[Chapter 292. Shifting Sands]

They arrived on the second floor of the Labyrinth. The harsh desert sun beat down on them, and their armored boots sank slightly into the fine sand with each step, the grains shifting and resettling like miniature amber waves. The air shimmered with heat, distorting the horizon into a wavering mirage of impossible shapes. The vast expanse stretched before them, a seemingly endless ocean of ochre and gold dunes that rolled toward a hazy, distant sky.

"It's hot," Vanessa said while shielding her eyes from the intense light. Sweat beaded on her brow, immediately evaporating in the dry heat, leaving her skin feeling tight and parched. The metallic heat of her own cuirass radiated against her back, intensifying the suffocating warmth.

Iris turned slightly toward them. Her matte-black armor absorbed the merciless sunlight rather than reflecting it, creating a silhouette that seemed to drink the illumination. "Then use the ring he gave you." Her voice was flat, devoid of sympathy or heat, as if the scorching environment affected her not at all. Her dark fur showed no sign of perspiration, and her silver hair remained perfectly still despite the dry breeze that stirred the sand around their feet.

A moment later, their hands glowed with a pale blue light, and there was a collective sigh of relief as magic washed over them, the rings Searanox had provided counteracting the heat.

"That's much better. He thought about everything," Lana said in a soft tone, her shoulders visibly relaxing as the magical temperature adjustment took effect. She flexed her fingers, watching the blue light pulse around her knuckles like captured starlight.

"The beasts on this floor will be stronger than on the first, right?" Sarah asked while scanning the distant horizon, her eyes narrowed against the glare. She absently adjusted the fit of her gauntlets, the metal creaking softly as she prepared mentally for whatever lay ahead. The first floor had been challenging enough; she couldn't imagine what horrors awaited them in this more hostile environment.

"Naturally. Stay focused and don't rush into anything," Carmen spoke up from behind. "This desert environment will work against us if we're careless. Dehydration, heat exhaustion, getting lost—all secondary threats that could be as deadly as anything that lurks in the sand." She ran a hand through her sweat-dampened hair, the ring's magic keeping her core temperature stable but doing nothing for the discomfort of perspiration. "Iris, is there anything we need to know?"

"Searanox was clear that we must avoid the ruins, and that the beasts on this floor pretend to be rocks," she answered Carmen before taking her first steps deeper into the floor. The sand shifted around her armored boots like a reluctant tide.

Her boots sank slightly into the fine grains with each step forward, her dark figure making her appear as a moving shadow against the bright desert backdrop. The other four walked behind Iris, carefully scanning the dunes, their weapons at the ready. Each dune could conceal danger; each patch of strangely uniform rock might be a beast in disguise. The silence of the desert was unnerving, broken only by the whisper of wind across the sand and the soft crunch of their footsteps.

After a minute of walking, Iris stopped, raising a hand to signal them to halt. The wind picked up momentarily, whipping fine grains of sand against their armor with a sound like distant hissing.

"From above," she said, bringing her Zweihänder into position for a reflective strike, the large blade angled upward to catch and redirect whatever came at them. The others immediately spread out, weapons drawn, their eyes scanning the brilliant sky for the threat Iris had detected.

The four women looked up into the washed-out sky, their eyes straining against the relentless glare, and saw two dark shapes materializing against the glaring white canvas. The forms grew rapidly, their silhouettes resolving into massive avian creatures with wingspans that cast fleeting shadows across the sand.

Within a couple of seconds, Vanessa's hands moved in practiced, intricate patterns, weaving invisible threads of mana until a complex, shimmering matrix of arcane symbols materialized high above them. The Starfall Matrix pulsed with deep, multicolored energy as she unleashed the first bolt of arcane power. The projectile left a trail of fizzing light as it flew through the air toward the incoming shapes. The first shot missed by a wide margin, harmlessly detonating against the empty sky with a muted pop that echoed across the dunes.

"You are supposed to hit them," Sarah said beside her, a smirk playing on her glossy pink lips as she watched the wasted energy dissipate.

Vanessa glared at her, green eyes flashing with annoyance as stray strands of her fiery red hair whipped across her face. "They are faster than I expected," she snarled before the second bolt shot out from the elaborate arcane construct above her.

The next bolt clipped one of the creatures wings, searing through its smoldering ash feathers with a sizzle that carried across the dunes. The wounded beast cried out—a high-pitched, shriek that grated on their nerves—and began to spiral toward the ground in an uncontrolled descent. The node that accompanied the shot—a secondary explosive charge meant to finish the target—went wide, detonating harmlessly in the air with a disappointing fizz of energy. The creature's impact with the sand below sent up a thick puff of dust that drifted slowly in the still air, marking its crash site like a distant tombstone.

Meanwhile, its companion began a dive toward them, its body angled into a steep descent. Its talons glowed with faint orange thermal energy that left trailing embers in the air. As it closed the distance, its smoldering ash body resolving into terrifying detail—a beak of hardened cinder and eyes burning like coals—Iris leaped upward, her armored legs coiling and then uncoiling with explosive power.

The movement was so sudden that she seemed to teleport from the sand to the sky, bridging the vertical distance in a single bound. In one fluid arc of her Zweihänder, she sliced clean through the beast. The two halves of the smoldering bird, suspended in mid-air for a moment before gravity claimed them, crashed into the sand with twin thuds that were somehow soft and wet. Where the smoke that surrounded it had been, wisps of blue energy now danced like ghostly flames. The creature's form dissolved into motes of System light, leaving behind scorched sand and the lingering scent of burnt ash.

Iris landed in a crouch, her boots sinking slightly into the sand without a sound, her movements as fluid as water flowing over stone. Without rising, she pointed toward the small cloud of dust that had begun to settle in the distance. "Sarah, finish off the one that crash-landed on the dune over there." Her voice carried across the dunes, neither loud nor soft, but somehow cutting through the desert's silence with clarity.

Sarah stepped through one of her rifts and appeared on the distant dune, her form resolving from a blur of motion into solid reality. There was no dramatic entrance, no flourish—just a sudden displacement of space that put her immediately beside the wounded creature, which was struggling to rise on a broken wing. A moment later, the familiar confirmation of experience flowed through their minds, and they all knew Sarah had dispatched the second beast.

From a distance, they could see Sarah waving her daggers in the air, her movements animated and cheerful. The blades caught the sunlight as they moved, creating brief flashes of silver that punctuated the desert's golden expanse.

"What a child," Vanessa said with a disdainful sniff, crossing her arms over her chest as she watched Sarah's display. The comment was barely louder than a whisper, but in the desert's silence, it carried clearly. Her green eyes narrowed as a stray breeze tugged at a loose strand of her fiery red hair, pulling it across her face. She brushed it away impatiently, her movements sharp and irritated.

Before Vanessa could elaborate on her disdain, Sarah's voice cut through their minds with the clarity of crystal.

<They give ninety-one experience.>

The mental notification was full of emotion, delivered with the same cheerful tone Sarah used for everything from combat observations to comments about the weather.

Iris turned to the three women behind her, her expression unchanged, as if Sarah's childish display and Vanessa's contempt were equally irrelevant. "Let's move." Her voice was low, carrying an undertone of command that brooked no argument. Without waiting for a response, she began walking again, her armored boots leaving neat impressions in the sand as she continued her reconnaissance of the desert floor.

<Stay on guard Sarah.> Lana spoke over their telepathic connection, her mental voice warm and concerned. It was the first time she had used their shared communication link since entering the Labyrinth's second floor, and her presence in their minds was like a comforting blanket in the harsh desert environment.

Sarah stopped waving her hands immediately, her playful demeanor vanishing as if it had never existed. She slid seamlessly into a battle stance—knees slightly bent, body lowered, daggers held in a grip that was both defensive and ready to strike at a moment's notice. She scanned left and right, her eyes missing nothing as she resumed her watch over the endless dunes.