Chapter 201: The Oasis Worm [part 2]

It was both cold and inspiring to watch how Kassie and Maggie dealt with a creature the size of a mountain. The spikes scraped the air as the Beast curled its massive segmented body, burrowing back into the ground.

But Kassie did not let it escape completely. As the creature slammed into the desert sand, shaking everything for miles, she followed, her armor materializing mid-flight. Helmet included. She landed on the creature’s hide and a terrifying shockwave exploded across the desert, dispersing a wave of sand that blotted out the horizon.

She didn’t care and continued to pummel the abhorrent creature with her bare fists. Every blow sounded like an explosion, as if she was nuking the thing with each strike. Maybe what was actually happening wasn’t far off.

’Just how crazy can her punches be…’

Listening to the sound of the Beast getting beaten into submission made me compose myself and promise my future self never to get punched by Kassie.

’Ah, right!’

I had forgotten for a moment but it wasn’t for long. Immediately, I cast out [Emperor’s Presence] like a fisherman casting his net.

This was an opportunity I couldn’t miss to grow the attribute. Even though Kassie said not to interfere, I was sure that [Emperor’s Presence] would give her a boost in strength… not that she actually needed it. But I insisted.

Besides, both she and Maggie weren’t riding in my essence right now. They weren’t even using any of their signature abilities, so I wasn’t expending essence in any way.

Maggie fought naturally with explosive white flames. It was as easy for her as swinging her chains. The only point it needed the attention of my essence was those terrifying signature abilities of hers.

Both of theirs.

It was just that Kassie’s own blossomed with an army.

Watching Kassie give the Apex Worm one hell of a beating, I realized she shone more on a large-scale battlefield. That realization made me think of what exactly “shone more” would mean in her context.

The creature let out a screech that threatened to burst my eardrums again. Its large upper body flew into the sky and it shook against the air like it was throwing a titanic tantrum.

Kassie did not care though… Actually, I couldn’t see Kassie anywhere in sight.

I couldn’t see Maggie either. But I could see explosions of fire blazing through the fog of sand below the beast. The same fog we had to run away from, and still had to move away from every time the fight got intense.

The flames exploded against the beast’s body and caused it visible, vicious pain. But the beast was too large for such pain to bring it down. Its body was too vast for these tiny spirits to fell it.

They didn’t lack force. The Spirit Beast was actually feeling the weight of each of their attacks. But from how I saw things, it would take at least two hours to disperse this thing.

’So what?’

I wasn’t worried about the time. I was worried about what would happen in that time.

It was established now that Ealdrim was a world blossoming with different kinds of vicious, unthinkable horrors.

As much as their natural habitat was a Spirit Gate, it was already a known fact that an undefeated spirit gate could break and spill the beasts within it. And everyone, over time, adapts to their environment.

I had seen the Duskstriders. What was to say there weren’t other vicious beasts like them waiting around the desert for nightfall?

And if they did exist, wouldn’t the sound of battle send them coming? The sound could send anyone coming, in fact. What I hoped was that we’d be long gone before they got here.

I thought about all of this for a while, with the roaring sound of Maggie’s flames, the explosion of Kassie’s fists, and the torturous cry of the beast’s pain mixing into the background.

After deciding, I stepped forward.

Tristan, Levi and Nisha immediately threw their heads toward me.

“What’re you doing?!”

I glanced at them and flashed a cool smile.

“I’m going to put an end to this nonsense. We don’t have the luxury of time.”

I said it simply and turned back, walking into the mist of sand.

I summoned Maggie’s info to confirm some things as I continued forward.

[SPIRIT PROFILE]

Name: Sister Magdalene Ignatius

Title: The Pyre Saint

Class: Caster/Commander

Spirit Tier: Calamity

Fortitude: 8.2

[SIGNATURE ABILITIES]

• The Auto-da-fé (Ultimate)

Effect: Magdalene conducts mass execution — all marked enemies within 1-mile radius are simultaneously immolated in pillars of holy fire (instant kill on anything below Hero tier/B rank, massive damage to higher tiers/ranks). She designates who burns with liturgical pronouncements.

Cost: 800 SE, requires a 10-second casting ritual, leaves her physically and emotionally devastated (cannot fight for 1 hour after), and the summoner feels the psychic weight of every death.

• Stigmata Sentencing (Debuff/DOT)

Effect: Brands target with bleeding stigmata wounds (hands, feet, side, crown). Each wound deals continuous holy damage and prevents regeneration. Number of stigmata increases with target’s moral transgressions (maximum 5).

Cost: 150 SE per target, lasts until dispelled or target confesses/atones.

• Cathedral Manifestation (Environmental/Buff)

Effect: Summons her personal cathedral (500ft diameter) around the battlefield. Allies gain +40% to all stats, enemies suffer constant fire damage and guilt-based debuffs. Magdalene can teleport between confessional booths.

Cost: 300 SE, lasts 10 minutes, requires she remain stationary at the altar.

• Confession Price (Interrogation/Truth)

Effect: Forces target to answer three questions truthfully while experiencing phantom burning. Each lie they’ve ever told manifests as a small flame consuming them.

Cost: 100 SE, target must be restrained/bound, works on beings up to Sovereign tier/S rank.

My resort would have been to make Maggie use [Confession Price], but the ability read like it wouldn’t be of much use to a beast that most likely couldn’t talk. So, I could just use my own version of the ability: the [Chains of Confession].

As I walked closer to the writhing beast in the sky, with thunderous sound rolling across the desert, five chains shot out of my body like tentacles. They moved with a speed that blurred and latched onto the beast.

At the same time, I commanded Kassie to use [Auto-da-fé]. We were going to give this Oasis Worm a burn of its lifetime.

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