The Giant Worm and the Secrets of the Deep

Giant Worm, you're mine! 'At this rate, even I in my dragon form might get swallowed whole…?' The Giant Worm was roaming the great cavern, its massive mouth agape, lined with rows of jagged, needle-like thorns. It seemed this place was both the boss room and the stage for the 5th floor.

'Hmm… how should I handle the suction pattern?' I’d never seen a Great Worm in person, but it was a monster roughly the size of a car tunnel. That meant it definitely couldn't swallow my dragon form, which was the size of a small building. But the Giant Worm was large enough to put up a decent fight against a building you’d see in the heart of Seoul. Looking at the size of its maw, it seemed like it might just barely be possible.

'Should I cover it with evasive maneuvers?' But my speed is only C-rank. Could I move faster than the Giant Worm turns its head? If my stats were overwhelmingly high, I might have considered it, but that wasn't the case, so I dismissed the idea. 'Or maybe find a way to stop the pattern…' That was, in fact, the most realistic solution. I was deep in thought, trying to figure out how to stop that massive beast.

"All troops, advance-!!!"

"Waaaaaah!!"

The resistance fighters, shamshirs drawn, charged toward the Giant Worm. I trotted quickly to catch up and threw a question at one of the soldiers. "W-what's the plan?"

"Ah, I suppose we haven't mentioned the plan. Our resistance soldiers pride themselves on nothing more than their speed."

Their plan was a hit-and-run tactic using terrifying speed. It was a strategy that only worked if you had reliable speed and stamina. It looked ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠like I’d have to approach this with a different plan… First, to fight an enemy with such immense physical stats, it was much more advantageous to switch to my dragon form. I immediately polymorphed, and once I did, my line of sight reached a level roughly equal to the Giant Worm's. …Though I wasn't sure if it even had eyes.

'Even now, it's so huge that a laser breath might not mean much.'

Still, there was no reason not to try it at least once. My mana had reached C+ rank, which meant the burden of using my breath had lessened a bit.

Kiiiiiing-!! Kwaaang!! I gathered my energy and fired a laser breath straight at the Giant Worm. The breath struck the side of the Giant Worm's mouth with precision, and blood began to spray from the spot where the laser had passed.

"Kuooooo-!!!"

The Giant Worm began to thrash about, wailing in pain. The resistance soldiers, as if they had expected this much, scattered in unison and began to move into the Giant Worm's blind spots. It was effective, but the wound was far too small compared to the Giant Worm's size. It wasn't even the size of a bullet hole for a human. No matter how much the burden of the breath had decreased, it wasn't something I could just spam.

'I have to look at the long game, too….'

There might be a way to burn my own body, but the most certain method remained. It was the most efficient, era-defying method used even in SF media. I flew straight up and began to slam an elbow drop into the Giant Worm. 'There's nothing as certain as a physical attack.' And the bigger it is, the better!

As expected, the heavy weight of my building-sized dragon form crushed the Giant Worm, causing it to react violently. Shuuuuu…. Then, suddenly, a sound like the Giant Worm gathering energy reached my ears. The resistance, noticing the anomaly, quickly commanded those fighting to retreat.

"Dragon-nim, please retreat quickly! 'Suction' is coming!!"

Uh…. Already? Its health is down by 50% already…?

I hadn't predicted it would lose that much health so quickly, so I stood defenseless before the Giant Worm's suction. Shuooooo-!!! My body was pulled toward the Giant Worm's mouth along with a tremendous wind. I couldn't be eaten like this. A dragon being eaten by a worm? That would be too embarrassing, wouldn't it? Even in dragon form, I didn't need to walk on four legs, so I had been standing on two, but now the situation was different. I slammed my four feet ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠into the ground and folded my wings as much as possible to minimize air resistance. Of course, that only meant I could hold out a little longer.

'I need a decisive blow…!'

The Giant Worm's suction showed no signs of stopping, and it was powerful enough to create a fierce gale. Wait, a fierce gale? Then… does that mean the Giant Worm's mouth is currently filled with oxygen? A small flame is extinguished in front of a strong wind, but a powerful fire is a different story. It would instead be supplied with abundant oxygen and evolve into an explosive force. 'If there's even coal inside the Giant Worm's gut….'

It would be the icing on the cake; the Giant Worm would be roasted alive. Surely the mineral the resistance mentioned wouldn't become unusable just because it caught a little fire.

As soon as I thought of the countermeasure, I didn't hesitate. I gathered a normal-level breath and spewed it into the Giant Worm's mouth. Kuwaaaa…!!! It was an intense flame, certainly not one that could be extinguished by a mere breeze. The flame went straight into the Giant Worm's mouth and immediately made contact with the oxygen-rich interior.

Hwarureureuk!!! Luckily, it seemed there was coal in the Giant Worm's gut, and the fire that started inside began to burn the Giant Worm so violently that flames even burst out of its mouth.

"Kuooooo…!!!!"

The Giant Worm collapsed, wailing in terrible pain. Come to think of it, was it said that burn pain is the most excruciating? I'd been burned a few times, but I'd never had a severe burn, so I didn't really know. The Giant Worm, burned to a crisp, stopped wriggling.

"…Huh?"

A Skill Enhancement Ticket as a tower reward? I couldn't pass this up. I immediately used the Skill Enhancement Ticket. As always, a preview appeared. I had tried applying the preview to 'Dragon Language Comprehension' or 'Intermediate Elemental Magic,' but nothing changed except for the grade. 'Is the only thing I can trust really the Breath?'

When I applied the preview to Breath, the description suddenly changed. I knew it, the only thing I can trust is the Breath! I slowly read through the description.

Oh…. Enhance it immediately. If I can use it without fully utilizing the dragon form, I can choose from more options while saving on mana consumption. It was a shame that the power would be reduced, but I couldn't give up such superior utility. 'Besides, the power will naturally increase when I'm in dragon form.' It would be stupid not to choose it. Mmm-hmm.

While I was immersed in enhancing my skill, the flames that had been burning the Giant Worm finally died down. The resistance fighters approached the Giant Worm. Since their goal wasn't just to subdue the Giant Worm but to find the mineral embedded inside, the task of dismantling it still remained for them. They skillfully swung their shamshirs to slice open the charred corpse of the Giant Worm and succeeded in pulling out a long, black stone. They tapped it a few times and nodded with satisfied faces.

'Is that the mineral?'

Seeing the resistance fighters start to collect it, it was definitely the mineral they were looking for.

After collecting the mineral from the Giant Worm for a long time, the resistance announced that they would be returning to their camp. "We're planning to withdraw, would you like to come with us?"

"No. I have some business. I'll stay here a bit longer before heading back."

Since I had to leave the tower within an hour anyway, I decided to stay, as there was no benefit in following them. And there were more unique things in this cave than I thought. The resistance seemed to use this cave simply for the purpose of obtaining minerals, but there were many strange patterns in this cave. If I couldn't get any additional rewards within an hour anyway, it wasn't bad to look around.

In fact, there were many people who studied the strange things they found while exploring the tower. Sometimes it became a hint for clearing the tower in the future.

"Ugh…. It's a bit scary, though."

Exploring a cave relying on a single torch was certainly problematic. The inner caves connected to the great cavern were more complex, and I couldn't see properly with just one torch. Unlike modern caves that were safely opened and plastered with all sorts of equipment, this was a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠cave in its primitive state.

"Should I have asked them to follow me…?"

Being alone in this vast cavern made me feel unnecessarily scared. Regretting not asking them to follow me, I went a little deeper, and cave paintings filling the walls caught my eye.

"What is this…?"

The patterns in the cavern where the Giant Worm roamed were too damaged to make out, but unlike those, the ones drawn here were quite clear.

It comes up again here. The name of a dragon that has already vanished appears again beneath the cave. I didn't know why this name was written here, but I started to read it, pointing at each character.

One thing I learned was that this cave painting didn't contain very detailed information. Since a significant portion was damaged, all I could know was that there was a dragon that said… Tenebris brought peace. It was a bit of a shame, but this content was something no one in the world knew. A story not recorded on any website. I felt a little excited by the fact that I was the first to know such an incredible story.

As I was taking a few pictures with my phone, I heard someone entering the cavern. 'Did someone leave something behind?' Thinking for a moment that the resistance had returned, I peeked out, only to see a man in an unrecognizable outfit. A man in an outfit that looked very flashy even at a glance.

'Is he like a noble from a desert kingdom?'

But why would someone like that come here? I couldn't tell why he had entered this cavern, but my dragon intuition told me he was a very strong individual. Seeing that the sensation I used to feel from Park Chaerin, an A-rank hunter, was very vivid, he was likely an incredible powerhouse who could fight an A-rank hunter on equal footing or was S-rank or higher. For now, it seemed necessary to hide my body behind a stalagmite. Since there was no reason to take risks, I decided to keep the window to leave the tower open and watch silently to see what the man who had entered the cavern was doing.

"In the end, did I fail again…. At this rate, it's no better than trash."

The man stood in front of the Giant Worm and eliminated it with an unknown power. The Giant Worm vanished in an instant, emitting destructive light and sound. Just looking at it, it was power equivalent to S-rank. 'No, is it right for an enemy of that level to appear on the 5th floor…?' Even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠if you encounter them if you don't leave after clearing the cave, it was insane.

Watching the man who had eliminated the Giant Worm while holding my breath to the point of almost not breathing, I saw a few monsters gathering beside him.

-Kerek….

-Kishit…!

The ones that appeared were cave goblins. Right. It's normal for monsters of that level to appear on this floor level after all…. The man standing in the cavern looked at the monsters that had appeared around him and spoke as if it were strange.

"…It has been influenced by the Dragon Tongue."