Chapter 72: A Faint Abnormality

“Captain! Look over there!”

One of the white-feathered warriors accompanying us suddenly exclaimed, causing everyone—including Miss Vilyric, who had been quietly observing the situation—to instinctively turn their gazes to where she was pointing.

“!”

Even the Priestess, who had already seen that beetle-like Abyss Beast and was somewhat mentally prepared, couldn’t help but gasp in shock.

What on earth is that…

Somewhere in the forest, large clouds of dust were rising from the ground, countless plants crashing down like fragile dominoes. The swirling dust formed a “Yellow Dragon” stretching over hundreds of meters, as if some terrifying entity was rampaging within.

Using her incredible eyesight, Vilyric managed to see the truth concealed by the dust.

It was a gigantic, long worm covered in countless limbs on either side, reminiscent of a centipede, but with a thick, heavy black carapace. Each limb resembled sharp, curved blades radiating a cold sheen, and its head sported pincers extending over ten meters long.

Even coiled up, it had such a massive size that if it were straightened out, its length would surpass a thousand meters.

Though it couldn’t rival the strategic weapons of the Winged People, the size of the Son of Leviathan, it was still a monstrous entity far beyond that of a Giant Dragon—it certainly looked that way.

The most outrageous part was that this grotesque, gigantic worm actually had wings.

Not the feathered wings of the Winged People or the flesh wings of dragons, but thin, translucent wings resembling those of dragonflies or flies—more than one pair. Each segment of this centipede-like giant, measuring several meters, had small wings sprouting from every segment!

Those densely packed, oddly patterned thin wings buzzed irregularly, providing acceleration and lift to the massive worm—most of it was just floating in the air.

Just looking at it was enough to induce physical discomfort.

While they couldn’t see through the clouds of dust like Vilyric could, Sigrid and the white-feathered tribe members she led were able to discern the rough outline. They had clearly seen such a spectacle before, and the Captain’s face immediately darkened.

“An Abyss Worm! Even that kind of monster has appeared? No wonder the defenses of Omoland are struggling to mount an effective resistance… How did such a thing bypass our defenses to get here?”

An Abyss Worm, indeed a fitting name.

Listening to Sigrid continuously issue various commands to her subordinates, allocating personnel to support different areas, Vilyric felt something was off.

No matter how you sliced it, this was too unusual, right?

Almost everyone who had come into contact with Abyss Beasts knew they could never let them freely devour anything. Though the magical beasts living on Omoland were few, it was said there were still tens of thousands.

According to Sigrid, they had probably seen the distress signals arising while passing nearby, which prompted them to urgently dispatch a team for reconnaissance and notify the Captain of the Guards.

Moreover, factoring in discussions, preparation, and travel time, even if they had expedited their efforts as much as possible, the smoke signals must have been burning for over an hour.

There were other floating islands around; the nearest one could be reached within half an hour given the Winged People’s average flight speed. So…

Where’s the support? Where has the support from other floating islands gone?

Not to mention the Winged People; surely the forces under the Sky King couldn’t just stand by and do nothing, right?

But since the Son of Leviathan set off toward this direction, Vilyric could say with absolute certainty that no being had flown into Omoland from the outside, and even more strangely…

None of the creatures inside seemed to be escaping outward.

While she pondered, Sigrid had set the action plan and was giving her final reminders to the soldiers.

“Everyone, remember: no matter what happens, your safety is the top priority during battle. This is not just to preserve our fighting strength; don’t forget that every creature the Abyss Beasts devour, especially strong life forms, makes them harder to deal with.”

“For your sake and for your comrades’, you must remember this point. Do you understand?!”

“Yes, Captain!!”

“Now, there’s one last, also the most troublesome question.”

The short-haired white-feathered girl glanced at the “Yellow Dragon” rampaging in the forest, gripping her spear tightly, her expression serious, her casually tied ponytail swaying in the strong wind.

“We need a group to come with me to deal with the Abyss Worm. While it doesn’t grow stronger by devouring, it continuously generates more Abyss Beasts, which is a true mobile disaster. Although I don’t fully understand the reason yet, since it’s already come from the Abyss to our skies, it must be killed.”

A strong resolve flashed in Sigrid’s eyes as she pronounced each word clearly.

“At any cost.”

“Count me in.”

Philena raised her hand first, not showing an ounce of fear or nervousness on her face.

“Don’t underestimate me; after all, I’ve trained as a knight since childhood. I won’t claim to be powerful, but I shouldn’t hold you back. Strong fighters from our land will join the battle, um… at least several above the Sky level, and the others should take care of those Abyss Beasts. What do you think, Lady Sigrid?”

In such moments, Sigrid didn’t hold back on considering the other party’s status. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have brought Philena along in the first place.

The girl nodded decisively.

“Then I’ll trouble Lady Philena and all of you. I will lead my strongest Sky Guards as the main force to distract the Abyss Worm’s attention and create opportunities for the Mages.”

“Everyone’s fighting styles are different. While you can move with your falcons, you yourself don’t have sufficient mobility, so I can’t say anything too specific… In any case, please act according to the situation, and again, the primary goal must always be your own safety, okay?”

“Understood.”

Seeing the Captain turn to lead her subordinates into their respective battlefields, and Philena seemingly having no intention of saying anything, Vilyric furrowed her brow.

“Wait a moment, Sigrid.”

The girl turned her head to look at her.

“Vilyric? What’s the matter? If you don’t want to participate in the fight against the Abyss Worm, you can opt to hunt the ordinary Abyss Beasts or wait for us here. I know this battle is exceptionally perilous, so I wouldn’t…”

“No, that’s not what I meant.”

It was indeed very strange.

Not just the island, but even the people present here seemed to be subtly revealing something abnormal.

“So you all don’t find this odd at all? For example…”

Under Sigrid’s somewhat impatient gaze, Vilyric listed the issues she had noticed during this time as quickly as she could.

Then, apart from the Priestess herself and a dragon girl who had been sniffing the air for some reason and looked somewhat odd, everyone else’s expressions changed.

   

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