Abu stopped the vehicle thirty paces away, aiming the cannon at Worm's flank.
The captain had already adjusted the turret's angle. He held the cannon steady with one hand, raised the other, then brought it down sharply.
"Fire!"
A dazzling blue light erupted inside the Magic Crystal Cannon's barrel.
A fist-sized beam shot from the muzzle, trailing a long wake of energy, and slammed into Worm's body.
The beam struck the slime coating, scorching a black ring into it with a sizzle before boring straight through.
The blast punched a basin-sized hole in Worm's body. Dark red flesh curled outward from the wound, exposing layers of gray-white ringed tissue like the growth rings of an ancient tree sliced open.
Worm let out a roar.
The sound came from deep inside its body, not its mouth. Its entire body resonated with the low, drawn-out rumble, making the loose stones on the ground bounce.
"We hit it!" Abu shouted.
"Don't stop! Keep loading!" the captain roared back.
Abu pulled a spare Magic Crystal from beneath the seat and slotted it into the socket behind the cannon's barrel.
The energy-gathering runes on the cannon lit up again, and the captain adjusted his aim once more.
The second shot.
The beam struck Worm's midsection, boring another hole.
The two holes were close together. A large chunk of flesh between them had been torn away, revealing a thick, gray-white notochord twitching inside Worm's body.
Slime and blood ran from the wounds, pooling into a small patch of dark red sludge on the ground.
Worm's body contracted.
Everyone thought it was about to flee, but it did not.
It turned, rearing up the upper half of its body again and aiming its enormous mouth at the Magic-Powered Vehicle.
Its rings of teeth spun rapidly. Slime dripped