Chapter 109: Into the Maw

The moment the creature crashed into the building—

The entire structure shook violently.

The impact exploded like a bomb going off inside the walls themselves.

The deafening noise resounded through the entire neighbourhood.

Screams erupted everywhere, people shouted in panic, and some cried out desperately before—

Before, almost all of them were abruptly silenced in an instant as soon as it crashed into their homes.

Only a few desperate screams continued to linger amidst the aftermath of the chaos.

Many of them—almost all of them were crushed inside their houses when the gigantic worm destroyed the building.

Slowly, the creature tilted its enormous pale head backward for a moment, chunks of debris sliding across its bloated flesh.

Then—

BOOOOOM!!!

It slammed into the building again.

The already damaged structure could no longer withstand the impact.

With a thunderous quake, the entire building began collapsing by itself.

The ground beneath them shook even further.

And right before Lia’s eyes, the building broke apart.

Walls cracked deeply before breaking down completely, and glasses shattered under the impact.

Everything was illuminated by the faint orange light seeping from the rising sun that spilled across the city.

The growing dawn made the destruction even more visible, even more horrifying.

Lia’s eyes trembled violently, her pupils widening in horror.

Not because of the unbelievable sight of a large monster destroying the building.

Not because of the people dying under the rubble.

But because—

Lucian was there.

Her body trembled harder as her lips parted weakly.

“B–bro… ther.” Her fragile voice shook badly as the words escaped her mouth.

Strength drained from her body almost instantly.

The woman beside her—

She looked even more stunned than Lia herself.

Her face had gone completely pale.

“Jane! What is happening?!”

A frightened voice suddenly echoed from inside the house, carrying both panic and confusion.

The woman—named Jane—didn’t react at first.

She simply kept staring at the collapsing building and the gigantic creature tearing through it.

“Jane!”

The voice grew closer, but still drowned beneath the deafening, earth-shaking noise of the destruction outside.

“W-What i-is t-that?!!”

Only when the voice reached right beside her did Jane finally turn slightly.

“I—”

She shut her mouth before she could say anything.

Because she genuinely didn’t know what to say.

How could she explain this?

How could anyone?

“I-Is th-that a mo–monster?” Her husband stammered beside her, his voice trembling violently with fear.

He could barely stand properly.

Just the sight of the enormous worm digging through the remains of the building, tearing it apart, was enough to make both of their legs weak.

Then—

The creature suddenly stopped moving.

Its massive pale head backed out, pulling itself out of the cave-like hole it had created through the building.

“No— NO!!”

“Help me! I’m stuck!”

“I can’t get out!”

“Don’t leave me behind!”

Muffled cries echoed desperately from within the collapsed remains.

Some survivors had managed to stay alive beneath the rubble.

And the moment several of them caught sight of the gigantic monster properly, their expressions twisted into despair.

The cries got even louder than before.

Slowly—

The Giant Maw Worm turned its bloated head to the side.

Nearby, several people who had run outside after seeing the destruction froze completely the moment they laid their eyes upon the creature.

Their bodies locked up in dreadful shock.

Every single one of their bodies shook as its partially enclosed maw shifted faintly as it turned toward them.

If not for its circular mouth, it would’ve been impossible to even know where its head truly was.

Just as the people began praying in fear, with few of them forcing themselves to run despite the creature behind them—

The monster looked past them entirely, ignoring them as its head slowly turned back toward the building it had just destroyed.

“RUN! IT’S NOT LOOKING AT US!”

Someone screamed suddenly, snapping several people out of their frozen terror.

And immediately, they continued running away again, desperately fleeing from the creature.

But the creature didn’t follow them.

Instead, its attention shifted, tilting its head toward the balcony.

Toward the woman Lucian had just threatened moments earlier.

Toward her husband beside her.

Toward—

Lia.

Despite the monster remaining completely still, the ground beneath them began shaking even more violently than before.

The entire balcony shook hard.

Jane and her husband immediately lost their balance, collapsing onto the floor as the earthquake-like tremors intensified beneath the building.

“W–wait, why is it looking at u-us?!” the husband suddenly shouted beside her, his voice cracking with panic.

“I don’t know!” Jane yelled back instinctively.

The husband hadn’t even noticed Lia, who was just before them, still kneeling in her spot.

She stared blankly at the monster, its head now turned in their direction—or perhaps toward her specifically.

“Brother…” she muttered softly in a fragile, broken tone.

Slowly, the creature fully turned toward them, its gigantic pale head locking direction onto the balcony.

Onto them.

“Wait, it’s really looking at us!” the husband screamed, his blood running cold.

“Why?! Why?! Why is it coming towards us?!”

“I don’t know!” Jane snapped loudly beside him, finally breaking out of her frozen state.

The violent quakes made dust rain from the ceiling.

“We should run!” her husband shouted desperately as he stood up, steadying his balance under the shaking floor.

He grabbed Jane’s arm tightly and pulled her upward with him.

The moment she stood, he immediately tried dragging her away from the balcony.

But Jane didn’t move.

Her eyes shifted toward Lia.

Toward the girl who was still frozen near the edge of the balcony, staring blankly at the approaching monster.

“Jane! Hurry up!”

Her husband pulled her hand, but still—

She didn’t move.

“We… we should—”

Before she could even mutter the words out of her mouth—

“KRRRROOOOOOOOMMM…!!!”

A loud, booming roar exploded through the surroundings.

Everyone’s vision snapped toward the gigantic worm instantly.

The creature had suddenly let out a pained, guttural shriek that echoed across the entire street.

Lia’s dim eyes lit up faintly.

A small spark lit within them.

“W-who is t-that…?” Jane’s husband muttered weakly, unable to process what he was seeing before him.

Jane could only stare before her lips parted.

“I… I don’t know…”

Her eyes widened while she uttered those words.

Because she did know.

She knew that man—at least to some extent.

Because the man standing over the monster’s bloated head—he was the same person who had threatened her just moments ago.

Lucian.

He stood atop the creature’s pale, pulsating flesh while gripping a massive steel beam embedded deep into its skin.

His body strained as he pushed the metal further downward—the one he had stuck into its flesh.

The gigantic creature let out another loud screech.

Its body convulsed grotesquely.

The beam penetrated deeper into its flesh.

The creature suddenly jerked its enormous head around sharply.

‘Shit—’

As soon as his feet lifted from the surface—

His hand shot out and grabbed the beam tightly.

His entire body swung violently in the air from the momentum.

Below—

Jane and her husband stared with completely stunned expressions.

They genuinely felt like their eyes were not working.

“Is he… is he trying to fight that thing?” Jane’s husband muttered faintly in disbelief.

As soon as the worm stopped thrashing, Lucian tightened his grip around the metal beam, planting his feet steadily.

Then, another identical metal beam suddenly appeared in his free, left hand—flickering into reality as it was summoned from his inventory.

He had taken a few of those from the ceiling of the building—the one the Giant Maw Worm had just crashed through.

The moment the second beam slammed downward into the creature’s body, a small resistance stopped it midway.

Lucian’s expression darkened.

“Increase Strength by 20 and Constitution by 30,” he muttered aloud, his breathing faintly uneven.

[Attribute Points – 80➝30]

His body surged violently as power spread through him instantly.

He raised the beam once more, his forearms flexed visibly.

Then, he slammed it down with overwhelming force.

This time, the steel beam pierced through the creature’s flesh despite not having a sharp edge—digging into it by his pure raw strength.

The worm released another deafening screech of agony, its voice buzzing in his ears.

Its gigantic body convulsed wildly.

Then, it suddenly began rolling onto the ground.

Lucian’s eyes widened as his entire body tilted sideways.

Before the creature could roll more and crush him beneath it—

Without hesitation, Lucian jumped.

Using the embedded steel beam as a footing, he kicked it off and, with a surge, launched himself into the air.

His vision blurred faintly from the sudden momentum.

In the next second—

His body slammed directly into the second floor of the building—the one that the monster had partially destroyed.

“Aghh…!”

A sharp groan escaped his lips as he crashed hard across the floor.

His head struck the concrete, inflicting a sharp pain.

His vision turned blurry.

Then, he slowly forced his eyes to open.

A few cries resounded weakly around him—broken screams and desperate sobs of people who were still trapped beneath the rubble nearby.

The moment his blurry vision slightly cleared—

Lucian instinctively clenched his fists, feeling something sticky coating his palms.

He froze faintly.

“Blood…” he muttered bitterly, lowering his gaze toward his red, bloodied hand.

Lowering his gaze, he noticed the blood slowly seeping across the floor.

It wasn’t his blood.

It was already leaking on the floor.

Lucian slowly tilted his head to the side.

“Plea… please… help…”

He heard a broken, dying murmur beside him.

Lucian looked toward the source.

A young man trapped under a massive concrete pillar.

His lower half was completely crushed beneath the rubble, and large amounts of blood were flooding from the gaps.

Lucian’s pupils trembled faintly.

His breathing turned heavier.

The dying young man turned his head toward Lucian.

The moment their eyes met, Lucian instinctively dragged himself backward slightly, his hands slipping over the blood.

“Help…”

Blood bubbled out of the dying man’s lips as he raised his hand weakly in Lucian’s direction.

Before Lucian could even react properly—

A loud rumbling sound echoed through the collapsing structure.

The entire floor beneath him shifted violently.

Lucian’s body abruptly began sliding downward toward the broken edge.

His head snapped toward his right.

And instantly—

A freezing chill ran down his spine.

Because there was nothing before him.

Only a void darkness directly opening toward him, with sharp rows of teeth in the edges spiralling inward.

Then—

DOOOOOOOOMMM—!!

With a loud thunderous sound—

Everything went blank.

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.