Chapter 84 | Transmigrated Into a Poor Girl, Armed Myself With Heavy Armor

The edge of the sandy expanse.

The dwarf was preparing to step onto the sand to act as bait.

The Baron stood at the front of the column. Watching the dwarf stretch his legs, he said, “Master Ginli, it would be better to let one of my men do this.”

The dwarf turned back and glared at the Baron. “No. A dwarf never runs from a fight.”

Rosie stood to the side, her gaze sweeping across the vast sandy expanse before resting back on the dwarf.

She spoke up as well, “Master Ginli, you shouldn't go. I'm afraid you won't be able to outrun it.”

The dwarf glanced at her, then looked down at his own legs and grinned.

“Haha! A dwarf's legs might be a bit short, but our speed is nothing to scoff at. Back when the Merchant Coalition hosted racing competitions, they wouldn't even let us enter.”

Anna's voice drifted over from nearby. “That was because they were afraid you would trip the other runners. Also, let me correct you: it wasn't just you dwarves. Gnomes and halflings were banned from competing as well.”

The dwarf's face instantly flushed red, his beard trembling. “Hmph! Today, I'll show you all the true speed of a dwarf!”

With those words, he spun around, raised his axe, kicked off the ground, and charged into the sand.

Sand kicked up from beneath his boots, leaving a gray trail in his wake.

He was indeed not slow; his short legs churned rapidly, making him look like a rolling barrel. In the blink of an eye, he had covered over twenty paces.

But he wasn't particularly fast either. Just about any normal person present could probably match his top speed.

Rosie watched his retreating figure, momentarily at a loss for words.

His legs were already short, yet he insisted on carrying a heavy axe. Wasn't he just asking for trouble?

But she swallowed the words before they could leave her mouth. Once a dwarf's stubbornness kicked in, there was no talking sense into him.

Fortunately, the dwarf didn't run too far. He stopped about fifty meters out, turned around to face away from the ruins, and stood firmly with his legs spread wide.

Then, he raised his axe and began to strike the ground with the back of the blade, one blow at a time.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

The sound echoed across the open sandy expanse.

“Come on, you ugly bug!”

The dwarf bellowed at the top of his lungs.

With every vibration beneath his feet, the grains of sand leaped slightly.

Back with the column, everyone raised their crossbows and spears, aiming toward the sand.

A tense atmosphere filled the air.

The dwarf continued to stomp the ground.

Once, twice, thrice.

Then, the sand beneath his feet began to shift.

The surface of the sand rippled like water, rings of waves spreading outward from the center.

The dwarf paused.

He glanced down at the sand beneath him, then turned on his heel and bolted back.

Burst!

The sand suddenly exploded.

A massive worm burst forth from beneath the ground, spraying a torrent of sand and dirt.

The creature was over three meters in diameter, with at least seven or eight meters of its length exposed above the surface. Its entire body was covered in a layer of rough, dark brown, segmented carapace.

Its head lacked eyes, featuring only a gaping maw large enough to swallow a horse whole. When opened, it revealed rows of densely packed, inward-curving teeth.

The worm's head slammed back onto the ground, the impact sending sand spraying in all directions. It then writhed its body, slithering rapidly toward the fleeing dwarf.

It was faster than anyone had anticipated.

Its seemingly bloated body was incredibly agile on the sand. With every writhe, it glided a significant distance forward, kicking up a trail of dust.

In the blink of an eye, the distance between it and the dwarf closed rapidly.

“Attack!”

The Baron decisively bellowed the command.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Crossbow bolts and spears sliced through the air, striking the worm's body one after another.

But the expected penetration didn't happen. The arrowheads and spear tips hit the creature as if striking thick rubber. They sank in slightly before getting wedged, only to be squeezed out by the worm's writhing movements and fall uselessly onto the sand.

The worm was completely unharmed.

It didn't even slow down. Its body suddenly lunged forward, its massive maw now only a few paces away from the dwarf.

Rosie snatched a spear from the hands of a nearby soldier.

The soldier remained in a gripping posture, only realizing what had happened after his hands were already empty.

Rosie kicked off the ground, her body launching forward like an arrow shot from a bowstring.

In an instant, she surged from the edge of the column to the front of the dwarf.

The moment she aligned with the dwarf and the worm, she used the momentum of her Charge to throw the spear with all her might.

The spear pierced the air with a sharp screech, plunging straight into the worm's open maw. It drove deep into the soft inner lining of its mouth, swallowing more than half of the shaft.

The worm's movements abruptly froze.

Its body slithered forward a bit, kicking up a wave of sand as its frame writhed and thrashed in agony, throwing up clouds of dust.

Rosie didn't stop.

She kicked off the sand again, her plate armor clanking rapidly with her movements.

She drew her meteoric iron sword mid-Charge. Utilizing the momentum, she aimed the blade at the worm's underbelly and drove it in deep, then continued sprinting forward, dragging the blade to slice a deep, long gash across the creature's body.

Rip!

Amidst the muffled sound of tearing flesh, a brown liquid erupted from the wound.

The liquid hissed as it splattered onto the ground.

Wisps of white smoke rose from the sand, looking like water droplets sizzling on a hot iron pan.

Rosie hastily retreated, leaping back.

But some of the liquid still splashed onto her plate armor, immediately emitting a pungent, burnt smell.

The meteoric iron sword in her hand was also coated in the brown fluid, sizzling continuously.

“Damn it!”

She cursed, her body reacting instinctively.

She tossed the sword aside and rolled in the sand, using the abrasive grains to coat and rub off the remaining liquid from her plate armor.

Then, she got up, picked up her sword, and plunged the blade deep into the dry sand. She pulled it out, found another spot, and stabbed it in again, repeating the action several times until the brown fluid on the blade was completely absorbed by the sand.

However, the surface of the blade was already marred with tiny, dense pits, looking as though it had been eaten away by pests.

Rosie held the sword up to her eyes, staring at the pitted surface.

“Damn it, my precious sword!”

Before she could grieve any further over the damage, a thunderous roar erupted from the side.

“You damned bug! Take this!”

Seizing the opportunity while the worm thrashed in its death throes, the dwarf lunged forward and brought his axe down squarely on its head.

With a dull squelch, the axe blade cleaved through the tough hide, sending brown liquid spraying in all directions.

The splattering fluid landed on the dwarf, instantly producing wisps of pungent, blue smoke from his hair and clothing.

“Ah! What is this stuff?”

The dwarf jumped up, frantically trying to brush the liquid off, only to quickly pull his hands back as they were scalded.

Seeing this, Rosie shouted, “Its fluid is corrosive! Use the sand to rub it off, quick!”

Hearing this, the dwarf threw himself onto the sand, rolling back and forth like a marmot, kicking up a cloud of dust.

A moment later, the dwarf crawled out of the sand, covered from head to toe in dust.

His clothes were in tatters, with finger-sized holes melted through in several places, exposing the skin underneath.

“Aaaaah!”

The dwarf howled like a wounded beast.

Hearing the commotion, the Baron and the others rushed over, crowding around the dwarf in a circle.

“Master Ginli, are you alright?”

The Baron took one look at the dwarf's state and immediately asked.

“It's over... It's all over... My beard...”

The dwarf's once-thick beard was now sparse and patchy, making him look rather comical.

Anna walked over gracefully. She glanced at the worm's corpse, then at the dwarf, and spoke in a leisurely tone:

“This sandworm is even more formidable than a desolate sandworm. Not only does it have high defense, but its fluids are actually highly corrosive...”

The dwarf snapped his head up, glaring at Anna. “Why didn't you use your magic to attack it? You could have frozen it, couldn't you?”

Anna's gaze drifted slightly. “Uh... I could have. But you and the worm were moving too fast, too fast for me to cast a spell in time.”

Ginli: “...”

The Baron cleared his throat and patted the dwarf on the shoulder. “It's good that you're unhurt. A beard can always grow back.”

Turning away, Anna softly murmured, “Too bad legs can't grow any longer.”

The dwarf jumped up in an instant. “What did you say?!”

Without even turning her head, Anna calmly replied, “I said my legs are already too long; they can't grow any further.”

With that, she leisurely lifted her leg through the high slit of her skirt, revealing a glimpse of her smooth, shapely leg before drawing it back.

The dwarf stood there, his lips twitching. Ultimately, he only let out a muffled huff. Like a defeated rooster, he turned his head away and fell silent.

The Baron scanned the motionless corpse of the worm, then looked toward the grayish-white ruins in the distance, his tone signaling the wrap-up of the situation:

“Alright, alright. The worm is dealt with. Let us continue forw—”

Before he could finish his sentence, a heavy vibration pulsed through the sand.

Everyone froze at the same time.

Rosie raised her head, her gaze sweeping across the sand ahead. Her pupils suddenly contracted.

The sand was moving.

Not just in one spot, but in several.

“Damn it! There's more than one! Run!” Rosie bellowed.

Even as she spoke, her body was already in motion.

Her Charge technique exploded beneath her feet. Launching forward like a projectile, she bypassed the crowd and rushed straight toward Anna.

Reaching her, she swept Anna up by the waist. Without a moment's pause, she continued charging forward.

Caught off guard, Anna's blue robe fluttered. She instinctively grabbed onto Rosie's shoulder guards. She didn't struggle or scream, only letting out a soft, sharp intake of breath.