WorldCrafter - Building My Underground Kingdom

Ben's mind raced. He could try to escape outright, but it's too risky. He could create a few Krell as bait but it will just give venom more target to eat. He could try to kill him right here but that would take too long.

'No. There was a better way.' His body shifted, muscles tightening like coiled steel. His legs twisted, beetle-like, built purely for momentum. His appendages merged into one, a monstrous limb forming at his side. The tip hardened, sharpened—twisting, rotating, accelerating. It spun.

At first, it was a slow whir. Then, a blur. Then a shrieking storm of cutting force. The friction alone set the air alight, sparks crackling as the drill ripped apart everything it touched.

Across from him, Venom's six eyes gleamed. And yet it didn't try to dodge. It simply raised its tails, weaving them into a dense, layered shield of overlapping chitin. Ben's grin stretched. "Let's see how that holds up."

BOOOOM!

His drill launched forward, splitting the air apart. The force behind it was devastating, the ground beneath him fracturing, tearing apart under the pressure.

At the same time—his legs kicked out. A violent explosion of motion sent him rocketing in the opposite direction. Straight toward the base.

The battlefield blurred behind him, but he can still see everything, as he literally have eyes on the back of his head.

The moment his drill connected—the impact shook the area.

CRACK!

Venom's shield trembled, struggling to hold against the sheer force of impact. It didn't matter. Ben never needed to break it—just buy himself a moment.

His body twisted mid-air, muscles coiling, forcing every ounce of power into his movement. Faster. The wind howled past him as the battlefield blurred beneath his feet.

'Hold on, everyone. I'm coming.' His mind pulsed through the Hive, communicating with one, shifting their formation, reinforcing weak points, buying time.

Meanwhile…

Elvira gritted her teeth, her hands trembling as she was on her last leg. The glow of the White Gemstones was fading. Her only external mana source was nearly depleted.

And so was she.

'Damn it! I should've prepared more!' She cursed in her mind, her body screaming in exhaustion.

This wasn't her peak. Not even close. Had she been at her full strength, this fight would've been over already. If she had stocked enough White Gemstones, she could have pushed herself back to her prime—casting devastation like it was nothing.

Magic wasn't the issue. Mana was. And the White Gemstones were the solution.

All that was left after that were details—a problem she could fix later, crafting magical gear to reinforce her abilities.

This was why she kept demanding more from Ben.

She never explained why. She knew he still didn't trust her fully. In her mind if he did—he wouldn't complained so much.

If anything, he never let her forget it. That moment. The way she tore off his hand.

To her, it was nothing. A small thing. He could regenerate, so what did it matter? But to Ben, back then… he had still been human. He had just arrived in this world. The shock, the pain—it stuck with him.

She had never met a weak Traveler before. Every single one had been a monster. An anomaly. But Ben had been different. And now he wasn't.

BOOOOM!!!

Inferno moved.

Flames erupted from its body in a violent wave, surging forward like a tidal wave of destruction. The heat warped the air itself, distorting everything in its path.

Elvira's hands snapped up. She muttered a quick incantation, reinforcing the barrier—barely in time.

CRACK!

The magic circle strained, flickering dangerously, struggling to hold. The sheer force of Inferno's attack pressed against her, forcing her back. Her body was at its limit.

She shifted tactics. Mana surged through her veins, crackling at her fingertips as she abandoned her defensive stance. Her eyes sharpened. If Inferno wanted to flood the battlefield in fire, then she'd make sure it burned both ways.

"Ignis Lance!"

A spear of condensed flames ripped through the air, colliding against Inferno's torrent of fire. The two forces clashed, heat meeting heat—but hers had intent. Inferno's attack was wild, uncontrolled destruction. Hers was a focused, targeting it's weak spot.

The balance shifted. Inferno recoiled slightly, adjusting to the sudden counter. That was all the opening she needed.

"Glacies Spiculum!"

A dozen ice shards manifested around her, sharp spears of frozen death. With a flick of her fingers, they launched forward in a tight formation. The frigid lances streaked toward Inferno, forcing it to react—and react it did.

The firestorm surrounding the beast condensed, twisting into a spiraling vortex of heat. At the last moment, the flames surged outward, melting the ice before it could reach. But that was exactly what Elvira wanted. Inferno had used its flames to defend, not attack. She had forced it to split its focus.

"Fulminis Sagitta!"

Lightning arrows rained down.

Each bolt crackled through the sky, striking the battlefield like divine wrath. The first slammed against Inferno's hardened carapace—BOOM! Sparks erupted. The second hit its outstretched claw—CRACK! The limb jerked involuntarily. The third struck its exposed side—ZAP!

Inferno howled. Elvira's become more focused, casting more small spell to force inferno keep defending.

Meanwhile, One watched. Calculating. Waiting. Now was the time.

Sending the Krell too soon would have been suicide. Inferno's large-scale attacks would have wiped them out before they could even reach the battlefield. But now? Now the beast was occupied. It wasn't looking their way anymore.

"Krell—advance." The order thundered through the Hivemind.

The Krell moved. Soldiers marched forward in formation. Scouts flanked from the sides, bows already drawn.

SWOOSH!

Arrows tore through the air. Explosive talismans shimmered along their shafts, their runes pulsing with raw energy.

Earth didn't react. It stood firm, then let out a low growl filled with mockery. One and Elvira didn't understand. But Storm did.

"You actually lost to them?" Earth rumbled, its deep voice layered with disdain. "So much for talking big, Storm. Maybe next time, listen to our Alpha."