Chương 14: Killworm

Stonemites were Beasts that reached maturity at Late Stage 1. Most of them would spend their lives never even reaching Late Stage 1, only serving as fodder for the colony. A Stonemite colony ranged from 50-500 in number, usually on the lower end of that spectrum. What lay before the group was a wide-open cavern with at least 100 Stonemites crawling around on top of each other like a pile of maggots. It was like a pool of rock-colored flesh with a jacuzzi attachment.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Jerome said before heaving and covering his mouth. Ray shared his sentiment, but before he could retch himself, he saw a Stonemite that was at least 10 times the size of the others. Its body was less like an oval and more elongated. It had dozens of tiny legs just like the regular Stonemites, and it had an ant-like head at one end of its 5-meter-long body. Its body wasn't one section contained in an oval carapace like its spawn.

Instead, it had obvious egg sacs that bulged along its bulbous frame, accenting the rounded sections of its body covered in a stone-like exoskeleton. This was obviously the queen. Ray identified it with the System, and his hunch was proven correct. [Stonemite Queen, Late Stage: 1 Mana: Earth Rank 1 (Stone)] Ray could feel the Mana radiating off the queen. His jaw quivered before he steeled his nerves and began to speak.

"Alright, guys. We stick to the plan." He looked back at each member of the group, who gave him a nod of approval. Ray then pulled on his Dark Essence, summoning a black cloak made of tiny fungi. He pulled the hood over his head as he jumped into the cavern. The cloak siphoned Mana from him as his descent slowed, his feet landing lightly on the ground. He then pulled on the Lightning Essence to pool lightning in the soles of his feet.

The black-haired teen nearly glided as he took a few steps before launching himself into the air with a burst of golden-colored lightning. Green fumes erupted from his cloak as Ray soared through the air, directly over the mound of Stonemites. Landing safely on the opposite side of the wide area, Ray was now closer to the queen, between it and its sea of spawn. He turned to see his team diving onto the pile of Stonemites.

Frangle brought down his hammer with great force as Wind Mana erupted and sent a dozen of the mites flying across the cavern. Phora had conjured multiple javelins of lightning, raining them down on the Beasts unlucky enough to be in her landing radius. Jerome was like a spinning vortex of destruction as flames danced out from his sharp blade. Kiara surprised him the most. The green-haired teen had summoned an ethereal shield made of Light Mana, which she then stood on top of as it crashed into the Stonemites.

All in all, Ray had to say they seemed to be handling their part of the plan. Now it was his turn. The poison from Fungal Cloak would help his team defeat the mob of mites. It was his job to take care of the queen. Using Mud Wall to conjure a ramp, Ray ran up it and used Bolt to send himself flying high above the queen. He currently had about 70% of his Mana remaining. Saving 20% for contingencies, he decided to load up his caestus with 5 charges of Bolt.

A golden sphere of pure lightning formed around his closed fist as Ray flew towards the Stonemite Queen. Just as the sphere seemed to shake and become volatile, Ray slammed his fist into the head of the queen. Much like every Beast that had met his ultimate attack, the queen exploded into a storm of gray flesh and blue blood. Ray landed beside the rest of the queen's body, flinching slightly at the thud created by its corpse slamming into the ground.

He looked to see that only a third of the regular Stonemites had survived the first 20 seconds or so of the battle. His group had entered with all their strongest attacks, meaning all that was left was to clean up the stragglers. Ray revered the perfect execution of a plan. And this plan was perfectly executed. From the start, they knew Ray would be capable of taking the queen out on his own. He had proven the capability to do so with the Cavernclaw, and he had only grown more powerful since.

The concern was the reaction time between the start of their assault and when the queen could manage to rally all the mites to attack Ray. If left unchecked, Ray would have to handle a majority of the mob himself. Stonemites were more an extension of the queen than their own autonomous beings. This meant that the queen could command them with near limb-like responsiveness. It wasn't until Phora pointed out that they used Mana to communicate that a plan began to form in Ray's mind.

If he could somehow disrupt their connection, the regular Stonemites would barely be more than confused, mindless insects. This left Ray uninhibited and able to strike the queen with all his power. Fortunately, the poison from his Fungal Cloak did just that. The plan worked out perfectly, and Ray couldn't be happier. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. A moment or two later, the group had finished off the last of the Stonemites.

They then began to search for Beast Cores. Not every mite would have one, as they wouldn't all be in the 1st Stage, but one in five or so would at least. They divided the cores evenly, giving Ray the queen's core and his portion of the others. That put his current Beast Core count up to 8 whole cores. This was enough to advance to Stage 1 four times over! It would take over twice this amount to reach the next Phase, though. Let alone the next Stage.

He would need to absorb about 100 Beast Cores to reach the 2nd Stage and the amount only increased the higher one's Stage rose. Just as the group was preparing to leave, the cavern began to rumble as a low hum resounded through the nest. The room shook as if it were an earthquake, and large chunks of rock began to rain down on them. Before Ray could organize everyone and attempt to flee, the ground exploded and a humongous figure came barreling out from under them. Easily 10 meters long.

Its hide was black and jagged like sharpened steel. No arms, no legs, only a head with a maw filled with hundreds of razor-sharp teeth. Ray could only gape in fear as a System message appeared in his vision. The letters were blood red. [Killworm, Early Stage: 3 Mana: Dark Rank 2 (Shadow)] The Beast reminded Ray of one of those kaiju movies. It was unrealistically huge, sporting a head the size of a minivan. The razor-sharp teeth in its gargantuan maw looked like rows of steak knives.

Its eyes glowed red, an even deeper hue than the red of the System alert. Waves of Dark Mana pulsed out of its long, jagged body, carrying a foul stench. The group was still reeling from the Killworm's entrance when it dove at Frangle, mouth open wide. The large teen was white with fear and couldn't find the will to move out of the way. Just as the Beast was about to crush him in its massive jaw, a ball of lightning slammed into the side of its head, sending the Killworm tumbling back a few feet.

The large Beast was only dazed by the attack, however, showing no signs of injury. Ray took note of his Mana reserves, willing the Mana Rune to activate. He now had roughly 50% of his Mana.

'Not nearly enough,' he thought. The rest of the group had yet to react when Ray grabbed Frangle and pulled him to the other side of the cavern. The rest of the Recruits seemed to awaken and dashed to meet the pair against the wall opposite the Killworm.

"What the fuck do we do?" Phora cried, not showing any of her normal grace and elegance. Jerome seemed to share her sentiment, nodding furiously and staring directly at Ray. Kiara also stared at him with wide eyes. Only Frangle seemed to recover, using his hammer as a shield as he stood with his back to the rest of the group. His earlier look of fear was replaced with determination, his voice showing even more focus.

"We can take it, Ray!" Ray felt a warmth in his chest as he heard the large teen's words. He was certain they didn't stand a chance against a Soldier-level foe, but something in his heart told him otherwise. What was it Burgen said he needed? Commitment. The Mana in the air seemed to react to his will as Ray straightened his posture and began to speak with a commanding tone.

"Phora!" The platinum-haired girl jolted to attention at the sound of her name.

"Activate Fulmination," Ray continued.

"I need as much Mana as I can get." Fungal Cloak had been dismissed after the end of the first fight, so Ray used some of his remaining Mana to conjure it once more. Pulling on the Lightning Essence, he could feel the warm Mana rush out of his Soul Core. His Mana reserves ticked down one percent at a time as he filled his right arm with Lightning Mana. Razor-sharp blades burst out of the hide wrapping of his caestus as lightning began to snake around his forearm.

With two long strides, Ray activated Bolt and sent himself flying into the air. He loaded the rest of the Mana into his arm and shouted with all his might.

"RUN!" Determination to save his teammates filled Ray's very being. He flew at the Killworm and swung his fist forward with every ounce of force his muscles could create. A golden sphere of lightning had formed around his hand.

'3 charges,' he thought.

'It won't be enough.' BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The area erupted with light as a deafening explosion rang throughout the cavern. The group couldn't tell what happened, since a large cloud of smoke formed immediately after impact. A moment later, Ray's body came flying out of the smoke before slamming hard into an adjacent wall. With a hard thud, Ray fell face-first onto the ground, not moving a muscle.

"Ray!" Frangle shouted before running over to him. The large teen carefully lifted Ray into his arms and checked him for signs of injury. Other than being unconscious and covered in bruises, Ray seemed to be fine. His breath was shallow, but he was breathing nonetheless. Just as the team began to celebrate Ray's survival, an ear-piercing roar broke them out of their stupor. A wave of Mana washed over the cavern, all but removing the large cloud of smoke.

Hidden beneath the smoke was the Killworm, completely unharmed. There wasn't a single mark on its jagged black hide. Every single member of the group froze in fear at the sound of the Killworm's angry shriek. The sound waves it emitted could be seen blasting through the air. Jerome was the first to act, sprinting towards the opening they had entered from. The Killworm seemed down for the chase as it dove after Jerome.

The fire swordsman tried his best to avoid the Beast but was sent flying after it slammed into him. The Emberfell royalty's body slammed against the wall with enough force to break every bone in the human body. Much like Ray, the red-haired teen fell face-first onto the hard floor, unmoving. Phora was the next to act. Five javelins made of lightning crashed into the Killworm's hide like drops of water. The attack did no damage, but it still got the Beast's attention.

Having activated Fulmination previously, Phora had heightened movement speed as she raced across the cavern, leading the Killworm away from both Jerome and the other three. Lightning coiled around her body as she ducked, dodged, and dived to avoid being caught in the Beast's maw. She led the worm around for nearly 30 seconds, avoiding each one of its attacks. Unfortunately, her Mana reserves had a limit.

Just as her core had emptied, the Killworm caught up to her and bit down on her arm before flinging her towards the wall. Phora could only let out a pained yelp before the impact of slamming into the wall made her lose consciousness. Kiara looked at Frangle, who had the face of a scared child, mixed with a look of desperate determination. She dumped every bit of her Mana into activating her very first Ability. [Shield Ward: Conjure a shield made of Light Mana. Has a set durability and Mana consumption but can be stacked] Over a dozen conjured shields of Light Mana formed between the three Recruits and the Killworm currently barreling towards them. Frangle stood with his hammer raised behind the shields, intending to be the last line of defense. The Killworm slammed into each shield, ripping through them like paper. The shards of glass-like Mana flooded his vision as the last shield was destroyed by the razor-sharp teeth of the Killworm. The world went dark.