Chapter 281: Good job

Shin looked down at Carolina, who was still pressing her face against his chest, apparently hoping that if she stayed quiet long enough, he might forget she was there.

Unfortunately for her, Shin had an excellent memory, and he was looking right at her. Carolina thought she was fucked, but surprisingly, he didn’t scold her at first.

"Apparently, you did a good job," he commented, smiling as he glanced at the regenerating worm.

Carolina slowly lifted her head.

"...Huh?"

"You heard me. Even if by the dumbest stroke of luck of all time, you did a good job, stupid girl."

Before she could process his words, he gave her ample ass a firm, playful squeeze.

His hand slid up and cupped one of her massive tits, squeezing hard, like he owned every soft inch of her. He kneaded the heavy flesh, then gripped her ass again at the same time, holding her close as he walked.

"Eeeh?! What are you doing?"

Carolina jolted in his arms, her face turning bright red. She stared at him with wide eyes, completely caught off guard by the sudden squeeze. What confused her even more was his expression. He was actually smiling.

And he had just praised her. He wasn’t mad, he looked genuinely relieved.

She had expected a lecture. Perhaps a terrifyingly calm explanation of all the ways she had nearly gotten herself killed. At the very least, she had expected him to call her an idiot.

Well, technically, he had done that last part. But he had also said she did a good job.

Carolina’s eyes darted between Shin’s face and the enormous worm behind him, which was busy knitting its severed body back together.

"Y-You aren’t angry?"

"Oh, I’m angry."

"Eh?!"

"Very angry."

"Then why did you say I did a good job?!"

"Because you did."

Shin gave her another small squeeze, clearly amused by her bewildered face. His thumb brushed over the soft curve of her breast, his fingertips pressing against her hardening nipples.

Carolina’s face grew even hotter. What’s wrong with this man?! she thought, but before she could ask anything, Shin adjusted his grip and looked toward the worm again.

"If that thing had finished evolving before you woke it up, we would have had a much bigger problem. Its skin is still soft, and its regenerative abilities haven’t fully developed yet. We can work with that."

He glanced down at her again, his smile turning slightly ironic.

"So, yes. You did a good job."

Carolina’s mouth fell open.

Then, slowly, a tiny, triumphant smile appeared on her face.

"I knew poking that valuable thing was a great idea!"

Shin stared at her.

"...You’re an idiot."

"HEY!"

Shin hooked an arm beneath Carolina’s curvy body and lifted her slightly.

"That said, you still need to learn not to poke random dangerous things."

"Wait, what are you—"

He tossed her upward just enough to free his other hand, then delivered a sharp, open-palmed slap across her huge, soft ass.

The hard crack of skin on skin echoed. The force of the slap launched her forward in a high, graceful arc.

He watched as the girl desperately flailed, her massive tits bouncing wildly, thick thighs and jiggling ass trailing behind as she sailed over the village wall.

"SHIIIIIN! YOU BASTARD! MY ASS IS NOT A LAUNCH PAD!"

Just before she could crash face-first into the ground on the other side, a pair of invisible arms caught her in midair.

Yasmin staggered backward from the impact but managed to hold the stupid girl securely.

For a moment, Carolina remained suspended, blinking in disbelief, her soft body still jiggling from the landing.

"...I’m alive?"

"Yes," Yasmin answered.

"He threw me!"

"I noticed."

"He said I did a good job, groped my tits, and then threw me away. This is not fair!"

Yasmin remained silent for a moment, holding back her laughter.

Carolina was already ready to get up and walk back to Shin to complain, when Yasmin held her shoulder easily, overpowering her and keeping the girl in place.

"You stay here," she said.

"Why, can’t I watch the fight!"

"No," Yasmin chuckled. "You’ve already demonstrated a remarkable ability to find dangerous things, and an equally remarkable inability to leave them alone. So from now on, I’ll be keeping an eye on you."

Yasmin briefly revealed herself, giving Carolina a playful wink before vanishing again, leaving only her amused voice behind.

"I’m watching you~"

Carolina opened her mouth to protest, then closed it again. Her heavy breasts rose and fell with an indignant huff.

"...That’s not fair."

"Neither is nearly getting yourself killed and expecting everyone else to clean up the mess."

Carolina looked down, finally admitting her mistake, even if it happened to turn out well in the end. "Okay, I’m sorry."

Shin turned his attention back to the monster, his expression growing serious.

"Lara!"

The Saint straightened, tightening her grip on her sword. "Yes!"

"Keep attacking its body. Don’t waste your strength trying to finish it with a single strike. We need to find its nucleus before it completes its evolution."

"Understood!"

Shin turned toward the two guards who had arrived with Lara. "Support her. Attack its exposed flesh whenever it regenerates, but stay away from its mouth. If it starts moving underground, retreat immediately. Don’t let it reach the village."

"Yes, sir!"

The guards hurried to carry out his orders as Lara advanced, her sword ready to strike.

Shin studied the worm. Its soft flesh, incomplete shell, and imperfect regeneration showed it was still evolving.

They had to destroy it before it finished developing.

"Everyone, stay alert!" he ordered, drawing his sword. "We end this before it becomes any more dangerous."

With that, Shin charged toward the enormous creature.

It took a long time.

Shin went in first and opened the body with a single clean cut from the belly line up to the jaw. The worm thrashed and screamed and whipped its head around, and Lara came in from the other side and cut the other way, and the two of them peeled the thing open between them like a fruit.

They kept cutting and slashing at the beast, and it kept regenerating, in a long and exhausting cycle.

The monster was not powerful or resistant, so besides its regeneration, it posed little threat to Shin or Lara. And the guards did their best not to get in the way, and to actually help.

For a moment, Shin feared his group might reach exhaustion before the opponent did. But ultimately, the beast’s regeneration failed for a second, and the nucleus was finally exposed.

Lara moved swiftly. She was able to tear it free and throw it on the ground, and Shin put his sword through it.

The worm stopped moving.

Then it collapsed, all in one motion, from the inside out, and the body went flat and grey on the moss.

Shin stood over the corpse, breathing hard, sword still through the nucleus, and looked at the seam of unfinished tissue near the tail.

Lara came up beside him with blood on her face and her arm hanging heavy. She looked at the corpse, then at him. The two guards collapsed onto a tree root and did not get up.

"That was," Lara said, "the worst thing I have ever fought against. It’s disgusting."

"The battle is not over yet," Shin commented, looking to the horizon. "This is actually just the beginning."

He knew that soon hundreds of worms like that would be coming out of the ground. So they needed to get ready.