Agent of Seraphim-Chapter 35: Den of Worm (5)

’A few moments ago.’

The warriors were cursing under their breath while fighting back against the demon worms. They were feeling exhausted by the prolonged battle, but they still held on.

They glanced towards the ball of worms in the far distance. It looks like a giant black ball, but when they got closer to it, they saw numerous demon worms crawling over each other.

If they never knew in advance, they would never be able to guess what was beneath the worms.

Their fellow warrior was in the center of the ball of demon worms.

"Still no sign of Brand yet?" Karl asked, while fending off the worms. Even Karl started to gasp for air after such a long period of fighting. The once brightly glowing wolf-tail tassel in his spear was now dimly lit.

Ruby was now experiencing severe mana exhaustion and was unable to shoot any more spells. She was tempted to break the seal she had on herself...

—!

An enormous sound burst from the ball of worms, as if an explosion had just occurred. They could feel the ground vibrating faintly.

At first, they thought they were only hallucinating due to fatigue, but when many of them felt the same, they could not just dismiss it.

——!

The ball of demon worms vibrated intensely for a moment before it fell quiet. There was crimson mist leaking out of it and enveloping it whole, as if the fog was trying to eat it.

It was a peculiar feeling for them to think that the mist was alive and showed a greedy nature towards the worms.

The warriors were now shocked, as they saw a crimson light exploding within the ball of worms, as if it was trying to break free from it. As if the light was rebelling against the demon worms in its cage.

———!

A crimson energy wave was shot out from the thick ball of demon worms, bursting apart the demon worms holding it.

Numerous demon worms were carried along with the energy wave and propelled for some distance before dropping to the ground, dead.

The warriors looked at the numerous carcasses on the floor and went silent. They then shifted their attention to the remnant of demon worms.

A young man was climbing out of the pile of carcasses, his movements slow and wavering. As if even a gust of wind would break his balance.

The young warrior, Brand, emerged from the carcasses with tattered clothing. The sight of him climbing out of the dead demon worms was a sight that many of them could not forget.

He managed to lure most of the demon worms and fought against them. It was because of this act that they managed to fight against the demon worms with room to spare.

The most surprising part was that he managed to survive the ordeal in the end. For this moment, he had earned a place in their heart. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

***

There were now only around a hundred demon worms left. The rest of the expedition team would be able to manage it, and soon they would be able to return to the village.

If no unexpected situation arose, that is.

Brand checked on the notification he received earlier.

[Your feat of fighting against the demon worms would now be talked about among the warriors.]

[Karma Point + 5]

He would now require 5 more Karma Points before his GHOST Core would be leveled up to Level 2.

While he was excited for what upgrade he would receive, he felt a little taken aback by the gaze from the other warriors.

Karl was looking at him proudly, as if that would be the minimum to be his rival. However, he soon showed a troubled look.

"The beautiful wolf pelt headdress and mantle..."

Karl turned back to the demon worms and continued with his onslaught. The gruesome visuals of the worms were more bearable to look at, compared to the ruin of such a nice-looking wolf pelt.

The other young warriors were looking at Brand with admiration, and they rushed towards him to provide support. One of them even offered him a precious ointment to help with his recovery.

However, the most overwhelming reaction was from Ruby.

’Why were her eyes so wet?’

Brand avoided her gaze. Ruby looked like she had a lot to talk about. But Brand was afraid, as he knew he was not the one she was looking for.

He glanced around to check on the battlefield as an excuse for avoiding her gaze.

The warriors were cleaning up the rest of the worms, and each of them was displaying huge improvement compared to when they just entered the realm.

It was not called a coming-of-age ceremony for nothing. The warriors were leveled up around 3 levels on average.

The one who improved the most was Karl. Not only was he killing the most demon worms, but he was also giving coordinated command to the young warriors.

He was now Level 15!

"Units 2 and 3, to the left. Eric, lure the worms with sound." Karl commanded.

Eric, a warrior with a trim physique, brought his metal buckler and a mace.

—Clang!

—Clang!

A heavy clang rang out as the mace smashed into the buckler.

The demon worms, which were clashing with the warriors, turned in the direction of the sound, and they looked confused.

Eric was doing this based on the knowledge they had learnt from their predecessors who had conquered the Den of Worm in the past.

The structure of the raid was more or less the same, so they already had a solid grasp of the strengths and weaknesses of the monsters.

The demon worms were sensitive to sound, and the warriors used this to their advantage for positioning.

They were rotating their positioning among themselves while dishing out damage. The collective strength of a coordinated combatant unit was impressive.

’Then why did I go to tank the demon worms alone?’

Brand couldn’t help but reflect on himself.

"It’s alright. You did help them a lot." Seraphine consoled him. "They could have fought off the demon worms easier thanks to you as well!"