Chapter 112
Chapter 112
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Translator: Mod7
Chapter: 112
Chapter Title: Chapter 11 - Sandworm
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Amidst the swirling sand, Jenny lunged at me.
Her tail whipped around me, lifting me into the air as she began a frantic dash. Nefer, snapping out of her daze, quickly gathered our belongings and followed.
“Agh!”
The grip of Jenny’s tail was anything but gentle, and my body ached,
But the look of sheer terror on her face told me this was no time for complaints.
BOOM-
Sand erupted in all directions. A massive explosion, sending a geyser of sand hundreds of meters into the air.
The three of us barely managed to escape the blast zone, but
“Good heavens…”
The real danger was just beginning.
Sand swirled in the cold night air, and within the cloud of dust, a massive silhouette writhed and twisted. It looked like a giant mouth.
The sand slowly settled, revealing a colossal body, and I was so overwhelmed by its sheer size that I simply stared, captivated.
A primal awe. Faced with this massive creature, my mind was flooded with a million questions.
What did it eat?
How did it survive in this desert?
If it ate carrion, how did it detect the scent of a rotting corpse from beneath the sand?
How did it generate enough force to leap so high into the air?
“By the Sun God…”
I wasn’t the only one in awe.
“The sandworm… it’s real…”
“It’s huge!”
Nefer was stunned, having encountered a creature she had only heard about in legends, while Jenny was already calculating how long it would take her to devour it.
Its thick, brownish hide rippled, more like a rock formation or a geological stratum than the skin of a living creature.
And at the top of its massive body was a grotesque maw, lined with rows of long, thin teeth, like the baleen of a whale.
“…Daddy, what’s with that look?”
Jenny, seeing my fascinated expression, shook her tail, snapping me out of my trance.
“Are you attracted to that ugly thing? Stop it. Jenny won’t allow it.”
She had clearly misinterpreted my scientific curiosity. No, of course I wasn’t attracted to that monster…
…But then, images of the other women I had been with flashed through my mind. Perhaps Jenny had a point.
“Kyagh!”
Jenny prepared to attack, her sights set on the sandworm.
She dug her claws into the sand,
Coiling her body, like a slingshot, her muscles taut.
“W-wait… Jenny? Don’t tell me you’re planning to fight that thing, or… eat it…?”
Jenny, in her perfect combat stance, didn't even bother to respond.
In this moment, she was pure predator, her only thought to consume this massive beast and become even stronger.
“You’re crazy! Nefer! Stop her!”
“Child, you mustn’t…!”
She hadn't forgotten that I was still wrapped in her tail. She simply wanted to ensure that I would never leave her side again.
…It was just my luck that this was happening in front of a monster the size of a mountain.
Whoosh-
Caught in Jenny’s reckless charge,
I was now a spectator in a high-speed, life-or-death battle.
“Kyagh-!”
Jenny’s sharp claws and talons dug into the sandworm’s hide as she climbed its writhing body, as if scaling a living cliff.
She reached a certain point,
And then began tearing at its thick hide with her teeth and claws, trying to burrow inside.
“Kyagh…?”
But no matter how deep she dug, she couldn't seem to break through. There was a reason why weight classes existed in combat sports.
“You idiot! Listen to me! Distract it and run! It’s a burrowing creature, so it probably can’t follow us onto solid rock…!”
But Jenny, driven by a stubborn pride, continued her relentless assault. She finally broke through, a geyser of red blood erupting from the wound, and she turned to me, a chilling smile on her face.
“See, Daddy? Jenny is better than it, right?”
Gguuuuuuuuuu-
As soon as Jenny breached the sandworm’s hide,
The massive creature, finally aware of the intruder, began to react.
“Huh?”
The sandworm’s body began to tilt.
Jenny, sensing the strange shift in movement, poked her head out of the hole, trying to assess the situation, but it was too late. The sandworm had already launched its massive body into the air.
“J-Jenny! Let me in!”
BOOM-
The ground shook again.
Sand flew in all directions,
And the sandworm’s body began to thrash wildly.
“Cough- hack!”
I coughed up the sand that had filled my mouth and nose and tried to assess the situation. It didn't take long.
For better or for worse,
The impact had freed me from Jenny’s tail.
“Elder!”
Nefer rushed towards me. She was always so attentive.
“Oh, Elder…!”
“I’m fine. Let’s just get Jenny and run…”
“You’re not fine! Elder, just a moment…”
I didn't understand why she was so emotional. Weren't we lucky to be alive?
Right, I had to get up and run…
“Huh?”
No, wait.
Something was wrong. My lower body felt strangely… light.
I finally understood what Nefer was retrieving from the sand.
That damn Jenny,
I didn't know how tightly she had been holding me,
But the force of the sandworm’s impact had torn my body in two.
“Uh… well…”
You know that feeling?
When you cut yourself, but you don't feel any pain until you see the wound?
It was like that.
“Elder! It’s okay now!”
“Aaaaagh! Agh!”
Nefer reattached my lower body, her touch surprisingly gentle, her healing abilities at work.
I had lost some of my internal organs, but I would probably be okay. It would be difficult to eat and defecate for a while, but… being alive was more important.
“Jenny, you idiot! I don’t like that thing! Just come back! Why are you so jealous of a fucking monster…?!”
I screamed at her, the absurdity of the situation making me want to laugh and cry at the same time.
I didn't know why I was being subjected to such an endless series of misfortunes. If it weren't for Alraune, I would have died a hundred times over.
“Elder, we must seek shelter. Let’s go.”
“Y-yes, somewhere high… a rock formation would be ideal…”
We quickly fled, but Jenny was still fighting the sandworm.
I could see them in the distance, their battle a chaotic blur of motion.
The sandworm, slithering across the sand, its speed increasing, and Jenny, refusing to give up, was tearing it apart from the inside.
The sandworm, in its agony, thrashed and writhed, its movements becoming more and more erratic. It was a terrifying sight.
“The temple is not far now. It is built within a canyon. If we can reach it, we will be safe.”
“Yes, let’s go now… Jenny is creating a good diversion…”
The sandworm was moving at an incredible speed, at least 300km/h,
And it was constantly twisting and turning, trying to dislodge Jenny.
The desert landscape had become a living hell.
Screeeech-
The sandworm’s screams echoed across the desert,
And then, a series of explosions, like bombs detonating.
The ground shook as the sandworm burrowed and resurfaced, sending geysers of sand into the air. A thick, dense cloud of sand, like a sandstorm, now obscured the sky.
This was no longer just a battle. It was a storm.
A swirling maelstrom of sand.
“Elder, here…”
Nefer tore a piece of her own clothing and used it to cover my nose and mouth,
And then, we pushed forward, into the storm, towards the temple.
“…”
But her steps faltered.
“Nameless shadow! Identify yourself!”
Not far from us,
About 20 meters away, a familiar silhouette emerged from the swirling sand.
The figure had wings and a tail,
And it moved with an elegant, almost whip-like grace.
“үлем (Death).”
Wow.
That was a new one.