Endless golden sands spread out like a sea.
The scorching sun mercilessly beats down on the sand dunes, causing heat haze to shimmer.
Amidst the flood of assistants’ chatter,
Azelas and Aracne boldly stepped outside the door.
—“The light is dazzling…”
—[It’s refreshing.]
The two began making their way into the heart of the desert, stepping on the sand.
I glanced at Group 4 through Iris and called out to the assistant, Boglebogle.
“Ellis.”
“I remember you wanted to see an SSS-Class Monster, right? The sun floating up there is an SSS-Class Monster. It’s nerfed to S-Class right now, though.”
A sphere-like monster that looks no different from the sun. Solorb.
It was the same entity as the monster we saw in the plains with the Centaurs. Probably.
It only resembled it in appearance and danger level.
The species could be different.
【Boglebogle】—That’s an SSS-Class…
After explaining the monster Solorb to Ellis,
I called over the Centauress, who was resting a bit farther away.
“Centauress.”
[Yes, Explorer. I’ll stop resting now and start mapping.]
“No, I didn’t call you for that. I wanted to ask about Solorb.”
[Are you talking about Solorb?]
“Could you come here for a moment?”
The Centauress stood up.
In that process, Melody Fox, who had been sleeping on her back, woke up.
By the way, they aren’t friends yet.
They are just at the stage of getting to know each other.
The Centauress approached me.
I pointed at Iris’s screen and asked her.
The sphere floating over the desert, Solorb.
Does it tolerate the creatures below its realm engaging in slaughter like the Solorb that was in the plains?
In response, the Centauress stroked her chin and seemed to ponder before answering.
[Well… I haven’t been there, so I don’t know what kind of tendencies that Solorb has, but… it’s not a trait of the Solorb species to abhor slaughter. It’s just a characteristic of the individual Solorb that inhabits the plains.]
“So you’re saying that Solorb probably doesn’t care whether something gets killed or not?”
[That’s correct. But I’m not certain.]
I nodded at the Centauress’s words.
At that moment, a voice from Group 4 came through Iris.
—“Uh, I can see a monster…”
—[Father, what should we do? Should we capture it and tame it?]
On Iris’s screen, a humanoid form, similar to a human, was approaching from a distance.
Floating in the air without legs.
“Let’s wait for now.”
I urged Group 4 to hold their position.
While it’s likely that Solorb is not an entity that abhors slaughter, that’s merely speculation and not confirmed information.
If that Solorb turns out to be one that abhors slaughter,
And by some unfortunate mistake, we end up killing a monster in the process of subduing it, the lives of the members of Group 4 would be at risk.
So it was best to avoid any action until the monster takes the offensive.
Let’s play it safe.
“Don’t take any action until it attacks first.”
—“Got it…”
—[Understood, Father.]
They were all set for battle.
Yet, the 4 squad stared intently at the approaching monster without moving rashly.
And soon enough, a monster approached.
…This monster looked oddly familiar.
“Oh.”
I remembered after reading Ellis’s chat.
The Demon Lord of Thirst, the Mummy Skeleton.
A monster that once instilled fear in a nation of Elemenzia.
Of course, it wouldn’t be the same exact entity.
The one from Elemenzia was defeated by the Devoted Warrior, Ellis.
The chance of it having somehow survived and flowed into the labyrinth from that world is quite slim.
Perhaps the Demon Lord of Thirst came from the Ancient Labyrinth.
“Considering it looks exactly the same, it must be the same species.”
“Yeah. Seems like it. The species is the same, but the individuals are different.”
Rize was right.
So what if it’s a Demon Lord-class monster?
We have two SS-Class members.
One of them could defeat a Mummy Skeleton with ease, even if they were just napping.
While I was chatting with the assistants, the Mummy Skeleton, having approached rather closely, stopped moving and alternated gazes between Azelas and Aracne.
Was it gauging the gap between itself and its opponents?
Whatever the case,
—[I wish to… the sand… um… I can’t remember the lines… anyway, I wish… ]
The Mummy Skeleton began to spread its arms, summoning a sandstorm.
It was a clear declaration of war.
It seemed to be of low intellect.
Or perhaps a suicide hopeful.
Either way.
Seeing that it was trying to attack first led us to presume that the Solorb over there is lenient towards slaughter.
Meaning it wouldn’t be a problem to engage in combat.
As it displayed hostility, Azelas took a step forward.
At that moment, Aracne, standing beside him, extended her left arm to stop Azelas and smiled softly, still with closed eyes.
—[I’ll take care of it. Subduing without killing is my specialty.]
—“…Understood.”
Before long, dozens of sandstorms swirled around the Mummy Skeleton.
But that wasn’t all.
Like corpses springing from graves,
Countless arms began to rise from beneath the sandy ground.
The ability used by the Mummy Skeleton.
Was the Sand Soldier Summoning.
Aracne did not summon any spiders.
—[Once is enough.]
Aracne squinted one eye, revealing four crimson pupils for a moment, then murmured to herself.
And then.
Aracne’s body began to twitch as countless threads exploded forth.
They moved as if alive and soared into the sky in the blink of an eye.
Their speed was so fast that only a faint afterimage remained.
In an instant, the sky was covered with a web of threads.
Blocking even the sunlight, darkness descended.
Countless threads then came pouring down like a waterfall towards the Mummy Skeleton and its summoned soldiers.
And a massive cage-shaped prison was formed.
They couldn’t even respond to the calamity before them.
They were as powerless as flies caught in a spider’s web.
Though they hadn’t yet physically touched the threads, merely being nearby drained their strength.
The web prison continued to constrict, tightening around the trapped creatures.
The soldiers that touched the threads turned back into ordinary sand, scattering away.
The Mummy Skeleton, bewildered, looked around as the threads constricted further until it was ultimately bound tightly within the web cocoon.
This was a fight that was never even close.
Comparing would be an insult to the gap.
This is the difference between SS-Class and S-Class.
*
【Mysticism】—🤬🤬🤬
Bound by threads, the Mummy Skeleton.
I pointed out its weak spots, and Aracne placed the severed arm on them.
And, as expected, I was continuing to draw.
“I’m all rested up now. My wrist wasn’t hurting to start with.”
“I’ll draw it for you later if you send me a photo.”
“No. I started drawing and got tired again.”
【Yumi】—Then I’ll send the photo later…
As I communicated with the assistants, I had somehow finished the drawing.
Mummy Skeleton
—Actual Danger Level: S-Class.
—Current (Nerfed) Danger Level: B-Class.
—Ability: Sand Manipulation, Sand Soldier Summoning.
Just then.
Thud.
As I closed the notebook after finishing my Monster Index work,
—“Another monster… is approaching.”
—[Shall Azelas handle that one?]
—“Understood.”
A massive monster was approaching with a loud wail toward the four squad, who had been resting in the desert.
—[Averraller! Averraller!]
This time, it was a giant caterpillar.
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