Chapter 81 First Encounter (2)

The biggest worm I have directly seen in my whole life is an Australia's Giant Gippsland Earthworm, which my slightly eccentric biology teacher, Mr. Smith brought to the classroom for... Observation.

I have believed it would remain that way, but that changed upon coming to this world.

"I think I have seen this worm in Bikini Bottom before." To cope with the dumbfounding reality, I joke to myself.

Looking at the humongous, pinkish worm that has just emerged from the ground, my body shakes in nervousness and disgust. The stench it produces is overwhelming the air, and I feel quite a bit lucky I wear a mask.

I don't know what the worm's specialty other than being big is, and it makes me wonder if it is its only means to kill us. My question is soon answered the moment it opens its mouth so wide, I think it can fit the entire Empire State Building in its mouth.

"Woah... This bitch is sucking!"

Opening its mouth wide isn't the only thing it can do however; it also can generate a black hole in its mouth. It sucks everything regardless of their size and mass, and it makes me wonder how we will defeat the thing.

Turning to the other Warriors in troop after attaching myself to the ground with Mana, I find them... Running away from the gigantic worm.

I immediately doubt what I am seeing, because I for sure have heard Velucan said we should prepare for battle not long ago.

"How the hell will you fight if you run away?!"

Clicking my tongue in slight exasperation, I prepare myself to dash away from the gigantic, biological vacuum cleaner. As I am about to dash, at that exact moment however, I find Vibiane shaking uncontrollably in front of me.

"Layland..." She looks like she wants to cry and it makes me wonder if she is afraid of the worm, which makes me question what she has done in the years she has spent in the army. "I have an upset stomach... Bwaah!"

"What the fuck... Did you just say?!" I barely can hold myself back from slapping the shit out of her when I see her wail like a baby. "Of all the time to shit—you choose now? What is wrong with you?!"

I would really like to abandon her, but it's hard for me to do it after knowing about her past. Like me, she has also been abandoned by everyone—she is my kindred soul, so it doesn't sit quite right with me to abandon her.

Making a choice, which I am sure I will regret, I pick Vibiane up, and dash away from the gigantic worm that is slowly turning to us. Immediately, I can gradually feel the suction force lifting us both.

It weirdly makes my heart beat in excitement though.

"Ah, be careful! It's really about to come out!"

... At least, not until Vibiane said that.

"Don't you shit on me, stupid woman!"

"Don't shake too much then!"

"You have a smart mouth, eh? Do you really want me to leave you behind?"

"No! Be my friend till the end!"

"That's fine, but you are bringing the end closer than I expected!"

Carrying Vibiane on my shoulder like a sack of potato, I run as fast as I can. My exceptional way of circulating Mana—that's what Valeria has claimed—allows me to catch up to the other Warriors not long after, and it surprises them slightly.

They seem to be more surprised by the fact that I carry Vibiane for the second time that day however, and I am with them too. I, myself, am surprised that I have the stupidity to carry the dingbat twice on the same day.

"This is investment," I assure myself. "I will just sell this bitch as a slave and take the money if she turns out to be a bad investment."

"You are not serious, are you? Please, tell me you're not. I can't tell when you are serious and when you are joking—you sound exactly the same!"

I quirk my eyebrow at one of my new traits that Vibiane has just pointed out. I am already aware of that fact long ago though—the fact that I am less expressive than what I make myself to believe—so I am quick to ignore it.

There are things about myself that I can't control—like how my eyes look empty even though I'm always full of passion—so I just accept how things have turned into, and move on.

"Have you ever heard me joking?"

"... Were all of the mean things you said to me serious?"

"I was just stating facts."

"How cold!"

I smirk to myself as I find Vibiane having stopped thinking about her upset stomach. I have heard some research saying people feel greater urge to defecate when they are nervous, after all, so I am glad my distraction works on her.

Focusing my gaze to the front while ignoring Vibiane, who is lamenting about how come she never meets someone who is kind enough to treat her nicely, I encounter Eliseus not long after.

She doesn't look surprised as she sees me running beside her, but she is genuinely surprised when she sees Vibiane on my shoulder. Well, she can only technically see Vibiane's butt, but I am sure she knows it is Vibiane.

"Is she having a sudden diarrhea attack?"

"Yeah. Seems like she has eaten some bad fruits in the city earlier."

"No, that isn't the case." Eliseus shakes her head faintly. "She is always like that when she feels nervous."

"Has she ever defecated unintentionally though?"

"No, that never happens and will never happen," Eliseus answers surely. "She will run faster than anyone when the danger is really close to her—that's why we always leave her behind."

"..."

Turning my gaze to the now silent Vibiane's butt, I ponder how I should torture the idiot. I wonder if skewering her then putting her above the fire will quench my rage, but I soon figure the best way to vent my anger.

"L-Layland, what are you doing? N-No, stop!"

Lifting Vibiane with my right arm while ignoring her plea to not do whatever I am about to do, I throw her roughly to the back.

I can hear her scream turning gradually fainter in each second, and it reminds me of the day when my physics teacher showed me what Doppler Effect in practice is.

As I smirk under my mask, my gaze meets Eliseus, who, by the looks of it, is bewildered. I slightly tilt my head to show her my puzzlement toward her bewilderment, and she becomes even more bewildered than before.

"Even if none of us has ever paid any attention to her call for help, we never do anything that harms her ... Like throwing her into the area where an Earth Eater is pointing its mouth at."

"... Are you purposely making me feel like shit?"

"No, I am just pointing the fact that you are endangering her life."

Immediately turning my head to the front, I pretend I didn't hear anything. Eliseus also seems to think it is the best course of action as she also focuses on her track not long after.

A few guilt ridden seconds after, I turn my head to the back at the same time Eliseus does. Both of us seem to have the same thought, but as soon as we see Vibiane dashing at us so quick, it is jaw dropping, we turn our head to the front once again.

Vibiane's face is now as tense as a muscle after training, and she doesn't look like she needs to be rescued anymore. The idiot even runs at a speed faster than us, and it bewilders me why she didn't run like that since the beginning.

"Layland! Bwaah! That was so scary—I almost shit myself!"

"Have you shat yourself though? Don't cling to me, if you have!"

Upon reaching right behind me, the idiot Monster girl immediately jumps onto my back. She instantly loses her serious look as she cries like a baby and clings onto my neck like a koala.

I will definitely laugh at the memory when I reminisce about it someday, but considering our circumstance now, I don't find myself having the urge to laugh. Instead, I have a very great urge to slap the idiot to oblivion.

I can already feel the suction power of the Earth Eater getting stronger, which means, it is getting closer to us. The goddamn idiot clinging onto my body doesn't slow me down significantly, but she still slows me down regardless.

It might not seem like a big deal in normal situations, but now that we are being chased by an extremely gigantic worm, even being 0.1 miles per hour faster is significant enough.

"Huh! Layland, I think we are floating!"

"Don't talk shit—holy shit we are!"

"Layland, hold my hand!"

Just when I think things won't get any worse, I find myself floating above the ground. Eliseus quickly extends her hand to let me take it, but the idiot on my back is the one who managed to grasp it.

"Layland!"

With horror decorating her face, Vibiane can only gape as she looks at me being sucked into the mouth of the ridiculously gigantic worm.