Ch 38: Daily Life of Fighting & Killing

The worm charged at Emrys again. Its huge body came crushing the ground as it moved.

But this time, Emrys was ready. He stepped aside just as the worm attacked, dodging its sharp teeth. With a quick slash of his blade, he struck its side.

Screech

The worm let out another screech, twisting in pain. Dark liquid oozed from the cut, and Emrys felt a spark of hope.

“I will take you down!”

The battle was just beginning, but Emrys knew one thing: he wasn’t going to let this beast defeat him.

The worm screeched in pain, its huge body twisting wildly. It slammed into the ground again and again, shaking the earth. Rocks cracked and dust filled the air.

Emrys stayed focused. He kept his eyes on the worm and watched its every move.

The worm turned toward him again. Its flower-like neck glowed with strange light. It was furious. Its mouth was filled with spinning teeth ready to tear him apart.

This time, though, it didn’t lunge forward. Instead, it opened its neck wide, and a stream of sharp, glowing spikes shot out toward Emrys!

Shua! Shua! Shua!

Emrys gasped and used the Void Steps again, vanishing right before the spikes could hit him. He reappeared behind the worm, breathing hard.

“That was close!”

If not for Void Steps, he would have died right there. Taking a deep breath, he gripped his blade tighter and then dashed forward, aiming for the worm's side. His blade glowed faintly as he swung it with all his strength.

The blade sliced through the worm's tough scales, leaving a deep cut. Dark liquid sprayed out, staining the cracked ground.

Hissss

The worm roared again, thrashing its body violently.

Emrys jumped back just in time to avoid getting hit by its tail.

“I need to finish this fast,” Emrys thought inwardly. He could feel his energy running low from using Void Steps too much.

The worm twisted around, facing him once more. Its glowing neck pulsed, and it charged again. It was at least two times faster this time.

"Damn!"

Emrys barely dodged to the side and escaped the worm's attack.

As the worm passed him, he slashed at its neck, aiming for the glowing part.

Ting!

His blade struck true, cutting deep into the flower-like opening. The worm let out a high-pitched screech. Its body was shaking violently and non-stop.

Emrys didn’t stop there. He jumped onto the worm's back and drove his blade down again, hitting the same spot again and again.

"Roar!"

After receiving attacks at its critical points again and again several times, the worm collapsed on the ground after crying out its final screech. Its huge body slammed into the ground with a loud thud, kicking up dust and debris.

At the same time, Emrys jumped off and started breathing heavily. His blade was covered in the dark liquid and his hands were shaking.

“It’s over!”

For a moment, Emrys just stood there, catching his breath and looking at the worm's huge dead body. Then he shifted his gaze to look around at his surroundings. Deep down, he knew this strange and dangerous place held even greater threats than this worm.

"What is this place?"

Emrys was unaware of this place, but he knew for sure that he was no longer on Insectoid Island. After all, the Insectoid Island doesn't have that red sky and this kind of land of desolation.

“I have to get out of here!”

Emrys knew he has to escape this place. This place seemed to be much more dangerous than the Insectoid Island. Turning his gaze to the endless red wasteland, he also started how to escape this place when he doesn't even know where he was.

.....

Days passed in the strange red wasteland. Emrys had no choice but to fight in order to survive and keep moving forward.

Each day, new monsters appeared in front of him. Some were small, lizard-like creatures with sharp claws called Crimson Crawlers.

He faced them several times. They were fast and attacked in groups. Emrys had to stay alert to avoid being surrounded.

Other monsters were much bigger, like Rock Behemoths. These monsters were towering beasts made of stone with glowing red eyes. They moved slowly but could crush the ground with every step. Emrys had to use Void Steps to dodge their heavy attacks and aim for their weak points to bring them down.

There were also flying creatures called Shadow Ravens. These were bird-like monsters with black feathers and glowing red beaks. They dived at Emrys from the sky, trying to peck him or carry him away. He fought them off with quick slashes of his blade, though their speed made them hard to hit.

Every fight was a battle for his life.

As days went by, Emrys grew tired.

Unfortunately, he had no choice but to continue fighting. He could not stop here.

The XT-300 Starfallen Armor protected him from most attacks, but some powerful monsters still managed to injure him. Small cuts and bruises covered his body, yet he kept going.

When Emrys killed a monster, he ate its flesh to survive. He never ate them raw though because they smelled terrible. Instead, he built small fires with dry twigs and roasted the flesh. It tasted bad, but it gave him the strength to keep moving.

Fortunately, these beasts' meat also made him grow stronger. He was not far from advancing to Fourth Star Esper.

As time went by, Emrys continued his adventure. However, the range of his movements was not big. He was moving with a hundred miles of land.

There was a time when he tried to move deeper into this red wasteland, however, he saw a huge Sixth Star Beast from afar and hurriedly retreated. He knew going deeper with his current strength was like seeking death.

In the end, he felt like being imprisoned within a hundred miles-long land.

However, he could do nothing.

There was a time when he found strange glowing fruits growing on the claw-like trees. They looked dangerous, but after testing a small bite, he found they gave him energy. These fruits helped him recover faster after tough battles.