Chapter 106: Gigantic worm

A large, bloated, pale-skinned, worm-like monster was crawling after them at an insane speed.

Its body was massive, tearing through the broken streets as if the properly built road was nothing more than soil to it.

The width of its body alone spanned over six to ten meters.

It was enormous.

Gigantic enough to swallow a bus whole.

Its pale flesh stretched unnaturally across its body, swollen and pulsing grotesquely with each movement, as if something beneath its skin was breathing independently.

Its head was nothing but a circular maw, lined and spiralled with countless rows of jagged, sharp teeth that twisted inward endlessly like a void into the darkness.

It had no eyes.

No nose.

No face.

Nothing, and that made it even more terrible, awful, frightening, and horrifying.

Enough to send dreadful chills down Lia’s spine.𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Its maw twitched violently before a loud, hideous sound erupted from deep within it, a distorted screech mixed with something wet and guttural that shook the air itself.

The noise was nothing that she or Lucian had ever heard.

Lia’s mouth parted in disbelief as horror spread completely across her face.

She froze while looking at the creature behind them.

Unconsciously, a small, broken sound escaped her lips.

Fear gripped her throat—no word escaped outward.

The cars Lucian had jumped over moments ago were crushed beneath the monster’s enormous frame like they were nothing but paper, the metal folding effortlessly—shards of glass from the windows exploding around its body.

It didn’t slow down despite the obstacles in its path, crushing them beneath its massive body with ease.

Lucian’s head lowered slightly toward her while he continued to run at full speed.

For some reason, the monster was fast enough to chase him despite his speed—which was already far beyond normal.

“Lia… are you awake?” he asked, concern slipping into his tone.

Lia’s attention slowly tore away from the horrifying creature behind them and shifted back toward him.

Unconsciously, her hands loosened as she dropped into his arms properly.

Despite the current situation—

Despite the collapsing streets, and despite the danger crawling toward them with an unnatural speed—

His eyes were entirely on her, as if everything else was secondary.

As if the monster behind them was nothing more than an annoyance.

For a small moment, his words didn’t register in her head—her head still muddled with her previous fight and the injuries she got along with it.

And then there was the sudden arrival of the newcomer.

Slowly—

She nodded weakly.

“Sorry…” she mumbled in a very low voice, her voice soft yet slightly hoarse.

Even though he heard her clearly, he didn’t say anything.

His eyes lingered on her for a moment longer before he raised his head.

Another violent crack suddenly erupted from the ground nearby with a loud, thunderous sound.

The streets split apart again.

Lucian instantly sped up, pushing his speed even further as he tightened his hold around her protectively, his feet bursting forward.

Lia’s body jerked slightly from the sudden increase in speed, a weak gasp escaping her lips.

“Hold on tight,” he said firmly.

Lia instinctively tightened her hands around his neck, her fingers trembling as they clung to him harder.

She grit her teeth, trying to ignore the sharp pain that flared in her arms.

But still, she held on.

The monster behind them didn’t stop chasing them, continuing relentlessly as though they were the only creatures it could sense—even without having any eyes.

The ground beneath Lucian’s feet trembled violently with every movement of the creature.

Like an earthquake chasing directly behind them.

Lucian gritted his teeth as he barely managed to steady himself after almost tripping over a corpse lying across the street.

There was nothing that could help him in this situation, even as he desperately searched for some kind of solution for the problem behind them.

Then—

His eyes suddenly lit up as he noticed a small alley in the distance.

The moment he reached near, Lucian abruptly changed route, turning sharply as he took the small pathway, while carrying Lia securely in his arms.

A few stone shards crashed into the entrance of the alley.

His feet slammed against the narrow ground as he rushed through it at full speed, squeezing through the tight space while debris scraped violently against the walls around them.

The creature ran in a straight direction, missing them entirely, along with a sharp screech.

Behind them—

The gigantic creature continued moving in a straight line, missing them entirely.

A loud, sharp, and distorted screech erupted behind them as the monster tore past the alley without realizing where they had gone.

Lucian briefly glanced over his shoulder.

Seeing that the enormous creature wasn’t behind them anymore, he sighed in relief.

The trembling hadn’t fully stopped yet, but it was gradually slowing down.

All this while, Lia’s attention remained entirely on Lucian, her dim eyes looking at him in a daze.

At his face.

At his expression.

She could hear his heartbeat pounding against her ear, making her unconsciously close the distance between them even more.

Each beat sounded loud, making her swallow unconsciously for some unknown reason.

Her throat felt parched again, and unknowingly, her fingers around his neck tightened slightly more.

After a few minutes of running, Lucian finally began slowing down, eventually stopping completely.

He turned his head, scanning the surroundings with a sharp gaze.

The streets were the same.

Quiet.

Abandoned.

He continued observing the area for several moments longer before finally letting out another quiet breath.

“It hopefully went away,” he muttered softly.

Though while saying that, his eyes still remained alert.

He had made sure that the monster—whatever that ugly thing was—had gone in the opposite direction of their house.

Slowly, he lowered his head, finally looking at Lia—more properly than he did before.

Her face had a few blood smears, contrasting visibly against her pale skin.

And her clothes were reddened with her own blood.

His eyes remained on her face for a long moment—

Then stilled.

Her breathing was heavy and uneven, and through half-lidded eyes, she kept staring at him dazedly.

She didn’t look fully conscious.

He quickly moved toward a nearby vehicle and carefully lowered her down onto the ground beside it.

Slowly, carefully, he leaned her back against the vehicle’s door, making sure she wouldn’t fall over, then immediately knelt in front of her.

He gently raised her arm, checking the wounds in her hands.

The skin over her forearm had been torn open badly, and blood was still slowly slipping through it.

His jaw tightened.

“Lia…” he called softly.

Raising his hand, he lightly tapped her cheeks a couple of times, bringing her back from her drifting focus.

Her eyes suddenly widened faintly.

Her head moved as she looked around nervously, as if she remembered something horrifying.

“What… what about that… m–monster?” she asked weakly, her voice fragile and broken.

The fear still lingered in her, which made her shiver faintly.

“I don’t know. But we escaped it,” he said in a soft tone, carefully wiping the tears and the blood smears that were still clinging to her cheeks with his thumb.

“Don’t worry about that right now,” he said calmly, but his jaw tightened with tension—both from the monster they’d barely escaped, and from the wounds on her.

He lowered his gaze before grabbing the portion of the hoodie over his arm.

With a sharp pull, the fabric ripped apart.

Tearing it until he felt it was enough, he clenched his teeth and began wrapping the strips around each of her wounds.

Every movement was careful as he tied the knots tightly, trying to stop the bleeding as much as possible.

His teeth clenched as he tore the part of his hoodie and wrapped it around each of her hands tightly.

“Agh…!” Lia winced sharply.

Pain shot up through her wounds as he tightly wrapped the fabric around them.

“It’s okay. It’s okay. Everything will be fine…” he said soothingly, his voice lowering as he tried to calm her down.

The gentleness in his tone made Lia nod weakly, as she squeezed her eyes shut.

A few seconds passed as he finished bandaging the wounds.

Lia’s heavy breathing could be heard clearly between them.

And from far away—

Faint screams echoed through the city.

It seemed the monster had caused many people to panic—its sudden appearance throwing the surroundings into a frenzy.

The ground still trembled faintly every now and then, making him worry that it hadn’t gone away yet.

‘Where the fuck did it come from…’ he thought inwardly, his brows furrowing as he asked himself.

He hadn’t seen anything like this or even heard about such a large monster in his past life.

But of course, he had already been sure that the memories of his past life were mostly useless right now—in this current timeline.

But right now, there was something else he had been wondering.

“Why…” Lucian suddenly spoke again, his voice cutting through the silence between them.

Lia slowly raised her head and looked up at him.

“Why did you go out of the house when I clearly told you not to?” His voice trembled faintly with restraint.

He was angry, yes.

But more than that, he was afraid.

The fear that something might happen to her.

The fear that she might leave him again.

That by the time he reached her, he would already be too late.

That she would already be gone by then.

Lia kept quiet for several seconds.

Then, slowly, she lowered her head again.

“I–I’m s–sorry… I’m sorry.”

Her voice cracked halfway through the apology.

Lucian exhaled loudly, trying to suppress everything he wanted to say.

Lia shut her eyes tightly again, tears dripping down once more.

She regretted her decision.

She truly, truly did.

But there was nothing she could do now except apologize again and again.

Her body suddenly froze as Lucian pulled her gently into his embrace.

Then slowly—

Gently—he raised his hand and began stroking her head.

His fingers softly brushed through her hair, his actions calming her down.

“Don’t ever go away like that without telling us… without telling me.” he whispered quietly.

Lia pressed her face against his shoulder, shaking her head in a small nod along with a muffled hum that escaped her lips.

100 Powerstones = 1 extra chapter

50 Golden Tickets = 1 extra chapter

This is the most I can do by now. Might increase the number of releases if you support me more.