Nameless Desert - 3

A sandworm burst out from the dune before us.

At the same moment, Gram leapt forward, pressing his longsword against the sandworm’s fang.

With a sharp ringing sound, the giant mouth of the sandworm swept past us.

Gram had deflected its trajectory.

Jumping down from the cart, Gram slashed at the sandworm before quickly returning to the magic tricycle.

"Let's move quickly. There should still be a few more left."

Gram spoke calmly, yet briefly and directly.

The sandworm that Gram had knocked aside was rising to its feet.

No good. It's too close. I should deal with this one here and now. I fired a special arrow from my crossbow.

Though the sandworm has the element of surprise, bursting up from the sand, otherwise it behaves like an ordinary creature.

The lightning strike worked as expected.

Thanks to it, purple lightning surged through the sandworm's body, and it froze in place.

"What was that!?"

Gran stared wide-eyed, asking me, but I didn't have time to explain.

Another sand blast erupted.

Having heard the sound of the fight, another one had emerged.

"Hurry! We need to move fast or we'll be attacked again."

I shouted, urging us to move.

Erin gripped the control handle tightly and began operating the magical tricycle.

Gran and Coil grabbed bows and arrows from the cart and fired at the sandworms chasing after them.

The number of sandworms kept increasing, and before they knew it, there were five of them.

The sandworms kept burrowing into and surging out of the sand, making them hard to aim at and difficult to repel.

Even if we fight here, they’ll just keep multiplying.

Then it’s better to move quickly. I activated my wind magic.

"Gran, Coil—keep firing arrows without stopping!"

Thanks to both of them putting in their all, arrows rained down like a storm. I used my wind magic to push the arrows forcefully forward.

The arrows flying at high speed pierced the sand more quickly than they could burrow, striking the sandworms forcefully and killing two of them.

But three more were still coming.

A nearby sand dune exploded, and another sandworm emerged from within. This is endless... I intensified my wind magic further, accelerating the magical tri-wheels.

Thanks to observing them for several days, I’ve begun to understand the sandworms’ behavior a little better.

Sandworms have a limited range of movement. For reasons unknown, they don't travel beyond a certain distance. That distance is fairly large, though, so evading them completely requires considerable effort.

Still, it's more realistic than continuing to fight.

With this magic trike, I can pick up speed. I should be able to escape. Adding wind magic to boost my speed, the magic trike rapidly accelerated, pulling away from the sandworms. In addition, I accelerated the rain of arrows and launched them—escaping is going smoothly.

As expected, I’ve completely left the sandworm swarm behind. The magic trike speeds forward through the sand, kicking up a storm, carrying everyone aboard.

Normally, I'd prioritize mana consumption and exploration, moving slowly, but I could actually achieve this kind of speed when needed.

"Phew... We made it through."

"Yes, I was worried for a moment, but it worked out well. I never thought we'd be able to move this fast across the desert. Still, that was an incredible spell—wind magic, no less..."

"Please keep this a secret. I don't want to get dragged into any trouble because of this."

As I was talking with Gran, Coil butted in.

"Frankly, as an information broker, I have to say—Taro, your magic is both flashy and powerful. Wouldn't that make it impossible to hide, no matter what?"

"Stop saying things like that... I'm doing my best to stay hidden, okay?"

Then you should think more carefully about how you carry yourself... I've seen plenty of people like you in my line of work, but none of them ever survived—each was pushed beyond their limits and ultimately died.

Hearing those words, my spine straightened.

It had just been a moment since we escaped the sandworm. There was no denying I’d relaxed—just for a brief instant, relief set in. But then, another sandworm attack came. This time, I hadn’t used the exploration magic yet, so it had gotten dangerously close.

“Damn it, again!? What’s going on today, anyway!?”

Coil shouted. I felt exactly the same way.

This time, it was too close.

I instantly unleashed a powerful gust of wind magic, forcing the sandworm's head to recoil. Seizing the opening, Gran drove his longsword deep into the sandworm's body.

It worked! A pale blue liquid splattered around from near the sandworm's neck.

That blow was enough to bring it down.

I immediately accelerated the magic tri-wheel.

Within moments, two or three more appeared from behind.

But this time, they didn't follow. The sandworm that appeared began eating the fallen sandworm.

They're eating their own kind!?

I was shocked, but it seemed this was normal. Gran and Erinn didn't look surprised at all. Instead, more sandworms kept appearing, being eaten, yet they showed no sign of coming toward us.

Then it should be fine.

Let's quietly move forward like this. As I thought that, and was slowly climbing the slope, I suddenly felt my footing disappear.

No— the ground had collapsed. Looking down, I saw a massive flow of sand.

Because countless sandworms were crawling across the ground, certain areas had become soft or even hollowed out.

Everyone riding on the magic trike and the cart was thrown off, rolling down a dune of sand.

The momentum finally faded, and we came to a stop.

Frantically, I scrambled to my feet.

Looking around, I was relieved to see that few items were scattered, and everyone thrown off had quickly gotten back up, though the magic trike had flipped over.

We have to fix it right away!

The sandworms are swarming over their fallen comrade, but we don’t know when they’ll come after us.

"Everyone, please! Help me right the magic trike!"

It was only thanks to four adults using all their tools that we managed to right it somehow. The fact that the magic trike was only about the size of a buggy helped a lot.

If it had been much larger, we might have lost our legs right there in the desert.

But that wasn’t the only problem. The steam engine won’t start. Did internal parts break from the fall?

It doesn’t look broken—just dirty. So what’s wrong with it?

"Hey! Still not working?! We don't have time—she's coming right now!"

"Calm down, Coil! Panicking won't solve anything!"

Behind me, Gram and Coil argue. Can't they quiet down for a moment...? I scan the area within sight, feeling intense urgency, but find no cracks in the crystal or casing.

Just behind me, sand is gushing out. Slowly turning around, I see a Sandworm staring directly at us.

I instinctively grabbed the fire gem attached to the steam engine, overwhelmed by shock. My hand clenched tightly from fear and urgency at the sandworm's proximity, and I inadvertently poured mana into it.

For reasons unknown, the steam engine roared back to life! It seems that continuously feeding mana into this fire gem causes it to operate.

"Everyone, get on! It's restarted!"

Everyone climbed aboard at my command, and I accelerated forward while steering the rugged vehicle with one hand. The roar of the steam engine must have attracted not only the sandworm directly ahead but also the surrounding ones. There's no stopping here!

The arm channeling magic essence into the fire crystal begins to grow hot. The crystal itself doesn't heat up, but the surrounding metal casing gradually starts to warm.

"Ughh..."

A slow, burning sensation spreads through the arm. The pain makes it hard to control. Just as I think this, Erine reaches around from behind and takes hold of the control lever. Without meaning to, we've become a single, two-person unit.

The arm reaching toward the fire gem is turning red. Pulling out a healing gem, I press it against the burning arm. It gradually heals, but the heat burns again.

This sensation is nauseating. I've never felt anything like this before. I want to pull my arm back, but if I stop channeling mana, the mana tri-wheel will stop.

Gram looks at me with concern. Coil tries to say something, but I don’t have time to respond. Erin remains calm, continuing to drive. This time, she carefully studies the road, moving forward with certainty.

Just then, after traveling quite a distance, the city ahead became visible to the naked eye—clear and straight in front of us.

At that moment, my physical strength and mana infusion both reached their limit. The mana tri-wheel lost speed and came to a stop.