Indeed, the Thunder Canyon used to be filled with aquatic plants. The original name of this area was not Thunder Canyon. Instead, it was named thus because the first beasts seen by the pioneering adventurers here were the Thunder Lizards, and they were almost wiped out by them. After the only surviving adventurer was saved, he called the area Thunder Canyon, meaning the canyon where the Thunder Lizards made their home.
Bella and the other girls chose to rest where they landed. The area around the Thunder Canyon was a bit strange, as if it was a place where the sun never set. Whether they shared the same sun as the outside world was also unknown. The girls were now confirming the time with the outside world using the contact crystal Bella had brought with her. The Crystal Dragon’s army had already ransacked the Forest of the Wild, so it was considered safer for them to stay at Thunder Canyon.
The Thunder Canyon was not only home to the S-rank Thunder Lizards, but also the similarly S-ranked Trihorn Tyrant Dragon and the Armored Ground Dragon that was covered in armored spikes. The former was an Other World replica of the triceratops that relied mainly on its three sharp horns to attack, while the latter was an Other World replica of the Ankylosaurus. It was equipped with a tough skin that was as hard as metal and the meteor hammer on its tail. These two were purely physical attack types, and their habits were the same as the real herbivorous dinosaurs.
The real area controlled by the Thunder Lizard should be the Thunder Temple at the great oasis in the center of Thunder Canyon, but they had no idea whether the priest of that temple was this world’s Thunder God. A massive lightning barrier surrounded the temple’s surroundings to prevent intruders from sneaking in.
The real reason for the decline of Thunder Canyon was the dinosaur-type beasts’ eating capacity. They ate so much that they cleaned out the canyon. There were no carnivorous ground dragon demonic beings like the Dark Tyrant Dragon here, causing the herbivorous sub-dragon type beasts such as the Thunder Lizard, Trihorn Tyrant Dragon, and the Armored Ground Dragon to reproduce at a much higher rate. With the lack of natural enemies to control their numbers, they ravaged the canyon’s vegetation without any fear.
Since they had two days left, Bella decided to have the girls team up to hunt, so they could gain points. Of course, except the super beasts like the Trihorn Tyrant Dragon and the Armored Ground Dragon, there were other demonic beasts to hunt. However, Bella made a pleasant discovery. Before this, when the girls were having their campfire party, they all ate the barbecued Thunder Lizard meat, and they now had the Thunder Lizard’s smell on them.
Those simple-minded Thunder Lizards mistook the girls, who had the same “smell”, as their own kind. Right now, in order to fight against the Trihorn Tyrant Dragons and the Armored Ground Dragons to take control of the limited number of desert oases, Bella and the other girls naturally gained some S-rank “friendly units”. So, the girls spread out to join the new hunting activity.
With the help of the Thunder Lizards, the girls teamed up to slay the dragons. The girls from the magic department dealt with the slow but heavily armored Armored Ground Dragon, while those from the physical department handled the Trihorn Tyrant Dragons with faster speeds but were not as tough, so they were able to break through their defenses.
Bella and President Isaman brought a Thunder Horn each and headed to the Thunder Temple. The source of the magic that prevented the dragon race from entering the barrier was right in that temple. She wanted to see what was there, and the Thunder Lizard’s horn allowed them to disguise themselves as one of the Thunder Lizards. Hence, they wouldn’t be affected by the lightning barrier.
“Why did you choose me, Bella? Wouldn’t it be better if you chose Kriss and the others!”
“Isaman, aren’t we friends and partners? That’s why I chose you. We’re teammates, and even though Kriss is also my teammate, it’s better to just let her handle the situation here!”
Isaman opened her palm and saw the Thunder Lizard core that Bella forced on her and felt a little overwhelmed. Bella choosing her to be her only teammate caused Isaman to wonder. She clearly had many options. Wouldn’t it be better to select Kriss and the other more obedient ones!
Bella didn’t give President Isaman too much time to think about it. Taking her hand, she dragged her into the central oasis of the Thunder Canyon. Before leaving, Bella left her “girlfriend” Kriss a slightly apologetic glance, but Kriss returned a look of understanding. President Isaman never joined the dorm, so Bella was probably trying to take advantage of the situation to drag her into their big family!
The Manasvir Empire’s capital, Macnadix City’s northern district, Magic Broadcasting Hall. The beautiful hosts were looking awkwardly at the black screen. After they were forced to stop broadcasting from the Crystal Dragon crisis at Dusk Valley, they also lost the image of the Forest of the Wild. Now, only the Cloud Sea Basin’s live feed was on. Because of the unique environment of the place, a constant fog hindered the view, and the broadcasted image wasn’t very clear.
It seemed like they wouldn’t be able to earn any money in this year’s qualifier. This caused the hosts and guests to feel puzzled. The girls’ scores were increasing steadily the whole time, the type where they would go up by the tens. They clearly couldn’t see where the girls were, so where did those points come from?
“Not good… Someone else is broadcasting the match.”
“What… How could this be? Quick, send it to us…”
After paying a viewing fee of ten gold coins with their magic storage cards, the hosts received a magic broadcast message from the eastern Aldridge Magic Empire. They saw a large group of girls in sexy bikini armor in a barren desert oasis, teaming up with the Thunder Lizards to battle the Trihorn Tyrant Dragons and Armored Ground Dragons.
Even though the girls’ faces were blurred with an automatic mosaic censor, the number badges on their arms proved that they were from Olsylvia Academy that they couldn’t find the whole time. The impact of this bikini plus demonic beast, and beauty and the beast image was great. It was a feast for the eyes, and they also got to watch a fight. Instantly, the broadcasting market was completely snatched away by them.
According to the broadcast, a large number of gamblers were already donating on the broadcast program. This wasn’t a very erotic image by Earth’s standards. Bella had turned down the FPS, so they couldn’t see all too well. Due to the blurriness, the gentlemen watching aren’t able to have a clear image of the girls’ bodies. But bikinis basically didn’t exist in this Other World, so the costumes alone were worth their donations.
It turned out that Bella had utilized her identity of Grand Duke Baize of the Aldridge Empire and used a magical tool to broadcast the image of the girls fighting the draconic demonic beings in Thunder Canyon. She was more at ease to have the scene broadcast by her own Aldridge Empire and as the cameraman herself. But the presenter was Marquess Karoluna. She didn’t even cover her face with a mask and was wearing a deep blue evening gown, openly appearing under the stream.
“Ahem, gentlemen… I am the temporary host, Marquess Karoluna. The footage is being relayed by my dear friend, Grand Duke Baize. We have set up another pool where you can donate to your favorite girl for a chance of getting one of her possessions. The guest that donates the most will be able to obtain the clothes worn by the girl you are cheering for… It is the clothes they are wearing now. Don’t worry, we’ll keep it a secret for you.”
Karoluna fought back the urge to laugh. She didn’t quite agree with Bella’s idea. Who would buy bikini armor that had been worn by a girl before? However, she had misjudged the potential of the gentlemen in the Other World. A godly prop like the original smell pantsu was something that gentlemen, who were rich with nowhere to spend their money on, needed.
Many of Olsylvia Academy’s girls were at the level of either princesses or noble young ladies, and even Holy Maidens of the Radiant Church. If you wished to obtain their undergarments for collection without having to ruin their impressions of you, this was the best opportunity.
It didn’t take long for all the girls to receive a large amount of gold. Even though the girls had their faces censored and their bodies blurred, they could still see who was wearing the sexier armor. When Bella provided the girls with the bikini armor, she had already thought about this. The richer girls were given relatively more conservative styles, while the sexier bikinis were given to Frank Civilian Academy’s girls. This way, they’d be able to receive higher donations as a sort of “scholarship” for them.
Naturally, Bella wouldn’t sell something like the “scented pantsu”. She had already prepared high imitation counterfeits. Bella would rather collect the original underwear pieces herself than selling it to these gentlemen. This was a “fraud trap”, but the gentlemen still jumped in without hesitation.
The magical live broadcast studio had already plunged into silence. They were losing money because someone else had snatched the broadcast. And, the cameraman who was secretly filming and broadcasting the thing just happened to be Grand Duke Baize. If it was a Grand Duke, the only ones who could take them down were people at the rank of prince. Nobody here was a prince-level existence, so they couldn’t even send Grand Duke Baize a “friendly reminder”.
“Just prepare the broadcast for the finals. This qualifier… was our loss. I never thought that the girls would have outstanding bits in the competition too.”
“But, they’re in the Thunder Canyon and fighting other ranking demonic beasts while borrowing the Thunder Lizards’ power. Isn’t that cheating…”
“They didn’t contract the Thunder Lizards. They just happen to be attacking the same target. The cheating argument doesn’t hold any water, and that is the business of the hosting Empire…”
In the mysterious oasis deep in Thunder Canyon, Bella was holding Isaman’s hand, and the two were like lovers on a date at a rare desert oasis. Bella was dressed in a black bikini while Isaman was dressed in a deep purple one. Both of them wore a pair of Thunder Horns necklaces that looked like matching couple sets.
The only thing in the way of them and this desert oasis was that lightning barrier outside. After entering, it was pretty much just a normal desert oasis. However, there were still differences. For example, the fragments of relics vaguely appearing in the grass. They had no idea what civilization left this behind, but they likely had nothing to do with humans. Bella couldn’t understand any of the writing on their surface.
There were no Thunder Lizards in the oasis. They were only concentrated on the outer edge, and they didn’t dare to go deeper. There seemed to be a fearful existence in the oasis, making the Thunder Lizards avoid stepping into this holy land.
“Bella, someone is… Wait, you…”
Isaman was just about to warn Bella that someone was around when Bella suddenly held her and pushed her down. Before she could speak, her lips were covered softly by Bella. Isaman wanted to protest and express her displeasure at being taken advantage of to Bella, but as soon as she saw the three poison darts on Bella’s back, she closed her mouth. Someone had tried to sneak attack the duo, and Bella took the full brunt of the attack alone, doing her duty as a knight should.
“Shh, don’t speak. It’s fine. That guy’s too sneaky. These poison darts ignore combat auras and magical barriers.”
Bella’s back just felt a little chilly. This surrogate body of hers was also disguised from a Demon King’s body, and poisons generally had no effect on them. The sneak attacker on the other side was using something like a bamboo tube to launch their attack, so the darts were fired with little noise. Bella was only able to block the blow by instinct.
The sneak attacker must have judged that Bella and Isaman would both faint, but they didn’t expect them to survive. Through the gaps of the grass, Bella was able to see the face of their attacker. It was a member of a non-human race that stood more than 2 meters tall. Their entire body was covered in leather armor like natives, and they had similar hands to humans. They had lizard skin but also human-like features. Bella suspected that this might be an Other World hybrid of a lizardman and a human that gave birth to such a monstrous thing.
However, Bella’s second thought was that the other world’s lizardmen and the humans could not reproduce with each other. It didn’t make sense for them to be hybrids in the first place. After they approached, Bella finally decided that these guys were Draconians from their draconic aura. They were humanoid creatures evolved from sub-dragon species. If the dinosaurs on Earth didn’t go extinct, they might have evolved into this form too.
The battle prowess of the Draconians was clearly more terrifying than the lizardmen, but both were just as strong. The Draconians were better at using weapons and their IQs were closer to that of humans, so they were much more cunning than the lizardmen. When they surrounded Bella and Isaman, three Draconians were holding ropes while the rest watched from afar.
They stopped just before they reached Bella. From the fact that they were holding ropes, Bella knew they were up to no good. She jumped straight up to punch the closest Draconian right in the stomach. The Draconian was too tall for Bella to hit its head, so she aimed at the stomach instead.
Taking advantage of their pause, Bella pushed the Draconian she killed, using its corpse as a throwing weapon to hit the Draconians that were blowing darts at them from a distance. The guy was instantly smashed to a pump by the powerful impact. When the Draconians saw the situation, they planned to retreat, but the area was already restricted by Isaman’s barrier. They were locked here and couldn’t escape.
“Get lost! You sneaky dart-blowing bastards!”
Bella took out her knight’s sword and rushed over, cutting the Draconians in half at the waist with a few swings. She was way too strong, and even her sword had a few nicks.
“Bella! Are you alright? Don’t be so rash next time… I don’t want to see you get hurt. No… I just don’t want to owe someone a life-saving favor!”
“Isaman, you proud… Forget it, I’m happy, so what do you care? If there’s a next time, and a next next time, I’ll still want to save you… You’re a priest, and I’m a knight. It’s that simple.”
On this rare occasion, Priestess Isaman didn’t bicker with Bella. She came forward to help Bella pull out the darts carefully, then she healed her with magic. When Bella saw the light blush on her face, she didn’t continue teasing her. One should know when to stop with things like this. If she kept teasing her, she might make her run off. Then She wouldn’t have a chance to get close to her.
Under the light of Isaman’s healing ray that went beyond common sense, the wound on Bella’s back quickly healed. This priestess was also unprecedented. Even the dark rituals wouldn’t be able to heal the body of a Demon King. Yet Isaman’s holy healing light healed the wounds on Demon King Bella’s back just like that. There was no interference between light and dark at all. There were still many secrets hidden in this beautiful priestess that were waiting for Bella to discover them.
“Isaman, your healing rays can actually heal a demon…”
“Don’t talk nonsense, Bella. You’re a normal human, so it’s only normal that I can heal you. Don’t ask any further. Let’s each keep our secrets, okay?”
Isaman looked away from Bella. She stared at the grass, her dainty hand pulling even tighter on Bella’s left hand as if she didn’t want to talk about the topic anymore. Bella could only give up. She checked the points she had obtained, but she didn’t imagine that these Draconians would be worth thirty points each. They were demonic beings that granted the highest points other than the S-ranked beasts. The highest one could get from an A-rank demonic being was also just thirty points, and they were even harder to deal with than these Draconians.
“Isaman, the Draconians here are worth thirty points each. Let’s quickly go to the temple and break the lightning array. Then, we’ll be able to give our Rose Society members the chance to come here and earn points.”
Apart from having no materials to gather, these Draconians were still pretty good in terms of points. Except for the fact that they could use weapons, their defenses were far less resilient than even some B-ranked demonic beasts. The extra points were probably given on account of their intelligence that was almost comparable to humans.
“Bella, these Draconians have signs of being cursed, and it looks like a curse cast by the human race. Let’s go and take a look! Maybe someone came ahead of us.”
The attentive Isaman spotted the little traces of magic left behind on the Draconians’ corpses. Bella was now a knight by profession and her magic detection was not as keen as Isaman’s, so she almost overlooked this important point.
The two went where the Draconians came from and saw large piles of Draconian corpses that were killed by curse-type evil magic. There were no visible wounds on their bodies. All of them were bleeding from all seven of their orifices, and their numbers were estimated to be in the hundreds.
They had no idea if the guy who fought them was strong or not overall, but their curse attack abilities gained Isaman’s recognition. They were a very outstanding curse master. Isaman quickly picked up a torn fragment of an armband with a black eye symbol on it from the ground.
“Bella, do you recognize this black eye symbol?”
“This… I know who it is now.”
