Hot Pursuit

Usually, one would try either of these two things upon encountering such a ginormous creature like this worm: first, one would run away trying to save his life, which is the norm; and second, to steel one's resolve and assault the creature headlong for those who believe in their strength and ability. However, the option I have in my head is quite...

"I-I believe we should get out of here immediately," Lerish said worriedly.

"...No! I won't leave this place until I defeat and kill that thing!" the little brat on her back responded angrily.

"But, Miss Aoi!" Lerish retorted. "I apologize for being frank, but at your current state, you do not have the strength to even stand on your own."

Man, even Lerish is starting to get tired of her shenanigans. I mean, can we blame her though? All this time, she's been trying to keep up with whatever this girl liked, abusing her status as a deity. It took long for her to also reach this point, but here we are.

Hearing that, the little girl started to tremble in frustration, hiding her face behind Lerish's nape.

"...D-Damn it...I am being scolded by someone like you..."

"It is for your own sake, Miss Aoi. Please, come with us again."

While the girls are having their altercation, I, little by little, moved closer towards the worm. The worm, quickly noticing my movements, started to become more agitated as it hissed furiously at me.

"Ren? W-What, what are you planning to do..."

"Nothing, just trying to piss this creature even more."

"Eh?!"

I then picked up a small shard of crystal that I saw lying on the ground and held it in front of the worm. Both the creature and the people around me, couldn't decipher the meaning of my actions. I'm not sure either what exactly I am doing, but that's good.

"Lerish, can you run for a long time given your condition?"

"Hm? U-Uh..."

"I understand. Well, leave the rest to me. I have a plan."

As soon as I said that, I threw the shard to the worm's body. Though it didn't take any damage, the shard released a bright flash of light that lasted for a very short time causing the worm to be enraged to its limits as it start slithering after us.

"You there, hold on to me."

"...You dare command me? You know that I hate you, right?!" the girl yelled at me.

"If you want to be eaten for real by that worm, that's fine. Otherwise, I don't want to hear any complaints from you," I said with a clear intention.

"...Huh?!"

With no time to spare, I snatched the little girl from Lerish and placed her on my back. She tried to break herself free by flailing around and biting the back of my head, but my hold on her is stronger.

"Lerish, when I say 'jump', you go jump as high as you can. Okay?"

"I-I still do not understand what you are planning...but I will follow your instruction," she replied.

Alright, looks like all we have to do is to wait for the worm to come here—about five seconds, to be more specific. With the worm charging at us like a train we should be very worried by now, but—

"Ready...jump!!!"

"Eiii!!!"

The moment we jumped, a strong burst of air moving upwards I made using the [Magician] lifted us way above the worm's head, therefore missing us, as it crashed headlong against the crystal-embedded wall. The crystals, upon collision, glowed a very bright yellow thanks to static electricity building up in a very short time, which seemingly affected the worm to some degree.

"Ren!"

"So the worm reacts with the static, huh? I see that's a remarkable finding..."

Though up until now we still have no idea what happens after that, judging from the worm's response I could say that there's a small chance of a positive outcome waiting for us.

Also, one could argue that we should fight the creature through conventional means, but I believe otherwise. There are other ways of defeating an opponent aside from combat, and I want to prove it to this girl on my back.

"What's next is to continue taunting the worm into coming after us. This might be very dangerous, so it is okay if you feel like you don't want to do it."

When I said that, Lerish's eyebrows quickly furrowed, showing that she was not pleased with my words.

Eh? Did I say something bad to her?

"Ren, I appreciate that you are concerned about me due to my predicament, but you do not need to push yourself too hard. At this moment I can still move freely without any discomfort, and there is no risk of something bad happening to me..."

Gently, she grabbed my left hand and reached for my little finger, and interlocked it with hers—a pinky promise. Then, with a solemn voice, she spoke:

"Promise me, Ren—to never, ever, worry about my 'handicap' again—even in the slightest. At the same time, I shall do what I can to not be a hindrance to everyone, so I will expect you to fulfill things on your end. Can you promise me that?"

Though technically I'm being forced by her not to concern myself about her 'issues', I'm aware that I've been stepping a bit out of bounds all this time, so I had no choice but to submit.

"Yeah. I promise."

"Excellent!" she let out a bright smile, which faded quickly the moment she noticed that the worm is starting to regain its consciousness.

"Ren, the worm..."

"So, it has come to this. Lerish, have you ever seen or experienced being in a rodeo event?"

Perplexed, she replied, "R-Ro..deo? I have yet to encounter that word in my entire life. Care to explain to me what it is?"

"Figures, there's no equivalent word for that here," I let out a deep sigh. "Anyway, since you have experience in horseback riding, I assume you can keep yourself mounted on a moving horse for some time, no matter how frantic the animal might be."

"Indeed, I am well-trained in horseback riding, but I do not think my qualifications are enough for me to ride a rampaging horse. Leaving that aside, what made you curious about horse riding all of a sud—wait, are you planning to..."

"Bingo! I'm trying to lure the worm into chasing me," I smiled at her. "At the same time, you stay here for as long as you can and try to maneuver the worm into contact with the crystal walls. I don't know if you can control such a large creature but since you signed up for it, I can only wish you good luck."

"H-Hehe...hehehe..." she couldn't help but to let out a dry laugh, her fist clenched tightly.

Meanwhile, the little girl spoke, "...I didn't sign up for anything, so I am in the right to opt-out of all your plans—"

"Nope, you're coming with me."

"...What the hell is that?! Can't you just let me go?!"

"As I said, no," I insisted. "I need someone to watch my back, and you're the only person left to fill that role."

"...C-Curses..."

With the help of Lerish, we tied the little girl on my back using some of the rope Lerish has in her person, the girl facing in the opposite direction. The rope keeps her from getting away while letting her move her hands freely at the very least. Lerish then fashioned out the rein in which she'll hold on to by fastening both ends of the remaining rope she has to the ringed holes I made on the worm's body.

The outcome of this plan depends on how well I guide the worm to where we want it to be. Also, I believe that Lerish will hold on to the rein for a long time, so I can feel at ease for a bit and focus instead on my strategy.

"It's awake now! Lerish, again, good luck."

"Likewise, I wish you and Miss Aoi good luck."

"...I'll have you two pay heavily once I get myself out of this situation..."

With the worm finally awake, we decided that it was the right time to start the operation. Picking up a few more shards of crystal on the ground, I threw some at its face to get its attention.

"Hey, you! You're starving now, I see. You want to eat this girl, right? Then come and get her from me!"

"...What?! W-W-What are you saying?!"

UUUUUUUUUUEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKK!!!!! The worm screeched in fury as it started chasing after us.

"Lerish, hold on tight over there! This will be one hell of a rodeo for all of us!"

"U-Understood!"

Using the [Magician] I made the ground beneath my feet behave like a liquid, while still retaining most of its original properties, then using the remaining shards, created a thin board to surf the surface of the said pseudo-fluid. With the ground under me completely in my control, I can make myself move faster without any external forces in play.

Also, it's been a long while since I tried something like this again. I remembered back then, it took me an entire summer just to learn how to use a skateboard with Rin as the teacher, only to find out that we've been using her brother's skateboard without his permission. Since then, we stopped on our lessons, for fear of us being spanked again on our butts.

Ah, Rin. I wonder how she is right now...

Going back, I looked behind to check on Lerish, and remind her of our next procedure.

"Lerish, brace yourself for impact!"

"I-I will try my best!!!"

The next step is crucial. For the worm to start rubbing the crystals on the wall, I have to surf towards the farthest wall I could find, then turn left or right at the exact moment just before the worm's head crashes against it. Too early, and the worm's body will not be in contact with the wall; too late, and the little girl and I will be crushed between the wall and the worm's huge teeth.

"Steady...steady..."

"...It's coming! It's comiiiiiiinnnnggggg!!!!!"

With little margin of error to spare, I took a very deep breath, and then—

"Now!!!"

Just about two meters away from the wall, I made a sudden, sharp turn to the left, preventing ourselves the fortune of crashing against the wall. The worm, having a huge turning radius due to its size, almost crashed headfirst but also successfully averted the disaster as it continue the pursuit of its prey.

"You did it, Ren! You did it!" Lerish cried with joy.

"Not yet, we have to still light all these crystals up."

Just as I thought, the worm's body is large enough to rub several rows of crystals on the wall, however, their light only lasts for a moment and not all of them are being lighted at the same time. We need to push the worm to move faster if we wanted all the crystals to emit light.

"Lerish! Pull the rope as hard as you can!"

"Hweh?! Uhh, like this—"

UUUUUUUUUUUUUUEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!! The worm shrieked in pain.

"That's great! Keep pulling as I divert all the attention to us!" I shouted.

Unlike the little girl on my back who prefers using her dark aura to destroy her enemies, I used the [Death] Arcana to link the rope that Lerish is holding to the worm's nervous system. I figured that this worm isn't fully a biological being from how its first encounter with the little girl went, so I was very surprised to realize while using the Arcana that the only 'living' component of this creature is its brain and nerves.

And right now, because of the pain, the worm's movement became faster as it slowly closed its distance from us.

"...Hey, you! Move faster! Can't you see I don't want to be eaten by—"

The worm, slowly catching upon us, almost chomped the girl on my back as it only missed her by a meter or so, causing her to scream her lungs out.

"...HIIIIIIIIYYYYYAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!! NO! NO, NO! KEEP YOUR HUGE, FILTHY MOUTH AWAY FROM MEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!"

"Argh, you're too noisy! Can't you act like a goddess even more?!"

"...I-It's your fault that I'm screaming like this, you idiot!!!"

I gradually increased my speed until I confirmed that the worm's speed is enough to light all crystals per row continuously. However, it also created a negative effect as it made the girl even more irritating.

"...This is stupid! This is stupid! Your ideas up until now are all stupid! You're just trying to make us become that worm's food!!!" the little girl on my back cried repeatedly.

"Hey, shut your little mouth, will you? If you don't have any other things to say, they keep quiet and let me do my thing!"

"...No! I won't listen to anything you say! Who are you to scold me?! You're just nothing in my presence!"

"Oh yeah? You're saying that, and yet you can't even walk on your own! How can you make other people believe that you're a goddess if from just your looks alone you look that miserable?"

"Um...you two..."

While I and the girl are quarreling, Lerish noticed that the rows above the portion of the wall in contact with the worm are now glowing. Not too long after that, more and more rows of crystals also started to emit their light, slowly climbing up and revealing how infinitely high the ceiling of this place is.

"It is as if we are inside...eh—"

"Lerish? Are you alright over there?"

"Ren! Finally, we have found it!"

"F-Found what?"

At that moment Lerish, without warning, pulled the rope with all her might until it snapped, causing the worm to go into a rampage while still going in circles. Having reached the limits of the Arcana, I decided to ditch and jump towards the center of the dome and out of the worm's way.

"You too, Lerish! Get off the worm!"

"Nn!"

As I caught her in my arms, I noticed that her hands are red and swollen after holding on to the rope for so long. I asked if it hurts, but she said that she was fine.

"You did well holding on for that long."

"I am merely emulating the bond between you and Miss Aoi, so it is no surprise that I remained long on the worm's back," she chuckled softly. "Speaking of which, the worm..."

"W-What about the worm...?"

Just as when she mentioned it, the worm, due to the friction and the static buildup, also started to glow like a fluorescent light. Its luminosity increased as it moved faster in a circle, until it finally reached its breaking point, and burst into a blinding flash of yellow-white light.

"W-We...we did it. We defeated the worm!"

"Not only that but the entire chamber..."

Soon, all the crystals as far as our eyes can see shattered in small explosions, suffusing the place with light. With each burst of light, the scenery changed, revealing a new place that we have never seen before. We looked up, and the inexplicable heights overhead us started to dwarf our presence.

"To think that all this time, the tower we've been looking for...is hidden in a very strange place underground..."

"It is. We almost gave up, but in the end, we have found it."

Meanwhile, the little girl on my back remained calm as she looked at the symbols on the columns of the tower. With a soft voice, she muttered:

"...So I have finally come to your place, old man."