Worldwide Class Change: Minimal Effort, Maximum Reward!-Chapter 75, The Worm Beneath the Throne (2)

Su Qinghan moved first, her decision sharp and immediate. "I’ll draw its attention!" She drove her frostblade into the stone floor with force, and a pulse of freezing energy burst outward from the point of impact. The temperature in the room plummeted in an instant, breath turning faintly visible in the air. Ice spread rapidly across the floor in veining patterns, crawling over cracks and broken stone like a living thing.

The Worm reacted at once. It did not see, but it felt. The vibration of her blade striking stone drew it like a signal. Its massive body twisted, turning toward her, and the rotating maw at its front began accelerating again, concentric rings spinning faster and faster as if eager to tear through everything in its path.

Wang Hao saw the moment clearly, the opening forming in real time. While the creature turned, Lin Yi was already moving.

Phantom Void Step activated without a sound. Lin Yi vanished from his original position and reappeared along the Worm’s flank, positioning himself parallel to its body with precise control. From there, he had a direct angle on the unprotected gap between its armored segments. Compared to the hardened chitin plates surrounding it, the soft tissue in that narrow space was pale, faintly pulsing, and completely exposed.

One clean strike. That was all it needed.

The Worm lunged toward Su Qinghan.

Its maw drove forward with terrifying speed, the same ground-boring momentum it had used to erupt from beneath the floor earlier. The spinning rings tore through the air, grinding against the frost-covered surface as it closed the distance. Su Qinghan didn’t retreat immediately. Instead, she raised her blade and released a concentrated burst of frost energy directly into its path.

The cold struck the rotating rings head-on. Frost crystallized instantly, forming along the edges and in the gaps between the spinning layers. The fluid that dripped between them froze mid-motion. The mechanism slowed, the smooth rotation disrupted as ice built up and forced friction where there should have been none.

The maw didn’t stop, but it lost speed. That single moment of resistance was all that mattered.

Lin Yi was already there.

The Celestial Lord Blade drove into the gap between the third and fourth chitin segments with full force. This time, there was no deflection, no resistance strong enough to turn the strike aside. The blade sank in cleanly, cutting through the exposed tissue as if it had been waiting for this exact opening.

Golden light erupted from the point of contact.

It surged inward, flooding through the soft tissue with overwhelming intensity, spreading like a contained explosion beneath the creature’s armored exterior. The same terrifying output that had ended every previous fight was unleashed again, but at close range, directly into the Worm’s core.

The Worm screamed.

It wasn’t a sound produced by a mouth. It came from everywhere at once. Every segment of its body vibrated violently, the plates resonating in unison to produce a harsh, unnatural shriek that filled the chamber and rattled the surrounding walls. Dust shook loose from the ceiling. Cracks widened along the stone.

Then it thrashed.

Its massive body lashed out in every direction, uncontrollable and violent. Wang Hao didn’t hesitate. He dropped flat to the ground, pressing himself against the fractured floor as a segment of the Worm’s body swept over where he had been standing a moment before. The air shifted violently with its movement.

Su Qinghan leaped backward, pushing off the frozen ground and landing hard against the wall. She braced herself with one hand, steadying her balance as the shockwaves of the creature’s convulsions ran through the chamber.

The Worm carved through stone as it writhed. Its body smashed into the walls, gouging deep scars into the surface. The floor cracked further under its weight, long fractures spreading outward from each impact. Debris scattered in all directions.

Lin Yi pulled the blade free in one smooth motion and stepped back, his gaze fixed on the creature.

He wasn’t reacting. He was observing.

The thrashing wasn’t random. It followed a pattern. Controlled, in its own chaotic way. The Worm was trying to reposition itself, angling its body toward the hole it had originally used to emerge. Instinct drove it. Retreat underground. Reset. Survive.

The opening was behind it.

It began to turn.

Lin Yi was faster.

Phantom Void Step activated again. His figure blurred, disappearing from the Worm’s flank and reappearing above it in a single, seamless motion. For a fraction of a second, he hung in the air directly over the gap he had already opened.

Then he descended.

Both hands gripped the hilt of the Celestial Lord Blade as he drove it downward with the full force of his fall behind it. The blade pierced the same gap again, deeper this time, cutting into what remained of the exposed interior.

The golden light didn’t pulse.

It detonated.

Energy erupted outward from the point of impact, no longer contained. It consumed the remaining soft tissue instantly, then surged into the adjacent segments, flooding through the internal structure of the creature. The energy didn’t just damage it. It overwhelmed it completely, tearing through whatever held its form together.

The Worm stopped moving.

Its plates locked in place mid-motion. The rotating maw shuddered once, then ground to a complete halt, the concentric rings frozen where they were. A low, spreading sound moved through its body, like something collapsing from the inside out.

One segment went still.

Then the next.

Then the next.

The stillness spread from the point of impact outward until the entire creature was motionless.

The golden light faded.

For a brief moment, the massive form remained intact, suspended in that unnatural stillness.

Then it began to break apart.

Its body dissolved into drifting fragments, the same as every projection they had faced before. The chitin plates lost their solidity, breaking into particles of fading light that scattered and disappeared into the air.

Within seconds, nothing remained.

The room went completely silent.

Lin Yi landed lightly on the damaged floor and straightened, lowering the blade in a controlled motion. The faint glow along its edge dimmed and disappeared, returning it to its normal state.

Wang Hao stayed on the ground for a moment longer than necessary, staring at the space where the Worm had been. His chest rose and fell as he caught his breath. Then, slowly, he pushed himself up into a sitting position.

"...It’s dead."

His voice carried a mix of disbelief and relief. He looked around at the chamber, taking in the damage properly now that the fight was over. The floor was cracked and uneven, large sections gouged out entirely. The walls were scarred with deep, jagged marks. Broken stone and debris were scattered everywhere.

"This room looks like a disaster," he muttered, shaking his head slightly.

His gaze shifted back to Lin Yi.

"Are you hurt?"

Lin Yi didn’t hesitate.

"No."

Wang Hao let out a long breath. "Of course not." He stood up fully this time, brushing dust and fragments of stone off his clothes. "Meanwhile, I dove face-first into the floor twice."

He glanced down at his arms, checking for injuries. There were a few scrapes, some dirt, nothing serious. He flexed his fingers once, then looked over at Su Qinghan.

"You okay?"

She pushed herself away from the wall she had been braced against and straightened. Her frostblade was still in her hand. She examined it briefly, running her gaze along the edge as if checking for damage.

There was none.

"Yes."

Her answer was calm, but her attention didn’t stay on Wang Hao for long. Her eyes shifted toward Lin Yi, settling briefly on the blade in his hand, specifically the point where the golden light had erupted moments ago.

She didn’t speak.

But her expression changed slightly, subtle and controlled. It was the look of someone recalculating, quietly updating their understanding of something that no longer fit within its previous limits.

Lin Yi opened his system panel.

The familiar interface appeared before him. He glanced at it once.

No experience.

As expected.

He closed it without comment.

On the far side of the room, a staircase had already appeared. Unlike the destruction around it, the structure was intact, untouched, as if it existed outside the damage entirely. The steps extended upward into the next floor, faintly illuminated and waiting.

"Floor 35," Lin Yi said.

His tone was even, as if they had just completed something routine.

Wang Hao followed his gaze to the staircase, then looked back at the ruined chamber one more time. Then at Lin Yi, who had already begun walking toward the exit without hesitation.

Wang Hao shook his head slowly as he moved to follow.

"You know," he said, his voice carrying a trace of dry humor despite everything, "I keep thinking each floor will be the one that actually slows you down."

He paused for a moment, stepping over a fractured section of stone.

"It hasn’t happened yet."

Lin Yi reached the base of the staircase and stepped onto the first step without looking back.

"It won’t."