Eugh
Aejaz felt sick to his stomach knowing he had just been touching those worm fangs! His guess was accurate, impressively so, but he was starting to wish it wasn't! Worse still, he'd accidentally prodded the monster awake. The sand worm seemed to have been sleeping peacefully but Aejaz wanted one of the fangs as a souvenir and began yanking on it which is ultimately what caused this meses. The trio would have left that lab peacefully and continued their journey without coming across this monster had it not been for Aejaz' desire to own everything that interested him even slightly. As if the pile of crap in his spatial ring wasn't big enough already! Damnable hoarder thief! Not that Ares needed to curse his brother, Aejaz was already cursing himself because this was a horror situation unlike anything else he'd ever been through. The depth draggers seemed cute in comparison to this and he would pick those friendly muppets any day of the week over this thing behind him! He couldn't even really see it, all Aejaz could make out was the warped and twisting walls forming the shape of a long internal tract leading an abyssal stomach chasing him. The teeth were rotating like blades in a blender as they kept sprouting out of the walls nearer and nearer to his own back, hunting him in a bid to turn him into mince meat and devour him if he slowed down for even a single second.
No wonder nobody could ever find this thing, it didn't even really visually exist in any discernable way. It essentially was the Riddlemyd at this point. It must have started out as a relatively harmless monster but evolved considerably over and years and become something really problematic and nightmarish. Throw in its thirst for blood and hunger for flesh and these later floors would become a real threat whenever it was lurking around, not that anyone else had gotten this far. It was capable of visiting the lower floors but chances are its frequency of showing up would be way higher up here. It struck more often at night too so nobody having ever seen it made perfect sense. If it ambushed you there was little to no chance to react in time because it blended in so well with its surroundings, never mind how easy it would be to get eaten in your sleep. Invisible steppers were easier to detect because of their animosity and the way the air shifted around them but this was literally just like being eaten by hungry, presence-less walls. There was no bloodthirst with this worm, just an endless pursuit of satiating a desire for flesh and blood. It was horrifyingly 'innocent' in the worst way imaginable and Ares himself hadn't felt anything at all back in the lab before it was crushed to pieces. He might not have made it out of the room in time himself if it hadn't been for the Omniscience cluing him in and he would have had to fight his way out from a heavily disadvantaged position. Ares initially just assumed the rumbling was something else entirely as there was no trace of a monster nearby whatsoever. This corridor creeper was a mean one! Even now it was still gnawing and gnashing away at air trying to chomp on the fleeing trio but just barely coming up short each and every time. The sound of clashing teeth was akin to that of screeching metal clamping down and grinding against itself as rows of teeth tickled the necks of the fleeing trio whenever they missed by an inch or less.
"Ares! Blow that hideous thing up!" Aejaz cried out for his brother to do something but Ares could, unfortunately, do nothing about this situation other than smile wryly in response and encourage his brother to run faster.
"Trust me brother, that is an extremelybad idea... I can use anything other than annihilation magic otherwise it will cause serious problems. Just keep running for now!" Though Ares refused to use annihilation magic for some reason, a reason only he knew, he was more than willing to use magic of any other kind to maybe slow down this oversized worm and put some distance between himself and it.
"Ebon Tide" The Deep Blue enabler and disintegration combo sent a wave of pure black fiery magic rolling down the hallway that was lapped up by the monster in seconds flat. The sand worm did let out an agitated roar, as it swallowed the burning tide, that caused the entire Riddlemyd to shake but its speed remained fairly impressive and the damage done to it seemed negligible. This thing had eaten countless things in this place it really shouldn't have over the years and seemed to now have a strong and incredibly resilient stomach and oesophagus. Still, whether they were strong enough to handle "Black Blossom" on a war aura flag remained to be seen! Ares lodged the flag into a wall not yet under control of the worm as he sprinted on by and eventually a bunch of teeth attempted to swallow it in passing. This was a fatal mistake as the flag sprung to life and clashed with the teeth, batting them all away and swooping down the hallway while grinding up against the worm wall. The flag tore through the sand worm's inner mouth and left a long lack blazing gash in the twisting wall that erupted, spewing petals everywhere which caused the monster to let out another screech of pain due to what could be considered a bad case of inflammation. The Riddlemyd quaked again and parts of the walls were starting to fall off and create dust clouds down the path, forcing the fleeing trio to cough out their lungs if they were careless with their breathing.
Noticing the problematic weapon rummaging around inside of it, the sand worm attempted to forcefully remove the flag by breaking it with its deadly teeth. Rows of teeth on both the left and the right of the hallway began shutting like an iron maiden, permanently denying access to the tunnel further back without opening up, and the flag was in line to eventually get bitten into tiny pieces if it didn't' retreat. Ares had no intention of command it to do as such, however, because it was an excellent distraction that had successfully slowed the worm down and was still doing as such even now. Plus, it was relatively safe back there even if it was in the deep end somewhat, as it was a highly mobile and tough weapon, so Ares commanded it to hold its ground and fight back. A red void hand emerged from the fabric and grabbed the teeth, closing in on the flag, like handles and held them firmly in place without budging an inch. The hand was only able to keep one side at bay but it could do it without breaking a sweat and the teeth rows couldn't shut completely on the flag from the other side as a result. The flag was free to keep ripping away the nearby worm walls by spinning horizontally and scratching everything around it in a frenzy of sharp aggression, lashing out at the monster surrounding it in a wild way to inflict maximum damage and summon as much Black Blossom as possible. Though the impact was massive it didn't last too long, however, as the sand worm had a trick up its sleeve and collapsed not the two walls to the side of the flag in on it but, rather, it lifted the ground and lowered the ceiling until the flag was being slowly crushed that way instead. Ares didn't mind this situation because the Black Blossom was about to give this monster a rude awakening as the disintegration was currently welling up and readying itself to explode in a blaze of pitch black misery. Intentionally restricting the effectiveness of the Black Blossom up until now, by not utilising the slower but heavier slash explosions, meant the sand worm had no idea what was about to hit it. While crushed, the flag inched and slid forward to poke the nearest wall with the tip of its flag pole and a small black spark grew into a violent wildfire at the point of contact in a matter of seconds.
ROAR
The Black Blossom detonation took the shape of a lion's head and sprung forth, instantly blasting aside the walls that had gotten too close to comfort and reclaiming the space that belonged to this mighty magic. The black lion's rebellion was swift and savage as it tore through everything that dared confine and restrain it, making a mockery of any and all who thought its brutal might could be chained down by mere teeth barely even a quarter the size of its own. The hallway became a chaotic burning wreckage that squirmed in pain and retreated back a little for the first time this fight. The spread of the teeth down the hallway was abated somewhat, giving Ares and co the freedom to escape without getting too tangled up in this creature's business. It's not that Ares had no intention of killing it, or the ability to, he would and could, it's just that there was a far easier way of going about accomplishing that goal.
This worm was a bit of a tough foe but that didn't mean Ares was scared of it or had any obligation to fight it. He didn't have to play fair with monsters, or anything or anyone he deemed an enemy, and it was an annoying opponent anyway so taking it head on was silly. Blending in with walls the way it did made the worm near impossible to find if it didn't want to be found and squarely put the ball in its court to pick fights. It might go around chasing Ares after the injuries he'd just inflicted on it, and hunt him down between rooms over and over again to restore its pride and get vengeance, but Ares was going to simply keep running and ignore it! His grand plan for the Riddlemyd, or more specifically to fight Tom Tom, was related to the reason he wasn't using annihilation magic to fight back here and now. This decision was something everyone else would come to understand at the right moment in time. Put simply, it was a surprise he was working on for Tom Tom that ought to shock him silly and maybe even take away one of that cat's pesky nine lives if all went according to plan. If Ares played his cards right, he might not even have to fight Tom Tom at all to get whatever fine grind he was hiding.
That plan was for later, though, and right now Ares and co had just fled into the next Riddlemyd room and was taking a breather. The room was a combat room but it wouldn't start just yet because it was a timed encounter and would only begin once Ares pushed a giant red button on a pedestal in the middle of the room. He, Aejaz, and Sandy were free to catch their breath after having been chased relentlessly for the last minute or so. It wasn't a long chase, and the flag had valiantly sacrificed itself to make their escape easier, but it was surprisingly high stakes because getting eaten by that thing was not an easy problem to undo...
Ares was definitely the one who put in the most effort, though, so he didn't want to hear complaints from anyone else about being tired! His poor war aura flag had done a fantastic job but it was likely worm food right about now and so it might take a while to resummon it to his side. Thankfully the delay was only about five minutes, and there was no backlash of any kind, but it was worth keeping this cooldown period in mind for the future. In a case in which Ares was in an extended fight and lost his flag it would render him without the offensive capabilities of his war aura for a while. The aura would persist but he currently had no other way of utilising the aura besides the flag so its effectiveness would dip hard. Maybe if Ares learnt other attacks, or could wield a second flag, the matter would be less concerning but, for now, Ares had to acknowledge the war aura was still in its infancy and not completely indestructible or unbeatable.
As for the worm, it had given up on chasing the trio when they neared this room. Perhaps it recognised Tom Tom's territory and dared not interfere which raised questions in Ares' mind about what made this sphinx so spooky to veterans of the Riddlemyd. The corridor creeper had been here a long while and was near enough a founding member. It was just a tiny thing that cleaned up various corpses when this place was established, according to Sevorus' notes, so it must have understood the pecking order around here pretty well. It seemed like a monster that was maybe dumber than the brood mother but somewhat stronger than it under the right conditions so for it to show this much deference to Tom Tom's safe areas was surprising actually. How strong was Tom Tom? Ares still didn't have an answer to this question and the need for a Canis Stimulant was looking progressively more and more likely.
As for the worm, It was annoying fleeing from it constantly as under any other circumstance Ares could have blown it up easily. Alas, he had no other options right now so the status quo would just have to be maintained as is temporarily. That's not to say Ares would let himself get bullied and pushed around constantly, though, as Ares could still get a bit of vengeance in now before dealing it with permanently later. If it was going to doggedly pursue him through the Riddlemyd corridors then Ares would give it food for thought in the most painful ways he could! There was a lot more disintegration in store for that obnoxious worm so Ares was curious to see how long it could stomach him.
"You all seem out of sorts. Anything happen out there or in the lab worth mentioning?" Tom Tom was asking not out of concern but rather interest. "I thought the labs were mostly cleared out of test subjects but if there was a monster left behind I'm guessing you got into a spar with it or something?"
Ares kissed his teeth and shook his head. "Not quite. We found the corridor creeper. It's a giant sand worm. You know it?"
"Old Wormy? He's still alive and kicking? Ha, that explains a few things, then. Sometimes when I want to appear in the hallways I get denied entry so I'm guessing it has something to do with Wormy. He can take over the walls, covering them completely with his body, so I no longer have permission to intrude wherever he is. At least I'm pretty sure that's what's happening. That explains a lot, actually. Randomly being denied the ability to move around freely had been a conundrum I was unsure about how to fix for a good few years. At least I have a good idea about the cause so I can stop worrying about the safety and sanctity of the Riddlemyd now.
Still, Wormy used to be just a wee tiny guy wriggling around on the floor all day in search of food crumbs. He was barely the size of a finger, I tell you. How big must he be now to take up entire corridors? I did warn Sevorus about him. I saw Wormy lick up some blood once and it froze on the spot before wriggling around to look for more like an animal possessed. Don't even get me started on the happy dance it did when eating flesh for the first time; that jig made it very clear what its priorities were going to be going forward. I tried to warn Sevorus that Wormy was a creepy guy but I guess master just left Wormy to his own devices in the end.
Wormy was a bit of an odd case because he was a seemingly normal sand worm that had somehow survived in the west of the Xascan desert even before we abducted it and brought it here. Or, rather, that was the reason we brought it here to begin with. We eventually found out that its ability to blend in with solid objects was pretty incredible compared to other sand worms we found and it seems like that ability has properly manifested now as a sort of wall-merging / camouflage technique right? Always knew he was a special little worm even if he was a bit of a creeper. That being said, I never cared much for him myself though. The Bastard kept trying to climb up the walls and bite my face whenever he was nearby. Roars used to scare him and put him in his place but as he grew bigger and bigger, reaching the size of a big dog last I saw of him, he was pretty immune to my yells. I had to start spooking him with actual attacks a that point. Ha, he thought he'd gotten so brave but the way he quickly wriggled away in shame is not something I would ever forget! But yeah, no, I haven't seen in him in a long while so I figured an adventurer killed him while he was out disposing of corpses or something. Never would have imagined he was still lurking around and doing his own thing. So what, then? You ran from him? He should be strong by now but not thatstrong, right?"
"Ha... I dunno. I guess I just thought he might be a friend of yours or something so I didn't opt to slaughter him. You seem to have a strange connection to one another so I can let him live if you want?" Ares didn't dare mention he had a plan for the worm that involved his plans for Tom Tom because it would naturally arouse a great deal of suspicion and put this sphinx on high alert. Casually mentioning he had a long-standing plot in store for Tom Tom was blatantly a terrible idea so Ares came up with some bull-crap excuse and ran with it. He wasn't even far from the truth really. Tom Tom didn't consider the worm a 'friend' but it was an acquaintance he friendly-bullied in the past and Ares' claim wasn't a stretch at all. It seemed Tom Tom was more cold-hearted and ruthless than Ares gave him credit for, however.
"Nah it's cool. You can kill him. I thought he was dead anyway and, to be honest, I want to be master's only pet hanging around here. Sure Wormy was just a disposal bin but it rubbed me the wrong way and, now that I know he's also interfering in my ability to move around my home, I kinda want him gone for good. Don't hold back on my account, I don't really know him that well and you'd be doing me a favour if anything. Wormy is just a dumb, barely sentient monster at the end of the day so naturally my standards for friendship are higher than that... Although I can't help but question the legitimacy of that statement considering I'm 'friends' with the likes of that idiot mutt Dominus, chickenshit Larsh, and pompous lizard Dago..."
"Do I get some kind of reward for killing Wormy? He's like a mini boss right?"
"Nope. I mean he is like a boss but I didn't put him there so it's not my problem. No matter how much he grows he can't ever beat me so, while annoying, I really am not too fussed if he continues to skulk around. The second he enters one of these rooms I'll obliterate him though. Until then whoever he bothers in the corridor is up to him, it doesn't affect me much. I rarely enter the hallways anyway as it takes up a lot of my energy to do so."
"Hmph, then maybe I'll just let him live. He's inconvenient to run away from all the time but if it means getting one over on a cheapskate like you, who can't be bothered to cough up payment for my hard work, then so be it!" Again, Ares couldn't care less about any of this but an excuse not to kill the worm, that didn't give away what Ares was going for in the long run, was incredibly useful to him right now. Ares really couldn't afford to be using annihilation magic in the hallways, not after what he'd been doing for over a week in the background now, so having a justifiable reason to not pick a fight with 'Wormy' was a blessing. It did mean hallways had suddenly become an unsolvable problem, and sleeping in them at night was no-go categorically, but it would save Ares hassle in the long run to go about things like this for sure!
"Seriously? You won't kill Wormy just because I'm not giving you a reward? Tsk. Well, you know, if Wormy has been hanging around in the labs he might have eaten a few already. He digests living creatures quickly but maybe some stuff from the other labs is still lying around inside his belly. I won't give you a reward but if you kill him you might just happen to find one anyway!" Tom Tom was being a sneaky wretch here because there was no guarantee this was true at all. He might be directing Ares to do him a favour without needing to repay him whatsoever under the guise of an unknown reward. There was good stuff in the later labs, however, so potentially just letting those resources rot inside the worm and disappear for good would cause any greedy cultivator, so basically all of them, to feel their heart ache. Like this, Tom Tom Didn't have to give away anything precious to effectively order a hit on Wormy and turn Ares into a willing and motivated hitman!
As much as Ares hated to admit it, this was a very smart strategy and he'd fallen for it hook, line, and sinker. Ares didn't say anything out loud, though, and he still wasn't going to make an effort to kill Wormy, but investigating his digestive system for any goods lying about was definitely on his to-do list. In fact, as soon as he was done with whatever this room was, Ares might try and 'feed' himself to the worm in the next hallway. Running away was one thing, and very doable, but surviving inside the worm as he dug around for goods? That was going to be a bit of an ask... Still, the lab goodies had all been pretty fantastic thus far, as Sevorus hadn't skimped out on his aid for the all-father candidate, so Ares felt a cultivator's obligation to go and check out this juicy loot-filled rumour even if it wound up being just that; a rumour and nothing more... And a rumour from Tom Tom' despicable mouth no less. Regardless, if a One With The Universe tome happened to be inside Wormy, for example, Ares would be kicking himself for centuries for not daring to at least check.
Ares slapped the red button in the middle of the room and got to work fighting against four gaping cobras. The combat rooms were bigger now so fights like this were in the cards and Tom Tom had been going overboard with sheer numbers. There was realistically no individual monster capable of stopping Ares, other than the Anubis which were being saved for last, so Tom Tom was kinda just throwing everything at the wall and seeing what stuck. The time trial factor did add a bit of extra anxiety as the time constraints were not generous at all but, for Ares, it was still a bit too easy. He didn't have his war aura flag but if the speed at which he eradicated two of the cobras was any indication he really didn't need it. The other two were also promptly dealt with by Aejaz and Sandy so the room was cleared in the blink of an eye. At one point during the fight a side wall did open, and maybe Siamun's presence would have made the fight much harder, but the entity that was supposed to come out form that wall and complicate the room was long dead. Still, seeing the hole in the wall open up did make Ares chuckle each and every time. The grand reveal of literally nothing made Tom Tom kiss his teeth each time this happened and Ares felt a twinge of satisfaction without fail. That aside, once the room was done, Sandy was allowed to leave, to go find the Lighter Duo and given them the Crown, and Ares and Aejaz kept on keeping on. Ares informed his brother about his plan to jump into the belly of the beast, literally, and Aejaz nervously tugged at the collar of his shirt until Ares had enough of teasing him and assured Aejaz he didn't need to follow along in his footsteps.
The duo continued on through the floor, clearing various rooms, and eventually did run into Wormy again. they'd just walked through the passageway leading to another hallway between rooms when the door behind them was forcefully shut and some strange fangs popped up on the walls. They'd seen this song and dance before so knew to start booking it down the narrow path ASAP but Ares was taking things a little slower and analysing his way into the worm. Aejaz didn't look back because he trusted Ares and knew it was in his best interest to keep running and wait for his brother near the entrance to the next room. He'd be safe from the sand worm there so he tripled his pace by stealing Voidwalk and vanished in the blink of an eye.
As for Ares, he'd resummoned his war aura flag and was taking his retreat slow, facing the worm as he hopped backwards and kept an eye on the worm's movements and openings. It was hard to follow the worm with Ares bare eyes, because it's form blended in extraordinarily well with the Riddlemyd itself, but Omniscience was doing wonders and allowing Ares to be a bit more risky with his positioning. Ares learnt that the sand worm wasn't fully integrated with the walls, it was more like a giant rectangular creature that could glue itself to walls and then camouflage itself to be the exact same colour. The 'twisting' and 'clamping' walls were actually really just the worms camouflaged innards constricting around pray. It's fangs were not breaking through the surface of the Riddlemyd, they were just extending from their hiding space within the flesh of the worm. It was basically a monster that resembled a large, fast-moving tunnel with teeth. Long lines of otherwise empty space like this, wherein it could basically pseudo 'merge' with the environment, were its natural home turf.
Ares had no idea where this worm's head was, or any other important organ or body part for that matter, but the location of its stomach was clear to him and that was all he needed. Fighting his way inside, and batting away all the fangs while protecting himself from gastric acid, would not be easy but he was really hoping it would be worth it! Ares ran annihilation mana through his body to light up the grooves in his cape golden and strengthen his body, he activated annihilation enhancement to the max, booted up his dormant war aura, and leapt forward in the blink of an eye with Voidwalk, Double Jump, and Echo all combined into one single moment of pure speed. He shot through the hallway faster than the worm could even blink and disappeared within the worm's interior like a flash of golden lightning.
Today marked the first day Ares had ever been eaten!
This was not an anniversary he would celebrate or anything, and this would no doubt happen again during his journey as there were plenty of large monsters out there, but it was certainly an unusual experience... And if he was being honest, a bit of a smelly one too... He hadn't been expecting the smell of fresh flowers or anything but the stench of blood and decaying flesh was rampant inside this worm. Understandable, given the sand worm's human-centric diet, but still very unpalatable to the nose. Granted, that was undeniably the least of Ares' problems as he navigated down the hallway-esque interior of the worm. The teeth were starting to close in on him and they were the real obstacles here! It was time to see if this sand worm's bite was worse than its bark and do a little spelunking!