Chapter 23: The Earthworm King -2

Chapter 23: Chapter 23: The Earthworm King -2

As the horde of apes parted, the owner of that sinister voice finally revealed itself.

It was 7 feet tall, giant construct.

​"A golem?" the word slipped easily from Krono’s lips. He had read about them in old texts. They were terrifying elemental creatures capable of shifting the very terrain with their will.

​But upon closer inspection, he quickly realized he was wrong.

​The creature did possessed the towering shape of a golem, but its surface wasn’t made of gray stone or white marble. Its color was a sickly, putrid brown, and its entire body was composed of a gooey, sticky mass of sludge.

​And its face... it looked exactly like an old man whose features had been brutally beaten to a pulp.

​It was utterly disgusting. Anyone would have gagged at the mere sight of it.

​Crawling forward on its stomach like a giant slug, the creature stopped just a few paces away from Krono, thick saliva dripping from its maw.

​"I am the Earthworm King, and I absolutely lovee tender humans. They taste heavenly. Tell me, boy, would you like to receive the immense honor of entering my stomach? I promise I won’t hurt you."

​As the giant worm spoke, an invisible, psychic forcefield suddenly slammed into Krono’s mind.

​"Yes... I would love to," Krono replied, his expression instantly turning dull and silly.

​Saliva began to spill from the corners of his mouth, perfectly mimicking the mindless, drooling state of the Stonefist Apes surrounding him.

​The Earthworm King smiled a grotesque, fleshy smile. Its innate mind corruption ability never disappointed it. It had its helpless prey completely under its control, and now, it was going to take its time enjoying this rare delicacy.

​But just as the hulking beast swooped down to bite off the human boy’s head—

​Something freezing cold and metallic suddenly pressed firmly against its vulnerable neck.

was Krono’s black iron blade.

​The boy’s dull, vacuous expression vanished in an instant, his deep eyes suddenly flashing with a sinister, mocking glint.

​Before the beast could react, the blade sank in brutally, slicing through the Earthworm King’s neck like warm butter.

​SPLASH!

​The violent slash sent a geyser of viscous brown liquid spewing into the air, reeking worse than raw sewage.

​Krono smirked as the giant worm was cleanly divided in two, its grotesque head tumbling heavily into the dirt.

​"Did you really think someone who has lived two lives would get corrupted so easily?" Krono scoffed.

​He had recognized the psychic threat the moment it hit him. He was simply playing along with the mind-control act, baiting the arrogant beast close enough to deliver one unavoidable fatal strike.

​And his trap had worked flawlessly.

With the psychic hold broken, the corrupted Stonefist Apes instantly regained their sanity. Sensing the terrifying danger radiating from the clearing, they frantically began to flee.

​They swung from branch to branch, eventually settling high in the canopy of a massive tree where they could peek down at the source of danger with primal curiosity.

​But it wasn’t just the human boy that unsettled the beasts. Something else was happening below.

​"Kekekek... I am the Earthworm King! I cannot be killed!"

​Down on the forest floor, the severed halves of the giant worm suddenly dissolved into a sickly brown mist. The vapor swirled and converged back together into a single writhing mass, rapidly mutating until it reformed.

This time, it took the shape of a towering Giant Centipede.

Seeing the creature swell larger and larger before his eyes, Krono couldn’t help but curse under his breath.

"What the hell..."

Whoosh!

Before he could fully react, the gigantic centipede shot forward.

Its countless legs moved in a blur as its massive body surged across the ground. Its razor-sharp claws flashed beneath the dim forest light, all of them aimed at tearing Krono apart.

Swoosh!

Krono twisted his body at the last possible moment.

The centipede’s claws tore through the space where his torso had been a heartbeat earlier.

But he wasn’t fast enough.

One of the claws grazed across his back.

Slash!

His flesh on the back cut in a singular line.

As a result, blood immediately seeped through his clothes and began trickling down his back.

Krono winced. His left hand instinctively reached behind him, his fingers brushing against the warm blood.

His expression darkened.

Meanwhile, his right hand remained firmly wrapped around his metal sword.

"This damn insect is tougher than I Imagined. It’s coming again."

The centipede didn’t give him even a moment to breathe.

Clack-clack-clack-clack!

Its countless claws struck the ground in rapid succession, producing a horrifying, synchronized rhythm as the enormous creature charged toward him.

"Kekekek..."

That hideous laughter echoed through the forest once more.

"Trying to play smart with me will be the worst mistake of your life."

Krono’s eyes narrowed.

Yet, a mocking smile slowly appeared on his face.

"Tch. You’re just an oversized insect.

Let me show you what my masters have taught me."

As the centipede closed the distance, he raised his metal sword and steadied his stance.

​Whoosh!

​He swiftly jumped upward like a mantis, exactly as Garrick had demonstrated, and delivered a crisscrossing sword strike to the underbelly of the Earthworm King.

​Slice!

Splash!

​The blade connected the way a razor connects to a piece of paper. Extremely clean and precise. The massive centipede was cleaved perfectly in half. One half was fifteen feet long, and the other half was fifteen as well. Not an inch extra here, not an inch extra there, exactly like a master craftsman.

Krono smiled victoriously, but a moment later, he froze.

​Clack, clack, clatter.

​The severed halves of the centipede snapped back together.

​"Kekekek, what did I tell you, human? I cannot be killed. I am an immortal. As long as the Earth exists, I exist."

​Krono clenched his fist. The creature’s claims of immortality were not an empty boast.

​But Krono did not believe in absolutes. If something was alive, it could die.

​He began scanning the beast for a weak point, but then he paused.

​Why should he bother looking for a weakness when the ultimate weapon was already in his hands?