Rustle, rustle, rustle...
In a space that was silent to ordinary people, Reilo could already hear a rustling sound approaching from afar through infrasonic waves. It was grating, like two sheets of sandpaper rubbing against each other.
Even though the Crystal Lamp could illuminate only a dozen or so meters around him, Reilo's eyes could see through the darkness and make out the gigantic creature swiftly moving through the gravel.
It was an adult sandworm.
Its yellowish-brown skin was wrinkled, like stirred concrete. It looked like an enormous worm, and even scholars would be hard-pressed to find an aesthetically pleasing word to describe such an ugly creature.
The sandworm wasn't particularly fast as it wriggled along, at least not compared to Magical Beasts on the surface.
After all, sandworms like this one, which didn't burrow into the gravel, were quite rare. According to research, when they traveled beneath the gravel, their speed increased by at least threefold.
Hiss!
Sensing Reilo's footsteps through vibrations, it swiftly wriggled toward him. Its mouth, previously closed at the front of its head, unfurled petal by petal like a chrysanthemum, revealing ring upon ring of densely packed, scarlet teeth, with strings of corrosive slime clinging between them.
This slime helped it digest its food.
The sandworm's teeth curved backward, helping it swallow its prey more easily. According to research, it could swallow prey twice the size of its mouth in a single bite!
Once the prey entered its body, its wrinkled skin would stretch like a balloon. That was why adult sandworms ranged in size from four or five meters to more than ten.
Fierce and hideous.
As the sandworm swiftly wriggled to within five meters of Reilo, the Crystal Lamp's light revealed its body clearly. A human standing before it looked so fragile, so