Chapter 425
Chapter 425
The Obsidian Boreworm slithered toward him with incredible speed. The massive, worm-like creature dwarfed Jake, its body covered in armor-like chitin plates from head to tail. As it closed in, the beast opened its maw wide, ready to swallow him whole. But he was ready. When the worm came within two feet of him, he dashed to the side, and the monster’s jaws snapped shut on nothing but air.
As the monster moved past him, Jake thrust the rotating blade of his chainsaw deep into the creature’s side. The chainsaw’s jagged teeth bit into the tough exterior with a grinding noise. As the worm continued its forward motion, Jake held firm, the chainsaw carving a long, jagged slash across the beast’s body. The wound gaped open, oozing a thick, luminous green goo that splattered onto the ground.
Emitting a bellow full of pain and rage, the worm turned away from him, fleeing in search of safety. Before Jake could give chase, the monster vanished into the ground with a thunderous rumble, the earth around it turning liquid before sealing shut, as if it had never been disturbed.
The ground where the worm had just burrowed was once again hard and unbroken, making it impossible for Jake to pursue his opponent. But he knew it would return soon. He retreated to the center of the cavern, scanning his surroundings and wondering which direction the beast would strike from next.
The huge cavern where the fight was unfolding lay deep underground. It had taken Jake some time, but eventually, he had located the third elite mutant from which he needed to harvest the final unique genetic material. For the past several minutes, he had been fighting the creature. The cavern was vast and shrouded in darkness, but his extraordinary senses allowed him to see clearly.
The air was thick with the scent of damp earth, and stalactites hung from the ceiling like enormous teeth. Jake kept scanning his surroundings, waiting for his opponent to reappear. During the battle, he had been using various of his weapons, switching between smashfists, chainsaws, and an assortment of other weapons, against the monster, gradually weakening its defenses and dealing damage.
After taking a certain amount of damage, the worm would dive into the earth, disappearing from sight. Each time this happened, the ground around the worm turned liquid before solidifying again behind it, making it impossible for Jake to follow. After that, all he could do was wait for the worm to resurface. The lower the monster’s health became, the longer it stayed underground. And upon reappearing, it always had some of its health restored, though never back to full.
Jake knew that once the monster emerged from the ground, it would use one of its three special abilities, so he was ready for the moment it resurfaced. However, this time, it was taking unusually long to show up. He began to worry that his opponent might not reappear for another round at all, or at least, stay hidden until it fully regenerated its health.
In hindsight, he realized it might not have been a good idea to let the worm burrow into the earth. Maybe he should have clung to its body, allowing the monster to drag him underground so he could continue the fight there.
On the other hand, defeating it below the surface posed its own risks. If the surrounding earth solidified after the monster’s death, he could end up trapped deep underground, and whether he’d be able to reach the surface would be anyone’s guess.
His train of thought came to an abrupt end as the ground beneath him shook, and the worm resurfaced a dozen yards away, launching itself into the air like a missile. The earth immediately reverted to its solid, unyielding state.
Moments later, the worm landed and activated one of its special abilities: Sonic Pulse. A high-pitched scream erupted from its maw, sending shockwaves through the cavern. Jake staggered as a system message flashed across his vision.
You have received a negative status effect: Mildly Dazed. Eyesight impaired temporarily.
Everything swam before his eyes, but other than that, he wasn’t affected, his body’s resilience absorbing the brunt of the assault. As he hammered the worm with his smashfists, he sprouted numerous bladed tentacles from his back. They lashed out, slicing through the gaps between the creature’s armor plates with deadly precision.
The worm roared in pain and rage and dove back into the earth only to reappear moments later. This time, it employed another of its special abilities, Acid Spray. From the openings along its body, the monster expelled a corrosive mist that hissed as it contacted any surface, dissolving into sizzling puddles. Some of the attacks struck Jake, but the energy shield he had gained after using Restoration absorbed the brunt of the assault.
So far, every strike from the worm had been nullified by the shield, sparing him from any harm. However, the shield’s capacity had dropped to less than 10% by now. Once it was completely depleted, he would be vulnerable and begin taking damage again.
The worm retreated once more, disappearing beneath the ground. The cavern fell silent. Then Jake felt vibrations rising from below, and the creature reemerged with an explosive burst of earth and dust.
This time, it employed Seismic Slam, driving its massive body into the ground and unleashing a shockwave that cracked the cavern floor and sent razor-edged stalactites hurtling down from above. The shockwave slammed into Jake, knocking him off balance and skidding him across the jagged stone.
Regaining his footing, he charged toward the worm, hammering its tough body with his smashfists, each blow capable of shattering rock. The monster writhed in pain, body contorting. Jake could tell it was about to dive into the earth again to heal its wounds with the regenerative properties of its magical passage through soil.
However, Jake wasn’t willing to let it go this time, as he wasn’t sure if it would resurface again. He sprouted dozens of tentacles and tendrils from his body and wrapped them all around the worm’s body. They groaned under the strain as the colossal creature thrashed, desperate to break free. Some snapped, but most held. Despite all its strength, Jake managed to keep the worm pinned.
He morphed his forearms back into chainsaws and cut deep into the creature’s flesh. The worm thrashed, its body convulsing in agony. Blood, dark and viscous, spilled onto the cavern floor. With one final desperate attempt, the worm tried to escape, but Jake was too fast. He morphed one hand into a drill, plunging it deep into the side of its head, piercing through its tough exterior and into the brain. The struggle ceased as the worm’s movements first slowed and then fully stopped.
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Enemy Killed. +47,325 XP
XP: 231,335 / 201,600
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Level Up. 169 → 170
+5 SP
XP: 29,735 / 208,000
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He put the five skill points he had just earned into Body, increasing it from 250 to 255 and boosting his total Health Points from 350,000 to 355,000.
After that, he cut a piece from the dead worm, then created a portal to the Apex Hollow and stepped through. Back in his lair, he extracted the unique genetic material from the fragment of the Obsidian Boreworm’s body and put it in storage, joining the other three precious components he had acquired.
He then approached the Behemoth Cavern, where the primorph idly swam through the green liquid within, its form awaiting transformation. He had already designed the first stage form of his future Kaiju: a towering saurian beast clad in armored scales.
Now, all the resources had been amassed: 1,500 units of Biomass, 17,500 units of Mana, 350 units of Brain Matter, 4,250 units of Rigidbone, the Chlorocore Strand harvested from the Verdant Behemoth, the Toxishell Gene Cluster harvested from the Venomancer Mantiscor, and the Adamachitin Sequence harvested from the Obsidian Boreworm. Everything was ready to initiate the primorph’s evolution into the first stage of his Kaiju.
As he gave the Behemoth Cavern the command to initiate the process, it once again warned him that this decision was permanent. If he wished to make any changes to his Kaiju’s design, he needed to do so now because once the process began, no further alterations would be possible. Jake reviewed his Kaiju’s design in Creation Mode, found it satisfactory, and finally instructed the Behemoth Cavern to begin evolving the primorph into its first Kaiju stage.
He stared at the primorph, scanning for even the slightest hint of transformation. Yet the creature remained utterly still, without a shadow of change. Whatever metamorphosis was occurring within was progressing so slowly that no observable changes could be detected in real time.
He then summoned the development status of the small creature, and glowing text materialized before him.
Primorph (Evolution to Stage I Kaiju)
Current Status: 0.1% Complete
Estimated Time Remaining: Calculating
The estimated time remaining wasn’t even displayed yet, which meant the process would take quite a while, at least a few days. That was fine. Jake also knew that at certain intervals, he would need to provide the developing Kaiju with various basic resources, such as biomatter or mana. Fortunately, the Apex Hollow held plentiful reserves of both, ensuring the creature’s development would proceed unhindered.
He was now ready to meet with Catalina. However, before venturing with her into Dead City, there was one last thing he needed to do in New Hope. He knew that Samantha intended to raid his ten-story lair when she was ready. Currently, her team posed no threat to him at all, and he doubted she would ever have the strength to challenge him, given that he was constantly developing and staying ahead of her.
Still, the idea that she was plotting against him, despite everything he had done for her, didn’t sit right with him. Something had to be done about that. He was going to address the issue right away. As Samantha was about to find out, he wasn’t someone to fuck with.