Chương 23: Chapter 22

Tiny pink chunks of flesh peeled away from the Lord of Flesh's four split bodies. They hit the ground with sickening wet splashes, spraying bits of gore across the scorching desert sands. The three of them watched with morbid curiosity.

"Is it going to summon goblins again?" Mei wondered aloud. Neither she nor the others seemed particularly worried by the possibility. Even an army of goblins wouldn't be much of a threat anymore. At this point, they could carve through weak monsters without breaking a sweat. But then their relaxed expressions cracked apart, giving way to pure horror. Lord of Flesh activated [Swarm] [Swarm]: By splitting his flesh and imbuing it with his overwhelming and unique magic power, Lord of Flesh summons an army of himself.

Effect: Summon as many split bodies as your magic energy can sustain. (Split bodies possess the same level, stats, and skills as the original body) Hundreds of tiny pink worms spilled onto the sand. Then thousands. They squirmed and writhed in every direction, churning through the dunes like a living tide of flesh. Every single one carried the same name and level floating above its head. Lord of Flesh (Hidden BOSS) - Lv. 49 The creatures were tiny, almost adorable at first glance.

That illusion vanished the moment they opened their bloody little maws. Each worm possessed the same monstrous stats and skills as the original. The sight of countless miniature bosses wriggling toward them was so absurd that Adam's brain struggled to process it.

"Those are not goblins!" Mei shouted. She turned and sprinted away immediately.

"I hate worms!"

"You hate all bugs!" Adam yelled back as he chased after her.

"But so do I!" At some point Granessa had already set him down. Honestly, Adam almost wished she hadn't. Clutching his bone staff, he hurriedly cast a speed enhancement spell. He imagined wind twisting around his legs and feet, pushing him forward faster and faster. [Whirlwind Steps]: Surround your feet with pure wind energy to augment each step with the speed of a whirlwind.

(If this spell could be enhanced, it might be possible to hover in the sky) Effect: Increases sprinting speed by 35% (When cast in certain environments it may create a 'smokescreen') Each step kicked up miniature sandstorms that scattered behind him in swirling bursts. The spell worked, pushing him through the sand at astounding speed. Unfortunately, the worms weren't any slower.

Even with Adam moving nearly fourty percent faster, and Mei moving even quicker thanks to her boots, the endless swarm stayed dangerously close behind them. Thousands upon thousands of tiny Lord of Fleshes burrowed through the sand with horrifying speed. Bloody mouths snapped open and shut as they chased after the fleeing trio like starving piranhas. The sight was pure nightmare fuel. No one could have imagined something like this. Not in their worst nightmares. Not with the wildest stretch of human imagination.

"Ahh! I hate this! I hate this! I hate this!!" Adam and Mei both glanced sideways in surprise. Neither of them had expected such a high-pitched, genuinely terrified scream to come from the giant orc woman.

"What?!" Granessa snapped when she noticed them staring.

"You think just because I'm big and strong I can't feel fear too?" They quickly shook their heads.

"Honestly," Mei said between breaths, "it would be weirder if you weren't terrified of being chased by millions of hellspawn worms." Adam nodded firmly in agreement. Granessa hesitated for a moment before speaking again.

"No, the worms themselves don't bother me," she admitted.

"It's tiny things that scare me…" Mei blinked.

"Oh... like an elephant being scared of mice?"

"I don't know what an elephant is," Granessa replied, "but yes. Mice are horrifying too. Anything smaller than my hand terrifies me." For a brief moment, the conversation almost distracted them from the living nightmare nipping at their heels. Almost. The miniature Lord of Fleshes began activating skill after skill, causing the surrounding desert to warp beneath the sheer concentration of magic power.

Tiny waves of acidic blood crashed into an equally tiny ocean of the same crimson liquid, giving rise to three-foot-tall tsunamis that rolled across the dunes. It would have been a ridiculous sight under any other circumstances. Unfortunately, there was nothing funny about thousands of overlapping skills being unleashed simultaneously. No matter how small they were. The tiny versions were somehow even more terrifying than the [Blood Wave] skill used by the four split bodies back in the forest.

The desert transformed into a blood-red ocean of death. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Their only saving grace was the environment itself. The scorching sands and relentless sunlight evaporated much of the blood sea almost as quickly as it formed, suppressing the swarm's combined power to a degree. Even so, the tide continued to spread. This time the acidic blood wasn't alone. It teemed with killer worms hungry for flesh.

The miniature monsters rode the crimson waves to build speed before launching themselves into the air. They shot forward like arrows.

"How is this fair?!" Mei shouted as she ducked beneath half a dozen flying worms.

"This has to be a glitch! How do I contact a dev? I need to report a bug!" She twisted around and fired her pistol over her shoulder. The glowing bullets streaked toward the swarm only to dissolve inside the blood mist hanging above the crimson sea.

"Damn it!" The three continued running. They ran until miles of desert had been transformed into a gruesome hellscape, yet still the tiny Lord of Fleshes pursued them relentlessly. The worms still swam through the blood sea before launching themselves skyward like deadly pink torpedoes. Adam tried erecting shields behind them, but it barely slowed the attackers. The miniature monsters would simply spit globules of acidic blood at the barriers, weakening them enough to smash straight through.

Granessa suffered the worst of it. Her massive frame made for an easy target. A dozen lacerations already crisscrossed her arms, legs, and back. Blood streamed from the wounds, staining her blue skin crimson. Even her white hair had taken on a reddish hue from the constant spray.

"Ah!" Mei stumbled as one of the flesh missiles sank its teeth into her calf. She immediately shot the creature before it could inject its acidic blood. The worm exploded into chunks of meat. Then those chunks splashed into the blood sea and began regenerating almost immediately. Blood trickled down Mei's leg, adding one more crimson stain to the endless sands.

"Adam?" Adam was in the middle of casting a healing spell over Granessa's latest injuries. He glanced toward Mei after finishing. Her wound wasn't severe enough to justify spending precious mana. Given her stats, it would heal naturally before long.

"Yeah?" Mei was quiet for a few moments, before she spoke in a weak voice that didn't suit her normal boisterous self.

"I'm sorry I brought you here..." Adam opened his mouth to answer. Then he closed it again. After a moment, he shook his head and let out a small sigh. He didn't blame her. She had come here to save her family. If she had asked him to come, he would have agreed without hesitation. The problem was that she hadn't asked. She had simply jumped without a second thought. Looking at the endless sea of blood and flesh, Adam spoke softly.

"I love you." The words came out as though it might be the last time he ever got to say them. Mei smiled, small and sad.

"What about me?" Granessa asked from the side.

"You two aren't going to leave me out, are you?"

"I love you too, sis!" Mei answered with a laugh. Granessa barked out a booming laugh of her own.

"Hah! A knife-ear loving an orc? That's gotta be a first in all of history!"

"I'm not an el—Adam, look out!" A strange black worm burst from the bloody waves. Unlike the others, it hadn't ridden on the waves to attack. It had stealthily circled around and launched a sneak attack from within the blood sea. The creature hurtled through the air straight toward Adam's head. Acidic blood dripped from the spikes surrounding its mouth. If it reached him, the acid would melt through his skull and into his brain.

Before Adam could even process Mei's warning, the worm was already less than a foot from his scalp. Then his belt activated. The enchanted item sensed the incoming attack and triggered the protective spell stored within it. [Shockwave] An invisible ripple erupted outward from Adam's body. The expanding wave ignored allies while blasting every enemy within fifty feet. Pink worms burst apart into showers of flesh and blood. Most immediately began regenerating. A handful of black worms did not.

They scattered into ash. And stayed dead. The three froze. For a brief moment, even the swarm seemed less important than what they had just witnessed.

"Did they die?" Mei asked. Adam slowly nodded. Granessa narrowed her eyes at the drifting ashes.

"They burned," she said.

"I could feel the flame energy I left in their flesh when they died." Mei immediately swapped weapons. Her tactical shotgun appeared in her hands. Without hesitation, she unleashed a blast of [Dragon's Breath] into the surrounding swarm. A wave of fire washed over dozens of worms. They blackened and ignited instantly. Their charred bodies crumbled into ash. None regenerated. Mei's eyes widened.

"We can kill these ones!" For the first time since the swarm appeared, the three of them found a sliver of hope.