Chapter 54: Inside the Beast

Choi Kangjoong was curious.

How could that small body swallow a Dimension Ship?

What was it like inside the Devil of Devouring?

How did the Devil of Devouring digest everything?

So, he decided to go in and see for himself.

Swoosh!

As he passed through the membrane spread across Charigna’s mouth, everything went dark.

Choi Kangjoong examined the interior through the vision of the Apocalid.

Demonic Energy surged and rolled.

It was a lethal concentration that an ordinary person could not withstand for even a single second.

“So the space has been expanded. Where did everything she swallowed go?”

Suddenly, the Demonic Energy lunged at him.

The Space Severance of the Origin deactivated.

The Psionic Barrier covering his Chitin Gauntlet began to waver and soften.

An intense wave was also transmitted to his soul, attempting to shatter its form.

“So this is both the mouth and the stomach of the Devil of Devouring.”

For a human, it was equivalent to being chewed by teeth while simultaneously being dissolved by gastric juices.

“It’s trying to break the soul first.”

In the Apocalid’s Soil Pit, dissolving the physical body was the priority.

Normally, the process would end once nutrients and Evolution Points were obtained, but thanks to his Psionic specialization, he had become able to dissolve even souls.

The Devil of Devouring, conversely, tried to damage the soul first.

It would turn a creature’s soul into a mushy slurry to be sucked out, then swallow the hollowed-out physical body.

“Since I don’t see the Dimension Ship, she must have digested it… How did she do it?”

Choi Kangjoong took out a Kitin Blade, broke it in half, and tossed it.

The Demonic Energy pounced on it, and it dissolved and vanished as if it had been dropped into a Soil Pit.

“It devours things without souls incredibly quickly. I wonder if I can imitate this with Source Energy?”

Choi Kangjoong gathered Source Energy in his hand and focused his mind.

The Source Energy writhed, but it did not transform easily.

“Life Essence and Death Mana worked well. Is it because this is Demonic Energy?”

Choi Kangjoong focused his mind even further.

Had he not been wearing his Chitin Armor, a deep furrow would have formed between his brows.

[You have gained a partial understanding of the Demonic Energy of Devouring.]

[The Devouring ability evolves.]

[Inorganic matter digestion rate increases.]

[Soul digestion rate increases significantly.]

[Nutrients generated from digestion increase.]

[Devil of Devouring Evolution Code decryption rate increases.]

[Devil of Devouring Evolution Code decryption rate: 11%]

“The inorganic matter digestion rate went up. This is huge.”

The Apocalid’s inorganic matter digestion rate had been extremely low.

Because it was less than 5%, the nutrients spent on digestion often exceeded the nutrients gained, resulting in a practical loss.

Therefore, when fighting metallic races like the Metra, the Apocalid population would decrease rather than increase.

“Now I can get some nutrients even when fighting the Metra. The nutrients gained when creating an Apocalid Dimension will increase as well.”

Even when devouring a dimension, a significant portion of the nutrients was spent on digesting inorganic matter, so the net gain hadn’t been very high.

“The Devil of Devouring truly gives only the best things.”

It was true for the Devil of Devouring he met in the Kraken Sea, and it was the same this time.

Choi Kangjoong grinned.

“I hope I see them often.”

It was time to leave.

Choi Kangjoong stopped blocking and accepted the Demonic Energy that was trying to digest him.

The Demonic Energy invaded his soul.

The soul should have been crushed and torn apart by the single-minded obsession of the Devil of Devouring—the will to eat.

However, the massive Hive Mind, whose very essence and core was hunger, overwhelmingly surpassed the mental strength of the Devil of Devouring.

An individual could never hope to defeat a hive.

And this place was an organ made of soul.

Charigna faced the Outer Mind directly, without the filter of a physical body.

-Kieeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!

“Ugh, so noisy.”

Even though Choi Kangjoong was the one who had been eaten, a strange phenomenon occurred where Charigna was being sucked in.

The Demonic Energy thinned, and the wall separating Choi Kangjoong from the outside collapsed.

Through the gap, he could see the Divine Arrow, which had drawn close to Dark City.

“Lord Outer has been eaten!”

As Choi Kangjoong entered Charigna’s mouth, Dielka hopped around in a panic.

“He must have a plan.”

“Princess, aren’t you worried? Even if he has a plan, what if he dies like that!”

“You’ll see if you just wait.”

Iselin calmed Dielka down while feeling a sense of superiority.

That feeling was subtly evident, making Dielka even more irritated.

“No, I know you know things I don’t, Princess, but is this the time for that? Let’s get closer, fast!”

Iselin hadn’t completely set her mind at ease either.

In the Kraken Sea, Choi Kangjoong had absorbed the Devil of Devouring from the outside; he hadn’t gone inside.

“Are you staying back because it’s dangerous to get close? If you won’t go, stay here. I’m going alone.”

There were still three million pirates left, and Charigna was on a rampage.

If they approached and Choi Kangjoong really died, they wouldn’t be able to escape and would surely perish.

Even so, Dielka was determined to rush out.

“Advance.”

Iselin spoke without a moment’s hesitation.

Her logic as a commander and her personal feelings were in alignment.

The Apocalid didn’t seem to be in any particular state of confusion.

The fact that they were still fighting well was evidence that Choi Kangjoong was alive, so it seemed safe to approach.

And she was worried.

If he was struggling inside, she wanted to lend a hand.

The output of the Mana Engine in the engine room increased.

A flash erupted from the nozzles, and the Divine Arrow moved forward.

“Kyahahahaha!”

Charigna burst into a mad laugh, her fat quivering.

Iselin and Dielka winced, their ears twitching in displeasure.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The massive Mana Whip raked across Dark City.

Debris scattered, and Dark Elves were flung out into the dimensional sea.

“Not enough! Hungry! Food!”

Charigna inhaled the Dark Elves.

The Dark Elves were sucked into her mouth one after another.

“I need more! More!”

A craving that could never be satisfied.

This was a yoke she could never escape, as she was closer to a Devil of Devouring than a Dark Elf.

Conveniently, the Divine Arrow was approaching.

The Elves on the deck were fresh, like meat decorated with gold.

The Dark Elves beside them would surely be far more delicious than any Dark Elves she had eaten so far.

“What a delicacy!”

Charigna flew toward the Divine Arrow.

Iselin and Dielka drew their bows.

They were about to feed her arrows drenched in High Mana, but it became unnecessary.

“Kieeeeeeeeeek!”

Charigna suddenly let out a scream.

The giant Mana Whip vanished.

The surging Demonic Energy was absorbed back into her body.

Her skin shriveled up like a deflated balloon.

Choi Kangjoong was expelled from Charigna’s mouth.

She could no longer maintain the digestive space.

“Why did you go in there! I thought you were dead!”

Dielka shouted.

Choi Kangjoong found it difficult to explain.

How could he explain the concepts of a dimensional predator and the Outer Mind?

So, he gave a moderate answer.

“I’d done it before, so I thought it would work.”

“You’ve done it before?”

“I ate the Devil of Devouring in the Kraken Sea. It was easy.”

“In the Kraken Sea…”

Dielka realized the source of the emotions Iselin had shown.

On the surface, she was dignified and cold, making one wonder if she was a different species, but in moments like this, she seemed like an ordinary Elf.

“What are you going to do with the Dark Elf slaves here?”

Choi Kangjoong asked Dielka.

If Dielka wanted, he could exclude the Dark Elf slaves from his devouring.

“We have to leave them. Even if they are slaves here, they were pirates to the Dark Elves of the Separate Sea.”

Dielka spoke bitterly.

Sierra nodded in agreement.

If they took them in, the Dark Elves of the Separate Sea would protest, and their different way of thinking would become a poison.

Even if Dielka was a High Dark Elf, it was difficult to embrace all Dark Elves.

“Is there anything I can help with?”

Iselin asked.

Contrary to her inner thoughts, her face remained almost expressionless.

She was maintaining a poker face in her own way, but it was useless against Choi Kangjoong, who could see from multiple perspectives simultaneously.

Her rapid heartbeat and the shimmering of her Mana were signs of her state when she was worried.

“You don’t need to worry. This place is dangerous, so stay far back.”

“Yes. What will you do with that?”

Iselin pointed at Charigna, whose Devil of Devouring parts had vanished.

Her stretched skin was wrinkled, and foul-smelling fluids were leaking from her entire body.

Her breath was thin, and her pupils were hazy; anyone could see she wouldn’t live long.

“Can you look into it for me? The Gate Stone and…”

“Of course. I’ll extract everything, just like with Count Senzo.”

The Divine Arrow and the Elf Dimension Ships moved away from Dark City.

The blush on Iselin’s face, whose feelings had been discovered, did not fade until they returned to their original positions.

“Only Dark City is left.”

He assessed the situation using the Stealth Scouts he had spread throughout Dark City.

The noble class was nearly annihilated.

Even the Royal Pirates, the nobles among nobles, had been eaten by Charigna.

The remaining commoners and slaves had no one to lead them and only ran away.

“Damn it. I shouldn’t have let Charigna eat the Royal Pirates! They would have given me a lot of Evolution Points.”

Choi Kangjoong felt deep regret.

Each Royal Pirate would have been worth 100,000 to 1,000,000 Evolution Points, but Charigna had swallowed them all up.

“Lutal, next time let’s stop the Devil of Devouring from eating them.”

“Grrr!”

Lutal also blamed himself.

If he were human, he would have shed tears over the wasted Evolution Points.

[You have obtained Evolution Points.]

[You have obtained Evolution Points.]

[You have obtained Evolution Points.]

[You have obtained Evolution Points.]

[You have obtained Evolution Points.]

[Owned Evolution Points: 28,394,733]

He would have cried blood if not for the fact that a large amount of Evolution Points had still accumulated thanks to the sheer number of Dark Elves.

“But the Evolution Points are fewer than I thought.”

Evolution Points were obtained in greater quantities the larger and stronger the digested individual was.

The proportion of Dark Elf slaves in Dark City was higher than Choi Kangjoong expected, and they were weak.

“Still, there are many left, so I’ll probably get another 10 million once I eat them all.”

Resistance was passive.

Magic to check the Titan barely surged.

The armed Dimension Ships were all destroyed, and only boat-sized vessels remained.

Even those attempting to row away were caught by the flying Apocalids.

Boom boom boom boom boom!

The Titan and Light Titan brought their flanks right up to Dark City and poured out Mana Cannon fire.

This was possible because there was no gravity since it wasn’t a dimension.

Dark City crumbled under the point-blank bombardment, and pieces of Dark Elves flew everywhere.

Walkers brought inorganic matter to the Soil Pits.

Now it was a gain, and nutrients were steadily rising.

Air Walkers gathered what was floating in the dimensional sea.

“When this is over, I should synthesize the Source Combat Muscle and the Superhuman Strength Muscle. Even then, 30 million should be left.”

Dark City gradually disappeared into the Titan’s belly.

Iselin and Dielka watched the disappearance of the massive Dark City with awe.

It looked like an inaccessible natural phenomenon, like hundreds of millions of dimension monsters swarming together or a super-massive Mana Storm.

“It’s over.”

“It’s over.”

Before long, Dark City, which had been full of Dark Elf pirates, was gone.

It was the end of the notorious Pirate Queen Charigna and Dark City.

“That was a good meal.”

The prey had gone into the Titan’s belly, but Choi Kangjoong also felt full.

-You worked hard. Where will you go?

It was Iselin’s communication magic.

“I should go home.”

-We will also return via the Separate Sea. Please come visit my room again sometime.

Choi Kangjoong waved his hand, opened a Gate, and stepped through.

Iselin checked the battlefield once more.

There was truly nothing left.

It was amazing no matter how many times she saw it.

“We’re returning.”

Iselin opened a Gate with a Gate Stone and moved the entire Dimension Ship.