“Hiii-yaaah!”
Jaysha’s axe smashed into an ogre’s head.
“Look alive, people! Show ’em what you’ve got!”
The adventurers under her lead had defeated the first wave of monsters and were now engaging the second. The first attack had been so swift that the shield bearers had suffered some casualties clashing with rampaging shelled dragons. That aside, since most of the monsters had been lower in rank, there had been no major issues.
But this second wave included sand ogres, and the Rank 4 monsters were causing damage to more than just the shield bearers.
“You lot, go help!” Jaysha told her guards.
“Our job is to guard ya! No way!” one of them replied, amused.
“If we leave your side, Jilgan will have our asses!” another added.
Because sand ogres were Rank 4, killing the strongest ones took several Rank 3 adventurers working together. While the group did have multiple such adventurers, most of them were tasked with guarding Jaysha and were near her side. Moreover, others who had known Jaysha since her childhood—including her loyal retainer Jilgan—sometimes ignored orders to prioritize her safety.
For now, the Munza fighters, who were highly mobile, had avoided any major casualties. Still, there was no guarantee things would continue smoothly.
“You people...” Jaysha gritted her teeth at the fatherly dwarves fussing over her, then smiled proudly. “Fine! Have it your way! Hey, tell the beastmen to corral the ogres toward the middle! We’ll take them down as a group!”
“Yeeeeeah!” the adventurers roared in response.
Four hours had passed since they’d begun fighting off the monsters, and they’d likely taken down over five hundred of the beasts. Though they still had potions left, including the carefully rationed high-grade ones they’d bought off of Rose, monster stampedes usually involved around a thousand creatures, so the future remained unclear.
There had been a few hours between the first and second waves, which had allowed them to heal up and sorcerers to replenish their aether. But depending on what happened with the third wave, they might not be afforded that luxury again.
Though Jaysha appeared confident, she’d begun to feel anxious inside about the seemingly endless cascade of monsters.
Dammit. This feels bad.
She figured the reason that these monsters felt more dangerous than those from the last stampede was the overall panic among the fighters—which stemmed from the knowledge that the dragon was approaching from the depths. Jaysha’s group had the goal of eliminating it, but between the suspicious behavior of the human adventurers and the possibility of another wave on the same scale...
Should I have brought Rose too?
Jaysha hadn’t requisitioned Alia’s assistance because the main force was the dwarves, and she’d wanted the human girl to prioritize potion production. That was her superficial reason, at least. Deep down, she saw Alia—a fellow woman of Rank 4—as a rival, and requesting her help would’ve felt like admitting to inadequacy.
While she knew this was bad form for a guildmaster, Jaysha was still young in mountain dwarf years.
“Guildmaster! Look there!” a beastwoman scout yelled as she leaped over to where Jaysha stood and pointed toward the ruins.
“What? Is it the third wave?”
Jaysha squinted. Dust clouds were approaching from that direction, but that wasn’t the reason behind the urgency. The monsters were crag and desert lizards—relatively slow species. They had hard scales, but weren’t powerful by rank. But behind them...
“Oh crap...”
A massive figure was advancing slowly, seemingly urging the monsters forward as it began to emerge from the veil of sand. It had lustrous, iridescent black scales, and four horns extended back from its head like flowing streams. Its reptilian eyes gleamed in a mix of gold and silver. The beast had gigantic proportions, and even on four legs, it took craning one’s neck to fully take in.
Its roar shook the desert sands.
The master of the Ancient Ruins of Reisveil had just found new prey.