Chapter 65: Clash (Worm and Cannon Shell)
The cannon shell, fired at an initial velocity of 5,000 m/s, shed its sabot due to air resistance.
The pencil-like projectile, equipped with stabilizing fins, flew towards its target, maintaining its speed.
The distance was approximately 70m.
With almost no deceleration, the projectile pierced the Worm’s head.
“Impact.”
The Worm’s head snapped to the side as if it had been struck.
Whether it was a shockwave or the Worm’s body tissue, something spread out like smoke.
The cannon shell, having flown straight in, appeared to have penetrated the Worm’s head.
“Effect?!”
“Analyzing.”
The Worm, maintaining its momentum but with its direction altered by the force of the shot, slammed into the ground.
It would normally burrow into the ground headfirst, but it had been shot from the side. Perhaps because it made contact with the ground at an unexpected angle, it was unable to burrow and instead slid across the surface.
“Analysis complete. The projectile has penetrated the Worm’s head. The initial velocity may have been too high. It seems insufficient impact was delivered.”
“Penetrated? So it wasn’t deflected like that ＜Rain Croin＞?”
“Yes, Ma’am. The warhead penetrated the Worm’s surface tissue, and the projectile itself was confirmed to have entered the body without being destroyed. The projectile then pierced through the opposite side of the body, destroying tissue as it exited. No significant damage was observed on the projectile, so the internal composition is thought to be relatively soft.”
The projectile, having entered at 5,000 m/s, exited the other side while retaining most of its kinetic energy.
In other words, it had failed to impart a significant impact to the Worm.
Even so, for a normal creature, having its torso, especially its head, penetrated should cause some damage.
“Worm activity confirmed.”
In the video, the Worm, thrown onto the ground, began to move autonomously.
“I guess one shot isn’t enough to kill it.”
“Continuing observation. The four escorts escaped safely. If the Worm is still active, we will continue the attack.”
The rear part of its long body was still buried in the ground.
However, probably more than 10m, the front half of its body, including its head, was lying on the ground.
The Worm’s body shuddered.
At the same time, an unpleasant, low-pitched grinding sound began to be heard.
“What’s that, a cry?”
“It is believed to be the sound of hardened surface tissues rubbing together.”
For a few seconds, it showed no signs of movement, but the Worm soon resumed its activity. If the projectile had struck a brain nerve in its path, it might have been a one-hit kill, but unfortunately, it seemed to have missed.
If it didn’t seem to be taking much damage, it would be necessary to fire another shot immediately.
The Worm twisted its body and shook its head. What scattered at that time was body fluid?
No actions were confirmed towards the Delegation, the Communicator Dolls, or the Multi-legged Tanks.
Perhaps the damage to the head was having a valid effect after all.
And then.
In the video, the scales on the Worm’s body surface bristled all at once.
“Eek!?”
Commander (Eve) shuddered. ＜Ringo＞ received the results. The displayed video was approximately 1.5 seconds behind due to the time lag caused by distance. By that time, the situation had already changed.
The Tactical AI of the Multi-legged Tank, the moment it detected the anomaly, fired the Railgun without any hesitation.
This time, two units fired simultaneously, one at an angle into the oral cavity, and the other directly into the center of the torso from the side.
Plasma erupted, and the loaded Armor-Piercing Shells were fired at an initial velocity of 3,500 m/s.
This time, the stored kinetic energy was properly exerted.
The cannon shell that entered the oral cavity penetrated the body. While destroying the inside diagonally, it collided with the surface tissue.
While defeating the projectile, it scattered the surrounding tissue, blowing it away.
The cannon shell that struck the side of the torso destroyed the hardened surface while crumpling.
While engulfing them, it plunged into the Worm’s body, and the warhead, collapsing into a mushroom shape, tore through the body tissue, blowing away the opposite surface.
Combined with the momentum of the one shot in the oral cavity, the Worm’s head was thrown into the air.
Then, after a moment, the torso exploded. The impact of the cannon shell traveled through the body tissue, causing it to burst like liquid.
The widened wound continued to expand, eventually leading to severance.
The destroyed head danced in the air.
While spilling body fluids from the wound, the severed head rolled on the ground, and the remaining torso returned to the ground as if it were being sucked in.
“Whoa…”
She stared blankly at the video. The Worm’s main body, with its head severed, returned to the hole in the ground from which it had emerged in one go. There was no time to fire another shot.
In the blink of an eye, it was sucked into the earth, and the long torso disappeared underground.
“Eh!? It’s not dead!?”
“Analyzing.”
Meanwhile, the head rolling on the surface seemed to have stopped its life activity. It was rolling with momentum, but it didn’t seem to be moving actively.
“Detecting vibrations underground. The torso appears to be active. However, no digging sounds are heard. As expected, it seems unable to dig through the ground without its head.”
“Well, yeah, of course!”
“It cannot be determined at this time whether this activity is reflexive or if it has actually suffered a fatal wound. However, the threat level has decreased significantly. For the time being, I think it’s safe to assume that we have repelled it.”
The Worm’s torso was completely retracted underground. Only about 5m of the tip of the head was severed, but the rest escaped.
No, it’s unknown whether it escaped, as it may be moving purely reflexively.
“Ugh… but it can move that much even without a head…”
“Yes, Ma’am. If it is a creature with a simple structure, it can still be active even if its head is severed, and it may even regenerate its head from there. For example, some earthworms can regenerate from each severed piece.”
“Eh, it regenerates?”
“Gross,” she said, completely disgusted, but there are surprisingly many creatures that regenerate even when severed.
The most famous is the planarian. Even if cut into small pieces, each will regenerate a head and torso after a while. It is said that even if cut into more than 100 pieces, each will regenerate, so it has tremendous vitality.
Of course, such high regenerative ability is only found in primitive creatures, and advanced life forms with developed nervous systems would not have such absurd regenerative abilities.
“…Ma’am. Regarding the head, it appears to be collapsing under its own weight.”
“Huh…?”
The Communicator Doll, which had been observing the rolling head, noticed this and reported it.
The Worm’s head, which had maintained a certain cylindrical shape despite being destroyed, was being crushed by gravity.
“Isn’t that obvious since it’s dead?”
“Yes, Ma’am. It is possible that the muscle tissue relaxes and deforms when it dies. However, the body tissue appears to be collapsing. This phenomenon is the same as that observed with the ＜Rain Croin＞.”
＜Rain Croin＞. The first Monster that ＜The Tree＞ fought.
When the mysterious crystal found inside its captured giant body was removed, a phenomenon was confirmed in which the strength of the maintained body tissue was lost.
If the situation is the same, it is possible that the crystal remained in the escaped torso.
“Come to think of it, that Magic Stone was found near the heart, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, Ma’am. It is unknown whether that crystal is what is known as a Magic Stone, but that is correct. If the core of this Worm’s life activity is not in its head but around the crystal, it may not have suffered a fatal wound. On the contrary, it may be regenerating its head underground and attacking again.”
Currently, no activity has been confirmed in the underground torso. Has it died as a result of losing its head, or is it regenerating its head?
“If it is regenerating its head, it is also important whether it retains its memories. If it has a brain in its head and is thinking there, it will be reset by this head severance. However, if it has a structure such as nerve ganglia throughout its body that mutually retain memories, it will remember the attack on the Delegation. It would be good if it avoided us because it was repelled…”
“It would be troublesome if it was thinking about revenge. I want to get rid of it here somehow…”
How to deal with a Monster that has retreated 30m underground. Spending too much time will affect the overall schedule.
However, if the Worm were to regenerate and attack again, it would further disrupt the schedule.
It was a troubling problem.