novelFree City #2
| ← Ch.053 | Ch.055 → |
Edited By: Sebas Tian
A rushing dump truck, no, it felt like he was seconds away from getting hit by a rushing train.
The Land Worm instantly filled his entire sight and their presence was enough to paralyze his mind.
His life didn't flash in front of him. In between that short time, his instinct was the only thing that reacted.
Boooooooom!
The Land Worm hit the ground with its head. The surface broke. Within the dust, pieces of rock flew like grenade fragments.
"Ack!"
"Master!"
"Skullll!"
Between the screams, bones and flesh were being crushed. Like a frog that was in front of a snake, a horse froze in front of the Land Worm and their corpse rolled on the ground. There wasn't any blood flowing out and it was difficult to make out the horse's corpse.
The Land Worm was covered in red, dead skin and just from one look, over 10 eyes were attached to them. Within the dust, those eyes were moving all at the same time.
"Catalina!"
Even though it was dangerous, Yong-Ho jumped off the horse and screamed. He yelled even though the dust made it difficult to see and there was a meaning behind his scream.
They moved at the same time.
Rikum first got on the horse and rode outside of the dust and Skull turned the horse around and went in the direction where he heard Yong-Ho's voice. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that they were pulling the horse by force.
The Land Worm released a bizarre sound and slightly raised their head. They moved their eyes at the same time and all looked at one direction. They weren't just rushing in. It was as if they had a goal and found a target for it.
The dry wind blew the dust.
After that, the fire that appeared dug into that empty spot. A vivid green colored the Land Worm's sight.
Kyahhhhh!
The Land Worm flinched at the fire and raised their head again. The part of the body that was out of the ground was almost 20 meters long, so they were overpowering.
He didn't even have time to curse. Yong-Ho used Aamon again to release the fire. Skull rushed to Yong-Ho and after extending their hand out, Yong-Ho sprayed the fire all over the place and grabbed SKull's hand.
"Skullll!"
Skull used their superhuman strength and lifted Yong-Ho. The horse was already having a hard time with carrying Skull, but now that he was carrying Yong-Ho, they cried out in pain, but now wasn't the time to stop. The Land Worm's eyes were busily moving around.
Skull pushed the horse to go faster without looking back. Even though they felt like their legs were going to break, they continued running with everything they had. Yong-Ho looked back. He could clearly see their teeth and it reminded him of a shark's teeth. Even though there was some distance between them, it felt like he could feel their breathing on his back.
But, Yong-Ho saw something else instead of the Land Worm. He confirmed that his yelling had been successfully delivered.
Catalina jumped off the horse and landed on the Land Worm's back. Her mobility was so unique that it looked like she kicked off the wall and the ground.
The moment the Land Worm hit its head on the ground to attack Yong-Ho, Yong-Ho called out her name and Catalina understood.
Yong-Ho didn't call out her name to ask her to rescue him.
What Yong-Ho wanted.
It was a command that she understood because her body, heart and soul were all dedicated to him!
Can they run away from the Land Worm?
It's impossible.
Can they make the Land Worm give up?
That was also impossible.
Then there was only one answer.
To fight and win!
The moment the fire dispersed, Catalina didn't look back. She placed her feet on top of the horse's saddle and leaped as if she was flying.
The moment the Land Worm's body was enveloped in fire, Catalina ran up their body.
The Land Worm wasn't just a monster with a long body. Their body looked like a trapezoid rather than a cylinder and it had small hair and bumps. There was dead skin on their legs as well and they were all great supports for the Land Worm.
The Land Worm turned its head to avoid Yong-Ho's fire. Their movement was definitely big and Catalina used that movement. The moment their body started moving, Catalina jumped into the air and then quickly ran up the Land Worm's back.
The Land Worm saw Yong-Ho.
Yong-Ho also saw the Land Worm.
By making another horrible eye contact, he raised Aamon. Just like the time he went against the Crazy Ants, he created Greed's magnificent fire.
The Land Worm kept its mouth shut. After closing their eyes, they rushed towards the fire. The green fire broke and dispersed. The fire caught on to their dead skin and flew away. The Land Worm's head hit the ground again.
It made the ground shake a lot. Skull used a mysterious magic and managed to avoid the Land Worm's attack, but the horse couldn't endure it any longer. The horse let out a sad cry as if their legs broke and collapsed. Once again, the dust broke through the remaining fire and pushed forward.
Skull couldn't maintain their body and fell to the ground. Yong-Ho quickly threw his body and rolled on the ground and after getting back up, he looked at the Land Worm.
The Land Worm's head was on the ground and the eyes that were closed all opened at the same time. There were over 10 eyes and all of them were looking in the same direction. They were all looking at Yong-Ho and it was a horrible experience.
But Yong-Ho looked straight at them. Catalina managed to endure the shock by grabbing onto the bump that was on their head and instead of turning their attention on her, Yong-Ho gave her an opportunity to attack.
Yong-Ho kicked off the ground. His movement was different from the other times because it looked like he was targeting the Land Worm's side.
Skull got up after rolling like rocks and Rikum, who managed to escape, was watching from afar and didn't know what to do. But he decided to use the bow and arrow he brought with him.
The Land Worm raised their head. Yong-Ho didn't stop. He yelled out once more.
"Catalina!"
And Catalina responded. It looked as if she was doing acrobatics, because she twisted her body on top of the Land Worm's head and while holding the bump with one hand, she unsheathed the dagger with her other hand. The smallest eye was the size of a human's head and the biggest one was as big as an adult's upper body and Catalina stabbed them without any hesitation.
Even though the tough dead skin was protecting their entire body, it couldn't protect their eyes. The moment the sharp dagger stabbed their eye, the Land Worm experienced a pain they've never experienced before and released a horrible scream while twisting their body. On top of that, Catalina's dagger had poison on it. It wasn't much when comparing to the Land Worm's body, but it wasn't good for the eye that was stabbed.
The poison couldn't kill the Land Worm. But it was enough to give them a lot of pain.
"Kyahhhhh!"
They were moving around crazily. Catalina gave up on attacking and was hanging onto the Land Worm's head. Yong-Ho was targeting the Land Worm's side and to prevent himself from getting crushed, he quickly moved his feet. During that moment, he thought about the next move.
He didn't think about why the Land Worm suddenly appeared and why it was targeting Yong-Ho out of everyone. The most important task right now was to fight it off.
Rikum was watching all of this with an agitated look and instead of pulling the arrow back, he put it down. Instead of wasting time on useless attacks, he headed towards the free city. He wasn't abandoning his owner and running away. Rikum was doing his best in trying to find a way.
He knew that there was an area where the Land Worm lived.
But it was odd. Like Catalina had explained, they don't purposely appear in places where there's a lot of people.
On top of that, the Land Worm ignored Rikum and Skull and only targeted Yong-Ho.
Rikum didn't look back. He only looked straight ahead. As of right now, the only place he could ask for help was the free city. It seemed impossible to ask for their help after seeing how they closed and locked the gates, but he couldn't give up.
Skull grabbed the leather string that was attached at the end of the hammer. They swung the hammer and targeted the Land Worm. It was hard to say whether the hammer will be effective on the giant Land Worm, but Skull thought about attacking.
Yong-Ho kept on running. He wasn't moving just to dodge. Yong-Ho called out Catalina's name once more, hoping that she would get his message.
"Catalina!"
Yong-Ho's request wasn't as simple as attacking the Land Worm. An owner and their spirit couldn't communicate telepathically, so it was hard to say whether she understood him.
But Yong-Ho trusted Catalina.
Catalina desperately thought about it. She was the guard of the owner. She was the one that needed to understand Yong-Ho the most during battle.
Instead of avoiding it, Yong-Ho closed the distance between him and the Land Worm. In that case, what was Yong-Ho expecting?
The Land Worm's movement became weaker. It seemed like they were either going to open their eyes again or move violently to throw Catalina off of them.
Catalina didn't hesitate any longer. It was difficult to endure with both hands, but she made a decision. She let go of one hand. She reached for her belt and untied the rope that was tied near her butt. Since she was preparing it in case of an emergency, one end of the rope was tied around Catalina's waist.
The Land Worm moved violently. During this moment, Catalina said Yong-Ho's name like some sort of spell. She let go of her other hand and quickly tied the dagger sheath to the end of the rope. Before her body was pushed off because of the Land Worm's violent movement, she stretched out her hand and grabbed the dead skin.
It felt like her body was going to break. But she had to endure it. The Land Worm managed to open their eyes again. Blood and discharge was flowing out of the eye that Catalina stabbed.
The Land Worm moved. There was a large amount of dust and the Land Worm started moving its head around again. It moved its body at the same time and hit the ground. It looked like it was intentionally trying to wipe out the entire ground.
Yong-Ho kept on running. He located Catalina through the dust and he was rewarded for his trust. The rope that had the sheath tied to it was flying through the dust.
He grabbed it.
The Land Worm hit the ground. He barely managed to avoid the attack, but it ended up in a nasty fall.
"Kyahhhhh!"
The Land Worm screamed again. It raised its head as if to say they weren't going to miss anymore. And during that moment, Yong-Ho's body jumped up. Catalina was enduring it by holding on to the dead skin with both of her hands. The rope around her waist made her feel like her waist was going to snap at any moment, but she endured it by gritting her teeth. Blood was starting to seep out of her skin due to the rope.
Yong-Ho was desperately swinging like a pendulum. The moment the Land Worm raised its body, his body was lifted into the air, so he swung his body and crashed into the Land Worm's body.
Aamon was in his mouth. He grabbed some dead skin with one hand and let go of the rope. The Land Worm was confused because Yong-Ho had suddenly disappeared and the moment they stopped moving, he started climbing up their back.
It was worth investing in agility. He wasn't as fast as Catalina, but Yong-Ho was pretty fast. Thick and sturdy dead skin filled the Land Worm's back and it didn't realize that Yong-Ho was on top of their head.
"Skullll!"
Skull yelled out. The Land Worm's eyes were looking around to find Yong-Ho, but saw Skull instead. Skull didn't run away or step back. They continuously swung their hammer and stood their ground. Skull looked straight at the Land Worm and fire appeared within their eye socket.
The Land Worm changed their target. Yong-Ho was now right next to Catalina.
The owner and the spirit didn't look at each other. They understood each other and at the same time, did almost the same thing.
"Kyahhhhhh!"
Aamon and the dagger stabbed different eyes. And this time, they didn't just stop at stabbing them. By using Aamon, Yong-Ho released fire.
The Land Worm started jumping up and down. The Land Worm was so big that the part of the body that was out of the ground was 20 meters long and two people were able to get on top of their head. So when they started jumping, that power was amazing.
The Land Worm now knew that Yong-Ho and Catalina were on top of their head. They were able to figure that out through their instincts. Despite the fact that the eye was in danger due to the fire, the Land Worm hit its head onto the ground and got back up again. When comparing it to a human, it looked as if someone was banging their head.
Since they used so much power and speed, Yong-Ho and Catalina couldn't endure any longer. They were thrown into the air like pebbles.
The Land Worm's remaining eyes followed those two.
Because Catalina was out of stamina, she couldn't handle her body while in the air. Yong-Ho reached out his hand and grabbed her. They were thrown up so high that the ground was far away. And underneath their feet, they saw the Land Worm's mouth. The way that the Land Worm opened their mouth reminded him of the abyss and it seemed like they were planning on swallowing them all at once.
Sharp teeth were all around their mouth. Their bodies would probably be shred to pieces and then mashed all together. Yong-Ho wrapped his hand around Catalina's waist. Catalina wrapped her arms around Yong-Ho despite being exhausted. The Land Worm opened their mouth even wider.
"Skullll!"
Skull yelled. Yong-Ho answered their tell. He aimed Aamon below his feet and released a big, beautiful fire.
He didn't plan this impossible task of using the fire to thrust into the air. The large fire crashed into the Land Worm's mouth and because of the heat, the Land Worm couldn't close their mouth.
Within that short moment.
Yong-Ho and Catalina used that small opening. They were sucked into the Land Worm's mouth and when they closed their mouth, Yong-Ho and Catalina had already passed the sharp teeth.
It was dark. They couldn't see anything. And if they went through the "digestive" process, then they would definitely die.
Yong-Ho pulled in Catalina closer. He enveloped their bodies with Greed's fire. While burning the insides of the Land Worm, he protected himself and Catalina from the Land Worm's bodily fluids.
There was a reaction. This was the Land Worm's most violent movement. They slammed their body onto the ground as if they were trying to break it or trying to commit suicide.
That shock was delivered even to the bodily fluids. Yong-Ho gritted his teeth as the Land Worm was writhing in pain. He desired it rather than giving up. He raised Greed's energy.
Yearning for it.
Desiring it.
Wanting to obtain it!
A part of Greed enveloped Catalina. And the remaining all extended out towards one area. It found the most valuable item within the Land Worm's body.
A lump of mana.
The location where the spirit was condensed to. The Worm Heart! With just that, it can already be considered as a powerful marble stone.
Yong-Ho followed Greed's guide.
The Land Worm's violent movement could be felt from the inside as well. And they arrived. The red heart. And the mana that was pulsating within it!
He pierced it with Aamon. He gathered his remaining energy and released the fire. The Land Worm's heart was beginning to break, so he inserted his other hand.
A last schock.
The vibration was probably caused by the Land Worm that weakly collapsed.
Within the darkness, Yong-Ho saw a lump of orange mana.
The bracelet on his left hand, the one he found while searching for Kaiwan's journal, released a silver mana and like a net, it embraced the orange mana. It could be all in his head, but it was as if the two different mana were responding to each other.
Yong-Ho didn't hide his greed.
He consumed the Land Worm's spirit.
~Free City #2~ End.
| ← Ch. 053 | Ch. 055 → |