Vaarh, the Elder of the Arakta Worms. He became one of the key figures in Kreyn's plan, without him, Kreyn would have had to change many aspects of his plan or abandon it altogether in its current form.

Of course, there was no animosity between Kreyn and Vaarh, it was all just for show, and the wound on his jaw inflicted by Kreyn was no more than a minor cut. It was nothing compared to achieving their goal.

Kreyn knew that once Ardur and his people realized that the prison was empty and that it was a trap, they would want to return to Varthon as quickly as possible.

The bridge had been destroyed, it was impossible to cross the river, and returning via the north would take too long, which meant there was only one option left: the mines.

From Daren and Vaarh, Kreyn knew that at the Worm Mines, several abandoned caves could lead them straight to Varthon.

The only downside to this route was that a person had to enter the free caves territory. Basically, this meant that for anyone other than Kreyn and Ardur, it was a death sentence, as there were dozens of Arakta Worms and Vaarh ruled this place.

Ardur decided to take this risk because he was confident that he could protect his people from Vaarh.

Well, that was true.

The green ray headed in their direction when Ardur stretched his arm forward. He didn't expect Vaarh to attack them right now, but...

'Wait, something's wrong,' Ardur thought as he watched more than a dozen Arakta Worms near Vaarh start to move. 'They're moving in such a way that it doesn't look like they're attacking us. And his ray, doesn't he realize that he missed?'

Unfortunately for Ardur, he realized too late that Vaarh wasn't aiming at them. His goal was not to kill Ardur, Ozdor, and the others right there. He knew that was hardly possible.

He was just following the plan.

Slash!

Like a laser blade, the green ray split Ardur, Ozdor, and the others. They had to jump aside to avoid the attack, while the caves collapsed under the movement of the giant worms.

"Brother!" Ozdor waved his hand. "Go back to Varthon! You must be there! They won't let us pass! We'll join you as soon as we can!"

Ardur was about to say something when a massive shadow swept past him, blocking Ozdor.

The writhing silhouettes and shimmering green ray turned the cave into a battlefield, leaving them no choice but to keep moving.

But, only for Ardur did the path remain the same. For the others, a different scene unfolded:

"Tsk, what is this?" Ozdor frowned as he looked at the dark tunnel ahead of him. Everything around him was littered with rocks, and the tunnel leading upward was the only way out.

The others faced the same situation.

For some reason, the Arakta Worms did not fight them or even try to hurt them. They simply separated them and dug passages for them leading to the surface.

Liliane, the tall man, the pale man, and the servant woman clenched their fists and stepped toward the tunnels.

Why did Kreyn make something like this part of his plan?

Well, the answer was obvious.

...

Kreyn stood on one of the surviving towers of Varthon as he gazed into the distance. A slight tremor ran through the ground, signaling that they were nearing the end.

'Instead of thinking things through and making a decision, they decided to rush, hah, now they'll have to try to fix the situation on their own!

At the same time, near Varthon, several Arakta Worms quietly dug tunnels, just like the ones for Ardur's people.

No, Kreyn wasn't going to bring Ardur's people to Varthon. That wasn't why he had separated them.

Step.

Groza and Liam approached the tunnel, exchanged glances, and jumped down. Azura and Daren did the same. Valyra remained inside Varthon, not far from Kreyn. She was not his bodyguard, but rather the one who watched over the town while the others were away.

A single Crakan Spider peered out of one of the tunnels. This was a sign that this tunnel led to a particularly dangerous enemy, so Judith and Grender headed there.

Unlike Daren and Azura, who had only recently gained their abilities, and Groza and Liam, who were still getting used to the new world, Judith and Grender had been the Origins for many years and had extensive experience.

Thus, instead of fighting group against group against Ardur's people, Kreyn turned each individual battle into a 2 vs. 1 duel.

Sure, he didn't have enough people to outnumber each of Ardur's subordinates.

Well, he didn't need to.

Whooooooooosh!

A cold gust of wind swept across the plain as the tall man emerged from the tunnel. Strangely enough, in the distance, he saw another servant, the woman who had protected them from the explosion in the prison.

Their tunnels led them not to the battlefield, but as far away from it as possible. Now, without horses or a carriage, it would take them several hours just to cross the river, and they would only be able to reach Varthon by the next dawn at best.

That is, if they could do it at all.

"What the hell...?" The tall man muttered in disbelief as he looked around.

Step. Step. Step.

"Hey! What the hell happened here?!" The woman ran up to the man when the snow brought by the frosty wind left a lump on her shoulder.

The tall man frowned.

"Tsk. It was all their plan! Look, we have to go back to the mines and try to open the passage! I'm sure the two of us won't have enough strength. If we stay here, we won't be able to help Master Ardur in time!"

"Yeah, I think you're right, and—"

Suddenly, her eyes widened as she stared at the snowflakes flying past her.

"Wait... Snow? If there's snow here, that means..."

In a heartbeat, realization dawned on them as they spun around in one direction.

Before them, they saw the Frost Ridge, the snow-covered mountains that separated the two regions, but that wasn't their main danger.

Two red eyes stared at them from the fierce blizzard sweeping across the Frost Ridge as the shadow wolf grinned widely when a glint ran across its sharp claws firmly embedded in the icy slope.

They were not destined to join the battle, since the Arakta Worms had just thrown them away like trash to become snacks for monsters that even they feared.

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