Chapter Seventy-Seven: Self-Devouring and Rules

“Dolina!! Damn it!!!”

Sigrid, despite being composed, had already reached her limit by saving one person. She had just stabilized her body in mid-air with her comrade who had narrowly escaped death when she turned and saw the Mage Girl, Dolina, being petrified and plummeting down.

Though her eyes brimmed with rage and the surrounding atmosphere trembled with instability, she forced herself not to act recklessly or rush to rescue the teammate named Dolina.

It was too late. The stone poison of the Abyss Worm, which Sigrid had witnessed the effects of on another battlefield, left no chance for Dolina to survive unless the High Priest happened to be right there.

This monster had gone insane; it meant business now.

Sigrid suppressed the sorrow swelling within her, yet her sharp eyes, filled with hatred, remained fixed on the spiraling giant worm.

In battle, being anxious, angry, and acting on impulse was incredibly foolish. The notion of erupting with power exceeding normal limits in a fit of rage was merely a ridiculous fantasy found in storybooks.

Stay calm. In battle, one must always remain calm; otherwise, not only would one’s life be in jeopardy, but it could endanger the companions nearby—an unforgettable lesson learned by a predecessor at the cost of their life.

The other white-feathered warriors, although visibly distressed, maintained their readiness like the captain; as elite members of the Free Wings, they were already prepared to sacrifice themselves in battle.

Meanwhile, from a higher vantage point, a certain Priestess raised an eyebrow and exchanged a knowing glance with the Blonde Girl beside her.

The Little Dragon Daughter understood her master’s intent at once, and with a flicker, she vanished from the air.

Just seconds later, she reappeared, carrying a petrified Winged Girl whose entire body—including her wings, skin, and robes—had turned to gray stone.

The terrified expression remained frozen on her face, her features preserved perfectly, resembling an exquisitely crafted stone statue.

This was Dolina, the Winged Girl who had just been hit by the Abyss Worm’s poison and had disappeared beneath a cloud of dust.

She had clearly only been grazed at her left side, exposing a small portion of her body, yet within less than ten seconds, the petrification had completely spread throughout her form, leaving only the ghostly green liquid evaporated, likely absorbed into her body.

Miss Vilyric placed her hand on the stone figure, feeling the standard yet chilling texture of stone, and then cast the magic known as “Information Detection.”

“…”

Without a doubt, this Dolina was dead.

Not just at the surface; all her internal organs, bones, and even blood had been rapidly frozen, turned into rigid stone—this poison’s spread was astonishingly fast.

There were indeed many spells, items, and potions in this world with effects similar to petrification, but since it was a game, they typically had a time limit; rarely did anything exist that could petrify a target permanently.

Even if something like that did exist, it would be high-grade abilities like “Medusa’s Gaze” or “Petrifying Gaze.” It was hard to fathom that an Abyss Worm with less than Lv50 could possess such a powerful attack.

In terms of this world, this was akin to a law-like ability.

And true laws usually required reaching at least the level of a Pseudo-God to grasp even the slightest understanding. Perhaps some special or extraordinarily gifted creatures could dabble in such powers beyond or in the legendary realm, but they were generally just imitating laws.

This kind of toxin? That was just a—

Wait a minute…

Speaking of which, is this Abyss Worm really just a legendary level?

Although its displayed speed, power, and even physical strength were clearly on par with the legendary average, one must realize that Abyss creatures in this world were suppressed. Additionally, the stronger the individual, the more severe the repression; could it be that—

While Miss Vilyric pondered, down below, the situation was erupting into even more bizarre developments.

After spraying a large quantity of ghastly green petrifying poison, the Abyss Worm did not stop moving. Its next action made even the Priestess flinch when she caught a glimpse.

The monstrous head with grotesque pincers opened its enormous maw and dove down, biting into its own tail!

Then, it began to swallow itself!

“Stop it!”

Although Miss Vilyric didn’t fully understand what was happening, Sigrid, having dealt with similar creatures before, immediately reacted, flapping her wings and attacking the giant worm.

The white-feather warriors followed their captain into a fierce onslaught, but the Abyss Worm seemed to have gone mad, ignoring all attacks, wrapping its coiled body around its central head, and obsessively munching on its own flesh.

What was most peculiar was that although it had chewed through three or four segments of its body in less than half a minute, the Abyss Worm’s aura did not weaken; instead, it began to grow stronger, rising from an initial legendary status that matched Sigrid’s to become increasingly powerful!

Meanwhile, several segments of its outer body suddenly quivered and flipped outward, ejecting multiple rice-sized black spheres still covered in slime that collided with the surrounding Winged warriors.

As those black spheres were launched, they swiftly expanded, transforming into the insect-like Abyss Beasts that Miss Vilyric had seen in the Wasteland, flapping their wings to directly interfere with several white-feather warriors attacking the Abyss Worm’s body.

Though these newly spawned creatures were only about a meter long and clearly weak in combat, their terrifying recovery ability made them perfectly serviceable as meat shields for the time being.

During this process, the aura of the Abyss Worm’s body continued to swell through self-devouring, approaching the peak legendary level!

“What the hell… this shouldn’t be happening…”

Huh? Hold on.

Miss Vilyric suddenly had a moment of clarity.

If the previous thought continues—what if this Abyss Worm’s true power was not just legendary but had been excessively strong, facing severe repression and pressure in this world, forcing it to only exhibit part of its abilities…

The world’s resistance would change according to the individual’s increased strength; conversely, if its power decreased, would the repression also lower?

By consuming itself to give birth to independent Abyss Beasts, the creature’s power might weaken, but its exhibited power in this world could temporarily increase due to overall strength dropping and diminishing suppression.

It’s not impossible.

For example, if an Lv60 Abyss creature’s rejection force drops its level here to Lv20, but if it falls below a threshold—say Lv59—it would only drop ten levels.

Thus, its true combat capability in this world could shift from Lv40 to Lv49.

Is it… exploiting a loophole in the rules?

For the Abyss Worm, this was undoubtedly a reckless and unwise move, but it proved effective, posing a significant threat to Sigrid and others in this battle.

It seemed the Abyss was very familiar with the operation of world suppression; otherwise, it wouldn’t have responded with such clever adaptability.

The Abyss Beasts and the Abyss Worm; these Abyss creatures, who lack even basic communication skills, displayed extraordinary combat talent beyond what normal beings could fathom.

How intriguing…

   

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