Chapter 148 The Furthest Distance

"Everyone! You must survive!"

The first person to charge towards the horde of desert dragons was Uncle Blackbeard.

Despite his seemingly clumsy appearance wielding a giant axe, it did not hinder his charging speed in the slightest.

"Aha~ these guys were covered in mud!"

The desert dragon's enormous size was like a small mountain to Blackbeard, but his giant axe could easily cleave through the desert dragon's hard hide.

It seemed that only then did he realize that the so-called Black Desert Dragon was nothing more than a bastard that used mud to hide its body.

After understanding the reason, everyone's fighting spirit instantly surged again.

"Majestic water spirit, answer my call, transform into a ripper, display your fury to the world, bring forth a fierce blessing, reveal your might—'A flood that devours everything!'"

Immediately afterwards, Vice-Captain Ogura unleashed his magic. Even though it was only a high-level spell, it possessed excellent power, speed, and accuracy in his hands, appearing to be a very skilled and powerful strike.

Nighold also rushed forward, accompanied by the female knight. Her "Shinto-ryu" swordsmanship was superb, and although she had not yet reached the Sword King level, her every move was still not to be underestimated.

Yuna, trying to appear calm, gritted her teeth and charged into the desert dragon herd. However, she seemed distracted and was rescued several times by the archer man and the giant kudzu.

"Alright! Leon! It's my turn to go on stage."

"Let these guys witness my strongest attack!"

"Prince of the Thunder Emperor, ascending to the heavens, open your eyes and behold this corrupt world! Thunder from all directions, resounding across the earth, heed my prayer, shatter the darkness—'Heavenly Thunder'!"

Even without the aid of a wand, the majesty of a king-level magic is still evident.

An astonishing storm swept across the area, whipping up gusts of sand, with lightning flashing continuously through the clouds.

Boom!

After a few seconds of delay, the expanding lightning bolt struck down at an exaggerated speed, instantly illuminating the night and causing several clustered desert dragons to fall instantly.

"Well done, Leon!"

The black-bearded uncle was right next to him. Although he was almost hit by the lightning, he still gave him a thumbs up.

"Tch~ What's so great about it!"

Yuna glared at me defiantly, then stormed into the horde of desert dragons that had followed, completely oblivious to the fact that she was still surrounded.

"O spirit bathed in the aurora, heed my call! Buried deep within the earth, blaze forth, shatter, descend before me, and burn away all my blessings—'Explosive Flame'!"

Fortunately, the two mages discovered her in time, which allowed Yuna to break through the encirclement.

~~~

Several hours later, a sliver of light appeared on the horizon.

Under the dim light, the rare clamor of this desert finally subsided.

The corpses of desert dragons were scattered all around.

Although most of the bodies had been burned to a crisp, there were still quite a few left that could fetch a good price.

Uncle Blackbeard and Nighold lay beside the corpses they had just killed together, a giant sword still stuck in their heads, piercing straight through their jaws and firmly nailed to the sandy ground.

Ookumo and the two magicians huddled together, seemingly exhausted of their magic.

The female knight and the male archer had somehow developed a remarkable tacit understanding, sitting back to back on the sandy ground, their longswords somehow being knocked away a short distance away.

In short, the female knight was holding the male archer's arrow tightly in her hand. In such a crisis, even an inconspicuous arrow could become a very reliable weapon.

At this point, you might ask me where I am?

I must say, even with a huge amount of magic power, I couldn't keep up with the continuous use of King-level magic. At this moment, I'm lying on the sand, completely exhausted.

Yuna was resting her head on my stomach, seemingly exhausted as well. In short, this rare cooperation made me realize that this temperamental and problem child wasn't too bad at gunfighting.

At least it can buy me a lot of time while I'm chanting magic.

"where are they!"

At this moment, carrying a bow and arrow, he rushed towards this place with worried steps, followed by a man in a white robe... no... it should be a robe stained with blood.

It was Panty and Lucius who had been sitting together in the first dragon carriage earlier.

If I remember correctly, the two of them joined the fleeing group when the desert dragon was in a frenzy, but judging from their disheveled appearance, they seemed to have been through a fairly large battle.

After understanding the shout, Yuna suddenly realized that she was currently resting on me. She glared at me fiercely with the extension of her backstab before struggling to prop herself up with her spear.

"This little girl... really..."

"Holy crap! When did little Leon stand up?!"

I then noticed that Yuna's face was flushed red all the way to her neck, and she was looking away, avoiding my gaze.

"You...you're utterly useless!"

Although it was a complaint, Leon was clearly in high spirits, as if his battle had just begun.

Left with no other choice, I quickly moved it to a more comfortable location so that it wouldn't look like a small tent.

"Found them! It's the captain and his team!"

With Panti and Lucius returning to the team, the remaining scattered team members also returned one by one. In short, they all looked like they had been through a fierce battle, and their clothes were stained with blood that was unclear, possibly from some monster.

Unfortunately, the team of nineteen was reduced to only sixteen members after this battle.

The two people swallowed by the desert dragon were the adventurers who were secretly kissing in a corner when they reunited. They seemed to be a couple and were bound together by life and death.

Another member of the team who died was the female mage among the four mages they first encountered. They were not pursued by the desert dragon, but instead encountered another kind of monster. Since they had no vanguard and encountered a monster of the same level, it was fortunate that three of them survived.

But from the evasive words of the three returning, it was clear that things were definitely not simple. In any case, since Nighold, as the captain, didn't say much, I could only keep this thought to myself.

~~~

Overall, the mission went relatively smoothly. Although most of the corpses were charred and could not serve as the evidence required by the guild, fortunately, some remained.

Even though the outer skin is riddled with holes, it can still fetch a good price. At least, the guild won't lower the reward because of the material's quality, unless it's specifically marked as requiring excellent or good material.

When disposing of corpses, I wasn't too slow because of the experience Lilith had taught me. Although I wasn't as fast as Uncle Blackbeard, I was more like a senior than Yuna.

She looked disgusted but helpless.

In short, although the extermination is over, the mission is not. We need to peel off these tough outer layers, then there are teeth and backstabs, and finally the tail that the guild needs.

"Phew... This kind of thing is definitely not suitable for magicians."

After dealing with a corpse, I would carry the desert dragon's tail, along with a bag full of teeth and spikes, towards the dragon's carriage. These were the things I needed to take back to the guild to exchange for money, so I couldn't be careless.

Wait a minute~

At that moment, I suddenly noticed a girl standing in front of me who was only half a head taller than me.

Carrying the heavy dragon tail, I kept my eyes fixed on the ground and didn't notice her in time. If it weren't for her sudden shout, I would have almost bumped into her.

"...Thank you for your help! Anyway...I'm sorry about what happened before!"

After saying that, Yuna jogged off towards Oguragi.

"This guy... is even his apology this rude?"

"Anyway... it feels pretty good."

After placing the tail on the dragon carriage, I finally felt a significant relief in my shoulders.

"Hmm... I hope this won't affect my height growth..."

The thought suddenly came to mind that carrying heavy objects for a long time would break a child's body, so even when they reach the age of growth, they wouldn't grow much taller.

"Hmm...? What's that?"

Lost in thought, my gaze inadvertently drifted to the sea buckthorn bushes, where something that looked like a strip of cloth was swaying in the wind.

"Hmm...this looks familiar..."

The white fabric, with its lace trim, resembled the edge of a maid's apron.

"This...could it be...?"

"Sylvia's... right..."