By Zephyria ‘Why did you come so early when you’re a busy person with a lot to do?’
Fine sand was pushed to the left and right of Leonardo as he combatively traversed the desert. A fairly deep canal was created along the trajectory. However, it was soon covered by a whirlwind and disappeared without a trace.
In the middle of the desert, which was no different from a vast ocean except that it was land, Leonardo frowned deeply at the grains of sand sticking to his eyelashes.
Even so, he pursed his lips hidden by the mask and bit them tightly. It was because he couldn’t hold back his laughter.
“I have to go quickly. He’s waiting.”
It was he who had said to meet after the match, but at the time, it was closer to an impulse he had blurted out with a complicated heart. He hadn’t said it with a tingling date or a dreamlike dinner in mind. He just wanted to hear that person’s voice.
But because he had encountered him in a completely unexpected situation, his mood was ‘slightly’ elated the moment he saw that person, even though he was so far away that he couldn’t even identify his expression.
Leonardo sprinted at full speed in the direction the Mana Orb had flown. He only regretted that there was no spectator seat in the desert where the Commander could stand and watch. Still, he could gradually show his abilities.
Since mere wind couldn’t change the trajectory of lightning, Leonardo thought that if he kept going straight, he would see the heated Mana Orb emitting smoke. But for some reason, even though he judged that he had come far enough, he couldn’t see anything even remotely resembling smoke. There were no traces to estimate the location of the Mana Orb either.
Leonardo, who had been aiming to pass through in the shortest time, stopped abruptly in mid-air around that time. Then, he looked around. He was told there would be an oasis island to the west, but only a distant dark hill was visible, and it was unclear if it was his destination.
‘Did I come the right way?’
If there was an oasis, there was no way he wouldn’t sense its energy. Ordinary participants have to pass through here with only 20 additional attempts, and it’s questionable if that’s even possible.
As his rising doubts piled up, he heard the sound of sand flowing nearby. Instinctively, Leonardo turned his head and approached it. He was worried that the Mana Orb, having received geothermal heat, might be boiling or melting with the sand.
The sand was being sucked into a single point in the center, as if it contained a swamp underground. The area near the Turandos border, which he had frequented so often, was a more desolate and hotter desert than this, so he often witnessed such sand whirlpools or ground subsidence. And Leonardo, who had been constantly injected with information related to that terrain, knew very well that it was not a good sign.
“Damn it, if it sinks into the ground, it’ll be a pain.”
He stroked the back of his neck and approached the center, following the increasingly faster whirlpool. It would be a pain, but he couldn’t let Ero’s Mana Orb that he had launched together be damaged. He was about to create an air explosion to clear away the sand for a moment and check for the presence of the Mana Orb when it happened.
Dudududu―
‘…?’
The flowing sand suddenly popped up like boiling water droplets. At the same time, the area began to vibrate. Sensing something was wrong, Leonardo’s fingertips hesitated. The ground undulated like waves on a vast ocean, then collapsed at a crazy speed as if a sinkhole had occurred.
Along with it, a heavy wind sound arose. Leonardo, who reflexively stepped back, had his pupils dilated in the momentarily darkened vision.
Then, following an unidentified form that spurted out of the ground as if erupting, grazing his chin, he slowly raised his head.
“Tur’ark?”
The giant shadow rising endlessly from the crack where the ground was exploding resembled a sturgeon of the sea. Along the sharp streamlined body, the water-like flowing sand streams became waterfalls along the carapace-like outer skin with short thorns protruding.
“Why is that here?”
He’s meeting a lot of unexpected faces today. The Tur’ark is a reptile-type demon beast that mainly inhabits arid desert areas, and its name was created by combining the national name of Turandos, the first area where it appeared, and the meaning of Dragon of the desert. It swims under the sand like water, and has the habit of identifying the location of prey by the vibrations transmitted by the small particles of sand and devouring it in the blink of an eye.
The size of the individual that popped up was about 30m. Considering that the adult Tur’ark has a minimum length of 50m and weighs nearly 100 tons, it seemed to be a young individual. But it was by no means an easy opponent to deal with. Because its temper is very nasty.
However, thanks to the dark shadow of the creature, which contrasted with the clear bright sky, two dented balls near the towering head immediately caught his eye. The balls, which had been floating in the air, fell in slow motion into the creature’s mouth, which was opened almost 145 degrees.
“Huh?”
Leonardo, who involuntarily uttered profanity, jumped into the air in an instant. But it seemed that the creature regarded the Mana Orb as food, as it rolled its eyes and snapped its mouth shut like a bear trap that had finished hunting.
Then, unable to overcome its heavy body, it fell sideways like a pagoda.
Kwaaaang―!
As if a whale was diving to the surface, the creature’s massive body struck the sand dune, causing a roar. The wind added speed to the pushed sand pile, forming a surging tsunami. The Tur’ark wriggled into the tsunami and disappeared into the ground, leaving only its tail behind.
Normally, they are omnivorous, so they eat people without discrimination, but Leonardo was puzzled by the creature’s behavior of ignoring him and trying to leave. But that was only for a moment, as he barely grabbed the end of the tail that was trying to hide.
“You bastard, where do you think you’re going―.”
Draping the hard but flexible skin over his shoulder, he rotated his body in the air and pulled it in at once. The sand that the creature was dragging in together changed direction and gradually began to flow backwards. The Tur’ark, which even howled with a rare scream, was pulled out like a solid radish and thrashed in the air.
Meanwhile, Ero was wandering through the desert on the back of an animal called ‘Sabla,’ searching for Leonardo. Sabla, like Tur’ark, inhabits desert areas, but it was not a demon beast.
It has a long snout like an anteater and long, strong claws and tail, but its personality is gentle and does not show aggression. Its legs are long compared to its body shape, so it can avoid the heat of the ground, and its thick flesh is soft, so it is often used as a ride.
The disadvantage is that it is quite slow, but it was a good choice for Ero, who was on the verge of dying from walking directly on the scorching sand. In addition, the vines that had bound the participants in the maze earlier were quite helpful in taming the wild Sabla. For those who eat cacti, the moist vines of the subtropical region must have been a delicacy and another new world.
Thanks to this, Ero, who had made plausible footrests and reins, was moving forward, shaking the vines hanging in front of the pistol in front of Sabla’s snout.
“Brother, where are you… Can’t you see the dying combo here?”
Thanks to Leonardo launching two Mana Orbs at once, there was no need to worry about the number of Mana Orbs decreasing during movement. However, that would only be useful if he knew where his brother and the Mana Orbs were, wouldn’t it?
As Ero muttered, struggling with the suffocating heat, he heard a voice from behind.
“If you mean Leo, he’s over there slaughtering a demon beast.”
Ero flinched and turned around. His eyes were wide open.
“Huh?”
A moment of silence followed. He had a fleeting suspicion that it might be a mirage created by the heat haze.
But soon, Ero, who understood the situation, convulsed and fell forward.
“Ugh!”
As the vines that were about to touch reached his snout, Sabla, who had stuck out his tongue, grabbed the bait and stopped in place. As a result, his body was thrown off by the recoil, but thanks to the protagonist of the voice catching the back of his neck, Ero was able to sit back in his original position.
“Oh, I guess I surprised you. I apologize.”
“…Who, who are you? Since when…!”
“It hasn’t been long. I thought you might be lonely all alone in such a wide space.”
His tone was like that of a dignified middle-aged gentleman, but his actions were no different from those of a thug. Ero, who had his back seat forcibly and illegally occupied, didn’t know how to react and just blinked his eyes. He grabbed his surprised chest and quickly scanned the mysterious companion up and down.
The man was wearing a black cloak and a bowler hat. His face was covered with a bird beak mask, and the metal gauntlets and black briefcase he wore on his hands were an incongruous combination. The hem of his pants and shoes revealed under his cloak also showed that he was dressed in a suit as if he were going to an important place.
Since ancient times, participants who appeared wearing clothes that did not suit the League were one of two things.
Either they were attention seekers who wanted to stand out without skills, or they were League veterans who were slightly injured in the head.
Ero came to the conclusion in that short time that the man was closer to the latter. First of all, he didn’t realize that there was someone behind him at all. He seemed to be good at hiding his presence.
Suddenly, he retraced the words he had just heard and asked the man urgently.
“Ah, w-wait. What did you say my brother was doing? Did you see my brother?”
The eyes behind the mask stared at Ero for a while. Soon, he turned his beak in the opposite direction and raised his chin slightly.
“He’s coming over there.”
At those words, Ero also turned his head. For a moment, Sabla, who had been quietly chewing on the vines, began to walk again.
Ero, who didn’t know what was going on and looked back and forth, also caught a glimpse of a strange phenomenon.
The ground covered with sand was rippling like waves. Something seemed to be approaching from underground, and its speed was unusual. It was like a shark going against the tide, with its dorsal fin sticking out like a sail. However, the problem was that this was a desert, not a sea, and the size of the wave was not just a simple shark.
“Bro…ther?”
Since he has abilities that are so far from common sense, swimming through the sand might be a piece of cake for him. Ero, who tried to calm his mind, pursed his lips, stretched out his neck, and narrowed his eyes. He was focusing on the behavior of the sand dunes that were repeatedly turning off and on in the distance when it happened.
Kukung―
With a mysterious vibration, the ground shook and thousands of tons of sand that had been twisted soared up. Underneath it, a huge form thrust its head out. The vast size was so difficult to grasp at a glance that a dark shadow fell over Ero and the bird beak’s heads. At the same time, an unbearable wind pressure swept in, shaking Ero’s hair, which he had barely arranged, mercilessly.
The roar of a demon beast, like the Ultrasound of a whale, echoed widely in the sky. The sand that had surged up like a tsunami plummeted down like heavy rain. In the gap, the scales that received the light shone golden, revealing their majesty through the pouring sand. Ero’s mouth dropped open.
The end of his gaze was fixed on the head of the monster that had suddenly appeared. There was Leonardo, holding the Tur’ark’s long antennae like reins.