Foreign Land Reclamation By a Vegetable-growing Skeleton

When Ange quickly ran back, he saw seven or eight sand thieves were digging up his crops. These thieves had thrust long knives directly into the soil, tossing it over and over, causing the tubers of the Axe Potatoes to be severed as they were extracted from the ground.

A thief grabbed up a piece, muttering, “What the hell is this?” They haphazardly peeled off the skin and took a bite.

“Ugh, what is this? It’s horrible!” The thief bit into it, chewed a few times, then spat it out.

Axe Potatoes weren’t particularly tasty when uncooked, they were tough and sticky. However, they were juicy, and for a sand thief who had been trekking in the desert for days, the moisture in this plant was the sweetest thing.

After spitting it out, the thief deemed it acceptable, took another bite and continued to chew. They tossed aside the leaner tuber in his hand and resumed digging.

With each tuber they dug up, they bit off the thickest, juiciest part, and casually tossed the rest aside, always discarding much more than they actually ate.

Upon reaching the scene, this is what Ange found. The Soul Flame in his head flared, and he promptly formed a fireball and hurled it at the thieves.

“Watch out, Wizard!” A sand thief shouted, swinging his sword at the fireball, breaking it apart.

An Explosive Fireball may appear small, but its blast caused the sand thief to stumble back half a step.

“This fire is powerful…” The thief started to warn his companions, but before he finished his sentence, the second explosive fireball, piercing the haze of the first blast, hit him straight in the face.

Bang! The thief’s head was engulfed in the fireball, letting out a terrific scream.

“Double shot! No! A barrage! Be careful, it’s a Combat Mage!” Another thief who had witnessed the scene shouted out in terror.

Not all wizards know how to fight. Most come from noble families and have lived a life of luxury. Without their servants or followers, these wizards would easily starve in the wild, incapable of even peeling an egg. However, some mages have grown through struggles and battles, their combat experience unmatched. Unlike the others, they don’t seek to dazzle with dramatic magical effects; they only use the most appropriate magic to defeat their enemies.

A combat mage of the same level is a hundred times more formidable than a wizard with no combat experience.

Low-level spells combined with rapid fire are standard fare for combat mages.

They always prioritize conserving their magic power for defense and escape. They never use a Level 2 spell when a Level 1 spell suffices.

Sand thief Ma Yuer had the feeling that he was dealing with such a Combat Mage and warned everyone immediately.

But before he could finish his words, the third explosive fireball had already locked onto him. It abruptly swerved mid-air and shot towards him.

“Target Locked!” Ma Yuer screamed in horror as he slashed his horseback knife without hesitation at the incoming fireball.

Expecting the next attack, he had only put in partial strength into his slash. Sure enough, as soon as he shattered the third fireball, the fourth quickly followed.

Ma Yuer slid backwards, raising his sword to slash, again backward, then again. His blade danced before him, impenetrable as a wall of water.

Retreating and slashing, the path he took was ablaze with burst fireballs. The relentless high temperature from the fireballs caused his blade to gradually heat up; if this kept up, it would surely melt.

In the desert, a horse was as crucial as a pair of legs. The difference between having a horse and not was akin to that between an able-bodied person and a disabled person. For the sand thieves, horses were their life blood.

With the current situation, Ma Yuer cared little about his lifeblood. He swerved his body behind the body of his horse.

The explosive fireball hit the horse, creating a loud pop. The horse’s flesh was ruptured by the explosion, and its body went up in flames.

The horse let out a dreadful scream.

Despite the exploding horse shielding him, Ma Yuer crawled and rolled towards a distant sand dune. If he could get behind it, he would be out of the mage’s line of sight.

Six more fireballs exploded one after another against the horse, blasting its flesh open and igniting it. But amidst the chaos, Ma Yuer had already made it halfway up the sand dune. He swiftly grabbed the shield off his back, angling his body as he ran up the dune.

This side-on run provided him the ability to see behind, avoiding the possibility of being hit by a spell unknowingly. Clearly, Ma Yuer was very experienced in combat.

The remaining thieves also took advantage of the situation to disperse. Ange quickly switched his target lock to another thief. Some turned to hack and slash, some held up shields, some rolled around lazily, some threw sand to obstruct his sight. They employed every trick they had.

Ange quickly realized that killing the sand thieves was even more challenging than taking down Holy Spirit Angels. They were extremely slippery, and some carried an array of equipment.

For instance, one thief had been clearly locked into Ange’s sight, but just as the explosive fireball neared him, he slapped his chest, activating a magical shield to protect himself.

After enduring four or five fireballs, the magic shield finally disappeared. If it had been any other wizard, the thief might have escaped. Very few wizards could continuously cast four or five Fireball Techniques at once.

But Ange could, and the moment the shield disappeared, a sixth fireball was promptly launched at the thief, causing him to stumble and cough up blood.

Barely drawing breath, this thief used his combat energy to dart forward a few meters, only to be hit by the seventh fireball on his back and subsequently thrown face-down.

This thief twisted on the sand, waving his long sword, and desperately yelled, “Why! Why are there so many fireballs!”

His response was the eighth, ninth, and tenth fireballs. He managed to cleave through the eighth but was hit by the ninth and the tenth, his body quickly swallowed by flames..