Chapter 300

Chapter 300

Sand Tornado was, exactly as its name suggested, a sand whirlwind.

Its range was smaller than Sand Storm, but its concentrated destructive power was far stronger.

Its power increased even more when facing a single target.

Just like now.

GRRRRIND—!

Sand Tornado rotated and ground away at the Blade Frigatebird’s body.

The Blade Frigatebird flapped its wings and tried to escape Sand Tornado, but it was useless.

The terrifyingly fast-rotating Sand Tornado absolutely refused to allow the Blade Frigatebird to flee outside.

Kieeeee!

The Blade Frigatebird screamed.

That was because all the feathers that had protected its body, feathers harder than steel, had been plucked away, exposing its bare flesh to the sand.

The reason the Blade Frigatebird could fly at supersonic speed was because of the feathers covering its entire body.

The feathers, as strong as diamond yet light, were so tough that they remained intact even against Sand Tornado.

But once all those feathers were plucked away, the Blade Frigatebird’s main body was far too fragile.

GRRRRIND—!

The Blade Frigatebird was completely ground away, and the feathers plucked from its body scattered through the air like snow.

“I think these feathers might be useful.”

Briel took off her pointed hat and caught the Blade Frigatebird feathers falling down.

After putting the feathers into her subspace like that, Briel looked at Zeon.

After killing the Blade Frigatebird, Zeon had gone even higher and was looking around.

In Zeon’s field of vision, he saw yellow dust rising like a cloud from the horizon.

“There.”

It was just as Zeon identified the Scavengers’ location.

WHOOOSH—! WHOOSH—!

Chilling sounds of air being split rang out one after another.

More Blade Frigatebirds had appeared.

As if enraged by the death of their kin, they flew toward Zeon at terrifying speed.

Zeon said to Briel,

“Let’s go down to the ground.”

“Okay!”

Now that he knew the direction the Scavenger group was moving, there was no need to overdo things and fight the Blade Frigatebirds.

Zeon descended to the ground at high speed with Briel.

Fortunately, the Blade Frigatebirds did not attack them after they descended to the ground.

It seemed they never came below a certain altitude.

That was fortunate, at least.

If monsters like that came all the way down to the ground, it was certain no one would survive.

Unless someone had eyes on the crown of their head, it was nearly impossible to avoid the attacks of Blade Frigatebirds diving down from the sky.

After confirming that the Blade Frigatebirds circling in the air disappeared at high speed, Zeon said to Briel and Gaia,

“Let’s go!”

“Okay!”

Squee!

Zeon moved in the direction he had confirmed from the sky.

Gaia and Briel followed behind Zeon as he unfolded Sand Walk and shot forward.

When Briel kept falling behind, Gaia grew impatient and simply put her on its back.

“Thanks!”

Squeeee!

Gaia answered that it was fine and chased after Zeon at high speed.

‘At this rate, we’ll catch up to them within two hours.’

No matter how mobile the Scavengers were, they could not be faster than Zeon when he unfolded Sand Walk.

They were far apart now, but if he chased at this speed, he would catch up quickly.

However, an unexpected obstacle appeared then.

ROOOOAR!

A gigantic monster suddenly emerged from inside the sand.

It looked like a beetle inflated several hundred times over. Each time it breathed, flames flowed out.

“A Titan Beetle? Was this its habitat?”

The Titan Beetle was literally an enormous beetle.

Its shell, as hard as titanium, possessed tremendous defensive power, and the ultra-high-heat Flame Breath fired from its mouth could melt most monsters in an instant.

That made it a very troublesome monster to face.

Under normal circumstances, it would not have been a problem.

He could either avoid it or take his time fighting it.

The problem was that if he wanted to catch up to the Scavengers quickly, he had to pass through this place.

Without warning, the Titan Beetle fired Flame Breath at Zeon.

FWOOOOSH!

Zeon raised a sand wall and blocked its Breath. Then the creature charged forward with its enormous body.

The Titan Beetle knew that its massive, hard body was a weapon. That was why it attacked by throwing its whole body forward.

CRASH—!

The Titan Beetle’s enormous body slammed like a boulder into the place where Zeon had been standing.

At that moment, Zeon unfolded Sand Blender.

WHIRRRR!

Sand particles rotated at high speed around the Titan Beetle.

Sand Blender could grind most monsters apart in an instant, but it did not work against the Titan Beetle.

That was how far beyond imagination the Titan Beetle’s shell hardness was.

In a way, it was a monster that was Zeon’s opposing match.

Hunting a monster that could not be ground away by sand like this would inevitably take quite some time.

Furthermore, the Titan Beetle could even use Flame Breath.

That meant it had resistance to fire.

An ordinary Awakened who used Flame Magic could never catch a Titan Beetle. However, Zeon was no ordinary Awakened.

“Sand Gehenna!”

The sand particles rotating at high speed heated red.

The sand particles melted and turned like lava.

Because the Titan Beetle had resistance to fire, it did not take a major blow, but the ultra-high-heat lava was more than enough to throw it into confusion.

More than half of its gigantic body sank into the lava and floundered.

Its body also heated red along with it.

At that moment, Zeon called Gaia.

“Gaia!”

Squee?

“Move the elements and chill the area around that thing. You can do that, right?”

Squee!

Gaia answered briefly.

It meant it could.

For Gaia, a spirit lifeform in name and truth, it was not particularly difficult.

“Flash-freeze it immediately.”

Squeak, squeak!

Gaia answered and cooled the air around the Titan Beetle.

Whoooosh!

The temperature dropped in an instant.

Frost settled over the Titan Beetle’s heated shell.

After confirming that sight, Zeon spoke in a cold voice.

“An object heated red-hot and then cooled becomes that much easier to destroy. Claymore!”

BOOOOM—!

In that instant, the sand beneath the Titan Beetle exploded.

The Titan Beetle’s shell, weakened by the attacks of extreme heat and extreme cold, exploded along with it.

Zeon did not even glance at the enormous Titan Beetle’s body as it erupted like a volcano, and simply passed by.

In the meantime, Briel put the fragments of the Titan Beetle’s shell into the subspace inside her pointed hat.

She thought they might prove useful someday.

---

BOOOOM!

With an explosive roar, a mushroom cloud rose in the distance.

“What was that?”

“Did a volcano erupt?”

The Awakened of the Helbrin Mercenary Corps, who had been focused on plundering, were startled and looked toward the horizon.

It was easily several dozen kilometers away.

Even so, the explosion was so tremendous that they could feel the vibration and pressure.

It was not unreasonable for them to think a volcano had erupted.

Hassim frowned.

“A volcano? If that were the case, there would have been signs like an earthquake.”

“Then what could it be?”

At the stupid question from the subordinate beside him, Hassim’s gaze grew even fiercer.

“When something abnormal happens in this desert, it is proof there is a problem. Akashi!”

“Yes, Captain.”

“Wasn’t that the place where the monster you mentioned had been hiding?”

“I believe so.”

Akashi answered with a grave expression.

The place where the mushroom cloud was rising now was the place the Helbrin Mercenary Corps had detoured around because of Akashi’s warning.

At the time, Akashi had realized through detection Magic that an enormous monster was hiding beneath the sand.

Because there was no need to face a giant monster, the Helbrin Mercenary Corps had made a wide detour.

Thanks to that, they had been able to pass through the area safely without disturbing the monster.

“You said it was a Grade B monster, didn’t you?”

“Judging by its biological reaction and mana density, it was definitely a monster of Grade B or higher.”

“Is that so?”

Hassim’s expression turned even more serious.

Facing a Grade B monster hiding beneath the sand was burdensome even for him.

If the entire Helbrin Mercenary Corps charged in, it would not be impossible to kill, but it would inevitably take a long time.

There would also be many casualties.

That was how difficult it was to deal with giant monsters.

Enough that the Helbrin Mercenary Corps had avoided it rather than confronting it.

It was clear that such a giant monster had been hunted by someone.

“It could be that another monster invaded its territory and they fought, but the chances of that are slim.”

Other giant monsters rarely invaded the territory of a monster that large.

Unless they were confident they could win for certain.

And Hassim knew very well that such cases were extremely rare.

“That was hunted by someone with intent.”

“Hunted? Then you mean a person did it?”

“It could be a person, or it could be an elf. But you all know, don’t you? Sometimes absurd beings appear.”

One reason the Helbrin Mercenary Corps had survived in the desert until now was precisely because they avoided such beings.

“Then someone hunted the Titan Beetle?”

“That’s what I think.”

“Who?”

“It’s frustrating because I don’t know that. In any case, I have a bad feeling.”

At Hassim’s words, every Awakened present grew serious.

They knew.

They knew just how accurate Hassim’s instincts were.

If he said something was bad, then it truly was bad.

Hassim called one of his subordinates.

“Alton!”

“Yes, Captain.”

“Let’s do that.”

“That?”

“Yes! The environment is perfect for it too.”

Hassim looked around.

The place they were in was a survivor village.

A village where about thirty people had gathered and lived.

Among them, around ten were suitable to use as slaves.

The rest were either too old or too young.

They had killed every last one of them.

Because of that, the scent of blood was thick in the survivor village.

Alton answered,

“Understood, Captain. I’ll show you what I can do.”

“We need to finish as quickly as possible.”

“Don’t worry.”

Alton began moving busily.

The Helbrin Mercenary Corps brought the slaves they had captured out of the survivor village and watched Alton work.

Alton was an Enchanter.

And specifically, an Enchanter who had specialized in one thing: explosions.

He possessed the ability to infuse objects with his mana and make them explode.

He was still only Grade D, and because his work took time, he normally did not use his ability much at plundering sites.

However, if he was given enough time, it was an ability that could display more power than anyone else.

He installed explosives throughout the survivor village.

Once Alton’s work ended, the Helbrin Mercenary Corps withdrew to a huge sand mountain several dozen kilometers away from the village.

Hassim took out a telescope and watched the survivor village.

This telescope, crafted by an Enchanter, could observe things from several dozen kilometers away.

How much time had passed? Someone appeared in the village they had plundered.

They were too far away to confirm the details, but it seemed to be an adult man and a young girl. Beside them, a large balloon-like object was floating.

“A tracker attached themselves to us, just as I expected. Alton!”

“Yes, Captain.”

“Blow them away!”

“Now?”

“Immediately!”

“Understood.”

Alton activated his ability as he answered.

BOOOOM!

A tremendous explosion swallowed the man, the girl, and the balloon.