"Rwarr!!"

Luther roared as he attacked the enormous monster while gritting his teeth and clenching his sword.

He knew his blade wasn't sharp enough to slice through the shell. However, if he wouldn't try, who would? Even if it was enough to get its attention away from other people, especially from Louise his king, he believed it was a success.

Until Cleo and Ethan returned from the errand, it was his responsibility to lead the camp to survive.

Seeing how the conventional weapons didn't work, Gura advised him to light up the camp. Even if they didn't have a spellcaster, they had enough torches and blankets to burn. Most houses were tents so they could build a big fire to ward off the monster. "Every animal is afraid of fire, even if it has lived for a century."

Since they meant to leave the camp soon anyway, Luther also believed it was the best option. The nights in the desert would be harsh without the shelters but there was no point if everyone died by the monster in the first place. "We can rebuild the camp anytime as long as the men live. Let's burn it up."

First, Gura chose the guys whose steps were the lightest. They wouldn't be noticed by the worm and they were to smear the kerosene to the tents. Second, important persons like Louise, old man Elba, Signard and Sincyll, children evacuated from the camp in different directions individually, followed by women and the wounded. They carefully walked away so that the behemoth underground wouldn't notice. It kept spiralling beneath the camp sensing for its prey, forming waves in the sand above along its path. After most people were evacuated, then it was time to light it up.

Gura set a group of camels free in one direction. Luther, from afar, waited for the behemoth to appear. He nocked an arrow with a cloth treated in kerosene and followed the aim toward the camels. A man with a torch was on standby beside him.

It wasn't long before the hungry monster unearthed and appeared before them. It spread its mouth and swallowed the camel whole.

Luther, without a glitch, shot the arrow straight toward the nearby tent. As soon as the flame touched the surface of the tent soaked in kerosene, the fire spread like wildfire instantly. It burned the shell and the skin below the unsuspecting giant, burning it alive. Upset, it went back into the sand.

"We did it!! Oh my Lord, we did it!!" A man shouted in triumph. So did the rest. From the dunes overlooking the camp, they watched the devil's pet wriggle back into the hole in defeat. "That's right. Run you shitty worm. We aren't people you can take on. We are the God's people. We are the Revenant!" Gura roared in victory.

They won over the legendary monster,

Or so they thought.

The sand below the camp slowly sank lower and lower until it completely collapsed five meters into the ground, swallowing everything including the enraging fire. The sand buried and put out the fire. And soon appeared the wrathful monster below it. It screeched before it turned its head toward the direction where Louise was, and then it entered into the sand again.

"You must be fucking with me," Luther swore angrily when he saw it went after Louise again. How did it manage to target Louise, he wondered. What a messed up coincidence, he cursed. His feet moved like a horse as he dashed toward Louise. "Protect the king!" He screamed.

With every fibre of muscles in his body, he ran to his king as fast as he could. But he knew he was no rival against the speed of the behemoth. He could not make it in time and Louise wouldn't be able to run away either.

He could see the monster was already at the tail of Louise. And he saw Louise fall to the other side of the dune as the dune collapsed.

In desperation, he cursed, "fuck me." He closed his eyes. It was a very short time but a lot of things came into his mind. From the past when he and Louise played together with wooden swords to the time when he swore an oath as the king's guard. He also didn't know how to explain to Cleo how he failed to protect his best friend. At that moment, he heard a weird chant with an awful hoarse voice.

"Quakadoladoo!" It was Dovos. When they came back from their errand, they had a low rumbling sound from afar so they climbed the highest dune to look over the camp. They found out the situation and quickly came to the rescue.

Dovos slammed his Warhammer down the base of the dune Louise was on and made it collapse. The monster missed its target as Louise slid down the dune along with sand. Cleo quickly grabbed Louise's hand and took him out of the sand before he was buried permanently. So did Igüan to the other survivors by blocking the sand with his shield.

At the same time, a loud clap like thunder roared across the desert with two big sparks from the distance. Abel and Jonah fired the muskets at the behemoth to test their ability. The iron balls penetrated the shell and sank into the flesh. Although tiny compared to the monster, they still did justification by giving the behemoth a sharp pinch it never felt before.

Meanwhile, Ethan climbed over the dune and jumped onto the back of the worm. He used both his sword and dagger as hooks to hold onto it. As the master of Divination, his blades easily went through the tough shells of the monster.

The monster screeched in pain and wiggled in an attempt to shake off Ethan. It failed as Ethan clenched his swords tightly so it chose to go underground.

"As if I will let you do that," murmured Ethan, "Flameno!"

As soon as he chanted, the fiery blades burnt the flesh of the worm from inside. The fluid came out from the cut as Ethan roasted the flesh of the monster. The smell reminded him of a barbecue party he once had with his friends.

Suffering the immeasurable pain, its body no longer listened to its will. The worm wiggled in pain above the ground.

Ethan tried his hardest to hold onto but he was thrown off to the ground with his dagger. The sword was stuck too deep that it didn't come off. With a small blade in his hand, he had to face the biggest monsters humanity had ever seen. But for some reason, he felt no fear. He felt no defeat. He had full confidence that he could beat the devil's pet raging in front of him.

Ethan charged in without a tinge of hesitation in his heart. With the fiery dagger, he shattered the shell and opened the flesh. He cut it as deep as he could, spewing purplish blood all over him.

The worm pushed him away with its body in defence. It was a slight movement but it hit Ethan like a thousand bulls. He was thrown away but he got up immediately and charged in again fearlessly. If he of earlier days saw his current self, he might have thought 'Did I go mad?'.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

The worm spewed acid toward Ethan. It was just the gastric juice but it was strong enough to erode skin and flesh within seconds and dissolve bones in minutes.

Ethan crouched to make himself small and rolled to the side. The worm tried to run away into the sand when Ethan was distracted but Ethan didn't give it a chance. With the help of Igüan, he used the levitating force of the shield to jump onto the back of the centuriworm again. "Flameno!" He cast. The worm moved jaggedly in pain throwing him off again. However, at least, he was able to retrieve his sword back.

Ethan's attack did hurt the giant worm in immeasurable ways but it was still not enough to end the fight. He also noticed he was getting out of breath and his grip on his sword loosened. His muscles started to ache. He hadn't rest for the whole day, no one had. The time was way past midnight. The sun might be up soon. If the fight was to be dragged on, it would be humans who would be exhausted first.

Ethan racked his brain. He needed to end the fight quickly or they would all die. At that time Abel and Jonah showed him a bag of gunpowder. He understood it immediately.

He threw his dagger to Jonah and signalled to Dovos, Igüan and Cleo. Without words, they moved in synergy. The four warriors harassed the centuriworm so that it could not hide in the ground while Jonah and Abel prepared the ultimate weapon.

Igüan shielded the acid for the team. His shield made from the special wood from the North edge was able to resist the gastric enzymes of centuriworm. Dovos spilt the dune when it tried to hide. Cleo and Ethan used fiery blades to roast it alive. Under constant harassment, the behemoth could not think right. All it felt were pain and anger and frustration. It felt the urge to decimate the puny humans rather than running away. It fought back with the acid and giant body.

"Are you done yet!?" Dovos asked Jonah and Abel. He was at his limit. He gasped for breath. He could barely lift his huge hammer for another attack and move his legs. And the monster noticed it. It came toward him. "Oh, fuck me," swore Dovos. For the first time in his life, he dropped his beloved hammer and left it on the ground as he ran for his life. Cleo tried to grab the attention from the behemoth but it was determined. Dovos used the little energy he had left to move but his tired legs betrayed him. He fell to the ground.

The monster narrowed him instantly. With thousands of razor teeth, it showed its wrath.

Dovos scoffed, "Well- at least I ain't killed by some half-ass monster. I can brag about it in my next life. The only regret is my sweetie isn't with me." He looked at his hammer which soon went under the body of the giant worm. "I am sorry," Dovos said his last regret.

Dovos closed his eyes and waited for his death. He noticed he was snatched. But for a while, he didn't feel any pain. He reopened his eyes and saw himself being dragged away from the nape by a horse and from a leg by another.

"Rings!? Danny!?" Everyone was startled. Danny was the mare Dovos always rode. It wasn't a very obedient mount like Rings. So it surprised them more. Danny grabbed Dovos's clothes at the nape with its teeth and dragged him away. Rings helped Danny from the leg. It was a narrow escape.

"Great job, Danny, Rings." Ethan praised them. "Now is my turn. Let us end this now. Jonah! Abel!" He shouted. The two quickly came to him with a bag of gunpowder attached to the dagger.

It was as if Danny and Rings also understood what humans were planning, they carried Dovos toward Ethan luring the monster along with them. Ethan ran opposite Dovos. They met in the middle and passed. When Ethan reached the monster, Igüan was already waiting on the path. Igüan crouched down and placed his shield like a step for Ethan. As soon as Ethan stepped on, Igüan lifted it. With the boost, Ethan jumped into the air, coming in face-to-face with the monster.

Ethan smirked, "time for you to go to the deepest place, bastard. Go burn in hell. Flameno!!"

He threw the fiery dagger into the darkest cavity where thousands of menacing blades surrounded. The dagger hit the palate and stopped while the bag of gunpowder touched the dagger in momentum. The flame in the dagger ignited the powder and exploded instantly.

With the loudest clap and the brightest light, the head of the monster exploded and splattered into pieces along with black smothering smoke. Ethan was also thrown back by the explosion. Thankfully, his body was reinforced by 'divine blessing' so he wasn't hurt much. After the fight with Hammer Hammock, Ethan learned the spell. He rolled on the ground and coughed up some smoke while the body of the giant worm was wiggling for the last time then stopped completely. Dovos chuckled at himself. He still couldn't believe he made it out alive. Igüan dropped his shield and sat on the chilling sand while gazing at the stars and catching his breath. Cleo ran toward Ethan to see if he was hurt. Abel and Jonah cleaned the purplish blood off the boxes so that it wouldn't ruin the powder inside.

At that time, they heard a loud cheer from the top of the dune. "Hooray!!" "You did it!!" "We won!" "The legendary monster is dead!" The residents of Imba cheered them from above. They had been watching the fight while holding their breath the entire time, Louise and Luther included.

Luther was itching to help whenever he saw Cleo was hurt but he stopped himself. He knew he would only disturb the flow and become a burden. While the others were cheering, he gritted his teeth and clenched his fist in agony. He felt weak and worthless. "I must become stronger," mumbled Luther himself. The blood oozed out from his hand as he tightly clenched his fist. At that moment, he felt a gentle touch cloaked over his hand and loosened his fist. It hugged his palm in warmth. "Thank you, sir Luther, for saving me back then," said Sincyll gently as she stood beside him and glanced.

For a moment, Luther felt his heart get lighter but the pain he got that night never fainted away.

"Once again, our warrior of God save us again!" Old man Elba, the most loyal fan of Ethan shouted. The rest followed suit.

"Ethan! Ethan! Ethan! Ethan!" They chanted Ethan's name as they praised the warrior of God.