Chapter 117: Teamwork

Hajin moved first, his chain snapping forward and wrapping around the worm’s neck before it could fully rise, using the anchor to pull himself in as he closed the distance in a single stride.

His fist connected with the underside of its jaw, the impact lifting its head and exposing its throat.

Juna followed a split second later, her claws raking across the exposed scales in a series of rapid, brutal slashes that sent black blood flying in every direction.

She landed on its neck, dug her claws in, and pulled herself along its body like she was climbing a ridge, leaving a trail of deep gashes behind her.

Loccy came in from below, her fist driving into the worm’s side and cracking its scales, making the entire body lurch sideways. She followed up with a kick to the same spot, then another, each blow landing with a thud that echoed across the dunes.

The worm thrashed, trying to shake them off, but Hajin yanked on the chain and pulled its head down, using the momentum to drive his knee into its snout.

Juna leaped off its back and came down with both feet on its skull, and Loccy grabbed one of the rising spikes, ripped it out of the sand, and jammed it into the worm’s open wound.

The Captain stood frozen at the edge of the chaos, his claymore hanging loosely at his side, his mouth slightly open as he watched the three of them dismantle the monster as if it was a training dummy.

They were not fighting in unison because they had planned it. They were moving like they had been doing this their entire lives, covering each other’s blind spots and following each other’s rhythms without needing to call out, their movements fitting together seamlessly.

He looked down at his own hands, at the claymore he had been gripping so tightly earlier, at the men he had lost because he had let his emotions get the better of him, and he felt heavy and bitter. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

’Look at them,’ he thought, watching Hajin leap over a sweeping tail and land a punch that made the worm’s head snap back, ’they are not even hesitating. They are not letting the monster get into their heads. They are just moving, like it’s all natural.’

He tightened his grip on his sword, feeling the shame rise in his throat as he watched the worm stumble under another volley of blows, its movements growing slower and more sluggish with each passing second.

’When did I get so childish?’ he thought, the question sitting heavy in his chest. ’I have been leading squads for years, seen comrades fall, faced monsters that should have killed me, and yet I let a few words from a puppet get into my head and made me forget my duty.’

He thought about the knights he had lost in the first wave, how he had frozen instead of leading, how Helen had to step in and a rookie had to drag him back to his senses.

The worm’s body shuddered, its head swaying once before going completely still.

A deep, cracking sound echoed from somewhere beneath the dunes, and then the monster’s body went limp, collapsing into the sand with a heavy thud that kicked up a cloud of dust.

The spikes around them dissolved into harmless piles of sand, the needles stopped falling and the battlefield went quiet.

Hajin pulled his chain back and stood up, breathing hard but otherwise fine. Juna retracted her claws, shaking the black blood off her hands while Loccy dusted herself off like she had just finished a warm-up.

A system chime rang in his ear and a panel slid into view at the edge of his vision.

[ Monster Defeated: Sand Worm Puppet ]

[ Rank Progress: 753,780 / 5,000,000 ]

[ Ring 2 ➔ Ring 3: 15.08% ]

He glanced at the numbers, noting the small but steady climb, then dismissed the panel.

Far in the distance, a figure rose from behind a dune, her rapier raised and dripping with dark fluid. Helen raised her free hand and gave a short wave.

She had done it, she had killed the real body.

A flurry of text scrolled across Hajin’s vision as the chat exploded with reactions to the fight.

[ CringeSlayer91 ] THAT COMBO WAS INSANE, they moved like they have been fighting together for years

[ ashley(mod) ] did you guys see Loccy just rip a spike out of the ground and stab the worm with it?? raw strength

[ ShadowMage44 ] her stats must be way higher than Juna’s were at the start, she was throwing the worm around like it weighed nothing

[ NewViewer_02 ] wait is that true? she is stronger than Juna was?

[ ShadowMage44 ]base stats only, probably

[ KnightFan_Real ] Loccy is actually terrifying, she caught a falling knight earlier with one hand

Hajin hid the chat with a blink, a small smile crossing his face as he glanced at Loccy, who was still patting the dust off her clothes with an oblivious expression.

’She is definitely stronger than Juna was at the start,’ he thought, remembering how Juna had bolted the second she was summoned, running into the forest without looking back.

Loccy had been throwing full-powered kicks and hauling knights across the sand without any sign of strain. ’Physical power seems to be her specialty, but it is too soon to tell for sure.’

His hand drifted up to his chest, to the spot where the spike had pierced through him, now completely sealed without even a scar. He touched the fabric of his coat, the memory of the golden light still fresh in his mind.

’And as for Vella,’ he thought, his gaze shifting to where she stood on the dune, her arms crossed and her expression caught between exasperation and amusement, ’she healed me like it was nothing. I knew she was strong, but I never saw this side of her before.’

He remembered the flower field, the way she had knelt beside him in the ring world and pressed her hand to his chest, the warmth spreading through his body in a wave that had put back together what the spike had torn apart.

’So this is her power.’

Footsteps crunched against the sand behind him, and he turned to see Helen walking back toward the group, her rapier sheathed at her hip and a glowing core the size of his fist cradled in her hands.

She stopped in front of him and tossed the core up once, catching it with a casual flick before holding it out.

"Good work," she said, glancing past him at Juna and Loccy, "all of you. That was a solid fight."

Hajin looked past her at the scattered bodies, the torn armor and blood-soaked sand, the knights who had not made it, and let out a slow breath.

"We should set up camp here for tonight," he said, his voice quiet. "The men need rest and we cannot carry the wounded through the desert in the dark."

Helen followed his gaze, her expression hardening for a moment before she nodded.

"Yeah," she said, tucking the core into her coat, "I will get the Captain to organize it."