Chapter 336: The worm’s belly
“Tilly, you can’t!” Just when Ashes wanted to stop Tilly, she was cut off by her.
“In order for someone to enter the hole, they needed to rely on witches who can fly to bring them out.” Tilly waved the ring that was on her finger. “Although carrying a heavy object will greatly increase the consumption of magical power, I can at least bring another witch along. This is something that will play a big part in this operation—If we can bring another witch with us, we will be that much more adaptable when a situation arises.” She paused for a moment and looked at the witches in Border Town. “Anna, Lightning and Maggie, I’ll have to ask for your help.”
The three did not raise any objection and the little girl, Lightning, even had an eager expression on her face.
Tilly heaved a small sigh of relief. “In that case, we will also include Ashes, Shiva and Sylvie into the list of people heading into the hole. I will entrusting the safety of the surface entrance to you, the remaining home girls.”
“Lady Tilly, please allow me to come along with you.” Andrea opened her mouth and said.
“If they happen to come across a group of demonic beasts, I am afraid it would be impossible for Nightingale to handle it all alone.” Tilly shook her head. “As the two of you happened to be skilled in long and close range combat respectively, you’re able to coordinate your attacks with each other.
“Rest assured. I will protect the entrance in your stead.” Nightingale appeared to be very confident when she said that. “Whether is it a devil or a demonic beast, they will be unable to take a step close.”
Tilly had considered the matter very clearly. The few witches that had been chosen to go down the hole were greatly dependent by the carrying capacity of the flying witches. The first and heaviest object that needed to be taken into consideration of was the “coffin”. If they were unable to awaken the girl on the spot, they would have to break the coffin into pieces and bring it away. In that case, it would roughly be equivalent to the weight of 2-3 witches. Only Shiva’s invisible barrier was capable of moving such a heavy object.
Sylvie’s magic eyes was necessary as well. Without her, it would be impossible for them to locate the precise location of the ruins in the creature’s stomach. The same was true for Anna’s cutting and heating ability, although they were unable to fly. Thankfully, they were relatively light and could be carried by Maggie after she transformed into a demonic bird. Finally, was Ashes, an extraordinaire who could easily fight in any situation. She would be moved and carried by Tilly herself.
According to what Lightning said, even though she was capable of flight, her altitude would decline extremely quickly the moment she took someone along. It was possible she would not be able to fly out of such a deep hole.
Her advantage laid in her excellent flexibility and speed. With her around, their awareness and probing abilities would be effectively increased along with their capability to pull off a pincer attack.
The importance of these few witches was almost irreplaceable and the absence of the one person would make things especially complicated. Because of that, her decision to head down wasn’t done in the spur of the moment, but rather something done after taking all the factors into account.
As for Andrea… While her destructive power was extremely stunning within close range, her power will be greatly reduced under the narrow and pitch dark terrain. Since that was the case, it would be better to have her guard the surface with Nightingale as precautions against the demonic beasts patrolling nearby.
It wasn’t as if Tilly hadn’t considered the idea of giving up the rescue and returning back like that. However, there was always a sort of uneasy premonition in her heart. Of all the undamaged region near it, why did it only settle on the remnant of the stone tower? Especially the direction where the massive beast was crawling from—she gazed at the northwestern mountains. Following that, was exactly the place where the devils were residing.
Could it be possible that there were some sort of relation between the two parties?
Under the control of Wendy and Anna, the hot air balloon quickly and steadily reached the ground. After Tilly put aside the distracting thoughts in her mind and reviewed the plan once more, she took a deep breath and spoke while emphasising every word, “We shall now depart.”
…..
The hole was much deeper than she had expected and the height of its interior was about two stories high. The passage stretched vertically downwards at the beginning, but started slanting shortly after and eventually formed a horizontal passageway. All around its wall, the soil emitted an unpleasant smell. If one were to come closer, they would be able to see a sticky liquid dripping down from the surface of the soil which resembled the mucus of a slug.
As the group of witches continued to head deeper, the light that was shining into the hole quickly faded away. Other than a few feebly illuminated areas lit up by the few torches, the entire cave were immersed in a sea of darkness. Furthermore, the whistling sounds of the wind had subsequently gone quiet as well. The feeling of coldness was gradually being replaced with heat that was coming from the core of the planet. Tilly felt warm coming into her body again.
Looking at the flames that were sometimes close and sometimes far, she couldn’t help herself from associating it with fireflies.
“The massive beast is just at the front.” It was at that moment that Sylvie softly spoke.
However, there was no need for her reminder; everyone was aware that they getting closer to the objective. A strange noise began to come from the depths of the cave. It sounded somewhat similar to the rustling sounds made when an autumn wind blew through a forest, but at the same time, it also sounded like “kachi kachi” chewing noises..
“Let’s descend.” After Tilly had Ashes who was on her back hold two of the torches, she reduced their elevation through the magic stone until her feet were in the flexible and sticky mud.
Soon after, Anna began to illuminate the place with a chilly and bright light.
She had once again turned her black flames into the heart of fire. The chilly and gentle rays of light immediately flooded the vicinity. Under the dark green flame, the witches could clearly see the tail of the massive beast. It was slowly crawling forward while it’s grey, wriggling outer skin secreted mucus unceasingly, making its rotting smell become even more pungent.
“A large and disgusting worm.” Ashes pulled out her claymore. “What should we do next? Should I slice its belly open?”
“Wait, Anna has to be the one to kill it.” Tilly shook her head and said. “I am still unaware about how big of a threat the things in its stomach will pose to us. It will be too risky for you to approach it using a sword.”
“Mhm, let me give it a try.” While maintaining the green flames and making sure they did went out, Anna summoned a ball of black flames once more. In an instant, the black flames turned into a string the thickness of a finger and flew directly towards the massive beast.
The thin string penetrated the skin of the monster effortlessly and sliced the side of its belly. Perhaps due to the high temperature, the skin that was in contact with the black string immediately began to burn. The liquid inside its body evaporated, causing billows of white mist to spurt out of its body. Shiva, who had long been equipped for this, activated her invisible barrier, blocking the juices that were flying out from all directions, one after the other.
This is the power that comes from evolution. Tilly quietly thought to herself. Even though Anna had introduced her abilities before departing, seeing it actually happen with her own eyes still shocked her. It was capable of operating outside of her body through her consciousness and it was much sharper than any greatsword in thin string form. What’s more, it was extremely difficult to see its trajectory, making it impossible for an enemy to evade them.
The creature let out a sharp and anguished howl, while its body began to squirm around frantically. However, the black flame continued to slice everything ahead of it and speedily shred a greater part of its body. As for the flowing liquid, before it even managed to come near the witches, it had all been evaporated by the lump of the green fire.
Gradually, the massive beast stopped its struggle. Its skin also began to relax.
“It’s dead.” Sylvie said. “Its heart already stopped beating.”
“This thing has a heart too?” Ashes asked while pitching her nose.
“It’s at its head and is almost as big as the basket of Hawk Eye. What’s more…” She paused for a moment. “Magical power is circulating all around its body.”
“In other words, this is a mixed breed of demonic beast?”
“No one knows the answer.” Tilly said. “There are very few records regarding demonic beasts and the wilderness in the history books. As there are still a lot of unknowns around here, it’s be best if we hurry and dig the coffins out.”
After going through another round of burning from Anna, the rotting smell was not as intense as before. Under the guidance of Sylvie, they speedily discovered the ruins that had been swallowed.—Needless to say, the present basement had already been turned into disorderly pieces of rocks to the point that it was virtually impossible to make out its original shape. As for the magic illumination stone that Lightning talked about, they had all became lumps of mush. Fortunately, the transparent crystal column were still as good as before. Despite being rummaged out from the beast’s sticky belly, there was not a strand of corrosion on top, and the girl that was sealed within the crystal still carried an appearance as if she was alive.
“What happen next is up to you now.” Tilly said to Anna.