formed beneath Lily.
Lily was pulled downward.
"Whoa!"
She tried to fly upward.
The sand kept dragging her down.
Lily gritted her teeth.
"Sahara!"
She thrust both hands downward.
A massive burst of fire exploded beneath her.
BOOOOOM!
The heat pushed her upward.
She escaped the vortex.
But Sahara was already waiting.
A giant fist made from compressed sand came flying toward her.
Lily crossed her arms.
BAAAAM!
She was sent flying across the desert.
She crashed into a dune and disappeared beneath the sand.
Sahara stood silently.
Then—
WHOOSH!
A flaming hand emerged from the sand.
Lily climbed out.
She brushed sand from her fiery clothes.
"Ouch…"
She looked toward Sahara.
"You really are making me work for this."
Sahara stared at her.
For a brief moment, something changed in her eyes.
A tiny flicker.
Almost like recognition.
Lily noticed it.
Her expression softened.
"Sahara…"
Sahara suddenly grabbed her head.
Her red eyes flickered.
For one second, the red glow weakened.
A voice seemed to echo inside her mind.
Lily…
Sahara froze.
Then another voice appeared.
Don't listen to her.
Her hand tightened around her head.
"No…"
Lily stared.
"Sahara?"
Sahara's breathing became uneven.
"Get… away…"
Lily slowly lowered her fists.
"You heard me, didn't you?"
Sahara looked at her.
Her eyes flickered between red and their normal color.
"I…"
She suddenly screamed.
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"
A huge burst of sand exploded outward.
Lily was forced backward.
"Sahara!"
Sahara's body trembled.
One side of her mind was desperately trying to return.
She remembered the others.
She remembered the Earth Temple.
She remembered fighting alongside Lily.
She remembered their journey.
She remembered her friends.
But another force inside her mind kept pulling her back.
Don't wake up.
Stay here.
Fight them.
Sahara covered her head.
"No…"
Her voice became quieter.
"I don't want to…"
Her eyes flickered again.
"I want to go back…"
A tear formed in the corner of her eye.
Then the red glow returned.
"But…"
Her expression twisted with confusion.
"…another part of me doesn't want to."
Lily stood several meters away, watching her carefully.
"Sahara…"
Sahara's mind was becoming a battlefield of its own.
One side desperately wanted to wake up.
The other side desperately fought against it.
And for the first time since the battle began—
Sahara was fighting not against Lily, but against herself.