Chapter Thirty-Seven: Final Explosion

After a long while, I regained consciousness to find myself shrouded in utter darkness, lying atop something soft and remarkably elastic. A stench so foul and pungent assaulted my nostrils that I nearly retched on the spot. Yet, within seconds, a surge of elation swept through me—I was alive! And judging by my surroundings, I was inside the boss’s stomach. Who else in history could claim to have moved about in a boss’s belly? I was likely the first. Despite the sticky mucus and fragments of half-digested food scattered everywhere, making the place unspeakably filthy, could there be anywhere safer than this? No matter how fierce this creature might be, it couldn’t possibly grow a hand to reach into its own stomach and dig me out. But if I were digested and expelled, I’d end up as snake dung, which was far from an amusing prospect.

So I began to pummel and kick at its innards, but no matter how hard I struck, there was no response. It didn’t seem to care about me at all. Eventually, exhausted from my efforts, I sat down to rest, took a few sips from my waterskin, and pulled out a rice ball. But just as I was about to eat, the creature seemed to move suddenly, and I lost my balance. The rice ball slipped from my grasp, and I watched as it was swiftly dissolved by gastric juices. My earlier joy at surviving turned instantly into utter despair.

If this continued, I would be digested just like that rice ball. Out of options, I glanced at my summoned beasts; the system indicated they could all be called forth. Without hesitation, I summoned the Hurricane Wolf King and the Mud Serpent; not a moment could be wasted in this place. The Hurricane Wolf King unleashed its Whirling Claw, the razor-sharp talons slicing effortlessly into the thick wall of flesh. With a powerful pull, a massive gash was torn open, and crimson blood gushed forth.

The stomach wall of this creature had been slashed wide open—the boss must have been in excruciating agony. The Mud Serpent then sprayed its dissolving fluid, sending wisps of white smoke curling upward from the wound. I followed with an energy explosion, and the Hurricane Wolf King’s Spiral Gale struck the injury, blowing it even wider. The force of the blast ripped open a gory, blood-soaked hole, flesh and viscera flying everywhere.

Time meant life—it meant the chance to create a miracle! With everyone giving their all, I desperately wished for a sword or dagger, anything that could cut or stab. The Hurricane Wolf King let out a thunderous roar, activating its Fury Roar skill to boost its attack power, then unleashed its Destructive Light Beam.

Boom! A surge of energy struck the stomach wall, this time inflicting far greater damage than before. The wound burst open, blood pouring out in torrents. Stuck inside the boss’s belly, I couldn’t gauge exactly how much damage had been done, but its stomach was hardly built for defense—it might even have been its weak point. With the power of Destructive Light Beam, tens of thousands of damage points were certainly possible!

After the beam finished, I lunged forward, my fists plunging into the raw flesh, tearing off chunks by sheer force. The agony I inflicted on the Black Mist Serpent King was beyond measure. It thrashed wildly in the mud, smashing its head into the ground and retching violently in a desperate attempt to expel the tormentor within its gut.

Its massive body writhed and convulsed in pain. I had no idea how many times I’d been rolled about inside its stomach, only that my entire being was repeatedly soaked in its digestive juices, mucus, and reeking blood, making it nearly impossible to breathe. Not only my own body suffered; even my summoned beasts were smoking as their bodies began to dissolve.

Yet, no matter how the Black Mist Serpent King thrashed in its frenzy, we anchored ourselves inside its belly, launching relentless attacks on the stomach wall. The Mud Serpent’s most reliable assault was to fire its dissolving fluid with all its might, corroding the stomach beyond recognition. Meanwhile, my stamina was rapidly depleting, and my body was being steadily eroded. Still, the Black Mist Serpent King refused to yield; even such grievous injuries could not bring it down.

My summoned beasts continued casting their abilities, and I kept tearing at its flesh. At last, the Black Mist Serpent King’s struggles ceased. Wiping my face, I scraped off a handful of rotten flesh, flinging it aside—only to discover that the meat on my hands had decayed entirely, falling away with the motion. All that remained were ten ghastly white finger bones. The sight of my own skeletal hands sent a chill through me.

The Black Mist Serpent King fared no better. The internal damage and unending blood loss had left it in a state of utter weakness. With a hiss, it spewed blood from its mouth, its stomach destroyed beyond repair and clogged with chunks of decayed flesh that blocked its airway. Its breathing nearly stopped, and blood even flooded its windpipe, a major reason for its collapse.

My own body was nearly dissolved; I had to act quickly. I ordered the Hurricane Wolf King to unleash another Spiral Gale, shredding the stomach and mangling its other organs into a bloody pulp. The Mud Serpent doused the wounds with more acid, aggravating the damage. After our relentless assault, the boss could do nothing but collapse. Suddenly, it summoned the last of its strength, reared its head high, and with gaping jaws, vomited violently. A deluge of blood and flesh sprayed forth from its ruined belly like a breached dam!

I leapt onto the Hurricane Wolf King’s back, and propelled by the powerful current of blood and viscera, we were expelled from the monster’s body. The Hurricane Wolf King adjusted its posture in midair and landed safely in the mud from ten meters above, the soft ground absorbing all impact and sparing us from harm.

No sooner had we touched down than the Hurricane Wolf King put distance between us and the boss. All around the swamp lay the corpses of the Black Mist Pythons, clearly slain by their own leader—a scene of utter carnage. With a final roar, the Black Mist Serpent King collapsed, blood and flesh spilling from its gaping maw. Its head, once held high, crashed to the ground. Its life had reached its end.

With a thunderous crash, its giant body slammed into the earth, never to rise again. Its enormous head lay lifeless on the ground, two eyes fixed on me, not far away, as blood-tinged foam seeped from its mouth. In its gaze, I saw rage and defiance, slowly fading into despair and resignation. I made no move against it—my hands had been dissolved by its stomach acid. But soon the boss would bleed out and die; it no longer had any power to resist.

From a distance, I watched the light of life slowly fade from its eyes. The swamp fell silent, not a breath of wind stirred. The Black Mist Serpent King’s eyes gradually lost their luster, its eyelids slipping shut. I realized I could quietly watch a boss’s life ebb away—such a thing had surely never been witnessed before.

Then the massive body of the Black Mist Serpent King collapsed, and as if in response, a dazzling array of coins and equipment exploded outward, scattering in all directions and glinting brilliantly in the sunlight. Suddenly, a golden radiance enveloped me—the boss’s experience points propelled me to level 30. As I leveled up, my skeletal, decayed body was instantly restored to perfect health. I leapt down from the Hurricane Wolf King’s back and gazed up at the sky. The mist had cleared, the sun shone warmly above, and I couldn’t help but smile at its cheerful face. I stood up, feeling warmth return to my palms, and immediately set about clearing the battlefield!

The loot scattered by the boss was so plentiful that I’d probably wake up laughing from my dreams tonight! In just five minutes, I had gathered every last item, including a crystal core the size of my fist and a trove of precious materials—enough to make me rich. The boss had generously dropped two hundred gold coins, leaving me grinning from ear to ear.