Talent Awakening: Draconic Overlord Of The Apocalypse - Chapter 172

Chapter 172: Dust Rising Calamity Part Three
Back in the wastelands, with Ren and his team, a deep brown talent window suddenly materialized before them:

—

「Monster: World Eating Sand Worm

Rank: EX – [Extreme.]

Class: Titan.

Total Combat Power: 698,890. (EX rank)

System remark: A monster that slowly devours worlds, growing infinitely in mass until the entire world is devoured. It is believed that it would obtain the status of a celestial after they devour a planet’s core.」

—

Ren and his team stood frozen for a moment, their eyes wide with shock as the massive sandworm emerged from the earth, its colossal body nearly touching the clouds.

Its tip was pointed and covered, as if to aid it with burrowing, and with a slow movement, it slowly opened its mouth, multiple skin parts of its tip peeled open to reveal massive rows of teeth and a strange orange glow within it ls maw.

The creature let out a massive screech, causing the ground beneath them to tremble violently, causing massive chasms to form and reshape the terrain.

“Move! We need to get out of here!” Ren shouted, snapping his team out of their shock.

They turned and sprinted, trying to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the sandworm. The ground continued to shake, making it difficult to maintain their balance. Goro grabbed Hiroshi just as he stumbled, pulling him away from a newly formed chasm.

“Thanks, Goro!” Hiroshi panted, his eyes filled with fear and gratitude.

“No time for thanks, we need to keep moving!” Goro replied, his grip firm as he kept him steady.

The sandworm proceeded to plunge itself back into the earth, continuing its path of destruction, burrowing through the earth and sending shockwaves that fractured the ground even more. Multiple cave-ins began to happen. The earth around previous paths where the sandworm had eaten fell down, causing more dust to rise into the air as the earth shook violently.

Ren tried to maintain his composure, but the sheer scale of the chaos around them was overwhelming.

“Ren, what do we do since the truck is gone?” Hiroshi asked, pointing to where their vehicle had been, now swallowed by a massive crack in the ground.

Ren’s heart sank, but he pushed down his fear. “We need to find higher ground and get away from this thing!”

Just then, Alister came to mind. Perhaps he could carry them out of this with the help of his dragons.

Ren tapped on his communicator, desperately hoping to contact Alister. Static filled his earpiece, and no matter how many times he tried, he couldn’t get a signal.

“Damn it!”

“There’s no signal.”

“W-what about the livestream?” Kaida asked, her voice trembling.

Ren quickly checked his device, hoping to see the feed from Marcus and Elena. But all he saw was a blank screen with the same static interference.

“No signal there either.”

“Something’s jamming all communication.”

“We have to keep moving!”

They continued, frantically running away as fast as they could, the terrain shifting and cracking beneath their feet. Dust clouds rose from the earth, obscuring their vision and making it hard to breathe, as the air filter masks couldn’t filter out this much dust.

“Ren, we need a plan!” Razorgrin shouted, wiping the dust from his face, but it simply smeared due to his previous sweat, his eyes looking around their surroundings for any sign of a safe place.

“I know!” Ren yelled, his mind racing. “We need to find cover and regroup. Look for anything that can give us a vantage point or some protection from that thing!”

That was what he said, but even he didn’t believe it.

Goro pointed to a rocky outcrop he could vaguely make out in the distance, still stable despite the shifting ground and the rising dust, or so it seemed. “Over there! That might give us some cover!”

They made their way towards the outcrop, stumbling and dodging falling debris. Hiroshi and Goro helped Kaida up multiple times after she fell, her physical capabilities weren’t as good as the others, thus the constant need for assistance.

The sandworm’s movements continued to send shockwaves through the ground, making every step harder than the last.

Finally, they reached the outcrop and took a moment to catch their breath. The massive body of the sandworm could be seen in the distance as it emerged again, letting out another massive screech.

“What now, Ren?” Kaida asked, her voice steady despite the fear in her eyes.

“We hold here and wait for a chance to move again,” Ren said, his eyes scanning the horizon. “Or… we’ll figure out how to get through to Alister. In all honesty, only he can save us now.”

They nodded, even Razorgrin didn’t have any hesitation in his eyes.

Meanwhile, Alister flew above the clouds atop Terra. Her blue cosmic eyes shone brightly, as she could see clearly through all the dust, in search of Ren and the others.

“Damn it! Ren! Ren, can you hear me!” Alister yelled over the static comm link.

Meanwhile, as Ren and his team huddled behind the rocky outcrop, trying to catch their breath and make sense of the chaos around them, Ren’s communicator suddenly crackled to life with faint static. His heart leaped as he heard a familiar voice cutting through the noise.

“Ren### ### Ren, ###can you hear me?####”

Ren’s eyes widened, and he placed his hand on the communicator on his ear, pressing it close.

“Alister! Alister, we’re here! We need you now! The sandworm is—”

The static grew louder, but he could vaguely make out Alister’s voice. “I’m #### already… looking for ### you… How far… from ### the sandworm?”

Ren looked back at the monstrous creature, its massive body still wreaking havoc in the distance. He estimated quickly.

“About sixty meters east! We’re about sixty meters away from it!”

There was a brief pause, filled with the sound of static, then Alister’s voice came through still broken. “H##old… on… We’re… coming!”

Ren felt a touch of hope and turned to his team.

“Alister is on his way! We just need to hold out a bit longer!”

Goro nodded, gripping his weapon tightly.

“We’ll make it. Just stay ready.”

Suddenly, Ren and the others heard a massive roar echoing from the sky. They looked up, and suddenly the dust above them cleared completely, revealing the sun’s rays shining directly onto their outcrop, bathing it in light.

At that moment, the sun also illuminated Alister and his dragons soaring majestically down toward them. The moment seemed breathtaking; Alister seemed radiant.

“I’m here, captain!” Alister yelled, reassuring them.

Ren and his team let out sighs of relief, their tense bodies relaxing for the first time since the chaos began.

But their relief was short-lived. Without warning, the ground beneath them trembled violently. The outcrop shuddered and suddenly caved in.

“No! Hold on!” Ren shouted, but it was too late. The ground gave way, and they all plummeted into the darkness below.

“Ren!” Alister yelled.

“Terra div—”

“Found you.”

Alister was suddenly interrupted when he heard a voice speak out behind him. Out of nowhere, a hand reached out to grab his shoulder, causing a chill to run down his spine.

Alister whipped around to see a familiar face. “Kai? What are yo—”

Before he could finish his statement, both he and Kai, suddenly vanished.