Isaac had been surprised when the elf came straight for him, but not really so.

  He had, for some weird reason, thought he— Isaac had to double-check if the elf had the stuff.

  And yes, the elf was a he...

  ‘The dude is just too damn beautiful,’

  However, Isaac had thought the elf was there to attack him, especially since the elf had advanced in a straight, very bloody line, and his magic had changed suddenly. Something had changed with the elves on the wall, but Isaac couldn’t put his claws on it.

  However, as the elf approached, Isaac realized the words the elf spoke were imbued with mana, which opened something within him.

  It was entirely different—those words literally shook his soul and gave him a skill the moment he heard them.

  Congratulations, you have heard the spoken word in the god tongue, and your soul, potent with true flame, comprehends it. You can now converse in the divine tongue; you have gained the skill: “Divine speak”.

  It had been like a spell had been lifted from his mouth, as he now could converse with the elf.

  An explosion of fire mana in another opening in the desert, and the cries of the dying worms in the conflagration of fire were music to Isaac's ears.

  “We make a great team, you and I.” Isaac tried to start small talk with the elf...

  The elf, however, was very stiff and far too formal for Isaac.

  It was as if he had a tree shoved up his spine.

  "We do, fire one," the walking force of nature said, as wind bisected a dozen worms, clearing the way for them to another desert tunnel.

  For all it mattered, they did make a great team—with Isaac's potent flames but limited mana, and the elf’s unending waves of vines and nature. Together, they killed the worm tides on the surface and blocked off more tunnels.

  So far, they had killed a few thou sands.

  In addition to his new ally, the change in the elves had given almost all the elves a lesser ability to channel whatever mana his new friend was channeling.

  They were now pushing back the worm tide from the wall. This didn’t account for his own monster tide that he had almost forgotten about.

  “Shit,” Isaac swore in the divine tongue. The elf looked confused by the word, as Isaac was about to close another tunnel in flames...

  "What... sHiT, do you need, scaled and fire one?" the elf said in his monotone voice. Isaac shook his head, finished the spell, and answered, "It's a curse—"

  “Shit, shit, shit!” The elf started yelling. His vines and magic stil killing the worms as usual...

  "—and an expression," Isaac finished the spell and his sentence, giving the elf a deadpan look.

  Isaac's spell of true fire now engulfed the tunnel opening, exploding in a conflagration of true fire. The shockwave from the explosions collapsed the tunnel opening.

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  “I do not understand?” The elf now gave Isaac a puzzled look. ‘So he can have facial expressions!’

  “Is it a curse... or an expression?” The elf looked confused...

  “Okay, mmm, maybe swear—” The elf looked even more confused, as if it had cursed in the presence of a god.

  “How about this, we can go over this after the battle.” Isaac was starting to get a headache over this elf.

  “Yes, that might be for the best, scaled and fire one.” The elf's face softened... as he it cut a Hunter worm into meat chunks with wind magic... Damn, this dude is good.

  Now done with the tunnel and the elf, Isaac looked over the battle and saw that he needn’t have worried about the monster tide.

  They weren't in the heat of battle, but they still ensured the worms were surrounded.

  He spotted the giant mammoths stampede into a worm horde, and as a Hunter worm was about to target the leader of the charge, the shadow cat appeared out of the Hunter worm's shadow. It attacked, disrupting the worm’s plan.

  The cat quickly disappeared into the shadows, leaving the worm guessing where it would appear next. This continued for some time, as the agility of the Shadow cat outmatched that of the Hunter worm.

  The shadow cat delayed the Hunter worm long enough for the mammoths to reduce the worm tide to meat paste.

  It was all going surprisingly well...

  ‘too well.’

  Something was going to hit them soon, but Isaac couldn’t put his claw on it.

  Far away, beneath the sands, the Brood Queen was shrieking with fury.

  It had all gone so fast.

  Its brood had feasted for years, but the flying one and the changer of mana had ruined it all.

  The disappearance of the flying one had not gone unnoticed from the Brood Queen, but she hadn’t paid too much attention to it.

  A mistake that had now cost her.

  They had feasted too long on weaker monsters; some of her older spawn had fat, elongated bodies as a result.

  Then the change had come: the mana had weakened, and the Brood Queen had grown, needing more energy than ever. It changed her and HER children.

  They had grown stronger and more relentless...

  But the hunger was never-ending.

  An aspect The Brood Queen had now regretted... as there was no more to eat.

  Its aura of blood and hunger had also been given to its brood.

  The Brood Queen's plan had changed to consume the world... an instinct she didn't know, nor questioned.

  But she had the numbers. There were a few too many young ones, but they would serve as fertilizer for her new brood.

  But as she was feasting on some of her oldest Brood.

  She would show them all.

  As she coiled out her actual size, she grew and grew, going straight to the surface.

  The sands she had shaped to keep her children and nourishment, she released her control over the sands.

  The world shook.

  She didn't need more nourishment.

  She was the world-eater worm, and she would feast on them all.

  The world quaked as she surfaced.

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