"Why did you leave a creature like this roaming so close to the city? This thing’s practically an A-rank monster!"
"I already told you... this isn’t the forest I rember," Rhea muttered.
The worm wouldn’t stay still. It kept bursting in and out of the sand, giving them no chance to strike.
They stood at the center of its circular movent with their backs against each other, while Daylan thought of a better way they could defeat it.
Being reckless might leave them too exhausted by the ti they finally reach Giselle. The thought made it nearly impossible for Daylan to think straight.
anwhile, the worm began circling them at a frantic pace, as though it intended to drag them into the ground.
Before any of them could speak, Rhea dashed forward, aiming to reach the worm before it could dive back into the sand.
Without a mont’s hesitation, dora took the other path, cutting off its escape from behind.
Daylan, however, stood there confused as he watched them move. Their actions seed foolish to him—after all, the worm could easily slip deeper into the sand and resurface behind them.
His eyes widened the mont he realized it might work. He dashed to his left, filling the gap between Rhea and dora.
He readied his dagger, waiting for the worm to dodge Rhea—then he’d strike. And it worked. For the first ti in nearly an hour, they finally had an opening.
The mont the worm dove into the sand, it was bound to resurface near—or even ahead of—any of them, and they attacked imdiately. Though it was just a worm, its skin was as tough as dragon scales.
Daylan’s dagger bounced harmlessly off it.
dora’s fireballs left no visible damage, but every strike from her sword lted a wound into its hide. anwhile, Rhea punched it like it was nothing.
Even so, it was risky— the worm nearly swallowed Rhea before dora’s precise strike to its eye made it yowl in pain, pause midair, and then fall back into the sand.
Even though they managed to land strikes while being pushed back, it was an endless cycle. The worm kept circling them—slower now, but still trying to drag them into the sand—while Daylan and the others struck without causing any fatal damage.
Daylan needed sothing stronger.
Then it hit him.
"Acid... yeah, acid will do."
Daylan activated Spiral Form and told the others to keep fighting as he rushed to the center, conjuring dozens of small glasses filled with acid.
His concentration wavered amid the chaos, but he held firm. Before long, he had gathered all the acids.
He tossed so to the others. "Strike it whenever it’s in the air!" he yelled.
No questions were asked as they all readied themselves to strike. The worm appeared again before dora, and without hesitation, she hurled the acid at it. Instantly, it let out the most agonizing scream as its skin began to lt.
Daylan let out a relieved fist-bump.
At that mont, they all knew it was the worm’s end if it kept swimming back up—and for so reason, it did. They didn’t miss their chance and struck it again with the acid.
Before long, the worm lay on the ground, its lower half mostly lted but still alive—just unable to move or swim any longer.
Daylan gently approached its head while dora and Rhea examined the lted areas, searching for organs like those of mammals.
The worm’s mouth hung wide open, its razor-sharp teeth stretching endlessly inside.
Without hesitation, Daylan hurled two glasses of acid down its throat, lting its head completely.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
Reminder: [65] kills still pending. Please complete this task soon.
Wait... you’re telling this thing was made up of 30 worms? The worms in the forest are barely four inches long.
As he stood there perplexed, Rhea’s words broke through his daze. "What is Giselle creating? That worm isn’t really a worm—it just looks like one."
"Day, it has intestinal organs, and there’s a necklace relic stacked inside. It’s like it was made from multiple humans and other creatures."
Daylan rubbed his forehead, the realization dawning on him about what his mother might be using all the humans she captured for.
"I think my mother wants to create an army of monsters—with human intelligence." He let out a deep sigh and started to walk away from the worm. "This one was either a failed experint, or it just wasn’t fully grown."
As they stood there, the sand began to shift gradually toward the center. Daylan glanced down, and his eyes widened the mont he realized—the desert was pulling them under.
The others didn’t wait for him to say a word. By the ti he turned to them, they were already running, scrambling to make their way out.
Without a second thought, he dashed forward. It felt like running up a slippery slope—no matter how fast they moved, they weren’t getting anywhere.
Fear surged through Daylan as he searched desperately for a way out. But his face went pale the mont he saw the sand collapsing rapidly around them.
With no other option, he teleported himself and the others to the edge of the greenery, where they had rested earlier.
Daylan panted heavily, his heart nearly pounding out of his chest—but dora and Rhea were no different.
With just a glance at them, he instinctively turned back to the desert—and watched as the entire stretch of sand collapsed inward.
It wasn’t a real desert—the entire stretch was barely 300 ters wide. Its structure ford a circular illusion, making anyone believe they were moving forward when, in reality, they were walking in circles, being led straight into a pit. Beneath the sand was a massive hole, likely dug by the worm itself to fuel the illusion.
"Now where do we go?" dora asked, her eyes fixed on the gaping hole before them.
"It’s getting late. Let’s rest and figure things out tomorrow."
"No. I can still feel the sa aura from earlier... If all this was fake, then sothing—or soone—is watching us."
Daylan slapped his forehead in disbelief, realizing he hadn’t looked deeper into what Rhea had been saying—all because he didn’t trust her.
"Anyway, I have another idea. If Giselle sends her army out each night to capture adventurers, then we have to strike tonight," Rhea said, moving back cautiously to check if the worms were still nearby.
Daylan and dora exchanged glances and nodded in unison.
"Let’s do it."
Daylan summoned a few food items for them to eat, buying ti as they waited for the moon to fully rise before setting off.
Rhea kept her distance with jokes and humor. The laughter on her face—her lips stretched from ear to ear, tears dripping from her eyes—made Daylan wonder why he was struggling so much to connect with her.
Whether she was lying about her intentions or not, she was helping them now and doing her best to fit in. Still, with a heavy heart, he couldn’t fully accept her help as genuine—after all, he had already entrusted his only sister to one of his enemies.
Their conversation picked up the mont Daylan fully engaged without hesitation.
Before they knew it, nearly four hours had passed, filled with talk and silly gas.
With midnight approaching, they had to make their way past the worms and reach the first mist forest.
Steeling themselves, they moved slowly and steadily through the greenery. But no matter how far they walked, there was still no sign of the worms.
It was strange, but whatever it was, they had to get out before the worms appeared.
Seizing the mont, they broke into a run through the greenery. Luckily, they reached the border of the first mist without a single threat.
"Don’t you think they disappeared because their mother—or queen—died?"
Both Rhea and Daylan shrugged as they turned toward the forest.
"Let go through the forest and hide in the mist beyond it. After they kidnap the people, I’ll let you know so we can follow and see where they take them," Rhea suggested.
The mont she finished speaking, she vanished into invisibility and slipped into the forest. Her footsteps were silent, and not even the sound of her breath could be heard—her invisibility masked it all.
Daylan and dora stood quietly, carefully observing their surroundings as a distant silence swept over them.
"Do you think she’ll co back?"
Daylan tilted his head toward the sky. "Does it matter?... I don’t think she has any reason to run."
"Let’s do our own patrol. We might find sothing."
Without another word, they crossed the border between the greenery and the first mist forest. There were no signs of monsters—not even insects or relics.
Usually, cheap relics would be scattered on the ground, guiding the way to the valuable ones—but this ti, there were none.
After several back-and-forth movents, they returned to their original spot, intending to rest and wait for Rhea. But before they could settle, Rhea reappeared before them, panting.
"The monsters are attacking the cities," she said, struggling to catch her breath.
Daylan and dora stared at her, confused.
"What do you an?"
Rhea quickly composed herself, brushing her flushed cheeks with a serious expression.
What looked like exhaustion was really just her running out of breath from excitent.
"As it seems, every monster in this area is trying to enter the city, but the guards and the chivalry are holding them back."
"Why does she want to destroy the city?"
"She wanted your blood for a reason, silly," dora said, shaking her head.
At that instant, a powerful presence swept over them, sending a tremor through their bodies. From within the mist, a figure erged—small in stature, yet crowned with two sharp, pointed horns.
It stood motionless, but its presence alone was crushing, growing more suffocating by the second. And then—it stepped forward.
The ground quaked beneath its footfall, trembling as though a giant had moved, despite the figure’s deceptively small fra. The air itself seed to bend around its overwhelming aura.
"I knew sothing was watching us."
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