WorldCrafter - Building My Underground Kingdom

The ground trembled.

Chunks of broken rock slid away as Earth rose fully, his hulking four-legged form looming like a living mountain. Easily twice the size of the Brute Ravagers, his body was a fortress of layered stone and muscle.

He have somehow grown even larger. But Draeven didin't care, that size is nothing in his eyes. His sharp shovel piereces trough Earth armor like a Tofu.

Earth roared, moving moving far faster than his size suggested. He twisted as he leapt, claws carving through stone as the terrain shifted with him. Throwing Draeven away.

Pillars erupted from the floor to block Draeven's path—another burst from beneath to skewer him mid-step.

Draeven didn't dodge.

CRACK!

His shovel swung, slicing through the rising spike and blasting it into gravel. He slid low, a stream of fire left in his wake, and vaulted forward—but Earth was already there.

A boulder-sized paw came crashing down.

BOOM!

Draeven crossed his arms, tanking the blow with a grimace as he was driven a meter into the ground, stone exploding around him.

Before he could recover, the beast's tail—a thick, club-like mass of rock—smashed across his side.

WHAM!

Draeven was launched through two stalagmites, slamming against a cavern wall. Chunks of molten stone clung to him as he stood, body cracked, but healing fast. A grin split his face.

"Now that's more like it."

He surged forward, molten flames bursting from his feet as boosters. Earth prepared to intercept, raising another wave of jagged stone—but it didn't matter.

THUNK!

The weapon pierced Earth's torso like it was tofu, burying itself deep into the beast's flank. Earth screamed and retaliated instantly.

Spikes exploded outward from his body, shredding through the stone around them in all directions.

Draeven twisted free just in time, fire trailing from his shoulder as the spikes grazed him.

Earth wasn't finished. He reared back, and from his open maw, a stream of molten stone spewed forth—not flame, but liquefied rock.

The flood carved through the battlefield, like a mud tsunami.

Draeven leapt skyward, cloak of ash and heat forming beneath him. From the air, he descended like a comet.

BOOM!

The shovel came down, striking the Earth Ravager's skull. The stone fractured.

But instead of falling, Earth grinned—revealing rows of jagged teeth—and grabbed Draeven mid-air, slamming him spine-first into the cavern floor.

CRUNCH!

The earth cratered.

Draeven coughed, but his grin didn't fade. "That all you got?"

He ignited the core inside him.

A pulse of mana spread from his chest outward. Purple Flames burst from every crack in his body. He spun it once—and slammed it directly into Earth's underbelly.

SHUNK!

Stone peeled back like flesh. Earth howled, trying to retreat—but Draeven advanced, driving the shovel deeper with each step, channeling fire through the shaft.

Bu than suddenly.

KA-BOOM!

An explosion erupted from within Earth's body, blowing chunks of rock across the cavern.

The ground quaked—and when the smoke cleared…

Draeven stood alone, steam hissing from his armor. Purple flame flicker across his back, licking the edges of his shovel.

Earth was gone—no body, no roar, no heartbeat. And yet… something felt off. He should've felt victorious. But his instincts screamed otherwise.

He turned, scanning the battlefield.

In the distance, T'zarek and Vek'tal were still tearing through Ravagers like wolves in a sheep pen.

Bones shattered. Limbs flew. The ground was stained in black blood.

Rumble!!!

Suddenly the liquid earth start to move. It slithered—not like a liquid, but like muscle.

It twisted around his boots, rising with unnatural manner. Draeven tensed. T

SWOSH!

Four figures burst forth from the ground, sculpted from living clay and stone. Identical in form.

Each one look just like earth—broad, four-legged. "Clones," Draeven growled. "He split himself…!"

They roared than charged. All four at once.

The first clone leap forward, jaws wide. Draeven ducked under its maw, flames blasting from his legs—BOOM—as he shot upward like a rocket. Mid-air, his shovel came down.

THUNK!

One clean slice—stone crunched, and the beast's head hit the ground before its body did.

The second swiped at him from the side. Draeven landed, rolled, came up spinning—his shovel arced.

CRACK!

The head split in two, stone shards exploding outward.

The third tried to flank, but Draeven twisted, flames shooting from his palm, propelling him forward.

He rammed the flat of his shovel straight into its face, dazing it—then spun behind and SHEARED its head from its shoulders.

Three down.

The fourth charged blindly. Draeven planted his feet, waited… then sidestepped, slamming his shovel straight into the beast's exposed throat.

The final clone fell, collapsing into a heap of dust and debris.

Draeven exhaled, the battlefield suddenly silent again.

Then—rumbling.

The ground buckled. More figures surged from the earth. Eight. Ten. Twelve.

A wave of stone-clad clones, dragging themselves out from the floor and walls.

Draeven bared his teeth in a grin. "So that's how it is, huh?" He slammed the butt of his shovel into the ground.

Flames exploded around him as his molten core flared. "Good, you will server as my target practice to find out my abilty."

The wave came crashing forward—twelve more clones, each roaring with fury. Stone and mud melded into limbs, claws, and jaws, grinding with the sound of collapsing mountains.

Draeven didn't move.

He let the first two charge let their weight shake the floor, their claws tear into the stone.

Then, just as they closed in— FWOOM.

He ignited. The purple flame burst out from beneath his skin, curling like vapor. It gave no heat. No burn. And yet, the moment it touched the stone floor—CRACK.

A jagged trench split beneath his feet.

Draeven blinked, surprised. He stepped forward, sweeping his arm—and the flame followed like a cloak, flowing out in a wave.

It washed over the first clone's legs, and for a second, nothing happened.

Then the creature stumbled, as if its limbs had been anchored. The moment's hesitation was all Draeven needed.

THUNK!

His shovel smashed straight through the clone's neck. He spun, flame swirling around his body like a second skin. Another clone come from the right.