It’s scarce.

It was only after devouring Dennis that I realized how few worms there were. Did I hunt too many?

Looking at the game screen, I learned I was ranked 7^th out of 39470^th. I blinked and I quickly became 7^th out of 23931^st.

The number of players were dwindling far too quickly. As did my ranking, I still remained on the leaderboard, but I was back to 10^th place. Then I was in 9^th. Then 8^th. Then 7^th. Then 6^th. And then back to 10^th.

“Just what the hell is going is on?” I spoke aloud, my new mouth sharing my thoughts without consent.

“We’re at the finally arc.” A gnarly voice answered.

I didn’t have the energy to feel surprised, I was too busy not succumbing to the burden of overexerting myself.

There was no room for conversation, only hunting. Coiling my body, I shot like gun. But as quickly as I reacted, I stopped. My body thrashed from the sudden recoil.

With wide open eyes, a single word sprang from my mind.

Massive.

I couldn’t even see its head, just a body so massive it felt suffocating. Its body completely surrounded me, coming closer and closer, as my space of mobility grew smaller and smaller.

I was trapped.

No, from the very beginning I was trapped.

The moment my head makes direct contact with its body; I’ll die. No amount of defending or attacking would get me out of this situation. I knew that, but I still blindly attacked, whacking its body with the edge of my tail as I hid my head in the dead center.

“Please accept your death with dignity.” The worm grimly spoke, royalty could be felt from his voice.

“What do you know?!” I spitefully remarked.

“Plenty.”

It’s getting tighter.

Tighter.

And tighter…

Was this how I was going to die?

After all this?!

Give me a break!

I knew it was stupid of me to charge headfirst, knowing it would most certainly kill me. But I didn’t care.

“…!”

Hinging open my mouth like a snake, I seeped my human-like teeth into his flesh and began chomping down. Bright coloured orbs came gushing out, but I ignored them, biting further as I squeezed my body in, squirming as I dug my own exit.

I could feel his muscles made of hardened orbs trying to crush me alive as I swallowed them like rocks. I couldn’t spare a single moment here.

I ate and ate, and before I knew it, I reached the end, bloodied and bruised, but still, I made it out.

Without looking back, I escaped like a coward, leaving behind a good chunk of my tail still in the giant worm’s body.

***

“Well, that was…interesting.” mymumhitsme:( spoke somewhat amused, looking at the fighter running away without giving chase.

His eyes eventually fell to the gaping hole in his body. It was the first time he received such peculiar damage.

A contester normally attacks with their tail, stunning their opponent so they can kill them with less of a struggle. It was foolish for a contester to fight with their head because the moment it made contact with another contester’s body; they’d immediately die.

It was basically suicide!

However, such a rule didn’t seem to apply for that strange worm. It had bitten through him with its…its ‘thing’. Not only that, but it also leaked a strange red liquid instead of soul ores like the rest of the contesters.

“What kind of worm are you…” mymumhitsme:( darkly murmured.