Ancient City Arville (4)
In the midst of the ruins stood an old house, barely holding its shape.
Laila knelt on the cold stone floor and carefully unclasped the blue rosary hanging around her neck.
A nostalgic voice whispered in her ear—one she could never hear again.
She tugged at the bottom of the rosary.
Click.
A small compartment opened, revealing a shriveled larva curled into a tight ball.
She gently placed it on the floor, then drew a dagger with trembling hands and sliced her palm.
Drip, drip, drip.
Her blood hit the ground, quickly forming a small puddle.
That was when it happened.
Bulge!
One segment of the blood-soaked larva swelled like a balloon.
Bulge, bulge!
Dozens of segments inflated one after another, the delay between them creating a rhythmic pulse. At the same time, the puddle of blood shrank dramatically.
The larva greedily sucked up the blood, growing to the size of a pinky finger before stopping. It lay still as if dead, then shuddered violently. Thousands of fine hairs sprouted across its body.
It was a dramatic transformation, like a mummy reviving into a living person. Laila watched silently, then pressed her wounded palm to the larva.
The creature curled slightly, then leaped onto her hand, burrowing into her flesh in an instant.
A bulging vein raced from her wrist to her elbow, then her armpit, finally settling at the nape of her neck. It slowly subsided.
Laila sat comfortably and closed her eyes. Focusing her mind, she felt her body plummeting endlessly.
After a long while, the sensation reversed—she floated upward. Moments later, it felt like her feet hit solid ground.
She looked down. She hadn't actually lowered her head; she had simply willed it in that dark inner world.
But the instant she faced the abyss—
Thud!
Her body jerked violently, blood streaming from her nose. She realized something was wrong.
The ancient shamans commanded earthworms to burrow through the earth, hardening soil to build vast underground cities. The legends of Ancient City Arville are proof of that.
I can hardly believe it myself, but if you feed it blood infused with mana, you can control twin entities. I couldn't test it without a mana breathing method, but...
Earthworm.
A D-rank large monster that three or more well-balanced Class 4s could handle.
But it struck from underground without warning, dragging victims deep below in seconds if they weren't careful.
'D-rank? No... this is at least C-rank, maybe higher! Ugh!'
Her body convulsed again, and she spat up a mouthful of blood. It was the price of linking souls with an existence too vast for her mind to bear.
'Please... just hold on until I can shove that bastard into hell!'
Did her desperate prayer reach it? The wild mental fluctuations gradually calmed.
How much time passed? At last, a long howl echoed across the wasteland.
Wooooooooo—
Pop!
Laila's eardrums burst, thin streams of blood trickling out.
Now blind and deaf, she gained new senses through her soul-link with the Ancient Worm.
It was the warmth of life.
The Ancient Worm tracked heat through the sensitive hairs covering its skin. Before she could adapt, it surged forward.
Rumble rumble rumble—boom!
Bursting onto the surface, it bared its teeth at the nearest source of warmth.
'Wait—identify who it is first... agh!'
Her attempt to interfere brought excruciating pain. Meanwhile, the Ancient Worm lunged at the closest heat signature.
Roooar!
Calix faced an avalanche of dirt cascading down like a waterfall.
He lowered his arms from protecting his face and saw a colossal maw lined with thousands of teeth high above.
"Haha... no way. An actual Ancient Worm? This can't be real."
"Dodge, my lord!"
Gordon yanked him aside roughly and stomped the ground hard.
Boom!
A house-sized mouth slammed into where Calix had stood.
Rumble rumble—
The long body writhed, burrowing endlessly back underground.
Crash! Boom!
"Damn it! Where the hell did this thing come from?"
Calix was awestruck by the Ancient Worm pulverizing solid rock like tofu.
The unexpected event blanked his mind.
He shook it off and scanned around—only Gordon remained at his side.
Krout had started late anyway, and the others had scattered dodging the beast's thrashing.
Boom—
The worm struck again in the distance, slamming its maw into the ground.
At that moment.
Dozens of executioners in skin-tight black leather poured from a collapsed building.
They weren't moving in formation.
Like ants fleeing a kicked anthill, they scattered in blind panic.
One bumped into Calix. Without a word, he swung his curved sword.
Shing!
"Watch out!"
Gordon stepped in front, spinning to block.
Clang!
His two-handed sword, empowered by rotation, cleaved the man in half. The broken blade and body crumpled limply.
But the black wave was just beginning.
"Stay right behind me, young master!"
Gordon slashed furiously, parting the tide.
Clang! Clang!
A few more executioners tumbled. The wave finally split, flowing around them in retreat.
He casually deflected occasional flung swords and asked,
"What now? Fall back?"
"Hold on."
Calix racked his brains furiously.
'An Ancient Worm out of nowhere? No future like this in my knowledge. Doesn't matter—focus. What's most important right now?'
Then it hit him—the real reason they were here.
'Oh right, Laila!'
"Head that way—where those black bastards poured out!"
"Huh? You serious?"
"Yeah. They were probably surrounding Laila until just now. See the collapsed stone building? Move!"
"Ugh, got it. Hah!"
Gordon scooped Calix under his arm and charged.
Boom! Woo woo woo—
In the distance, the worm's head erupted from the earth.
Black shadows vanished into its maw.
"Like a natural disaster."
The Ancient Worm had crossed over 100 meters underground in seconds.
It reared up again, slamming its body down—shaking the ground and turning over a dozen shadows into bloody pulp.
"There!"
Calix turned at Gordon's shout. Laila lay face-down where he pointed.
"Laila!"
He shook her, but no response. Dried blood crusted her mouth and ears—she'd taken a severe shock.
"We'll carry her out first."
"Understood. Which way?"
"Krout's probably coming from where we entered. Head there."
"Yes, my lord!"
The rest of the group was gone—who knew where. Praying they lived, they fled as far as possible.
After ten minutes of running, Krout appeared, sprinting wildly.
"Young master! You're safe—watch out!"
They were mere meters apart.
Rumble rumble—boom!
The massive beast burst through the earth, filling Krout's vision.
"Young masteeeeer!"
Krout's scream buzzed in Calix's ears as he hung in midair.
Below, thousands of spiraling teeth writhed. One slip, and he'd be minced meat.
He locked eyes with Gordon reaching for him. He knew the plan.
Gordon meant to hurl him clear of the maw.
Laila, slung over Gordon's shoulder, was already forgotten—plummeting far below, unconscious.
Then, an artifact status window flickered briefly in Calix's view alongside her.
"!!"
Choice time again.
'Accept Gordon's sacrifice, and I survive 100%. But Laila and Gordon likely die. Unless what I just saw wasn't a hallucination...!'
No time to hesitate.
Calix dodged Gordon's grasping hand, then kicked his chest hard.
'No!'
Gordon's eyes widened in horror, but he was already flying away.
The recoil sent Calix plummeting faster into the monster's throat.
He stretched with all his might.
Snap!
He caught her wrist, pulling her into an embrace.
Calix and Laila plunged into the pitch-black maw.
The Ancient Worm that swallowed them vanished underground.
Krout stood before the dusty pile, dumbfounded.
The scattered group began regrouping one by one.
Edirn examined the slime in the dirt and muttered,
"An Earth Worm. Didn't think one this big actually existed."
Krout, focus returning to his eyes, asked,
"It... it swallowed the young master. What do I do?"
"Hmm... the good news is, he's probably not dead."
"Really?!"
Edirn gently pushed away the looming Krout, who looked ready to grab his collar.
"Calm down. The connection cut off since we're too far, but his vitals were stable until then."
Edirn had cast a spell on Calix to monitor and record vitals since traveling together.
"Means he wasn't shredded by its teeth. Plenty of people swallowed by Earth Worms have survived and returned. They don't have stomachs that secrete digestive acid."
Edirn omitted that those cases were only C-rank worms. No point spreading despair now.
Gordon, rolling on the ground, knelt weeping.
"It's my fault. I failed to protect him...!"
Krout swallowed his rage silently. Outburst would only deepen Gordon's guilt.
Meanwhile, Tabar waited at the secondary rally point for his men.
Plan was to scatter on failure, preserve lives, then regroup here.
But no more came, no matter how long he waited.
"This all?"
Barely a dozen.
Over half badly wounded, barely standing.
They'd deployed 20 executioners and 50 shadow troops.
If not for the capture order on Laila, he'd have halved it as overkill.
This loss cut deep.
"Damn it! Just when the damage from that bastard Jerard was healing...!"
Tabar ground his teeth.
Even his deputy was dead.
If not for stepping away for contact magic, that corpse could be his.
"Sigh, no choice. Prep for withdrawal."
"Yes, captain!"
The sun was already dipping low.
Lingering too long wasn't wise.
As they prepared to return, a limping figure approached from the gloom.
"Who goes there!"
The tense shout made the injured man raise his hands frantically.
"I-it's me! Number 9."
"Why so late?"
"As you see, injuries are pretty bad..."
"Worse cases arrived way earlier. Give a proper report!"
"I... couldn't be sure..."
Sensing something in his expression, Tabar pressed,
"What? Spit it out step by step."
"I confirmed who chased us here. They're on the surveillance list—that young noble punk's group."
Tabar crossed his arms, recalling.
"Calix Szczecin, you mean."
"Yes. Knight named Krout, mage called Edirn—matched perfectly. Group size too. Must be them. Figured they came from Poznyu to rescue that woman on their way back to the territory."
"Hmm... got it so far. But what couldn't you confirm?"
"One of them vanished into the Ancient Worm's mouth... looked like the young noble. They were grim, and he was missing."
Tabar saw investigative potential.
"Good. If true, you've earned big."
"Thank you."