"It’s gargantuan... like something straight out of Midgardsormr!"
Rest’s face twisted into a grimace of terror and morbid curiosity as he recalled the world-encircling serpent of Norse mythology.
"GYAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
The creature unleashed a roar that shook the very foundation of the atmosphere. The sound rippled through the air, overlapping in deafening echoes. This was fundamentally different from anything he had encountered before—even larger than the Magical Beast Subnock.
"So this is the Parent Worm... I’d heard they were the weaklings of the dragon species, but is this really supposed to be 'weak'?"
Legend had it that Wurms were descendants of dragons who had lost their territory in the skies and retreated beneath the earth. By definition, they were the runts of the draconic litter. However, in an environment devoid of natural predators and saturated with the mana of the Magical Wilds, this individual had swollen far beyond its natural proportions.
Rest felt a strange, detached sensation, wondering if this was how the protagonists of old sci-fi monster movies felt.
"It must be hundreds... no, maybe even thousands of years old. It would take an unfathomable amount of time to reach this size."
Lumping this monster together with a common Worm felt like an insult. If he had to give it a name... "Elder Worm" seemed appropriate.
The Elder Worm lunged at him. Its maw was wide enough to swallow a tractor-trailer whole, but Rest flicked through the air, narrowly avoiding the snap of its jaws.
"Star Eater!"
He hammered a Dark Star into the creature's flank to whittle down its mass, but it was like trying to fell an oak with a pocketknife. Against such a colossal frame, the spell failed to inflict any meaningful damage.
"Talk about déjà vu. Didn't I deal with something like this against Subnock?"
He wondered how a beast of this magnitude had remained undetected for so long, but it was likely just a series of coincidences. It had chosen the wetlands as its sanctuary; Subnock’s presence had kept humans at bay. The two apex predators had likely coexisted simply because their habitats didn't overlap, allowing them to carve out separate niches without conflict.
"Fire Bolt! Fire Bolt! Fire Bolt!"
Rest bombarded the creature with fire magic while keeping his distance. He had already confirmed during his hunt earlier that day that fire-attribute magic was effective against this species. He fired the spells in the hope of making a dent, but the results were exactly as he had feared. The flames did little more than lightly char the Elder Worm’s hide.
"Huge and durable... half-hearted attacks won't cut it."
Another roar tore through the air, and another massive strike followed.
"The scale of these attacks is insane. Coming here alone might have been the right move after all."
Dodging the snapping maw by a hair’s breadth, Rest let out a bitter laugh. The aphrodisiac high from the girls' cooking was finally beginning to fade, replaced by a cold, sharp focus. While he regretted the recklessness of coming here solo, he was simultaneously relieved that Yuri and the others weren't caught in the crossfire.
"If it were just me, I could manage, but I never could have protected them from attacks of this magnitude. Thank god."
He wove through the wind, moving with fluid grace to evade the Elder Worm’s clumsy but devastating strikes. Due to its sheer mass, the creature lacked agility. As long as Rest remained airborne, evasion wasn't particularly difficult.
"But just running away won't settle this."
Evasion wouldn't win the day. He needed a decisive blow, something to extinguish the monster's life force. He could have retreated to regroup, but if the Elder Worm followed him out of the wetlands, the resulting catastrophe would be total. He couldn't allow a repeat of the disaster Rodel had nearly caused.
I have to kill it here... but Star Eater will take forever. My highest output is Amaterasu, but...
He looked up. "...It's night."
Amaterasu required concentrated sunlight. While it wasn't impossible to use the light of the moon or stars, the resulting power would be a joke. He didn't even need to try it to know it wouldn't be enough to bring down the Elder Worm.
"Coming alone was the right choice, but coming at midnight was a massive blunder. Life just never goes according to plan."
If he had waited until morning, Yuri and the others would have insisted on coming along. It was a catch-22.
"In that case... I’ll just have to use it. Even without a trial run, it’s time to test the new trump card."
He had always known that Star Eater and Amaterasu were situational and difficult to handle. That was why he had been refining other types of New Magic. He had never used this one in a real fight, but the mental image was crystal clear.
"Honestly, if I mess this up, I’m probably dead... but what the hell."
Rest smirked. He was facing a lethal crisis, yet he felt a surge of exhilaration. Was it the Worm Meat, or something else? Standing on the precipice of death once again in this second life, Rest whispered the name of the spell.
"Let’s see how this works... Kagutsuchi."
With a ferociously combative smile, Rest committed to the strike.