"W-Wait!"
Esil urgently called for Suho.
"You're not going to go in right now, are you?"
"I'm going to go in right away."
"You're going to be in big trouble!"
Esil made a serious expression as she pointed to the red sand that poured down like a landslide from the Red Gate.
"Can't you feel the heat right now? If you go in uncovered, you won't just end up with burns, you could choke to death from the heat!"
In fact, just getting close to that red sand made them feel the heat.
It was dangerous to enter blindly without any countermeasures.
But then.
"Shop."
Suho opened the shop window and chose an item.
Tap.
[Purchased 'Item: Fire Ghost's Necklace'.]
[Item: Fire Ghost's Necklace]
Difficulty to obtain: D Class
Type: Accessory
A necklace imbued with divine protection.
When worn around the neck, it blocks the heat.
Suho quickly put the suspicious-looking necklace on his neck.
['Item: Fire Ghost's Necklace' is worn.]
Swoosh.
Immediately, the necklace gradually became transparent and disappeared from Suho's neck, and at the same time, his body suddenly felt refreshed.
External heat is blocked.
"Oh."
Seeing that, Esil, who had been nagging Suho diligently, was dazed.
'It's nice.'
Suho made a satisfied expression, bought another necklace and handed it to Esil.
"Here."
"Oh. Okay."
Esil awkwardly accepted the necklace.
She made a puzzled expression at the mysterious energy she felt from the necklace.
"F-Fire Ghost's protection? Where did you get this treasure?"
"Treasure?"
"Yes, treasure! Items with such protection are rarely passed on to the outside world. It must have belonged to a tribe that was destroyed during the War of Outer Gods… Hmm."
Esil looked around to see if the necklace was strange, and quickly put it on her neck.
Feeling refreshed, her eyes widely opened.
"Wow. It would be nice to wear it on normal days. Well, at least we won't get burned… It's great."
Esil embarrassingly emphasized the danger.
"But, it doesn't change the fact that it's still dangerous! Anyway, since you gave me such a good present, I will teach you something good."
"Something good?"
Esil raised her hand.
"It's like a magic trick used at times like these."
Swoosh.
A transparent aura began to flow from Esil's hand.
"Like this."
Esil took the energy to her face and used it like a mask.
"It's like putting a thin protective film on your face. This will keep grains of sand out of your eyes and mouth. By the way, it can also be used underwater."
"Oh?"
Suho's eyes sparkled at the unexpected tip.
He was looking for something like a helmet in the shop window, but he didn't find one.
"Of course, it will be difficult at first. The main point is to keep the shield as thin as possible, so the ability to control mana is required. I'll show you a few more times…"
"Huh? It worked."
"Eh."
Swoosh.
Esil was surprised that Suho was able to do it after just one try.
"R-Right. That's how you do it. The thinness is great…"
It was a perfect mana control.
'It took me years to make it that thin.'
Esil felt kinda unfair.
Suddenly, there was a sound that came from the side.
[Ehem.]
Beru slid his face out and showed off an arrogant look.
[It's ridiculous to be surprised by that much. Our Young Master was a child prodigy from the beginning. When he was a baby, instead of walking on the floor, he walked through the air.]
"I didn't ask."
[Do you think that's all? He learned Hangeul at the age of 5, arithmetics at the age of 6…]
"I said, I did not ask. You dumb dumb."
They were up on a good start.
* * *
When everything was ready, Suho climbed Arachne's back with Esil.
Fortunately, Arachne's carapace was as hard as armor, so the ride would be quite comfortable.
"Come on, let's go!"
[Krrrk!]
At Suho's command, Arachne began to trace back to the sand waterfall pouring with its huge claws.
The method was a little fascinating.
Firstly, Arachne pushed the sand from side to side with its giant claws.
Simultaneously, a black spider web is ejected from its body, and the sand grains pushed out like that were stuck together.
Then, as the grains hardened in their dug-out form, a tunnel was created for Arachne to move through.
The tunnel quickly collapsed due to the continuous pouring sand from above, but Arachne had at least enough time to move.
Suho admired the entire process.
"Oh. You're really like a bug."
[Obviously, it's a bug.]
Beru answered for Arachne who couldn't speak.
[Krrrk!]
Arachne, with Suho and Esil on board, leisurely moved through the sand waterfall.
Beru stood dashingly with his arms crossed over Arachne's snout and pointed towards their supposed direction.
[Go, spider ship!]
Lately, Beru has been obsessed with Yi Sun Shin historical dramas.
* * *
They didn't know how long it took.
It was as if a horse was swimming vaguely in the sand, virtually devoid of any light.
But, Suho came up with an idea.
"Just move upwards no matter what!"
[Krrrk!]
Arachne followed Suho's command and immediately dug up the sand vertically.
Righ then.
Chills!
'Huh?'
Suddenly, Suho's senses stat sent a huge warning.
Feeling a strong sense of crisis that gave him goosebumps, Suho shouted without even thinking about it.
"Dodge to the side!"
[Damn it!]
At Suho's command, Arachne immediately turned.
Bang!
The wall of the tunnel suddenly exploded, and something huge came out of it.
It's like a train running on a subway track.
Swoooooosh!
Something big, thick, and long passed by them with great force.
"…!"
"W-What is that?!"
Esil was horrified.
It was so dark around that she had no way of knowing what it was.
But it was visible in Suho's eyes.
A red name tag was attached to it.
[Poisoned-Tooth Sand Centipede]
"It's a centipede!"
"A centipede?!"
Upon hearing that, Esil's complexion rapidly turns pale.
It wasn't because she was afraid of bugs but because it was never a good thing to encounter a giant monster in the ground like that.
Moreover, if the size is too large to handle.
Swoosh!
There was no time for further consideration.
"Avoid it!"
[Krrrk!]
Before Suho could finish his words, Arachne frantically dug into the sand to get away from him.
Swoosh!
Chills.
They could hear the sound of digging that was approaching every minute from right behind them.
"Don't move to the side!"
[Krrrk!]
Suho desperately instructed Arachne in the direction by relying on his senses stat.
Then a huge train(?) passed by them from a very close distance.
Fortunately, the sand centipede was so long that it didn't seem to be able to turn right away once it set its direction.
[I will try to stop it!]
Beru hurriedly ran towards the sand centipede and kicked it!
Thunk!
Rather, it was Beru who bounced away.
[Still, he took a very slight turn!]
"Everything is fine, so go upward! To the ground!"
[Krrrk!]
Suho's judgment was right.
[Krrrk!]
Eventually, Arachne managed to crawl through the red sand and climb to the ground.
"Ha…"
In an instant, the dazzling sunlight hit Suho and Esil's eyes.
After a moment of adjustment, they could now see.
A red desert spread endlessly before their eyes.
"It was a real desert."
"We would have died from the heat without the Fire Ghost's Necklace."
… They couldn't let their guards down.
A huge pillar of sand rose right behind them.
[Krrrk?!]
Arachne fell backwards under the intense pressure.
Suho and Esil, who were riding on top of it, also fell to the floor.
After rolling several times on the floor, barely balancing on the sand, they opened their eyes at the scene in front of them.
"Khhiiiik!"
A sand centipede broke through the sand.
[Poisoned-Tooth Sand Centipede]
A bizarre and repulsive figure appeared before them.
Suho observed for a moment.
Two child-sized teeth attached under the sand centipede's head.
Just by looking at its name, Suho could guess what would happen if they got stabbed.
Watching those huge teeth and jaws open and close nonstop, it must…
"I-It looks like smacking its lips."
Esil's words were unmistakable.
The sand centipede immediately attacked them, opening its mouth and breaking through the sand.
Swoosh-!
"Kyaaah!"
"Run!"
Esil and Suho shouted at the same time, turned their backs, and started running across the desert.
The giant centipede chased after them, creating sand waves.
Esil bit her lip and put on a look of resentment.
'If only my strength was intact…!'
Her pride was hurt.
To think that a well-known demon noble is in a situation where her life is threatened by such a large, stupid beast.
But, past is past.
Now was not the time to show petty pride.
'He's a guy we can never deal with with our current strength! For now, we have to go back to the world of shadows!'
Esil hurriedly looked back at Suho and shouted.
"Suho! Let's retreat for now… Huh?"
When she turned around, Suho had suddenly grown huge and was throwing an uppercut to the sand centipede's jaw.
[Use 'Skill: Giant's Armor'.]
Suho broke the runestone and learned a new skill.
With that skill, he doubled his size and engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the giant centipede.
Boom! Smack!
He smashed his two big fists alternately into the centipede's face, and wrapped his arms around its thick neck to choke it.
Khiiik!
As if in pain, the centipede struggled with its long train-like body and wrapped itself around Suho's body.
A real clash of strength and power.
'Oh my god.'
Esil was greatly shocked at the battle she was witnessing.
'When did he become so strong?'
She was so sure that until just yesterday, Suho didn't have that kind of strength.
[Ehem. That is Young Master's…]
Beru was just about to show off.
Swoosh!
Suddenly, another pillar of sand rose right in front of his eyes.
"Ah, dear."
Esil's expression hardened.
It wasn't just one or two this time.
Swoosh!
Swoosh!
Seven sand centipedes rose up from the sand and surrounded them.
However, despite being surrounded by them, Suho was still strong.
His expressionless gaze scanned each one of them.
'Suho…'
Esil gulped with her dried throat.
'Just how much have you grown…'
Nod.
Suho nodded and turned around.
"As expected, should I run away?"
"…"