Chương 21: Chapter 20

Granessa inclined her head slightly in thanks before immediately turning back toward the reeling worm. Without hesitation, she swung her battleaxe in a brutal horizontal arc. The massive blade carved clean through Lord of Flesh's midsection, bisecting the creature in two. Both halves hit the ground with wet thuds. Then they went still. The three of them blinked at the motionless remains.

"Eh…?" Mei tilted her head.

"It's over just like that?" Adam immediately got a bad feeling the moment those words left her mouth. Sure enough, the two severed halves suddenly twitched. Then both pieces sprang back to life. The wounds regenerated almost instantly as flesh bubbled and stitched itself back together in seconds. Two separate name tags appeared above the split halves. Lord Of Flesh (Hidden BOSS) - Lv. 50 ☠︎︎ Despite each worm being smaller now, neither felt weaker. If anything, the pressure in the air had increased.

One boss had become two. Granessa attacked again immediately.

"Wait, don't—" Adam tried to stop her, but he was too late. Her axe slammed into one of the worms and split it apart again. Just like before, the creature divided instead of dying. In the end, three separate worms remained writhing across the battlefield. One was slightly larger while the other two were smaller.

"Ahahaha!" the worms shrieked in unison.

"You can't kill me! I'm invincible!" All three mouths spoke with the exact same voice.

"Nothing's unkillable," Adam replied, though his confidence weakened halfway through the sentence.

"I think…" He couldn't be entirely sure. Back on Earth, he'd heard about things like cancer cells that could practically live forever under the right conditions. Mei, however, looked far more confident.

"If you were really unkillable, you wouldn't have run screaming when we set the forest on fire," she shot back.

"And lucky for us, I happen to have something that spits fire." She holstered her pistol and pulled out her shotgun in one smooth motion. The runes along the weapon glowed as she activated [Dragon's Breath]. Then she pulled the trigger. A roaring stream of fire blasted across the battlefield and engulfed one of the worms completely. A piercing scream erupted from the creature's maw as it writhed violently, thrashing through the burnt trees in an attempt to extinguish the flames. It failed.

According to the skill description, the fire would continue burning for ten full seconds no matter what. The thick slime coating its body dried out first. Then its flesh hardened. Cracks spread rapidly across its pink skin before the entire creature suddenly exploded into chunks of scorched meat and gore. Only a puddle of blood remained. Mei grinned triumphantly.

"See? Killed you!" Unfortunately, she had spoken too soon. The two surviving worms sneered as the scattered blood and flesh began to squirm across the ground. The gore rapidly gathered together before reforming into another Lord of Flesh. This one, however, was slightly different. Lord Of Flesh (Hidden BOSS) - Lv. 49"No way…" Mei muttered, her face paling.

"Do we seriously have to kill these things one hundred and forty-nine more times?"

"Let me try," Granessa said grimly. Bright crimson flames erupted along the edge of her battleaxe. She lunged forward and split one of the level fifty worms apart once more. This time, both severed halves ignited instantly. The burning remains exploded apart just like Mei's earlier kill. But instead of disappearing, the chunks of flesh twisted and regenerated into two separate worms. Both of them were level forty-nine. It had worked. Sort of.

"Hehehe… Ahahaha!" the worms cackled together.

"You only make me stronger!" Four worms lunged simultaneously in different directions. Two, including the remaining level fifty, shot toward Mei. One targeted Adam. The final worm launched itself straight at Granessa. Mei fired her shotgun in pellet mode while [Dragon's Breath] remained on cooldown. Ten small purple projectiles blasted outward and tore straight through the charging worms, punching fist-sized holes through their fleshy bodies.

Bloody chunks sprayed across the clearing as the pellets ripped through them with enough force to shatter stone. But an instant later, the wounds closed. Flesh wriggled and stitched itself back together almost immediately, leaving the worms completely unharmed as if they had never been shot in the first place. Adam quickly cast a shield around Mei, then another barrier in front of Granessa. That left him defenseless. Or at least, that was what it looked like.

The moment the Lord of Flesh attacking him slithered within five feet, the crystal embedded in his Mage Belt flashed. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. [Shockwave] An invisible force erupted outward. The worm's body was blasted backward hard enough to uproot burnt trees as it crashed through the flaming forest.

It screeched as the fire licked across its slimy flesh before frantically wriggling back toward the clearing created by the Goblin King's earlier explosion. Part of its tail dried out and hardened from the flames, but unlike before, it didn't explode apart. Meanwhile, Adam's shields only barely slowed the other three worms. Still, that brief delay gave Mei and Granessa enough time to dodge.

"What am I supposed to do if I can't cut it?!" Granessa roared in frustration.

"Use those muscles," Mei shouted back while weaving around the relentless attacks of two separate worms. Granessa's eyes lit up.

"Good idea." She immediately dropped her massive axe. The weapon slammed into the ground with such force that a small tremor rippled through the clearing. Granessa rolled her shoulders as her muscles flexed violently, producing soft popping noises like cracking stone. Bright flames ignited around her fists as she stepped forward and threw a devastating punch toward the worm's head. The air boomed. The worm recoiled instantly, flipping its entire body backward to avoid the strike.

"Ha! Afraid now?" Granessa sneered. She unleashed a rapid barrage of punches, each one detonating through the air like firecrackers. To Adam, it sounded exactly like someone beating a heavy punching bag. The terrifying part was that she wasn't hitting anything. That was just the sound of her fists cutting through empty air. Since Adam's opponent had been blasted away and temporarily disengaged, the livestream chat reappeared in front of him.

Most of the messages flooding by were jokes, emotes, or people thirsting over Granessa's muscles. One comment, however, immediately caught his attention. BugFacts: Lord of Flesh is likely a type of Planarian, a flatworm. These worms can regrow any cut body part. Even if they're cut in half, both halves can survive by regrowing a new head and tail, essentially becoming two new worms. Planaria have an interesting title: Immortal under the edge of a knife. In theory, they can split infinitely.

Since this one is inside what is essentially a video game, its natural abilities are probably even stronger. Vytr26: Bet bro Googled that to sound smart.: KEKW: BugFacts: @Vytr26 Wrong. I am an entomologist. I could give a longer, more in-depth explanation. However, I fear you wouldn't understand even if I drilled it into your pea brain. BugFacts: Ah, one more thing. Some Planaria have neurotoxin-coated bodies, the same type of neurotoxin found in pufferfish.

I would avoid getting any of its fluids in your mouth or open cuts if I were you. Adam's expression immediately stiffened.

"…That feels like very important information to mention earlier." He quickly turned toward the two women to relay the warning from chat.

"Don't let the worms bite you, and avoid getting any of its fluids in your mouth or wounds!"

"Roger!" Mei shouted back with a quick playful salute while still weaving around her two opponents. Granessa, however, frowned thoughtfully.

"So I can't bite it?" she asked in disappointment.

"Uh…" Adam genuinely had no idea how to respond to that.

"No," he finally answered. Granessa clicked her tongue in disappointment.

"Shame."

"Damn, that's seriously hardcore, Anego!" Mei said while giving the orc woman a thumbs up.

"Disgusting, but hardcore." Unfortunately, Mei got a little too distracted by the conversation. One of the worms lunged toward her arm with its maw spread wide open, rows of jagged teeth glistening with slime. It snapped shut inches away from her skin as an invisible barrier appeared at the last possible moment. Crack! The shield shattered instantly, but it had bought enough time. Adam lowered his bone staff with an annoyed look.

"Quit screwing around and focus."

"Yessir," Mei replied shamelessly. After several more failed attacks, the four split worms suddenly backed away together. Their grotesque mouths twisted downward into something resembling a frown.

"I'll admit, you three are a bit troublesome," the worms said in unison.

"But that's all you are."

"You'll soon regret crossing me." Their overlapping voices merged into a distorted roar that echoed across the burning forest. Then blood began pouring from their mouths. Not just droplets. Gallons. Dark crimson blood flooded from between their rows of teeth and pooled around their writhing bodies like overflowing lakes. A system notification appeared before all three of them simultaneously.

Lord of Flesh has activated [Toxic Blood Wave] [Toxic Blood Wave]: The Lord of Flesh's blood mixes with magic to boost its acidity. It can melt through anything, including magic itself. It leaves nothing but blood in its wake. Effect: Deals massive poison damage in a wide area. The moment they finished reading the skill description, all three of their faces paled. It wasn't just powerful. It was unavoidable. Unblockable. And probably unsurvivable.

"Run!" Adam shouted. Then he realized Mei and Granessa were already sprinting away into the burning forest.

"Hey, wait for me!"

"No way!" Mei yelled back over her shoulder.

"Just run faster!" Adam cursed and immediately turned to flee. At that exact moment, the skill fully activated. A massive crimson tidal wave exploded outward behind them with the deafening roar of crashing ocean waves. The blood flooded across the clearing, devouring everything in its path. It surged through the forest at terrifying speed, swallowing flames, trees, and earth alike as everything it touched dissolved into bubbling sludge. Adam's eyes widened as the blood wave rapidly closed the distance.

Then it caught him. The edge of the wave lapped against his heels, instantly melting through the soles of his shoes.

"Ahhh!" Pain shot through his feet as he pushed his muscles to their absolute limit, forcing every ounce of speed from his body. Behind them, the toxic blood consumed everything in its path. Burning trees dissolved. Boulders melted. Even lingering traces of magic vanished the moment the crimson flood touched them.