Allen laughed at that.

Suddenly, “There’s monster over there.” Allen could clearly tell that off in the distance, there was a ferocious, scorpion-like monster that was hundreds of meters tall, which was currently roaring with anger. Its entire body was covered with a metallic shine, and its fierce fangs were dripping with some sort of liquid.

“Master, let me deal with it,” Asmodeus said as she stepped in front of Allen. However, Allen refused, saying he was bored.

“Sabaku Kyuu,” Allen raised his right arm and instantly engulf the incoming monster completely in the sand, immobilizing it. “Iron Maiden!!” Then, he clapped his hands together, the sand covering the monster turned into a sand cabinet with a hinged front and spike-covered interior. It was in a form of a huge scorpion body with a beautiful woman’s face.

Cryaaaahhhh!!

A deafening shriek echoed through the entire desert. However, one after another, giant scorpion monsters appeared from the sand.

“They multiplied, Master,” Asmodeus said, amused.

Allen smiled wryly. He crouched down and placed his hand on the sand, “Ryuusa Bakuryuu!!”

As Allen muttered that, a massive tidal wave made up of sand crashed towards the rushing monsters.

UUh –?!

When the monsters were covered by sand and couldn’t move any longer, Allen raised his hand to the sky and. “Thor’s Judgment!!”

Bang! A huge lightning strikes down into the crowd of monsters in broad daylight.

Not long after, a burned smell wafted in the entire place.

Pak! Without caring about the small interlude, Allen and Asmodeus continued walking forward. Breaking a scorpion’s exposed claw that seemed to have been grilled properly, Allen started eating while traveling.

“Master, I don’t think eating such a thing is a good idea. Death Scorpion is poisonous, you might hurt your body eating that kind of thing,” Asmodeus said worriedly.

“It’s fine, my body wouldn’t be affected by any poison or toxic after all~ And this was unexpectedly delicious, you know. Like a crab…?” Allen said as he waved the grilled scorpion claw at her.

After entering the vast desert for only half a day, Allen could clearly feel that his proficiency in sand manipulation increased significantly.

Allen slowly walked another few hundred meters. He wiped away the perspiration from his forehead and licked his somewhat dry lips. Retrieving a bottle of water from his storage grimoire, he took a few gulps before sighing. “The Desert here is certainly too much though, even for a Lesser God like me…”

Asmodeus received the water bottle from Allen and smiled wryly. “Well, compared to the mortal realm, the Desert in the Celestial Realm is of course, much harsher,”

??

“There was a legend that says, the Desert was made by an Evil God, cursing the land and surroundings. Some say it was Apophis some says, it was Chaos, in any case, the Desert that contains some evil powers that turned the Desert into an even harsher environment.” Asmodeus explained patiently.

“The Immortal Apophis?”

Asmodeus nodded. “Yes, though from what I had known, the terrifying Apophis was successfully sealed by the creator so that it would be unable to prey on his creation… the creator then used it as one of 66 seals of Lucifer…”

“Well?” Allen was surprised. “Apophis is one of the seals?”

Asmodeus nodded.

In the true desert away from the city and devoid of the asphalt and concrete that gathered heat, the nights grew cold quickly.

Just like any others, the desert was cold at night –though, the desert in which he was currently in was worst. Even his Dragon –like physique can feel the coldness on it. If not for his Leviathan physique, he would have been trembling in cold. As for normal people, they would have become popsicles already~

Some deserts were made of cracked earth and some were plains with a few weeds growing at about the thickness of a middle-aged man’s half-grown beard, but the ones covered in nothing but sand had a large temperature difference between day and night.

“Ah, I’m cold,” Allen muttered weakly. He then stared at Asmodeus who was starting a fire in front of him. Sensing his gaze, Asmodeus smiled wryly. She then stood up and walked towards Allen and hugged her.

Allen’s lips curled into a satisfied smile. Although he can actually summon Xinghong and the others like Lama, but it was also good with this. It was neither too hot nor too cold. Asmodeus body heat was just at the right temperature.

“Still, I guess I’ll look for a transport vehicle tomorrow…” Allen sighed as he hugged Asmodeus body tightly. “I never thought walking in the desert is that too tiring~”

Of course, when he said transport vehicle, he meant about beasts he could tame.

The desert reflected the moonlight, so it was a bit brighter than a thick forest. Allen and Asmodeus slept peacefully. Although there were monsters that seemed to want a night assault but Asmodeus quietly dealt all kinds of danger while making sure Allen’s sleep wasn't disturbed.

“Haaa~” Allen sighed as they couldn’t walk around.

Then, Swish! A flash of light suddenly shot out from beneath the yellow sands, shooting directly towards Allen.

But before it could hit Allen, sands suddenly gathered behind him and turning into a protective shield.

Seeing this, Asmodeus was immediately enraged and sent powerful magic flame blades towards the source.

Immediately afterward, six mummified beings whose entire bodies were covered with thick pungent bondages from head to toe emerged from the yellow sand at high speed.

“Intruder obediently surrenders, and we’ll give you a clean death.” One of the six mummies spoke out, his eyes-sockets filled with two lively balls of fire. The six mummies surrounded Allen and Asmodeus, their weapons at the ready.

Allen looked at his enemies with half-open eyes. What are these idiots talking about…? Is what his eyes seemed to be saying…

Without any hesitation, Asmodeus rushed towards the mummies and started killing them one after another. In fact, the enemies were strong. In normal circumstances, against King to initial Emperor rankers, they would certainly have a hard time fighting it but unfortunately for them, Allen and Asmodeus weren’t just normal rankers.

With Asmodeus alone, they were easily dealt with.

On the way, many monsters; mummified and scorpions greeted them but they easily ‘greeted’ back with utmost ‘politeness’.

And then― As Allen and Asmodeus continued their journey; Allen suddenly felt that the ground beneath them was disappearing.

“Hm??” Asmodeus immediately spread her wings in panic and grabbed Allen away from the strange sand waterfall that had appeared. Though, it was less a vertical waterfall and more of a steep water slide.

However, Allen stared down the hole and a strange curiosity budded inside of him. He felt something deep down and with his augmented vision and perception, Allen found out what was located deep in the ground.

Ruins?

Allen immediately ordered Asmodeus to dive deep down.

And there, a giant scorpion with a human torso and a lone flashy robed clothed girl were battling it out could be seen.

… …

When Allen and Asmodeus dive down in the ruins, not so far away from them, a woman with black glossy hair and tanned skin was fighting a monster―Scorpion King!

“—“

The tanned woman pushed off with both feet, swiftly moving forward. Under the effects of her reinforced body, the woman did not need to accelerate; her first speed was already her fastest speed.

The distance between her and the Scorpion King instantly disappeared, and she was about to enter the monster’s attack range.

At this moment —

“Gu—!”

The woman had been hit, this time from behind. The strong impact pushed out the air from her lungs, her feet flying in the air, causing the woman to lose her balance and fall forward.

The Stinger…?! The woman turned her head and saw the Scorpion Stinger sweeping her off from behind. It circled around her?!

The slender sword on her hand flashed through the air, and the woman saw a slash that was going to cut the Scorpion King’s human torso in half, but the monster’s magic attack was a step faster and accurately hit the woman in the chest.

Her brain violently shook. When she was about to lose consciousness, the woman immediately accelerated her body’s flow, forcibly reviving the nervous systems and regaining control of her own body. She somersaulted in the air, jumping back.

Bang!!

Countless explosions seem to be chasing her down as she hurriedly back away.

A column of sands rose up and started attacking the woman but she avoided quite easily.

– This was the scene Allen and Asmodeus had witnessed the moment they descended in the ruins.

Their appearance wasn’t left unnoticed as the moment they appeared from up above, the monster Scorpion King and the woman simultaneously stopped and looked up. Their expressions differed greatly.

One was anger and sneering while the other one was curious and showing interest towards the sudden intruders.

Obviously, the former came from the Scorpion King while the latter was from the woman.

Allen and Asmodeus descended not too far away from the battle.

Silence enveloped the entire ruins.

However, this was immediately broken by the Scorpion King who arrogantly pointed his short sword at Allen’s direction, “ Another intruder! Leave here at once or die!”

*** ***