The balls of light in the worms’s maws collapsed and became violent beams of energy piercing through the sky. Sofia did her best to try to evade but in this manaless environment, her wings were useless. Three of the beams were on their way to collide with her. She frantically activated [Heat Death], her mana dropped by about forty thousand points, it left her body and collided with the beams, erasing them from existence before they could reach her. After their attacks, the worms fell back down, burrowing into the sand, but Sofia managed to lash out at the one that had been under her, triggering an explosion of light and covering it in rot by the occasion.
For a single second, the calm regained the desert as the red sand fell back. Sofia managed to see that everyone was still fine, though she already knew that Pareth was unharmed. Then, like geysers, the worms emerged again.
I can’t use more rot, I need the skeletons!
Sofia barely managed to avoid being sent up again, but she was instead sucked in by the flows of sand filling back in the hole the worm closest to her had burst out of. Using her skeletal wings like long spider legs, she managed to pull herself out of the flow of sand. She also summoned the [Skull Choir], in the wall array formation with the maximum amount of skull. The many skulls appeared in a giant vertical grid behind her. She would only be able to sustain it for about two minutes.
None of the worms’ beams of energy were aimed her way this time, so she lined herself up with the falling trajectory of the closest worm and waited for it to come back down.
Attack!
The skulls unleashed their shouts at once, battering the sandworm with air attacks like many invisible fists. The supple yet tough hide of the worm deformed under the attacks until it couldn't anymore and the side of the creature exploded, its entrails bursting out, its blue blood raining on the battlefield.
‘You have defeated [Adult Sandworm - lv. 236]’
‘[Skull Choir] reached level 201’
‘You have defeated [Adult Sandworm - lv. 210]’
Pareth had also cleaved one of the smallest sandworms in half. Sofia caught a glimpse of him from afar, he was wielding a sword of light more than twice his height, a design she recognized as the giant sword of the Sun saint.
Once again, the worms all buried in sync, it felt like a very coordinated yet chaotic assault. Sofia moved across the sand, but there were too many worms around where she was, she couldn’t evade. One second she was in the desert, the next she was deep inside of a worm’s maw, surrounded by a thousand serrated teeth.
‘You have defeated [Adult Sandworm - lv. 259]’
‘You have defeated [Adult Sandworm - lv. 216]’
The teeth closed in on her from all sides, pushing against her, digging into her armor. She fought back, controlling her armor to form spikes she used, piercing at random where she could until she found a bone. The pressure of the maws was starting to mount up and Sofia’s Health trickled down.
Health : 17 488 / 20 500
Sofia fought to find a way out as the worm dug back into the sand, she was now upside down. The spike of her bone armor finally touched a bone, colliding with it without managing to pierce it, she made it coil around it and retract. This pulled her against the teeth, pushing them even further into her armor; her outstretched hand reached the worm’s bone. It’s the spine.
Health : 7 330 / 20 500
[Bone dominus]
The worm’s skeleton imploded, the bones collapsing onto themselves. The movements of the worm stopped, the pressure inside its maw released slightly, but Sofia was still stuck.
She could feel the skull choir still attacking the other worms on the surface as it had been unable to follow her underground.
‘You have defeated [Adult Sandworm - lv. 240]’
It’s still alive. Sofia’s health was climbing back up quickly thanks to the blessed constructs and [Radiance].
Health : 8 465 / 20 500
Sofia still had a firm grip on the monster’s spine, she expanded her command over it. The crushed bones formed blades that hacked at the worm from inside, until finally, she felt the pressure inside the maw release completely, the countless teeth no longer grinding against her armor.
‘You have defeated [Adult Sandworm - lv. 291]’
‘You gained a level!’
That was a big one.
She felt the choir attack once again and from the notification, it had killed another worm.
‘You have defeated [Adult Sandworm - lv. 212]’
From the distance… I’m about sixty meters underground.
Can I use the graveyard?
The [Graveyard of the righteous] had more than enough range to get her out of there, but she needed an area of proper solid ground to summon it on. She could do it from the side of the pyramid, but underground it was impossible. Even if she had been able to do it on the sand, the mana absorbing red sand prevented any such kind of shenanigans.
Sofia pulled out her book, but it wouldn’t eat the broken worm’s skeleton, both because she was inside it, and because she had used [Bone dominus] on it, which made it improper for use as a summon. What else can I do?
‘You have defeated [Adult Sandworm - lv. 230]’
Sixty meters of sand was too much to climb through. For now the worm’s body was still slightly protecting her from the pressure, but with how she had ruined its skeleton and flesh, this wouldn’t last for long, sand was already trickling inside. And Sofia was still upside down, which made things even worse.
I can use the exchange position teleport with Ihuarah. But then he would be stuck too.
Sofia’s mana was quickly being drained by the skull choir still on the surface, at least it was still fighting with terrifying efficiency. Every time she felt them attacking on their own, another worm died.
‘You have defeated [Adult Sandworm - lv. 249]’
The next minute felt like it took forever as Sofia was waiting underground. She had used [Bone dominus] again to consolidate the bones of the dead worm and make them form a cage around her, helping to alleviate the pressure of the sand. Waiting was now her best option. Waiting until her health was full and her mana emptied by the skulls.
‘You have defeated [Adult Sandworm - lv. 268]’
‘You have defeated [Adult Sandworm - lv. 247]’
‘You have defeated [Adult Sandworm - lv. 222]’
‘You have defeated [Adult Sandworm - lv. 209]’
‘You have defeated [Adult Sandworm - lv. 255]’
‘You gained a level!’
‘You have defeated [Adult Sandworm - lv. 248]’
Sofia’s mana hit zero and she felt the skulls disappear. There should only be a few worms left. It’s a bit of a waste, but I don’t see how else I could possibly get out.
Sofia activated her demon form, eating the black heart in her underground prison. Another ten levels of debt…
Health : 358 560 / 358 560
Stamina : 358 560 / 358 560
Mana : 0 / 358 560
Piercing straight through sixty meters of sand was no longer an issue. She could even swim through it like water.
As she neared the surface, something unexpected happened. The group on the surface had slain one more worm.
‘You have defeated [Adult Sandworm - lv. 269]’
Mana : 12 300 / 358 560
Sofia was still swimming up the sand but she almost opened her mouth to curse as the feeling of mana coursing around her dry veins jolted through her. Not only did her mana not stay at zero, it started climbing back up at the usual pace of about 350 points per second.
[Heat death] can do that?!!!
Like the sandworms before her, Sofia burst out of the sand. Her complete vision as an Apostle gave her an instantaneous understanding of the battle. Pareth was single handedly holding off three worms, while Alith and Ihuarah were dodging two each, damage accumulating on both sides. Even Pareth had taken a hit, his skeleton a bit charred. He had likely been hit by one of the energy beams.
For the first time, Sofia saw the ‘feelers’ Ihuarah had said to target, some sort of small antennas ending in bulbous balls of purple flesh, hidden under a flap of the worms’ skin. She could tell because that was what he was attacking from the ground with his elongated and sharp sword-like shade limbs.
Alith looked the worst, not very injured but clearly out of stamina. Her movements were sloppy. Sofia rushed to her side, colliding with the largest of the two worms as she activated the third tier of [Runeforged Overlord].
The explosive punch carved a hole right through the worm. Truly an Apostle of Sorrow. It wasn't dead yet, however, which she fixed by jumping into the hole and touching one of the exposed bones.
‘You have defeated [Adult Sandworm - lv. 251]’
The other of the two worms that was attacking Alith had been charging a ball of light, and it suddenly changed direction, releasing its energy beam at Sofia.
[Regret]
The balls of light in the worms’s maws collapsed and became violent beams of energy piercing through the sky. Sofia did her best to try to evade but in this manaless environment, her wings were useless. Three of the beams were on their way to collide with her. She frantically activated [Heat Death], her mana dropped by about forty thousand points, it left her body and collided with the beams, erasing them from existence before they could reach her. After their attacks, the worms fell back down, burrowing into the sand, but Sofia managed to lash out at the one that had been under her, triggering an explosion of light and covering it in rot by the occasion.
For a single second, the calm regained the desert as the red sand fell back. Sofia managed to see that everyone was still fine, though she already knew that Pareth was unharmed. Then, like geysers, the worms emerged again.
I can’t use more rot, I need the skeletons!
Sofia barely managed to avoid being sent up again, but she was instead sucked in by the flows of sand filling back in the hole the worm closest to her had burst out of. Using her skeletal wings like long spider legs, she managed to pull herself out of the flow of sand. She also summoned the [Skull Choir], in the wall array formation with the maximum amount of skull. The many skulls appeared in a giant vertical grid behind her. She would only be able to sustain it for about two minutes.
None of the worms’ beams of energy were aimed her way this time, so she lined herself up with the falling trajectory of the closest worm and waited for it to come back down.
Attack!
The skulls unleashed their shouts at once, battering the sandworm with air attacks like many invisible fists. The supple yet tough hide of the worm deformed under the attacks until it couldn't anymore and the side of the creature exploded, its entrails bursting out, its blue blood raining on the battlefield.
‘You have defeated [Adult Sandworm - lv. 236]’
‘[Skull Choir] reached level 201’
‘You have defeated [Adult Sandworm - lv. 210]’
Pareth had also cleaved one of the smallest sandworms in half. Sofia caught a glimpse of him from afar, he was wielding a sword of light more than twice his height, a design she recognized as the giant sword of the Sun saint.
Once again, the worms all buried in sync, it felt like a very coordinated yet chaotic assault. Sofia moved across the sand, but there were too many worms around where she was, she couldn’t evade. One second she was in the desert, the next she was deep inside of a worm’s maw, surrounded by a thousand serrated teeth.
‘You have defeated [Adult Sandworm - lv. 259]’
‘You have defeated [Adult Sandworm - lv. 216]’
The teeth closed in on her from all sides, pushing against her, digging into her armor. She fought back, controlling her armor to form spikes she used, piercing at random where she could until she found a bone. The pressure of the maws was starting to mount up and Sofia’s Health trickled down.
Health : 17 488 / 20 500
Sofia fought to find a way out as the worm dug back into the sand, she was now upside down. The spike of her bone armor finally touched a bone, colliding with it without managing to pierce it, she made it coil around it and retract. This pulled her against the teeth, pushing them even further into her armor; her outstretched hand reached the worm’s bone. It’s the spine.
Health : 7 330 / 20 500
[Bone dominus]
The worm’s skeleton imploded, the bones collapsing onto themselves. The movements of the worm stopped, the pressure inside its maw released slightly, but Sofia was still stuck.
She could feel the skull choir still attacking the other worms on the surface as it had been unable to follow her underground.
‘You have defeated [Adult Sandworm - lv. 240]’
It’s still alive. Sofia’s health was climbing back up quickly thanks to the blessed constructs and [Radiance].
Health : 8 465 / 20 500
Sofia still had a firm grip on the monster’s spine, she expanded her command over it. The crushed bones formed blades that hacked at the worm from inside, until finally, she felt the pressure inside the maw release completely, the countless teeth no longer grinding against her armor.
‘You have defeated [Adult Sandworm - lv. 291]’
‘You gained a level!’
That was a big one.
She felt the choir attack once again and from the notification, it had killed another worm.
‘You have defeated [Adult Sandworm - lv. 212]’
From the distance… I’m about sixty meters underground.
Can I use the graveyard?
The [Graveyard of the righteous] had more than enough range to get her out of there, but she needed an area of proper solid ground to summon it on. She could do it from the side of the pyramid, but underground it was impossible. Even if she had been able to do it on the sand, the mana absorbing red sand prevented any such kind of shenanigans.
Sofia pulled out her book, but it wouldn’t eat the broken worm’s skeleton, both because she was inside it, and because she had used [Bone dominus] on it, which made it improper for use as a summon. What else can I do?
‘You have defeated [Adult Sandworm - lv. 230]’
Sixty meters of sand was too much to climb through. For now the worm’s body was still slightly protecting her from the pressure, but with how she had ruined its skeleton and flesh, this wouldn’t last for long, sand was already trickling inside. And Sofia was still upside down, which made things even worse.
I can use the exchange position teleport with Ihuarah. But then he would be stuck too.
Sofia’s mana was quickly being drained by the skull choir still on the surface, at least it was still fighting with terrifying efficiency. Every time she felt them attacking on their own, another worm died.
‘You have defeated [Adult Sandworm - lv. 249]’
The next minute felt like it took forever as Sofia was waiting underground. She had used [Bone dominus] again to consolidate the bones of the dead worm and make them form a cage around her, helping to alleviate the pressure of the sand. Waiting was now her best option. Waiting until her health was full and her mana emptied by the skulls.
‘You have defeated [Adult Sandworm - lv. 268]’
‘You have defeated [Adult Sandworm - lv. 247]’
‘You have defeated [Adult Sandworm - lv. 222]’
‘You have defeated [Adult Sandworm - lv. 209]’
‘You have defeated [Adult Sandworm - lv. 255]’
‘You gained a level!’
‘You have defeated [Adult Sandworm - lv. 248]’
Sofia’s mana hit zero and she felt the skulls disappear. There should only be a few worms left. It’s a bit of a waste, but I don’t see how else I could possibly get out.
Sofia activated her demon form, eating the black heart in her underground prison. Another ten levels of debt…
Health : 358 560 / 358 560
Stamina : 358 560 / 358 560
Mana : 0 / 358 560
Piercing straight through sixty meters of sand was no longer an issue. She could even swim through it like water.
As she neared the surface, something unexpected happened. The group on the surface had slain one more worm.
‘You have defeated [Adult Sandworm - lv. 269]’
Mana : 12 300 / 358 560
Sofia was still swimming up the sand but she almost opened her mouth to curse as the feeling of mana coursing around her dry veins jolted through her. Not only did her mana not stay at zero, it started climbing back up at the usual pace of about 350 points per second.
[Heat death] can do that?!!!
Like the sandworms before her, Sofia burst out of the sand. Her complete vision as an Apostle gave her an instantaneous understanding of the battle. Pareth was single handedly holding off three worms, while Alith and Ihuarah were dodging two each, damage accumulating on both sides. Even Pareth had taken a hit, his skeleton a bit charred. He had likely been hit by one of the energy beams.
For the first time, Sofia saw the ‘feelers’ Ihuarah had said to target, some sort of small antennas ending in bulbous balls of purple flesh, hidden under a flap of the worms’ skin. She could tell because that was what he was attacking from the ground with his elongated and sharp sword-like shade limbs.
Alith looked the worst, not very injured but clearly out of stamina. Her movements were sloppy. Sofia rushed to her side, colliding with the largest of the two worms as she activated the third tier of [Runeforged Overlord].
The explosive punch carved a hole right through the worm. Truly an Apostle of Sorrow. It wasn't dead yet, however, which she fixed by jumping into the hole and touching one of the exposed bones.
‘You have defeated [Adult Sandworm - lv. 251]’
The other of the two worms that was attacking Alith had been charging a ball of light, and it suddenly changed direction, releasing its energy beam at Sofia.
[Regret]
