Eric reached the Plow Worm at last and touched the carapace of the rune beast.
His touch doesn't seem obvious at first, especially with how thick the carapace was but there was some effect as he touched it once more and then pressed his hand against it another time.
Each time Eric touched it, Aether flowed out of his body but the results were starting to show itself as the Plow Worm finally noticed the presence of the mercenary and tried to crush him to no avail.
But the deed was already done.
The strong and thick carapace of the Plow Worm was now weakened tremendously and even cracked enough to show the much softer interior of the rune beast.
"Attack it here!" Eric called out to everyone as he dodged back and made his way back to the ranged gift users.
Those who were melee fighters took it as a chance to draw closer, avoiding the attacks of the Plow Worm and went to assault the creature on its now possible opening.
While the melee fighters attacked it on its side, the ranged users tried to penetrate and distract the Plow Worm by attacking its mouth as it writhed wildly in place.
The damage it was taking was now far more significant than it did before.
Lucius who used June's artifact telescope saw the results from afar and looked at it all with a calm expression. His gaze flickered momentarily to Eric as he activated his Nexus.
Gift Name: Fragmentor
Rank: Epic
Description: Allows a user to break objects into small fragments depending on the number of touches provided by the user. One can reduce objects into half of their size with each touch, but the consumption rate of Aether increases with each consecutive touch on the same object
"So that's his powerful skill. I can see why this is Bergan's second in command to some degree, this Plow Worm that seemed indestructible has now become a lot weaker and vulnerable due to his actions. He even risked his life to attack it personally, commendable to some degree." Lucius noted to himself. "But one can only wonder how he'd react in the face of utter defeat."
"Just a bit more!"
"We've got this… continue with our attacks!"
"Don't stop, we're nearly there!"
Lucius allowed the Plow Worm to create more chaos, and inflict a bit more damage as it was on the verge of death. He allowed the members of the Bergan's Band to think that victory was just in reach and they could finally savor the sweet freedom of relief and success.
However, just about before the Plow Worm took its last breath, Lucius tampered with the hell energy that resided within the Lost and fed it at a density that was too much for the poor creature.
"What's happening? Is it dying?"
"It's slowing down, just take its head!"
"Everybody get away!"
The shouts were a bit too late as the entire Plow Worm exploded into a massive eruption that took out nearly every one in the midst of the battle area.
"Let's see how many can survive that." Lucius said as he listened to the explosion in satisfaction.
When the explosion dissipates and the remaining members of the Bergan's Band shows themselves from the damage of everything.
Half of the strongest members that attacked the Plow Worm were gone, the ones who attacked it closely taking the brunt of the damage.
Meanwhile, Eric and the others who survived found themselves in a state of shock and were stupefied over what happened.
They pulled themselves out of the debris, up to their feet and checked at everyone who were still alive with a haunted and terrified look on their faces.
"Is it dead…?"
"Everyone's gone, it took out nearly everyone."
"What else is there?"
"What if something else comes up?"
"Shut shut up. Don't say anything like that."
"Bergan isn't going to like this. He's not going to like any of this."
"Count the dead. It's time we count the dead."
"Where is he? He's not supposed to have died. He was strong. That explosion, it shouldn't have happened. He's alive, isn't he?"
Lucius eyed them with a calm look as he sent orders to the Bore Shrews to arrive at the scene of the explosion.
The rune beasts were nearly invisible amidst the state of chaos and quickly worked on recovering the rune crystals that were from the ones who had died, including the Plow Worm crystal as well.
When they returned to Lucius, he had collected a total of five rune crystals from everyone that had died in the aftermath.
"Let's see, this is from the Plow Worm. We've got two uncommon rank crystals and two rare ranked crystals as well from those who died from the creature. An incredible harvest this one, but we're still not yet even done with all of it." Lucius muttered to himself.
Those who had died from the Plow Worm were also going to prove themselves as a worthy resource for Lucius to take and he immediately sat down and activated his soul collecting spell.
The spirits of those who died quickly found themselves dragged into Lucius' Necklace of the Damned and were quickly added into the ranks of those who would strengthen him with their soul's power.
"And a good number of them are quite delectable souls as well." Lucius said.
There was a difference in the level of strengths of souls, and though none of them probably had trained their souls as it was not something done in this world, there were those who still had stronger ones.
It was a natural aftermath after all and with that in mind, Lucius considered everything a truly bountiful harvest as he stepped down from the building and made his way back to the inn.
"Asher, where have you been?" Kiana asked upon his return. "Are you alright? What happened? There was this earthquake and you weren't around…"
"No need to worry, I've accomplished what we came here for." Lucius said as he revealed the rune crystals. "Now it's time to stay low and wait for everything to blow over."
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