After finishing his tests on the Sand Ship, Rei stored it back into the Misty Ring without a trace of reluctance.
The exhilaration he had felt when he first seized the vessel from the Sand Bandits was long gone. If anything, he was now inclined to get rid of it at auction at the earliest opportunity.
Keeping it inside the Misty Ring meant it took up no physical space, yet simply possessing something like a Sand Ship felt like a burden in its own right.
"...Well, I can just have Augusto handle the arrangements for the Sand Ship. More importantly, Set, let's look around a bit. We might find some unknown monsters."
"Gururu?"
Set tilted its head, as if asking if that was really okay. Between the Sand Serpent dismantling and everything else, it was already well past mid-afternoon.
Rei nodded back, signaling there was no problem.
"It's fine. If anything happens, you can get back to Gauche in no time, right?"
"Guruu."
Set rumbled in agreement. It had hardly taken any time to get out here. Just as Rei said, if any danger arose and they needed to return to Gauche, they could make it back without delay.
Besides, Set wanted to spend more time with Rei. In the end, talked into it as usual, it began scanning the ground from the sky for any monsters in the area.
They flew for a little over ten minutes before Set fixed its gaze on the desert below and let out a sharp cry.
Drawn by the sound, Rei turned to look — and what entered his field of vision was a monster carrying an enormous shell on its back.
"...A Coconut Crab?"
Those were the first words out of Rei's mouth. From what he could see from the sky, the creature did resemble the coconut crabs he had watched on TV back in Japan.
Naturally, since it was a monster, there were differences. The most striking was the slime-like substance coating its shell. This semi-transparent fluid covered the creature's carapace while ceaselessly writhing, as though the substance itself possessed a will separate from the crab beneath it.
"Still, there's no mistaking it's a Coconut Crab-type monster... but why a Coconut Crab in the desert?"
In Rei's mind, coconut crabs lived in places like tropical rainforests — or at least hot, humid regions like Okinawa. This desert was scorching rather than merely hot, but more critically, it was almost entirely devoid of moisture.
"No, come to think of it, common sense like that doesn't apply to monsters. That's exactly why they're called monsters."
They differed fundamentally from ordinary animals, and many possessed abilities that defied all logic. ...Though the monsters probably didn't appreciate hearing that from Rei, who was even further beyond common sense than they were.
"Gurururu?"
Set glanced back at Rei on its back, asking if they were going to fight it. Rei nodded as if the answer were obvious.
He had come here seeking the Magic Stones of unknown monsters. Having found a Coconut Crab-type, there was no question about what to do.
"Of course we're taking it down. The problem is how. If it were an ordinary coconut crab, we could manage easily enough, but that thing's shell is covered in slime, and above all, it's enormous."
With no point of comparison, he couldn't be certain, but based on experience he estimated the creature stood roughly three meters from its feet to the top of its shell. Since it was modeled after a coconut crab, its overall length wasn't particularly surprising — but its height certainly was.
"Besides, coconut crabs should be edible... right? I'm pretty sure I saw that on TV. Or did they have poison?"
Rei dug through his hazy memory, trying to recall the details of the program he'd watched, but could only conjure up images of people eating coconut crabs. In reality, coconut crabs themselves didn't carry venom like pufferfish — but depending on what the omnivorous creatures had been feeding on, they could become toxic. Properly farmed coconut crabs posed no danger, but wild ones were best avoided.
Ignorant of all this, Rei next tried consulting his knowledge of the monster encyclopedia, only to find that this species wasn't listed at all.
"Which means we'll just have to defeat it and find out. As for whether it's edible, I can ask at the Guild. Set, who's taking this one?"
Either of them had more than enough power to dispatch a monster like this with ease. A whole pack might have been a different story, but a lone specimen presented no problem whatsoever.
In response, Set rumbled its throat — I'll do it!
Rei had been thinking of using the Twilight Spear if he were the one fighting, but since Set wanted to handle it himself, he decided that was fine and gave the griffon's back a light pat.
"Got it. I'll just be in the way if I stay on your back, so I'll get off. I'll draw that thing's attention while I'm at it."
With those words, Rei leaped from Set's back.
...In mid-air. At an altitude of roughly one hundred meters.
Naturally, he began plummeting toward the earth. As the wind roared past his ears, Rei found himself thinking back to the battle with the Giant Cicada.
(Come to think of it, I forgot to test that. If I tried it now, the Coconut Crab would be too terrified to fight... guess I'll save it for later.)
Falling straight toward the ground, Rei pondered this without the slightest trace of fear. Even landing on sand, a hundred-meter drop was nothing to take lightly. The reason he felt no alarm was simple — he knew he would be fine.
The body forged by Zephyle, a man called a Majin, was one factor. But more importantly...
(I have these, after all.)
Mid-fall, he activated the Sleipnir boots. His descent halted instantly, a light jolt running through his body. From where he hung suspended, he kicked off the air, using the boots several more times in succession to descend safely to the desert floor.
By the time his feet touched down, nearly all of his momentum had been killed. He could have silenced his landing completely — but deliberately chose not to, since his goal was to draw the Coconut Crab's attention.
The plan worked. The Coconut Crab noticed Rei landing a short distance away.
"Gyaaaaaaaaaa!"
"...Huh?"
Rei's face shifted to a look of mild surprise. The sound that came from the creature — presumably a threatening roar — sounded, no matter how he parsed it, exactly like a human scream.
Even so, he drew the Death Scythe from the Misty Ring and readied it, just in case.
"Gyaaaaaa!"
Another scream-like bellow from the Coconut Crab.
(So that scream really is its war cry. ...Honestly, it's a bit underwhelming.)
Gripping the Death Scythe, Rei waited for the creature to close the distance.
"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
With a third shriek, the slime-like substance coating the crab's shell stretched into whip-like appendages and lashed toward Rei. He had fully expected an attack from the creature's giant claws, so a hint of surprise flickered across his face.
Not that he intended to stand there and let the slime whips — several of them, flying straight at him — connect. The Dragon Robe's defensive power would likely have blocked them without issue, but Rei had no desire to test that unnecessarily.
"Flying Slash!"
The Flying Slash, now at Level 5 and possessing power incomparable to what it once had, shot forward and sliced clean through the slime whips, sending the severed ends flying off into the distance.
"Gyaaa!?"
The result was clearly unexpected for the Coconut Crab as well. It let out a cry heavy with shock — and in that opening...
"Gurururururu!"
Set dove from the sky.
The descending strike tore effortlessly past the diminished slime coating and crashed down onto the shell beneath. It wasn't Power Crush — just a single blow. But empowered by the Bracelet of Herculean Strength, Set's own physical prowess, and the velocity of a hundred-meter dive, that single blow shattered the Coconut Crab's shell with ease.
A sharp crack of destruction rang across the desert. To Rei it was a somewhat unpleasant sound, but the Coconut Crab had far bigger concerns. Its shell — the final refuge it could retreat into — had just been broken.
"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
The creature's cry had always sounded like a human scream. But now, with its shell shattered, that scream was a scream in the truest sense. A shell might not register pain the way flesh did, but losing one's last bastion dealt a devastating psychological blow.
"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
And of course, the Coconut Crab — stripped of its shell — was furious. It swung one of its massive claws like a backhanded fist at Set, who had just touched down on the sand.
It recognized what Set was — a Gryphon. But rage had driven it halfway to mindlessness. Under normal circumstances, knowing it faced a Gryphon would have been enough to send it fleeing. That was how powerful its anger was.
"Gururu!"
But Set had anticipated exactly this kind of attack. It kicked off the sand and slid backward.
"Gururururu!"
While still airborne, it swiftly activated Wind Arrow, and the instant its feet hit the ground, released all fifteen at once. The arrows of wind, true to their name, closed on the Coconut Crab at gale speed.
Even without its shell, the crab's claws and body were sheathed in sturdy carapace, and Wind Arrow — among the lower-powered skills in Set's arsenal — couldn't inflict a fatal wound.
Yet Set showed no hint of concern. Wind Arrow was only ever meant as a diversionary strike; if it could arrest the Coconut Crab's momentum even momentarily, that was enough.
Against the Coconut Crab, whose charge had been checked for just an instant, Set opened its beak wide...
"Gurururu!"
With a cry, Fire Breath erupted from its beak and engulfed the Coconut Crab head-on.
A savory aroma spread across the desert.
(Roasted crab, huh. ...I'm more of a shrimp person, myself.)
Rei muttered under his breath, his stomach growling at the mouthwatering scent — but the battle raged on.
"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
The Coconut Crab shrieked, and simultaneously the ground heaved upward, forming a barrier that swallowed Set's Fire Breath.
"Gururu."
Set rumbled, sounding almost amused. This wasn't the Dungeon of Exil — this was a real desert, with a real desert dweller. Set was testing how effective its skills truly were against such an opponent.
Watching Set systematically probe the creature's defenses, Rei scanned the surroundings without any particular concern. From what he'd seen so far, Set's victory was assured.
Around them stretched an endless Sea of Sand. The afternoon sun had tilted considerably, but its direct rays continued to bake the desert floor.
(I've seen TV segments where they fry eggs on a car hood in the summer heat. Something like that would be no problem at all here.)
When he lifted his gaze from the battlefield, he could see the distant scenery shimmering — a heat haze. No mirages, but the rippling air alone made the temperature easy to imagine.
"Gururururu!"
At that cry, Rei turned toward Set and saw it spewing countless bubbles from its beak. When they burst, they became a sticky liquid — Bubble Breath.
Rei hadn't expected that skill here, and was mildly surprised. But the choice was a sound one. With its shell destroyed and its body scorched by flame, the Coconut Crab was visibly maddened, incapable of rational judgment.
The proof: despite raising a Sand Wall to block Set's line of sight, it hadn't moved an inch from where it stood.
From his vantage point, Rei could see the creature's body coiling with tension. Just as he predicted — the Coconut Crab was preparing to shatter the wall and charge. Timing its move to the end of the Fire Breath, it smashed through the Sand Wall and lunged toward Set — only for Bubble Breath to strike it square in the face the instant it broke through.
"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
A war cry, or a scream — either way, the last thing the Coconut Crab saw as it howled was Set, already closing the distance, its front legs raised.
The blow from Power Crush effortlessly snuffed out the Coconut Crab's life.