Chapter 342: The Burrow XVI
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Ten days later.
Sa… sa… sa… sa…
Unlike any of the burrows that Alxa, Grimm, and the rest of the Demon-Hunter Sorcerers had been in, as soon as the two teams had entered the Snowthread Burrow— the core of the Burrow World, lights from the floating magical lamps shined brightly across the cold, dark burrow.
These high-powered magical lamps consumed quite a lot of Magic Stones, and there was almost an infinite amount of them floating across the sky…
Each Demon-Hunter Sorcerer who came here for the first time could not hide their awe-struck expressions.
On the grounds, layers of Snowthread Worms were lying on top of each other. Their numbers were almost in the trillions. They produced a sound as they chewed through the cold mineral ores.
The Snowthread Worms had a high rate of breeding. Even their survivability was shockingly strong. Add that to how they’ve chewed up underground minerals around the clock, it was no surprise that the cold, ice-sealed world had become the Burrow World that we know of today!
Just one burrow passageway would take months to travel around. There were tens of big and small burrows interconnected among the passageways, and there were almost tens of thousands of such passageways in the Burrow. It was like an underground ant nest that had been blown up.
Bshh…
Suddenly, Grimm and the rest of the group took a few steps back hastily. Tens of thousands of Snowthread Worms fell down as they dug through the burrow of the Ancient Harmonics Bullfrog and landed among the countless Snowthread Worms of this burrow.
The tens of thousands of Snowthread Worms that fell were trivial compared to the oceans of worms beneath them. They quickly merged with the group without any clear distinction.
Then, as the worms continued to chew, the diameter of the tunnel seemed to have expanded by a minor half or a quarter of a centimeter.
“There’s… there’s so many of them, no wonder…”
Alxa couldn’t stop looking at the ocean of squirming worms on the ground. There was a hint of astonishment within her calm and intelligent eyes.
A sorcerer could casually kill hundreds or thousands of Snowthread Worms just by casting any spell at this moment.
Collecting the ‘despairs of Snowthread Worms’ was a walk in the park here.
But no Demon-Hunter Sorcerer would attempt to do so. The infinite numbers of the worms would be enough to put any clear-thinking Demon-Hunter Sorcerer in despair.
Gulp…
Little Myna swallowed its saliva and grumbled, “Holy Mother, they’re almost catching up to the void worms…”
The group of people stood there for almost half an hourglass before coming back to their senses. They swallowed their saliva as well. They couldn’t help but have a sense of respect for the little creatures known as Snowthread Worms.
The little creatures that were at the bottom of this world were the common staple of all the carnivores of the world, but at the same time, they were the creator of this world as well!
Without them, there would not be the Burrows.
Maybe…
Grimm couldn’t help but guess that some of the rules of the world were permanently changed due to the countless numbers of tiny worms and made this extremely cold world devoid of any creature borne from the natural elemental forces.
“Thousand-eyed Carcinus, go test out the depth of these Snowthread Worms,” Grimm ordered.
“Yes, Master Grimm.”
The Thousand-eyed Carcinus suddenly swung its huge pincer toward the Snowthread Worm. Thousands of them died after being crushed by the huge crab’s pincer.
Instantly, the sharp Demon-Hunter Sorcerers were able to estimate the numbers.
At this moment, the ocean of Snowthread Worm was at a depth of two meters. They were still digging deeper into the ground.
Perhaps after a few centuries, the so-called Snowthread Burrow would have established a new burrow with its own ecosystem while its core would sink deeper and deeper as they keep digging ceaselessly.
After the group had settled down, old sorceress Alxa took out her crystal ball and pointed toward the left. “This way.”
Under the unending sounds of Snowthread Worms chewing off the mineral ores, the sorcerers flew toward the Second Battle Command, which stood as a symbol of the Black Isotta’s total domination over the world.
Unlike the other burrows that had vegetations, ravines, hills, or any natural features, the Snowthread Burrow only had a boundless ocean of Snowthread Worms. They laid flat on the surface as they squirmed between each other.
Bshh…
Occasionally, a hole would crumble off on top of them and a huge number of Snowthread Worms would fall off onto the surface.
“Hmm?”
Once again, the group stopped abruptly.
There was a pile of Acraepoid corpses that stood at a few meters high on top of a mound. None of the Snowthread Worms went near where the Acraepoid remains were.
It appears that the Snowthread worms knew instinctively that these Acraepoids were their natural enemies. They even lost their will to resist them.
Crackle!
As they stood on top of the Acraepoids’ skeletal remains, some of the brittle bones cracked before their weights could be withstood.
Raising their heads, there was an entrance to a passageway that leads to another burrow right on top of the Acraepoid remains.
“What kind of clue is this?”
The Thousand-eyed Carcinus led the two demon-hunting parties to circle around the mound a few times. Each of them had their own guesses in their minds, but none of them spoke as they leave.
Along the journey, they’ve passed by tens of tunnel entrances, big and small. Sometimes, one or two, or even a ball of Snowthread Worms would fall off from them and drop into the ocean of Snowthread Worms.
After some distance, they would find a small pile of Acraepoid skeletons under one or two tunnel entryways. The Snowthread Worms would always keep a large distance away from these skeletal remains.
“Hmm? It seems that the Snowthread Worms are afraid of the sweet fragrance of death emanating from the crystals?”
Old sorceress Alxa was holding a crystal from the skeletal frame of an Acraepoid that was emitting the sweet fragrance of death. As she flew at a low altitude, the Snowthread Worms around her wriggled and fled for their lives.
The other sorcerers took out their crystal core samples and tested them out.
However, none had much to say about this. The discovery merely made them stop for a short while before continuing their journey to Black Isotta’s Second Battle Command.
Above, magical lamps that were hovering in mid-air lined the skies, shining brightly at the deepest core of the Burrow World.
Seventeen days later.
The landmass of the Snowthread Burrow was now comparable to that of the Wolfspider Burrow and spreading. It took Grimm and the rest of the sorcerers almost a fortnight just to pass through a tiny portion of it.
For the past seventeen days, the Snowthread Worms were the only thing that accompanied them across the burrow.
There were just too many of them…
The best word to describe them would be ‘infinite’.
As the magical lamps became more plentiful, and even forming a city of light ahead, Grimm, Alxa, and the two demon-hunting parties became joyful.
They’ve finally reached the Second Battle Command of the Burrow World!
Growl…
There were groups of Soul Slaves converging around. Some of them were huge creatures that were no smaller than the Thousand-eyed Carcinus. Grimm and the group’s arrival did not cause a commotion.
On the ground, crystals that emanated the sweet fragrance of death were scattered around to prevent Snowthread worms from approaching, giving the sorcerers a place to rest their legs.
Although huge aircrafts such as the voidships couldn’t be flown into the underground burrow, there were still quite a lot of flying machines around, such as the mechanical bees.
The Battle Command was placed within a few aircraft that were in the shape of mechanical cubes. It was also the place where Alxa and Grimm’s teams were supposed to get their missions in the Burrow World.
Logically, that is.
Although the Black Isotta and the first-wave of demon-hunting teams had cleared a path into the core of the world, there still remained critical threats against the demon-hunting teams that followed in subsequently.
Hence, it would be almost impossible for a small demon-hunting team to survey the world if they were to travel into the tunnels that hadn’t been cleared beforehand.
But what’s the purpose for a small dark demon-hunting group such as Grimm’s and Alxa’s to be sent into the core of the Snowthread Burrow?
There must be some special reasons for that.