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~~((National Do Something Nice Day Special -- Page 16 of 24))~~
"Mm. I wonder if it's inattention or stupidity or just fear. Could be any or all of 'em, really. Maybe I should've left some hints. Bah, but I feel like that's just cheating, y'know? If someone wants to challenge me, then they shouldn't need me to give them a hand, right? Why should I have to be a worse version of myself just so they can stand a chance? It's unfair, I tell you! But I guess waiting like this is also kinda helping them out, so... Hmmmmmm. Ooh, maybe I should build an obstacle course for them! Or would that be too patronizing, you think?"

And the man just kept going, looking back and forth between Asad and the horizon, acting as if he was asking for Asad's opinion but never waiting to hear it before continuing.

At length, Asad began to wonder if the torture had already begun.

Then the Mad Demon fell suddenly silent, and his head snapped to the southeast. His already wide eyes seemed to grow even wider, and the delight on his face was obvious. "Finally! A contestant!"

Asad turned to look as well, but he couldn't see or sense anything yet. The wind seemed to be picking up considerably, though.

"Ah, is that who I think it is?! What a brazen boy he's become! I hope he knows what he's doing! Eheheheh!"

The wind kept rising. And rising. And rising still more, until it began lifting up the sand and swirling it around them, blocking most of Asad's view of the sky.

Morgunov chopped the air horizontally with one hand, and the sandy whirlwind dispersed in an instant, torn apart by a fleet of tiny machines that had leapt out of the dunes below.

And they weren't alone, either. Morgunov motioned eastward with his hand, and a giant, snake-like machine launched out of the sand and sailed toward a distant figure in the sky there.