Ren and Eric were on the second floor, at night, carefully observing the worm monster.
It was moving slowly, listening to the sound of breathing inside the house, its saliva falling down its mouth. It was red, likely from the blood of a previous prey. Some skin was still stuck on its sharp teeth.
'Gross..'
Ren shivered at the sight of it.
After the previous events, the group agreed that they would study the enemy for two nights before attacking, make preparations and planning during the day and rest on the third night.
Two groups were made. Ren and Eric would study the worm the first night, and Rita and Karma would study it the second night.
They didn't talk. It was quiet, and awkward between them, they only concentrated on their mission.
Ren had noticed this a while back but Eric was kind of awkward while talking to other people, especially people as unfriendly as Ren. He quickly glanced towards Eric.
'... whatever.'
Ren thought as he looked back at the monster below.
It didn't really bother him tho, Ren wasn't here to make conversation after all.
Eric occasionally glanced at Ren, as if trying to think of something to say, but ultimately stayed quiet.
After studying the monster for a bit, they had noticed two rather obvious things about it:
It had no eyes, so it couldn't see, and it had two holes on each side of its head as ears unlike normal worms.
Eric finally broke the silence:
"I-it probably uses its hearing to compensate for its lack of vision right?"
Ren kept on looking down at the creature.
"... probably yea.. it's probably why it's still around, it hears us inside... or why it managed to chase us so long..."
Ren then fell back into silence, not continuing the conversation. Eric was saddened by Ren's unfriendly personality but quickly recovered.
The rest of the night passed and the two went back down just before the sun came.
Both Rita and Karma were still asleep.
Eric gently woke the two up.
"It's morning guys.."
Rita yawned:
"I'm awake... did you guys find out anything?
Karma just slowly stood up without saying a word as Ren started to speak:
"It's blind. It relies on sound to locate us."
Rita and Karma looked at Ren before looking back at Eric for confirmation.
"Um.. it's true, at least that's the only way it could locate us..."
Ren rolled his eyes.
"Sure my word isn't enough huh?"
Karma avoided looking at him in the eyes while Rita made an apologetic smile.
They started to think of ways to use this information, but decided to wait for more information before making an actual plan.
The day passed awfully slowly. Everyone was very stressed because of their incoming battle. Ren tried to make some makeshift weapon just in case but didn't have the necessary skill to make anything decent and eventually just gave up and went around to look around the base to find anything they may have missed. Karma stayed on the second floor entertaining himself by breaking even more already broken decoration and other items.
*VLAM*
Loud sounds could be heard from the second floor.
Eric and Rita chatted together at first, then Eric napped for a bit since he was a bit tired and Rita then just sat around, filled with thoughts. She was scared, tired but more importantly confused. She had been constantly asking herself what was actually going on and every time she thought about it, she started feeling desperate. Would she even be able to get home? Was she going to die out here? Eventually, she gave up on those thoughts and tried to find anything else to do.
Eventually night came, Rita and Karma went to the second floor together, and Rita started to look at the monstrosity looking for a way to get in their hiding spot.
"..."
Rita couldn't help but shiver at the thought of it succeeding.
Karma, was having none of it though. He refused to participate and waited for Ren and Eric to fall asleep in order to run back downstairs.
"No, wait! Please don't leave me alone!"
Pleaded Rita, but Karma didn't wait at all, he immediately ran away.
'Damn it..!' Thought Rita, Frustrated.
Rita did not like being alone while watching this thing, she was scared of it, so scared in fact she didn't have the guts to move to much. She didn't want to be heard, didn't want to be noticed, she even controlled her breathing. All she did was watch, too scared to make a noise, too scared to look away.
Her mind was full and empty at the same time.
But even when terrified, she kept on studying its every move. She stayed like this, until the sun went up.
'Damn you Karma..!'
As she cursed karma the first few rays of sunlight arrived and hit the worm, revealing something Ren and Eric had missed because they left a bit before the sun arrived.
Its stone like skin started to part ways as the sunlight came in contact with it, revealing a softer and frailer skin underneath. It made a light growl ,as if in pain and buried itself in sand once again.
"Holy shit.. I have to tell the others..!"
Rita exclaimed as she ran downstairs. She gently woke up Ren and Eric, then kicked Karma awake.
"Guys, I got something!"
Ren opened his eyes rather quickly, and tiredly said:
"...what is it..? Good news or bad news..?"
Rita answered by immediately telling them what she saw.
"The worm— when it was exposed to sun light, its weird stone shell cracked open on its body and it had a weak point under it..!"
Everyone quickly woke up properly after hearing this. This news was even more than welcome, if they could target that part of the worms body, they had an actual shot at winning this.
"Okay.. this is great. You can rest a bit first since you stayed up all night, we'll be on the second floor discussing strategy."
Rita nodded.
"Sure, but don't let Karma rest, he left me alone right after you guys fell asleep."
Rita left just after ratting on Karma, finally satisfied.
They all proceeded to go up to the second floor and discuss how they were going to fight the monster.
They spent the whole day planning, halfway through it, Rita came back to help them, not wanting to sleep too much to still be able to sleep at night.
Once the night came, their plan was already somewhat done. They wanted to go to sleep as early as possible to wake up early and rested to make their final preparations.
So, despite the knots in their stomach, they managed to fall asleep.
Morning came. The group managed to wake up rather early, the sun wasn't up just yet. They made their final preparations, put as much clothing on as they could to resist a few hits without dying. They wanted to fight the worm during a time of day where the light would reach them, but where the heat wasn't there just yet. So they could exploit the beasts weakness without suffering from the heat.
"It's time..."
Said Ren his hands shaking.
They stood in front of the door. They were all scared, but after so much preparation, they felt like they could do it. So for the first time in days, they left the base.
After looking for not too long they saw the place where the creature was sleeping, hidden within the sand. They approached as quietly as they could, and surrounded it.
Their plan was simple, they were going to confuse the creature by making sound in every direction so that it wouldn't know where or who to attack, and whoever was in front of the opening in its shell would have to make one attack and immediately retreat.
It began with Rita. She was the first to strike, the only one who could locate the creature's weak spot without disturbing the sand that cloaked its monstrous form. Her hands trembled as she gazed down at what she was about to do. For a moment, fear held her frozen. Then she inhaled deeply, exhaled, and tightened her grip on the slightly rusted knife. With a decisive thrust, she plunged it into the creature's body and stepped back just as a horrific screech split the air.
The beast writhed violently, struggling to identify its attacker. Everyone except Karma, paralyzed by terror, added to the chaos with their shouts and movement, disorienting it further. The worm lashed blindly, snapping at air and sand alike. Its attacks were powerful but erratic, giving the group fleeting openings.
Eric seized one such chance. With astonishing speed, he sprinted forward and tackled the worm to the ground, using his weight to pin it down before dashing back out of reach. Ren followed, seizing his screwdriver and driving it into the wound Rita had made. He twisted the tool, tearing into the flesh before the creature violently shook him off. He landed face-first in the sand, coughing as he swallowed a mouthful.
*cough* *cough*
'Disgusting..'
Rita struck again, driving the knife deeper into the wound. This time, the blade snapped, leaving its sharp edge embedded inside the creature. Enraged, the worm lunged at her, slamming her into the petrified Karma and bringing him sharply back to reality.
The worm raced toward them, but Eric intercepted it, forcing it toward Ren.
Using all his strength, Ren jammed the screwdriver against the creature's tougher skin. But despite successfully stabbing it because of the speed it was now stuck inside the worm. Ren refused to let go of his weapon and ended up riding the wretched monster as he was trying to pull out the screwdriver.
Rita rose to her feet and ran back into action, while Karma retreated to the wall of the abandoned base, pressing himself against it and holding his breath, trying to make as little noise as possible.
Summoning her stone tablet, Rita deactivated its floating ability and handed it to Eric.
"Throw it as hard as you can."
She told him.
He obeyed immediately, hurling it at the worm's head and stunning it just long enough for Ren to pull out his weapon and get off the creature.
The beast lunged for them again, but Eric met it with another crushing blow, swinging his own tablet with all his might. Infuriated, the creature lashed with its tail instead of biting. Rita quickly summoned her stone tablet again to shield herself, though the impact still sent her sprawling across the sand. She clutched her left arm as a sickening crack echoed through the air.
Eric punched the worm's head, but the creature's thick hide absorbed most of the impact. He moved fast enough to avoid losing an arm entirely, but his pinky and ring finger were gone, ripped away in the struggle.
"ARRGH!!"
Eric screamed in pain.
Ren charged back, stabbing repeatedly into the wound, widening it with each strike. The worm shook him off violently, slamming him into the wall of the base.
Blood spattered the sand as the creature lunged to swallow him, but he summoned his tablet inside its gaping maw, halting it temporarily.
Still, escape was impossible.
"SHIT SHIT SHIT SHI-"
Then, unexpectedly, Karma acted. For the first time in the battle, he moved. He thrust a stick deep into the worm's wound, forcing it further into the monster's flesh.
The creature screeched in rage, turning toward him.
Eric, sensing the moment, sprinted forward and tackled the worm to the ground. Rita thrust her tablet into its mouth, holding it in place, while Ren scrambled to his feet. He climbed atop the beast, pressing his foot onto the broken knife Rita had left inside the wound.
"JUST. FUCKING. DIE!"
With his screwdriver, he stabbed relentlessly into the creature's ear, over and over, even after its movements slowed and ceased.
Then, without warning, tablets materialized in front of each of them. Words glowed across the screens:
{Congratulations! You have slain a Defiled before completing the first sorting. You have fulfilled the conditions of a hidden achievement. You will be rewarded after completing the first sorting.}
Ren read the words, but comprehension eluded him. The pain finally overwhelmed him, and he finally collapsed.