Siri's voice came fuzzily through the communicator but, right now, Rena did not have the focus to listen to what she had to say. If you find yourself staring back at a long, wet, sticky tongue flickering at you, trying to pick up your scent, you probably wouldn't have the mood to listen to a person speaking beside you.
Rena felt a natural aversion and fear of the creature in front of her, but she suppressed the emotions that made her legs tremble. She tried her best to speak coolly, "Duoluozhong?"
She was unaware that she had unconsciously imitated Lin Sanjiu's cool-headed way of speaking. Siri's voice continued fuzzily over the communicator. Evidently, Reno did not catch what his sister said. Even though Siri did not mention anything about duoluozhongs, Kisaragi Library was still a part of an apocalyptic world. It wasn't totally unimaginable that a duoluozhong would appear there.
Rena stared blankly as the densely-packed pores on both sides of the tongue suddenly contracted. Without warning, saliva dripped from the tongue and fell to the ground with a loud pitter-patter. A drop landed on Rena's shoe. Perhaps the word 'tongue' wasn't the best term to describe this thing, it was more like the strange creature's combination of a weapon and a breathing apparatus. With the creature's weapon pointing directly at her, Rena's mind spun wildly as she decided on what she would do next.
She only had a 3 on her back now. Even though Reno begged her to attack him so that he could transfer a few lives over to her, due to the fact a person would lose their ability to fight for some time after receiving a lethal blow, they shelved the idea.
"Then, how should I fight?"
The flat, long face slowly lifted its head from the top of the bookshelf before it slid down from the top of the bookshelf, giving its observer's a head-numbing sensation. As it moved, it gradually revealed its body to Rena.
Its cylindrical body was like that of an earthworm, and even its color was the same as an earthworm. It was so large that Rena would not be able to hold the girth of its body even if she used both her arms. When it finally slid down from the bookshelf and raised its body, Rena finally saw its full size. Its upper body was already two meters tall, casting a long black shadow.
Rena shot a glance at the other half of the creature's body which was still in the dark. She gulped.
"Do the people from the north wing know of its existence? It's huge. How can they not know? What is this anyway? But, if it is related to the north wing team, why didn't they bring it along…"
While Rena's mind was occupied with numerous thoughts, she felt a sudden quick gust. Rena was shocked when she found out that the tongue had disappeared. As there was really very little light around, the "earthworm" took advantage of the low visibility and hid its face in the shadows after it towered over Rena. Subsequently, its tongue, which was almost as thick as a human torso, came out of nowhere and attacked Rena.
The teenage girl rolled away in an unglamorous manner before she hid quickly behind a bookshelf. She felt a sudden burning pain on her back and her arm. Rena instinctively touched both spots with her bare hands. She instantly found that her hand was covered in sticky goo. She didn't know if it was blood or saliva on the ground.
Her skin felt as though it was going to split open. Enduring the pain, she hissed as she looked down at her shoe. The saliva which had touched her show had already burned a hole through its surface. There was a small black hole in her shoe and there was even smoke sprouting from it.
"Bastard," Rena cursed as she steadied her racing heart. She stretched out her arm and raked a couple of books into her arms. "Why won't the duoluozhongs here just let me wear my shoes properly?"
After she said that, she heard a rustling sound. Rena turned behind and found a long tongue blocking the path behind her. The pores on the sides of the tongue contracted and more saliva dripped down from it. Oddly, the floor tile did not corrode from the saliva. There were only many 'corrosive puddles' on the floor—
Rena felt another gust of wind. This time around, it was clear that the black shadow that came from her side was trying to force her into one of the 'corrosive puddles'. As the creature could only discharge the saliva from the sides of its tongue, it probably couldn't control the direction of this discharge. Consequently, the "earthworm" chose such a method to fight. Rena didn't dare to take on a direct attack from that salivcovered tongue. She fell to the ground and rolled away. However, before she could steady herself, the tongue swerved in a different direction and came for her again. As it moved its tongue, it flung saliva through the air, which fell to the ground successively.
Rena had already reached the banisters on the second floor. If she took another step back, she would fall from the second floor. She gritted her teeth and used her body to shield the books. As the drops of saliva splashed on her body, burning through her clothes and scalding her skin, Rena opened two books simultaneously as her eyes glided across the book pages.
However, when Rena tried to read the words, her heart froze instantly.
It was too dark so she almost couldn't see a single word. However, she wasn't willing to throw down the books and just run away. Trying her luck, she planted her face right up to the page. However, she could only make out a few blurry words from using the dim intermittent lights from the explosions from another wing of the library. However, the few words she could read could not even form a proper sentence. Naturally, she couldn't activate any sort of good effect from the books.
She didn't know when the attack behind her suddenly stopped.
She only spent three to four seconds reading the book, but it was too long. Rena felt the floor vibrating slightly. The page she was looking at suddenly turned black. The few words she could read previously were suddenly blocked by a huge shadow. She shut the book and turned around.
She didn't know when that flat, noseless face had already edged close to her shoulder. Its chin hung over her left shoulder. It opened its huge mouth, which stretched open like a zipper from one side of its face to another.
"What are you looking at, little girl?"
Rena froze.
The "earthworm" squeezed out a voice, which did not match its appearance at all. With an ostentatious tone, it drew its long body closer and blocked Rena's path, trapping Rena in front of the banisters.
"Why are you reading in the dark? What's in the book?" Excitement poured from its greasy voice, as it switched its pitch suddenly, "Tell me now!"
When it spoke, Rena could still see the outline of its tongue rolling in its mouth. She felt cold sweat all over her body, and her palm was so wet that she couldn't hold on to the books in her hands properly.
Suddenly, she had an idea.
"Don't… don't hurt me," she controlled her breath and purposely trembling voice, "I will tell you. Just wait. Let me find some light…"