Worms Run Amok

Beneath the brilliant starry dome.

A towering Sky Tower Green Basket stood amidst a vast, sprawling marsh.

Although the dry season was nearing its end, many small puddles could still be seen here.

One could well imagine it.

Once the long rainy season arrived, the area around this Giant Tree would inevitably turn into an enormous lake.

For this very reason.

The city atop this Sky Tower Green Basket was called "Water Wood City."

It meant—a city formed by wood growing in water.

Late at night.

A sudden upheaval occurred in a slum district in the middle and lower levels of the Giant Tree.

A burly man lay sleeping soundly in bed when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest and abdomen, as if something in his throat was about to burst out.

He rolled over, leaned over the side of the bed, and began vomiting violently.

"Bleurgh~"

What the burly man vomited out was a pile of bloody chunks of flesh.

Most horrifying of all, many tiny worm-like creatures within it seemed to be wriggling rapidly.

Such a sight.

Was truly enough to make one's scalp crawl.

The burly man glanced at it, and his face instantly drained of color. Deep terror filled his eyes.

He wanted to cry out for help, but only a hoarse "heh-heh" sound came from his throat.

Only two seconds passed.

Before the burly man breathed his last.

Then.

An even more disgusting scene appeared.

More than ten thousand crimson worms, each with a long twisting body, burrowed out of the burly man's corpse.

The same tragedy.

Played out one after another in the tree hollows.

All manner of noises quickly rang out.

"Ah~"

"Help!"

"There are bugs!"

Agonized wails and terrified screams utterly shattered the quiet night.

Inside one of the