The sand beneath my feet shifts again, even more violently this time.

I'm frozen in place, feeling the presence of a Demonic Creature magnitudes stronger than the one I just faced.

I had to use all my tricks and mental power to stay ahead of a creature with a level lower than my own...

Lurking less than 500 meters away from me, I sense a monster stronger than anything I've ever faced in battle before, inside or outside of this Abyss.

"This would be a good time to run..."

Without thinking twice, I grab the glossy black stone off the floor from the High Orc I just defeated and turn to leave immediately.

There's a difference between seeking out a strong opponent for training my new powers and the death wish I'd be asking for to face whatever this monster may be.

Sand flies up from my heels as I sprint back toward the direction of the abandoned town.

I'm not sure how, but I feel the glare of something watching me from afar. I can't see it, but I know it's watching...

Using Demonic Energy to increase the strength of my footsteps, I race off at full speed toward the direction of the outside world. The ground starts to shake more and more violently, and the sand beneath my feet starts to churn and move.

It gets harder to find solid ground with every step I take.

I finally make it right to the edge of the eerie town of abandoned homes and crackling flames. This lets me know for sure the border of the Abyss is less than a kilometer away, but with the heavy looming presence behind me, it feels like much further.

My manipulation skill starts to go haywire. Over a dozen enemies ranging from 10 to 50 raw units of Demonic Energy start to surround me on all sides.

They appeared from nowhere... And the presence behind me is not weakened in the slightest.

To make things even more strange, they're all coming up from underneath the sand.

It's as if they spawned in.

I stop in place and grip my dagger as the ground beneath my feet becomes so unstable it's impossible to stand. If I had my wind magic right now, I'd fly out of here in an instant, but right now, I'm a sitting duck.

An explosion of white and purple light bursts from the ground no more than 10 meters to my right. It nearly blinds me before another of the same size erupts on my left.

Then another in front, and more behind.

Monsters are popping up from the sand one by one and igniting their bodies with a bright purple glow.

It's hot. Very hot...but luckily, the heat doesn't bother me much.

Everything clicks in my head as the sand clouds start to settle, revealing over a dozen monstrous Demonic Worms covered in flames closing in toward me.

This is a completely new species of Demonic Monster. The disgusting creatures range from 2 to 5 meters long and all share the same features: rows of white teeth that rotate in their open maws.

The skin around their bodies looks slippery and wet, yet despite that, it's covered in purple flames.

One of the smallest creatures of the bunch closest to me lunges in, targeting my right leg.

Gritting my teeth, not having any room to step back, I swing my charged dagger, slicing it in two.

Both halves of the slimy flaming creature wriggle on the ground as another one of its kind squirms in to attempt to take a bite out of my left side.

Again, I spin around and slice the flaming creature in two. Only the lower-level ones are attacking right now. They're scoping out my capabilities with their young and trying to identify my strengths and weaknesses. They may look stupid, but as a group, it seems they have a brain.

"Not good..."

As more of the 10-20 unit creatures throw their bodies at me, I feel the monstrous entity approach at an unnerving pace.

It's getting closer by the second, and I'm stuck slicing worms on the edge of town, not making any progress toward my plan to flee.

As soon as I attempt to escape from the circle that surrounds me, one of the larger creatures lunges in. Its wide-open mouth has 4 rows of razor-sharp teeth. Its diameter is close to the width of my body.

I activate my Demonic speed buffs and use up a full unit to jump out of the way as fast and far as it will take me.

In doing so, this allows others its size to squirm my way and go on the attack rather than just sitting back to watch.

All of the slimy monsters leave trails of purple flames behind them, and long indents in the sand look like the well-traveled roads in the village.

The mysterious sight of the flaming abandoned town is starting to make a lot more sense. I'm just wishing it didn't...

Smaller worms still lunge at me, but I cut them down with ease and absorb their Demonic Energy on the fly as best I can. They aren't a threat to me at all.

There are 3 larger worms, all over 40 Demonic Energy units. These are the ones that give me trouble. One bite from a beast like that, and I'm surely a goner. Every time I lunge out of the way and dodge an attack, the other two block my way to exit.

They're leading me back to the village, and there's nothing I can do about it.

I grit my teeth and turn to face the closest monster with my blade in hand. As it slithers toward me, I run back at it.

It's not the safest option for me to choose right now, but with a near A-Class level threat behind me, fighting 3 monsters near my own skill level is a much more reasonable goal.

Charging my blade to the max, I lunge at it straight on. As the worm tries to swallow me whole, I duck to the side and leave a deep gash along its slimy skin.

My blade rips through its flesh like butter, but the worm doesn't hesitate to bend its head backward and go for the kill.

I charge my steps and jump in the air high above the worm to dodge while landing another devastating blow on its exposed side. From what I can tell, this one is as good as dead.

All seems to be going well, but its two battle partners see that I'm not doing my usual running away tactic and join in on the fun to avenge their fallen partner.

"Dammit..."

As I fall to the desert floor after critically wounding one of the worms, I fall straight toward the other two with no way of changing my trajectory in sight. In a last-moment decision, while falling toward one of their open mouths, I point my left hand straight ahead and channel pure demonic energy out in its purest refined form.

The black matter hits the creature's rows of jagged teeth and punctures its jaw from the inside, causing the stream of dense energy to flow out the other side. Its head flails backward, but it's back in action the instant my feet hit the ground. The second worm, on the other hand, has no such obstacle and is now out of my field of view.

It slithers in from my blind spot and goes in for the kill.

If not for the vibrations in the sand below my feet, I wouldn't have noticed before it was too late...

However, maybe it already is.

I manage to spin my body out of the way, but the creature latches onto my left arm. It sees it as the weapon that injured its partner.

I clench my jaw as its rows of white teeth crush every bone from my shoulder down in a single crunch. Simultaneously, I use my free arm to cut the head of the beast clean off along with my now unusable arm.

It falls to the desert floor squirming covered in my blood as well as its own.

The final worm turns to me. Its teeth are even more jagged than before because of my last attack on it. The hole from my attempt to kill it earlier makes the desert sand behind it visible through its open maw.

It faces me with its two slain allies scattered on the ground around us. I stare back, slowly bleeding out and breathing heavily.

The worm slithers forward; I power up my energy stores and lunge at it.

With no support, this mindless worm is no match. I cut it down in three clean slashes, and it lies lifeless by its allies.

The remains of the dozen enemies that sneak-attacked me are scattered across the desert floor, covered in the purple flaming residue even after death.

They all begin to dissolve, and I absorb enough energy to bring myself back to full but don't waste a second to stop and collect their black stones.

The monster I'm dreading to meet finally decides to make its move.

I shudder as the ground shakes and rumbles. This movement is nothing like the squirming, shifting sensation of the previous attackers.

This feels like an earthquake. The only thing that could make such world-shaking movements is a true behemoth, slithering beneath the desert floor, stalking its prey with no thought of danger.

I run.

The ground beneath me starts to slowly rise, and all I can do is use every last drop of Demonic energy my body will allow to propel my steps forward. The white edge of the Abyss to the outside world seems to get further and further away the faster I try to run.

I manage to outpace the rising hill of sand beneath me, leaving the village about 100 meters behind, but the sight I witness does the opposite of giving me any extra sense of relief.

The desert floor rises and pops like a bubble as rows of house-sized teeth erupt from the sand in a perfect circle to swallow the entire village whole.

A tidal wave of rippling sand violently comes my way as the A-Class threat makes itself known.