Chapter 18: Crushing the Withered

The sand thorn, whose sense of smell and hearing were the most acute, detected the danger first.

It screamed out, "Four o'clock direction, the Sand Long Wang is approaching, meow!"

At this moment, the young Hunters felt every hair on their bodies stand on end; why had the Sand Long Wang appeared here? Shouldn't it be fighting the Frontliners of the Desert Fin?

It couldn't possibly be...

Nuri gritted his teeth, pulled the Gunlance from the mouth of the Sand Dragon corpse before him, and said, "I'll block him; you two retreat immediately!"

"Why do you always think about covering the rear?!" Asa emptied another magazine, and before the Sand Dragon in front of him could recover, he shot its chest into a sieve.

Aolang, who had also quickly dispatched a Sand Dragon, temporarily deactivated his Demonization state and adjusted his breathing. "Cover each other; we can all return together."

In just this short while, the Sand Long Wang had arrived near them.

This giant beast, nearly twice the length of an ordinary Sand Dragon, leaped like a fish and charged toward the group of young Hunters.

"Scatter!"

Nuri roared and slid to the side, leaping away.

Even with a Great Shield in hand, it was impossible for him to tank the charge of a large Monster weighing in tons; if he didn't want to be crushed into a meat patty, dodging was the only option.

The remaining Sand Dragons, which had fallen under the influence of the Sound Bomb's noise, gradually regained their mobility and charged toward the nearest Hunter, hissing.

At this moment, the identities of hunter and hunted were reversed.

The most critical situation belonged to the Gunlance user Nuri; as a Frontliner, he had to shoulder the responsibility of attracting the Monster's attention. Under the Gunlance's continuous firing, the Sand Long Wang's "gaze" indeed fell upon him.

The peril was not limited to this; besides the Sand Long Wang, another Sand Dragon was approaching from his rear flank, its steps swaying.

A seasoned defender could handle enemies and attacks from multiple directions with composure, but Nuri, who had only recently advanced to two stars, clearly could not do this yet.

Choosing the lesser of two evils, he could only direct more of his attention toward the Sand Long Wang before him.

"Asa! Cover Nuri!" Reactivating his Demonization, Aolang used his speed to shake off the Sand Dragon pursuing him from behind and attempted to support the Frontliner.

Asa, the only Archer in the squad, also began rapid firing, but the target he locked onto was different from what Aolang had planned.

In Asa's view, the Sand Long Wang posed the greatest threat; if he could distract it, Nuri's situation would be much safer.

But Aolang did not think so; he believed Asa should attack the Sand Dragon behind Nuri.

Given Asa's current strength and Equipment level, suppressing the Sand Long Wang with firepower was impossible, but a Sand Dragon should be manageable.

In that case, rather than launching ineffective attacks on the Sand Long Wang, it was better to help Nuri eliminate the threat from behind, allowing him to focus entirely on the Sand Long Wang before him.

With the situation critical, there was no time to analyze and explain through words; Aolang, charging at full speed, pivoted on his foot, changing his target from the Sand Long Wang to the Sand Dragon approaching behind Nuri.

If he could successfully intercept that Sand Dragon, the result would be the same...

No! That Sand Dragon was already too close to Nuri; he couldn't intercept it!

Seeing that Sand Dragon about to launch an assault alongside the Sand Long Wang from the front, Aolang could only grit his teeth, desperately quicken his pace, and pray that Nuri could withstand this first wave of attacks.

At this critical moment, several ice-blue Crossbow Bolts shot in from a distance, precisely striking the head of the Sand Dragon attempting to ambush Nuri from behind.

Frost filled with chilling cold spread out; the Sand Dragon, fearing low temperatures, cried out in pain and stumbled backward.

At the same time, another figure rushed in, inserting himself between the Sand Long Wang and Nuri, and with the momentum of his charge, the Great Hammer swung upward violently, striking the Sand Long Wang's jaw with a heavy blow.

The Sand Long Wang, which had been ferocious just a second ago, was knocked backward by the hammer strike, and its assault was halted.

The Dual Blade User, who had also activated his Demonization, swept past the young Hunters with a speed far exceeding that of his strange "Ghost Person Version of One-Handed Sword."

Blade light flashed rapidly, and the chilling frost swirling around the blade edges erupted; almost in an instant, the remaining Sand Dragons had their throats cut and fell to the ground, lifeless.

The Dual Blade User, who had dispatched several Sand Dragons at a speed that left people astounded, deactivated his Ghost Person State.

He didn't even bother to look at the battle situation with the Sand Long Wang; relying solely on the Great Hammer user, he was absolutely confident they could suppress it steadily.

"Didn't I tell you to guard the southwest area of the camp? How did you end up here?" The Dual Blade User's tone revealed helplessness.

Aolang opened his mouth, somewhat at a loss for how to explain; he couldn't possibly say directly, "Because we were greedy," could he?

Seeing the overly young little guy in front of him looking so speechless, the experienced old Hunter could easily guess their thoughts.

Smiling slightly and shaking his head with a bit of a headache, "Prepare to return to the camp; this will be over very soon."

The warm bonfire illuminated the Hunters' camp.

Due to the earlier melee, the expectation of finishing the mission early, returning to Luokelake before sunset, and selling the Wyvern Livers while they were still fresh for a good price had turned into a delusion.

The Desert at night is very dangerous; to ensure safety, they could only choose to spend the night in the camp.

Come to think of it, this was entirely their own doing; the old veterans of the Desert Fin had actually made plans long ago.

With their strength, they could have quickly killed the Sand Long Wang from the very beginning; the reason they didn't do so was purely because they feared the Sand Long Wang's death would cause the Sand Dragon Tribe to scatter.

That would create more unknown risks for the nearby trade routes.

According to their original plan, they intended to constantly drive the Sand Long Wang, forcing it to roam everywhere, summoning the wandering Sand Dragons nearby in batches to be dealt with together.

Considering the young people's cull count might not be enough, they had even prepared to leave a few Sand Dragons for the young people to practice on.

Who would have thought the situation would be disrupted at the last moment.

Fortunately, during the previous battle, the Sand Dragons had already been mostly cleared by them; otherwise, they would probably have to spend several more days "sweeping" the Desert nearby again.

Upon learning all this, the young people felt some shame and regret; fortunately, this also didn't seem to be entirely a bad thing.

The bonfire crackled, and an enticing aroma filled the air...

The Great Hammer user, with gray hair but muscles still full, took several skewers of Wyvern Liver from the bonfire, roasted until the surface was slightly charred and the heat was just right, and handed them to the young people.

"Here, try my cooking!"

Aolang took a skewer; oil as clear as spring water dripped from the skewer, emitting a strange aroma completely different from roasted meat.

"How luxurious," Asa said, looking at the Wyvern Liver in his hand. "This is the first time I've tasted fresh Wyvern Liver."

The Great Hammer user laughed heartily. "Ha! Eat your fill; anyway, we can't bring it all back. Being a Hunter has this one benefit: you can eat the freshest of any ingredient!"

Many wealthy people even post missions specifically asking us to capture live Sand Dragons and the Sand Long Wang, deliver them to the city, and then slaughter them to ensure the liver's freshness.

But let me tell you, don't spread this around; that kind of Wyvern Liver has actually lost at least thirty percent of its flavor. Do you know why?"

"Why?" Asa interjected at the perfect moment.

"Because sand dragons also rely on their livers to detoxify poisons, and the mist from Capture Tranq Bombs is a type of poison; how good could Wyvern Liver taste if it came from a sand dragon knocked out by a massive dose of tranquilizer?

Those so-called gourmets even claimed that fresh Wyvern Liver brings a subtle numbness to the tip of the tongue, making it impossible to resist.

Damn it, you might as well go lick Paralysis Mushrooms directly!"

"So that's how it is, hahaha!"

Great Hammer and Asa burst into loud laughter together.