Chapter 1565: Their Eyes

After spending what felt like an eternity killing the smaller worms inside the giant creature’s body, Erend finally destroyed the last of them.

The writhing shapes that had crawled from the surrounding flesh were gone, leaving him alone inside the massive worm’s body.

Now there was nothing left between him and the creature’s insides. If he wanted to end this fight all he had to do was tear the giant worm apart from within.

And that was exactly what he did.

Erend plunged his hands into the surrounding flesh and began ripping through it with his bare fingers.

His claws dug into the thick tissue and tore through muscle with warm blood poured over his hands and arms. Whenever the flesh resisted, he pulled harder until it split apart beneath his grip.

He sank his fingers deeper into the creature’s body and ripped away enormous chunks of flesh before throwing them aside.

Sometimes he used his teeth when his hands could not reach what he wanted. He bit into the thick tissue and tore it away with savage force, ripping through veins and muscle as blood filled his mouth.

When he found particularly dense sections that refused to give way, he gathered fire Magic into his hands and released it directly into the creature’s flesh, allowing flames to spread through its insides and burn everything around him.

The giant worm began thrashing violently and twisted across the black sand and slammed itself against the ground in a desperate attempt to dislodge Erend.

Its three mouths opened and released deafening screams. The creature rolled from side to side and struck its own body against the ground, sending clouds of black sand into the air.

Inside it, Erend was thrown around with every violent movement, but he refused to let go. He dug his fingers deeper into the flesh and held himself in place while continuing to tear.

Blood covered him. It ran across his face, soaked his clothes, and dripped from his arms.

Pieces of flesh clung to his hands while the smell of burning meat filled the creature’s body. Yet Erend barely seemed to notice. The pain, blood, and destruction no longer frightened him.

Instead, they filled him with a strange exhilaration that drowned out everything else.

He was angry. But beneath that anger was something even more disturbing. He was enjoying it.

Every tear in the worm’s flesh brought a savage satisfaction to him. Every burst of blood made his grin grow wider.

He ripped through another section of flesh and watched the blood spray across the darkness around him as though he were painting the world with it.

The destruction felt beautiful to him in that moment. There was no hesitation in his movements and no concern for what the creature looked like when he was finished.

He only wanted to destroy it completely.

A wild grin stretched across his blood-covered face. His lips pulled back into a vicious snarl as he plunged his hand deeper into the creature and tore another massive section apart. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

Fire erupted from his palm and spread through the exposed flesh.

The worm screamed again, its entire body convulsing as flames burned through its insides.

Erend laughed. The sound echoed through the creature’s body as he continued tearing and burning everything around him.

He looked less like a warrior fighting for survival and more like an incarnation of destruction and death.

His movements became increasingly savage as he ripped apart flesh, shattered internal structures, and covered himself in blood and gore.

He no longer fought simply to kill the creature. He destroyed it because destruction itself had become the only thing occupying his mind.

The giant worm continued thrashing.

Or perhaps it only seemed that way to Erend.

He became so absorbed in the destruction that he stopped paying attention to the creature’s movements. He did not notice when the thrashing gradually became weaker, when the violent shaking slowed down.

He did not notice when the worm stopped trying to throw him out. He only continued tearing.

His hands ripped through another layer of flesh. He pulled himself deeper and tore through whatever remained in front of him until the surrounding tissue finally gave way.

Erend pushed forward and ripped through the creature’s body, emerging from its massive body in a shower of blood and torn flesh.

He landed on the black sand.

For a moment, he just stood there.

The giant worm no longer moved now and he finally realized it.

Erend slowly turned toward it.

The enormous creature lay motionless. Blood spilled from its three mouths and pooled beneath its head, countless wounds covered its body.

Deep tears ran across its flesh, burns blackened many sections of its hide, and pieces of its body had been ripped open from the inside.

The giant worm was dead.

Erend stared at the corpse. His body was covered in blood and gore, and his face still carried the wild grin from moments earlier.

He had not even realized when the creature had stopped fighting. All he could see was the destruction he had left behind.

"That’s what you get for messing with me." Erend thought as he stared at the corpse of the giant worm.

The satisfaction that had filled him only moments earlier began to fade as the strength drained from his body.

He tried to remain standing but his body refused to obey. Erend cursed under his breath and dropped onto one knee, his hand catching himself against the black sand, a rough groan escaped his throat.

His breathing heavy, exhaustion finally caught up with him after everything.

Then he felt presence. Erend raised his head and looked toward it.

His mother and Arty stood several meters away from him. Eccar, Aesa, and Sylven were nowhere to be seen. There was only his family standing in the darkness, staring directly at him.

But they were not looking at him with relief. They were afraid.

His mother stood with her eyes wide and her face pale. Arty was beside her with her body tense and her hands held close to herself as though she was afraid to move any closer.

They didn’t say anything. They just stared at Erend as if they were looking at something they no longer recognized.

Something monstrous.

Erend slowly looked down at himself. His entire body was covered in blood. The creature’s flesh clung to his clothes and skin while blood dripped from his hands and stained the black sand beneath him.

His face was still smeared with gore, and the wild expression he had worn during the battle had not completely disappeared.

He suddenly understood what they were seeing. They were not seeing him. They were seeing a monster covered in blood and surrounded by destruction.

His chest tightened. The sight of fear in his mother’s eyes hurt far more than any wound he had suffered during the battle.

But Arty’s expression hurt even more. She looked at him as though she was afraid that the brother she knew was no longer standing in front of her.

Erend’s heart sank as he stared at them.

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