Chapter 57: The Struggle in the Crater
The calm mist suddenly receded hundreds of meters like a tide, contracting and swirling toward the center. The blue fluorescence, which had been blooming, gradually faded, as if whatever lay within the mist had sunk into dead silence.
“Gah! Gah—!”
Before the mist or fluorescence could change further, the mole-like creature, which had been quietly ‘praying,’ suddenly grew excited.
Its piercing, grating screech was unimaginable, its swollen throat visibly pulsing.
Its claws, embedded in the ground, were pulled free. Abandoning its squatting pose, it faced the nearby Tyrant, lowering its front body while raising its hind legs, poised to pounce.
“Oh? Finally lost your patience?”
The Tyrant, carrying her giant scythe, turned her gaze from the mist to the menacing creature. Her indifferent tone suggested she’d anticipated its move. She’d never intended to coexist peacefully with it, though the confrontation came sooner than expected.
“I overestimated your restraint.”
“Gah—”
Though they couldn’t communicate, the Tyrant’s mockery and disdain were clearly conveyed through her inaction. She neither retreated from the creature’s threat nor prepared to fight. The formidable creature couldn’t tolerate such disrespect from this diminutive being.
‘BOOM!!!’
The bulky creature suddenly sprang from the ground. Despite its seemingly cumbersome frame, it leaped over ten meters high, its speed and explosiveness startling even the Tyrant.
Plummeting toward her, it aimed to crush her with its weight. The Tyrant gripped her scythe’s handle, briefly weighing her options before retreating to evade.
An upward slash might wound the airborne creature, but she’d likely be crushed under its weight, a fate no better than its own.
The creature, curled into a ball, crashed into the Tyrant’s former position. The heavy impact shook the ground, kicking up a blinding cloud of fine sand.
The Tyrant raised her scythe horizontally, wary of the creature attacking through the dust. But after seconds of waiting, no second assault came.
No, it wouldn’t give up. The persistent trembling beneath her feet made the Tyrant realize something.
‘BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!’
The next second, the ground collapsed beneath her. As it cracked violently, her unsteady body swayed. Sharp teeth burst from the surrounding earth, the creature’s jaws aiming to swallow her and the soil in one gulp.
The Tyrant stomped hard, the loose ground crumbling into the creature’s maw. She leaped backward, escaping before its jaws closed.
Her foresight of the creature’s move allowed her to escape.
But the creature wasn’t content to let its prey slip away. Its nearly closed jaws reopened.
Was it going to pounce again?
As the airborne Tyrant saw the gaping maw below, expecting another attempt to swallow her, she noticed the swallowed soil churning unnaturally in its mouth. Mixed with saliva, the soil was kneaded into a sticky mass, and its exposed body seemed to swell.
Could it be…
Unable to dodge midair, the Tyrant barely raised her scythe’s broad blade to shield herself when the creature spat the mud ball.
It slammed into the blade, the heavy impact transferring through to the Tyrant.
Swoosh—
The vile, sticky mud ball splattered on impact, and the Tyrant was sent flying. As she neared the ground, she drove her scythe into the earth, using it to adjust her landing. Her legs hit the ground, and she stumbled back several steps before steadying.
Taking a deep breath, the Tyrant shook her sore wrist and tore off her left sleeve to wipe the foul residue from her scythe’s blade.
“Though you’re a lowly creature, making it here means you’re not ordinary…” The cloth wiped the blade clean with a single pass, restoring its black sheen as if newly forged.
Gazing at her reflection in the blade, the Tyrant murmured self-critically: “You’re worthy… of me killing you seriously.”
As she wiped the blade, the creature had already burrowed back underground, moving deep beneath. No surface bulges betrayed its position.
It was approaching!
The tremors underfoot confirmed her suspicion. The sound of breaking earth came from behind, and the Tyrant spun, raising her scythe.
Heavy claws slammed down, striking the scythe’s handle. The blow sank her feet into the sand up to her shins, but that was all. Despite the loose ground, she held firm against the attack.
The creature was startled. Its massive frame couldn’t overpower this seemingly frail being. No matter how it pressed, its sharp claws couldn’t break her resistance to reach her.
“Hoo—”
“Is that all?”
Inhaling deeply, the Tyrant pulled her feet from the sand while withstanding the claws’ pressure. She stepped forward steadily, her bent rear leg poised to unleash force. Faint, scorched-like black smoke began to swirl around her.
To the creature, this being now exuded danger for reasons its simple mind couldn’t process.
But the Tyrant gave it no time to understand. Freeing her feet, she unleashed her pent-up strength.
A shockwave from her step stirred a cloud of dust, but the main force targeted the creature.
“Gah—”
The Tyrant’s power unbalanced the creature, toppling it backward. It couldn’t fathom where this irresistible force came from. Freed from its claws, the Tyrant’s scythe swung, launching an attack.
‘Sshh—’
The blade pierced its white abdomen, her spinning body dragging it across, nearly bisecting its torso. As the scythe completed the gash, a spray of crimson blood erupted.
BOOM!
The horrific wound seemed to claim the creature’s life instantly. Without a scream, it collapsed motionless in its pooling blood.
Squinting at the fallen creature, the Tyrant watched the spreading blood reach her feet. She hoisted her scythe back onto her shoulder and turned toward the mist she sought, taking a few steps before a strange noise erupted behind her.
Whirling around, she found the supposedly dead creature gone, leaving only blood and a large hole.
“Playing dead? Cunning beyond my expectations…” Her murmur was cut short by a whistling sound. Turning, she saw a familiar massive mud ball hurtling toward her.
Too late to dodge, she swung her scythe to meet it head-on.
BANG!
The impact reverberated through her body, her sliding feet carving deep furrows. But as she steadied, the creature vanished back underground, leaving her no chance to pursue.
Follow it into the hole? No, the underground was its domain—she’d be powerless.
Seconds later, the creature emerged from an unknown direction, repeating its tactic. After blocking three mud balls, the Tyrant’s arms ached, her grip on the scythe weakening.
“Quite… clever.”
Its tactics were shameless, but in this world, survival justified any means. Their goal was the mist’s prize—surviving and killing the enemy was all that mattered.
Advanced monsters fought with strategy. Learning from its earlier wound, the creature knew the Tyrant was stronger. It abandoned direct combat, using its underground mobility and unique attacks to wear her down.
This tactic had felled stronger foes, consuming their Crystal Cores to grow. The soft, diggable soil here tripled its speed.
But it failed to realize its opponent wasn’t a fellow beast or walker.
Its confidence blinded it to the thickening black smoke around the Tyrant and the growing dread in its heart…
“Then… this ends here!”
Her body and scythe were enveloped in dense black smoke, swirling like raging flames. She felt endless power flooding from the void, potent yet teetering on the edge of control.
When the tremors peaked, signaling the creature passing beneath, it aimed for a surprise attack from below.
In that instant, the Tyrant raised her scythe overhead and swung down, the blade and black smoke forming a terrifying edge.
The unstoppable force cleaved the earth, and the creature within. The creature, believing itself safe underground, couldn’t comprehend what happened.
A massive shockwave surged into the enclosed underground, then rebounded, erupting upward. The wounded creature, powerless, was hurled from the fissure, flung skyward with the dust.
As the Tyrant prepared a final strike to bisect the falling creature, she sensed something and looked skyward.
Without hesitation, she aborted her swing and dove toward the creature’s massive body.
The next second, a barrage of whistling explosions engulfed the area.