The 11th floor. The first thing that struck Rei, Elena, and the others as they descended to the floor was the air. It was air heated by the intense sunlight, a heat that could only be described as violent.

Their eyes all widened unintentionally when the air of the 11th floor hit them.

After all, they hadn’t felt the heat at all as they had been walking down the moment they left the stairs and arrived on the floor, the air become very hot.

(It’s not just hot. It’s very hot.)

It had been less than a minute since they had arrived at the small room with the magic circle, but Rei was already sweating from his forehead.

He only felt that much because his body was one that had been created by Zepairu’s group. If an ordinary human had come down from the 10th floor, the difference in temperature might even cause some to collapse.

(No, if they are an adventurer, that shouldn’t happen to them. ……Even if it did happen to some adventurers, it would only be a small number of them.)

Thinking that in his mind, Rei put on the hood of his Dragon Robe to protect himself from the heat for the time being.

That way, not just Rei’s body, but his head as well, was no longer bothered by the heat, thanks to the Dragon Robe’s ability to keep its wearer comfortable.

Breathing out, Rei turned to look at the person next to him.

He had the Dragon Robe, but Elena didn’t have that kind of equipment. That was why he wondered if she would be okay……

「Huh, is this the heat of the desert? It’s really interesting.」

Although she was sweating lightly on her forehead, Elena seemed to be able to bear it as she looked around with interest.

They might still be in the small room where the magic circle was located, but for Elena, she was still at the long awaited desert floor. That was why she was so interested.

Thinking to himself, Rei watched as Elena took out the desert cloak she had bought yesterday from her magic pouch.

「You seem to be fine?」

「Yeah. Apparently it’s an effect of the Ancient Dragon magic stone I inherited. It feels hot, but not unbearable. What about you?」

「It’s the same for me. I’m physically stronger than a normal human and I don’t care about this heat because of my Dragon Robe. ……Well, if I take off my hood, the heat will heat me. ……Set and Yellow are……」

Saying that, Rei turned to look at the two monsters.

As for Elena, she followed Rei’s gaze over to Set, but Set didn’t seem to show any signs of discomfort. No, Set was definitely feeling hot, but didn’t seem to show it in any way. Yellow, on the other hand, was lying on Set’s back, slumped on his belly.

Yellow wasn’t unconscious, but the heat must have been unbearable for him.

Wasn’t Yellow supposed to be a Dragon? Rei thought about that, but considering how long it had been since Yellow was born, it probably didn’t matter. After all, Yellow was even younger than Set.

「This is……」

Elena was worried for a moment as she turned to look at her familiar. However, she immediately turned to Rei as she spoke.

「Rei, I’m sorry, but could you keep Yellow inside your robe?」

「I don’t mind, but……then I won’t be very useful in combat, right?」

While he could place Yellow inside his robes, if he had to make any sudden moves like in combat, it would affect Yellow, of course.

「It doesn’t matter. Set and I will take the vanguard, so Rei can take the rearguard with magic today.」

「……Well, it can’t be helped.」

Rei nodded as he didn’t want to think about what would happen if they left Yellow in his current state.

Reaching for Set’s back, he picked up Yellow……and placed him inside a pocket of the Dragon Robe.

Likely due to the keen senses of a Dragon, Yellow sensed the change in ambient temperature. It gave a cry from within the Dragon Robe.

「Kyu……」

Although Yellow’s cry sounded a bit different from usual, both Rei and Elena nodded satisfactorily after Yellow was hidden away from the desert heat.

Elena wore the cloak she was holding in her hands over her golden cloak. Seeing that, Rei asked Elena as she put on the second cloak.

「……Is your cloak okay? If it gets in the way, I can keep it in the Misty Ring?」

「No, my cloak is also a magic item. I can wear it under the desert cloak and it will still remain useful. While we’re still in the dungeon, I should be able to handle whatever happens.」

White armour, golden hair, and a cloak. Elena had such a gorgeous appearance, but when she wore the desert colour cloak, she seemed to become more subdued.

That said, her well defined face was still enough to make her stand out.

「Alright, we’re all set. So……should we get going?」

Saying that, Elena turned to look at the exit of the small room.

Rei nodded and headed towards the exit, letting Elena take the first step out.

Then……

「Wow, this is definitely a sea of sand.」

Hearing Elena’s voice from outside the room, Rei also stepped out to look around.

Rei had heard of the term snowscape before, but this was a sandscape. The endless landscape of sand was certainly an environment that could be called a sea of sand.

Compared to the limited range of movement they had on the 10th floor’s cave environment, the scene before Rei and Elena was incomparably vast. The heat was even greater than what they had felt inside the small room as the sun blazed down.

It was probably due to the pseudo-sun that existed somewhere in the ceiling that looked more like a sky. Looking around, it was hard to believe they were inside a dungeon. The sky seemed to stretch out forever, even further than Exil’s summer sky.

「This….is quite a bit more than the forest we were in while looking for the Altar of Inheritance.」

「Yeah.」

That was all Rei could reply to Elena’s words.

Although he had been the one to say that it was strange for Elena to look forward to seeing the desert, it was clearly him, rather than Elena, who was more fascinated by the surroundings.

Cacti, rocks, and dunes could been seen in various places around the vast expanse of the desert.

「Rei? ……Rei!」

「Hm? A-Ah.」

「Seriously, you are actually the one enjoying the desert scenery, aren’t you?」

「That’s true. To be honest, I was surprised to see that it was completely different from what I had heard from other people.」

As Rei replied to Elena, scooped up the sand spread across the ground.

He looked around again as he felt the smooth sand spilling from between his fingers.

「……There’s no point in continuing like this. Let’s just keep going.」

「Unlike in the caves, a map is almost useless here if there aren’t any fixed paths.」

Elena presented that map she had, but the terrain was only roughly drawn and there were no paths of any sort.

「In that case, I could get on Set and explore the situation from the sky……」

「Would it really be better to do that? ……But, leaving me behind while doing that feels kind of awkward.」

Elena muttered as she looked back at the stone room standing in the middle of the desert.

The only thing they could see in the desert was the room they had just come out of, creating a sense of discomfort.

「We can probably use the room as the centre point to determine our direction. For now, I’ll ask Set to fly over and check it out. Elena, which direction is the stairs.」

「If this small room is the centre of the map and the rock you can see over there is the rock on the map……then south-southwest?」

「……That’s tricky. If it were at least south or west it would be easier to understand.」

「Guru~?」

What do I do? Rei thought with a difficult expression at Set’s cry.

Inside Rei’s robe, Yellow gave a happy cry at his cool and comfortable environment.

「……I’m sorry, we’ll be relying on you, Set. If we just wait here, the heat will sap our strength. Let’s move on, if only a bit. Fortunately, Set can fly in the sky and sense my location to some extent, so he won’t get lost.」

「Can’t we just stay in the small room and wait for Set to return?」

「I considered that, but I think it would be better to go a little further if we have to get used to this desert environment.」

「I see. Then it would certainly be better to get a move on than to sit here and wait. If possible, I’d like to make it to at least the 12th floor today.」

「Gururu~」

Set gave a cry to say he was fine with Rei and Elena’s opinions.

Yellow was inside Rei’s pocket, so there was no need to ask.

「Then, we’ll start heading in a south-southwest direction with Set going ahead. Considering there’s a room that we had to come down to, there’s probably a similar small room at the stairs to the next floor, so it should be easy to spot.」

「Gurururururururururu~!」

At Rei’s words, Set gave a loud cry and ascended into the air with a flap of his wings after a run up of a few steps. Even if this was a desert, Set’s appearance as he flew into the sky, as if treading on air, was magnificent as usual.

Rei and Elena, seeing Set fly off, looked at each other before stepping into the desert, following after Set.

 

 

「I had expected it, but it’s quite difficult to walk.」

「It can’t be helped, it’s a desert after all.」

Elena, covered by her cloak, muttered as she took out a water bottle from the magic pouch at her waist to quench her thirst. The water inside was, of course, from Rei’s Dagger of Flowing Water.

Due to the desert terrain, every step she took inevitably took strength away from her legs, causing her to expend much more stamina.

For adventurers accustomed to this floor or those from desert areas, it wouldn’t be too much of a problem, but Rei and Elena had only read books about the desert before, and in Rei’s case, seen it on TV. Although they had heard about it, this was their first time actually setting foot in a desert. For that reason, Elena rapidly exhausted her physical strength as they walked through the desert.

Even so, the reason they could continued walking without too much of an issue was because both Rei and Elena had significantly greater physical stamina than most people.

If they only had the stamina of an ordinary adventurer, the sandy footholds would probably slowed their speed down within 30 minutes.

However, this floor was a baptism of sorts, not just for this floor, but for anyone travelling through a desert environment for the first time. Through this, they gradually learned how to move their bodies in the desert. That was quite ordinary, but……

「I see, the trick is to lift your feet rather than push against the sand.」

「When stepping on the sand, it’s easier to walk if you step with your whole sole rather than the tip or heel of your foot.」

They quickly learned how to move their bodies through the desert as they told each other what they had noticed.

What was even more unusual about the two of them was that instead of walking along the desert dune peaks, they were walking in a straight line in the direction Set had flown.

If you were used to the desert, you would usually walk along the peaks, as the sand there was more solid and easier to walk on than other sections.

However, neither Reir nor Elena knew that as they just walked in a straight line towards where Set had flown.

Talking with each other, they continued walking while finding ways to make it more efficient. They didn’t get to the point where they could walk without thinking……but, they managed make their way forward without losing their footing.

About an hour after Rei had arrived on the 11th floor, as it neared noon, their walking speed gradually picked up.

「Even so……」

「What’s wrong?」

While walking along the sand, Rei muttered as he stroked Yellow, who was freely spending its time in Rei’s pocket.

「No, I just haven’t seen any monsters after coming to this desert. There was just the desert, some cacti…….and some rocks.」

Rei muttered as he looked around before stopping his words as he saw something.

Yes, three adventurers were running towards their direction about 1km away.

「It looks like there is a big worm behind them.」

Elena muttered next to Rei as she saw a giant earthworm monster, a so called Sandworm, over 5m in length, chasing after the three fleeing adventurers.

There wasn’t just one worm, but three in total.

(Did my words end up being a flag?)

Deciding that they couldn’t avoid them at this distance, Rei and Elena immediately prepared for battle.

As discussed in advance, Elena moved to the vanguard while Rei moved to the rearguard to cast magic as they waited for the adventurers and Sandworms to near them.

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