Chapter 180: Battle in the desert (B)

Hearing the desperate shout, Whittaker turned about to take a look, and at the same time, he also activated Devansha vision to get a better look. His vision pierced through the sandy clouds hovering about on the desert and stared right at the group of three who ran towards him at full-speed.

The group of three was led by a middle-aged man with a huge beard and an overgrown mustache whose each end hung low on his cheeks. From his burly build and weak energy fluctuations, Whittaker could determine that he was a D-rank battle master. Although butler Azan had kind eyes, they were strict yet ferocious.

He could tell that this man had experienced countless deadly battles!

Azan was running with Jin and Fiorin each hand. He used all the battle energy he could to run at the maximum speed but the magical beast within the sand was much faster than him.

Naturally, he wasn't able to outrun the chaser. It would be a joke if a mere D-rank battle master managed to outrun the magical beast entitled as the king of sand!

The female amongst them is called Fiorin. She had chocolate brown skin and a cute face and the boy, Jin who seemed to be around Whittaker's age had refined features and pale skin. Fiorin was an E-rank mage while Jin was a peak F-rank battle master merely one step away from E-rank. Currently, all of them had a distressed expression on their face, and Whittaker was able to see the reason for their worries.

Behind them, a large visible bump in the sand could be seen and it was crawling up to them. Beneath the sand, Whittaker with the help of Devansha vision saw that there was a huge eighteen-legged centipede and the bumps on the sandy ground extended as it crawled at an incredible speed.

[Magical Beast; Eighteen-legged Flesh-Eating Centipede

Rank: D. Known as the King of sand, this beast with eighteen strong legs travels really fast in the desert. Its speed can even match up to C-rank battle master It's one of the most favorite travel companions of many experts that like to wander in the desert.

Bloodline ability: Sand burrow, Breath of the Desert, Mighty Shell, Pincer attack, Super Crawling, Tentacle-like Limbs, Flesh Melting Saliva, Elemental resistance] Noah notified him.

'King of the desert, I am pretty sure that by using it, I will be able to cross the desert at a faster rate. For that purpose, I must form a companion pact it. To do that, there's only one way and that way is to beat it until it agrees to become my mount!' Whittaker thought.

This was a savage beast that likes to feast on humans. There was only way to tame savage magical beasts like these and that way was to beat them till they submit.

It was reaching towards Azan and the people he must protect with an incredible speed!

"KUAHHHHH!!!!"

Along with this ear-wrenching screech, the towering eighteen-legged centipede lunged out of the sand just like the mythical creature Kunpeng jumping out of the water to take flight to reach the heaven, and it then loomed over them. Its shadow covered them entirely and their heart palpitated in fear as darkness invaded their vision.

The beast immediately plunged straight towards them. They were still dozens of meters away from the talisman expert and it seems like they will die if no miracle happens.

In this adverse situation, Azan remembered the promise he made with his sick master. He promised to keep her children safe even at the cost of his life and now the time has come to fulfill his promise.

Furthermore, In his eyes, even though he was just a butler of their family, he didn't feel any different than their family. These kids were like his own and he had seen them grown. He wasn't one to retreat out of fear.

'If I let something happen to them then how could I possibly face master? How could I remain regret free? Even after death, regret will haunt me!' He thought.

"Young master, young miss, you both must live on. Tell master that Azan is really grateful for the help she bestowed me when I was at my lowest and also tell her that Azan would love to serve her again if there's another life!' While saying that, Azan poured some battle energy in his hand and hurled Fiorin and Jin towards the black-haired expert, successfully throwing them out of harm range.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH! Jin and Fiorin whisked towards Whittaker at an incredible speed.

With a single thought, green and purple lights flashed in his hand as two talismans with the same magical rune designs appeared in his hand.

"Weightless talisman!" He activated the two talismans in his hand and tossed them out at Jin and Fiorin. This talisman was used to cushion falls and he used it to so that they won't get injured by crashing on the ground.

"Swish" The talismans whisked towards them and landed on their back. It activated, and at the same time, Jin and Fiorin felt as if they were weightless. Rather than crashing on the ground, they gently landed on the sandy ground.

"Uncle, NOOOOO!" Fiorin shouted after she landed on the ground and her vision cleared up. She saw the savage beast pouncing towards the butler of her house with a wide-open mouth.

"Savage beast, You are courting death!!!"

Mustering up all his courage and the last bit of strength from his exhausted body, Butler Azan roars, turns around while summoning his class weapon from the soul space, and clutched it tightly in his hand.

His entire disposition changed in an instant. From a run of the mill butler, he now seemed like a war veteran that has participated in thousands of battles.

"Battle Skill, Four Turn Penetrating Wind Strike!" The spear tightly clutched in his hands is released and shot straight at the beast.

"Hong hong hong hong!!!!" Wind sweeps around his spear as four-golden rings formed about. At D-rank, a battle master would reach the peak strength a mortal body can possess.

Even before the spear reached him, the continuous sound generated from the friction between the spear and the wind created an oppressing atmosphere, as though it would be impossible to stop the spear and it will pierce through the beast's body. Furthermore, powerful strength is exerted through the rings and heavy wind waves scatters into the surrounding, shaking the environment.

This was the ultimate and final attack of a D-rank battle master. Butler Azan's final thoughts were to injure the beast so much that the kids will be able to escape.

Peng! A deafening reverberation resounded as the four golden rings fused with the spear, making it shine like a golden dragon, and it then crashed on the hard shell of the King of Sand.

Ting!

"What? How could it be?" Butler Azan said.

His ultimate attack only managed to form a heavy dent on its shell. It's because multiple limbs of the beast had stretched like tentacles and clutched the end of the spear tightly to halt it in its track.

Then, the tentacles raised and the spear was flung away like a ragdoll, and at the same time, the beast pounced at Azan. Its open mouth burning with toxic fumes threatened to swallow him whole.

Seeing his powerful attack doing barely any damage, Jin's face turned ghastly pale and Fiorin was further horrified.

"Butler Azan!"

Frightened, they shriek in fear and their eyes close. They didn't have the heart to watch the end of their family butler. They were well aware of the fact that the butler Azan has exhausted all his strength and didn't even have any strength left to evade the beast attack.

'This is my end. At least, they are safe and I kept my promise with master!" Azan felt extremely tired and his body didn't listen to his command. Running for hours while carrying the two kids has not only exhausted all his battle energy but also his stamina and cramped his muscle.

It seemed impossible for him to evade death, he would surely die. However, even now there was a peaceful smile on his face.

He was dying without regret, after all, but he wanted to make sure of something. So he turned around to face Whittaker.

At the very last moment, just before death, he gave Whittaker a look. His eyes said, 'I leave the rest up to you! Please, young expert! Please keep them safe!'

In return, Whittaker simply returned a smile before the beast plunged straight at Azan.

"Flash step!" At the very last second, he used Flash step and appeared behind Azan's back, facing the beast he slashed his sword outwards and clashed head-on with the huge centipede.

BOMB! The ground creaks in agony as though it is unable to bear the heavy pressure being pressed down on it. His legs seeps in the ground as his sword halts the all-powerful King of Desert in its track!

A powerful aura surges forth as the desert wind howls in excitement!

"I will keep them safe but it's better if you are the one who protect them till the very end!"

A slightly immature child-like voice that contains a hint of maturity rang from behind him and Azan found out that he didn't die!

He turns around and saw that the young expert has mysteriously appeared behind him and saved his life!