Chapter 128 - Not My Fault
The five Boney Porcupines could not even graze Ban and the others.
The Royal Guard was too tough for them to damage, Eva was too fast for them to hit while Ban was more like a turtle than a human with his impenetrable defense called the Ant Mask and Noble Moth Cloak tandem.
The Boney Porcupines could only resign to their fate of becoming Ban\'s ingredients for his future medicinal soup.
Ban did not waste time as he plucked the White Spikes of the Boney Porcupines they just killed. On the other hand, Eva unsummoned the Royal Guard so that there\'s no time wasted with it just lingering outside.
He only needed three White Spike but he ended up getting five, so he kept it as he could still sell it to Joana later. As he was far from Delo and Belle, he did not hesitate to store it inside the Dimensional Storage for safety purposes.
He also finds the Storage Pouch to be not so convenient. With the added weight from its content, it can hinder an Adventurer during a battle and that might cost them their life. He still thought that his Dimensional Storage Earring was the most convenient one.
The fight took no more than ten minutes and Ban even thought that it was fortunate that no other Beasts joined during this time. He was able to easily kill the five Boney Porcupines due to them only knowing how to roll around and shoot spikes to their opponents and with him arming himself to the bone.
On the other hand, if another Beast joined during that time, he would surely not have an easy time.
Seeing that there was no other Beast approaching yet, Ban decided to harvest the sellable parts of the Boney Porcupines first. It would be such a waste if he didn\'t.
Eva jumped towards his shoulder and sat there like a queen. Even though the two of them had just come out from a battle they were actually not tired to the skill Greed\'s passive effect and with the Perfect Harmony state. Although the restoration provided by the killed Boney Porcupine was minimal, it was still enough to recover most of their expended energy during the battle. And in fact, it was actually the Royal Demon Ant Guard who got a little tired first.
Ban dropped to his knees as he extracted the parts one by one. The method provided by the Book of Techniques was already the most perfect one and even without any sharp tools, he would still be able to obtain it with a few twists and turns.
Though it won\'t be as perfect as using a sharp tool, Ban thought that it was still enough for the Adventurers Market\'s standard. He already observed the Adventurers Market standards the previous time and even though they used sharp tools to obtain the sellable parts, they were still far from cutting it perfectly. In fact, it could even be considered as a slightly lower standard than the one Ban had just twisted off earlier.
The head of the Boney Porcupine has a protruding bone on it that acts as a defense. It looks like an extension of their skull.
However, even though it was their best defense, it could actually not hold a candle from Eva\'s full force attack. The two Boney Porcupines she faced in particular had cracks on their \'skull\' defense.
Ban ignored the cracks as he still harvested them along with the others. It would be quite a waste if he didn\'t. That\'s already a few Gold Coins after all.
While Ban was busy collecting the sellable parts of the Boney Porcupines, a new Beast had actually appeared not that far away from him. Unbeknownst to him, the Beast actually has been observing him for quite some time now.
At the top of the sand mountain, Ban\'s lookout did not manage to report it to him. Or to be precise, she was not allowed to do so.
Earlier, when Ban and Eva were fighting the five Boney Porcupines, Belle and Delo could not hide their awe.
They thought that a Gold Rank Adventurer could really not be underestimated. Delo was unwilling to admit it but Leon had proven time and time again that he was better than him.
Although Leon was a Gold Rank Adventurer, he really did not think too much about it. After all, he\'s also in the process of becoming one. After he\'s done with the bodyguard Quest, he only needs to do the ascension Quest and he would also become a Gold Rank Adventurer like him.
And besides, ranks were not that important for him. After all, if their plan succeeded, let alone the Adventurer Ranks, even the Guild itself and even the Eagle City would be removed from existence.
At that moment, while they were observing Leon fight, a Beast suddenly popped up behind them, startling them in the process.
The sand splashed everywhere as the Beast hopped toward them like a bunny while circling them. At the same moment it landed near their side, it immediately shot a corrosive spit towards them without any warning.
Fortunately, Delo managed to react in time and he immediately ordered Tori to cast his barrier skill to protect himself and Belle.
A dome glass-like barrier was erected out of nowhere as it covers both Belle and Delo in an instant. During that time, Belle\'s Monster Summon also reacted as it immediately attacked the Beast that popped out of nowhere.
The Beast was actually just an X-Mortal Rank one, and after a couple of attacks from Tori and Belle\'s Red Falcon Monster, the Beast was killed easily.
Belle was elated as she managed to contribute greatly to that fight. She was proud of herself and even more especially to her Red Falcon Monster that counterattacked swiftly even without her order.
Delo just snorted arrogantly to the X-Mortal Beast they killed as if the Beast was nothing in front of his eyes.
The two of them then turned their heads at the same time below them, to the area where Leon was dealing with the five Boney Porcupine Beasts.
The battle was already concluding. It was that exact moment that a head pops out under the sand a few meters away from Leon. It tilted its head sideways as it observed him slaughtering the Boney Porcupines curiously.
Ban was not aware of it yet but Belle and Delo saw it clearly.
It was a Snake-like Beast the size of a human\'s body.
Seeing that, Belle and Delo\'s reaction was different from each other.
Belle immediately started to shout to warn him while Delo was already smiling in delight, as if the moment he was waiting for had already arrived.
"LEON! MR. LEON!! BEHIND YOU!" Belle shouted hysterically but to her surprise, Leon did not even glance back towards their direction.
It was then she recalled that they were still inside the barrier that the Barrier Turtle had erected.
"Release the barrier, now!" She said to Delo and yet the latter did not even turn his head towards her as he focused his gaze below them, as if waiting for a show to happen.
Belle frowned at his actions and without any hesitation, she delivered a kick towards his lower region.
Boom!
A smile appeared on her face and yet a moment later, it immediately died down.
It was at this moment that Delo finally looked at her. He shook his head as he smiled towards her.
"Ah ah ah! I already prepared for that!" He said as he started to laugh like a maniac.
Belle clicked her tongue as she endured the pain on her foot.
"Break this damn barrier now!" She ordered with a loud voice.
However, Delo still did not respond to her as he again continues to observe below them.
"Release me or I\'ll report this to my father!" She warned.
It was only then that Delo stopped laughing.
"What do you mean? I can\'t do anything about this. This skill has a long duration, even I don\'t know when it will be released. It\'s really not my fault, I just want to protect you. It\'s my duty after all." Delo said without worry.
Belle was able to detect his obvious lie but she doesn\'t have any proof to counter it.
A trace of tear suddenly started to form at the corner of young Belle\'s eyes as she madly dashed towards the barrier to attack it herself.
Bang!
However, try as she might, a barrier created by an E-Elite Rank Monster Summon could not be broken that easily by a mere X-Mortal Rank Human.
She desperately shouted as she thumped the barrier madly. She was no longer in her normal state as her mind was already clouded with worry. However, it was at that moment that she recalled her Monster Summon, the Red Falcon.
However, her expression immediately changed as the moment she turned around to order it to warn Leon about the snake-like Beast, she saw her Monster being pinned down by the Barrier Turtle easily instead.