Like a bolt of lightning under a clear sky, or perhaps a falling meteor, Rei struck. With a single blow, he decapitated the flying monster and landed on the sand alongside its carcass.
Gravity claimed the creature’s remains, dragging them to the ground, but Rei—who had leaped nearly five meters into the air—activated his Sleipnir's Shoes again just before impact. He used the magical cushion to kill his momentum, hovering for a split second before stepping lightly onto the dunes.
As his Dragon Robe fluttered softly in the desert wind, Elena found herself strangely unable to look away.
To any bystander, it was simply a display of an adventurer leaping up to slay a beast. Of course, a five-meter vertical jump was far from "simple," but it was still just a single strike. Even so, Elena could not help but feel captivated by the sight.
"Guruuu?"
Seto gave a small cry as if to snap her out of her daze. It worked; Elena blinked and shook herself.
"Rei, are you unhurt!?"
She hurried toward him as he stood by the monster's corpse. Rei raised a hand in a casual gesture to signal that he was fine.
Blood and bodily fluids sprayed from the monster’s stump, and the desert heat was already causing a pungent stench to drift through the air. Rei ignored the smell, staring down at the creature. Even without its head, the monster was over three meters long.
Elena let out a breath of relief, then turned her attention to the severed head lying nearby. It possessed four horns, each well over a meter in length. Factoring those in, the creature’s total size reached nearly five meters.
"I had heard nothing of such a monster inhabiting this floor," she remarked.
"Yeah. It wasn't in the reports Pleiades gave us, and it wasn't in any of the guild info I gathered before coming here. So, what do you think? A New Species? Or perhaps..."
He trailed off, glancing toward the area where the corpses of the researchers—the men who had tried to use a Chaos Seed on a Cactus-modoki—had been lying. The bodies were already stored in his Misty Ring, but his gaze drifted there out of habit.
Elena shook her head. "No, I believe we can assume this monster is unrelated to those men."
"Why? If they're out here creating Anomaly Species, it wouldn't be weird for them to cook up an entirely New Species, right?"
"It is possible in theory. However, while they chose the Cactus-modoki for their experiments, the fact that they were working in this specific location was likely a matter of convenience."
She gestured toward the pit where the Antlion had lurked.
"If the Cactus-modoki had successfully become an Anomaly Species, they likely would have moved on to other monsters. If they failed, would they really carry the failed experiments all the way back here every single time? This creature can move through the sand, as we saw, but Anomaly Species have appeared on many different floors. I find it hard to believe they have stationed a monster like this on every level just to act as a disposal unit."
"I see your point," Rei admitted, convinced.
Rei had encountered Anomaly Species on several different floors. It was clear that the experiments were widespread. Furthermore, based on what he had just witnessed, turning a normal monster into an Anomaly Species was an incredibly difficult process.
Well, if they could churn them out that easily, there’d be a lot more than thirty of them discovered by now, he thought.
"So, is this monster just a previously unknown creature that happens to live here?"
"Most likely. Though I cannot say if it is truly 'unknown' to the world. Pleiades and his group do not know every secret of the dungeon, and there is always the chance the Dungeon Core has recently spawned or summoned a New Species."
"And it just happened to be in a place where they were conducting experiments?"
Elena nodded, running a hand over the creature's armor-like shell. "Or perhaps they chose this spot because this monster was here. If an experiment failed, they could simply toss the remains into the pit and let this creature dispose of the evidence."
"That sounds plausible. Leaving a half-mutated corpse lying around would be a disaster if another adventurer found it. But that still leaves the question of how they dispose of failures on other floors."
"Do not ask me," Elena sighed. "I am merely speculating. There could be other reasons I have not considered, but any further guesses would just be piling inference upon inference."
Rei nodded, dropping the subject. Rather than wasting mental energy on unanswerable questions inside the dungeon, it was better to reach B14F, take the magic circle back to the surface, and hand over the evidence to House Silwa.
"Alright. I'll store this thing in the Misty Ring and we'll keep moving."
"Gurululuuu!" Seto chirped, nudging Rei as if to tell him to hurry up.
Prompted by his partner, Rei stored the head and torso into his ring, followed by his Death Scythe.
"I truly envy that Item Box of yours," Elena murmured. "Being able to produce your weapon in an instant even while appearing empty-handed is a great advantage."
Rei shrugged. "Doesn't your Magic Pouch do the same?"
"No. Unlike an Item Box, the object does not simply appear in my hand. I must physically reach inside to retrieve it. It lacks the same immediacy."
"Still, a Magic Pouch is a pretty rare Magic Item, isn't it?"
"Rare, yes. But it cannot compare to the utility of an Item Box."
They began walking again, following Seto's lead.
Behind them, the desert sun continued to beat down on the spot where they had fought. The spilled blood and fluids began to evaporate, releasing a thick scent that the desert winds carried across the dunes.
Monsters caught the scent and gathered at the site, though they found no scraps of the Antlion to feast upon. Instead, they found each other. A frantic struggle for survival broke out as predators fought over the source of the scent.
Ultimately, the victor of this local struggle was a Three-Headed Giant Snake. Because the area near the Cactus-modoki grove was a place adventurers usually avoided, this monster would remain at the top of the local food chain for some time, establishing itself as the apex of a new miniature ecosystem.
Unaware of the carnage left in their wake, Rei’s party pressed on.
Because they were taking a route avoided by most adventurers, they were frequently set upon by monsters. However, these were mostly "duds"—Sandworms, Bandit Goblins, and Sand Snakes they had encountered many times before. For Rei, who was hoping for new magic stones, it was a disappointing haul.
"Man, I was hoping for a Sky Fang or a Rock Spider, or even another one of those Antlion things. I need the magic stones," Rei grumbled.
Despite his complaints, he diligently stored the carcasses in his Misty Ring. Suddenly, he spotted something ahead and a grin spread across his face.
Rei pulled the Death Scythe from his ring, a ferocious light in his eyes. To a casual observer, the area ahead looked like nothing but empty sand. But Seto stood beside him, throat rumbling in a low growl as he glared at the dunes with sharp eyes.
Elena smiled as she readied her whip-sword. "I suppose if there are monsters like the Rock Spider that hide among stones, it is only natural to find those that hide in the sand."
"Exactly. Here they come!"
Realizing their ambush had been spoiled and that further waiting would only hurt their chances, the entities hidden beneath the sand surged forward.
It wasn't just one or two. Ten, then twenty figures erupted from the dunes.
"Sand Ants. I guess if there are Antlions, there have to be ants."
The creatures were between 1.5 and 2 meters long. These human-sized ants charged in a straight line, determined to swarm their prey.
Watching the mindless charge, Rei let out a mocking laugh and began to chant.
"O Flame, become arrows that burn all to ash and fall like rain."
Approximately fifty fire arrows materialized behind Rei. Each was roughly the length of a human arm. The moment they were fully formed, Rei unleashed the spell.
"Downpour of Flame Arrows!"
The arrows streaked through the air, raining down on the approaching swarm. Some of the Sand Ants realized the danger and tried to veer off, but the majority were caught in the direct line of fire.
The magical projectiles punched through the hard Sand Ant Carapaces, incinerating their insides and turning them into charcoal in an instant.
When the arrows finished falling and the sand and smoke cleared, only four Sand Ants remained. Some had been lucky, others had used the charred remains of their kin as shields, and a few had been just smart enough to dodge.
However, they were far from unscathed. Burned and battered, they were immediately met by a force they had no hope of overcoming: Elena with her whip-sword, and the "one man and one beast" duo of Rei and Seto.
It was overkill. Within moments, the last of the Sand Ants were slaughtered.
All twenty-plus monsters had done was reveal themselves and die. To someone like Rei, who possessed such powerful wide-range attacks, they were nothing but experience points.
However, Rei’s overwhelming power had one drawback.
"...Damn it. The carapaces are ruined."
Rei sighed as he gathered the remains. Aside from the magic stones, the Sand Ant Carapace was the most valuable material these monsters provided. In Exil, D and E-Rank adventurers often bought light armor made from these shells once they had saved up enough money for an upgrade. But armor with holes burned through the center was worthless.
"Cheer up," Elena said consolingly. "If we had fought them all individually, it would have taken much longer. A smaller payout is a fair trade for the time we saved."
"I guess you're right. Anyway, let's find the stairs to B14F so we can get this info to House Silwa."
Having regained his focus, Rei continued through the desert. After several more hours of fighting through minor ambushes, they finally located the stairs leading underground. They descended to B14F, located the magic circle, and returned to the surface.