Agent of Seraphim-Chapter 36: Second Wave?

"It’s alright. You did help them a lot." Seraphine consoled him. "They could fight off the demon worms easier thanks to you as well!"

Seraphine was giving some consolation to Brand, patting him on the head. Brand was just sitting over the rock and looked at the scene while checking the number count to go down.

[Demon Worms - 47 nos remaining.]

After the number went down to less than a hundred, the warriors took a shorter time to take down the demon worm.

They were getting proficient in dealing with the demon worm, as if it were their second nature now.

"We’re the worm extermination squad, hahaha!" Ed laughed along with his brothers, and the other warriors chimed in.

"The ladies would love to meet me after we get out of the rift!" Eric pumped his chest with confidence.

Being part of the expedition team was an honor in itself, but they even managed to clear the first wave without significant casualties.

Meanwhile, Brand was tending to his wound and checking on the state of his equipment. His sword, completely broken, was thrown away.

He left the Vibrant Shield planted in a big stone, around the remains of the mass of worms. He could not bring it back with him to the groups, worried about enemy spying within the expedition team.

"It should be alright?" Brand asked Seraphine for reassurance. He had left two beetles in the mass of worms’ remains, with different tasks.

One would scout on the underground, and another would notify him if there was someone approaching his shield.

Brand even checked on his holographic map for confirmation that the shield was still in place.

"No worries, you had to focus on recovery for now," Seraphine replied. "You don’t think it would end here also, right?"

Seraphine was giggling while checking on Brand’s reaction, which made him ponder for a while. He decided to use this short time period as an excuse to check on the beetle he planted underneath the pile of dead worms.

He closed his eyes and focused on the beetle to feel the vibrations underground. He was now sharing the beetle’s sense of touch.

The beetle was navigating through the underground, and Brand could feel the earth rushing. As if something was moving against the beetles’ direction.

The movement was subtle, and Brand lost track of its source. So he continued to navigate through the beetle, searching for it.

When the beetle moved further, he could feel some odd disturbance waves collide with him. It was a slight movement at first. But then...

...it suddenly grew stronger.

The signal was cut off abruptly after his fellow teammates slapped him on his shoulder.

"We did it!" they cheered, their expressions full of relief and triumph.

The last demon worm fell on the ground. This marked the end of the first wave.

Seeing his teammates relax, Karl alerted the group. "There might be a second wave."

Karl reminded them. "From our predecessor’s given information, the raid usually ended with one wave."

"However, because the previous run was incomplete, the likelihood that a second wave would happen had increased."

The other warriors started to stay vigilant.

"There were different variations of the second wave throughout the record. However, they have a common trait." Karl continued.

"The demons in the second wave would be stronger than the first wave."

Suddenly, Brand felt a sharp pain in his hand. He quickly opened up his glove to check. The detached finger, the one he used to send the beetle for scouting, had returned. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

He urgently pushed his hand onto the ground to check on the status of the underground. He did not stop even when the others were staring at him with weird expressions. He had to find out quickly.

Brand sensed it... There was only one source of vibration.... It was silent, almost no movement at all. However, this doesn’t make sense. The beetle was killed underground.

"What happened?" Ruby asked Brand with concern. She saw Brand crouched down, placed his hand on the ground, then gave a troubled look.

Brand signaled her for a moment of silence, as he was still checking on the underground movement. The movement was getting closer, and the other warriors also felt the earth shake.

The monster was coming.

"Spread out!" Brand called out to his fellow expedition team members. Usually, they would just ignore the call, as even if they were teammates, they were also competitors with each other. They would only listen to Karl, whom they acknowledged as their leader.

However, they listened to Brand’s call. After all, he displayed a considerable feat, and earned respect in their heart.

Shortly after the warriors spread out, the silence in the den broke.

—Rumble

The ground vibrated and was torn apart. A giant maw appeared in the void before retreating back to the depths.

The air was crackling with lightning as the demon retreated, leaving some of the warriors paralysed with its short emergence.

If they had taken action a few seconds slower, the expedition team would have been close to annihilated!

They thought the second wave would be more numbers of demon worms, but with more substantial variations. However, what emerged before them was something entirely unexpected.

There was only a single demon, but it was colossal, at least ten times larger than an average demon worm. With a single movement, it could carve a tunnel wide enough for the entire expedition team to pass through.

They caught sight of the appearance of the demon for a short while.

Unlike the demon worm earlier, this creature blooms a flower-like maw with multiple rows of uneven teeth. Strands of drool dripped from its end.

Four sickle-shaped maws curved outwards from the edge of the mouth, as if it were ready to latch onto prey anytime.

Brand’s cyborg eye was doing its work, registering a bright red text in the void.

[Raml-d’ah - Level 25]

A sharp shrieking sound echoed through the void, sending the warriors in dismay. The warriors wavered, their stance collapsing under the shock.

They were now the prey of the monstrous demon, without knowing when and where the demon would strike.