There were no trees and few rocks in the desert, so the convoy could only rely on the carriages to block the wind and sand.
The soldiers put on their armors again. Without the protection of the hard iron plates, just the sand alone was enough to make everyone's skin blossom.
Due to the scarcity of firewood and the extremely low temperature, the bonfire wasn't lit. Only a few torches were lit around the carriages for illumination.
The soldiers ate the dry rations they brought with them and gulped them down with water from the canteen.
The nobles were better off than them. They had plenty of dried meat and fruits for the time being.
After dinner, the soldiers began to take turns to stand guard. The experienced soldiers buried themselves under the sand, only revealing half of their bodies.
Not long after the sky darkened, the temperature plummeted. Only the sand retained a certain amount of warmth, which was one of the few ways the soldiers could keep out the cold.
Naturally, Locke didn't have to lie in the sand. After Romm left, Angelina was the most important person in the convoy. In terms of status alone, Locke ranked third, so he didn't need to be secretive. Angelina had already told him to go over during the day.
He was lying comfortably in the carriage that the princess was in. Underneath him was the fur of some kind of precious animal, which was very soft.
Angelina was having dinner. The cherries she brought with her when she set off from Huaxia and the blueberries she picked when they passed by Melmos Jungle were the princess' staple food.
Angelina's snow-white skin had been tanned by the scorching sun these days. According to her, eating more fruits was good for the skin.
Locke didn't know if it was true. Anyway, every time he came, he would bring some back for Lia, Glace and the others to eat. Of course, he explained to Angelina that he would bring them back to taste.
Regardless of whether Angelina believed it or not, Locke believed it anyway.
"How much longer do we have to suffer like this?" Angelina held a cherry in her slender fingers. She held the red cherry in her mouth and licked it with her soft tongue. Most of Locke's attention was on her mouth.
Seeing that Locke was in a daze, Angelina giggled and patted him on the back. Only then did he snap out of his trance.
"Yeah, we've only traveled a third of the way. It'll probably take us another half a month to get out," said Locke.
"We still have to wait for half a month." Angelina sighed.
It had only been a week since they entered the Ridson Desert and Angelina couldn't take it anymore. Kristin didn't even complain. He felt that the days in the Bering Mountains were more difficult than this. Back then, Angelina was much stronger than she was now.
The sky was getting darker, and the yellow dust in the sky was replaced by night. In the carriage, Locke could only hear the sound of sand blowing against the window.
"I'll go out and take a look!" Locke got up and tidied up his armour. He was the vice-jarl of the team, so he had to patrol the camp at night. The sandstorm outside was too strong, so he needed to go out and take a look.
"Mm, go ahead." Angelina put down the unfinished cherry in her mouth, took out her thick magic book, and started reading again.
Locke got out of the princess' carriage neatly dressed and called the soldiers stationed nearby to follow him.
"Where's Bond?" He asked the soldiers. Bond was his adjutant, and he usually gave orders through him.
"Sir Bond is outside the carriage discussing with the commander of the Royal Guards about tonight's defense," said one of the soldiers who seemed to be the leader of the group.
"Okay." Locke nodded and led them to Bond.
Bond was talking to a man in full armour outside the carriage. "Lord Aslan, there seems to be something wrong with the sandstorm tonight."
"Yes, it's indeed not normal." The man in armour looked solemn. He was Aslan, the commander of the Royal Guards escorting the princess. He was a high-rank Knecht.
"I hope you can keep the soldiers on their toes and make sure that nothing goes wrong tonight," said Bond.
"No problem!" Aslan nodded.
Bond was just a noble knight. His rank and strength were far inferior to Aslan's. He was only able to command a powerhouse like Aslan because he was lucky enough to be Locke's adjutant.
Viscount Cage rarely took care of things, and Locke was too lazy to do things himself. Bond was the one who gave most of the orders.
When he first left Felor and found out that he was going to be the adjutant of a young man who wasn't even twenty years old, he didn't think so anymore. This experience alone was enough for him to use for the rest of his life.
"How's the defence coming along?" Locke's voice came from afar.
The distance between Angelina's carriage and the convoy was less than a hundred metres. It was only a short distance, but it was very difficult for Locke to walk. Sand was blown into his face by the strong wind. Fortunately, his helmet blocked most of it, but it still made him eat a mouthful of sand.
When Locke approached, Bond introduced, "Lord Aslan has arranged everything."
"Thank you for your hard work!" Locke stepped forward and shook hands with Aslan. He knew that Aslan was a genuine high-rank Knecht. He felt that Aslan was even more powerful than Wyr.
Locke didn't have much to do after the Royal Guards were set up. The shadow guards had their own jarl, and they wouldn't listen to anyone other than Angelina.
At night, Locke hugged Angelina, who was sleeping soundly.
Due to Angelina's noble status, the two of them hadn't reached the final step yet. They just snuggled up to each other like lovers.
Suddenly, Locke's ears twitched.
"What's that sound?" Locke seemed to have heard a rustling sound. He thought it was just his imagination.
But soon, the sound gradually became clearer. It sounded like some kind of arthropod crawling.
Angelina opened her eyes. Even with her acute mental power, she was also awakened by the sound. It wasn't an illusion.
"I'll go out and take a look!" Locke patted Angelina's body, motioning her not to move.
When he got out of the carriage, most of the soldiers in the camp had already woken up. People were coming and going, and there were officers shouting and orders everywhere.
"What's going on?" Locke stopped a soldier who passed by and asked in a deep voice.
The soldier recognised Locke at a glance and immediately said, "I'm not too sure either. It seems that a group of minor monsters has gathered outside the camp."
After sending the soldier away, Locke fell into deep thought. The minor monsters he had seen so far were the salt crabs by the lake in the Bering Mountains and the moonlight wolf before it evolved.
With his current strength as a low-rank Knecht, coupled with his sturdy armour and sharp longsword, it wouldn't be a problem to deal with two low-rank major monsters at the same time. He felt that it wouldn't be a problem to deal with less than five minor monsters.
There are minor monsters gathering outside the camp? Locke fastened the gap between his armour, held his longsword, and walked out.
Outside the carriage, the soldiers of the capital guards had already set up their spears and were ready to fight. Further inside were the shadow guards. These shadow guards formed the second and third line of defense of the camp, with Angelina's carriage as the centre.
Cage and the others were standing in the middle of the capital guards discussing something. Just as Locke was about to go over, countless drops of yellow liquid suddenly sprinkled from the sky.
Locke reflexively raised his arm shield to block it. The shield, which was made of some kind of precious material, actually made a slight sizzling sound after being hit by the liquid. A circle of inconspicuous dents appeared on the shield.
The soldiers of the capital guards were all wearing full body iron armour. As soon as they came into contact with the yellow liquid, they felt as if acid was corroding steel. Fortunately, the amount of acid wasn't too much. It only corroded a third of their armour and didn't cause any substantial damage to the soldiers.
However, some of the unlucky soldiers were splashed by the acid on their unprotected skin. "Ah, ah ~" After a series of painful howls, the skin that was splashed by the acid was full of potholes and blood stains.
"Be careful, don't get splashed by this acid!" The jarls shouted at their men.
Because the capital guards were at the front line, they used their sturdy armour to block the first wave of acid and protected the shadow guards behind them, who only wore leather armour.
Another wave of yellow acid came from the sky.
"Raise your shields! Raise your shields! "shouted a few sharp-eyed and quick-witted jarls.
The order from their commanding officer quickly woke up the soldiers of the capital guards. Nearly a hundred of them raised their giant shields at the same time. These giant shields, which were made by famous blacksmiths in the eastern province of Tyre, were like a solid barrier that blocked most of the acid attacks.
"What's this?" Locke used his arm shield to protect his head and quickly ran to where Cage and the others were standing.
"It's the acid of the scarab!" answered a caster next to Cage.
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