Breaking himself out of his shock, Karrakas remembered why they were there in the first place.
"Move!" he yelled, already running. "Now. All of you."
Together, they broke into a run.
The sand was harder to move across at speed than flat ground, but the boots did what they'd been made to do, and after the first few strides they found a rhythm that kept them from sinking with each step they took.
A Chilopoda erupted to Melody's left, throwing sand in a wide spray as it tore free of the surface. It hadn't fully oriented itself before Melody activated her bracer.
Her body shifted to the same red hue as the sand, and she leapt into the air, traveling on a low arc.
She came down on the beast's head with both feet, driving it into the sand, and thrust her sword through the eye socket before it could react.
[You have killed an E-rank Razor Chilopoda.]
She stored the corpse before it had even finished collapsing, pushed off the ground, and rejoined the run without breaking stride.
