Chapter 8: Subjugation

After receiving a sudden mission announcement after their daily alarm clock went off, the five gathered in the Mess hall.

"What took you so long, Leon?"

"I was busy disciplining the trolls. Besides, it is thanks to them that we don't need to go out of our way to chop woods in the forest for the traps we are making!"

"Okay, enough. Let's deal with this one first, okay?"

Tony and Leon sat down while refusing to make eye contact.

"Anyway, there is now another problem. We will need to resolve it as soon as possible so-"

"Let me handle it"

Before Charlie could finish what he was about to say, Aldo raised his hand.

"Do you have a plan?"

"Not really, but I do have an idea how to defeat them. Besides, a sand worm is at most fifteen meters in length. While their average length is only at six to nine meters"

"What makes you so confident to say that?"

Charlie who was worried about everyone's safety asked in a cold tone.

"Only me and Marco among the five of us are capable of damaging spirits. You guys should read each species' descirption in the <Market> when you have free time"

After looking for it the description of the <Spirit> and the <Sandworm> they all could not say anything.

"Then, I should also go as well"

Marco claimed.

"No. Lexi is an elf. Being away from the forest will make him weaker. Not to mention, are you saying that you will be singing in the desert? Do you think we have the water to do that?"

Aldo who was talking about how Marco would drink after getting thirsty while singing in the desert made Marco realized that there was nothing he could do about it.

"Sigh. Since you have already thought this through, I won't stop you. But you should retreat if it is too hard. We can just fight them once they got here"

"Doing so would only make things harder for us and may they may even damage the castle and traps that we worked so hard to reinforce"

Aldo stood up.

"Since we are done here, I will be making preparations now"

"Make sure to eat well"

"Stay safe"

"Don't be scared at running back when things go south, okay?"

As soon as Aldo went out of the Mess hall, the four of them facepalmed themselves as they felt embarassed saying things they are not accustomed to.

Marco then proposed an idea to the rest.

"Let's pretend we didn't hear anything today"

"Agreed" The three said at the same time.

The four of them then went back to their own tasks that they need to do in order to face the merfolks.

...

[Twenty seventh day]

After almost a week in the desert, Aldo has saw something that would amaze the five of them.

"Father, allow me to scout before you head in"

Aldo junior asked as he bowed down to his creator.

"Go ahead"

The gargoyle flew towards the place that seems to be an abandoned village.

"It really is too hot in here. Thanks to the clothes that Marco prepared, I can somehow stay in this place without fainting"

Aldo took out his wand that he bought from the <Market> and created a magic circle.

"<Harden>"

With a spell, the sand below his feet became solid. An area in the desert became a rough platform in a blink of an eye.

Boom!

Something hit the platform from below.

"I wonder if worm meat is tasty... wait, is it even edible in the first place?"

With an idiffirent look, he could not care less about the appearance of three possessed sand worms that appeared before him.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"

The three worms released a defeaning screeched that shook the desert.

"Keep going. If you call for your allies, I won't have to go through the hassle of looking for you guys"

The three resentful spirits that took over the sand worms' bodies charged as they wanted to eat the human before them, who is brimming with life energy.

"Seeing as how you all are charging from the same place, I suppose that <Resentful Spirits> have already lost their sanity to the point that they cannot formulate a plan on how to attack someone"

After writing the information in his little notebook, Aldo took the wand from his mouth that then released a faint glow.

"<Desert Warrior>"

Ten warriors rose from the sand and intercepted the sand worms.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!"

As the resentful spirits destroyed the warriors made of sand, they would regenerate by absorbing the sand around them and continue to attack the possessed sand worms.

Bam!

One of the sand worms exploded after something landed on it.

"Father, please allow me to take care of such trivial creatures"

"Go ahead. I still have to replenish the mana I lost"

With one sand worm down, the sand warriors and Aldo junior attacked the others.

On the second sand worm, Aldo junior tore the sand worm in half while the third one was defeated after the sand warriors entered its body through the mouth and self destructing itself, killing the third sand worm in the process.

"You should sleep now. I don't want you falling asleep later when we have to fight"

"Understood, father"

The gargoyle took its stance and slowly turned into stone.

"Now, what method should I use to obliterate this bastards, I wonder"

As he turned around, the three resentful spirits merged into one and created their own vessel using the sand.

"Oh! A sand golem!!! How amusing. After reading the 'Introduction to Magic and Mana' as well as the 'Beginner Magic spells' from the <Market> I didn't thought it would be possible to create one if you only have souls"

The merged resentful spirit finished creating its physical body and charged forth now that the gargoyle was sleeping.

"<Holy Blessing>"

The sand golem fell down as the merged resentful spirit was forcefully expelled from the physical body it worked so hard to create.

"<Crystalize>"

The merged resentful spirit that was about to escape became a small orb.

After seeing the effects of it, Aldo continued to take notes and then took the crystal made of resentful spirits.

"This should be a good treat to Aldo junior when he wakes up... hmm?"

As the wind suddenly got stronger, Aldo turned back and saw a sandstorm. Below that sandstorm was a horde of possessed sand worms.

"Wow. I didn't knew that so many dead beings were obssessed with me"

Once more, he took out his wand in order to face the possessed sand worms heading his way.