A Livable Dessert Desert
The place was the world of Sesaisa, the Tyrant of Living Hell.
The dominant species here was the Acorn Elephant. They had taken the oak cultivation method that Biin first taught them and adapted it in their own way, developing it moderately in line with their world's emphasis on the flow of energy.
The world itself was filled with grotesque undead circuits that crudely stitched together the bodies and brains of defeated races, linking sky and earth. They had adapted reasonably well to this twisted aesthetic, and aside from their profound mystical knowledge, they knew almost nothing else. In place of their own absent god, they had built a functioning political system, fostered industry and culture, and somehow managed to form a proper nation.
Surprisingly, their relationship with their god was arguably the closest among all worlds. This was because Sesaisa himself, in the form of his avatar, directly exercised power within the world.
To my creations, I shall select the finest mystics and warriors and dispatch them to the Dessert Desert.
One day, the divine revelation they received sent them into a frenzy. Sesaisa had chosen roughly five hundred of the most capable and versatile individuals and instructed them to go to the Dessert Desert, grow stronger, and return. They were ecstatic.
The Acorn Elephants chosen by Sesaisa strutted around with immense pride, while the others envied and praised them.
“Whoa. You’ve really made it! Heading to the Dessert Desert, huh?”
“It’s probably a place full of sweet things, just like the name suggests. It’s the realm ruled by the God of Life, Biin.”
“I bet you’ll come back super fat. Haha!”
“They’ll probably just have you manage the Spiritual Realm a bit in that bountiful land. I wonder if the god is sending too many troops.”
And so, guided by their god, they crossed over to the Dessert Desert….
Meanwhile, in a certain cultivation sect within the world of Mihun, the Demonic Immortal of the Wild Dragon.
This was one of the so-called “Righteous Path” sects. It was a place where carefully selected members of the human race trained to protect humanity. Compared to the Demonic Path sects, their individual peaks were higher, but their numbers were somewhat lacking.
In every sect, members of Yeondan-u’s original race—the first species—were numerous but not the majority. This was because Mihun judged solely based on a cultivator’s aptitude and never discriminated or favored anyone based on racial appearance.
Among them, this particular “Righteous Path” sect had a unique trait. It was a place where outsiders, especially talented cultivators from already defeated worlds, gathered to train.
Since these individuals, already labeled as “losers” in human society, could only gain recognition by becoming acknowledged cultivators, they trained with even greater desperation, pushing their abilities to the limit.
Among them, those who stood out most prominently were the survivors who had once lived under the god known as Mitomok. Their species displayed astonishing mental fortitude and spirit, producing many powerful cultivators.
Even so, they were still far beneath the visitor who had come today.
“W-well, if it isn’t Ascendant Yeondan-u… What brings you to our humble sect…?”
He was a cultivator who could practically be called a god of this world. Many indeed worshipped him as one. The strongest Ascendant across all worlds.
And in truth, he was also the god’s representative.
“I bring a message from the upper realm. Mit Clan. You have been given the opportunity to return to your homeland.”
“…! You mean the Dessert Desert where Lord Jumito resides? You are finally permitting it?”
“Correct. Train there without fail, reach a higher realm, and then return. The same opportunity has been granted to the other cultivators.”
“We will definitely return stronger. Thank you, O Great Immortal!”
Roughly a hundred cultivators, including them, followed the immortal’s guidance and crossed over to the Dessert Desert. It was quite moving to see the Mit Clan members overwhelmed with emotion at the thought of returning to a homeland they had never known….
And in the world of Wahando, the Overlord of Shurado, within a certain military barracks.
The battalion commander there had received a critical order directly from the supreme commander.
He immediately relayed the command to all his subordinate officers.
“Soldiers of the battalion! As members of the glorious Undying Supreme Invincible Legendary Ironclad Frontline Army, we have been dispatched to the Dessert Desert!”
“Yes sir!”
“The Dessert Desert is an incomparably bountiful land. Since we receive all our military shells from there, it is also a vital strategic point. After training there and returning, I am confident we will become the elite of the elite, taking on the most crucial roles even within the Undying Supreme Invincible Legendary Ironclad Frontline Army!”
“Yes sir!”
“Let us return with honorable medals newly engraved upon our shells!”
And so, the finest elite soldiers of the 1st Division, 1st Regiment, 1st Battalion of the brave Undying Supreme Invincible Legendary Ironclad Frontline Army were dispatched to the Dessert Desert….
Thus, three different worlds had each dispatched groups to the Dessert Desert, each carrying their own expectations and resolve. The results spoke for themselves.
“S… save me…”
Remarkably, among the five hundred great mystics and warriors of the Acorn Elephants, there had not yet been a single death.
But they had been driven to the brink of total annihilation by this horrific environment.
“Water…”
“Please, just some edible grass…”
“If not, even a creature that doesn’t taste like rock…”
They had been warned by their god before coming. That it was quite a harsh place, that culinary mystics would be extremely important, and that they would be thrust into an extreme struggle for survival.
But they had not been told it would be “this bad.” Their own bodies were quite large, yet the native jellies here boasted insane mass—three to five times their weight.
When they tried to kill them for food, the jellies had absurdly high magic resistance. Even when they managed to catch one, half of it was rock, making it nearly inedible. The growing plants either had mineral thorns or were nothing but tiny flower buds and leaves too insignificant to be proper sustenance.
The only silver lining was that their level of magic and martial arts far surpassed any native lifeform here, so at least that wasn’t an issue.
“What kind of Dessert Desert is this?! Why in the world did God Biin raise such a place as his own world?!”
Commander Tuto screamed in despair. He was a narrative-tier entity. A fairly powerful one, at that. Sesaisa had expected him to accumulate legendary achievements here and ascend.
But Tuto seriously thought he would die before that could happen. He had served Sesaisa through five world collisions, yet among all of them, this Dessert Desert was by far the worst.
His own world, which sat right next to the gates of the afterlife, was already close to the worst possible, but the Dessert Desert was beyond even the term “living hell.” It was a true hell among hells that buried every living thing alive.
“Hey! You said there’d be food if we went this way, right?!”
“Yes! The scent of plants grows stronger in this direction! There will definitely be fresh grass and acorns ahead!”
“Good. I’ll trust you.”
After marching across the desert, they finally reached the terrain they had longed for.
It was mountainous terrain. And not just any mountains—these were the mountains that led straight up into the sky where Nyaltartep’s stronghold, the Sky Garden, awaited.
“T-trees! I see real trees!”
“Those are definitely acorn trees! They must be an evolved variety from our homeland world!”
Carrying hope in their hearts, they marched further and finally reached the vicinity of the mountainous region.
That is, before they were immediately bombarded with magic the moment they arrived.
“?!”
“???”
They were Magic Sugar Lumps. Specifically, the Snout Magic Sugar Lumps that lived in these mountains and fed on acorns. Loyal servants of Nyaltartep, they were a species that took pride in their large size and their impressive magical prowess befitting Magic Sugar Lumps.
“Are these the natives…?”
Tuto felt a slight sense of anticipation upon seeing them use magic. The opponents weren’t wearing any clothes, but there were actually quite a few species that either didn’t wear clothes or only did so for cosmetic reasons. Species without any body hair at all, like Homo sapiens, were actually rarer.
Believing they could conduct diplomacy with the natives, Tuto approached cautiously. From the opposing tribe, a chieftain emerged wearing a quiet floral crown and covering its body with vine-like growths of unknown purpose.
In a world rich with mystery, contact was conducted through mental-type mysticism rather than body language. The Acorn Elephants used their translation mysticism to convey their intentions to the Sugar Lump chieftain.
We are the Kogogi (official species name) who serve Sesaisa. Are you those who serve Biin?
In response to this refined diplomatic contact, the Sugar Lumps replied with crude mysticism.
Biin? Don’t know. Sesaisa. Don’t know. We serve Nyaltartep.
“Nyaltartep?”
Master of plants, mother of flowers and insects. The creeping vine. We serve that great one.
It was somewhat bewildering… but diplomatic contact was still necessary.
“Very well. May we meet Nyaltartep?”
Meet? Why?
“We wish to pay our respects to the great being of this land.”
Our territory. Cannot pass.
“Then how can we pass?”
Cannot pass.
…….
“Understood. In that case, we would like to purchase acorns and edible crops from this land.”
Buy?
“Yes. We will buy them. What form of payment would you like?”
Payment? Don’t know. You cannot take anything from us.
…….
“Then what are we supposed to do?”
Go. If you don’t touch anything, we will let you leave.
“What if we can’t leave?”
The chieftain answered by roaring, pounding its chest violently, and summoning a massive horde of Sugar Lumps from the surroundings. The Snout Magic Sugar Lumps, each about three times the size of a Homo sapiens, charged down the mountain ridge like mad and unleashed a barrage of magic.
“There is a limit to my patience! Kill them all! It seems friendly dialogue with the natives here is impossible!”
Tuto gathered powerful mysticism in his hands and countered with lightning, flames, and waves of magical power. Surprisingly, his raw power was far superior, but the Sugar Lumps vastly outmatched him in casting speed and recovery rate.
“Huk?”
Tuto had never seen anyone chant magic faster than himself.
If he considered that his opponents weren’t even people but animals, the shock would be even greater.
The Magic Sugar Lumps had developed insanely fast magic chanting speeds because they lived in a harsh environment where remembering spells and casting them faster than anyone else was the only way to survive.
Their coordination was crude, which allowed Tuto to win, but they still suffered ten casualties. Completely wiping out a single Snout Magic Sugar Lump tribe brought them no benefit whatsoever.
“Th-they’re disgustingly strong.”
“Captain. We’re starving, so let’s start with the acorns first…”
They climbed the mountain and tried the acorns, only to find them horrifically tasteless. Unlike those in their homeland, these had received zero selective breeding for flavor.
“At least they seem more nutritious…”
And so they occupied the former territory of the Snout Magic Sugar Lumps and rested while eating for a single day.
In just one night, every Magic Sugar Lump tribe living in the mountainous region swarmed toward them.
“What the hell.”
To explain the situation, the Flat-Nosed Magic Sugar Lumps and the Snout Magic Sugar Lumps were mortal enemies. Since Tuto’s group had eliminated their enemies for them, the Flat-Nosed Magic Sugar Lumps had now come to finish off the weakened party as repayment.
“Woo-hoo-woo-hoo-woo-hoo!!!”
Tuto and the Kogogi had no idea just how fierce the territorial wars between these Sugar Lumps were.
They had stepped into a coliseum where the tribes fought solely to earn Nyaltartep’s favor and obtain more territory and fruit. As newcomers, they were now subject to the “initiation rites” from every single tribe.
“Fuck.”
It was a truly brutal fight. They fought, and fought, and fought again.
Thirty casualties. Out of five hundred total, forty had already been spent fighting the Sugar Lump hordes here.
“Whether it’s Nyaltartep or whoever, I’m going to kill them all! Seeing how malicious this is, it’s clear our god gave us this order on purpose!”
And so, after finally climbing the mountain, crossing the Cloud Bridge, and reaching the Sky Garden, Tuto’s party could never have imagined that Nyaltartep would be “that strong.” They ended up tightly bound in vines and hung upside down.
Creatures of another god. I shall give you a choice.
“A choice?”
Either help block Yogur-tosoth’s minions, or eat the crops I provide. Or become fertilizer for my crops.
“…Who is this Yogur-tosoth?”
Nyaltartep silently pointed toward the sky beyond the Sky Garden.
There, a colossal bubble monster was summoning thunderclouds and storms, utterly annihilating a legion of hermit crabs.
Even if it couldn’t compare to their own god, anyone who wasn’t a fool could tell it was a legendary entity possessing transcendent authority.
“…Can’t you just admit I was completely wrong and send us home?”
Both your god and our god have declared that you absolutely cannot return until right before the next collision.
“……”
Starve to death versus just die versus desperately fight. In the end, they had no choice but to pick the desperate fight.
They never imagined that the seemingly relaxed and slow-moving Lazy Sugar Lumps—servants of Yogur-tosoth—could partially summon Yogur-tosoth’s authority through space-time magic. Nor did they expect to end up living as mercenaries, helping the Magic Sugar Lumps defend against invasions while Yogur-tosoth’s forces—Dark Rim, Caramel Camels, Gum Crows, giant rice cakes, and even unidentified wild beasts—attacked Nyaltartep’s domain.
After just two days of defensive warfare, their patience reached its limit.
“Wait, Lord Nyaltartep! Why are creations from the same world fighting each other? At least tell us the reason!”
We are not truly fighting. It is not that we are on bad terms. This is simply a way to spark a sense of competition.
“A sense of competition???”
We are not fighting in earnest. We are simply killing the weak and ‘weeding out’ only the strong.
They felt their tusks grinding together in fury.
“Why would you do something so insane?”
It was the Fourth Legion Commander’s idea. Not bad, is it? The Sugar Lumps alone were a bit insufficient. Seeing how well you block Yogur-tosoth’s army that covets my garden, you are all quite strong. Would you have any interest in becoming my servants permanently? If you accept, I will ask our god to bestow upon you the grace of evolution just like the Sugar Lumps.
“……”
Tuto made up his mind that if he ever met this so-called Fourth Legion Commander, whoever they were, he would chew them up and swallow them whole.