[Chapter 294. Tactical Assessment]

Iris didn't answer. Her attention was fully focused on Sarah as she watched the younger woman weave around the Scorpion with practiced grace. Her movements were like a dance of death as she avoided the creature's increasingly desperate attacks. Before the beast could launch another assault, Sarah plunged both of her daggers into its head. The blades sank deep into the carapace with sickening, squelching sounds, killing it instantly. The massive body convulsed once before collapsing, its stinger twitching in its death throes as Sarah nimbly leaped away, landing softly on the sand several meters from the fallen creature.

Vanessa had missed the moment Sarah killed the beast. While brushing the sand from the leather cover of her tome with angry, jerky motions, she had only noticed the sizable amount of experience they gained from the kill as the confirmation washed over their minds like a warm wave.

"She is still doing it..." Iris muttered, her voice so low that it was almost lost beneath the whisper of the wind. Her expression was unreadable as she watched Sarah retrieve her daggers from the scorpion's head and wipe them clean with a piece of cloth. "Sarah, why did you go for its back again?" Her voice cut through the desert air with surgical precision. Each word was carefully enunciated, carrying an undertone of disappointment that seemed to weigh heavier than the scorching sun above them.

"Because it's easier to hit and assess its armor that way. Larger area and less dangerous than the front," Sarah said while looking at the corpse beside her. Her pink lips curled into a confident smirk as she nudged the dead creature with the toe of her boot. The scorpion's body was already beginning to dissolve into motes of blue light, the last remnants of its physical form fading into the harsh desert air. "Plus, when you're spinning around a beast like that, it's hard to miss the broad expanse of its back."

"That surprisingly makes sense for once," Iris said, almost to herself. Her silver eyes narrowed slightly as she processed Sarah's tactical reasoning. The dark fur around her neck seemed to bristle for a moment before settling back into its usual arrangement. She took a measured step forward, her armored boot sinking into the fine sand without making a sound. "What about the stinger? You were wide open."

Sarah kicked the stinger as it began to vanish into System energy, her foot passing through the dissipating form without resistance. "I expected it to be slower, but I was sure it wouldn't be as impactful as your blade." She shrugged, her shoulders rising and falling with practiced nonchalance despite the gravity of their situation. The desert wind whipped strands of her platinum blonde hair across her face, which she impatiently brushed away. "I know what your sword can do. A scorpion's tail doesn't exactly compare."

Iris stopped dead in her tracks. The abruptness of her movement caused sand to cascade down her boots like miniature waterfalls. "You anticipated the strike beforehand?" Her voice, though not raised, seemed to carry an unusual weight in the desert air, as if the very sand had paused to listen.

"It's a stinger. Of course it would lash out with it—that's what they do." Sarah's expression remained casual, as if discussing something as mundane as the weather. "And after I knew I could carve through its armor, I went for a vital spot. The head. That's where most creatures keep their important bits." She gestured toward where the scorpion's head had been, now nothing more than a slight depression in the sand where the System's energy had finished its work.

"You are not as hopeless as I thought. You surprised me," Iris said, giving her a soft nod. The gesture was so slight it was nearly lost in the shimmering heat haze that rose from the desert floor. Her silver eyes held an unreadable expression, a rare departure from her usual impassive demeanor. For a moment, she looked almost contemplative, as if reassessing something fundamental about her companion.

"Did Iris just... she did, right? You heard that too?" Lana looked from Carmen to Vanessa, then over to Sarah, who was beaming, her face alight with triumphant energy. The desert wind caught Lana's hair, tossing it across her face as she shielded her eyes to better observe the interaction, her expression a mixture of surprise and relief.

"She did," Carmen added, as Sarah turned to face them with a triumphant smile that seemed to radiate warmth despite the heat. Carmen's golden staff glinted in the sunlight, the metal reflecting small points of light that danced across the sand like fireflies.

"See, I told you. That is what the System intended me to be." Sarah's voice was full of undisguised pride as she gestured expansively with her daggers, the blades catching the sunlight and creating brief flashes of silver. "Now, if you could finally give me a proper set of gear, I could show you what I am truly capable of." Her eyes darted between Iris and the others, her gaze lingering longest on Vanessa, who had remained conspicuously silent during the exchange.

"Don't get ahead of yourself." Iris's stern voice cut through the heated air again. Her expression was once more unreadable as she scanned the horizon with renewed intensity. "It was a single beast, a single correct strike. Don't think you have mastered anything. And you have just received gear from Searanox. Keep that up, though, and I might mention your progress in my report."

"And she is back to how she always is," Lana sighed, her shoulders slumping slightly as she watched Iris's stern expression return. The brief moment of praise had vanished as quickly as a desert mirage, leaving behind the familiar cold distance that Iris maintained between herself and the others. Lana's gauntleted hands clenched into fists at her sides; the frustration of their leader's mercurial temperament weighed heavier than the heat bearing down on them.

"Are we killing these Scorpions for the next few hours now? They gave a lot of experience," Carmen asked while looking around for the next grouping of stones and potential hiding spots. Her golden staff felt comfortable in her grip, its familiar weight a small reassurance. The desert stretched endlessly before them, its monotony broken only by the skeletal remains of colossal creatures half-buried in the sand, their bleached bones serving as grim markers of previous battles.

Iris shook her head, her silver strands catching the harsh sunlight like metallic thread as she turned to face them. "No, we move deeper into the floor. According to Searanox's information, there is an area with a large number of undead. They wander the dunes in large groups and are easy to spot from afar." Her voice carried the same clinical detachment she applied when discussing tactical matters, as if describing a map rather than creatures. The mention of Searanox's name caused a subtle shift in her posture—a barely perceptible straightening of her spine that only someone watching closely might notice.

"Why does it always have to be undead? They are gross and stink," Vanessa butted in from behind, her nose wrinkling in distaste at the mere thought of facing such creatures. The fiery strands of her hair seemed to catch the desert wind more aggressively than the others, as if responding to her inner agitation. Her hands tightened around her tome, the leather creaking softly under her grip as she imagined the rotting flesh and decaying bones they would soon encounter.

"You say that as if you'll be standing in front of them, Vanessa. It's Sarah and I who have to get close," Lana retorted, looking at her from the side. Her dark eyes flashed with annoyance, the muscles in her jaw working as she suppressed the urge to say more. She could already imagine the nauseating stench of decay that would accompany their next encounters, and the thought of facing such horrors while Vanessa remained safely in the rear rank soured her mood even further.

Vanessa simply scoffed and turned her head back toward the desert in front of them, her green eyes scanning the horizon with practiced indifference. The wind whipped at her red ponytail, making it sway like a crimson banner against the golden backdrop of endless dunes. Her thoughts remained private, hidden behind a carefully constructed mask of disdain that she had perfected long before the System had changed their world.

Iris's gaze moved over Sarah once more before she began moving again, her silver eyes briefly tracing the confident lines of Sarah's posture as she retrieved her daggers from the dissipating remains of the scorpion. Mentally, she was calculating how many of these Scorpions they could safely fight without her present, running simulations in her mind at a speed that made ordinary thought seem sluggish.

`Three, maybe four at once if Sarah fought exactly as she just had, but any more and the pincer attacks would become overwhelming without my intervention.`

How would they fare against the Cinder Wings? she wondered, the memory of the fiery avians still vivid in her tactical assessments. Their dive-bomb attacks would be particularly dangerous for a melee combatant like Sarah, whose dodging skills, while impressive, had limits against aerial assaults. Iris could not stand near them at all times if she wanted to fight to her full potential; her strength lay in mobility and overwhelming force, not in playing guardian to less experienced fighters. And they had to gain far more experience if she wanted to be praised by Searanox upon their return. The thought of his approval sent a subtle warmth through her chest that she immediately suppressed, though the desire for his acknowledgment remained a constant, driving force beneath her stoic exterior.