After parting ways with the adventurers from House Silwa, Rei and his companions continued through the oasis floor of the desert.
Because an oasis was nearby, the temperature on B15F was quite high, but it was far more habitable than the desert floors above.
...Strictly in terms of comfort, at least.
"They really are House Silwa's men; they've got some skill," Rei muttered, looking at the monster corpses scattered ahead.
There were nearly ten Kobolds. He said "nearly" because they had already been dismantled for material stripping. Between the damage from the battle and the subsequent harvesting, it was impossible to count them individually.
The creatures had likely targeted the adventurers as prey just as they had Rei’s group, but they had been slaughtered for their trouble.
"They seemed to struggle with the Sword Bees... but that was only because they were overwhelmed by numbers," Elena murmured beside him.
"True enough," Rei agreed with a nod.
Even an ordinary human would die helplessly if swarmed by countless ants. A massive disparity in numbers could be that overwhelming. Furthermore, in terms of rank, Kobolds weren't that different from Sword Bees. The scene before them was the natural result of a competent party facing a manageable number of foes.
...However, it was precisely because of this carnage that certain monsters would show themselves.
"Guruuuu!"
Seto, sensing something approaching, let out a wary cry. Snapping back to attention, Rei and Elena readied the Death Scythe and the whip-sword.
"Well, with all these monster corpses lying around, it’s only natural that scavengers would show up."
"But they're Kobolds," Elena murmured, sounding incredulous.
Unless there was some extreme exception, the meat of low-rank monsters was terrible. No, it was more accurate to say it was outright foul. And while Kobolds were a step above Goblins, they were still low-rank monsters. Rei couldn't help but tilt his head in confusion at the thought of a monster on B15F wanting to fight adventurers just for a taste of such bitter meat.
However, since Seto was on guard, there was no doubt that monsters were closing in. Rei intended to leave quickly, but...
(Too late.)
He let out a sigh and turned his gaze toward the shadows emerging from between the trees.
The monsters, which looked like bipedal snakes, were familiar to Rei. He had fought them in a previous dungeon; he wasn't about to forget them.
Lizardmen. That was the name of the monsters appearing before them.
"Does every dungeon come standard with these guys? I always thought they lived in damp places like wetlands. I don't recall hearing anything about them from Pleiades, either."
"Even Pleiades likely doesn't know every monster."
"Guruuu."
Seto growled at the Lizardmen who had gathered, drawn by the scent of blood.
As Rei readied his Death Scythe, he noticed that these Lizardmen were quite different from the ones he knew. The biggest difference was the color of their scales. The Lizardmen he had fought in the dungeon with the Altar of Inheritance had blue or green scales. However, the ones before them now had sand-colored scales.
"I see. They’re Lizardmen adapted to the desert. We should probably consider them a different species. Desert Lizardmen, essentially."
"Indeed. And there are only three of them—a small group. Do you think they're acting alone because they're confident in their strength, or are there just not many of them around?"
"Who knows... but here they come!"
Deciding that Rei's talking was an opening, the individual at the back of the group drew its bow and fired an arrow.
Despite it being a near-ambush, Rei swung the Death Scythe and sliced the incoming arrow out of the air.
"Guruululuuu!"
Seto let out an angry cry at the attempted sneak attack and lowered its body, ready to pounce.
"Easy, Seto... Elena, there are three of them. You know the drill."
Stroking Seto's head to calm it, Rei called out to Elena, who stood with her weapon ready.
"One each, then?"
"Yeah... Alright, go!"
Rei took his hand off Seto's head. Taking that as the signal, Seto kicked off the ground and leaped toward the Desert Lizardman in the lead.
Whether they had stolen it or crafted it themselves, the Desert Lizardman was equipped with a longsword, a leather shield, and leather armor. It fixed its cold, reptilian gaze on the charging Seto and braced itself behind its shield.
It likely wasn't taking a gryphon lightly, but trying to face Seto head-on was the height of recklessness.
The shield, made of monster leather stretched over wood, was easily smashed by a single strike from Seto’s forepaw. The Desert Lizardman was blown back along with the fragments of its shield, slammed spine-first into a nearby tree, and died instantly.
"Sh-!?"
The Desert Lizardman Elena had marked as her prey saw its comrade die so effortlessly and glanced toward it for a split second.
That moment was fatal.
"To look away while facing me... you underestimate me! Repent for your carelessness in the afterlife!"
Elena swung the whip-sword. The blade, having turned into its whip-like form after being infused with magic power, quickly coiled around the Desert Lizardman's spear. When Elena pulled the handle, the spear's shaft was sliced into several pieces and fell onto the sand.
"Shaaa!"
Seemingly infuriated, the creature let out a threatening hiss. It threw the small piece of the spear's shaft it still held at Elena's face as a distraction and closed the distance.
Its opponent was merely a human woman. It likely judged that it could win if it turned the fight into a contest of brute strength, but that was a grave miscalculation.
"Hmph."
Watching the Desert Lizardman charging straight at her with its fists clenched, a sneer played on Elena's lips.
She manipulated the whip-sword handle in her right hand as if pulling it back. In the next instant, the blade that should have been behind the Lizardman returned instantly toward Elena... with the sword tip pointed directly back at her.
The Desert Lizardman was caught between Elena and the returning blade. Seeing that she had barely moved as it approached, the creature assumed she was paralyzed with fear. But as it raised its fist, its consciousness sank into eternal darkness.
The whip-sword sword tip pierced through the back of its skull, shattering its head before the creature even realized what had happened.
"Foolish."
With a single flick of the whip-sword—now back in its longsword form—Elena shook off the blood and brain matter, then turned her gaze toward the last one.
Rei, having closed the distance with his Death Scythe, was already bringing the enemy into his absolute kill zone. He sliced down the arrows fired by the Desert Lizardman archer with ease.
The creature’s expression barely changed, but it understood that it was standing at death's door. Its weapon was a bow, a tool that required a vanguard to be effective. Its comrades had been killed effortlessly, and now it was being leisurely drawn into the range of the giant scythe.
"Sha, shaaaaaaa!"
It knew it was going to die. Having reached that conclusion, the Desert Lizardman moved quickly.
With a cry, it threw its bow to the ground and raised both hands.
It was an unmistakable gesture of surrender.
A monster acting purely on instinct wouldn't even know the meaning of such an act. It was a display of intelligence unique to a Desert Lizardman.
Faced with this unexpected behavior, the blade of the Death Scythe, which had been mid-swing for a horizontal slash that would have bifurcated its torso, came to a dead stop.
The blade halted just centimeters away from the creature's body.
"Sha..."
The monster realized it would have been a horizontal strike. If it hadn't raised its hands in surrender, its torso would have undoubtedly been cut in two. Just thinking about it made the Desert Lizardman feel as though its sand-colored scales were turning white with terror.
"I'll ask just in case, but do you understand the meaning of that gesture?"
"Shaaaaaaaa?"
The creature let out a thin, breathy hiss.
Even if it knew the sign for surrender, the Desert Lizardman didn't understand human speech. Its act of raising its hands was merely something it had seen humans do during their own conflicts.
"...I'm not sure what to do with a surrender when we can't even communicate. I heard the monsters on the desert floors were supposed to be extremely ferocious. What do you think, Elena?"
Rei pulled the Death Scythe's blade away, though he remained on guard. Elena looked equally perplexed as she approached.
"I recall hearing stories about it, but this is the first time I've encountered a monster taking such an attitude."
"Then what should we do?"
Rei had already obtained a minimum harvest since Seto had killed one. However, that meant they only had one magic stone for Beast Magic. The one Elena had killed could not be used for that purpose. Honestly, Rei wanted to kill the Desert Lizardman before him.
But at the same time, he was curious about its intelligence.
(It has enough intelligence to apply our gestures. If that's the case, I can't deny the possibility that if we let it go, it might attack other adventurers. Even if everything is one's own responsibility as an adventurer, doing something that helps that happen would leave a bad taste in my—!?)
Rei suddenly felt the ground vibrate and reflexively leaped backward.
The Desert Lizardman likely saw Rei’s retreat as its perfect chance to survive. It tried to bolt, but in that moment, the sand beneath its feet turned fluid. An instant later, something burst from the ground with its massive maw wide open, swallowing the prey and crushing it with sharp fangs.
"Sha! Shaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
The Desert Lizardman's scream echoed from within the mouth of the giant Sandworm, but the cry was soon cut short as it was swallowed.
"Flying Slash!"
Ray swung the Death Scythe, releasing a flying slash.
The blade of wind flew straight and carved a deep wound into the Sandworm's body. However, the specimen that had appeared was significantly larger than the ones Rei and the others had fought before; the Flying Slash alone wasn't a fatal blow.
"Haah!"
Following Rei’s lead, Elena swung her whip-sword. The tip of her blade bit into the giant Sandworm's hide, scattering skin and flesh.
However, because of the Sandworm's sheer size, the whip-sword couldn't reach the bone. Nevertheless, the creature must have felt intense pain. Staining its maw with the blood of the crushed Desert Lizardman, the Sandworm opened its mouth wide and lunged at Elena, intending to swallow her whole.