The codes on the surface of the eight red-marked worms formed eight lines, extending into the air and flowing down into the maw of the completely red devourer.
As it devoured, the red light on its body became increasingly intense, and in the blink of an eye, it illuminated the darkness, adding an inexplicable eeriness to the corridor where Alain and the others were.
"The first three devourers were just a delay tactic?"
Seeing this, Alain rushed forward. "You two, be ready to support me at any time. I'll go up and test the waters first!"
Just as the words left his lips, something flashed in Alain's eyes, and he instinctively raised his sword to block.
With a clang of resounding steel, accompanied by a strange force that made his arm ache, he was forced back several steps.
"What the heck?" Upon closer inspection, the worm that had been in the corner was gone. Looking up, he saw the worm suspended in mid-air.
While the creature lingered in the air, Alain seemed to see the devourer's mouth open and close at him, as if it were spitting out the word "trash."
Then, the worm curled up its entire body and, with near-instantaneous speed, unhesitatingly vanished into the darkness.
"That red worm is quite intelligent," Alain said, turning to give instructions. "We're going after it!"
The three of them rushed into the darkness, Alain constantly watching the arrow indicator in the shadows.
The arrow was always ahead of them, and the distance would sometimes shorten. At least for now, it seemed they were gradually getting closer.
They had been moving for an unknown amount of time when Alain suddenly noticed the arrow pointing sharply downwards, quickly passing through the floor.
"Stop!" He held out his hands, blocking the other two's advance.
Just as Misha was about to ask a question, she saw the bottomless scene before them.
As far as the eye could see, there was a modeled cliff, and below it was a uniform expanse of darkness, like an abyss.
The girl tapped her foot forward twice. As expected, there was no solid ground beneath her.
Alain concluded, "These are all places that have been eaten away by the worms. And the red devourer disappeared right here."
"Then did it run away?"
Lost Mita wondered, but as if to answer her question, the ground suddenly trembled.
With a "boom," Alain quickly pulled the two of them back several steps.
The arrow that had been pointing down through the floor was now flying upwards, rapidly approaching the three of them.
"Alain, something's strange. Should we retreat for now?" Misha frowned slightly, her eyes fixed on the endless darkness, a hint of fear in her heart.
Lost Mita, using her height, peered into the abyss. "It's like something's about to come out."
"Let's retreat. And see what kind of tricks this thing is trying to pull."
Alain concluded, and the three of them quickly retreated.
Just as Alain and the others reached a slightly safer distance, the arrow finally leveled with them.
And then, it began to rise steadily.
Through the outline of the darkness, Alain could vaguely make out the creature's size.
It was like a worm magnified countless times.
Its originally short and stout body was now slender. The black color from its small worm stage was gone, replaced by a uniform red.
Within its semi-transparent skin, Alain could faintly glimpse fleeting bright red "Error" messages, or various other red gibberish and glitches he couldn't understand.
It opened its maw, its massive size leaning against the modeled cliff edge, causing the entire corridor to tremble faintly.
Giant devourer, Alain felt he could now call it Devourer·Complete Form.
The devourer's head immediately lunged forward like a roller coaster.
Alain raised his greatsword, wanting to see if he could block it.
But with a "thump!" the immense force sent him flying backwards.
Misha quickly supported his back.
The two of them slid across the ground for several meters before coming to a stop.
"Are you guys okay?" Lost Mita asked worriedly.
Alain felt the trembling in his arms. It wasn't fear, but the muscles being overwhelmed by the immense force.
"A realistic physics engine, huh?"
But what puzzled him was that the force wasn't as overwhelmingly powerful as he had imagined. It didn't match its massive size.
"Did it eat its own kind just to grow into this?" Alain gripped his sword tightly, trying to gauge his remaining stamina, weighing whether to fight or retreat first.
Meanwhile, Misha tugged on his sleeve from the side.
Alain followed her gaze and found that the giant devourer's tail, although also red, didn't have a single code or error marker inside.
"So, what we did before wasn't a waste after all."
What Alain was referring to was their success in killing the group of red and white worms.
It was precisely because the three of them had killed enough of the small monsters that the red worm hadn't been able to devour and grow to an outrageous extent.
"This isn't an enemy we can defeat..."
Observing its enormous size, Lost Mita exclaimed in shock.
Alain, meanwhile, was frantically thinking about how to counter it.
She was right. Even with the impact of their efforts to kill the small worms not long ago, preventing it from growing to an even more absurd size, its sheer size alone made it an opponent they couldn't handle.
"Since it's not something we can defeat..." the young man muttered to himself.
At this moment, Misha took his hand. "Alain, given the situation, should we retreat first?"
The girl's eyes were fixed on the giant worm. The first impact had been clearly effective, and it was shaking its head again, preparing for a second attack.
The complete form's head slammed into the ceiling of the corridor, the model unable to withstand the force and clipping through.
The next moment, it lunged rapidly towards the three of them.
Alain instructed Lost Mita and then, holding Misha's hand, quickly ran towards the depths of the corridor.
Behind them, the worm began its massive rampage.
Like a subway train with no sense of order, it charged wildly through the tunnel that was the corridor, smashing the walls and even the door models to pieces in just a few movements.
And the scenes it crashed into were riddled with bugs and errors, or the models shattered and fell directly into the endless darkness.
Alain was aghast. He was truly fortunate to have been able to block that big guy's earlier impact...
At the same time, he was brainstorming possible solutions.
"Honey! Running away isn't a long-term solution!" Misha, pulling his hand, said anxiously. "We have three options right now!"
Alain's capable assistant, wife, commander, and female general, Misha, was as reliable as ever.
"What three? Tell me, dear."
Misha looked back at the worm. "We fight it directly!"
"Let's skip that one. It's too difficult," Alain replied, looking back at the rampaging "subway train."
Asking him to buy time was one thing, but to defeat or even kill it... forget it. The odds of winning were less than fifty percent.
"Second—" The girl's gaze fell on the row of doors on the left side of the corridor. "We abandon the devourer extermination plan and take refuge in the hat's room!"
"That's worth considering. Put it on the pending list!"
"Finally, third!" Holding Alain's hand, Misha's eyes turned to the row of doors on the right side.
That was the grayish-white room they had come from.
"We go back the way we came, take a break, and then make a long-term plan to deal with the worm!"
Alain remained silent as they ran.
An image flashed in his mind, along with Lost Mita's earlier murmur: not an enemy they could defeat.
"Honey, we're abandoning the second plan," Alain said, a confident smile appearing on his lips as something came to him.
"What do you mean? Which one are we going with then?"
"Not just one, but two. Plans one and three: confront the worm and go to the grayish-white room. And if we combine them..."
Alain gave Misha a look, and she instantly understood.
Lost Mita, who had been listening to the plan, was confused. "So... what exactly is our plan?"
"You'll find out later!"
Alain left the other two behind, stopped running, and turned to face the worm. He heard Misha's voice in his ear.
He faced the worm and charged forward.
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