Chapter 171: 171: Swallowed Fae

The rocky ground broke apart as the ginormous worm uncurled and lunged after me, but I leapt back, watching the large creature roar with its mouth full of teeth. 

It was covered in thick armour with rows of spikes extending across the length of its body and culminating at the end into a vicious tail spike that dripped with venomous fluid.

Typhon and I could only stare at it in horror like deer caught in headlights.

Unlike the small dark worms, this one was covered in a thick slimy mucus that made its chitinous body change to a dark purple hue. Its spikes tore  apart the ground as it moved, and all I could see were the rings of fangs deep inside its cavernous mouth as it roared at us.

Its armoured body brushed aside large pieces of rock like they were nothing as it lunged towards us again. We dived to either side and barely managed to avoid its hulking mass as the creature swept past us with a tremendous force, before colliding with the plateau wall. 

However, instead of crashing into the wall, the enormous worm chewed through the rocks and disappeared into the wall, leaving behind a tunnel smeared with purple mucus.

It had disappeared but I knew it wasn't for long. And so I scanned the ground with [Heat Sense] to see where it would reappear, only to see the creature's huge body moving through the ground with unbelievable speed and ease, much like a fish in water. 

The ground was truly its domain and as I tracked its movements, its large body moved past the range of my [Heat Sense] disappearing further under the rocks. 

However, it was determined to consume us as it turned around and came into my range again as it made its way up towards the surface with speed.

I remained still and continued to track it to estimate where it was headed, but Typhon, who was observing its movements, slithered away from the area to avoid a confrontation.

However, the creature seemed to be able to detect our movements as well, because it changed paths towards Typhon's new position.

Typhon also noticed this and immediately prepared for it, using his [Earth Magic] to pierce the creature with spikes as soon as it came out of the ground. But the ground collapsed around the ginormous worm as its mouth emerged, destroying the spikes and wreaking havoc across the plateau. 

Its armoured body knocked everything aside, persistently targeting Typhon who managed to evade it in the last second, but he was struck by the creatures swinging tail spike instead which threw him across the ground like a ragdoll.

Fortunately, it wasn't enough to penetrate Typhon's scales and he only took some light damage and immediately tried to get back up, ready to attack.

There had to be a limit to his tenacity! 

I refused to believe he wasn't hurt and so I commanded him to stay down before he endangered himself more than was necessary. 

And so, I decided to divert its attention away from him. 

The huge worm had no eyes that I could find but its senses were far superior than the smaller dark worms, seemingly reacting to our movements, scent and the sounds we made. 

And so I approached it quickly from behind knowing well it would detect me, and just like that, it shifted targets and began to pursue me instead. 

It seemed to be a better hunter, but it shared many similarities to the smaller dark worms, like its intelligence, so I was able to easily lead it away from Typhon, confusing it with sidewinding movements while evading its attacks to make it collide with the plateau wall once again.

With it once again disappearing into the ground, we got some respite for a few seconds, but I knew it would eventually eat its way around to resurface under us. There was no use in trying to run away either as it could track us.

I feared it might burrow through the ground in pursuit and possibly follow us back to the cave.

But most of all, I worried for the dark fae who had been swallowed by the creature. I couldn't stop thinking of just how terrified she must be – and so we could not retreat until she was rescued first.

I tracked the worm's path underground as I waited for it to resurface, purposely slithering around to make it easy for it to reach my position. And as the worm made its way towards me, I instructed Typhon to collapse the ground as much as he could. 

He did so right as I leapt out of the way, creating a large chasm in the ground that formed a tunnel in the rocks, exposing the massive creature beneath.

It was stunned for a moment but as it tried to climb up again Typhon unleashed several thick spikes from one end of the tunnel to another, impaling the creature on both ends to keep it contained. 

However, its armour was too thick to penetrate and instead its body got skewered in the web of spikes, momentarily halting its approach.

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I readied my poison spheres and fired them into its open mouth. But it lunged towards us, seemingly unaffected as it  ate away at the spikes that trapped its body.

Then, just as it was about to break free, multiple dark spheres bloomed out of its armour, disintegrating its flesh smoothly in a rain of purple blood and mucus.

The worm shrieked out in pain. Its neck had a large chunk of flesh missing and as it moved its blood smeared heavily across Typhon's spikes. 

I was never so happy to see the dark spheres and the destruction they created, and I realised the dark fae was still alive and attacking it from the inside. 

That was a relief!

With the confirmation, I attacked the giant worm with multiple poison blades to further open the wound. 

I had no idea where its stomach was, but judging by the position the dark spheres appeared, I assumed the dark fae was around its neck area, and I hoped this would help her get free.

I succeeded in opening part of the creature's neck, however there was no sign of the tiny fae.

I thought that maybe my poison spheres weren't cutting deeply, so I created an even larger poison blade, hoping to cleave its head clean through. But before I could launch it, there was another burst of dark spheres from the worm's body, this time coming from the lower end of its body towards its tail.

What the heck!

Don't tell me its stomach could move?!

The worm shrieked again as the dark spheres tore through its armour, and it began to thrash around the tunnel in pain, eating through every new spike Typhon created in a fervour to break its way out.

I was worried the dark fae would get dissolved by its digestive acid – she was so tiny after all, and so I fired even more poison blades at its injured neck to sever it completely.

Typhon saw where its lower body had been hurt and deliberately fashioned a spike from the ground to skewer its injured tail to keep it in place.

However, our combined efforts didn't deter the creature and it twisted around so that the poison blades I aimed at its neck struck its armour and they bounced off harmlessly, leaving only scrapes behind.

Seemingly unaffected by Typhon's spike in its lower body and continued to eat through the tunnel even as the spike ripped through its own flesh, vanishing into the ground, leaving behind a tunnel covered in purple mucus.

The landscape of the plateau had changed drastically as the ground was riddled with holes and full of scrapes. Rocks were strewn everywhere in a great upheaval of shattered debris, with tunnels dripping with mucus scattered everywhere. 

But I continued to scan through the rocks of the tunnel, eager to find its body. 

The dark fae still hadn't resurfaced, and as the creature's body retreated further and further underground, I grew even more worried it would escape with the fae still trapped inside. 

It was so different from the other worms, far stronger, faster, and almost impossible to kill. At first I thought it was their leader that had come for revenge, but it didn't react to any of the dead, and instead swallowed their corpses whole as it swam through the ground.

I wished I had [Appraisal] to see its level, but without it I could only conclude it must be some sort of evolved version of the small worms. Perhaps it had been attracted towards us because of all the noise?

I considered entering the tunnel after it, but if it was sensitive to noise, I reckon it would come to me all the same, so I started to throw rocks down the tunnel, to create noise. 

If it was just as stupid as the other worms, it would turn around and come back. 

Typhon arrived beside me and I instructed him to create more noise as well and he quickly proceeded to collapse one of the tunnels, creating a loud rumbling noise.

I observed the worm's heat trace moving through the ground as it swallowed everything in its path, but as soon as the ground began to rumble with vibrations, it changed directions to speed towards us once more.

And soon, the ground burst apart as the worm's armoured body appeared with the ground collapsing around it. 

Typhon's spikes immediately stretched forward to pierce it, leading it to fall into the same trap once again.

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