"Aagh, where is this!"
Meanwhile, Cheon Seongjae, who had entered the Monarch's body, was bewildered.
All around was a dark, damp unknown space. And seeing the lump of flesh beneath him, Cheon Seongjae bit his lip.
'The Monarch's stomach.'
It was certain.
His soul had been pulled out and swallowed by the Monarch.
In fact, that guess was correct.
[Unable to leave the body of Abundance.]
[Warning. You will be completely absorbed by Abundance and die in 10 minutes.]
[If you don't hurry, you will become one with Abundance.]
Cheon Seongjae was horrified by that warning.
"Aagh! Don't pronounce my death in my uncle's voice!"
Besides, not only was it not his uncle, but becoming one with something like a monster was the worst.
Maybe that's why.
'I have to get out of here.'
Of course, perhaps it was because he had just been swallowed, or perhaps thanks to Yi Geon's blessing.
Except for his body becoming translucent, nothing was physically wrong yet, but it was dangerous.
The only fortunate thing was that he could still use skills.
Since a saint forms a soul contract with a Celestial God, he could still receive and use the god's magic power.
So Cheon Seongjae immediately activated an attack spell.
Crunch!
Finally, a pillar of fire that could melt steel in an instant erupted from the ground.
Boom!
But.
"......!"
The magic had no effect at all.
Flustered, Cheon Seongjae tried to activate it again, but.
[It's useless.]
"!"
Cheon Seongjae was startled by the unfamiliar voice.
This place was inside the monster's stomach.
There was no way anyone else alive could be here.
But the moment he turned his head, Cheon Seongjae's eyes went wide.
He couldn't help it.
[No magic works in here.]
"...Pisces Saint?"
That's right.
Sitting on top of the corpses piled with chunks of meat was none other than the Pisces Saint.
And Pisces, one of the two great magic constellations alongside Gemini, had the appearance of a woman who didn't look much older than him.
Seeing her translucent form, she was a soul like himself, but unmistakable.
"What, why are you...!"
[Why else. I was eaten too. 20 years ago.]
"?!"
Cheon Seongjae's expression was a sight to see.
He couldn't help it.
'20 years ago? What do you mean? Wasn't it recently that the Pisces Saint sent a subordinate deity to my uncle's sanctuary?'
But what was this.
Cheon Seongjae seemed to fall into a mental breakdown, but soon the Pisces Saint spoke.
[Still, you're remarkable. To maintain your body even after being swallowed by the Monarch. Is it because of the Celestial God's power enveloping your body?]
"......!"
[Well, even so, you can't kill the Monarch, and you can't get out of here, so just give up and accept your fate...]
But then.
Bang!
A powerful green light poured down over Cheon Seongjae's head.
At that familiar energy, Cheon Seongjae's face brightened instantly.
"Uncle! Is that you, uncle?"
- Yes.
The contract between a Celestial God and a saint is fundamentally a soul contract.
Even without a physical body, they could connect and converse through the Celestial God.
And hearing his nephew's voice, Yi Geon let out a deep sigh.
He seemed inwardly relieved.
After all, it was good that he had come to the epicenter where the Monarch appeared, but he had suddenly received a notification that one of the saints' life signs had cut off.
Of course, since the contract wasn't broken, he quickly realized it wasn't complete death.
And after confirming his nephew's safety, Yi Geon spoke as if it was done.
- Uncle arrived nearby, but I can't get inside.
"!"
Now, Yi Geon was at the center.
Of course, the Monarch had cast a large barrier, but that didn't matter.
[Utilizing the Authority of Space]
As he had dominion over space, an intrusion was easy.
But the problem came after.
- The bastard set up two barriers. I could breach the outer wall, but I can't pierce the barrier of the core where you are.
The reason was simple.
The barrier on the side where Cheon Seongjae was couldn't be recognized as space by the skill.
In the end, Cheon Seongjae furrowed his brow.
"Then there's no way for uncle to come here..."
- No. Use Celestial God Descent. Not possession, but the main body descent.
"Huh? But if I use that, uncle, you'll be summoned inside the monster's stomach... Ah!"
The clever Cheon Seongjae immediately caught on to Yi Geon's scheme.
As expected.
- The fact that it's there suggests it's likely possessing a human. No matter how well it hides its power, a Monarch-level being's power and stench are too strong to evade the Dome's surveillance.
"That's right. It actually smelled human. Maybe it possessed an S-rank who went missing during the subjugation..."
Yi Geon laughed as if it was just as he thought.
- Then we can kill it.
But hearing their conversation, the Pisces Saint furrowed her brow.
[I see what you're thinking, but a Monarch is a Monarch. Even if you summon a Celestial God here, even the god will be digested.]
No, before that, there was a prior problem.
[This is a place that continuously steals your magic power. To use top-tier magic like Celestial God Summoning, an ordinary amount of magic power won't do. How could a brat like you...]
But then, the Pisces Saint flinched. Because Cheon Seongjae was looking at her and lifting the corners of his mouth.
It was a smile far from childish.
As expected.
"Insufficient magic power can just be filled, can't it?"
"!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the Pisces Saint thought, 'Oh no.'
It was because of the magic Cheon Seongjae used.
[Mana Link (SS)]
And that was a special magic Cheon Seongjae had developed by referencing .
The function was simple.
Just like a Celestial God, he could supply magic power to puppets to make them move.
Literally, a puppetry technique that could be used by supplying his own magic power!
Well, the purpose was impure(?), and it might sound quite useless at first hearing, but it had sufficient value.
As expected.
[Connected to the species of the Fish.]
[Magic power can be supplied.]
[Rules changed, the direction of the circuit's spell formula set in reverse.]
[Changed from the side that gives magic power to the side that receives it.]
Soon, as their bodies were forcibly connected, the Pisces Saint thought, 'Oh no.'
'This brat is using the puppet spell in reverse to steal my magic power!'
He had changed the direction of the magic power supply and used it as a skill that acted like a straw.
Thus, the saint quickly tried to escape this space, but.
[Ugh!]
Once their bodies were connected, her body didn't move as she wanted.
And while Cheon Seongjae was devouring the saint's magic power, it seemed that alone wasn't enough.
"Hand over the Celestial God's magic power!"
[!!]
As expected.
With Cheon Seongjae's voice, something incredible happened.
[Cheon Seongjae is drawing in the magic power of the Pisces Celestial God connected to the saint.]
A tremendous light burst forth.
In short, Cheon Seongjae was even pulling in the magic power of the Pisces Celestial God connected to the Pisces Saint.
Of course, originally, defensive spells were deployed to prevent such infiltration magic.
But.
'If the opponent is in a soul state, it's a piece of cake.'
A Celestial God and a saint are connected by soul. So when the god cast a spell, that spell formula was engraved on the saint's soul.
And for a mage, seeing the formula means seeing the program coding, so breaking just one part meant victory.
Well, if you touched anything carelessly, it could be dangerous to yourself, so you had to be careful.
'Anyway, it's fortunate I learned the basic magic language from the Elf King.'
And that's when it happened.
[Ugh!]
Through Cheon Seongjae's spell technique, the Pisces Celestial God's magic power flowed into Cheon Seongjae!
[Celestial God Descent]
Finally, Cheon Seongjae used one of the top-tier summoning techniques, Celestial God Descent.
And at that moment!
[Well done.]
Boom!
With a flash, Yi Geon was summoned inside the Monarch's stomach.
But his appearance was completely different from usual.
'That form is...!'
It was certain.
The time when Cheon Seongjae and Cheon Yuha received baptism from Yi Geon.
The true form of the Ophiuchus deity they had seen in the baptism space.
A giant serpent with no end in sight had been summoned.
And no matter how large the Monarch's stomach was, its size was likely not much different from that of a human!
It was by no means enough to contain that giant serpent.
Perhaps that was why.
Crunch!!!
[Heok!]
Unable to withstand the serpent's size, the Monarch's stomach burst open, and its body was torn apart.
And at this very moment!
Bang!
Outside, Cheon Yuha, Goth, and Kali could not help but be shocked.
"Uncle!!"
Was it the very moment when the Monarch seemed to spew out light?
Someone tore through the Monarch's belly and burst out from inside.
That was none other than a serpent.
Because of the light, its form couldn't be confirmed in detail, but it was unmistakable.
"Uncle!"
* * *
Thud!
The Monarch of Abundance, its upper body as well as its stomach torn apart, collapsed on the ground.
Thanks to that, neither Goth nor Kali could close their mouths.
The serpent of light that burst out of the Monarch's body soon changed into a familiar figure.
Tak!
"Oh, my god, Yi Geon-nim!!"
"...Ah... Yi Geon-nim!"
"How...!"
At their gazes, Yi Geon, wiping off the blood, let out a grin.
"Why are you so surprised? If you can't break through from the outside, you just break through from the inside."
"......!!!"
Goth couldn't shut his mouth.
No, even if he said he couldn't break the barrier from the outside, still.
How could he use such a bizarre method...!
Perhaps that's why.
"Are you out of your mind?! There's no way a monster's stomach is ordinary...!"
Indeed, the Monarch was a monster that even melted and devoured Celestial Gods.
Its stomach acid was undoubtedly not ordinary.
In fact, Yi Geon's skin, which had returned to its original form, was also melting, but it didn't matter to him.
"I have Super Regeneration, you know."
The activated Super Regeneration skill was healing Yi Geon's body.
'Well, because of the Monarch data I obtained from destroying the gate before, my immunity had also increased.'
[Fragment of ???]
- Growth of immunity to attacks (toxicity, physical, etc.) from the unknown civilization
Well, since the guy I got back then had this one's power, it must have been more effective.
That's why Yi Geon undertook this extremely dangerous venture from inside the monster's stomach.
'Anyway, it was fortunate that it was Seongjae who was swallowed.'
Abundance was connected to the power of ???.
And whenever Abundance used the stolen power of ???, the power of ??? within Seongjae also grew stronger. Thanks to that, Seongjae was also able to be safe.
But Goth looked at him as if fed up.
"Even so! How could you do something even the Celestial Gods are too afraid to do...!"
And the Monarch, too, glared at Yi Geon as if it hadn't expected this.
[This crazy bastard. You're not right in the head.]
And Cheon Seongjae was also Cheon Seongjae.
With that vermin-like trait, they should have killed him on sight instead of swallowing.
And then.
Perhaps because the Monarch had taken damage.
The barrier that had been enveloping Seoul began to shake.
'The barrier is breaking...!'
But it was only for a moment.
Goth hurriedly showed the limp Cheon Seongjae.
"Yi Geon-nim! Seongjae is!"
In response, Yi Geon held something up as if to say not to worry.
It was Cheon Seongjae's soul, which he had grabbed and brought out in the midst of it all.
And while others might not know, Cheon Seongjae was a saint in a direct contract with him.
Unless his body died, having his soul temporarily pulled out wouldn't kill him easily.
'Well, it's dangerous after 30 minutes though.'
"Anyway, don't worry. I'll put him back right away..."
But then.
Thump!
"!"
A golden-green light shimmered from Cheon Seongjae's collapsed body, and something amazing happened.
[The saint of ??? uses the Skill of Life.]
[???]
At the same time, Cheon Seongjae let out a gasp and opened his eyes.
"Cough, hack...!"
At that sight, Yi Geon was intrigued, and both Goth and Yuha were greatly relieved.
But only for a moment, Yi Geon raised the Heavenly Judgment.
"Now, shall we split this bastard's belly open?"
But then.
They saw the Monarch, torn apart while wearing Cheon Seongjae's form.
But that's when it happened.
"Seongjae-ya!"
Everyone's eyes went round at the familiar scream.
"Seongjae-ya!"
Perhaps taking advantage of the barrier shaking, someone had slipped in.
Landing in front of them, Hugo was horrified at the ruined Seongjae — no, the Monarch.
"Geon-ah! What have you done!"
Yi Geon retorted as if he found it absurd.
"Your son is over there. This one's a fake."
"What?!"
Soon, as if he had had enough, Yi Geon raised his axe again.
At the same time, the flustered Monarch also changed into the faces of Yuha or Cheon Ji-woo, but Yi Geon scoffed.
Presumably, this guy read the opponent's memories and transformed into the person who would be most effective.
As evidence, it didn't change into Hugo. That's why it was so detestable.
"It seems you're trying to block my attack, but that kind of face is useless..."
But then.
The Monarch's face changed into someone else's.
"!"
Everyone's eyes went round at the face of a stranger, but Yi Geon was different.
In an instant, murderous intent flared in Yi Geon's eyes.
(Continues in the next episode)