LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 51
In the moment that the Sand Worm was about to swallow the resident of the Normans, Siniya Dayal thought her life was over.
The stench of blood.
The horrific flesh walls.
And herself melting in the acidic substances pouring out from within.
Why?
She was simply fleeing from the Demon King’s Army.
It was only natural for a powerless person to run away from an army that enveloped the sky.
Was she supposed to trust adventurers and heroes and fight back?
Or should she have stayed quietly at home believing they would protect her?
What if she stayed behind and the Demon King’s Army ultimately defeated the adventurers and heroes and entered the Normans?
Then she would regret it.
Why did she trust those and let herself die?
So she escaped.
If she had known there were such gigantic monsters in this place, she certainly wouldn’t have left the Normans.
But that was merely a hypothetical.
“Hah, haha…”
Siniya had neither the power to turn back time nor awaken and escape from within this monstrosity.
There was nothing she could do except tend to and sell flowers; there was no way to escape from the belly of such a gigantic beast.
Perhaps she should just bite her tongue.
Siniya felt despair.
If only.
If her prayers reached the Goddess, may she look upon her.
However, the goddess’s power did not reach here.
This was the belly of a Sand Worm.
The Blessing of the Goddess needed to be physically embraced by moonlight, and Siniya was merely trapped in darkness.
Could it be?
When the Sand Worm opened its maw, if she could move as far forward as possible?
Would the moonlight protect her then?
“Goddess…!!”
If a miracle were to happen—
Kaga kaga kagar!!
From above, it sounded as if something was being split apart.
Turning her head to the ceiling, a long vertical line appeared and moonlight began to seep inside.
“Ah, ah…?!”
The Sand Worm’s body was splitting open.
Through the cleaved surface, the goddess’s moonlight began to penetrate.
Buuuuk!
Siniya stripped away her outer garment.
With the moonlight gradually enveloping her body, Siniya couldn’t contain her overwhelming emotions.
Drip.
The bodily fluid of the Sand Worm that fell onto her palm vanished with a hissing sound.
What should have melted Siniya’s body like a powerful toxin was instead purified by the Blessing of the Goddess, protecting her.
Boom———!
With a tremendous tremor, the Sand Worm’s body fell to the ground.
Thanks to the Sand Worm swallowing the earth whole, Siniya was able to safely escape from the shock.
“Ah….”
She saw it.
Beyond the horizontally splitting body of the Sand Worm, a swordsman with blond hair wielding his sword sideways, cutting through to the tail.
Watching the young man swing his sword like a golden storm, she thought.
A hero.
Unlike those who merely wield the Holy Sword or those who brag about being heroes, this young man, with the might of just one sword, saved Siniya and everyone else.
Not everyone.
There were the dead and the injured.
If the Blessing of the Goddess hadn’t seeped inside while Siniya was split open, her body would have surely melted away in the bodily fluids flowing from the Sand Worm’s innards.
“…….”
Should she say she was lucky?
Or should she credit it to her prayers to the goddess?
No.
It was because of that hero.
Thanks to the hero’s aid, the goddess’s touch could reach her, and because of the hero, the Sand Worm could no longer rampage.
Siniya stared blankly at the hero’s back.
The hero was looking at the red witch rushing from the castle wall.
Could she be a lover?
Or a sister?
As the hero reached out towards the red witch, who looked so fitting next to him—
Tadadad.
The witch merely patted the hero on the shoulder, yet her gaze remained fixed on the Sand Worm as she rushed forward.
She appeared so desperately concerned.
Siniya, observing where the witch was looking, finally realized that she herself was fortunate.
“Awaken!!”
As the witch raised her staff high into the sky, the dirt within the Sand Worm began to take shape.
The golems, taking on the form of people, began to rescue those trapped right next to them.
“If you stay inside the Sand Worm, the bodily fluids will flow in! Those who can move, come out immediately!!”
At the witch’s cry, Siniya snapped back to her senses.
Zhiick.
The Sand Worm was dead, but its body remained.
While the blood that spilled from the Sand Worm’s splitting body was okay, the ‘gastric acid’ flowing from inside the Sand Worm still lingered.
“Those who can come out on your own, please come out! If anyone can’t get out, raise both hands!! If you can endure a bit, raise one hand!! If there’s anyone around who can’t reach out, let the person next to them know!!”
The witch’s voice echoed everywhere.
Siniya realized that the witch was even using her mana to shout, and she made every effort to pull herself out from the pile of dirt.
“Kuh, ugh…!!”
Next to Siniya was a man whose face was half melted away.
She had the Blessing of the Moon Goddess, but the Blessing of the Moon Goddess was bestowed only upon women.
Most of the moans rang from men.
The men who hadn’t received the Blessing of the Moon Goddess were predominantly bleeding.
“Here, here!! There are people starting from here!!”
“Ahhhh!! My leg, my leg!!”
Screams rang out from all around.
Siniya bit her lip and stood up.
While sending golems to survey the area, the witch seemed too confused by the sheer number of people.
“Are you alright?!”
The hero also helped the golems rescue people, while an elf, seemingly part of the party running from behind, directly got dirt and Sand Worm’s blood on her hands to help others.
And then.
“Excuse me.”
The witch who rushed toward her reached out with the brightest smile.
“Could you help me, please?”
“……Yes!!”
Ah.
If the Moon Goddess sent down her Blessing to protect women.
“Goddess….”
“Yes?”
“Ah, no….”
Could it be that the Red Moon Goddess herself descended to save the people?
Siniya grasped the witch’s hand and slowly pulled herself out of the dirt.
“…….”
The witch quietly gazed at the spot where Siniya emerged….
“……Ha.”
She was smiling.
In that instant, Siniya felt a sense of wonder, but—
“Ah.”
Beneath her, there was someone else curled up in the pile of dirt.
Fortunately, he didn’t seem to be dead.
“Are you alright?”
“……I thought I was dying, haah….”
“Please come out, hurry.”
The witch reached toward the hole Siniya had emerged from and pulled the man out.
Before the witch discovered him, Siniya hadn’t even noticed there was a man just below her.
If it weren’t for the witch, the man might have died trapped inside.
“Lucius!!”
“Yes, Master!”
“This person, please assist him. I will prepare a large-scale spell.”
“A large-scale spell…? Isn’t that too much effort?”
“I’m fine.”
The witch clenched her fist and raised her staff.
“We should do what we can to save them.”
Siniya thought.
This woman.
She is a ‘goddess.’
The incarnation of the Red Moon Goddess.
*
“Damn it, these annoying humans.”
As she searched for the Sand Worm’s core, there were far too many hindrances.
The Sand Worm’s core wasn’t in its head.
It existed somewhere in its body, literally in a ‘random’ location.
So, she needed to detect mana from the mouth to the tail, making her way through carefully.
The problem was, if there was nothing, it was easy to detect, but the humans trapped in the dirt screaming incessantly was making it difficult.
The hardheaded bald man, who barely received any injuries and only sprained his leg, was screaming as if he wanted to live no matter what.
How absurd.
If humans were such a nuisance, it would be best to get rid of them quickly.
“Lucius! Rosmas! Leave the golems to them and move the people who can’t move first! When the priests from the Normans come, they can heal them!!”
“Yes, understood!!”
“Be careful!!”
The two pulled out those who couldn’t get out—people who were constantly getting in the way of detecting mana.
I used the earth that entered the Sand Worm’s body to create golems and pushed the people outside.
Continuing to run inwards to find the Sand Worm’s core as quickly as possible, I deployed the golems in a distributed manner, and occasionally pulled out those I felt I could help myself.
Those thoughts entered my mind as I saved them.
“The Blessing of the Moon Goddess is truly insane.”
Considering the ratio of casualties and injuries, those who received the Blessing of the Moon Goddess were less harmed.
It was mainly the ones who were swallowed later, especially the women with greater exposure, who were safe.
“A cruel goddess indeed.”
If she were going to protect people, shouldn’t she either protect the men too, or expose everyone equally?
For the goddess to directly encourage gender discrimination.
I wondered if it had been like this 500 years ago, but it seemed not.
The main enemy 500 years ago was the Red Moon Goddess religion.
“Still, I did gain one good piece of information.”
While I’m on the hero’s side now, I have confirmed one crucial piece of information.
Women with exposure also suffered deep within the Sand Worm’s belly.
This means that in areas where ‘moonlight’ doesn’t reach, similar to inside the bodies of magical beasts, the Blessing of the Moon Goddess is less effective.
Whether it’s simply an indoor area where moonlight is blocked or if it relates to magic inside the bodies of magical beasts and demons is a matter I have yet to confirm.
“That’s something to discuss later.”
For now, I need to focus on finding the Sand Worm’s core.
“Ugh….”
Nothing’s visible.
Nothing is detectable.
Given the size of this Sand Worm, there should certainly be a Magic Stone nearby….
Molk.
“…?”
As I advanced, I felt a strange texture.
Looking down, I found the tip of a staff entered into a pile of dirt, poking something massive between the pebbles.
‘Found it.’
About the size of a fist.
Without a doubt, a Magic Stone.
“……Awaken.”
Using the surrounding earth, I created golems.
Then scattered them to rescue people while simultaneously using the dirt and pebbles around the enormous object to form a small golem.
“Hah, hah….”
“Are you alright, Master?”
“I think I’m a bit tired.”
I lay down in the golem’s embrace.
Kneeling on one knee, I extended my arms forward, providing a sufficient position for me to lay comfortably.
“Lucius. Are there no more people inside the Sand Worm…?”
“Yes. It seems we’ve rescued everyone.”
“Then… I’ll take a short rest, so please finish rescuing the others.”
I rested in the golem’s embrace.
Then I quietly closed my eyes and grasped the golem’s hand.
While no one was watching.
I secretly pulled a certain lump from within the golem’s body using its hand.
“…….”
It’s a massive—item.
The golden orb filling my hand contained an immense amount of mana.
With this, I could fight for another six months or so.
“The witch is cradling the princess within the earth golem… Will she appeal to be embraced like that later…?”
Rosmas, watching Lucius look at his master, lowered his head deeply.
“…If only I could be held like that by Lucius….”
Rosmas could only picture that scene in her imagination.