Thump.

Kreyn kicked the spider, turning it onto its belly.

"And what is this handsome fellow?"

"The Crakan Spiders. As you can see, they are far less dangerous than the Arakta Worms, but we are fortunate."

Kreyn glanced at him. "What do you mean?"

"The Crakan Spiders are divided into two types. This one..."

Daren pointed to a monster with light gray skin, eight legs, powerful jaws, and glowing veins running along its body. Well, at least it looked that way before Daren turned it into a large piece of charcoal.

"These are the Gray Crakan Spiders, we won't have any problems with them. Even when I was a simple man, a few pieces of dynamite and torches were enough to deal with them. But if a Stone Crakan Spider comes after us, it will be more difficult."

"I see. Your flame can't burn through stone. Well, that's not an enemy we need to worry about."

Kreyn waved his hand dismissively.

"Speaking of which."

Daren looked up, glancing around.

"We're already so deep in the mine, but I don't hear anything."

Kreyn gave him a questioning look.

"I mean, even when we were working in the safer parts of the mine, we could constantly hear the sounds of the Arakta Worms moving, the crackling of their teeth, and their deep growls. You always felt like a beast in a cage, but now... it's quiet, too quiet."

Strangely enough, Kreyn just kept walking forward. Unlike Daren, he knew very well what the reason was.

After all, one of the parts of his Record was as follows:

[Your aura will frighten or at least make every worm-creature wary.]

At least it was until Kreyn changed it with the help of Fractal.

Step. Step. Step.

With each step, there were more green crystals peeking out from the walls. These were the Worm Crystals, whose light was enough to illuminate their path.

Daren's heart beat faster and faster as he knew that very soon they would reach the forbidden line.

He had been here only once and miraculously survived, but his entire team had disappeared, forever.

"Here."

They stopped as Daren pointed ahead. Before them was a slope, and in the distance, a particularly bright line of crystals was visible.

Several blue eyes stared at them intently from the walls; the Crakan Spiders had made this place their base, both the gray and stone ones.

However, as long as Daren and Kreyn posed no threat to the cocoons they had woven from webs hanging from the ceiling, they had nothing to worry about.

Not all monsters were bloodthirsty, crazed beasts bent on destroying everything in their path. Many of them were intelligent creatures that, like humans, pursued their goals and acted according to the situation rather than following their instincts.

"Well, that's quite a view, huh?" Kreyn looked around while the Crakan Spiders moved along the walls, eyeing the two intruders with caution.

Daren didn't respond; the spiders didn't bother him. He saw the Crystal Brink growing larger with every beat of his heart.

Still, he heard no sound of spider jaws clicking or legs scuttling. He knew the signs of the Arakta Worms approaching better than anyone, and right now he saw none.

Step.

Before he knew it, they were right at the Crystal Brink.

"Agh...? Are we here already?" Daren muttered, puzzled. "Last time we were surrounded by the worms, where are they this time?"

Tap.

Kreyn put his hand on his back as they simultaneously crossed the Crystal Brink, finding themselves in a completely new place.

From the cliff, they could see the beginning of the free caves: countless stone paths hanging over the void like bridges were visible all around, covered with bright crystals on all sides.

Many Crakan Spiders ran along the walls, but they tried to remain quiet and not approach the endless abyss below.

But something else made Daren's heart shrink with fear.

"It's... They..." He faltered.

Several great monsters, capable of destroying half the prison in a few moves, towered among the free caves, peeking out from the shadows. Their green eyes, shining in the darkness, followed every movement, even the smallest, of Daren and Kreyn.

Still, no one rushed to attack.

"Why...?" Daren's voice trembled. "Why are they just watching us?"

In any other situation, the Arakta Worms would have already attacked them. For monsters of such power, it didn't matter that there were two Origins standing before them; they were capable of destroying them and reducing them to nothing.

Here, underground, the Arakta Worms were the only rulers, and everyone else only had the right to live under their watchful gaze.

Soon, Daren realized that something was wrong. The Arakta Worms were behaving strangely, and Kreyn, who was standing next to him, was smirking as if everything was supposed to be exactly like this.

"You, Kreyn, it's all because of you, right?"

Kreyn nodded slightly, waiting.

"Something like that. It's because of my Record. It has several effects, but one of them changes my aura, making these worms wary.

"However..."

His eyes flashed.

"That's not why we came here. Soon, you'll understand everything."

Kreyn wasn't lying.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

Immediately after his words, the free caves shook when a flash of flame came from below, which was actually a multitude of ghost-green eyes, one particularly large monster.

Daren gulped as the Arakta Worm hovered before them. Its body was covered with protective scales, many of which were broken from battles and replaced with scars from the long fights this monster had been through.

Its eyes were different from those of other worms; they were full of wisdom and experience, curiously examining the two humans who had been brave enough to cross the Crystal Brink it had created.

Step.

Kreyn stepped forward as he locked eyes with the monster.

"I welcome you, Elder."

He spoke as if he knew how to talk to monsters.

'What a foolish human? Does he even realize that his life will be short?'

Well... Because he knew.

"I am not foolish."

Kreyn's voice rang out, causing every worm and even the Elder to freeze in place.

"And my life will be long, be sure of that, old worm!"

[Fractal has made changes to your Script.]

[The changes are in accordance with your wishes.]

[Now, the Will of the Exhausted allows you to understand the language of the Arakta Worms, specifically this species.]

One opportunity grew into another until several threads merged into a single plan.

Now, all that remained was to persuade the Elder of the Arakta Worms to act according to Kreyn's plan, to lead them to victory.

It was not an easy task, but when had that ever stopped Kreyn?

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