"Half an hour. That's around 71 points. You barely passed." - Garami

"Damn..." - Iron

I gave the suit of armor spread wide-legged over the ground my harsh and impartial judgment. Don't get me wrong, I think he did well defeating a monster of the same racial rank as himself. It's just that a solo clear won't give us any extra rewards..., or will it? There could be more bonus objectives than those written on the Quest Board. Some of it wasn't even readable, now that I think about it...

"Mind peeling yourself off the floor? We got a schedule to keep." - Garami

"Yes, ma'am." - Iron

Once again, it is nice having someone who listens to your requests in your Party~.

After helping up Iron from the floor, I looked over the chain's anchor mechanism thingy, whatever its official name was. It looks not so different from the other units we found earlier, so detaching the chain won't be a big problem.

Except for that, the only thing interesting in the room is the remains of the Skeleton Giant (which I can't convert into Necro Counters. Stupid Quest rules!) and some junk in the corner of the room. Iron helped me dig out some of the stuff that was a little more intact so we could investigate it.

"...Insect cages." - Garami

Old-fashioned insect cages made with wood and broken glass. The glass must have been in one piece back in the day, so unless a powerful monster bug was placed inside, the specimen should not be able to get out.

"Are you sure?" - Bloom

"It could be scorpion cages." - Iron

"Trust me. I know what I'm talking about." - Garami

It's only because I've already deduced the answer to this Extra Quest quiz. But just to be sure, let's try to gather a little more data before presenting my answer.

"Iron, unlock the chain when I give you the signal." - Garami

"??? Very well?" - Iron

I ran out of the building so I could take a look at the golden dust layer swirling around at the bottom of the dome. Without taking my eyes off it, I shouted to Iron that he could do his magic. I saw the chain detaching itself from the hull and quickly reeled back into the building behind me. At the same time, the golden dust went down one more level, proving my theory that it is connected to the chain mechanisms.

"But it is still sunk by too much even when you count all three chains into the equation..." - Garami

The problem is that, if the current amount of sunken dust is equal to 1, then the dust layer has gone down by 5 since we first arrived. It could be that the first two chains had a sinking power of 2, but to be safe, I asked Iron to come out and tell me his thoughts. I used the Kigal-Note's self-writing function to draw pictures from my memories showing the dust layer's state before and after the third chain was unlocked. My memory from before is too faint at this point...

"Yes, the golden sand has declined more than before. I found it strange when we traveled to the other two buildings, but I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me." - Iron

"Then everything's settled." - Garami

"...? Just where did that come from?" - Iron

"I mean I've figured out what the desert bandits tried to make a money scheme out of, where it is being sealed, AND why there is a time-limit for clearing this Quest." - Garami

Iron looked surprised at my declaration, so I explained my theory one fact at a time.

"First, the bandit diary we found mentions something about their boss having a money-making scheme. The insect cages from the warehouse point to a weak and small creature, yet capable of a mass-extermination catastrophe once it gets loose.

"The skulls and bones stored in the chests suggest that the creature requires bones from dead animals, or in this case, people, and it is intelligent enough to hoard some reserves. Necromancy, if the Giant Skeleton guardian is any clue. However, the vault room in the second building reveals it doesn't have the smarts to clear any complicated puzzles. As for the locks and traps in the treasure chests, I assume they were part of the chests' functions from the start.

"Now I will jump ahead and spoil where this creature is sealed away along with the reason for the Quest's time limit.

"The only possible solution for this is the bottom of the dome. The golden dust has been slowly receding, almost like a barrier that was gradually losing power. Even if we had not removed any of the chains attached to the Marauder, once our 12 hours had passed, the dust barrier would have completely disappeared.

"Combining all these points, I'll say the culprit is a small insect-type creature with a one-sided broken skill build that's aimed for necromancy. A creature with the appearance of a valuable object, no doubt." - Garami

After finishing listing up everything, I took a breather and drank something from my water bottle before turning to Iron and Bloom, both looking at me with anticipation. "So, any ideas what creature the culprit is?"

"How should we know!?" - Iron & Bloom

So much wishing for an interactive audience. *Siiiiigh*...

"It is a scarab, a scarab. You know, those beetles that are sometimes used as a model for amulets and stuff? The one that is born from a giant ball of dirt, said to represent the sun and some sun gods, the bug that's also rumored to be connected to the border between the realms of the living and the dead?" - Garami

"Never heard about it." - Iron & Bloom

"Why you idiots...!" - Garami

Are scarabs that rare!? Or am I the weird one here!?

"But if it is a bug, then the giant snake insect that brought us here has a connection to the Quest." - Iron

"Hargh..., yeah, it probably has." - Garami

There is someone else with a stronger connection to the Quest than that lamia-mantis jerk. Who, you ask? It's me. Because I designed that ****ing bug!!

One of the requests back in Skvalv's office at that Limbo place was for a "desert species monster that has incredible necromancy powers but weak enough that even a child can squash it", so my mind instantly connected the request to the scarabs.

I called it a "Kheperiktot", but the name's got no big meaning. I just slapped whatever sounded Egyptian-ish onto it. As for the bug itself, it has a vivid golden exoskeleton along with gem-like patterns. I even made it have both Gold and Gem as racial attributes.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

It's no wonder that the bandit leader wanted to cultivate them...though the whole gig with the bandits is just backstory for the Quest. Kheperiktots only appeared on Terra Sol a few years ago. Though Iron seems kind of excited over this "adventure". Telling him this whole set-up is a set-up might cause some emotional damage.

Thinking back, he is the only undead on Tir na Nog who dared to leave the island, even before the princess was defeated and before he had the [Daywalker] skill. Maybe adventuring is in his...blood? Leather reims? Ectoplasm? You know the drill.

My point is: that it's only the "Kheperiktot" that fulfills the conditions for being the "culprit" behind the Quest. If there's a different monster behind the event that exterminated the bandits, then I have no idea. Besides, would the gods request Skvalv for a Kheperiktot if they already had something so similar to it?

I told Iron and Bloom about the nasty bugger and showed them its page in the Kigal-Note.

"Wow. Can there be such a creature out there? I think I could beat this bug in a fistfight." - Bloom

"You could. The Kheperiktot is incapable of growing stronger than your typical common beetle. All its supernatural abilities are instead redirected to its talents with necromancy." - Garami

"...? How? Would you not gain more strength with levels and evolution?" - Iron

"Iron, look here. This creature is classified as having a racial rank of S. It is a special creature, an exception from most of the rules of the World System." - Bloom

"Oh, I see." - Iron

Yup. Its stat-growth for any non-magical status value is so bad that no amount of growth-enhancement skill effect won't help its case. The bug is also incapable of learning any magic skills outside of necromancy, so that's the only path left for it.

S-rank monsters may sound like the strongest on paper, but they are just loop-sided. I've heard about some exceptions, but those are generally more like creatures that have mutated into unique monsters instead of being from a very rare race like this bug friend of ours.

"Anyway, this should clear one of the bonus assignments we have been forced with," I said while opening the Quest Board again to look for some changes...

Extra Quest: Gold Rush Robbery Quest giver: "Golden Desert's Robber" - Dizlakaia Requirements: Ownership of a desert-traveling vessel. Encountering the "Golden Desert's Robber" - Dizlakaia. Quest Description: The greatest thief of the Sekarot Desert has discovered and robbed you of your vessel.

Why is this giant beast pilfering ships and vehicles?

Escape from its lair while possibly also trying to solve this mystery. Quest Content: Clear Conditions: Escape with your desert-traveling vessel from the lair of Dizlakaia, and the creature itself. Detach the chains that are trapping your desert-traveling vessel: 3/3 CLEARED Find a way to open the gate leading to the surface. Failure Conditions: Destruction of the desert-traveling vessel. Fail to release the desert-traveling vessel before the time limit: 6:07:32 Death of all participants. Bonus Conditions:

Discover the cause for the "Golden Desert's Robber's" strange actions. CLEARED Defeat the lord of the underground ruin dome: the "Kheperiktot". Extra Notes: Teleport tools/skills/magic spells are negated for the duration of the Quest. Clear Rewards: 1 level to all Sand- and Gold attribute skills. Accessory: "Desert Thief's Armband". Bonus Rewards: Material: [Grudge-Filled Silk], [Pure Gold Mud Ball], etc., (depends on what bonus conditions cleared). Skill: [Golden Burial Revolution] Chance to obtain Extra Skills (if one clears the conditions). Failure Punishment: Loss of the captured vessel. -5 AP.

Sweet, just as I thought. We're halfway from clearing the main part of the Quest thanks to us detaching the chains from the Marauder.

"All that's left is to find this 'gate' and get out of here." - Garami

"...What?! We are retreating after coming so far!?" - Bloom

"Bloom, do you remember what I said about this scarab being goddamn ****ing incredible when it comes to necromancy~?" - Garami

"Yes?" - Bloom

"It's probably way better with the necromantic arts than even me~. It would likely negate any skills from my main magic class~. I think it could even take control of real undead, such as this fancy knight over here~." - Garami

Plus we don't know how many corpses that bug has its feelers on. For all we know, there could be an army of C-rank Titan Skeletons hiding at the bottom of the dome. The Kheperiktot's leadership abilities were already crazy, so if the Quest has given it a boss-related enhancement, who knows what we will find underneath that layer of gold dust?

Also, in case some people have forgotten, demons are weak to Gold. Therefore, I'm not setting a foot down in that pollen-like cloud of death! Hay fever will be the least of my worries!

"......Why are we still standing around here!? Let us flee this antlion trap!" - Bloom

Someone seems to have caught on to the potential boss-ness of the Kheperiktot. Iron nodded along with Bloom's request, but there's one thing that hinders us from leaving. We haven't discovered the way out of this place. The "Gate" mentioned in the Quest details is still undiscovered-

*Beep!*

Just as I was thinking about that, a sound came from the still-open Quest Board. When we turned to look at it, we saw a new "CLEARED" mark had appeared on it. And right beside the before-mentioned Gate assignment...

"Wow, what luck..., right?" - Bloom

"This feels like a trap." - Iron

I agreed with them...initially. But a hole in the sand dome appeared while we were pondering, the same type of hole the giant lamia mantis used to escape after it had dropped us off. Does this mean...

"Let's go." - Garami

"Eh? For real? Master, there has never been such an obvious trap in the history of traps!" - Bloom

"Sure, but you know what they say?" - Garami

"Never look a gift horse in the mouth?" - Iron

"No, that is just plain stupidity. What if the horse has cavities? I'm talking about 'let sleeping dogs lie'." - Garami

After that, I forced the two to walk to the ship. But, are you kidding? Some people are just too durable...

---

"Chief, the group has left for their floatship."

"Good. Let us try this one more time, men."

"Yes, chief!"

"You got it, chief."

"Now that we know what is controlling those damn corpses..."

"Let us go home tonight, men!"

"YEAH!!"