Chapter 17: Always Need to Take Some Risks

(Although the game launches today, updates will proceed as normal!)

At present, the quest objective to subdue five Sand Dragons has only one left, and not even half a day has passed.

The three glanced at the sky, all feeling there was no problem finishing the last one before sunset; if they hurried a bit, they should be able to return to Luokelake before nightfall.

This way, the Wyvern Livers collected earlier could remain relatively fresh, allowing them to fetch a better price upon return.

With such hope, the three humans and one cat began searching more actively for Sand Dragon tracks, preferably those of a lone Sand Dragon.

But whether it was because their previous good fortune had been exhausted by their smooth progress, they searched the entire surrounding area yet never found a second Sand Dragon gathering spot, let alone a lone Sand Dragon.

"Damn it, didn't they say there were quite a few Sand Dragons nearby? Didn't they say there were ten or twenty Sand Dragons in total? Where did they all go?!" Asa, whose temper was somewhat impatient, cursed.

"Wait, meow." Shaji seemed to have discovered something.

It ran on all fours to the base of a sand dune, where there were some inconspicuous patterns on the sand surface, looking like traces left by a horizontal wind.

But it felt that was not the case.

It leaned close to those patterns to sniff, then buried its head and dug into the sand, seemingly experiencing something, before returning to the Hunters' side after quite a while.

"A few Sand Dragons passed through here not long ago, meow; those should be traces left after the Sand Dragons burrowed, meow."

As a "Native Airu" who grew up scrambling in the desert, the three naturally did not doubt Shaji's professionalism in judging traces.

Nuri hurriedly asked, "Can you determine the direction those Sand Dragons left in?"

"The traces run north-south, meow; they might have come from south to north, or from north to south, meow." Shaji gave an answer that was not very certain.

"I think they must have gone north." Aolang spoke up: "Didn't the seniors of the Desert Fin hunt the Sand Long Wang up north?

If the Sand Long Wang is in a bitter struggle, it will surely summon companions to help; so besides the four we already dealt with, the other Sand Dragons have likely rushed over there."

"Indeed." Asa's face also showed some worry. "One Sand Long Wang, plus a huge group of Sand Dragons attacking chaotically—are the old folks okay?"

"The problem should not be too big." Aolang looked at Nuri, who was the team Captain. "Shall we rush over to check?

Given the Sand Dragons' size, the possibility of ten or more bunching together to attack is very small; more likely, they will linger around the battlefield, looking for chances to ambush at any moment.

We might discover wandering Sand Dragons at a distance from the battlefield; if we can eliminate some, the seniors' pressure will be reduced."

Nuri pondered.

He trusted the Desert Fin Hunter Group's strength more than Aolang and Asa; if they panicked just because they were attacked by other Sand Dragons during the Sand Dragon hunt, they could never have become experts at solving the Sand Dragon problem.

The safest plan would be to wait for the Desert Fin to finish their hunt, give the agreed signal, then approach that northern area, find a chance to hunt a fleeing Sand Dragon, and complete the quest objective.

The advantage of this plan is absolute safety, but the disadvantage is that if luck is bad and not a single fleeing Sand Dragon is intercepted, the quest might not be completed for a while.

They might even have to eat sand in the desert for several days, searching everywhere for terrified, hiding Sand Dragons; just thinking about it was frustrating...

Thinking of this, Nuri made a decision. "We head north; be cautious. If we cannot find a suitable opportunity, even if the quest cannot be completed, we must not trouble the seniors."

"Okay."

"Understood."

"Meow!"

The two humans and one cat responded in succession, and the group marched northward.

As they approached that area north of the camp, the faint scent of Dye Balls in the air gradually became distinct.

That small prop made from Dyeing Fruit emits a pungent and long-lasting special scent; Hunters trained professionally can distinguish this scent several kilometers, or even over ten kilometers away, thereby determining the movements of the Monster marked by the Dye Ball.

Aolang squatted halfway down, inspecting the bright red pigment dripping onto the sand. "It is the juice of Dyeing Fruit; that Sand Long Wang passed through here; we have arrived near the battlefield."

"Then stop advancing; search around here." Nuri gave the decision.

"By the way, don't you feel we are a bit like Sand Dragons?" Asa chuckled. "The seniors are like the Sand Long Wang; when the Sand Long Wang can't win, it calls its minions; the seniors have us, and we are specifically responsible for dealing with the minions."

"The seniors are not in a situation where they can't beat the Sand Long Wang; we came here just to complete our own quest objective; don't trouble the seniors."

"Got it! Got it!"

"Meow?!" Shaji's ears, slightly larger than those of ordinary Airu, stood up.

Making a "quiet" gesture, after listening for a few seconds, it lay down again and pressed its ears against the sand.

"Something is coming, meow! In a group, meow!"

"Prepare for battle!" Nuri shouted low, deploying his Gunlance, raising his Great Shield, and blocking in front of his companions.

Aolang drew his One-Handed Sword, Asa pulled the Bolt Action to load a Crossbow Bolt, and even Shaji gripped his Cat Pickaxe tightly.

Very quickly, some grayish-yellow dorsal fins appeared at the edge of their vision and approached this way at a considerable speed.

"Sand Dragons? So many!" Asa observed through the Heavy Bowgun's scope for a few seconds and couldn't help but exclaim, "At least five... no, at least six dorsal fins!"

Nuri's face looked very grim.

He had thought the Sand Dragons would linger near the Sand Long Wang, but he had not considered the possibility of a Sand Dragon cluster attacking them.

"Shaji! Use the Sound Bomb only when they get close!" he shouted, issuing orders. "We must eliminate one or two first!

You two, if there is a chance later, retreat immediately!"

"I can't listen to you on that." Asa removed the magazine of Normal Ammo and replaced it with Spread Shot, which had greater power but required close-quarters combat.

This ammunition's attack power is worrying beyond twenty meters; beyond ten meters, attacking endangers teammates; but if pressed against the Monster's face to attack...

Besides the Archer themselves needing to bear the risk, there are no drawbacks at all!

Aolang also downed a bottle of Power Coating.

His stamina was not enough to support him activating Demonization for a long time, and the Power Coating, which can stimulate physical potential and make the user feel no fatigue for a certain period, can largely compensate for this.

Although the price is steep, for the safety of himself and his companions, now is not the time to save!

One hundred meters, fifty meters, thirty meters...

The Sand Dragon Tribe's distance grew closer; when it was finally less than ten meters away, Aolang directly activated his Fighting Spirit and triggered Demonization.

At the same time, the Sound Bomb Shaji had pulled the fuse on and thrown a few seconds early exploded among that group of burrowing Sand Dragons.

"Vwoom—"

Under the high-frequency noise, that group of high-speed burrowing Sand Dragons were all blasted out of the sand surface together.

Having activated Demonization, Aolang surged toward a Sand Wyvern at the edge of the herd at a speed ordinary people could hardly imagine.

Although he very much wanted to try again that earlier move combining a Charged Attack with a Fatal Combo, now was clearly not the time to experiment.

Arriving at the Sand Wyvern's head, he swung his Hunter Knife and Shield into afterimages, and with an awkward stance that would make any normal Dual Blade User cringe, executed the Demon Dance at full strength.

Nuri and Asa had no time to pay attention to the "strange event" happening here — the former was busy replicating his earlier success, jamming the Gunlance into a Sand Wyvern's mouth and unleashing the Dragon Cannon, while the latter held his Heavy Bowgun level and, at almost point-blank range, poured Spread Shot after Spread Shot into another Sand Wyvern at full speed.

Even Sand Thorn was swinging his Cat Pickaxe, pounding the Sand Wyvern's skull strike by strike — that methodical appearance clearly showed plenty of hard practice behind it.

If this momentum held, before the Sand Wyverns gradually regained their mobility, they had a chance to take down two or even three of them ahead of time.

The remaining few were still a threat, but no longer enough to make them panic.

But just then, a vertical fin larger and darker in color than an ordinary Sand Wyvern's was breaking through the sand waves, rapidly approaching their position.