Ch.9898. Desert of Death (2)

The horse initially came to the desert in search of a connection, but the actual reason for heading into this death desert is a bit more complicated.

While finding an animal companion was part of it, we’re not moving solely for that purpose now. To be more precise, our purpose for venturing into this dangerous otherworld can be classified into three main reasons.

One is, naturally, discovering a connection to form an animal companion contract.

As for the other two reasons… first is gaining combat experience against undead and various other enemies here.

The undead in the outer regions range from animal-based to magical beast-based to human-based undead. Looking at it differently, there’s no better training opportunity, which is probably why temples bring their novices here for “holy wars.”

[H-Hiyah—!]

—Slash!

Especially for Griffin Gretel, who has physically grown to near-maturity but has practically zero combat experience, these low-level undead appearing in the desert make perfect opponents.

And the various spoils obtained from exterminating these undead—this was one of the many reasons that led me to journey to the desert.

I don’t expect high-end items like Golem Armor, especially since I have no intention of entering the deeper areas.

At best, I’ll find some miscellaneous goods and trinkets, but considering they’re from the “Desert of Death,” they still fetch decent prices.

Metals forged with ancient imperial technology are several times higher quality than ordinary metals of this era, so even if you just melt them down and make them into cold weapons, their durability is about 2-3 times greater.

Anyway, we spent our time enthusiastically exterminating various enemies in the desert.

The most common enemies in the outer zone are animal undead. I’m guessing they’re the result of animals like snakes, wolves, or bears becoming undead.

Their most notable characteristic is the distinction between zombie-type and skeleton-type undead.

In other words, the relatively newer-looking zombie types appear to be zombie animals that could survive in the desert, while skeletons seem to be more ancient undead.

Scorpions, centipedes, lizards, snakes, and various other species wander around as zombies, and among these undead animals, you can find skeleton wolves or bears mixed in.

Meanwhile, the second most common sight after animal undead is none other than groups of low-level undead.

These creatures, either naturally generated by the otherworld environment or those who entered from outside and died to become undead, are beings that wander endlessly in groups searching for the living, without even clear consciousness.

The most common are naturally occurring skeleton-undead armed with bone clubs or crude metal scraps, followed by zombies or skeletons that were once adventurers seeking fortune.

Of course, besides these common fodder, there are also relatively powerful undead.

The most representative are ghouls wearing Middle Eastern-style armor that could appear in Arabian Nights. These creatures, wearing armor that’s practically in tatters, are typically armed with ancient-looking scimitars (curved swords), tattered shields, or spears.

These ghouls in particular possess some intelligence regardless of their armaments, so treating them like mere beasts could lead to serious trouble.

Besides these, groups of skeletons wearing Egyptian-style equipment are occasionally discovered. They move in packs of about 10-20 and pose a threat by employing basic tactics.

…However, there are enemies several times more dangerous than these.

In the outer zone of the otherworld “Desert of Death,” I had thought only low-level undead existed without any mid-level ones, but when I actually encountered this desert… surprisingly, mid-level creatures—living ones at that—existed.

Its name, registered in the Adventurer’s Guild encyclopedia, is Corpse Stalker.

Despite its name suggesting an undead, it’s actually a living mid-level creature.

This creature, born from humans mutated by prolonged exposure to necromantic energy, is a monster with the appearance of an emaciated human, and naturally, being born from exposure to necromantic energy, it’s far from ordinary humanity.

Its average height is about 4 meters. Abnormally thin with exposed ribs, its bald face looks like skin stretched over bone, with a mouth that opens several times wider than a normal person’s.

Its main weapon is the blade-like nails at the ends of its abnormally long arms that reach down to its calves. These are powerful on their own, but they also secrete poison that hinders wound regeneration, making them extremely dangerous.

Add to this its regenerative ability that can instantly reattach severed limbs, and blood (bodily fluids) flowing with necromantic energy that acts as a deadly poison to living beings.

Its elongated, overwhelming running speed and… the tracking and hunting abilities utilizing this speed and stealth cannot be ignored.

It’s said to demonstrate top-tier skills in technical stealth and concealment, but this creature can also make its skin transparent when stationary for a certain period.

In other words, it was the type of enemy that becomes troublesome when its special abilities combine with its inherent combat power.

—CRUNCH!!

“—Robo!”

[Ugh, freeze—!!]

In reality, Robo was ambushed by one hiding in the sand, and although we ultimately won the battle…

The wound Robo suffered to his side was somewhat critical.

Beyond the wound itself, the venomous claws were interfering with the process of healing or regenerating Robo’s injury.

“Want to go inside?”

[…Yeah.]

It was serious enough that Robo, who as a wolf hates showing weakness, rarely showed such dependence on me.

Taking Robo back, I could only take comfort in the fact that thanks to Robo’s cold energy, the poison hadn’t penetrated into his body, and that in a summoning standby state, Robo’s wounds could be sufficiently treated.

※ ※ ※

After Robo became temporarily incapacitated, we changed our vanguard position to Hydra and continued our battles while gradually advancing deeper into the otherworld.

During this time, we encountered various undead… and the most impressive among them was a skeleton commander leading legions composed of over thousands of elite skeletons.

Normally, a commander refers to someone who controls and directs a group, usually a military force, but for the undead race, a commander signifies a being with even greater power.

It refers to an individual with dominion over a specific classification and the ability to cast magical boosts—essentially passive buffs—on those under their command.

Therefore, the skeleton commander we encountered was a formidable enemy not to be underestimated.

About 2,000 skeleton infantry, heavily armed with shields and spears, though worn.

Considering that a mid-level warrior is typically equivalent to 1,000 elite infantry, this alone constitutes the fighting power of essentially two mid-level beings.

Additionally, behind these infantry were about 500 skeleton archers capable of imbuing their arrows with magical power, a rare ability.

Arrows infused with magic can easily pierce plate armor, giving them firepower not much different from decent gunners.

On top of that, there were about 300 heavy cavalry skeletons mounted on skeleton horses wearing magical armor.

Considering that a cavalry lance charge is one of the few attacks effective against higher-ranked enemies, this too is not a force to be taken lightly.

Moreover, the skeleton commander himself was not only a hybrid-type mid-level undead but also had a skeleton knight and a skeleton mage (mid-level) under his command.

Well, of course, they couldn’t withstand the celestial magic cast by Sofia and me using anti-undead wands, assisted by Minerva, and enhanced by Astra’s buff bombs.

“Celestial Meteor” with its guaranteed hit effect from Fate Observation swept away thousands of skeleton legions in one go, and even the mid-level skeletons with relatively lower durability couldn’t survive.

Although they were enemies annihilated by a single spell, the impact of the undead legion that forced us to use our ultimate strike was considerable.

And then…

‘…Hmm?’

As I was happily advancing, relieved that there were no enemies blocking our path for once, I spotted a black beast collapsed on the ground in my field of vision.

A quadruped with all its fur made of scarlet energy flames, with the intense… or what appeared to have been intense life force characteristic of mid-level beings. Probably a horse-type magical beast.

From the fact that there were no horns or wings attached to its magical body, I could easily notice that this mid-level magical beast wasn’t simply from the same lineage as a bicorn…

No, that wasn’t what was important right now.

My soul, my animal instinct, my beast senses, the inspiration I gained as a druid—they were all telling me.

That this collapsed horse magical beast before my eyes was my destined connection. The reason I had come to this desert.