Chapter 151: Mind Worm
'I think the technology of this world needs to be improved if I want to create a similar portal to travel to different worlds,' Raven said solemnly. In truth, it was realistically impossible with the current technology.
[It will take a few centuries for such technological advancement to happen. So, just try improving your strength until then.]
Raven nodded and continued to check the device.
As Raven observed the arc device, the group combed through the building but found nothing outwardly dangerous or suspicious.
Once the inspection was done, they moved all the metal crates, strange devices, and rusted contraptions into a corner to clear space.
Everyone gathered in the now-open center of the structure to rest.
As dusk approached, the sky outside darkened.
Raven—still in disguise as Leah—joined Jovie and a few loyal servants in preparing food for the others.
After dinner, the group spread out to rest. Thankfully, Count Alden allowed the women to sleep in a separate room to the left.
The dome had several inner rooms, so a few knights took the chance to sleep within the walls instead of under the stars.
However, the Count made one thing clear: no one was to wander or rest alone.
Despite his greedy and pompous nature, Count Alden had once fought in the Crimson Fort War and knew all too well that danger rarely announced itself.
After ensuring the group had settled, the Count moved to a quiet chamber, sitting on an old chair that creaked beneath his weight.
In front of him was a pile of documents and a list of items they had recovered from the ruins. Five Expert Knights and three Wizards stood silently before him, awaiting his orders.
After some time, Wizard Ariel stepped forward, breaking the silence.
"Most of these documents concern their research, My Lord. While the language is of the Agith Era, it's not completely indecipherable. We can make sense of the core meanings."
Nash added with a frown, "Most of the valuable devices and tools seem to have already been taken, probably by the Thornvale family members before us."
"I expected that much."
The Count sighed. "You may all rest. Nash, stay behind."
Once the others left, the Count's expression shifted from stern to deeply serious.
"Report," he ordered.
"Yes, My Lord," Nash said, stepping forward. "Some of our knights have started feeling unwell. Five of them reported severe headaches. Three are down with a cold and fever. Another ten claimed they feel drained, as if their strength is slowly sapped."
"It must be due to battle exhaustion," Count muttered. "We're in dangerous lands. It's not uncommon for knights to get sick. Give them low-rank healing potions and make sure they rest well."
Kael hesitated for a moment and spoke.
"I noticed that Wizard Ryder also started acting strange for a while, My Lord. Usually, he is very talkative, but he has been staying silent."
"He must be exhausted, too. Do not disturb him." Count said solemnly.
"Yes, My Lord."
"And Nash… stay guard while I sleep," Count added after a pause. "I don't trust this place. It is eerily quiet."
Nash hesitated but nodded. "As you wish, My Lord."
Most had gone to sleep elsewhere in the building, though a few knights stood watch.
Raven lay down on the cold floor, letting his tired body relax.
The quiet hum of the ruin around him faded into the background, and soon he slipped into a deep sleep.
At that moment, a small black worm suddenly appeared on his nape, attaching to his flesh.
…
[Raven…]
[Raven… Wake up…]
[Hurry! Or you will die!]
The sudden shout jolted him awake. His eyes opened—yet the world he saw was not the one he had fallen asleep in.
He was standing in complete darkness.
'Where am I?' he muttered, sounding oddly muted.
[Inside someone else's domain. Something is interfering—]
Zera's voice suddenly cut off mid-sentence.
"Zera?" he called out, but no reply came. Only the silence of the dark remained.
He started walking, the ground—or whatever was beneath him—feeling strangely solid, as if he were walking on land.
'This place… It's empty, but I can still move. Wait… what is that?'
Far ahead, a faint golden light appeared. At first, it was no bigger than a spark, but it grew brighter and larger as he approached.
When he got close enough to see its source, his face stiffened.
It wasn't a lantern or a torch.
Instead, it was an enormous black worm, its body covered in thousands of blinking eyes. A single antenna on its head glowed with the golden light, sending a shiver down Raven's spine.
'W-What the heck is this? Mind Worm?' It was twice the size of the one that he bought at the auction house.
He instinctively took a step back. But before he could retreat, an invisible force pulled at his body.
In a few seconds, he was already near the mind worm.
The worm's mouth opened wide, revealing countless sharp, needle-like teeth, and the pull grew stronger.
'Sh*t! It's going to devour me!'
[-Raven… Use your ability-!]
Zera's voice returned briefly, broken and distorted.
'My ability? She must mean the bloodline devouring ability.'
He touched its mouth and activated it.
But nothing happened.
'F*ck! It's not working!'
Acting fast, he opened his third eye and unleashed Eye of Destruction straight at the worm's open maw. A reddish beam of lightning tore through its teeth and flesh, but the pull grew stronger.
The worm lunged. His legs slipped into its mouth, and a wave of pain shot through him—countless needle-like teeth stabbing deep into flesh and bone.
'No good! I'll die at this rate.' He got panicked.
He tried the devouring ability again. Still nothing.
"My ability won't activate on a living being. Need a hand?"
A calm, familiar voice came from behind.
Raven twisted his head. His eyes widened.
A red-haired boy with pure white eyes stood there, golden chains wrapped tightly around his body.
"Casper? What do you want?" Raven gritted his teeth, enduring the pain.
"What else?" The boy smirked. "Unbind these chains, and I'll help you."
Even as they spoke, the worm swallowed more of him.
"Why now?" Raven demanded.
"Because your consciousness, soul, and body are linked," Casper said. "The system core is keeping them together, but the link breaks once your consciousness is gone. You die, I die."
Raven's thoughts spun.
'If I release him, he'll try to erase me. But if I don't, we both die. Wait… why do I need him? I've been acting too rashly.'
"Thanks for the offer," Raven said coldly, "but I don't need your help."
He cast Blood Control, forcing the Mind Worm's blood to slow and its circulation to weaken. As if the Mind worm also started feeling weakened, it thrashed violently, but the pulling sensation faded.
Using the opening, Raven pulled his lower body free. Blood poured from the wounds, but he didn't stop.
"Blood Mist!" He spoke coldly.
The blood that had entered the worm's mouth turned into a corrosive mist, spreading inside it like poison. The worm screeched, writhing in agony.
Raven cast the 'Shadow Teleport' spell and moved a short distance away, stumbling as he landed. His legs were torn to the bone, blood vessels shredded.
He immediately cast the 'Rapid Regeneration' spell. Greenish energy wrapped around his lower body, and the wounds began to close at a visible rate. Within seconds, he was whole again.
'Thankfully, I can still use my spells here. This must be like the dream world.' He thought.
[Raven? Are you there?] Zera's voice came again.
'I'm alive,' he replied. 'But my devouring ability didn't work on it.'
[Then listen—its greatest weakness is the antenna. Watch out for psychic attacks.]
Raven's gaze hardened. "Got it."
He charged forward, exhaling a freezing breath. Ice Breath engulfed the worm, locking its massive form in ice.
In the same motion, he opened his third eye again.
A reddish lightning came out of his eyes and hit the golden antenna from his third eye.
It shattered instantly.
The worm's violent resistance slowed and then stopped altogether.
The world around him cracked like breaking glass.
Pieces of darkness disappeared, and Raven found himself floating back to the surface of his mind.
He opened his eyes and saw the old ceiling with cracks above him.
'It's still dark.'
Before he could get up, shouts and screams echoed from every direction.
'What happened?' He glanced around and noticed that the servants and Jovie were not there.
He slowly stood up and soon noticed a sharp pain in his nape.
He touched it and felt a squishy thing attached to his skin.
'What is that?' He hurriedly ripped it off from the nape and noticed it was the same worm he saw on the goblins, orcs, and other monsters.
At that moment, the door opened abruptly, and Jovie walked in.
But as soon as she saw him, she waved her hand and summoned a Skeleton Knight.
"Wait! I'm not infected!" Raven hurriedly spoke.
"You woke up? I thought the mind worm had already devoured you." Jovie said while unsummoning the skeleton knight.
"What happened?" Raven asked, trying to grasp the situation.
"Half of the knights got infected by the worm parasites. Even Expert Knights Elison, Doran, and Wizard Ryder got infected, too. Others are trying their best to subdue them," Jovie said solemnly.
"Let's go and check the situation."
Raven pushed himself to his feet and followed Jovie out of the room.
The air was thick with killing intent when he stepped into the main hall. What had once been a place of rest was now chaos.
Expert Knight Nash, Kael, and Veyra were locked in brutal combat against Doran and Elion. Their eyes were empty now, movements jerky yet unnaturally fast, driven by the parasite's control.
Nash blocked Doran's powerful gauntlet fist attacks using his spear and shouted towards Veyra.
"I can't subdue him alone. He moves as if his eyes were in the back." A powerful punch came from Dorian as he leaped towards him using a movement skill.
"Please hold on for a minute," Veyra said as she wore the emerald armor and finally put the helm on her head.
"I need help, too!" Kael also said as he blocked Elion's sword attacks.
"I'm ready!" Veyra finally equipped the Aether Armor set and dashed towards Nash to help.
On the far side, Wizard Ariel and Delilah fought fiercely against Wizard Ryder.
A powerful ray of fire arrow flew from Delilah, aiming at Ryder's head.
But Ryder raised his hand and cast a spell.
A dark shield appeared out of nowhere and blocked the spell.
But Ariel had already cast the 'Wind Blade' spell and released it.
Letting out a piercing sound, the blade hit the invisible shield and cracked it.
On the other hand, Ryder took two steps back and suddenly disappeared.
The next moment, he reappeared behind Ariel and drove a dagger towards his neck.
As if Wizard Ariel had already expected such an ambush, he dodged the dagger attack and pointed his forefinger at his forehead.
The next moment, condensed wind energy came out of Ariel's finger like a bullet and flew towards Ryder at an incredible speed.
The distance was too close to dodge such an attack.
But as the bullet entered his forehead, it disappeared.
Ryder also teleported from there and reappeared a few meters away from them.
Alas, a bloody hole appeared on his shoulder instead of his forehead.
The strange silence he maintained even after such a wound made Ariel and Delilah more solemn.
"Fireball!" Delilah cast the fire spell and attacked him, not giving him enough time to rest.
The Radiant Knights were no better off. Many had been forced to cross swords with their comrades, knights who had already lost their minds to the mind worms. Their expressions were void, their strikes merciless.
"Hold them! Try to snap them out of it!" someone shouted.
Names were called again and again, desperate voices echoing through the dome. But there was no answer—no sign of recognition in the blank eyes.
Cold sweat dripped down Raven's forehead.
'If I had failed to defeat that Mind Worm, I would also be fighting among them.'
The battle dragged on—minutes felt like hours, every clash leaving another knight bleeding on the cold floor. The hall was a storm of steel, magic, and grief for over thirty minutes.
In the end, there was no other choice.
One by one, they were forced to kill the very people they had fought beside.
"I'm sorry, Thomas!" A knight drove his spear into his comrade's chest and killed him while trembling.
"Snap out of it, Xavier! He can at least rest in peace now." Another knight barked while fighting off another infected knight.
The sound of steel piercing flesh, the muffled gasps, and the final thuds of lifeless bodies hitting the floor filled the hall.
Some Radiant Knights dropped to their knees, shaking, tears streaming down their faces.
Nash, Kael, and Veyra finally brought down Doran and Elion. Their blades dripped red, but their faces remained unreadable.
Conversely, Wizard Ariel and Delilah ended their fight with Ryder. His body crumpled, robes soaked in blood.
The floor was littered with bodies—friends, comrades, and brothers-in-arms when it was over.
No one spoke a word.
Only Count Alden stood in the center of the carnage, his expression cold.
But everyone could hear his rough breathing and teeth-gritting sound.
"If I had been even more cautious, this wouldn't have happened." He muttered while clenching his fist.
He glanced over the fallen, then at the survivors, and his voice cut through the silence.
"Check the wounded. Store the corpses of the dead. We'll be moving once the sun rises." His eyes showed a radiant killing intent.
"Sir Ariel, please find this parasite worm that made this bloody scene. I want to rip that thing into shreds." His voice echoed all over the dome.