Chapter 177 - 176: Thousand-Teeth Rock Worm
The first section of the mine consisted of old tunnels excavated many years ago.
They were solid and stable, with no unusual signs of disarray in the rock walls or support structures.
But after traveling for a while, everyone could clearly see that the rock formations to the side were distinctly different.
They had entered a branching path. Here, the rock walls were darker, the cuts in the stone were new, and they could even see fresh marks left by pickaxes.
This was the new tunnel the miners had recently excavated—and where the Thousand-Teeth Rock Worm was likely to be found.
The atmosphere grew taut, like a tightening string.
The only sounds were their own softened footsteps and the faint scrape of Armor. The silence was so complete, you could hear a pin drop.
Suddenly, a faint skittering sound, a soft SQUEAK SQUEAK, broke the silence.
"Movement!"
Valles immediately nocked an arrow to his bow. Infused with Thunder Fighting Qi, the Arrow lit up the gloom as he rapidly took aim at the source of the sound.
"Relax, it’s not a Demon."
Maki reached out and gently pressed down on the limb of Valles’s bow, signaling for him to calm down.
Sure enough, a palm-sized black shadow scurried away from their feet, disappearing from view.
A closer look revealed it was just a rat.
"A mine rat. They’re the miners’ early warning system."
Maki explained casually.
"They’re very sensitive to changes in their environment, including loosening rock formations that can lead to cave-ins, abnormal groundwater levels causing flooding, or other shifts."
"Experienced miners use the rats’ reactions to judge if danger is present."
"Given the speed it was fleeing at..." Zelir said thoughtfully, his gaze following the direction the rat had vanished.
"It probably means nothing good is waiting for us up ahead," Maki finished.
The group grew more vigilant, proceeding with caution.
A strange odor now permeated the tunnel.
It wasn’t the usual smell of rust, but a coppery tang...
It was the smell of blood lingering in the air, having seeped into the very earth and now constantly evaporating.
"We’re almost there..." Maki whispered.
The scene ahead confirmed his assessment.
The tracks underfoot began to twist and buckle, and the rubble grew thicker.
The wooden support beams overhead and along the sides were mostly collapsed and shattered.
The farther they advanced, the more the tunnel lost its shape. Large sections of the walls and ceiling had caved in, the debris of rock and earth piling up and blocking nearly half the passage.
The once-wide path had become exceedingly treacherous and difficult to navigate.
Gray carefully skirted a large boulder. As his foot came down, it made a SQUELCHING sound, the sensation soft and sticky.
He lifted his foot, only to find he had stepped on a chunk of flesh, skin still attached...
"Dammit..." Gray cursed under his breath.
It was undoubtedly a piece of a human being.
It meant a miner had made it this far trying to escape, but they likely didn’t make it out alive.
Finally, they reached the end of the tunnel.
The sight was horrifying. The way was completely blocked by a cave-in.
Massive rocks and twisted tracks were piled together, forming a wall of despair.
Even the suspended Luminous Stone Lamps that once lit the walls were long destroyed, leaving the path ahead in pitch-black darkness.
It was hard to imagine the utter despair the miners must have felt when the Catastrophe struck.
Zelir cast a Lighting Skill, illuminating the entire tunnel.
In the light, they could clearly see numerous mottled bloodstains on the ground that had turned a dark, blackish color.
And there were far more incomplete chunks of flesh scattered among the rubble.
The temperature deep in the mine was considerably higher than outside. In such an environment, the flesh had already begun to decompose, emitting a nauseating stench.
By the light of the Lighting Skill, Valles surveyed the surroundings.
"Unbelievable... Not a single body left. I heard thirty-two people died in this accident. Were they all eaten?"
Valles frowned. "I thought the Thousand-Teeth Rock Worm only ate Ore."
"Its main interest is refined Ore, of course. To it, people are snacks at best."
Gray scanned the area. "Should we set the bait?"
"Not here," Zelir said. "Let’s move further back. This area is too cramped and complex for a fight."
No one disagreed. The party retreated some distance back down the tunnel.
Then, Zelir took a Glazed Crystal Stone from his Storage Pouch.
He glanced back. In the distant shadows, the others were all in position and gave him a slight nod.
After placing the Glazed Crystal Stone on the ground, Zelir quickly withdrew to his designated position.
Of the five-person party, all but Marcus, who would face the enemy head-on, concealed themselves in the recesses of the rock wall.
They stared intently at the spot where the Glazed Crystal Stone lay.
"How long will it take?" Valles whispered.
"No idea... just have to wait." Maki’s focus didn’t waver.
The prelude to the hunt didn’t last long. Soon, the ground began to tremble faintly.
Marcus silently raised his right hand, signaling to his teammates behind him.
"*Huuu...*" Zelir let out a slow breath.
His Magic Power began to circulate as he focused his Spirit, prepared to Sketch the Spell Structure at any moment.
Maki tightened his grip on the hilt of his Heavy Sword, and Valles had already nocked an arrow.
The vibrations in the ground grew stronger, shifting from barely perceptible tremors to a visible shaking.
Dust and pebbles began to rain down from the ceiling, and the luminous lamps hanging from the walls started to swing and fall.
’Now!’
Zelir sensed the moment the Thousand-Teeth Rock Worm would appear, and the Magic Power in his sea of consciousness surged forth!
On the ceiling of the tunnel, a stone circle several meters in diameter slowly appeared—a sign that immense force from within was about to burst through!
Then, before their very eyes, that section of rock wall violently burst open!
With a deafening BOOM and a shower of shattered rock, an enormous body shot out from the tunnel ceiling, appearing before them all.
It was over five meters long and shaped like a worm. Its surface was covered in a hard carapace, and it had no eyes—only a massive, circular maw.
"ROAR!!!"
As it opened its great mouth and roared at the party, the terrifying, ring-like teeth lining its gullet became clearly visible.
They were densely packed, glinting with a deathly cold light.
The Challenge-rank Demon, the Thousand-Teeth Rock Worm!
The Thousand-Teeth Rock Worm’s deafening roar had just begun to echo through the narrow mine shaft...
"BOOM!!!"
A magical explosion, even more violent than the roar, completely drowned it out!
The moment the Thousand-Teeth Rock Worm appeared, the spell Zelir had already finished sketching erupted as a preemptive strike.
A concentrated Aurora Energy Beam!
A ball of blue light shot out from the tip of the Night Peace Staff, elongating into a beam that struck the Thousand-Teeth Rock Worm directly in the head!
"BAM...!"
The ferocious Arcane Magic Power slammed into that single point, and the Thousand-Teeth Rock Worm’s carapace shattered on impact!
Green ichor, mixed with fragments of its carapace, sprayed through the tunnel.