Chapter 218 - True Monster
The spearman looked on with a frown. He had witnessed Arthur's strength firsthand, so he looked conflicted about fighting him.
Arthur, on the other hand, was the same. He didn't want to be the kind of person to carry others through but the fact that this person has fallen for the Enders made things different.
If this man was a minion of the Enders, then Arthur had every reason to prevent him from passing. This way, he would hinder them from getting their hands on the artifact.
At this point, Arthur realized that his legacy quests only appeared when the Enders were involved. This suggests that the purpose behind his legacy was to stop these creatures.
As the tension rose, Ellen was the first to break the silence. She pushed Arthur's arm away as she took a step forward.
"You have nothing to do with this." She said holding her injured arm.
Arthur sighed and threw out his hand. Ellen stiffened before she fell backward for Arthur to catch her. Restrained, Ellen looked at him with fear and anger.
"Lie down and allow me to handle this." Arthur placed her down and turned toward the man. "I'm sorry, but this is as far as you can go."
"I don't think you wish to antagonize me." The spearman said as he strapped the spear to his back. He crossed his arms as he looked at Arthur. "It's better that we both forget this."
"Sorry, I'm a petty person. If you attack me once, I'll bite you."
"That's not how the saying goes." The spearman said, his accent clear.
"Jokes on you I didn't even know there was a saying." Arthur stretched his neck. "What I do know, and you know as well, that you can't win against me."
"Yeah, that's true." Unexpectedly, the spearman nodded. "I can know a man's strength by trading punches with him. Sadly," His voice trailed making Arthur have an ominous feeling. "I'm not alone."
Then, the man roared. Or imitated roaring. Arthur looked at him with furrowed brows as the man's veins bulged as if he was screaming but no sound came out.
"Are you silent acting?" Arthur leaned forward and dashed toward the man. "Sorry to interrupt your performance."
Before Arthur could reach him, the ground began shaking. After steadying himself, Arthur used his detection rune. It hasn't been there earlier, but something was approaching from underneath them.
"Alright, we need to run." Arthur turned and picked up Ellen, who was still struggling to run away, and threw her over his shoulders and jumped.
His skill got activated as the two rose in the air. The ground split apart as an earthquake struck the desert. The iced sand rose in the air as a monster revealed itself from underneath the spearman.
The spearman landed on the monster's giant head as it appeared from the underground. Arthur landed on a nearby dune as he looked with a frown at the monster and human duo.
"A tamer?" Arthur muttered as he looked at the giant worm that had appeared. It looked like a train rather than a worm, only if the train had legs wiggling like scythes.
Its mouth was as wide as its body, looking like a hollow cylindrical with many teeth that could shred you to pieces. The spearman had his arms across his chest again as he smirked.
"You don't look so strong now, huh?"
"That's a True Monster, idiot." Arthur's heart was beating loudly as he looked at the gigantic monster. "Do you think you can tame it with a simple roar?"
He could see the pale face of the spearman and how the giant worm was growing unstable by the second. He guessed this was only a show to intimidate him, but there was still a problem.
'What would happen once this idiot can no longer control it?' Arthur's heart was cold. He can't take on a True Monster with his current strength. It would take a party of rei-rankers to contend against this monster.
True to Arthur's expectations, the worm began to shake its head in protest as the spearman's mana dwindled. Arthur had expected a great nemesis for the fallen ones, but this man looked like a piece of paper as the monster threw him off.
"Are you seriously going to summon that thing just to lose control of it?!" Arthur shouted as he saw the worm rise in the air issuing a growl.
With a high-pitch roar that made Arthur's ears tingle, the worm threw itself in his direction and the ice caved in underneath it. Arthur started running away with Ellen on his back and she was equally trembling.
The worm's slithering across the earth made it tremble as the ice began to break and the sand began to shift. Arthur's senses tingled fearing the incoming danger as he felt the monster behind him.
Suddenly, the air around them grew more humid and warmer. Arthur frowned and looked back to see fumes coming out of the worm's mouth as an orange fluid began emerging.
"This shit is spouting out lave?!" Arthur almost tripped over himself. "Why is it living beneath the ice desert then?!"
However, his grumbling went unanswered. He felt Ellen's tiny fists clench to his body in fear. It seems she was scared Arthur would throw her away to run away since he, since Alexie, was a total stranger to her.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to leave you," Arthur said but she was anything but calm. The thing is that he was the same.
His mind raced of possible solutions, including teleporting away. However, that would not only make things messier with Rayxin, Ellen would also become suspicious of him.
'I'm not in Jerano yet but I already have so much mess to deal with.'
His shadow grew longer as an orange hue appeared in front of him. Arthur's back felt as if a heater was strapped to his back and he knew that the worm has unleashed an attack.
Looking back, Arthur got to see the sky raining lava for the first time in his life. He would have loved to enjoy the view but he had to grit his teeth and use his skill.
He hugged Ellen in a tight embrace as the sand began drifting apart underneath them. They began sinking into the ground as if the sand was water.
The world turned dark beside them but Arthur kept using his skill to dive deeper underground. The sand's structure made it easy to manipulate but his mana was still draining at an alarming rate.
He could feel the worm making its way toward them and Arthur used his stealth rune on both of them. Given the circumstances, he doubted Ellen or Rayxin would know that he used the rune.
They were still diving deeper into the sand as the sand raced by. Arthur used his skill to keep the sand away lest they suffocate. Yet even with that, there was very little air.
The earth trembled again as Arthur felt the monster's presence go in a different direction from them. He didn't know if his Stealth rune was enough for that eyeless bastard or if it was simply going crazy, but they at least got it off their backs.
He had the mind to fly in the air but the lave rain made him change his mind. However, now that they were diving underground, Arthur realized that oxygen was becoming an issue.
He used his detection rune and found a cavity underneath the sand, separated from it by a mass of hard rocks. Arthur made the last-ditch for it and their feet rested on the rock.
"Are you okay?" Arthur asked as he expanded more mana to push the sand away.
Ellen, on the other hand, was breathing heavily. Arthur felt her blood cover his hand and used his other hand to touch her face. She was smoldering.
'Is the wound infected?' Arthur frowned. Fever was a serious symptom of an infection. However, there was also the possibility that it was mana deprivation.
Arthur realized she needs to rest. He didn't have the mana to break through the rocks.
'Ruki, go to the inside of this cave and break the rocks beneath us.' Arthur knew there was a possibility the cave might collapse but he didn't care at the moment.
'Yes, My Lord.' Ruki slipped away from his shadow and traveled into the cave. After a few seconds, Arthur could hear loud sounds accompanied by shaking coming from underneath him.
The rock underneath them cracked as the sand began to pour in. Arthur used the last of his mana to push the sand away and slip into the cave with Ellen still in his embrace.
Suddenly, the sand disappeared from underneath him and Arthur fell. He hugged Ellen and landed safely on the damp cave's floor as he felt the chilly frost covering it.
Arthur looked around and saw that he was in a tunnel. He placed Ellen down after taking out a blanket from his subspace and covered her.
As he lit a fire to keep her warm, Arthur looked at her breathing rapidly with a red face. Covered with the blanket, she looked like a giant burrito. Arthur sighed and sat beside her to rest as he wondered why his friend was in such a place.