Shadowed Gaze: The Highserk War Saga - Chapter 67

Gasping for breath, Walm kicked away a Kobold, noticing the trembling earth beneath him. He suspected that his semicircular canals were paralyzed due to accumulated fatigue, but his body was “still” functioning normally.

He considered the possibility that the vibrations were caused by a spell from either the remnants of his allies or surviving monsters, but Walm soon realized that the source was a crawling tremor.

Finally, it came into his view. Scattering debris and raising clouds of dust, it shattered the destroyed castle gate and headed straight for Walm.

It resembled a worm, but its surface was covered with hardened skin, and it lacked eyes. Most importantly, it was enormous. Walm recognized what it was.

“No way, a Tyrant Worm? A big one was still around!!”

It was a monster confirmed in the information provided by the former adventurer Deborah’s family. It was believed to have invaded the heartland of the empire along with the Flame Emperor Dragon.

This A-rank monster, known for its high danger level, shook its massive body and slammed it towards Walm.

Despite its seemingly careless strike, the monsters surrounding Walm were wiped out. The Tyrant Worm opened the tip of its head in five directions, entangling and consuming the immobilized monsters, raising it up and devouring them.

Blood and flesh of the pitiful monsters rained down like a torrential downpour.

“No discrimination, huh.”

It was a display of astonishing destructive power and indiscriminate predation, but for Walm, it was a desirable development. The leader of the Great Rampage had been lost, and some of the monsters must have been freed from its constrains.

The problem was that Walm was now perceived as a highly attractive and desirable prey due to his magical power.

“Do I look like bait to you?”

Walm used wind magic to evade the approaching head, which scraped the ground. The aftermath alone caused buildings to collapse, and what should have been heavy debris was scattered like cannonballs.

Its movements were sluggish, but due to its size, it caused widespread damage. It couldn’t be allowed to get any closer to the medical area. If it broke in, the immobile wounded would undoubtedly end up in its belly.

Walm, with all the magic power he could muster, materialized Demon Fire and scorched the Tyrant Worm.

It didn’t have vocal cords, apparently. It gnashed its teeth and writhed, indiscriminately spreading destruction around. Naturally, its outer skin was resistant to magical power, and it couldn’t be entirely burnt by the Demon Fire. If Walm had been in perfect condition, continuous scorching might have killed it, but such a luxury was not possible for him now.

He tried to cut through its thick outer skin with his longsword, but it was too thick. Unlike the Rampaging Dragon he had defeated in the past, there was no hole to open and burn it from the inside. It had no joints or eyes to target, so burning it at a relatively soft spot was not an option. Even identifying its excretory area was extremely difficult.

The image of a bent war axe in the ramparts of the Sarajevo fortress flashed in Walm’s mind. Unlike the Three Fools, not even a corpse was left. If the former squad leader had been there, maybe he could have destroyed it from the inside with a war axe imbued with “Strong Strike.” But such wishful thinking mixed with sentiment was nothing but escapism. Walm immediately switched his focus.

Fortunately, attracted to Walm, a favorite prey, the Tyrant Worm was lured away from the medical facility and other human-occupied areas towards the near vicinity of the castle gate.

The Tyrant Worm began to pick and eat, revealing the inside of its mouth. An Orc’s entire body was grated by the countless backward-facing teeth. Severed limbs and yellowed saliva rained down.

The unscrupulous Tyrant Worm, engrossed in fresh monsters and abandoned corpses, was perhaps more robust and powerful than the Rampaging Dragon, but its brain was less than that of an insect.

Walm, threading through the debris, escaped unnoticed and climbed the wall using wind magic to survey the whole area. Continuing like this would only waste magic power. It was clear that he would be at a disadvantage.

Unable to find Walm, who had escaped to the wall, the Tyrant Worm relied on smell to hunt its prey and continued to pick off the surrounding monsters.

While it was excellent at annihilating its monster kin, Walm could not allow it to turn its attention to humans.

The grotesque maw of the ogre, now charred and warped, continued to get consumed, the worm unfurling its five ghastly jaws. Walm, contemplating his strategy, was transfixed by the immense orifice. A dangerous gamble came to mind.

There might be safer options, but once the creature devoured its fill, it would begin to move. Such an opportunity would then be lost.

“Is there no other way?”

Having moved from the walls to the gate tower, Walm searched for what he needed. Fortunately, there was still an abundance of it.

He began tearing into the bellies of the monsters indiscriminately, bathing in their innards.

The foul stench filled his nostrils, and his body rebelled, a sourness rising in his throat. Intestines and unidentifiable organs clung to his body.

The display was perfect, the rich aroma likely to strongly stimulate the worm’s appetite. Walm self-mockingly praised his own grotesque work as he used wind magic to spread the odor, letting out a mighty roar.

“Hey, worm, how long do you plan to eat such disgusting fare? The real feast is right here!!”

His shout was like the piercing lament of a girl driven by jealous flames at the sight of her beloved being taken by another.

The fickle Tyrant Worm, distracted from its meal, turned and made a beeline towards Walm.

“That’s it, come!”

The gaping maw opened wide, revealing a countless array of teeth and chunks of old meals.

Walm ran, maintaining a safe distance. A stumble would reduce him to just another piece of flesh in that maw. He certainly did not wish to be ground up or blended, lacking any masochistic or self-destructive desires.

“Hah, hah, you’re fast for something without legs.”

Luckily, he didn’t lose his way or stumble and finally reached his destination. Walm dashed into the entrance of the gate tower. The numerous teeth were closing in on him.

“Tch—”

The Tyrant Worm tried to swallow Walm, but its dragon-sized bulk was too large for the human-sized entrance. Unable to pass through and making an ungodly noise, the Tyrant Worm collided with the gate tower.

Its teeth, trying to gnaw through the tower, only succeeded in biting into the stonework.

The sight was exactly what Walm had been waiting for.

A stench so foul it seemed to twist his nose assaulted him. It was unclear how many corpses and monsters it had consumed. His nostrils rejected the smell, but facing the long-awaited opportunity, Walm pressed on.

“Can you handle this, big mouth?! You’ll burn yourself!!”

The remaining demon fire he poured into its mouth explosively spread, incinerating its guts. The worm tried to close its jaws to escape the azure flames, but the teeth stuck in the tower and the flames searing its muscles prevented it from closing properly.

“There’s no escaping after eating and running!!”

The Tyrant Worm writhed violently, but the demon fire, hot enough to melt iron, continued to burn it from within, causing its massive body to shudder.

Its movements slowed, and eventually, the Tyrant Worm, unable to escape the gate tower and the demon fire, succumbed.

“I won…”

After repeated battles, magical exhaustion, nausea-inducing fatigue, and a loss of balance and vision, Walm could no longer stand and collapsed to his knees.

He cheered inwardly but frowned at the falling debris. What started as fragments grew in size and number.

The gate tower, which had maintained its structural integrity without columns, had suffered fatal damage from the Tyrant Worm’s charge and struggle.

The gate tower began to collapse. It was a Pyrrhic victory. Winning the battle but losing the war was no joke to Walm.

“This… can’t be my end…”

The only exit was blocked by the charred maw of the Tyrant Worm. A massive amount of debris, enough to easily crush a person, rained down from above.

Walm crawled miserably, trying to escape even a little. Words spilled out naturally.

“I’m sorry…”

Was it for his country, his comrades, or something else?

The last thing he saw with his burning eyes was the approaching debris. As the world darkened, Walm’s consciousness was lost.