ESMLT 22

Chapter 22

“Ria?”

The Crown Prince and Jaeger stopped and turned to look at me.

“What is it?”

“I thought I just heard a sound.”

“A sound?”

Everyone, including the Crown Prince, shook their heads, indicating they heard nothing.

Did I mishear it?

But there’s a reason I’ve become so sensitive.

Whenever it comes to the sacred zone, I researched every piece of information beforehand—even details not mentioned in the original story.

Of course, this included traps that were supposedly retrieved a few years ago. I’d also heard that a month ago, monsters appeared in the Abira Desert, the site of one of the traps’ backgrounds, and it was declared a restricted zone.

The interdimensional trap even rendered ants in real time.

In other words, if monsters appear in the Abira Desert, they could show up here too.

I debated whether the information I had was common knowledge, and in the end, I shook my head, deciding not to share it. I dismissed it as just my imagination.

How long had we been walking, struggling against the heat?

Finally, a large sign mocking anyone who couldn’t see it came into view: “EXIT.”

“We’re almost there.”

I smiled with relief.

Crunching—the sand beneath us shifted slightly.

Just as we wavered,

Thrum-thrum-thrum—

A strange vibration ran through the ground.

The Crown Prince and Jaeger adjusted their grip on spear and sword, scanning their surroundings.

“Something’s coming.”

Whoosh—!

As if on cue, a sharp, red, needle-like object pierced the sand dune.

Sand poured down in a cascade, revealing a red-shelled scorpion monster, its chitinous tail splitting the ground around it.

I stared up at it in shock. It easily stood three meters tall.

…Damn, I knew it was too easy.

I deactivated the hammer’s miniaturization magic and swung it once.

“Everyone knows the rule, right? No releasing aura or mana inside the trap.”

If the interdimensional space exploded, we’d be trapped instantly.

The Crown Prince twirled his spear with one hand and smirked.

“Of course. A red scorpion that wanders only the desert. Perfect for warming up.”

Jaeger stepped forward, stamping the ground aggressively.

“Your Highness, there’s no need for you to intervene.”

“Hey, Duke. You holding back? Good things are meant to be shared.”

I glared at the two men standing in front of me.

One looked about to faint, yet seemed thoroughly entertained.

I warned them urgently while keeping an eye on the monster.

“Do you know the red scorpion monster’s weakness?”

According to the monster compendium, the red scorpion is a mid-tier monster that could give us some trouble.

The Crown Prince turned to me, bewildered.

“A weakness? We’ve always just killed them.”

He’s been drafted as a commander for monster hunts multiple times, and yet he says that so casually… What a madman.

Pshhh—!!

At that moment, the red scorpion stirred a sandstorm as it approached.

It struck at us with its claw.

Thud—!

“Master of the Arcane Tower!”

I rolled with Xien, who had been standing still.

Coughing in the cloud of sand, we glanced around.

“Is everyone okay?!”

No answer came, and panic set in.

Damn it, should I have told them its weakness?

Then it happened.

Xien, who had been beneath me, grabbed my wrist while coughing.

Raising his torso, he looked somewhere off in the distance, his expression turning pale.

“Don’t worry about them—they’re just excited and thrashing around.”

“Huh?”

Whoosh—!

A strong wind swept the sand away.

Finally, I understood what Xien meant.

Pshhhh—!

Jaeger was perched on the scorpion’s back, repeatedly striking it with his sword.

Without aura, how is he piercing that tough shell?

Even more astonishing was the rear.

The Crown Prince clung to the scorpion’s tail as it writhed in pain.

Just as the venomous stinger was about to strike his head, he drove his spear into the tail.

Crack! Blue blood spurted as he pulled the spear out, then grabbed a leg with his bare hands and ripped it off.

Squish—!

Blue blood gushed like a fountain.

He grinned and tore off the remaining legs one by one.

Seeing this, I raised my hammer and assumed battle stance.

The red scorpion, left only with its claws trembling, looked pitiful.

How did I end up with these lunatics… Next life, measure your opponent first.

Thud—!

Soon, the scorpion convulsed and collapsed.

I approached with Xien.

“You’ve already taken care of everything before I could intervene.”

“Indeed. I should’ve seen the young lady’s monster hunting skills. Right, Duke?”

Jaeger gave me a cold glance and brushed the blood off his sword.

Strapping his dropped backpack back on, he said,

“This was a perfect chance to test excuses about carrying weapons.”

“…If needed, I can handle it.”

“Then go ahead, show me.”

Jaeger gestured to the trembling red scorpion behind us. It was still alive.

So they just want me to finish it off…

Thinking I had to gather it anyway, I approached the scorpion.

“Watch closely. The red scorpion’s weakness is its tail.”

I pulled gloves and a vial from my pouch.

Crack—.

I smashed the tip of its tail with my hammer. The scorpion spat foam and breathed its last.

I shrugged and smiled at Jaeger.

“Easy, right?”

He frowned and tilted his head.

Ignoring him, I snapped off the fallen stinger, placed it in the vial, and sealed it.

The Crown Prince looked puzzled.

“Why are you keeping that, young lady? Will poison even affect zombies?”

“Not exactly, but you never know. I might need poison someday.”

“You saying that makes me uneasy. What do you plan to use it for?”

I ignored him, corked the vial, and gestured to the others to move toward the iron-bar sign.

“Let’s go.”

Before another monster appeared.

I walked ahead of the male leads, reaching the iron-bar sign soon after. Beneath it, a dark hole marked the exit.

Ssshh—.

I heard sand trickling somewhere.

Glancing down uncertainly, I saw nothing amiss. I tilted my head, puzzled.

Then, a foot behind me sank into the sand.

Huh?

Before I could blink, my body tilted.

The other leg was being pulled in as well.

No way…

I spun my head and saw desert moles buried in the sand, with only their eyes peeking out.

Kwooo!

The mole squealed and dove back into the sand.

Ah, I’d forgotten.

The monsters in the Abira Desert weren’t just scorpions.

“Damn it!”

I wasn’t the only one panicking.

The male leads were also being swallowed by the sand.

The Crown Prince tried bracing with his spear, Jaeger with his sword, but the sand just kept giving way.

Where’s Xien?

I looked back in a hurry. Xien was being pulled in without resistance.

“Ria, are we going to die like this?!”

Don’t act so calm!

I rifled through my pouch, quickly finding a rope.

Stretching my hammer-bearing arm, I hooked it over the iron bar.

Gripping the hammer with both hands, I shook one leg free, braced with my knee, and pulled the other out.

I barely escaped and tied the rope to the iron bar.

“Grab it!”

I tossed the rope toward Xien. He caught it and threw it to Jaeger, who then secured the Crown Prince.

Seeing this, I pulled the rope with all my strength.

Argh, damn it!

My face and neck felt like the veins might burst.

Leaning back, I pulled as Xien climbed the rope, wrapping it in a blanket.

Once he reached the top, he slumped, panting with a pale face—and then looked at my hands in shock.

The friction had stripped the skin off my hands.

“Ria, your hands are bleeding…”

“Come help, then!”

With Xien wrapping the rope with a blanket, it became easier, but the two male leads still struggled to pull themselves up.

Jaeger, climbing the rope, picked up his sword stuck in the sand when he saw us.

“This won’t do. I’ll cut the rope, so you two escape first—”

“Go ahead, just try!”

I was burning up, dizzy, and my hands stung.

And they expected me to save them after all this while leaving me behind?