The Anomaly Beyond The System

Chapter 107: Grave Maw Worm

“W–What is happening?”

“Is there an earthquake?!”

“Could it be another monster rampaging?!”

“Why the fuck do we have to suffer in this shit show?!!”

A few screams, shouts, and frightful murmurs began ringing throughout the surroundings one after another, breaking apart the small moment of silence that had settled around Lucian and Lia.

Lucian and Lia turned to the side, catching sight of a few windows abruptly opening across the nearby houses, a few torches lighting up the inside of their houses.

Some of them hesitantly peeked outside from behind their windows, and a few walked out of their balconies, their faces pale and filled with unease.

The nervousness caused a small panic throughout the neighbourhood, with a few people talking among themselves with tight expressions, looking at each other as if they hadn’t seen one another in years.

“H–Hey, are they… are they humans like us?” Someone spoke from above, his voice drawing everyone else’s attention.

A few of them shone their flashlights around in Lucian’s direction, making them more visible to the others.

Everyone’s gaze landed on the man and woman leaning beside the damaged car.

Lucian.

And Lia.

“What are they doing over there?!”

“Hey, you two! Get out of there! There is no knowing when those fucking creatures will arrive!”

One of them shouted from a nearby balcony, trying to warn the two to get away to safety.

Others quickly began speaking over each other.

Some confused, some terrified.

They had been locked inside their houses for days, and many of them looked pale and malnourished from the lack of food during that time.

A few people from the neighbourhood had tried going to the supermarket before, but none of them ever came back.

Lucian and Lia looked at each other for a brief moment.

“Looks like we have an audience…” Lucian muttered softly.

The faint attempt at lowering the tension earned a small, broken chuckle from Lia despite her exhausted state.

Lucian’s eyes softened at hearing that.

“Are you fine now?” he asked as he continued gently stroking her head, completely ignoring the screams of people around them.

Some of them were even yelling at them to move, while others argued among themselves.

But Lucian paid none of them any attention.

His eyes were only on Lia, lowering to the fabric from his hoodie tied around her wounds.

The cloth was gradually darkening, blood seeping through the makeshift bandages.

Lia nodded.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine,”

The words did little to calm him down.

‘Akasha, is she really okay?’ he asked inwardly, his chest tightening in concern despite his attempts to stay composed.

[She is.]

Akasha’s voice chimed in his head, much calmer than the chaos around them.

[Despite how she’s right now, her situation is far better than it looks.]

Lucian frowned.

Her words made it seem like she was trying to imply something.

Something that he didn’t understand.

But he didn’t try to think too much about it.

His attention shifted back toward the direction they had escaped from earlier.

‘Hopefully that abyssal worm won’t run after us.’

Without thinking any further, Lucian leaned forward and pulled Lia gently into another embrace before lifting her back into his arms.

Lia winced sharply as her back shifted faintly against his hold, which sent a sharp jolt of pain.

Lucian hadn’t yet noticed the wound on her back, and his mind was too occupied to notice all the small details.

Lia didn’t even try to tell him, biting her lip to keep herself from breaking down further.

“Just hold on for some time…” he said firmly, making Lia nod faintly as she wrapped her hands around his neck.

“What are they doing?!”

“Get out of there, you fools! This isn’t the time for your romance…!”

Some people shouted in frustration and panic, their voices blending noisily.

Lucian exhaled out loud.

But just then—

His feet suddenly faltered.

The ground below them began trembling violently once more.

The faint tremors that had slowly weakened earlier intensified once again.

The sound of something dragging itself across the road echoed nearby.

Lucian’s expression changed instantly.

“Shit!”

He cursed as he instinctively lowered his posture slightly, stabilising himself before he immediately dashed away from the area at full speed.

He began sprinting in the opposite direction from where he had escaped.

“Fuck, how is he so fast?!”

“Forget about him! Why is the earthquake starting again?!”

People immediately began shouting and cursing as their balance faltered, each of them grabbing onto something to hold themselves from falling.

Windows began vibrating loudly, and utensils in their kitchens crashed onto the floors, creating havoc in every house.

Everyone’s expression changed.

Fear took hold of their hearts.

But the main danger hadn’t arrived yet.

BOOM!

A violent crash erupted nearby, the sound so loud that several people instinctively screamed.

Then—

The ground split apart with a thunderous rumble.

Debris and mud flew out violently upward into the air as the earth itself ruptured open.

“Aaaahhhhh!!!”

“What the fu—!!”

The screams filling the surroundings were abruptly cut off as large chunks of debris and boulders flew into nearby houses.

Several people didn’t even have time to react before they were instantly beneath falling debris, or were barely left alive, having luck enough that nothing had crushed them.

They were trapped beneath rubble, screaming for help.

But the chaos didn’t lessen.

Lucian didn’t look behind even once.

He kept running relentlessly while carrying Lia tightly against him, his expression tight with tension.

“Why the fuck did it come here…?” he muttered through clenched teeth.

The question lingered in the air, and there was no known answer to it.

Lia had shut her eyes the moment she had heard the terrifying, bone-tearing sound of the ground breaking apart.

That sound, along with the screams of the people, was enough to make her body tremble instinctively.

Lucian’s head lowered faintly as he noticed her biting her lips.

Her heart was tightening more and more with fear of the disgusting monster chasing after them relentlessly.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be fine.”

Lucian spoke softly, but words didn’t carry the same confidence as before.

His head turned back to check the distance between them, and the moment he did—

His expression stiffened.

The monster was still there, still crawling towards them with a freakishly fast pace despite its enormous size.

Each of its movements shattered more of the ground beneath it.

‘How the fuck is it so fast—’

His expression froze as a small thought formed in his head.

‘No way, right…?’

He didn’t know if what he was thinking was true or not.

But there was only one way to know.

‘Do it…’

As soon as the mental command settled in his mind, a small translucent screen lit up before his eyes, appearing seemingly out of thin air.

[Analysing…]

[Analysis Complete.]

Then, another larger screen appeared—translucent and blue in colour, with golden engravings along its borders.

[Status Window — Grave Maw Worm]

Race – Subterranean Grave Maw

Rank – C

Titles – Ground Terror

Bloodline – Rot Eater Lineage

Affinity – Earth

— — —

“C rank…?”

The uncertain mumble escaped Lucian’s lips involuntarily.

For a moment, he genuinely thought he had seen it wrong, but even after looking at it once again, the words didn’t change.

A cold heaviness settled in his chest.

He had, at most, fought an E rank monster.

And even that battle had taken so much toll on him.

He had almost died while killing it, and now—

He had to deal with this?

‘No fucking way.’

Even though he didn’t want to admit it, realistically, there was nothing he could do against something like this.

Especially not with his current injuries that hadn’t yet healed—fuck that, they hadn’t even properly started healing.

And there was another problem.

Lucian’s head lowered toward Lia again, as he let out another broken exhale.

“W–What happened? Is it still after us?” Lia asked in a low voice as her fingers unconsciously tightened around his neck.

The ground hadn’t stopped trembling, and Lucian had to continuously leap from one spot to another as he avoided the sudden openings forming beneath them.

Lucian nodded faintly.

Lia’s heart sank.

Her lips parted, but no more words came out.

Several moments passed as Lucian kept changing directions, running through narrow alleys and smaller pathways in hopes of throwing the creature off trail.

But it didn’t matter.

The gigantic worm-like monster simply burst through everything in its way, smashing through houses, crushing the people inside along with the collapsing structures beneath its enormous frame.

“Mooommyyy!!!”

“W-What is th—!”

“I don’t want—!”

“No god—!”

The screams echoed violently through the neighbourhood before being abruptly silenced as the rubble crushed over them.

A few people died under it, while the others barely survived.

[You really don’t care about their lives, huh?]

Akasha’s amused voice suddenly chimed in his head, like a queen watching something entertaining and commenting on it.

[You are purposely going through those houses, even though you know it would kill them under its frame.]

‘Shut your mouth if you aren’t going to help me!’ he snapped inwardly, frustration flickering in his mind.

‘And I’m not trying to kill them. They are between the monster’s path.’

After a small pause, he continued,

‘And that… isn’t my fault.’

[But you are the one who is creating that path for it.]

Lucian gritted his teeth so hard that his jaw flexed outward.

He knew what she was saying, and she was right.

He felt wrong for doing it, and that was also the reason he wasn’t looking behind.

He didn’t want to look at the people dying—those who were dying because of him.

But—

He didn’t give a fuck about that.

His sister’s life was far more important than everyone else’s.

His feet suddenly sank into a crack that split apart beneath the road.

His balance faltered, the sudden momentum crashing down on him as his trapped feet dragged free from the opening.

With a sharp motion, his body fell forward.

Just before hitting the ground, he rolled mid-air, his back scraping harshly against the road from the force of his speed.

“Aghh…!”

Lia gasped as her vision spun, the world rolling around her.

Lucian tightened his hold around her immediately as both of them crashed onto the ground, rolling across the rough surface together.

“Ugh…” A low groan escaped his lips.

The moment he felt the ground tremble even more violently, he instantly forced himself back up and continued running.

‘There’s no way we can outrun it… and this fucker seems to be only after us.’

Lucian narrowed his eyes while he continued running forward at full speed.

The road behind them had already turned upside down, and there was only one way forward.

And for some unknown reason, the creature had ignored all the ones that were crushed under it—and was only focused on them.

On him.

On Lia.

‘I have to send it away somehow…’

The thought formed in his mind as the gears in his head began turning.

100 Powerstones = 1 extra chapter

50 Golden Tickets = 1 extra chapter

This is the most I can do by now. Might increase the number of releases if you support me more.