Evolving Classes In The Apocalypse-Chapter 50: Bring It On

"Uh? Oh, okay... let me rephrase what I said. I mean, you’ll have to be the one going into its mouth. And then explode its skulls. Or whatever it has in replacement for skulls."

Marcel was still smiling like a damn fool even after I said that. By all means, I should be the one going into the worm’s mouth. I knew I was the better choice. His ability would help him dismantle the creature’s head somehow, I was sure, but at the same time I had something that could bring the same result, coupled with the fact that the worm had been ignoring me this whole time.

It was as if Marcel was the only one on this battlefield. Even though my strikes had been far from negligible, the worm rarely stayed on me. It kept pursuing Marcel. Of course, Marcel was giving it more hell than I was, which made it easy to overlook the pattern.

Absence, my main class ability, made it so that I couldn’t be a locked-down target. Attacks always had a higher chance of missing me.

That was my passive ability and it was always operating no matter how small the scale. Going in there would be easier because the worm wouldn’t even notice me.

At the same time, it seemed far too dangerous to do.

I paused for a moment, looking at Marcel who looked ready to throw himself into the worm’s mouth. Then I suddenly felt the back of my head scratching me, and my hand went back and scratched it.

"You know what... never mind, I’ll go instead."

Marcel was shocked, his expression falling.

"Don’t look so disappointed, this is for the best. In return I’ll need you to draw its offense like you have, just keep doing what you’re doing, okay?"

I stepped away from him and nodded. His eyes stayed on me for a moment, then he nodded again.

He turned and lunged towards the coiled worm that seemed to be trying to rest, or retreat, or was simply doing us the courtesy of waiting.

But as Marcel dashed towards it, its long coiled body twisted across the stone, crushing it beneath.

I stared at his back for a moment and shook my head. It felt a little pitiful, my attempt at self-preservation that is.

’What the hell was wrong with me?’

I almost threw Marcel into a situation that would most likely have gotten him killed because I didn’t want to die. And that sucked.

I still didn’t want to die, but I never thought I was ever going to endanger someone else’s life because of it. I could call it whatever and say Marcel was going to do better. I still didn’t have the right to utter such a statement.

I irritated myself for a moment. It was disgusting to be me.

I bent down and lunged forward with as much speed as my legs could gather.

Marcel had engaged the worm and was now dancing around it. His handling of the spear was awkward here and there, but he was barely ever worried about that. He had his Awakened ability to rely on, letting the spear move the way he wanted it to regardless of how difficult it was for him to properly wield it.

The good thing was that the worm wasn’t trying to attack Marcel with its maws. It was coiling its body and using the coiling and uncoiling momentum as a weapon instead. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

And the boy was taking it with his full chest. The abomination uncoiled a section of its long body and the force blew Marcel off his feet. He rolled across the air and hit the ground hard.

Yet he stood up.

Now the worm slowly extended. It felt like the right way a worm would extend, unhurried, inevitable. Its mouth opened like a wide chasm, revealing rows of sharp, dreadful teeth embedded in wet flesh.

My heart almost quaked.

But I wasn’t getting a second opinion. In fact, standing here, staring at it, made me feel a thin sense of fulfillment.

There was one thing though.

I stared forward and gritted my teeth.

The bastard worm fell upon Marcel with its maws wide open, aiming to swallow him and a chunk of land whole.

’It just had to be when I want to enter your mouth you decide you want to use your mouth, huh.’

Now things suddenly felt more difficult.

Marcel rolled away. The worm’s maws crashed into the ground where he’d been standing, sending sand and clouds of dust into the air. Marcel rolled again and got to his feet. The worm ripped its head free of the earth and lunged after him, crashing its maws into the ground a second time.

The entire land quaked.

’...have to figure it out.’

Marcel was holding the bastard for me. This was something I had to do. I summoned multiple metal balls in my hand as I shifted direction and ran towards the worm and Marcel.

Marcel somersaulted out of the cloud of white dust. Behind him, the worm’s body shifted across the dunes of stones, crushing them with easy force.

Marcel readied his spear, lunging it backward. He glanced back at me, then looked up at the worm with a crooked smile before he released.

The spear shot upward into the creature’s mouth.

At the same time, I used Tyrant’s Gaze. The worm was descending, but for a very brief moment, it froze. And in that sliver of stillness, Marcel’s spear struck the upper part of its mouth, jerking its head backward. For a worm, that meant upward and straight.

I lunged into the air.

Before falling I grabbed one of its teeth. The tooth wasn’t as strong as I expected. It felt like pulling on flesh, soft and giving, but the edges were viciously sharp nonetheless. At least they looked it.

The creature was already moving. Its head and mouth drove downward to crash against the ground.

I yanked myself up at the same moment it hit. A shockwave of white dust and stones rolled outward, throwing Marcel clear.

But I was in and safe... for now.