Giant Magma Worm

The giant magma worm let out a wretched shriek. Dense fractures spiderwebbed across the rocky crust encasing its body, oozing magma-like blood. After just a few volleys, countless fragments of stone rattled and broke away from its gargantuan frame, clattering down only to be crushed into fine powder beneath its immense bulk, leaving a distinct trail wherever it rolled. Its defenses had actually been breached! Sensing that things were turning against it, spiracles opened along the giant magma worm's hide, spewing billowing plumes of dense smoke that enshrouded its entire body. This was the beast's customary tactic: cloaking its form in smog, it aimed to strike unseen from the haze and deal its prey a lethal blow. In the past, prey trapped in the smoke would panic and thrash about blindly, only to be swallowed whole when the giant magma worm burst from the gloom. Yet the tactical visors of the Dragonscale Marines clearly detected thermal signatures, seeing right through the worm's camouflage. Darting and weaving through the terrain, they raised their weapons and fired; the flying bullets did not abate in the slightest, instead falling into an even denser, relentless tempest. Gangtie Kuangchao roared, "Sustain your fire! Don't give it room to breathe!" Gunfire roared as a metal storm unleashed, punching countless bloody craters large and small into the giant magma worm. *Boom—!* Opening its maw ringed with concentric rows of razor-sharp teeth, the giant magma worm drove into the ground like a tunnel drill, plunging into the scorching rock strata and making the earth quake and shudder violently. "It burrowed underground!" "Watch your footing! Look out for an ambush!" Gangtie Kuangchao planted his feet, bellowing orders at the top of his lungs. But just then, he saw a ridge of earth and stone abruptly bulge outward before him, surging straight in his direction. A terrible premonition crept into his heart. *Don't tell me it's me again...* Feeling the tremor beneath him grow increasingly violent, Gangtie Kuangchao steeled his resolve. He gripped his chainsword tightly in both hands and brought it across his chest, the veins on his arms bulging taut—as if waiting for the opportune moment. In the next instant— *Boom!* The giant magma worm erupted from the earth, tossing up a deluge of dirt and rock as its maw of concentric saw-toothed rings engulfed the Dragonscale Marine. *Now!* With every ounce of strength in his body, Gangtie Kuangchao recklessly plunged the chainsword downward, impaling the giant magma worm's softer tongue in an instant and driving it deep into its gullet. *Skreee—!* The giant magma worm howled in agony. Rearing its head high, it vomited Gangtie Kuangchao back out along with over a dozen undigested corpses. Gangtie Kuangchao crashed to the ground from midair, dripping with digestive slime. Glancing curiously at the remains beside him, his expression turned strange. "Wait... isn't this Luanshi Fusheng?" "Poor bastard," he muttered, scrambling nimbly to his feet. He hefted his buzzing chainsword and rejoined the fray. By now, the battle had reached a fever pitch. Having broken surface, the giant magma worm thrashed and rampaged under the siege of more than a dozen Dragonscale Marines, rolling its massive, hardened bulk back and forth in an attempt to grind these pathetic "humans" into paste. Yet facing a behemoth akin to a moving mountain, the Dragonscale Marines showed not a trace of fear. Coordinating seamlessly, they used their signature weapons—power swords, chainswords, and power axes—to carve deep, gouging wounds into the giant magma worm's hide. These Dragonscale Marines were like a pack of starved sharks scenting blood in the water, swarming in to relentlessly tear into the giant magma worm. Though each strike claimed only a single mouthful of flesh, the cumulative trauma took a catastrophic toll. This was their go-to "bleed-out tactic" for tackling massive beasts. Compared to the oversized, sluggish, and clumsy giant magma worm, the Dragonscale Marines were exceptionally agile. Sprinting and tumbling across the terrain, they easily evaded almost all of the beast's attacks. *Roaaar!!* With another earth-shattering roar, the giant magma worm lashed its thick tail like a whip, sweeping it toward the Dragonscale Marines. The tail ripped through the air with a piercing sonic crack, kicking up a blistering gale as it struck. *Whoosh—!* Two Dragonscale Marines failed to dodge in time and were swatted away. The immense kinetic impact hurled them dozens of meters away, embedding them deep into a distant cliff face and carving out two man-shaped indentations. Yet they were far from dead. Having undergone extreme augmentation, a Dragonscale Marine's musculature possessed staggering density and shock absorption; an impact of this magnitude inflicted only minor injuries, leaving their internal organs completely unharmed. They hauled themselves slowly out of the craters, spat out mouthfuls of crimson blood, and their flesh squelched as it regenerated at remarkable speed. Futejia Hepan dropped low to the ground to duck under the tail sweep, covered the distance behind the monster in a few strides, and leaped high into the air. Raising his power spear aloft, he aimed at an existing wound and drove it down with all his might! "For the Emperor—perish!" The spearhead gleamed with chilling light, unleashing a devastating power field that punched clean through the giant magma worm's thick hide in an instant. It drove deep into the flesh, mangling internal organs into a pulverized mess before bursting through the opposite side. The giant magma worm's body spanned four meters in diameter, comparable to a small cavern tunnel! Yet the power spears wielded by the Dragonscale Marines measured nearly ten meters in length, capable of impaling virtually any beast found across the Material Plane! Just like that, a gaping cavity was gouged into the worm's body. Searing blood erupted like a molten waterfall, splattering against the Dragonscale Marines with angry hisses. Even Futejia Hepan's scales were pitted and scorched black by the heat. *Skreee—!* The giant magma worm shrieked piteously, wildly thrashing its colossal frame and crushing boulders to rubble in an attempt to fling the Dragonscale Marine off. Yet Futejia Hepan clung to the power spear like a leech. Gripping the worm's hide, he refused to let go no matter how violently it bucked and flailed. With his free hand, he drew a bolter, took point-blank aim, and pulled the trigger repeatedly. *Bang!* *Bang! Bang!* Muzzle flashes flared as armor-piercing rounds buried themselves inside the worm, wreaking havoc on its anatomy and blowing open several more massive bloody cavities. "Nice one!" Taking advantage of the monster being occupied by Futejia Hepan, Gangtie Kuangchao slipped in close to unload his damage into its vulnerable spots. Finally, the giant magma worm caught on. It rolled across the terrain, intending to crush the Dragonscale Marine beneath its sheer mass. Futejia Hepan reacted instantly. Gripping the shaft with both hands and kicking off with his legs, veins bulging across his forehead, he forcibly wrenched the power spear out of the worm's body, tearing away a massive chunk of flesh. *Splatter!* A geyser of blood erupted into the air. The giant magma worm screamed again as Futejia Hepan sprinted across its rolling bulk, racing from its midsection up toward the forebody. His tactical visor clearly pinpointed the beast's vital spot—the elemental core of a fire elemental creature. "Die!" Kicking off the creature's tough hide, Futejia Hepan leaped into the air. Gripping his power spear with both hands, he drove it down viciously toward the blazing elemental core! *Squelch—!* The worm's rocky carapace and thick hide were ruthlessly pierced, the spear punching clean through flesh. Yet just as it was about to destroy the elemental core, blinding pillars of fire erupted violently from within its body. Caught completely off guard, Futejia Hepan was blasted dozens of meters back, crashing heavily to the ground and gouging out a crater, his scales pitted and scorched black. This was the innate defense mechanism of a giant magma worm. Much like a squid spewing ink when threatened, sensing mortal peril prompted the monster to vent its immense reservoir of elemental energy, expending its life essence to repel or incinerate any attacker. The elemental core, glowing like a miniature sun, was left exposed, emitting heat that warped the surrounding air as its outer flesh rapidly regenerated to cover the breach. Desperately, the giant magma worm began burrowing into the earth to flee, causing the ground to hum and rumble violently as fissure after fissure tore open as though an earthquake were imminent. —*These humanoids were utterly terrifying! They were like the genie legions of the Elemental Plane of Fire—no, they were even more terrifying than efreet!* *It had nearly been killed by them!* Even the efreet who ruled supreme across the Elemental Plane of Fire never picked fights with gargantuan beasts like itself during hunts; they merely chased it from their hunting grounds. Yet these Material Plane humanoids were actually out to slaughter it! "Don't let it get away!" Futejia Hepan scrambled up, snatched his spear, and pointed toward the fleeing worm. "The big worm's elemental core is exposed! Shatter that thing and it's dead!" Gangtie Kuangchao's eyes instantly lit up. "Kill-stealing? Isn't that my specialty? Talk about right up my alley!" He loaded his bolter with its heaviest mountain-piercing armor-piercing rounds, adjusted his tactical visor, and leveled the barrel at the brightest heat signature amidst the smoke. Grinning from ear to ear, Gangtie Kuangchao chuckled. "Well then... don't mind if I take this kill!" Yet at that very moment, under the astonished gazes of the Dragonscale Marines, an arrow glittering with cold light tore through space with a shriek, cleanly piercing the elemental core. *Boom!* The elemental core detonated violently, sending fire and smoke soaring into the heavens. The giant magma worm wailed piteously, writhing and thrashing in wild convulsions. But its strength rapidly bled away until it finally crashed dead against the earth, splitting the ground with a shuddering impact. At the exact same time, Gangtie Kuangchao clutched his head and let out an agonized howl that rivaled the worm's death rattle: "No way! That was my kill—!" Whirling around in fury, he looked toward the direction the arrow had come from, only to spot a familiar figure. Up on a distant cliff, Singo was casually lowering his longbow, his lips curving into a smug grin. "See that? Bullseye from a hundred paces. One shot, one kill." Beside him, Mantou watched the Dragonscale Marines turning their heads in the distance, his mouth twitching. "Sing-dog, are you seriously not worried about getting your teeth kicked in for kill-stealing like that? Let me make one thing clear: if you pick a fight with those beefcakes, I'm surrendering first." Singo replied with supreme confidence, "They wouldn't dare. I've topped the rankings for the sneakiest, dirtiest PvP player three tournaments in a row. Anyone picking a fight with me has to think twice." In the previous PvP tournament, Xiaye Qiuyu had been done in by one of his underhanded tricks. She cut him a side-eye and sneered, "What, you proud of that?" Face darkened with rage, Gangtie Kuangchao brandished his bolter and raised his chainsword to point straight at Singo on the cliff. "Get down here! Who steals kills like that? Come on, fight me in real life!" "Skill issue, nothing more." Folding his arms, Singo glanced down disdainfully. "Besides, why should I come down just because you tell me to? If you're so tough, come on up! Care to guess if I've set any traps up here?" "Come down if you've got the guts!" "Then come on up!" "Get down here!" "Come on up!" Mantou said deadpan, "Seriously, how old are you two? Are you in primary school?" Looking down upon Gangtie Kuangchao, Singo said, "Childish. Is a scrap of exp really worth getting worked up over? The main reward for this quest is the real prize. If you waste your strength fighting us to a mutual loss, don't blame me when those Wangquan bastards swoop in and steal the prize! "Let me tell you, our best option right now is cooperation. I've got confidential intel. You have twenty-one people, and we have four—that makes exactly twenty-five slots, which means everyone gets the first-tier rewards for this quest. What do you say?" Gangtie Kuangchao gritted his teeth and hesitated, glancing around at the Dragonscale Marines beside him. Finally, he let out a sigh and huffed, "Fine, I'll give you a chance to ride our coattails! But get this straight: if you drag your feet, the Dragonscale Marine Legion won't lift a finger to save you!" "Sign a contract first, or I don't trust you." "Give you an inch and you take a mile, huh?" "How can you put it like that? This is the foundation of mutual trust. What if you guys decide to be unreasonable and use your brute force to take my intel and run?" "You little..." Recalling Singo's reputation as a god-tier guide master, Gangtie Kuangchao relented. "Whatever. Just this once." Only then did Singo break into a grin. Coming forward, he jumped up to pat Gangtie Kuangchao's shoulder—perched over three meters off the ground—and said, "That's more like it. Follow me, and keep your footsteps light so you aren't spotted. The boss this time is a spellcaster." The group crept quietly through the canyon. After covering a dozen li, they finally arrived at a cavern. Deep within lay a colossal pool of magma, and floating cross-legged at its center was a red-robed humanoid figure. Ash, dense smoke, and drifting embers choked the air, while the extreme heat warped and distorted the surroundings. In the sky above, a titanic cloud of fire roiled like crashing waves, expanding rapidly as if threatening to ignite the entire heavens. Faced with such a spectacle, everyone stared in stunned awe. "Is that..."