The scorching heat didn't stop Orsted and Zarestia's speed in the slightest - as they made their way towards the lost limb.
Before coming to the desert, while accepting a bounty mission, Orsted had dug out information about the place where Zarestia's limb lay.
From the Ninth-city's locals perspective, it was known as a restricted area and some even considered it a taboo place.
The bottomless Quicksand - or so the locals called it.
Orsted was quite skeptical about this Quicksand, since it was very rare for a Quicksand to form in a desert. Furthermore, this 'bottomless quicksand' had existed for centuries, another thought provoking fact.
Quicksands were often found near shorelines or underground springs. So, Orsted was curious about this special quicksand.
The only logical explanation could be that Zarestia's limb was affecting the surroundings.
"I can smell it! My tail is really here!" Zarestia held Orsted's hand and pulled him forward to quicken their pace.
Orsted was able to smell an unfamiliar scent in the air too, but couldn't connect it with Zarestia immediately. She had a habit of covering up her scent all the time, to not leave behind a trail.
"Your tail, What element did it control?" Orsted felt a premonition about the 'bottomless quicksand'.
"Water! I could even create a big lake if I wanted anytime. We can create our own bath-house this way!" Zarestia spoke with a careless smile.
"I see..."
After creating another contract with Orsted, Zarestia felt different in his eyes. More free, brighter and happier.
Orsted couldn't help but wonder: 'Is this her true personality? Before she was corrupted by her bloodlust? She doesn't mention her strange killing urges too...'
If it were the Zarestia of a day ago, she would have definitely said something like - "I wonder how it would feel to kill a person by drowning him."
It was yet to be seen if her killing urge had truly gone away, or it was just overridden by her pure joy of acquiring back her tail.
On the other hand, Orsted felt some of his doubt about this unnatural quicksand cleared up. Zarestia's tail most likely caused a Quicksand to be born here - since water was necessary for it to form.
'I understand how it could exist for centuries too.'
While being pulled by Zarestia, Orsted was the first to see the unnaturally large quicksand on the horizon.
The 'bottomless quicksand' spanned more than dozens of kilometres - the air around the area grew slightly colder too.
'At this scale, it wouldn't be weird for a small lake to form. But strangely, I don't see even a puddle of water forming anywhere here. Zarestia's tail has some weird abilities....' Orsted tried using his [Sand dragon slayer mode] and the result appeared to be working.
A small part of the quicksand rose and fell with Orsted's intention.
'There is no risk of dying by drowning here.' Orsted relaxed only after coming to such a conclusion. He could just eat it in the worst case scenario - the sand didn't taste bad either, a perk of his dragon slayer magic.
"It's below that weird ground, do we have to dig?" Zarestia pointed to the middle of the quicksand. She frowned and wondered if she should turn the whole quicksand upside-down with her wind element.
"Let's turn it upside-down." Orsted held his chin and proposed.
"...Did you get into my head?" Zarestia pouted slightly.
It was hard to create a strong spell with the [Sand] element that Orsted recently acquired. Hence, he decided to support Zarestia with wind magic, as she did the main work.
[Tornado] - Orsted cast one of the only few saint-level wind magic he knew. The impact was almost immediate - a large tornado rose from the ground, picking up the quicksand.
Suppressing her surprise from Orsted's sudden huge spell, Zarestia began using her power extensively too.
The [Tornado] grew bigger and made the sky darken slightly as it twisted violently. The quicksand was basically wrenched out of the ground.
The rough wind pressed against Orsted's body, causing his clothes to flutter rapidly. However, it didn't stop him from pouring in mana to maintain the [Tornado].
"Almost there...." Zarestia focused in the middle of the tornado.
Orsted watched as a huge hole began forming in the middle of the large quicksand. He didn't worry about the [Tornado] hurting Zarestia, he knew her capabilities perfectly.
"Found it!" Zarestia immediately jumped into the deep crater.
Disconnecting the mana transfer with the spell, Orsted walked closer to the crater - which was almost more than hundred metres deep.
'I'm surprised every time seeing just how much is possible with magic. And this isn't even my limit.' Orsted contemplated calmly.
As he searched for Zarestia, his eyes widened seeing a huge silhouette at the bottom of the crater.
It was a tail - with a length of 6 to 7 meters and appeared with shimmering water colour skin. It appeared like a lizard or dragon's tail, however it was slimmer.
Orsted found Zarestia hugging the tail, as if she was meeting a long lost family member.
'Its entering her body slowly?' Orsted patiently watched Zarestia.
It was weird no matter how he thought about it. To move such a big tail, Zarestia's followers definitely needed prior preparation. Since they were able to carry away all her severed limbs, while she slept from the alcohol's effect.
'...that incident might be more complicated than I expected. In the end, finding out about it doesn't really hold much value.'
Seeing the tail to have been fully absorbed by Zarestia, Orsted immediately felt that her threat level rose by a few levels.
[Tear stigma] appeared in his eyes as he stared at her.
'Her physique and mana has grown a lot. While her wind element grew stronger slightly. Her water element is actually stronger than wind right now? a comprehensive upgrade, I guess.' Orsted analysed her existence with concentration and felt that Zarestia was slowly catching up to him.
'From the size of that tail, her original body's size should be quite huge. Comparable to Puck or larger.' Orsted smiled slightly at Zarestia who turned towards him. Though the smile did nothing but highlight his villainous face.
Zarestia flew before him, her face brighter than ever.
"I got it back, what those rats stole from me...." Zarestia clenched her fist before Orsted's eyes and unclenched it - immediately water began flowing through her fingers.
While watching the clear water, Orsted's eyes travelled to Zarestia's face. She was smiling at him, however it was unlike her usual naive or cheerful smile.
A sweet smile lashed with pure emotions and it was directed towards Orsted right now.
"Umm, How should I say it...? Thank you, Orsted." Zarestia scratched her cheek while hiding her smile.
Orsted breathed in deeply, though there was still a little more progress before Zarestia became a permanent member of his camp - he felt like she was already his.
"Welcome aboard, Zarestia."
Aboard to his ship, the [Dragon god]'s ship - who wished to survive in this new world and rise.