Chapter 202: Wave Cutter

Auren is shocked to see the colossal worm in front of him. As it tunnels out of the ground, its head sticking out, it throws a large shadow onto the ground, making it appear even larger than it actually is.As he inspects it carefully, he notices that it’s large enough to swallow large animals like cows, horses, or even the giant-sized beavers he encountered earlier. It might even be large enough to swallow a larger car, maybe even a small truck. However, he can’t identify its full length, because only its head is poking out of the ground—the rest is still buried deep below.

So the “cave,” or more precisely the tunnel, was created by this type of monster.

“What the fuck?!” Vanessa yells as she turns around. Immediately, she activates Ren and draws her rifle, taking a few well-aimed shots at its exposed head, properly infusing each bullet with Aura, using Shu.

Eren draws his rifle as well, steadies his aim, and fires at the beast’s head from the side.

However, the shots are not effective enough. Auren can clearly see blood spurting out where the bullets hit, so they do damage, but it isn’t lethal damage or even stopping the worm from moving.

Eren’s shot did almost no damage! Vanessa is using smaller bullets, but her more powerful Aura, along with her Emission skills, is making a huge difference. So Aura is indeed quite effective.

The worm struggles, waving its exposed head through the air, releasing a deep, sickening howl that vibrates through the clearing, clearly in pain.

I can’t hesitate. If it burrows back into the ground, the danger will persist. We need to take care of it now. It seems rather slow, and it doesn’t even react properly despite being shot at. This worm seems to be dumb and only moves on instinct. I think that thing doesn’t even register pain the way a normal beast would.

Auren grabs Eternity and speeds up as fast as he can.

No need for defence. I need to take it down at any cost.

Using Limitless Waters, Auren pours as much Aura as possible into Eternity, enlarging its edge and reach as he tries charging up the most powerful slash he can manage to produce.

More... I need more. It needs to be stronger, bigger, with enough force to cut through anything. If I hesitate for even a second and it disappears underground, I’ll miss my chance.

Within a few more seconds, an enormous amount of Aura seeps out of his body into the blade, which by now has quadrupled in length and thickness.

Finally, Auren uses Ko and pours every last bit of Aura he has left into his blade. With all of his Aura spent, he feels a tremendous power in Eternity, shocking even himself.

That is enough... with this, I just need to slash and properly direct the Aura forward. No need to maintain it, I can use Emission to expel the Aura forward to make it even more dangerous and far-reaching. I need to cut it in half!

As he reaches the location of the worm, he spins in a tight circle to carry the momentum and then releases a devastatingly clean, fast horizontal slash, the blade moving so quickly it’s barely visible—only a sparkling flash cutting across the space.

Wave Cutter!

Eternity hits with such violent force that the air itself seems to be cut. The Aura does not remain in Eternity, but shoots forward, using the initial cut as an entrance to control the Aura.

The moment the attack is released, Eternity loses all traces of Limitless Waters, and Auren feels the exhaustion in his body before slowly recovering, stopping Ko.

In the distance, numerous trees fall down, the slash traveling a long distance, cutting down anything in its path. The canopy breaks apart, and sunlight suddenly shines deeper into the forest as trunks and branches drop in a straight line, mimicking the angle of his sword.

The worm stops struggling. Its body no longer moves erratically, and it produces no sound at all.

Slowly, the upper part of its body—head included—slides off its lower part, revealing that it has been cleanly cut in two.

Then, just as the trees did, the heavy mass crashes onto the ground. It lands with a loud thud, producing a softer sound than the fallen trees produced earlier.

“Damn, that was sick!” Vanessa yells from the back, staring at the corpse. “You are incredible!” She rushes towards Auren and hugs him.

“Stay focused,” Neffi intervenes instantly as she joins her.

En.

“We are clear,” Auren informs them immediately as he walks to the upper body and pierces Eternity into it, immediately feeling a large amount of Aura enter into it, filling him with a feeling of satisfaction.

“Thank you, Auren...” Eren says, still staring at the corpse. “Our weapons didn’t really do anything, even though we added Aura into them.”

“That thing is ridiculously large, and its hide seems to be very thick,” Auren notes, now growing a little curious about the materials they might be able to harvest. “Also, you are not an Emitter, Eren, so killing something like that with just firearms and Shu will be difficult. I have to praise you and Vanessa, though. You didn’t panic and managed to injure it. You would have been able to chase it away on your own.”

“Auren,” Leira suddenly says, approaching him. “It would be most prudent to secure this corpse. There are not many trees here, and I think your airship could land here. It would be possible to transport this corpse back to the camp. Not only do I require it for my research, but I believe it will be extremely valuable.”

“It’s a good idea, but will landing be safe?” Auren wonders, looking around.

“Why wouldn’t it be?” Vanessa asks.

“More worms that might appear, uneven ground, flying beasts that appear if the airship descends, creating a loud sound that attracts all kinds of dangers,” Leira recounts. “However, the risks seem manageable.”

Doesn’t sound like it... but I don’t see why she would lie.

“If you think so,” Auren responds, pulling out his Beetle Phone.

“Jolt,” he says immediately as the other person picks up. “I need you to do something. Some workers or soldiers will approach you and ask you to transport them to us. Follow their instructions and land the airship at the coordinates I’m relaying to you now.” He looks at Leira. “Leira, if you would be so kind.”

“Of course,” Leira says, taking out a compass and quickly relaying the exact coordinates to Jolt. “In the south-west of our location is a suitable location, which you should be able to land at.”

“Roger,” Jolt replies, and Auren quickly ends the call.

He then calls Elder Kirda and explains the situation, urging her to send at least a dozen physically strong Nen users to him.

Waiting for Jolt and the others to arrive, Leira curiously takes a few fresh samples of blood and skin before proceeding to the mouth, taking more samples.

“This thing is hideous!” Vanessa, meanwhile, notes. “It almost ate us... this forest is kinda scary. I bet Konrad would shit his pants by now, haha.”

“It is scary, but this is fun... like a movie,” Neffi says, grinning.

“I don’t think anyone could really fault him if things like that are on the loose,” Eren comments, looking visibly disturbed as well.

Indeed...

Exactly twenty minutes later, with Eternity having absorbed all Aura into the upper part of the worm, Auren spots his own airship, surprisingly managing to land where Leira suggested without any issue.

As ordered, over a dozen tough-looking men leave the airship.

Together with them, they transport the upper part of the body to it, using a thick rope to drag and then tie it to the airship.

Returning to the hole where the worm popped out of, they painstakingly try to pull the lower body out of the tunnel.

Vanessa takes charge of the task and uses her full Aura to pull as hard as possible, the men following along and adding their strength. Everyone, including Auren, Eren, Neffi, and even Leira help to successfully extract the worm, pulling it onto the surface.

We barely did it... I guess around 20 Nen Users are quite strong... By now, I wonder how many doors at Kukuroo Mountain I could open? Vanessa is probably not too far behind me; she is a little freak of nature. Since she awakened her Nen Abilities, her physical power and the strength of her Aura have skyrocketed. She might actually be a genius.

As they succeed, everyone—including Auren—is shocked when they realise its full length. It is actually close to fifty meters (around 160 feet), excluding the top part. Auren again stabs Eternity into it, feeling more Aura enter into it.

It’s a little slower... damn, the Aura is dissipating quickly! Still, I need to absorb what I can, this is a rare opportunity.

“You guys are pretty strong!” Vanessa praises them. “Though you can’t compare to me, hehe. Maybe if you keep training, you’ll reach my current position, but by then I’ll be far beyond what you can even comprehend.”

The muscular men stare at Vanessa, some amazed, a few a little annoyed, but unable to refute her. Her Aura and physical strength are indeed superior to theirs.

“Heh, we can’t compare to you, lady, but I can still handle you in bed! If you ever want to wrestle, you are always welcome at my place,” one of the men says, causing the others to look at him in shock, taking a few steps back as if to show that they disapprove of him.

“Hey!” Vanessa yells angrily, looking offended. “Auren...!”

What are you? A child? Now you are telling on him?

“V—Vice-Leader,” the man in charge stammers, seemingly having forgotten that Auren’s here as well. Meanwhile, the man who responded to Vanessa’s taunt looks deathly pale, realizing the same thing.

“You deserved that shitty comment,” Auren says, looking annoyed. “If you don’t want to engage in this pathetic squabbling, don’t taunt them like that.”

He turns towards the group of men. “You all did a great job. Please escort Jolt back and then deliver our prey to our warehouses... also... don’t stoop to her level.”

“Yes, Vice-Leader!” they all yell, even saluting the man who made the comment, walking ahead of the others, quickly disappearing onto the airship.

After tying the lower half to the airship as well, Auren removes Eternity, and with the men quickly entering the airship, Jolt manages to manoeuvre the airship back into the sky. The additional weight causes it to shake a little on ascent.

Eternity... feels heavy. So much Aura. I’ll let it absorb everything.

“He’s quite good,” Leira praises him. “It takes skill to maneuver an airship with so much unstable weight.”

“Yes. It was a stroke of luck that I managed to recruit the man. He is actually worth a fortune,” Auren agrees.

“Marsha is worth more. Her food is simply incredible,” Vanessa jokes, smiling widely.

Neffi laughs upon hearing that. “I can’t disagree with that.”

“Let’s move on. We still have a ways to go,” Auren orders. “Though I praise you for remaining calm and collected after encountering that monster. I have to say, even I don’t know how to deal with things like that, so we are learning together.”

“Hehe, we won’t have to worry,” Neffi says, smiling towards Vanessa, who smiles back.

“You need to rely on yourself,” Eren interjects, looking a little angry. “Without Auren, this would have been a fight for our lives. Doesn’t that make you feel helpless?!”

“Why are you so angry? That’s not like you, Eren,” Vanessa says. “Calm down. We would have struggled, but we would have found a way to deal with it.” She gestures vaguely ahead, before looking at Auren, “Don’t interfere with the next one, regardless of what it is, okay? We need to train as well.”

Not everyone is as dense as you... Obviously, Eren is a little scared, as he isn’t used to this. Also, that’s fine. That’s exactly why we are doing this. In fact, you, the adrenaline junkie, are the one whom I worry about.

“I agree,” Neffi says, slightly surprising Auren.

“I feel old, but I guess this is a little wholesome. You should let them train a little, Auren,” Leira says, smiling for once.

“Are you fine with that, Eren?” Auren asks, looking concerned.

“I...I...” Eren begins to stammer, turning a little pale.