Verella had just broken free out of the petrification. And she was gasping. “Nobody told me Amir had such a deadly attack. If I was prepared, I wouldn’t have suffered such a humiliating defeat. Nobody has seen it, right?” she looked around, and there were a lot of institute’s students and teachers that were looking right at her. (Ah! Shit. There goes all my fame down the drain! Mm?) Her ears caught rumbling noises that came from below. She came to the edge and looked down.At least a square mile of land was all eaten up by the herculean worm, which also swallowed all the alphas along with it and came soaring straight up toward Verella.Verella had no time to ponder about the people on the island. She immediately jumped away, and the giant worm went onto gobble up the two halves of the floating institute and all the students and teachers along with it.Verella was shocked by its sheer size, but after seeing how its body kept shedding smaller worms through its skin, her expression froze
The baby worms were so hungry they tried to eat everything in sight, whether it be benches in the street or the living and breathing humans, it seemingly made not much of a difference to them. Their baby teeth were already able to dig through wood and metal with little effort.A group of worms attacked a skyscraper and began eating its walls and pillars from the lower floors, causing the whole building to crumble. This resulted in the deaths of thousands, but the worms drilled through the rubble and ate the dead humans, not leaving anything precious untouched.Though the mages were doing their best to stop the worms, either directly confronting the worms with their own strength or by using the drones to shoot them from the sky. However, the sheer number of worms still proved extremely difficult to handle. Many worms managed to either kill the mages or slip through their defenses.Sukazu, a delta mage, used his star seal to craft wind attacks to send worms flying in every direction. Ho
The loud cry of the Mother Worm was enough to eat away the confidence of not just civilians but many of the mages as well. However, the Mother Worm that was still standing up like a tower sprayed yellowish spit high into the air. And it fell everywhere in the city and melted everything it touched. The humans or the metal structures, it didn’t matter.And the melted masses were happily gorged on by the baby worms that also ate away the yellowish spit of their mother.It was truly a gut-stirring sight to watch even for Dave who had seen his own share of battles in his lifetime. He was someone who experimented even on innocent children for the sake of research, but he still valued human life. So he felt enraged to see so many souls dying left and right.“This damned monster wasn’t this big when I last saw it years ago. How did it grow so big?”Stardium worked effectively on human mages, but it wasn’t much effective on critters, so Dave had to use his technological prowess to tackle this
Lexi was riding her flying lizard and was observing all the ongoing destruction, wearing a neutral face.The low-level mages that used star-seals couldn’t fight back against the baby worms for long because their weapons had restrictions and limits. And without their weapons, they were no better than sitting ducks against these voracious worms. Only those mages who had absorbed a star crystal’s power were able to use skills on their own, without having to rely on faulty star-seals, and somewhat withstood the attack of the baby worms.A baby worm managed to fly past the lizard’s tongue and reached Lexi, but after smelling her scent, it stopped attacking and started licking her. “Good boy,” Lexi patted the worm before throwing it into the air. The lizard caught it with the tongue and pulled it into its mouth and chewed on it. Lexi kept smiling.The lizard flew to where the Mother Worm was, and Dave kept fighting the giant beast alone when everyone else had fallen. Parts of his body also
Because of the acid rain that the mother worm had showered upon the whole city, a lot of the towers and defense equipment had fallen. Many flying drones were taken down, and so many more mages lost their lives. Even more civilians perished because of the poisonous vapors the acid had released. People panicked and fled for their lives as the purple fog kept filling the city. A few seconds was enough for the people to get choked to death in the fog. And the baby worms greedily fed on those who died. Many flying drones took off in different directions and left the island for good. People fought each other for a place in any flying vehicle, for traveling on a ship was the same as committing suicide. The chances of reaching another island safely were zero. Justin’s ex-wife, Casey, also tried her best to get on a transport vehicle, but only the family members of the still-alive mages were given preference. Even though she somehow managed to get on the vehicle, she was pushed out by Kong w
The mother worm leaped at Myles, opening its mouth wide and looking to chomp on his entire upper body in one go.Myles crossed his fingers. “Carnage Shield.”An invisible shield formed before him and not only stopped the worm but also skewered its mouth with energy needles that extended out of the shield, making the mother worm scream in severe pain.It was as if thousands of thin needles had pierced its body and reached deep inside. Moreover, electricity leaked out from those needles and shocked its body in a way it produced flames. Straightaway, it looked like the worm was being cooked from the inside. The mother worm was instantly enraged like never before.It grew in size to the point it was as big as a whale, and it sprayed its toxic saliva at Myles with all the hatred in its gut.However, thanks to the carnage shield, the acid couldn’t even touch Myles.“Nether Rise.” He uttered, and the sandy ground around the mother worm cracked and black flames burst out and roasted the mothe
Blood began leaking out of Myles’ eyes, ears, nose, mouth, navel, and more. If it was someone else, they would have probably suffered a heart attack and died already, but Myles somehow bore the severe pain. He had to. Even though whenever the spiritual poison acted up, he felt terribly weak, he had to bear the pain, as showing any form of weakness would only make things worse for him.“Void Drain.”He put his hand on his chest and drained the poisonous vapor of the mother worm out of his body forcefully. While that helped ease the pain a little, the damage was already done.(One moment of carelessness…) He collapsed forward in a way his cheek hit the ground. And he passed out.The cobra crystal appeared in his hand, though his hand was clenched at the moment.The aerial barrier surrounding Maria, Rosie and others vanished into thin air.Maria was the first one to wake up. Looking around, she had no clue what had happened. Her eyes suddenly widened as she remembered the moment the gian
“Die!” Verella leaped and swiped her claws at Maria. “Bhel Cross!” Flames burst out of her claws and exploded upon impact. Maria activated the Aqua Field in time and suppressed the explosion but she was still pushed back. Verella swiveled toward Rosie and whipped her leg from above Myles’ body. “Great Dragon Cleaver!” Rosie blocked the attack by making a cross with her forearms, but her forearm utterly broke, and Verella’s shin pounded Rosie’s face and sent her rolling back on the sand like a rag doll. Her nose turned into a grotesquerie, and blood poured out nonstop. (She’s built differently than Blue Dog.) Rosie lifted her right hand, and the water from the ocean came to her like a living body and boosted her healing capacity and also stamina. Her broken nose and arm began healing at a rapid rate. Verella looked surprised. (Drawing sustenance even from salt water?) Now she understood why Maria looked so young despite being in late forties. (They have a huge advantage in this loca
Aero’s attack was deadly enough to easily kill a group of individuals without them even realizing what happened.The table where Myles and others were sitting was utterly destroyed.However, nobody was harmed because Myles had warped them a few meters away at the last moment. The only being he didn’t warp was Dusty.Dusty took the attack head on and was injured just a little. “This is…” he didn’t take more than a second to understand who it was. “Don’t say anything and just run away!” he shouted in ant language.“What nonsense are you talking about!” Aero attacked him with his spear-like limbs. “Her Majesty trusted you and sent you on a mission, but here you are, eating sugary things!”“You idiot! I didn't have any other choice!” Dusty defended himself. “I was forced to work for these humans!”“Shame on you! How can you work for humans?” Aero grew all the more aggressive. “You surely deserve to die!”“Who is that bastard?” Sercy asked angrily because part of the cafe was destroyed by
General Aero of the Battle Ants leaped toward the two old timers and used his jelly-like body to set himself on fire, causing a nasty explosion that covered almost a hundred feet in every direction.It was so hot the ground cracked and the metal melted.Aero used this opportunity to fly away fast. Some automated machine guns recognized this intruder and shot at it, but Aero was able to easily slip past the bullets and flew away into the distance, covering a mile per second.Wise Servant and Sweet Beggar stepped out of the explosion, and Wise Servant sucked in the explosion and contained it in her single hand and squashed it into nothing. The compressed flames no longer existed as a candle light would turn off.“Are you going to go after that thing, or do you want me to go instead?” she asked him.“You’re the wiser one,” Sweet Beggar picked his teeth. “So you should go, since you decided to let that little ant go.”“I thought he might lead us to the one that escaped last time,” she rep
Outside the forever S-rank dungeon where the Battle Ants were present, Wise Servant and Sweet Beggar stopped playing chess and started drinking a strong tea made out of boiling many potent green herbs.And both of them felt energized and relaxed right now as they sat laid back in their chairs.Wise Servant lost in chess once again. She had been trying to win just one game of chess against him for so long. She grew experienced enough to be easily called a grandmaster of chess, but still, she was not able to win against Sweet Beggar just one more time. All she wanted was for him to forgive her and say ‘I love you’ just once more.Both of them had long crossed 100 years of age. So, they weren’t thinking of sex or anything like that. They were purely thinking about each other’s souls.Wise Servant had already beaten him 999,999 times, but she really wanted to win another game; however, Sweet Beggar didn’t make it any easier for her. He remained ruthless all the time so that she couldn’t e
In the dungeon swarming with ants of all kinds numbered in trillions, with more of them joining the ranks as seconds passed by, this dungeon was becoming more and more of a threat to the very existence of not just the Venture city but the very existence of humanity.The queen of all ants, Queen Wiggles, was currently crunching on wafers and looked to be in bliss.“Mm… these are the best things I’ve eaten in a while,” Wiggles looked at the captain ant that brought her a single packet of wafers. “What are these things called?”“Wafter, Your Majesty,” the captain ant kept his head and antennae lowered.“Water… it’s crispy, sweet, and easily melts in your mouth,” Wiggles was drooling. “I think I can eat a mountain of these. Why did you bring only one of these?”“The guy that entered the dungeon had only one of these in his bag,” the captain ant replied.“Oh, I thought you managed to leave the dungeon and then come back inside,” Wiggles said. “But some fool entered the dungeon, huh. Did you
Sercy found an A-rank healer, but he asked for a lot of gold in order to heal Judas and Glint because it wouldn’t be an easy task.“Instead of money, I’ll give you the spoils of an A-rank dungeon we’ll clear,” Sercy told him.“That’s even better,” the healer happily agreed to it.After forming a contract, he came to the Dawn guild to heal Judas and Glint. However, when he approached Judas, Judas attacked him by grabbing his throat and lifting him up.“Who do you think you are…” Judas coldly said. “Did I give you the permission to heal me?”“Judas!” Sercy unleashed a flaming punch and struck his face, sending him flying into the wall right next to him. His head went halfway through the wall. “How drunk are you to attack a guest who came to help you!”Judas pulled his head out of the wall and spat a few pieces of bricks out. “I’m not drunk, Sercy. And I don’t want to get healed because I’m perfectly fine.”“No, you’re not fine. You are mentally disturbed,” Sercy blurted.“Hmph, you thi
In Basil District.Sercy and Ria were heading toward a certain address.“Why did we have to travel so far?” Ria expressed discomfort without hesitation. “Couldn’t you find any healer near our district?”“I could, but I doubt they can fully heal Judas and Master Glint,” Sercy replied. “Judas has been drinking a lot. I’m sure his liver and other organs are not healthy. We need a proper health potion that can improve his health significantly. And Master Glint also needs to drink a health potion because he’s not eating properly.”“His daughter died long ago, so why is he still depressed?” Ria asked.Sercy glanced at her with a bit of a surprised look. “You lack emotional depth. Were you not raised by your parents?”Ria frowned. “Do I have to be raised by my parents to know a father’s love?”“...Not really,” Sercy said. “Some lives can be explained by pen, but some… only by pain. By emotion. If we haven’t experienced the same emotions ourselves, it’ll be hard for us to put ourselves in oth
The glass cube was torn open like it was jelly, which genuinely dropped Sercy’s jaw for a second.Dusty was also not expecting that at all, but he grinned as he unsheathed his sword, ready to attack Myles. However, just when his eyes looked up and his gaze was set on Myles, he suddenly felt invisible pressure crushing him down from every direction.Myles was not even moving his eyelids, but Dusty couldn’t move. In fact, his body was trembling slightly. (What’s this feeling?) He looked very anxious. (This regal aura he’s giving… It’s as if I’m looking at Her Majesty. No, perhaps, dare I say… he’s even greater than Her Majesty Wiggles?)“Myles!” Sercy yelled. “How did you do that? I mean, how could you do that!” She quickly caught Dusty with her hand. “What if this little monster is more dangerous than we think?”“Then why are you holding it in your hand?” Ria asked.“B-Because he’s like a little doll,” Sercy said. “I feel like squeezing him to death.”“Eeek!” Dusty was terrified by her
Myles and Ria came to the canteen while Biskie and Casey were so tired and beaten they had to take rest in the basement training grounds. Myles wasn’t the one who fought them, but they fought each other to the extreme just to test them and so wounded themselves a bit too much.“Our guild has good core fighters now,” Sercy told them while they were eating crunchy leaf burgers. “We only lack a good healer. If we can get someone who can not just heal the wounds but also boost our skills, it’d be wonderful.”“Someone who can do those things will be in high demand,” Ria opined. “Do we have enough money to recruit such a person?”“Money? Screw that,” Sercy snorted. “I want someone who will willingly work with us and share our burdens and not expect too much in return. I don’t want those types that go after money and fame as they cannot fit into anything. They are only going to abandon you when a better opportunity knocks on their door.” She then looked at Myles. “You explored some districts
Dusty stealthily entered the guild building, expecting there to be tight security. However, all he found was an old man mumbling something in his sleep.“What’s this? They have the dragon king’s item, and they’re this relaxed?” Dusty frowned. “Are they that confident in their abilities, or are they just that stupid?”Nevertheless, he kept his guard on and traveled in the hall while using the objects as his cover.He saw Sercy who was loudly talking at her reception desk.“I’m telling you that I will buy those lands!” Sercy was shouting. “Sell me those infested lands, you bastards! If you do that, We’ll become ghost-venerers for you and clear three dungeons of your choice in the next year. How does that sound?”“Five dungeons for three years is okay for me.”“Three years is too long, and five dungeons is too much,” Sercy said. “Three dungeons and one year is final.”When a dungeon breaks, the nearby lands and environment get corrupted. This would cause the value of that land to drop, e