Chapter 123: The Devil of the Desert

A few hours before Lily arrived at the Arabia Kingdom.

There, the curtain was about to rise on a secret conspiracy.

Kyou was touring various parts of the desert with Shin as his guide.

Shin and several of his royal guards were on guard, along with Fitis, Jack, Rock, and others.

This time, the purpose was to capture monsters, so they were leading a wagon. While escorting Kyou, the guards were obtaining monster seeds, eggs, and other materials.

However, after two or three hours of walking across the desert since morning, the number of monsters they had managed to capture was still in the single digits.

「I guess it’s true that the number of monsters is decreasing…」

Kyou muttered as he looked at the number of monsters inside the wagon.

All they had found in this exploration so far were Cactus Balls, Killer Scorpions, and Sand Rat eggs, all low-ranking monsters that weren’t particularly rare.

But even these common monsters had decreased to the point that they would have to search for them for a long time to find them.

「Before, Cactus Balls and the like grew here and there in the desert, but now their numbers have decreased considerably. As for Sand Rats, a depression in the desert was ideal to be their nests…but now the number of nests has also decreased dramatically. 」

Shin must have been worried about the recent decrease in monsters.

However, Kyou called out to her, who had a gloomy look on her face.

「Well, no matter how much you think about it, you can’t figure out the cause, right? So let’s focus on increasing the number instead. 」

As Kyou tried to encourage her by saying this, Shin smiled, looking somewhat more intimate than before.

「That’s right. With Kyou’s new monster cultivation, the monsters that had decreased will surely increase in number. 」

「Okay. So, can we move a little further west this time? 」

「West? Sure, but why again? 」

Shin was puzzled by Kyou’s sudden suggestion, but Kyou answered with a confident smile.

「It’s a monster cultivator’s intuition. I just feel like there’s something rare over there. 」

Shin wasn’t surprised by Kyou’s baseless words, but instead smiled and nodded.

「Okay, if you say so, Kyou. 」

And so, the group moved westward, following Kyou’s suggestion.

After walking for a while, they came across a place where many wilted grass-like things were growing out of the ground.

Kyou, who was riding in the wagon, was so surprised that he got off and asked.

「Shin, what’s this? This is a monster too, isn’t it? 」

「How surprising. This is a Desert Jellyfish. 」

「Desert Jellyfish? 」

Kyou had a question mark after hearing Shin’s answer.

Shin brought the sword she was holding closer to the monster.

The wilted grass then stretched out like a tentacle and grabbed the sword.

Once she was sure she had been grabbed, Shin pulled the sword with all her might, and something resembling a jellyfish appeared from inside.

「Whoa! 」

The jellyfish that was pulled out from the ground had grass-like legs that were twitching.

To describe it, it looked exactly like a jellyfish that had washed up on land.

「The grass of the Desert Jellyfish are tentacles, and when prey gets close, they just grab it down. However, when you pull them out of the sand like this, it’s relatively easy to defeat them. They’re not that high-ranking, but their body parts are very tasty, and their bouncy texture is desirable. According to recent research, they contain a substance called collagen, which has a reputation for being good for your body. 」

Kyou nodded as Shin explained more eloquently than usual.

Looking around, there seemed to be many other Desert Jellyfish hiding, and this seemed to be their nest.

「It’s rare to find a place with this many Desert Jellyfish. You’re amazing, Kyou! Your intuition is sharp. Let’s take all the jellyfish here home with us! 」

「Yeah, that’s right! Then, I’ll help you, so lend me something like a stick. 」

「I’ll help you, of course, bro. 」

「Papa! I’ll help you too! 」

Following Kyou, the other members, such as Jack and Rock, also agreed, and one after another took a sword or stick, and the moment they thrust it in front of the tentacles like Shin did earlier, the grass-like tentacles wrapped around them, and the next moment, they started launching them one after another like a line-and-line fishing.

「Ohhh…This takes a lot of strength. 」

When Kyou thrust one up, his shoulders turned as if it was heavier than he expected.

That was to be expected, as the jellyfish hiding inside was about 60 centimeters in size.

It felt like he was carrying the weight of a small child.

「Papa! Rock caught another one! 」

Saying this, Rock smiled as she caught many Desert Jellyfish and piled them up.

Kyou praised Rock, saying, “Nice job! You’re my daughter after all!”

Rock responded with a happy smile and continued to catch Desert Jellyfish one after the other.

Soon, all the Desert Jellyfish in the area had been caught, and Kyou continued to walk deeper and deeper in search of the remaining jellyfish.

And then, when the members who had gathered moved to different places, it happened.

The first to notice something was strange was Dora-chan, who was hiding in Kyou’s pocket.

Noticing something, she popped her head out of Kyou’s pocket and hurriedly observed her surroundings.

「What’s wrong, Dora-chan? Why are you appearing so suddenly? Is there something bothering you? 」

「No, well, how can I put it…it just smells a bit dangerous…」

「Dangerous? 」

Was it due to the instincts of a monster?

As if agreeing with her, Jack and Rock, who were also monsters, noticed something and hurriedly shouted at Kyou.

「No, big bro! Don’t go that way! It’s dangerous up there! 」

「Papa! Come back! 」

At the same time that Jack and Lock shouted.

An eerie roar that shook their ears was heard.

The panicked group turned their eyes towards the source of the voice.

There, on top of a small sand dune, there was a monster towering with the sun at its back, completely hiding in the sand before it showed up.

The monster had the body of a lion, bat wings, and countless poisonous needles on the tip of its scorpion-like tail.

At first glance, it was obvious that it was a high-ranking monster, as it radiated a terrifying aura.

However, the most peculiar feature of this monster was its face.

It was not that of a beast, but that of an old man.

The face was human, but the body was of a monster. Kyou, who was in front of it, froze as if paralyzed by its extremely grotesque appearance, and Shin, who was in the back, called out its name.

「The Desert Devil Manticore!? No way!! Why is an A-rank monster in a place like this!? 」

The monster called Manticore fixed its gaze on Kyou, who stood below it from the top of the sand dunes.

Then, as if it had set its target, it descended in front of Kyou with the speed of a lion.

「Ahhhh!? 」

Kyou was panicking. At the same time, everyone else who had been separated ran out at once with weapons in hand.

「Kyou-san! 」

「Lord Kyou! 」

「Big bro! Don’t move! I’ll help you! 」

「Papa! 」

Everyone called out Kyou’s name and ran towards him.

But before they could, the Manticore caught Kyou’s body with its tail, and used the wings on its back to create a sandstorm.

「Ugh! 」

「What is this…! 」

「I can’t see anything! 」

「…Papa! 」

The group managed to shake off the sandstorm that had appeared in front of them and approached the place where Kyou was standing.

But after the sandstorm stopped, there was nothing there, and when they looked up into the sky, they saw the Manticore flying off into the distance with Kyou still in its grasp.

The group tried to follow it with their eyes, but it was so fast that they could only see the direction. And so, Kyou disappeared, still held captive by the Manticore.

This was the full story that Shin had told Lily, and Lily deeply regretted not being there.

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