Chapter 55 : Separation

Demon…

Estelle stared at the terrifying worm monster—its size even larger than most bovine magic beasts.

It seemed to have caught the scent of souls, twisting its body and charging toward them.

A silver light shimmered on the blade in her hand as she began to channel her mana, but then she heard Anna speak.

“Go first!”

Hesitating for just a moment, Estelle chose to listen and turned to follow behind the others.

The Worm Demon curled up like a spring, then shot forward like a cannonball.

Estelle grabbed Milly, who was only half a step away, pulling her aside to dodge the ferocious impact.

With a thunderous crash, the worm slammed into a rock.

A cloud of stone dust burst into the air, along with a thick, pitch-black slime, as the worm twisted itself around and aimed its now-collapsed mouthparts at them once again.

Estelle pulled Milly along, quickening their pace.

None of them cared anymore if the path they chose was the right one—as long as it was a way forward, it would do.

Estelle dodged another brutal charge.

The Worm Demon smashed out a spray of black slime, nearly killing itself in the process.

At that moment, Estelle swung her silvery-gray blade.

A blade-shaped ripple of mana shot toward the demon.

With that strike, the leading Worm Demon was killed on the spot.

The demon, now in a wretched, unrecognizable state, continued to fall apart.

Estelle only spared it a glance before turning her gaze forward.

Just as they rushed down the path they’d chosen in haste, the ceiling of the stone hall behind them came crashing down.

A surge of writhing, yellow-white worms poured in like a tidal wave, instantly filling the place where they’d just been and beginning to squeeze toward Estelle and the others.

As they fled, a Worm Demon or two would occasionally leap out, but the group dispatched them in just a few moves.

These worms only acted on instinct—if they dodged the first attack, there would be plenty of opportunity to strike back.

The worms spread rapidly, almost catching up to them.

Marpel swung her axe horizontally, using the worm’s momentum to slice open its belly from beneath.

Estelle and Ruby each dealt with the worms chasing after them.

Milly was in charge of providing light, while Anna kept forming and hurling condensed fireballs behind them.

With every explosion, waves of scorching wind pushed them further ahead.

“Damn it, why are there so many? Did some cultists run into the mountains?”

Ruby, having just hacked down a demon, grumbled angrily, “No wonder we haven’t seen any magic beasts—these demons must have eaten them all! How are we supposed to kill this many?!”

The fireballs only blew apart a bit of the collapsed stone, nowhere near enough to stop the flood of worms.

But they were all seasoned veterans—adventurers who’d faced death more than once.

Otherwise, just the sight of this flesh-colored “tide” chasing them would have broken their spirits long before their stamina gave out.

Anna was already gasping for breath, and Milly, who hardly ever trained, was even worse off.

Only Estelle, Ruby, and Maple, all warriors, were still holding up relatively well.

But after dodging attacks and killing worms again and again, most of their mana was nearly spent.

The situation looked bleak!

Suddenly, Milly shouted, “Look! There’s a light up ahead!”

Estelle also spotted the faint glow ahead.

Without hesitation, she scooped Milly into her arms, focused her mana in her legs, and burst forward at full speed, charging through the “exit.”

But outside the exit was no place of light—it was a bottomless abyss.

The two of them plunged downward into the depths.

As they fell, Estelle’s silver hair streamed upward.

Estelle held Milly princess-style as they both looked down.

The vast chasm below was terrifying—a gaping death’s door opened wide before them.

Instinctively, Milly clung tightly to Estelle, shutting her eyes and bracing herself for the impact.

But after a heavy sensation, the feeling of falling abruptly stopped.

She began to mutter to herself in her mind.

“Huh? Did I already reach the Goddess’s Kingdom? I thought it would hurt a lot more when I hit the ground, but it was over in a flash.”

With a trace of confusion, Milly opened her eyes.

She was still staring into the enormous rift.

Looking around, she realized Estelle had landed with her atop a massive pillar.

The pillar was even wider than the main street of Red Cedar City, stretching across the abyss.

Yet despite its size, it seemed as slender as a single strand of hair, and there were many more such strands in the distance.

When Milly looked up, she saw yellow-white worms cascading down like a waterfall.

The cow-sized demons fell like raindrops.

But Estelle had no time to marvel at this strange scene.

She carried Milly and ran toward the opposite wall, away from the falling worms.

Snapping out of her terror, Milly quickly cast several blessings on Estelle: Comfort, Barrier, and Wind’s Protection.

A thin orb of light enveloped Estelle and herself.

“Wait, where are Anna and the others?”

Milly searched frantically with her eyes, but before she could find them, the giant tree root beneath Estelle’s feet snapped.

A few worms that had landed on the root had chewed through it.

Sensing something wrong, Estelle made a split-second decision and leapt sideways.

She landed on another tree root, then dashed quickly away from the area where the Worm Demons were falling.

These worms could only move on solid surfaces; unable to fly, they couldn’t catch up to Estelle and Milly.

Estelle continued darting from root to root and soon found an opening she could enter.

The entrance was square, built of stone bricks, seemingly exposed by the chasm itself.

There was some light shining from the very top of the rift, but without the ability to fly, all they could do was stare helplessly at the escape route.

Estelle landed at the entrance and set Milly down.

The priestess was drenched in sweat; after such a desperate escape, both her stamina and spirit were nearly drained.

Even so, Milly hurried to the mouth of the cave.

She released a ball of light as a signal, her eyes fixed on every possible direction someone might appear, hoping Anna and the others would catch up soon.

But Anna and the others never appeared.

Milly bit her lower lip and waited anxiously.

She waited for who knew how long until Estelle walked over and took her hand.

Milly trembled at the warmth from Estelle’s touch.

“Let’s wait a little longer.”

As always, Estelle was quiet and reserved, keeping Milly company as they waited.

They shouldn’t be waiting here—it was too dangerous.

If the Worm Demons caught the scent of their souls and came after them, they’d be plunged back into crisis.

After a long and bitter wait, Milly finally lost hope.

“Let’s go… let’s go…”