Battle Of Planets

Chapter 119: Sand Desert
Tyson’s heart pounded against his ribcage as he stood in the middle of the desert.The dunes stretched far beyond the horizon—vast, golden, and unforgiving.It looked endless. It felt hopeless. And he was completely alone.

Just a single human clad in high-tech metallic armor, meant to protect him from the monsters that would soon come—not to scare him, but to tear him apart. To kill him. Live. In front of the whole world.

He could feel the oppressive heat of the environment despite the nanotech suit covering his body. The suit was advanced, but not immune to nature’s wrath.

He crouched slowly, breathing deeply, whispering to himself ”This is it Tyson. It’s just like the simulation. You’ve done this before. The only difference... is that this time it’s real.”

He extended his hand. The nanotech around his fingers retracted briefly, allowing his skin to touch the burning sand beneath.

Suddenly, a large screen panel materialized in the air before him.It wasn’t just for him— The entire world could see it too.

[ 24 Points have been used. ]

[ Remaining Power Points: 50 ]

[ Objective Loading... ]

[ Kill the boss monster to clear the level. ]

[ Reward: +1 year for your planet. ]

[ Penalty for failure: MAP CHANGE. ]

[ Ding! A volunteer summon has been detected. ]

[ Alex Rogers — 28 Power Points. ]

[ Would you like to summon him? ]

Tyson’s HUD filled with summon cards— Each faces a player. Each card bears their power points.

Those who hadn’t volunteered were shown in darker tones, labeled Force Summon.But at the very top, shining clearly, was Alex’s profile.

Tyson didn’t hesitate. He reached out and pressed Alex’s name.

In the blink of an eye, a red-and-black-armored figure dropped beside him, sending a small puff of sand into the air.

”Man... that was lame,” Alex groaned as he stood up, brushing dust off his armor.The brothers locked eyes, wordless tension hanging between them. ”now stay back let me kill everything....loser”

Tyson rolled his eyes inside his helmet, even now he felt a little assured that his brother was with him.

[ Ding! 28 Power Points have been used. ]

[ Remaining: 22 Power Points. ]

[ Bonus for initiating the tournament: +10 Power Points. ]

[ Current Available Points: 32. ]

Alex leapt forward, his metal boots kicking up sand as he scanned the horizon with narrowed eyes.

He was more than ready—eager, even—to find something to fight. Something to kill.

Meanwhile, Tyson stayed back, still focused on the flickering panel in front of his visor.The interface had now shrunk to a smaller display on the corner of his helmet, revealing more names.

Names with light-toned frames under the Force Summon category.

He tilted his head, curiosity piqued. ”Force Summon...” Unlike Alex, who had volunteered, these names hadn’t. They hadn’t pressed the button. They hadn’t chosen to be here.

And yet... They could still be pulled in.

Tyson’s eyes scanned the list. Each name had an associated number beside it—clearly the power points required to summon them.

Meta-bot wearers. Their point value was directly tied to their strength. Just like Alex had cost him 28 points, anyone else would cost more or less depending on their individual scale.

That’s when he saw Blue’s profile. The darkly shaded card stood out, marked under Force Summon.

He hesitated. Then curiosity won. He tapped it.

A muffled yelp broke the silence as something heavy slammed into the sand beside him.

”What the fu—” Blue shouted, scrambling to his feet, half-naked and utterly furious.The desert heat blazed against his exposed, muscular chest.

[ 28 points used. ]

[ remaining points... 4 ]

[ to earn points to summon allies kill the enemies ]

His glare locked onto Tyson. ”What did you do, asshole? I wasn’t in the game!”

Tyson shrank slightly, despite his face being hidden behind a sleek, white metallic helmet.”I-It was a mistake! I’m new to all this!”

Blue cursed under his breath, tapping the bracelet on his wrist. ”yeah, like hell i will belive that...why me?” He wore blue-and-black armor that began forming around him, nanotech crawling across his limbs.

A display blinked on [ Nanotech Reserve: 96% ]

”Dammit,” he growled. ”I didn’t even refill the damn thing... I wasn’t supposed to fight and you dragged me into hell.”

He lunged at Tyson. ”I’m going to kill you, you bastard!”

”Trust me—it was a mistake!” Tyson shouted, backpedaling frantically as Blue chased after him.

Meanwhile, Alex had buried himself halfway into the sand, casually digging holes with his gauntlets. ”Where are you...come at me”

Back in the Battle Room, silence reigned.

At first, there was panic. The unexpected summon of Blue had triggered alarms, gasps, and clenched jaws.

But as time passed... And as the trio wandered aimlessly through the desert—bickering, sweating, and clearly not taking this as seriously as they should—

The tension began to dissolve.

No enemies had shown up. There was no sign of a boss monster. Just three Rangers—two of them acting like they were on a beach, and one digging like he will pull a damn monster out of the sands.

Even the Rogues and Rangers exchanged glances, uncertain whether to be worried...or amused. Edward cleared his throat feeling eyes of Rogue named Mills.

”Elrians,” Mills muttered under his breath, watching the screen alongside the others.

In the Battle Room, the air buzzed with tension—until Edward finally stepped forward.”I want to speak with the leader,” he said calmly.

The System responded immediately. A metallic orb hovered into place before Edward, its surface pulsing with soft light as the comm link activated.

Back in the desert...

A static voice came, and then a voice broke through Tyson’s helmet speakers.

”All good in there?” Edward’s familiar tone carried a calm authority.

Tyson nearly jumped.

”Oh... hey, Dad.” He glanced around, ”Yeah, good so far. But... what exactly are we supposed to do?”

”Have you gone mad?” Blue snapped, overhearing Tyson. He spun around, looking wildly across the dunes. ”You’re talking to sand now? Heat’s frying your brain, man.”

”Ahem...” Blue flinched. Now he heard it too. ”Ah—great. I’m hallucinating now. Fantastic.”

”This map has long open fields,” Edward’s voice continued. ”But if you keep heading forward, you’ll reach the main zone. We recreated these key areas back on Earth for the simulations, so it should look familiar once you’re close.”

Tyson nodded, straightening. ”Yes, sir.”

”Why am I not hearing anything?” Alex asked, glancing between them.

”Because I’m the leader,” Tyson replied flatly.

Alex scoffed. ”You’re a fool.” He started walking again, muttering. ”And that idiot too.”

”What’s your problem?” Blue said, stepping up beside him. ”First you brothers drag me into this crap, and now you’re throwing attitude?”

”Who said I needed you? Or him?” Alex turned slowly. ”If it were up to me, you’d both be left behind.”

Tyson stepped between them quickly. ”We can’t go back,” he said, voice firm. ”Not until we kill the boss monster.”

He glanced at the horizon where heat looked in the air like waves. ”General gave us a direction. Let’s move.”

As they reached the designated area, the atmosphere shifted.

The air grew dense and heavy. Tyson’s Meta-bot blinked urgently on his chest, flashing warning signals across his HUD.

Without warning, the ground trembled.

A whirl of sand rose violently near a solitary pillar in the center of the desert, spinning higher and faster like a miniature storm. The dust began to mold—shaping into monstrous forms. First one, then two... then a dozen sandy figures emerged, towering and faceless, their bodies held together by nothing but the will of whatever dark force powered them.

Golems.

Alex grinned in excitement. Tyson and Blue halted, eyes fixed on the forming creatures.

”Wait...” Tyson muttered, squinting. ”Do they look familiar?”

”Yeah,” Blue said slowly, ”But they’re... bigger. Way bigger.”

The sand continued to pour in from all around—sucked into the creatures’ frames like fuel, strengthening their limbs and bulking up their cores.

”Did the simulations lie to us?” Blue asked,

”Maybe,” Tyson said, uncertain. ”Let’s see what we can—”

He didn’t finish. Alex was already gone.

With a metallic roar, Alex launched himself high into the air and came crashing down in the middle of the golems—his katana gleaming in the harsh sun.

Tyson and Blue stood speechless.

”He did not change” Blue recalled.

”Yep.” Tyson said, ”Same old Alex”

Alex tore through the first golem with a swift slash of his katana, severing limb of the golem But his smirk faded quickly—the creature didn’t vanish like in the simulations. Instead, the scattered sand slithered back, reforming the limb he’d just severed.

Another charged him, and he spun, slicing it in half—only to watch it stitch itself together again using the very ground beneath their feet. ”They’re regenerating!” he shouted, dodging a heavy swing coming his way.

Tyson and Blue stood frozen, watching the chaos unfold, the weight of the situation slowly dawning on them as Alex fought alone in a storm of relentless sand.

”This was out of script” Tyson murmured.