Agent of Seraphim-Chapter 59: Ruin of Worm

[Ruin of Worm]

[Worms weave their silk across the dying earth.

In the hush between heartbeats,

a wyrm gathers its strength.]

As Brand entered the ruin, the flavor text appeared, as if it had been waiting a long time to display its welcome message.

Of course, only he could see it, thanks to the GHOST System.

All Ruby saw were the stone walls and the strands of silk hanging down from the archway to the floor.

The air was damp and heavy with the smell of earth. The stone walls pulsed with a strange yet beautiful light. Thick strands of silk glinted dimly, reflecting the gentle pulses from the walls.

On both sides of the wall was a mural depicting the worms. There were a few worms gathered together, as if they were in an assembly. Opposite the group was a worm with a crown, and it had more distinctive scales.

"Do you think there were societies among the demon worms?" Ruby asked, her eyes still fixed on the mural. "It looks like there was some kind of hierarchy among them."

"Probably, even the mutated demon worm earlier, Raml-d’ah, was of a higher class," he replied, while thinking about which tier the mutated worm would fall into.

Clearly, in terms of power, Raml-d’ah was quite strong. But would strength alone place it in a higher status?

’Definitely. But to what extent would it be?’

All the worms in the mural were the same height, which means either all the worms here were as big as Raml-d’ah, or size was not a factor in this mural’s depiction.

"Map."

A holographic map appeared in his vision. He checked to see if the map would show the ruin’s structure. However, nothing appeared, only blackness.

He could, however, see his own position and Ruby’s, marked with green dots as indicators. There were no others.

"The map won’t work here," Serapine told him. "It has the seal of the Demon God."

"That’s the first time I’ve heard that," Brand said, contemplating.

"Well, it happens sometimes," Serapine shrugged. "You’re on your own to explore the ruin without the System’s help."

"It’s okay, I can do it the scout’s way." He grinned, recalling the survival skills he had learned during childhood.

"Let’s mark this as the starting point then."

He piled up rocks on the ground, pointing them toward the direction ahead of him.

***

They continued exploring the tunnel ahead, occasionally hearing a distant whizzing sound from demonic creatures.

The veins of light on the wall would flicker, twisting shadows across the tunnel, and demonic creatures would rise from the darkness.

"This has become a recurring pattern for mob encounters," Brand said, crushing the skulls of the creatures.

[Skeleton - Lv 8]

For a human skeleton to appear in a ruin dedicated to worms, Brand couldn’t help but question their existence.

Though he was more than happy to fight skeletons. They were far cleaner than worms and rats, crumbling to shards with a substantial impact. No goo or vile blood splattered around.

"How did skeletons appear from the shadows?" he asked Ruby, wondering if she might know. After all, as a mage, she should be proficient in the magical knowledge of this world, right?

"They seem to be summoned creatures..." Ruby said. "Though the spell isn’t recent. It’s been around for a long time, judging by the trace of mana in the air."

"The spell will keep summoning skeletons as long as the ruin detects intruders," she continued. "It’s a grand spell."

He then heard her muttering.

"Using it to only summon weak skeletons..." Ruby muttered, as if troubled by the intentions of whoever had cast the spell.

"Even so... Why not summon worms?" He shared his thoughts, as he found it weird for the place to feature skeleton creatures instead of worms. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

’Even the name of this place was called Ruin of Worm.’

—SHRIEK

A screeching sound radiated from the void. He felt a mild vibration, which he gained from the Scarab Shell’s tremorsense.

’Thanks to the fight with Raml-d’ah and the horde of worms earlier.’

Now, he had enhanced sensitivity to vibrations, even without actively using the skill.

A black exoskeleton covered his torso as he partially activated the Scarab Shell, focusing it on his legs to detect the ripples ahead better.

He tapped his foot on the ground. Preparing ripples of vibrations to check what’s ahead.

Ruby had grown used to his Scarab transformation by now and was no longer surprised by it. She prepared a flame spell in her hand, just in case whatever was ahead turned out to be an enemy targeting them.

He felt the waves returning to him, each one echoing back at a slightly different interval. It was a clear sign that something was moving in the darkness ahead.

As he continued to observe the pulses, they were wriggling movements.

"Demon worms are ahead," he said calmly. "There are a lot of them, though."

At least five dozen demon worms lurked in the darkness, wriggling and circling something. He could sense that an object was reflecting the ripples of vibration from his foot tapping on the ground.

"They don’t seem to be aimlessly moving though." He shared his thoughts with Ruby so they could prepare together.

"What about the skeletons?" Ruby asked.

"There aren’t any skeletons in the chamber," he replied. "Let’s head toward it first."

***

As Brand and Ruby walked toward the tunnel ahead, a shadow concealed on the ceiling of the ruin started to make a move.

Earlier, it just watched them silently, without making any movement.

After they had walked further into the tunnel, the shadow spread its wings. It glided after them, swift and silent, but remaining hidden in the darkness.

Brand’s attention was fixed forward, his senses stretched over the vibrations on the ground, detecting the demon worms ahead.

Ruby, flame spell hovered on her palm, and kept her gaze ahead as well.

Neither noticed the lurking shadow above. A Glasgow smile spread across its face, grinning at the targets it pursued.