"You leave the Eight Greed Kings Desert; no need to come with me anymore," Antilene said, helping her bandaged-arm attendant onto the camel and bidding him farewell.
"Take care on your journey, Lady Antilene." The attendant sighed deeply, urging the camel onward and vanishing into the vast desert.
Now alone, Antilene joined EeDechi's party, but her personality stayed aloof and arrogant—except she no longer wore a stern expression when facing EeDechi.
...
SLAP SLAP SLAP SLAP SLAP SLAP!
"AH! AH! AH! AH! AH! AHH!"
In the desert's temporary campsite, the sound of flesh being struck echoed through the air.
Don't get the wrong idea—this wasn't that kind of noise.
It was Antilene giving Mare a brutal beating.
Mare's days had been pretty comfortable before, even though he was bound and couldn't move. He had plenty to eat and drink every day, with nothing to worry about except keeping an eye out for Franco trying to sneak a grope.
But now he'd run into Antilene...
During the Great Tomb of Nazarick's conquest of the Slane Theocracy's capital, the Theocracy's army suffered massive casualties. Mare hadn't contributed much, but he was still part of the force that had occupied the capital.
Now face-to-face with Antilene, old grudges—national and personal—were being settled all at once. Mare was beaten black and blue. Antilene's daily routine boiled down to three things: eat, sleep, and pummel Mare! If EeDechi hadn't stopped her, Antilene would have grabbed her giant scythe and gutted Mare alive.
"Mare's a good person now," EeDechi said helplessly, trying to hold Antilene back. After all, Mare's Justice Value was 308, putting him squarely in the "great good" category.
Still, EeDechi could understand Antilene's rage—she wanted to devour the people of the Great Tomb of Nazarick alive and raw. For now, she'd just have to let her vent by thrashing Mare.
Usually, when Antilene beat Mare, Barrett found it awkward to step in and stop her. Franco loved watching hot women scrap; seeing a half-elf beauty thrash a femboy was one of his twisted kicks.
Only when EeDechi really couldn't take it anymore would she block Antilene's fist from smashing into Mare's face.
As a result, when Mare was typically beaten black and blue, his eyes brimming with tears, the thing he hoped for most was EeDechi swooping in to save him and halt Antilene's brutality.
...
The stars were sparse that night, making for a rare clear sky.
"Hold the fight—chow time, chow time!"
The bonfire's flames roared fiercely, casting a warm glow. The Last Defender of the Way adventurer team sat cross-legged around the fire, gearing up for tonight's dinner.
Barrett carefully lifted the frying pan off the bonfire. With the water left in the storage canteen, they couldn't just boil soup willy-nilly anymore.
But the feast was still hearty: charcoal-grilled scorpions, deep-fried lizards, and fragrant stewed rattlesnake, plus a small bowl of snake soup. On top of that, white bread for dipping in the broth, and date juice mixed with goat's milk.
The charcoal-grilled scorpions had golden, crispy shells that smelled amazing. Snap off the upturned tail, crack open the shell, and the meat inside was tender and tasty. Dust it with a pinch of cumin, slather on some oyster sauce, and that unique desert tang had everyone chowing down like there was no tomorrow.
Antilene stayed stone-faced even while pummeling Mare, but the aroma drew her in now. She dropped the airs of the Slane Theocracy's top fighter and started savoring her meal with slow, deliberate chews.
"You should go easier on Mare from now on—he's not the real villain here. The true issue is with Ainz Ooal Gown," EeDechi mumbled through a mouthful of lizard leg meat.
Antilene paused in silence, then gave a slight nod of agreement before diving back into gnawing her charcoal-grilled scorpion, her face soon gleaming with grease.
The group wolfed down the grub. Mare, hands and feet tied, watched with raw envy, his eyes green with jealousy, drool dribbling nonstop from the corners of his mouth.
Cheeko lived up to being a kind-hearted kitty with a Justice Value of 368; it took the initiative to handle feeding Mare. The sky-blue cat Cheeko picked up a wooden fork in its mouth, speared a piece of deep-fried lizard, and brought it straight to Mare's lips.
Mare didn't mind that a cat was feeding him; he quickly bit down on the lizard meat at his mouth and savored it blissfully. Cheeko also clutched a cup of date juice with its front paws, stood up on its hind legs and tail for balance, and delivered the date juice to Mare's mouth, feeding him until he was stuffed.
EeDechi, Barrett, and the others all clicked their tongues in wonder. With Cheeko's plump, roly-poly body, it was amazing that it could stand on its hind legs like that—truly a rare wonder cat.
"Cheeko's the real star of our adventurer team," EeDechi said through a hefty chew of bread. "My Justice Value is 250, which is already pretty high, but Cheeko's is 368. Good thing we've got Cheeko around, or Mare would have the highest Justice Value."
"Let me feed Mare. I can use a young guy's mouth-chewed sake to stuff him full," Franco said with a sleazy grin.
"How exactly are you gonna feed him?" Barrett asked, sensing another bizarre notion bubbling up in Franco's brain.
"I'll just take a swig of date juice like this," Franco giggled, "then go mouth-to-mouth with Mare and feed him the juice right from my lips."
"Ah, that's disgusting. Mouth-chewed sake doesn't mean that, okay?" EeDechi was speechless for a second, then started ripping into Franco, "In our team, you've got the lowest Justice Value—it's a 2, single-digit. This is the first time I've seen one that low."
Suddenly, Dragon Endbringer's figure materialized behind EeDechi, giving Antilene a start. How had this muscle-bound hunk appeared out of thin air?
Dragon Endbringer squeezed into a spot by the bonfire and sat cross-legged. He touched the wine cup with his finger, saying with no small regret, "Interesting cooking techniques, but sadly, I have no way to taste them."
"Who is he?" Antilene frowned, asking EeDechi.
"He's called Dragon Endbringer, one of the three ancient dragon gods, but now he's in a spiritual body state," EeDechi replied.
"The three ancient dragon gods?" Antilene recalled, her eyes full of surprise. "You mean the legend: 'Under the world's seat, three dragon gods: Dragon Progenitor, Dragon Emperor, Dragon Endbringer. Among them, Dragon Progenitor governs creation, Dragon Emperor governs dominion, Dragon Endbringer governs destruction'."
Suddenly, in the clear night sky, dozens of silvery-white streaks flickered in and out of view. The streaks trailed long tails, slanting across the night sky in a breathtakingly beautiful scene.
"It's a meteor shower," EeDechi said delightedly. The others also looked up one by one at this wondrous astronomical phenomenon.
"Your reactions are amusing. What's so special about a meteor shower? The desert has them all the time; I'm sick of seeing them," Dragon Endbringer said blandly.
"Meteor showers aren't common in other places," Barrett said. "Are meteors very common in the Eight Greed Kings Desert?"
"Of course they're common. Sometimes you can even pick up plenty of meteorites," Dragon Endbringer said.
"I've heard from the generals guarding our country's borders that the Eight Greed Kings Desert does often have meteor showers, with meteoric iron falling from the skies. The blacksmiths from our country's south frequently head to the outskirts of the desert in search of that iron." Antilene spoke up for once, probably wanting to join in the adventuring party's vibe.
"By the way," Antilene continued, "the Eight Greed Kings Desert also has legends of shooting stars rising into the heavens."
"Meteors ascending to heaven?" EeDechi perked up with interest.
"It's said that in the era when the Eight Greed Kings unified the continent, brilliant bright meteors would often rise from the ground into the sky, turning into twinkling stars."