Epic Of The Demonic Sage

It was a cool temperature that evening.

Lucius stood atop a building, hidden away from the gaze of the unsuspecting citizens that crawled through the streets below him.

Lucius was located about half a kilometer away from the Bergan's Band base and vaults.

He had played mind games with the members of the mercenary group, leading them to act like cogs in a machine that placed them where they were now and now it was finally time for the final act.

'It's time for you to move at last.'

The signal was sent to the Plow Worm located at the hill beyond Cutlass city. And for the next hour that passed, nothing happened.

But Lucius was not an impatient man.

He had waited several years to enact his plan against the unsuspecting Great Barrom Clan's true blood members and had gained the power to rule the world.

What was an hour to him?

Elsewhere, members of Bergan's Band watched vigilantly within the vaults, daring for any thief to come and approach again.

"I don't think anyone would be dumb enough to strike three times in a row now, wouldn't they?" one of the members grumbled to their friend.

"We're all packed here like horses in a crowded stable." Another agreed with a sigh. "Let them try to come here, they'd have to squeeze through."

"It's more likely for one of us to just grab something and have it slipped unnoticed."

"Shhh, don't let the others hear you. I mean, that's a terrible idea. You should be ashamed of yourself, we have already lost quite a lot treasure. We haven't even fully accounted to everything that vanished."

"Oh, we hadn't?"

"They did, but it wouldn't be missed if a rune crystal or two went missing. We've already lost a lot. What's a couple more?"

"Eric will kill you if he ever finds out that one of us were trying to steal under his noses."

"That's why it's good to have friends who've got your back now, don't you think?"

"Do you think it was someone who worked in the inside that stole it?"

"That'd be crazy!"

"Hey, can you quit moving around."

"I'm not moving. I'm just standing up straight over here."

"Then who's moving… wait, nobody. But there's a slight tremor. Did you feel that?"

"No. You must be imagining it."

"Hey, there it was again."

"Eh."

"Don't you feel it too."

"Stupid. You feel that, right?"

"Don't worry too much about it. It's just a tremor, man."

"Okay, now I'm feeling it too."

"Took you long enough."

"Uh, it's not stopping. Should we try to go out?"

"Are you insane? Eric would personally take care of anyone who'd try to slack off work. Stay put and shut up. Don't be a baby."

"Fine, fine."

For the next two hours, the people of Bergan's Band all felt the continuous tremor that ran through the entire city. However, they remained where they were and tried their best to ignore it.

But then it started to get stronger.

"This… this is an earthquake now!" Several people placed their hands against the wall to steady themselves.

Others tried to keep their balance to no avail, knocking back against each other and some tried to knock on the vault's door and begged to be let out.

"Somebody open up the vault!"

"We're getting sick here!"

"What are you guys being frantic about for? We're also feeling it outside." Somebody called from the outside of the vault.

The people not inside the vault were just as nervous about the earthquake as them, but they didn't feel much as trapped. Eric's orders were quite clear to them. Everyone was going to stay put and catch the thief if it dared to come back a third time.

"Stay in your positions everyone!"

While the people from Bergan's Band and also everyone across the Cutlass city reacted frantically to the earthquake, the perpetrator of it stood calmly atop the building as he waited.

The Lost Plow Worm was actually underneath the Bergan's Band's vaults all this time and was creating several tunnels deep down the ground.

Once Lucius had ascertained that the number of tunnels were at the right amount, he gave the Plow Worm its permission to go.

"Damn! If I'm going to stay here all night, I'm going to grab some for myself. Screw it all!" one of the mercenary started to shove some rune crystals in his pocket.

"Oi, oi, you don't want to do that." Another tried to stop him.

"If none of you opens up your mouths, we can at least all get a piece of this…"

The mercenary's words ended halfway as the earthquake increased to a greater intensity and the entire vault shook.

"It's like the earthquake's just below us. That doesn't make any sense—"

The Lost Plow Worm burst through the ground and collapsed the entire vault, the tunnels it created aiding it to cause oblivion.

A multitude of the members found themselves dead even before they knew it, some fell down into the tunnels and were crushed.

Others were less lucky and found themselves in the maw of the Lost Plow Worm and devoured, suffering an even more painful death as the creature reared its frightening head for everyone to see.

Outside of the vault, several members of the Bergan's Band ran away at the same time as the other citizens who were able to witness the arrival of the Lost Plow Worm.

It was clear to everyone that it was a Plow Worm, but then it was vastly different from a regular one that it could have been mistaken for something else.

There were hundreds of spikes that shot out across its body, a far more tougher and thicker carapace covered the rune beast creature.

For those who found themselves devoured, they witnessed its sharp teeth that ground and tore through flesh, bone and stone.

The Lost Plow Worm shrieked an ungodly sound that pierced and brought fear into the hearts of everyone who heard it.

Bergan's Band was now forced to act.