The 20th chapter… whew, how the time goes by. To think this fic is already due to pass the chapter length of my previous fic so soon. So much for me saying that I didn't intend for this fic to be too long, ha ha. That said, I'm fairly confident Age of Adventure won't surpass the chapter count of my longer fics like Slave of Light – again, never the intention to make this a super long runner or anything like that.

Well, my random blabbing aside, hope you all liked how the last chapter ended! Introducing Shabriri was quite the risk I took since it could have easily felt shoehorned in even in spite of the reasoning I provided for it.

That said, he will also be the ONLY other Elden Ring character to end up in this fic.

While it is admittedly tempting to bring in the likes of Malenia or even Rykard somehow since those two, among a handful of others, are still alive and merely in a state of inactivity due to the nature of their existences, doing so would needlessly bloat this fic and utterly screw over the Four Cornered World since nothing in it could hope to contend with those of their level.

Of course, the same could likely be said of Shabriri as well since he's no slouch himself and his abilities would be especially effective in the Four Cornered World since any resistances some may have to status effects is still vastly below what's required to contend with Madness incantations. However, I will be doing what I can to keep things relatively balanced since his goal in and of itself isn't to just go around slaughtering everything that moves but rather to try and spread the message of his lord and only really fight when he deems it necessary.

But there will definitely be times where he will deem it necessary to step up and fight. What kind of situations would make him do so… well, you'll see, heh.

Anyways, just thought I should explain that as a bit of a follow up to the last chapter's ending AN for those of you interested in such tidbits.

So with my usual rambling all over and done now, let's get onto the chapter!

P.S. As usual, consider purchasing any of my novels! Universal links can be found on my profile page, just remove the spaces! Novels can be bought on a variety of sites, such as Amazon Kindle, Apple, or Barnes & Noble, just search up Fading Darkness, Rising Light or my Infinite Genesis trilogy!

P.P.S. The new Lies of P footage and its demo look awesome as hell! Can't wait for it to come out!

Chapter 20

It was with a frown that Ranni and her beloved traversed the sole path this land provided. Judging by the gradual shift in both climate and environment, it would seem that in short order the duo would finally be approaching the desert. It also helped that even from here, she could vaguely make out the crimson hue of the sky far off in the distance – one of the many signs of the Scarlet Rot's influence on the land.

Her frown, however, was not due to the approaching inevitability of dealing with Rot infected lands and creatures, no. Instead, her current unhappy – uncertain – visage can be chalked up to a small but persistent sense of wrongness. It was a feeling akin to how one felt when an important textbook was left behind at home while already about to enter the lecture hall at Raya Lucaria.

A small thing… but small things, as they were well known to do, had a way of growing into something bigger. It was this sort of slight wrongness that she's been plagued by for hours now. Alas, she'd no way of discerning what the source of this discomfort could be. Not even the constant feed of intelligence from the Dark Moon alerted her to anything truly abnormal.

"You've been looking almost pained for a while now," the Tarnished suddenly noted as he continued to hold the reins to Torrent. "Have you discovered something?"

Ranni's frown only deepened. "I'm afraid not," she responded from her spot in front of him. "But I do know I heavily dislike it."

"…Shall we turn back?" her beloved consort asked. "If it bothers you so severely, it must surely be something pressing."

It was certainly a valid option. Like she'd just noted, leaving anything to fester like a bad wound will only grow into something more. What made this idea even more appealing was the simple fact that the Dark Moon's presence and connection to her allowed for the general suppression of the influences the other gods have been having in this world so far. By all accounts, they could allow the Scarlet Rot to go ignored for just a while longer to deal with whatever is disturbing her and then return to burn it all away afterwards.

But as wonderful as that would be…

"No, let us press forward."

…It simply wasn't feasible.

While it would do her wonders to be rid of the source of her current grievance, she had no way of pinpointing where the source even was. To turn back around and commit themselves to rooting out the issue would require them to scour the entire land until they picked up a trail and there was no telling how long that would take.

This was something the Tarnished, ever so perceptive, picked up on in her brief words. "I see. Very well then."

That was all he had to say before giving a good tug on Torrent's reins, giving cause for the spirit mount to pick up its light jog to something significantly faster.

The two proceeded to ride forth in silence for a while. Before long, they came across what looked like a small village… and with the inhabitants slain. Most look to have been done in by blade while others had clearly been on the receiving end of a potent blast of pure magic. However, the otherwise ghastly and even horrifying sight, had little to no impact on either of them. Sad as it may be to see so many clearly slaughtered down to the last, such sights were hardly uncommon back in the Lands Between and both Ranni and the Tarnished were far from unbloodied.

Moreover, though faint, the Lunar Princess could vaguely detect the hint of Frenzy that seemed to linger in this land somehow. It was harmless and would soon fully fade without having to do anything, but its presence alone spoke volumes.

"Tracks," the Tarnished said, motioning towards the ground. His clearly experienced eyes allowed him to instantly take stock of impressions in the grass and dirt that were so minute that Ranni, even with her own sharp eyes, had to squint hard to make out. "Three people did battle with those afflicted by the Frenzied Flame… two use swords, another didn't – the spellcaster, most likely. Judging by the size of the feet, they are likely women."

Ranni nodded along as she silently tried to trace where the tracks led. "Seems the three had gone in the direction of the desert." That caused her frown, which had faded marginally, to return in full force. Such a venture likely couldn't have turned out well for whoever had gone to the desert.

The Tarnished hummed. "Whoever these three are, they seem quite capable. It's likely that whatever battle had happened here had only dragged on as long as it had due to understandable hesitance in killing once innocent people."

Ranni hummed. "Then I suppose they may still live, provided they took enough precautions."

"I'd imagine so. In which case, that could be very helpful for us should they prove the friendly sort – any aid they could lend us in quelling the Scarlet Rot would be very appreciated," the Tarnished commented as he gently kicked Torrent's sides, causing the hardy steed to once more trot along.

"We could only hope," Ranni replied as she raised one of her four hands to adjust her hat after the increasingly dry wind caused it to slant atop her head.

"Only one way to tell… Off we go, Torrent! As fast as we can!" the Tarnished's tone picked up in volume as he gave the steed a hearty tug, Torrent giving an equally hardy snort as he picked up speed rapidly.

As they now raced towards the altered desert at full speed, Ranni couldn't help but tilt her head in deep thought, her concerns from moments ago currently forgotten about.

A trio of women… she wondered if perhaps it was the Hero and her two friends, Sword Saint and Sage that had wandered off into the desert. If so… well, as far as reunions go, this one would definitely be an interesting one.

Within the water town, Goblin Slayer and his party were visiting the local guild station, where many adventurers passing through the area tended to stop by at.

It's already been two days since they'd first come here and he'd gone off to ask of the Rogue's Guild to look into the strange phenomena that had driven those poor people mad.

As that had been the silver ranked adventurer's only real purpose for coming out this way, one would have expected him to return back to the frontier town and begin doing goblin slaying quests again. However, to even his own surprise, he and his party remained here for the time being.

This had been partly due to bumping into Female Merchant, once known as Noble Fencer, who'd been quite enthusiastic in meeting them again, especially Priestess. And once they all had started to catch up with one another, Goblin Slayer had found himself being dragged along for the ride… not that he'd been particularly against it.

And it had been in the midst of all their talking, which had also resulted in them going to see Sword Maiden briefly, that they'd been informed of the two 'mysterious' foreigners that had saved the water town from a dragon attack.

It hadn't taken Goblin Slayer and his party long at all to realize that one of the foreigners had actually been none other than the one they'd met all that time ago now during that goblin slaying quest.

Upon making that connection, it hadn't taken too much thought afterwards to decide that the other foreigner must have been the one the mysterious warrior had said he was looking for. Well, evidently, he'd found her, for it was clearly a woman after Female Merchant had told them of all that had transpired.

And what things the girl had told them – of how the warrior had battled the dragon and defeated it so easily, with only the most minimal of support from the female foreigner – Ranni, she was apparently named. Learning of this had actually shocked even Goblin Slayer; it was as if he were child again, when his sister used to read him tales of brave and powerful warriors facing down threats that would have cowed others.

Needless to say, this was something that had especially shocked his party as well, so much so that even now, they couldn't help but briefly talk about it.

"To think I'd had the good fortune of meeting such a mighty warrior… ah, if only I'd been here during that time," Lizard Priest bemoaned. "The stories he must have to tell!"

Dwarf Shaman let out a chuckle. "Easy there, scaly, yer practically drooling over that prospect like it's a wheel of cheese!"

Such comments had become the norm since Female Merchant had told them of this battle. However, while his two fellow males were clearly impressed by the warrior's feats, the females of the party looked less so.

Well, more so in High Elf Archer's case; Priestess was just lost in her own thoughts for the time being.

"Tch, as if I needed even more reason to dislike the guy!" she nearly ground out through her clenched teeth.

"Oh, come off it, long ears," Dwarf Shaman said. "How much more are ya gonna drone on and on about this?!"

"He was suspicious from the start, darn it!" she shot back.

For his part, Goblin Slayer remained silent, dwelling on other matters. And it was these other matters, in fact, that were the primary reason for why he and his party had remained here in the water town for longer than anticipated.

"Um, Goblin Slayer, sir?" Priestess suddenly spoke up from her current spot.

"Mm?"

"Do you really think things are as bad as what they're said to be?" she asked.

She spoke of the most recent development, one shared by Sword Maiden herself when they'd gone ever so briefly to see her during their meetup with Female Merchant.

Aside from being quite happy to see the lot of them, Sword Maiden had also wished to inform them of some new going-ons, her position as the ruler of the water town and a close friend and aide to the king himself granting her an intelligence network that could easily collect tidbits from just about any corner of the kingdom in short order.

And given her… experience… the blindfolded woman was always on the lookout for any goblin activity that may be coming too close to the water town for her liking.

Naturally, Goblin Slayer had chosen to stay while Sword Maiden's intelligence officers went about their business as swiftly as possible. From what little was known so far, the location of this new batch of goblins was closer to the water town than to the frontier town, making it the logical choice to remain here and then move out rather than have to make a trip back to the frontier town only to have to come back out this way so soon after.

But that aside… it would seem that early reports indicated these new goblins were… different from how the wretched creatures normally acted.

Whether this was another case of those blood goblins running amok or if this was 'simply' a case of normal goblins adopting new and odd behaviors was currently unknown. That is what Sword Maiden's intelligence network was trying to figure out right now.

"Don't know," he admitted after a moment to Priestess. "Could be better, could be worse."

Not the most reassuring of words, even he knew that much. Unfortunately, just what else could he say? The Four Cornered World is in a very precarious state right now. Someone as simple minded as himself knew that much, but that was about it. As was the norm for him, all he could do was just focus on the matters directly ahead of him.

And in this case, that meant having to wait around until they received word about this new development. If nothing else, though, it at least allowed them time to restock on whatever supplies they'd been low as well as get any new gear that they hadn't had a chance to look into a few days back.

He just hoped that there would be no repeat any time soon – or ever again – of what had happened last time.

Goblin Slayer's right hand clenched into a tight fist as he recalled those horrible sensations again. Thankfully, both hands were in his lap, so this motion went unnoticed by the others, who were still caught up in their chatter over the foreign warrior and this mysterious Ranni companion of his. Not even Priestess, who was sitting directly across from him and was focusing on his hidden expression, seemed to take notice of his growing agitation.

With an effort, he took a deep but quiet breath and managed to calm himself. If such a situation did arise again, he and his friends would have no choice but to get… creative.

"Either way, it won't change what we may have to do," he then said.

Priestess could only gulp, but steeled herself nonetheless. "R-Right!"

"Excuse me."

Goblin Slayer looked up as one of the attendants from Sword Maiden's temple suddenly approached them. The young woman bowed lightly as she got their attention. "Milady saint has a new update. Would you please come with me back to the temple?"

Goblin Slayer had already stood up by the time she even uttered that first sentence and his party followed suit mere seconds thereafter.

Whatever Sword Maiden would have to say about this new quest she was asking them to do, it was what he would have to focus on for the time being. Whatever information the Rogue's Guild could scrounge up for him on the current situation with this terrifying frenzy, the state of the world in general… that could all wait until later, when there actually is something that could possibly be done about it.

Until then, it was time to focus and ultimately do what he did best – what he could now even claim to take some manner of pride in, if only because his work can have some positives outcomes:

Killing goblins.

Sword Maiden had been over the two moons when her dear Goblin Slayer and his friends had so suddenly paid a visit to her city. For what reason was unknown – Goblin Slayer had been rather tight-lipped on that front – but she hadn't been about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

…Or so she would like to say without issue.

In reality… well, things were different.

Oh, make no mistake, the goblin obsessed adventurer's very presence was as great to have around as always, awkward silences and clipped tone and all. However, her senses, finely honed from her own adventuring days and training, had allowed her to feel something… off.

And said feeling had come from none other than Goblin Slayer himself.

It was so very mild now, almost akin to a bad stench in its final throes of resistance after being vigorously scrubbed away, though this sensation wasn't physical in nature at all but something more indirect in nature, metaphysical even.

Somehow, in more recent days, Goblin Slayer had come into contact with a terrible power and her divine senses could tell it had taken a toll on his mind. Though he had become a broken man long ago at the hands of goblins just like how she had become a broken woman, he'd been able to salvage what few pieces of himself had remained and reforged it all into something strong and stalwart, reliable and it had been this self of his that had been able to sooth her mind and finally sleep peacefully at night.

However, whatever had happened had left a mark on him, left him shaken and she couldn't even begin to grasp the extent of this mark or in what way exactly it had affected him. All she did know was that it had been far from a pleasant experience.

If anything were to happen to him… gods above, Sword Maiden had no idea on what she should do exactly. After all he's done for her, leaving him to suffer like this hurt her.

Alas, all she could do was provide perhaps the sole method of soothing his weary soul – by giving him a chance to slay some goblins.

It was painful to know that she had no choice but to call upon him and his friends to do this favor for her, made it seem like she was using him so conveniently, but it was the best she could do.

And on that note…

"…And that is the situation as of now," she finished explaining.

Following the dragon attack, she'd sent out scouting parties to search the land as far as they were physically able to go, staying on the look out for anything that could prove to be yet another problem for the water town. They all had gotten supremely lucky with the arrival of the enigmatic warrior and Ranni stepping in to vanquish the dragon for them, but they all couldn't count on the roll of the dice for such timely intervention again.

It had been during such journeys that these scouting parties had come across a handful of such possible threats, primarily bandits and the like that had evidently been hoping to capitalize on all the Chaos the world was in.

The bandits had been easy enough to handle for her forces, scattered as they were. However, in more recent times, they had discovered what appeared to be the beginnings of a goblin nest rooting itself in a hilly area only a few days away at most from the water town.

Normally, goblins tended to be active from twilight to dawn with only a scant handful serving as guards during the day while the majority of the growing nest slept and enjoyed whatever 'spoils' they'd obtained. However, these goblins, most of which had shown signs of being hobgoblins of all things, or at the very least were all larger than average goblins, had demonstrated signs of considerable activity during the day. They didn't seem to travel far, according to the scout party that had observed them, but these green creatures had nonetheless showcased much more physical movement and alertness than ever before, going around and actually fashioning new and fairly sturdy clubs out of random chunks of dried out logs and stone that had been nearby.

Needless to say, this was a worrying development to even the scouting party, most of whom tended to look down on goblins as most other people were prone to doing. It would seem that the oddity in their behavior made for a surreal sight that silenced whatever dismissive remarks they usually had for the monsters.

Of course, this was triply so for Sword Maiden, who clenched her staff tightly as she finished relaying all these details to Goblin Slayer and his party, all of whom met with her in her meeting chambers.

When and where this all occurred, the rough estimate of the goblin nest, the times that these abnormally large goblins seemed most active and all the other little details that the scouts had managed to gather… Sword Maiden had not spared a single thing in her explanation.

It was High Elf Archer who broke the ensuing silence first. "Great, first blood, now they apparently started working out. Stupid dang things…" she grumbled, making for a stark contrast from the normally noble and controlled image a high elf had.

"The little beasts have always been quite sly in some manner ever since we began to party with milord Goblin Slayer," quipped Lizard Priest, Sword Maiden hearing his tail swish around audibly. "Perhaps the result of something other than the more recent acts of Chaos?"

"Doesn't matter for now," Goblin Slayer spoke, cutting whatever other chatter had been about to break out into nothing. "What does matter is that we kill the goblins soon." He'd looked over his shoulder slightly towards his party when he said that, but now Sword Maiden could vaguely see him turn to look fully at her. "Is that all the details?"

"Yes, at least as far as we know," she confirmed.

"U-Um, forgive me if I sound rude," the cute little Priestess began, who so dearly reminded Sword Maiden of herself from her much younger years. It was good to see she was still going strong. "But is there a reason why none of yours forces have been able to handle this?"

She shook her head, showing that it was fine to ask. "Several reasons," she began. "Firstly, until we all can confirm that the Chaos spreading throughout the Four Cornered World has been curbed for good, we must prioritize the safety of each town and its surrounding territories as best as possible. Secondly, the scouting party that had been observing the goblin nest was incredibly small – roughly the same size as your party and while equipped enough to handle simple bandits, assaulting an entire goblin nest is a different matter. And lastly, it is a matter of training – they are soldiers first and foremost and their skillset reflects this fact. Compared to adventurers, they're too specialized."

"Mm, it is as milady saint says," Lizard Priest chose to add. "It's not different from how each of us have our own specialties and weaknesses, though in this case, it's to a considerably greater extent. In the end, it is the duty of soldiers to stay and defend their homeland, not to venture out and explore like how we often do."

"Ohhh…" Priestess nodded vigorously in understanding.

Goblin Slayer then grunted. "Let's be off then. We've no way to know if their behavior will change any further the longer we wait. Go and grab whatever other essentials you'll need and meet up by the city's eastern path.

"Wait," Sword Maiden called out just as the adventurers were about to head on out after some quick goodbyes to her. "May I have a word with you in private, please?"

She spoke, of course, to none other than Goblin Slayer.

The man in question paused in his tracks and seemed to contemplate the matter until he looked to his friends. "Go on ahead and wait for me. I'll be along in a short while."

Sword Maiden could feel some flickers of mild confusion at this sudden development from them, especially from Priestess who also demonstrated some measure of concern as well… perhaps she too was aware of the state Goblin Slayer was in.

Once it was just the two of them in the meeting chambers – and oh dear, that got her heart to quicken its pace a fair bit – Goblin Slayer spoke. "What is it?"

"…Has anything happened to you recently?" she asked after contemplating her words for a brief moment.

"What do you…?"

"I can feel something lingering about you." Sword Maiden's words were spoken very softly, but they got Goblin Slayer to trail off before he could even finish his previous sentence. This gave the young woman the opening to continue speaking. "I can't tell exactly what it is, but it's a dangerous 'scent' clinging to you, reeking of madness as well as something more. Please tell me, my dear Goblin Slayer, what have you gone through?"

She could feel the man stiffen up as she placed a hand on his arm. Whatever it was, it had clearly left him more than a little affected, after all. This thought was enough to worry her more than anything else in the past week, even more so than the dragon attack and the emergence of these new goblins.

"…" The silver ranked adventurer made a sound of uncertainty that dragged out for several long seconds before he finally seemed to regain his ability to speak. "…My party and I tried to head on a quest some odd days ago, only we never even made it to the quest giver's location. We had been attacked by… by people."

Sword Maiden tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

"Villagers, random travelers… just… just people that had been living their lives peacefully until…" He trailed off. "…Something had affected them, drove them completely mad to the point where even debilitating injuries didn't even register to them. Some of them even…"

Sword Maiden's grip on Goblin Slayer's arm, once so soft and gentle, tightened from worry but she was able to turn that worry into an encouraging squeeze, which got him to continue his explanation not long afterwards.

"…Some strange mystical energy shot out from their hollowed and burned out eyes," he continued quietly. "We all did our best to avoid being struck, but I took a hit before long, even with my shield up. And then… then I saw…"

He stopped speaking again and Sword Maiden knew right away that nothing she could do would make him recount what exactly this strange attack had shown his mind.

For him to be in such distress… it pained her so. So, she decided to be a bit bold and do something to help him. It was the very least she could do for him.

She took the hand she'd placed on his arm and raised it up to Goblin Slayer's head. "Purify," she uttered, activating the miracle.

There was a subdued flash of light as her power went into effect, targeting the lingering power that still had hold over her beloved adventurer.

"…!"

Alas… it wasn't quite to be.

She could feel the power of the Purify miracle at work and could in turn detect the lingering wrongness fade away from within the confines of Goblin Slayer's mind… but not entirely.

Though unbelievably minute, some trace of this terrible power continued to stay within the silver ranked adventurer's mind.

It wasn't that this power was particularly resistant to her miracle, though that was a contributing factor to some extent; something else was keeping this madness in place, like an anchor.

Sword Maiden's eyes narrowed beneath the black cloth she wore at that particular implication, even as Goblin Slayer somewhat staggered from feedback. It was only when his armor clanked audibly that she was roused from her thoughts.

"My apologies for the suddenness," she began as she helped him steady himself. "But are you alright now?"

"…Mm." Goblin Slayer merely grunted as he was prone to doing. However, it was with an almost lighter tone than just a moment ago. It would seem that what little effect the Purify miracle had pulled off had indeed made some kind of difference. "…Thank you."

Those words caused her spirits to soar. "You're most welcome. I only wish I could do more…" She smiled then frowned. "I'm afraid to say that I wasn't able to rid you of it all."

Goblin Slayer took a breath. "I can… tell, to some extent. Like an itch at the very back of my mind. But it will do. It has to do."

Sword Maiden could only bite her lip. Neither one of them knew how things would go from here. Perhaps the power will fully fade in time or it will eventually grow stronger and cause Goblin Slayer even greater distress. There was simply no way at this time to tell for sure which outcome seemed most likely.

"…I really must get going," Goblin Slayer spoke after a few seconds. "I cannot keep my party waiting much longer."

"Then I wish you the best of luck," Sword Maiden replied, for there was little else either of them could say or do at this point in time. "And once again, allow me to say this: you are always welcome in my temple."

Goblin Slayer, having turned around by this point, went still for a split second before nodding. And then, with that same bold stride he always had, he took his leave.

It wasn't until a whole minute went by that Sword Maiden finally took a deep breath then let out an equally deep sigh, her worries only growing now. Just when it seemed like things had been settling down for a while, the seeds of Chaos were already beginning to bloom once more in whole new ways.

She could only pray to the Supreme God that this time around, the Four Cornered World as a whole would be a bit more prepared for whatever was to come.

Some time goes by without much in the way of fanfare and the trio consisting of Hero, Sage, and Sword Saint continued to make progress throughout the warped desert.

Said progress had been quite slow, much to the frustration of the three of them, but none more so than Sage herself.

"Duck!" she yelled out as she shot out the fireball she'd been preparing for the past few seconds. It flew at impressive speeds through the air and passed just over the ducking Hero before striking what she could only assumed to have once been a vulture directly in its open mouth just as it had been about to lunge forward.

The mutated buzzard cried and hack as the powerful flames that now ignited from the fireball went to work, cooking it to a complete crisp from within. As the creature now keeled over, dead as could be, the trio could only sigh in unison at having had to go through yet another fight.

"Let's take a break for a while," Hero grumbled out after taking a few minutes to make sure every enemy they'd just fought were in fact dead. No sooner than when she confirmed their deaths did she just plop onto the sandy ground, only to grunt in mild pain as it turned out some coral-like growth had been hidden by said sand and she'd just sat down on it quite hard.

Sword Saint, for her part, grunted as she followed Hero's example, only she made sure to look before she sat.

Only Sage remained standing, having some more stamina remaining as opposed to her two companion, who did most of the heavy lifting in battle.

They'd fallen into something of a routine. Hero and Sword Saint would go in first and distract the enemy or outright incapacitate them if circumstances allowed for it. Then Sage would simply launch a fireball and kill the enemies while they were distracted, the odd and extreme weakness they had to flames making it easy for her to continue casting the lowest level fire spell she knew to conserve her stamina.

The problem was, however, that they'd been fighting quite often in this fairly short time they'd been traveling through the desert.

"I can't believe any of this…" Sage mumbled as she ran a hand down her face. "None of it makes sense!"

She'd reasoned that the wildlife, although mutated, would still retain a plethora of traits and routines from before their mutations and so all the trio would have to do is just adjust accordingly. However, while this hypothesis had proven to be partially true so far, there'd been plenty of those mutated spiders, scorpions and buzzards that just flat out didn't abide by this otherwise sound logic. They would openly roam the warped land without a care and once spotting them, would give chase well beyond what would have otherwise been expected of them.

In fact, the small group of huge and bulbous vultures they'd just finished off had chased them more or less back the way they'd come from… a distance that had been more than two kilometers. Even when accounting for the increase in size and presumably the wildlife's perspective when it came to territory, it was just ridiculous!

And this was far from the first fight they'd been in today let alone the whole time they've been here in general. It seemed like the only times they could afford to take any sort of break was immediately after a fight and only close to or even within the very area they'd fought in. This was why the trio didn't even bother to move at least a little bit away from the battleground – they would've risked getting into yet another fight.

"Well, at least we're all still kicking, right?" Hero mumbled out, the younger girl trying to sound upbeat. Whether this was to cheer herself up to put Sage in a better mood was unknown.

Nonetheless, Sage will admit her leader did have a point. So far, they'd gone without actually being injured despite the insane aggressiveness of their enemies. But at the rate they kept getting into fights, it wouldn't be that much longer until they finally became too worn down and started taking hits.

And considering the size and strength of these transformed creatures? A single hit would undoubtedly be dangerous, if not outright fatal.

Sage wasn't one to be mopey or cynical, but as of this moment, they were in a bad spot and things would only get worse barring one hell of a fortunate roll of the dice from the gods.

"But for how much longer?" Sage couldn't help but say.

Her words drew a grimace from Sword Saint. "As a warrior, I want to say that it's inevitable to take some damage and that we need to just mitigate it and soldier on… but I think I can tell what you're getting at." The swordswoman inspected her blade with a very stern and critical gaze. Despite sitting down and recuperating, she was still very much alert, just waiting for the next battle already.

"Whatever has happened to this land has made it ridiculously dangerous," Sage began. "For once, I think we may have bit off more than we can chew… unfortunately, I think we're also in this too deep to just retreat and strategize properly."

"Can't you just keep spewing flames out until the whole place is up in smokes?" whined Hero. "Like you were testing out earlier?"

Following their very first battle in this desert, Sage had decided to fire off several widespread flame spells, a way of seeing what sort of effect it would have on this strange new environment. It had actually managed to burn through some of these strange coral growths and the other strange things that had popped up as a result of whatever this was.

However, while these little tests of hers had been fairly successful to some extent…

"My spells simply don't cover a wide enough area or possess anywhere near enough power to alter the whole desert."

…When it comes down to it, the sheer distance these changes covered as well as their effectiveness meant that at best, continuous use of fire spells would only affect things on a localized scale. Helpful in the short term, since the flames had kept some of the smaller yet still abnormally sized wildlife away from them at a few point, but that was really about it.

"The only way we could achieve what you're asking is for us to gather up an army of magic users that can use flames in some way and just raze the whole desert down to nothing," Sage answered as she folded her arms now under her bust. "Tempting as that may be to do, the sort of time needed to arrange something like that would be too impractical especially with everything else going on in the world right now."

Hero groaned childishly, not liking that response one bit. Nonetheless, she held her tongue, knowing that to continue arguing the point would be useless and just a waste of energy in general.

After that, the three of them fell into something of a lull, silently lazing about as they tried to take it easy for at least ten or so minutes.

Eventually, it was time for them to get a move again.

That is, until Sword Saint suddenly halted in place. "Wait – do you hear that?"

Sage and Hero paused now and tried to focus. After several long seconds, they could finally hear it – hooves clopping about.

Something was approaching, a horse. And since horses were hardly native to the desert, that meant only one thing-.

"Someone's coming?!" Hero exclaimed in amazement.

The trio now turned in the direction the sound was coming from, being able to hear increasingly better as the source came closer. Before long, the three of them could finally see something on the scarlet tinted horizon.

A mount that seemed vaguely like a horse though decidedly different. And two people upon it.

One of them was clearly a man of an impressive height and presumably quite the large build if the sheer size of his armor was anything to go by, armor that Sage, for all her knowledge, couldn't recognize at all.

But it was the other person, a woman who rode at the very front of the mount, that caught their eyes instantly. For it was someone the trio instantly recognized.

How could they not when there was only one person out there who had blue skin and four arms?

"Ranni!" Hero cried out in joy, waving her hands high into the air so that the blue skinned woman and her companion could spot them.

And as Ranni and her mystery friend approached, Sage actually couldn't help but smile despite having felt so frustrated and worried just moments ago.

Perhaps this was a good sign of things to come.

Shabriri hummed as he traveled on foot towards the nearest settlement he could find. Though he had no knowledge of this world beyond the utmost basics as a result of his connection to the Frenzied Flame, he knew for certain he was walking the correct path.

Having trekked back the way those nomads had come and raiding what little supplies he'd found that they had discarded, the man had managed to procure some basic clothing – a tunic and hooded robe – which did well in obscuring the charred visage of his vessel. It wouldn't keep people from noticing the state of his body for too long if they got close enough or otherwise inspected him from afar for long enough, but it will suffice for now.

But the clothes had been merely a nice little bonus compared to what he'd found – a weapon.

Nothing special of the sort, a curved short sword that a nomad had presumably used to defend themself with, but it would serve its purpose in due time, at least until he could rummage about for better weapons.

In any case, he now had the bare minimum necessities to blend in among the locals as needed once he reached a populated area.

Then, once he's surveyed the new land and taken full stock of the situation, it shall be time to start spreading the word of his lord.

But more than just that particular goal… there was something else that could be potentially done.

Once again, through his special connection with the Flame of Frenzy, he is able to sense its influence at work in this world, weak as it may be thanks to the countering influence of the Dark Moon.

Though he'd sensed the deaths of all those who could have potentially spread the Frenzied Flame's influence further, he could also detect one particular individual who'd managed to survive contact with its influence… and this individual, who still seemed to hold onto his sense of self, was not that particularly far out there in the world.

At the very least, Shabriri was certain that he and this particular individual were within the same land that this kingdom – for that must surely be what this place is – occupied.

Convincing that Tarnished to become the champion of the Frenzied Flame, the Lord of Chaos, may have been a loss… but perhaps this new individual would have the potential to take on that role instead.

With hopes set high, Shabriri picked up his pace, using this individual's presence as a beacon by which to lead his path.

He couldn't wait to see what this lonesome one may be capable of.

Uh oh, looks like Goblin Slayer is in the sights of our favorite Frenzied Flame simp! Wonder if any of you saw that coming!

But yeah, in all seriousness, this is where Goblin Slayer's role in this fic really begins to get fleshed out. I just hope you all will enjoy what I have planned for him. After all, alongside both the Tarnished and Ranni, our favorite gobbling slaying adventurer is the main focus of this fic in terms of characters.

Well, anyways, not really all that much to say at this point other than that I hope you all will continue to enjoy this fic as I start to really dole out the surprises!

Until next time, everyone. Take care!