“Oh! This is the Windwalker! I… I can’t believe I’ve gotten my hands on the Adventure Journal of Heidelroc Windwalker! As expected, something like this wouldn’t have fallen into my hands by mere coincidence! This is fate. Yes, I can feel the strong pull of destiny. I knew it—I wasn’t meant to rot away in a rural village like this! Ah, this joy! This emotion! This wonder! This gratitude!”
With tears of joy streaming down my face, I hugged the journal tightly to my chest. Of course, I made sure to pocket the necklace too. Now, if I just skip along back to base, today will truly be a lucky day. Sure, I’d sustained some injuries from the traps, but those were nothing serious, and what I’d gained far outweighed the pain.
And that’s when it happened.
Rumble… RUMBLE!
Another earthquake. I thought it might just be an aftershock from earlier, but this time, the tremor was noticeably weaker. Still, isn’t it a classic for cave earthquakes to lead to collapses, trapping people inside?
“Damn it! This is bad!”
I turned to make my way out, but just as I did, the ceiling suddenly cracked open, and something thrust its head down from above. I raised my torch to get a better look and clicked my tongue in frustration. Its body was bright red, glistening with a leathery texture, and it oozed sticky mucus as it writhed. It was long and tubular, like a snake, but it looked more like an oversized worm.
“A… Blood Worm?”
I muttered, shaking my head. According to the 1500 edition of The Encyclopedia of Monsters I’d read as a child in the monastery, Blood Worms typically max out at 7–8 meters in length. But this one? It was easily over 10 meters long.
This thing was like a monstrous overachiever of its species—so oversized it would’ve been a disappointment to its parents otherwise. Wait, are these guys oviparous? No, for it to grow that big, it must’ve been huge from birth. Definitely.
Regardless, this thing had emerged exactly where I’d entered the cave, so there was no avoiding it—I’d have to take it down to get out.
“Hmm…”
I groaned, looking at my broken longsword and my blistered right hand. Damn it. A creature that size wouldn’t even flinch at a half-hearted attack.
“This hand won’t cut it.”
I muttered to myself. To fight something that enormous, no finesse or technique would suffice—I needed raw strength. But with my right hand out of commission, what was I supposed to do? Peaceful negotiation was out of the question too.
HSSSS!
While I hesitated, the thing noticed me and thrust its head toward me. Living off the bodily fluids of other creatures, it aimed its grotesque head my way, while its lower body remained embedded in the ceiling. Each movement sent dirt and rocks cascading down—extremely unsettling.
Its head sported vicious jaws, designed to tear into flesh before it sucked out its prey’s blood. If a human bite could leave a bruise and break blood vessels, imagine what a 10-meter-long monster could do at full power. Any part of my body it latched onto would be irreparably destroyed.
“So, the key is to take this thing down without getting hit even once, huh?”
I slapped my cheeks to steel my nerves and drew my short sword in place of the broken longsword. As a Velkysus Ranger, I was trained in dual-wielding longswords and shortswords, so having a backup weapon was fortunate.
“Cha-haat!”
I charged at the creature, hurling my short sword like a spear. Instead of relying on brute force, I aimed for precision, throwing it in a straight line. The Blood Worm, as slimy and grotesque as it was, let the blade pierce through its head with surprising ease.
“Strike!”
Seizing the moment, I leapt forward and delivered a powerful kick to the pommel of the embedded sword. The blade sank entirely into its body, causing massive internal damage. For a creature like this, that had to hurt.
But I wasn’t done. As the Blood Worm thrashed in pain, its upper body swung wildly toward me. I braced myself and delivered a crushing elbow blow to its head.
THWACK!
The force of the attack drove the sword deeper into its body, shredding it from the inside. The creature writhed in agony, chunks of its insides spilling out with each motion.
“Urgh!”
The counterattack was no joke. As its massive body swung like a pendulum, I was flung back by the sheer force of its movement, my own insides agitating from the impact. My head spun as if my brain had rattled loose.
HSSSS!
The Blood Worm continued to tremble, its movements becoming weaker and more erratic. Whether it felt pain or not, its body was clearly no longer responding properly.
“It’s not over yet!”
I kicked off the ground, dodging its flailing body, and launched a spinning kick directly at its head, right next to where the sword was lodged. The impact was solid, and a mix of blood, flesh, and viscous fluid gushed out. Though the creature probably didn’t have a brain in the traditional sense, the pale fluid spilling out looked suspiciously like brain matter. Its body was utterly mangled, barely holding together.
“Hmm~ I don’t enjoy tormenting animals, so let’s end this quickly, shall we?”
I finished off with a downward kick. Aiming for the handle of the sword, I struck down hard, and with a popping sound akin to opening a well-aged bottle of wine, the short sword came loose. The Blood Worm, unable to withstand such an attack, convulsed and expelled its innards before collapsing onto the ground.
Adjusting the torch in my right hand, I used my left to pinch one nostril shut and blew hard to clear my nose. Blood splattered to the ground—probably from the impact when I delivered the elbow strike earlier.
“Ah, damn it.”
Still, considering that taking down a 10-meter-long monster cost me only this much, it wasn’t such a bad trade. As I pondered that, I started to step away from the still-twitching Blood Worm.
Rrrrrrrrrr…
Wait, what was that unsettling sound? This would be the time to flee without looking back, but curiosity got the better of me as always. Despite knowing I’d regret it, I turned around.
“Huh?”
Have you ever unearthed bugs while digging in winter? Some species huddle together to survive the cold. Apparently, Blood Worms share that sort of tight-knit camaraderie.
“Looks like I’ve hit the jackpot today.”
Clicking my tongue, I noticed something reflecting the torchlight faintly on the ceiling—writhing, slimy masses. Without hesitation, I picked up the short sword from the ground and moved forward, scraping it against the wall to clean off the blade dulled by the Blood Worm’s mucus and blood. A dull blade won’t do me any good now, and I’d like to think I’m faster than those things. Surely…
“….”
Then again, luck wasn’t on my side. I clicked my tongue at the sight of the collapsed path I had entered through. The aftershocks must’ve caused another cave-in, leaving half the way blocked with debris and dirt. That meant I’d have to go further inside and find the cave’s original entrance to escape.
I paused mid-step. There had to be traps up ahead.
“Sigh. This is just fantastic.”
Today, patience was running thin. Loosening my belt, I wrapped it around my injured right hand—the one torn up from smashing into that metal door earlier. I scraped the short sword against the dirt a few more times before driving the torch into the mound and lighting a fresh one. Now the surroundings were properly illuminated.
“If I’m risking this much for one of the Rogue Master’s seven legendary treasures, I wish it were something like the Sword Blaster instead.”
Grumbling to myself, I tightened my grip on the short sword over the makeshift leather bandage. Even with this setup, using Death Bound would leave the blade in shreds. Ugh, no point in dwelling on the negatives. Time to focus on the positives!
Oddly enough, my thoughts drifted to soft, pale skin and a delicate figure with… Why was this what came to mind?
“Wow. So positive.”
Too positive, in fact. Meanwhile, from the hallway ahead, they began to emerge—squirming and writhing. These creatures ignored the active traps, letting spears and blades impale them as they advanced, wounding themselves in the process. Typical lower creatures. Annelids like these wouldn’t go down unless you inflicted damage deep into their central body.
Swish!
One finally reached me, its head tilting as if sizing me up before lifting its upper body like a snake preparing to strike. This one was about 10 meters long with a diameter of 80 centimeters.
“Take this!”
With a shout, I unleashed my specialty—Death Bound: Passive. This technique, which counters an attack with a soft force before delivering a second blow with a stronger force, was said to be a signature move of Deckard, the creator of the Velkysus Ranger and the Dual Blade style.
Though my body and hand were far from peak condition, the result was spectacular. With a single strike, the Blood Worm’s head—80 centimeters of muscle and flesh—was severed cleanly. Not bad for a mediocre blade.
“Hah… ha!”
Gritting my teeth against the overwhelming pain, I couldn’t help but laugh maniacally. Stars danced in my vision. Though I’d never passed out from pain, the poorly wrapped bandage on my torn hand was scraping against raw, exposed flesh, making the agony nearly unbearable. Damn that metal door! If my hand were in better shape, I could handle this much more easily. But as it stood…
Roar!
No time to rest. Another one let out a grotesque sound and charged straight at me. I tried to gather strength for another Death Bound, but my trembling hand betrayed me. Numbness crept up—a sign of exhaustion. Perhaps the technique should only be used once per day after all.
“Damn it!”
Clenching my teeth, I braced my short sword against its head, preventing the creature from sinking its fangs into me. However, the next moment, I felt my surroundings blur. The scream that escaped my lips sounded distant.
The massive Blood Worm, with a single swing, flung me like a discarded pebble.
“Ahhhhhh!”
