Rise Of The Worm Sovereign

The commander couldn't risk trying to wake up the ones sleeping and simply ran, Elder Guo doing the same. Both of them knew that there was foulplay at work here, as there was no way these soldiers and cultivators would be asleep even now.

"Dammit! Who dared to sabotage our work?!" The commander shouted in anger.

Elder Guo also had a large frown on his face, knowing that whoever did this probably had been planning for a long time.

~RUMBLE~

Unfortunately all this was useless to think in their current predicament.

<strong>~CRASH~</strong>

The very roof started to break apart and fall, as a massive force hit it.

"That power… Dao Treading realm? No, more!" Elder Guo sensed the energy fluctuations that had come from behind.

"They awakened that creature!" The Commander understood.

The two of them continued to run without looking back and soon reached the exit of the tomb. Thankfully, they were far ahead of all others and had managed to escape it before the roof collapsed.

Even they would have a bad time against a falling roof, then it was an area hundreds of meters deep in the ground. Plus, there were still traps and a lot of dangers that would be falling along with the collapsing roof after all.

"Haaa… HAA… HAA…" The Commander tried to catch his breath and looked at the ruins that were atop the tombs.

The already collapsed ruins were now falling into a hole that had appeared in the ground, quite evidently the result of an earlier roof collapse.

~SCREECH~

It was at this time that a distorted and ear-piercing screech was heard.

"What in the name of ancestors is that sound?" The commander and Elder Guo were forced to shut their ears with their hands due to how loud and irritating the sound was.

"FINALLY!" But a few moments later, when the screech stopped, a coherent voice was heard.

Even though the voice was still very unnatural, at least the words being spoken were understood well enough.

"That…" Elders Guo pointed to the dark hole where the ruins once used to stand.

Multiple yellow lights glowed in the darkness, seemingly oriented in a circle. The two men watched on warily as the circle of yellow lights started to rise. And once they reached a certain height, the light from the moon illuminated the being that the lights were hatched to.

"That creature… it really awakened." The commander said in a stunned voice.

While he was sure that it could only be that creature that could cause havoc and have strong power like that, seeing it was still a shocking experience.

It was like watching the statue of a tiger and knowing what it could do, but then later you encountered a tiger face to face that was hungry and ready to eat you.

Both were vastly different things.

The two men watched as a massive creature rose from the depths of the hole. It was long enough to tower over them and cast a large shadow that masked them entirely.

​ They knew this creature as they had seen it down there, but seeing it awake was terrifying. The creature's multiple yellow eyes gazed at them, while blood and flesh could be seen stuck to its mouth.

These bits of flesh and bones were being picked apart by small tentacles that were cleaning the creature's mouth, consuming them. Each of the tentacles had their own mouths, eating the remains.

This way, not a single bit of the food was wasted.

The commander and Elder Guo watched in fear and it was as if time had stood still for a few seconds.

"Over a hundred thousand years… and I finally get to be free!" The creature said out loud, his voice echoing across the forest and bordering on a roar.

"What is this monster?" Elder Guo couldn't help but say.

They were fine with the creature being powerful and terrifying, but seeing it speak as well, they understood that they were in even deeper trouble. It was one thing encountering a mindless monster and another facing an intelligent one.

"Ah~ You two seem stronger than the bugs before. I should thank you all for awakening me and providing me a good appetizer." Lin Wu said while his mouth opened up wide.

'Fuck! They really did awaken it.' The commander confirmed it for sure this time.

Lin Wu's gaze stayed on them, making them unable to move even though their mind was screaming at them to run.

"Hmm… I feel a little pleased. How about I give you two a reward?" Lin Wu said much to their surprise.

"Reward?" Elder Guo said in confusion.

"Yes~ Isn't that what you humans call it?" Lin Wu replied. "Am I using the right word? It's been a while, so the language may have changed."

"That's correct." The commander actually replied.

Elder Guo looked at the commander with even greater surprise, as he had not expected the man to speak at all. But to the commander, he NEEDED to speak. His instincts told him that he had to do this or the consequence might be even worse.

Besides, he thought if he was going to die anyway, might as well buy more time by talking to the beast. At the same time, he hoped that somehow they would be saved.

A Hundred more thoughts ran though the commander's mind, all with potential methods to survive this day and escape. And it wasn't even because that he didn't want to die, he was already prepared to die the day he chose to join the army.

But rather because he wanted to warn his motherland. He wanted to warn them about the monster that had been unleashed.

Over four hundred of years of being in the army had taught him well to trust his guts. And they were telling him that the being in front of them was the worst that could appear in the world.

It wasn't a beast; it wasn't a demon; it wasn't a villain… it was a monster.