Agent of Seraphim-Chapter 31: Den of Worm (1)

Hundreds of worms flooded their vision as soon as the rift opened.

From the villagers’ point of view, the grotesque vision painted a picture of hell.

However, the warriors defending the gate in the front line were experiencing a different kind of hell.

Those who had run expeditions before were displaying a confident posture. They knew what was lying ahead of them.

While the first timer showed fear, as this was their first expedition. They knew there was a risk of death before they even joined the expedition.

Survival was not guaranteed.

Some warriors hesitated, like the foreign travelers who had joined the expedition due to their village’s or nation’s diplomatic move.

However, there were also warriors with fiery determination to ward off the demons.

To defend their village.

To prove themselves.

They were facing a horde of hundreds of Demon Worms, which averaged 10 feet in length and 3 feet in diameter.

Brand and Karl each unleashed their skills respectively to push the first wave of demons back into the rifts, which was then followed by Ruby’s long-range flame spell.

Ruby weaved mana with her staff and directed her mana in front of her, conjuring the shape of a lance.

The flame gradually grew larger, and the heat intensified.

"Flame Lance!"

The flame, shaped like a giant lance, flew forward, heading straight to the massive group of demon worms.

It landed on the demon worms, but showed no sign of stopping, and it continued until the flame dispersed.

The flame spell burnt apart the demon worms and opened a gap in the horde.

"Huff... huff..." Ruby was panting. Fatigue came in as she had used almost all her mana in the attack.

She had barely any mana left and showed signs of fatigue and exhaustion. Depleting a huge mana reserve all of a sudden was a move with significant risk.

However, she persisted.

She played an essential role in the raid, even if she couldn’t launch this large-scale attack repeatedly. Her role was to provide footing for the other warriors.

The rest of the young warrior’s group charged forward through the gap Ruby earned to melee down the demon worms.

To melee down the demons.

The warriors used the opening to swarm into the gate. The dog fight now starts.

***

Brand checked on Ruby’s health and couldn’t help but worry. She was still gasping for air, not recovered from the mana fatigue yet.

"Here," Brand passed her a Blue Herb for boosting mana recovery.

Ruby was surprised at first, as it was a rare herb and was expensive.

She tried to reject it, but Brand pushed it into her mouth.

"It’s okay, health was more important than pride," Brand said.

Ruby was dumbfounded by Brand’s action.

"You were so rude, do you know that?" Seraphine was lecturing Brand to care for a woman’s heart and pride.

"It’s okay. It’ll be better than being unable to defend herself if she were ambushed." Brand replied.

Ruby, who was still recovering from the mana fatigue, tried to conjure flame to burn Brand, but she only managed to light a candle-sized flame.

’She’s angry now, Brand.’ Seraphine giggled.

Brand put his hand on the ground and activated the Scarab Shell on his hand.

The other warriors see his action as weird, but they do not intervene. They were busy on fighting the worms.

Brand was feeling the ground. There were countless weird vibrations underneath!

Brand could sense that there were more demon worms than what was shown on the surface.

’Were they the second or third wave?’

From the way the vibration felt, it seemed there were thousands of demon worms.

The young warriors holding off the demon worms were soaked in foul-smelling worm goo.

They worked hard to fight back the horde of worms.

The difference between the number of warriors and the number of worms was too great.

Each of the warriors needed to defeat around 20 demon worms, on average.

But of course, some warriors would defeat more demons than the others.

They had 16 warriors in their team, including the recruited foreign warriors.

Brand used his cyborg eye to scan the immediate vicinity, checking the current situation they faced.

[Demon Worms - 336 nos remaining.]

There were still many roaming around, and the hundreds who were in were just the first wave.

"Each rift has its own theme, with a monster group," Karl explained to Brand.

"Well, there were also some that were random, which always changed theme." He continued.

"This demon rift that our village’s Ritual Stone was holding was a permanent rift, which was consistent throughout the years."

"I see, but why was the village built around it?" Brand asked, seeking an answer to the question he had in mind.

"The demon rifts were not only a threat. They were also a blessing in terms of resources." Karl continued to kill the demon worms while explaining to Brand.

This seemed to be a stroll for him.

He was only a few levels higher, but it looked so easy to him, while the other warriors were struggling.

"There were some precious minerals within the rift," Karl replied.

Karl further explained that the minerals mined from the rifts could be used to forge precious equipment. The expeditors could also find artifacts used by past warriors or even heroes.

Such as the spear which Karl was currently holding.

[Thundra Wolf’s Tail]

At the end of the spear’s butt end, a wolf-tail tassel was tied. With each movement Karl made, the wolf-tail would glow and swipe in the opposite direction.

The spear shone. Lightning crackled around the spear. Karl painted the ghastly den with bright blue light.

"Spear Art - Thundra’s Impact."

Karl leaped vertically into the den’s ceiling and propelled himself, leaving a trail of lightning manifested aura.

He landed in the center of five demon worms.

—!!!

The ground cracked, the warriors swayed, and worms screamed.

The demon worms at the impact were fried, dead without further movement. Those staying at further range were deeply wounded and paralysed.