The Goddess's Bridegrooms
The day drew to a close.
When night fell, the desert grew unbearably cold.
The party tied up the camels and lit a campfire in the middle of the sands.
I should move forward with the legendary quest too.
Kang Yoonsoo marked the quest details on his Terminal.
As he actively pursued the legendary quest, the request had become far more specific.
Legendary Quest — Temple of the Desert
📍 Location: Extinction Desert
🎁 Reward: Encounter with the next quest giver
In the southwest, where an ancient civilization and forests once flourished, only a barren desert remained. Somewhere in the vast sands stood the Great Temple once worshipped by the ancients. Gather clues across the Extinction Desert and locate the hidden temple.
*The temple can only be reached on days without mirages.
“The Temple of the Desert? Why are we supposed to go there?”
Henrik grumbled.
Shanette spoke thoughtfully.
“If it’s a temple, it must be dedicated to the continent’s goddess, Sylphia, right?”
Religion existed in the Sylphia Continent just as it did in reality.
Countless superstitions abounded, but the only officially recognized faith was that of the goddess Sylphia.
The goddess shared the continent’s name—Sylphia.
In truth, temples dedicated to her stood throughout the land.
“Hey! It’s not hot anymore, so let me go!”
After some deliberation, Iris finally released Acle from her embrace.
When the ice spirit glared at her with a flushed face, she smiled brightly.
“Make me feel good again next time, Acle.”
“Sh-shut up!”
Acle vanished into his summoning circle in an instant.
Henrik chuckled at the sight.
“Must be because he’s an ice spirit. He gets embarrassed easily.”
He was carving a small sand crystal with his chisel.
Henrik muttered while gazing at the endless dunes.
“The real problem is the problem. Finding a temple in this huge desert? That’ll take half a year at least.”
“I have no intention of searching for the temple.”
Everyone turned to Kang Yoonsoo with puzzled looks.
He poked at the dying campfire with a stick.
Fuel was precious in the desert.
Yet Kang Yoonsoo had somehow found dry roots buried in the sand.
He tossed another piece of wood into the flames.
“They’ll come looking for us first.”
Morning arrived.
While they were preparing to leave, a whisper brushed against Kang Yoonsoo’s ear.
—Come to me. Find me. Fulfill my wish.
“Why don’t you tell me who you are first?”
“Hm? Did you say something?”
“Nothing.”
The party continued crossing the desert.
Having grown somewhat accustomed to the heat, Henrik and Iris kept up well.
Then Shanette, who had been riding ahead, dismounted.
“There’s a body!”
White bones jutted from the sand.
When she dug a little deeper, a bleached skeleton was revealed.
Henrik’s face twisted.
“Looks like someone trying to cross the desert like us. This is making me uneasy for no reason.”
“There are quite a lot of bones buried in the sand. Must be the desert’s doing.”
The two swallowed dryly.
Henrik raised an eyebrow.
“These bones aren’t normal size, are they?”
Only part of the skeleton was exposed, but the eye sockets were enormous.
“An ogre or a troll, maybe?”
Henrik dug around the bones with his field shovel.
He soon realized the skeleton was far larger than expected.
Dried scales lay cracked around the remains.
“This bone structure feels familiar.”
Shanette searched her memory.
She quickly recalled the owner of the bones.
“Dragonkin! The illusion of the dragonkin that appeared from the Orb of the Covenant looked exactly like this. The skeletal structure matches too.”
“Dragonkin? You mean the servants of dragons?”
Henrik frowned.
Even Iris looked uneasy.
“Are there dragons in this desert?”
Dragons.
Beings powerful enough to conquer the continent.
They rarely left their lairs, but when one raged, entire regions could be destroyed in moments.
Dragons were objects of terror feared by every race and monster.
“It’s fine. I heard even elves can go their whole lives without seeing one. We won’t run into one by chance, right?”
“We will.”
“What?”
Kang Yoonsoo spoke calmly.
“We’ll fight the Ignus Dragon in the Extinction Desert.”
In an instant, everyone’s faces turned pale.
There were precedents of mad dragons destroying entire kingdoms.
They were supposed to face one?
Shanette asked, voice trembling.
“You’re joking, right?”
“No.”
“……The scale of this journey keeps growing beyond what we can handle.”
Henrik sighed.
Kang Yoonsoo examined the dragonkin bones.
They were so weathered they crumbled at a touch.
Reviving them as undead wouldn’t be worth it. Even a lich wouldn’t find them useful for research.
A lich could raise stats by studying corpses.
But these remains were far too old.
Kang Yoonsoo peeled a scale from the dragonkin skeleton.
The faintly red scale was still quite sturdy.
「Dragonkin Scale」
Despite its age, its durability remains intact. Its texture makes it unsuitable for clothing. It is often used for shields or ornaments. However, wearing equipment made from this material will generate hostility from dragons.
He stored the scale in his pack and mounted his camel.
Then he looked back at the three of them.
“What are you waiting for?”
“Kang Yoonsoo, do we really have to fight a dragon?”
Iris asked in a tearful voice.
To her, a doppelganger, a powerful dragon was fear itself.
He answered shortly.
“Yeah.”
“What if one of us dies?”
“No one will.”
Kang Yoonsoo spoke with finality.
“As long as I’m alive, none of you will die.”
Yanak faced a serious crisis.
The two fire trolls accompanying him shouted.
“We’re hungry!”
Hunger was a dangerous threat in the desert.
Having lived in the desert for a long time, fire trolls could endure thirst to some degree.
But the pain of hunger was sharp.
“Yanak! Give us food!”
The fire troll named Lalkwi raised a fuss.
Yanak stopped climbing the dune and looked back.
“I’m hungry too!”
“Then let’s stop and eat!”
“But there’s nothing to eat!”
“Then let’s find prey!”
Yanak fully agreed with the suggestion.
But agreeing right away would hurt his dignity as leader.
He pretended to object.
“We have to find the goddess’s bridegroom first! If we’re not careful, the others will find him before us!”
“We’ll starve to death before that!”
“Lalkwi’s right! Let’s eat first, then search!”
Orkwi also complained while rubbing his empty stomach.
Yanak nodded with great satisfaction.
“Fine! Let’s fill our bellies first! Let’s find prey!”
“Yanak! No need to look far!”
Lalkwi pointed beyond the dune.
Four humans were crossing the desert on camels.
Yanak swallowed hard.
“Camel meat!”
Lalkwi and Orkwi licked their lips as well.
“I want to rip off the camel’s hump and chew it!”
“I want to stuff myself with that soft lump of fat!”
But Yanak hesitated.
“Those camels have owners!”
“We can’t just take something that belongs to someone else!”
“Right! The goddess will punish us!”
The three trolls put their heads together and groaned in thought.
They wanted camel meat, but stealing someone else’s property was out of the question.
Then Lalkwi came up with a clear solution.
“Let’s offer to trade for the camel meat! Trading isn’t bad!”
“But we have nothing to trade for camel meat!”
Yanak, acting like a proper leader, voiced his objection.
Orkwi quietly raised his club.
“Yanak! This is exactly when the leader must make a sacrifice!”
“What are you talking about!”
Yanak slowly backed away.
But Lalkwi grabbed his ankle.
“Yanak! Show us your dignity as leader!”
“N-no!”
“Grab him!”
The party found themselves in an absurd predicament.
Three massive fire trolls stood blocking their path with serious expressions.
“Are they looking for a fight?”
Shanette narrowed her eyes and reached for her sidearm.
The largest fire troll stepped forward.
For some reason, a large lump had formed on his head.
“I am Yanak! I have a proposal for you!”
“What proposal?”
“Hand over the camels and I’ll gladly join your party!”
Kang Yoonsoo answered simply.
“No.”
“How could this be!”
The three trolls looked shocked, as if they had never expected rejection.
“Yanak! What kind of disaster is this!”
“This is shocking! I’m not even worth four camels!”
Yanak shed tears, genuinely devastated.
Henrik waved his hand irritably.
“You see all kinds of weirdos in this world. If you’re done, move aside.”
“Wait!”
Yanak wiped his tears and studied the group.
He pointed at Kang Yoonsoo and Henrik.
“Now that I look, those two are men!”
“They might be able to become the goddess’s bridegrooms! But the goddess’s bridegroom must be handsome!”
“We don’t know who’s handsome!”
The three trolls grew agitated.
Yanak soon asked.
“We don’t know human standards! Who’s the handsome one!”
Caught off guard, Henrik mumbled.
“Well, that’s…… we’re both handsome, aren’t we?”
“Good! We’ll kidnap you!”
“What?”
The three fire trolls raised their clubs.
They approached the two men.
“Plans have changed! You two men will be kidnapped by us!”
“What are you talking about?”
Shanette stepped in front of Kang Yoonsoo and shouted.
Yanak slammed his club into the ground.
“We don’t need females!”
Crack—!
Sand and dust flew around Shanette.
Instead of retreating, she stood her ground.
Yanak asked in confusion.
“You’re not hurt?”
“Yanak! You hit too hard!”
“What are you doing to an innocent female!”
Shanette crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.
“You’re going to kidnap Kang Yoonsoo and Henrik?”
“That’s right! We need the goddess’s bridegroom!”
“Then why don’t you try becoming the goddess’s bridegroom yourselves? You’re men too.”
“The goddess hates us!”
Yanak spoke with bitter resentment.
The other two trolls also shed tears in sorrow.
“By the goddess’s standards, we’re ugly! She says we’re too kind to be useful! That’s why we can’t become bridegrooms!”
“That’s not true. You’re all perfectly fine men.”
“That can’t be! It’s an obvious lie!”
Yanak denied it while crying.
Shanette spoke coldly.
“You’re fools. Why do you belittle and deny yourselves? Why assume the other side will hate you first?”
“Of course they will! Because we’re ugly!”
“Not at all. You’re not ugly in the slightest.”
“Th-then why!”
“You have great strength, healing power, and the heat of flames. There’s no need to feel inferior. Have more courage. You’re good men.”
“Good heavens! You’re the first female to ever say that to us!”
Yanak covered his face with both hands and sobbed.
Lalkwi and Orkwi also wailed loudly.
She spoke gently.
“I’m actually surprised. Why would such good men commit a terrible crime like kidnapping?”
“We don’t do this because we want to! The priest ordered us to bring someone back!”
The three trolls grew flustered.
“Then guide us fairly without using force. That way you can wash away the stain of kidnapping, can’t you?”
“Fine! Let’s do that!”
The simple-minded fire trolls immediately lowered their clubs.
Henrik whispered.
“You’ve gotten a lot better at this.”
“Of course. I’ve been traveling with someone.”
Kang Yoonsoo spoke.
“Iris.”
“Understood.”
Iris walked behind the three trolls.
The trolls showed the backs of their heads without a second thought.
She jumped high and swung her fist.
Thud—!
“Gwaaah!”
The fire trolls collapsed forward from the surprise attack.
Henrik looked at the unconscious trolls.
“What are we doing with these guys?”
“They’re coming with us.”
“What?”
Kang Yoonsoo twisted the dragonkin scales into a rope.
He bound the trolls with it.
“These trolls will lead us to the temple.”
“But why tie them up?”
He answered matter-of-factly.
“To threaten them.”