Ch.98EP 4 Jormungand

I used all my strength to hold on, but despite my efforts, the children began to slip and we all inevitably fell into Jörmungandr’s stomach.

If there hadn’t been poison, I would have attempted to escape from this belly.

I steadied my limp body and sent the children back into the shadow.

It would be better for them to draw pictures in the comfortable darkness than to suffer being crushed against these sticky flesh walls.

As we continued sliding endlessly downward, a yellowish liquid began rising from beneath our feet.

Judging by the acidic smell, it was clearly stomach acid.

“Hieek!”

I struggled with all my might. It was a meaningless resistance. In reality, nothing improved, and my body was gradually sinking deeper into the gastric acid.

But I couldn’t give up.

I used the sword in my hand to slice off my wrist.

Immediately, my palm fell away and crimson blood gushed out.

The severed hand regenerated shortly after, but I swung my sword again and cut off my hand once more.

This sudden self-mutilation was to drain the poison that had infiltrated my body.

Indeed, after spilling a good amount of blood, my head felt clearer.

My bodily sensations gradually returned, and I was able to escape, little by little, from the stomach filling with acid.

“Grrrr!”

I repeated the cycle: regenerate an arm, cut it off, then cut it off again.

But this action couldn’t continue for long.

After endlessly spilling blood, my regenerative abilities began to malfunction.

My severed arm stopped growing back. The blood that had been gushing like waves no longer flowed.

Yeppi inside the shadow kept using potions on me, but my health stopped recovering.

“Ah…”

I instinctively realized I needed fresh human blood.

Of course. How could I be fine after spilling so much of the essence of life?

If any other vampire had tried to drain their blood using such a crude method, they would surely have died.

I was only enduring because I was a vampire of my caliber.

“Ugh!”

Regardless, what needed to be done remained unchanged.

I stabbed my sword into the slippery flesh wall and slowly climbed upward.

Missing one palm wasn’t much of a problem.

As I climbed, I wondered:

How were the children outside doing?

Without me holding the front line, they might have been overwhelmed.

Aurel and Hwang-gu were probably crying, worried about me.

I had to get out. I had to survive and emerge to surprise everyone.

Just as I thought this, my hand lost strength and my body slid down.

“Ugh…”

I compensated for my depleted blood by consuming Blood Fruit.

I devoured dozens of Blood Fruit at once to restore my recovery ability, but I couldn’t completely escape the poisoned state until I got out of Jörmungandr’s body.

I would replenish my blood, and when the poison filled me to the top of my head, I would drain blood again.

Repeating this action quickly depleted the Blood Fruit I had stored in the shadow.

Now I had nothing to substitute for human blood.

I cut off my hand again to clear my blurring vision and continued climbing upward.

At that moment—

With a thunderous “KWANG!” Jörmungandr’s massive body shook violently.

The force was so strong that my body, which had been advancing upward, couldn’t withstand the impact and slid all the way down.

Curses rose to the tip of my tongue, but I barely held them back.

The fact that Jörmungandr’s body received such a strong impact meant they were fighting well outside.

I shouldn’t curse them when I should be praising them.

I silently cheered for the second-generation users and began moving my sword again.

“Hiyaah!”

***

Charlotte had been devoured. This was incredibly shocking to the second-generation users who had been raised under brainwashing.

Their most respected leader in the world had disappeared.

The first emotion the second-generation users felt was bewilderment.

But it didn’t take long for that bewilderment to turn into rage.

“Save Queen Charlotte!”

No one knew who shouted first.

Rage simply began fueling the second-generation users.

They charged toward the giant snake, disregarding their own lives.

And Hwang-gu joined the second-generation users.

She began pounding the giant snake’s body, her red fur and blue lightning flashing.

When her fists struck the snake’s body, sharp scale blades peeled off and red blood burst forth.

Hwang-gu swung her fists endlessly. Even when her bones broke and her skin peeled off revealing white bone, she didn’t stop her attack.

And the same was true for Aurel.

“Hayaaah!”

The girls who had lost their lover began using everything at their disposal to tear apart the giant snake’s body.

They held onto the hope that Charlotte wouldn’t have died.

But despite their fierce attacks, Jörmungandr showed no signs of falling.

Its massive tail pounded the ground and swept across the floor like a broom, turning hundreds of people into bloody mist.

With just that one attack.

But the second-generation users were prepared to gladly sacrifice themselves to save Charlotte.

They continued to charge in even as hundreds were sliced away.

Had their endless attacks finally borne fruit?

Jörmungandr’s massive body collapsed toward the ground.

Its health had decreased from continuous attacks, leaving it momentarily in a groggy state.

Hwang-gu had been waiting for this moment.

“Grrrr!”

Preparing to deliver her most powerful strike.

Her soft leg muscles expanded greatly, bursting the hot pants she was wearing.

This revealed her snow-white underwear, but Hwang-gu didn’t care.

Her mind was focused on just one thing.

Hwang-gu’s appearance gradually changed until she looked neither wolf nor human.

A complete half-human, half-beast transformation.

Her red fur, bathed in the dim moonlight, became wrapped in blue lightning and began to emit its own light.

“Woof!”

Hwang-gu ran with all her might. Activating all the skills she could use, she dramatically increased her physical abilities, and her speed instantly broke the sound barrier.

BOOM!

A sonic boom spread behind her.

Hwang-gu’s fist extended and finally struck the fallen Jörmungandr’s body.

The tiny girl’s fist compared to the giant snake’s body was just a small dot.

But the impact created by that small girl was not light.

KWANG!

A massive shockwave erupted, lifting the giant snake’s body into the air.

A fatal blow delivered without regard for her own body.

Hwang-gu’s attack severed the tendons in her arms and legs and crushed all the bones in her body, but there was a smile on her face.

Because her hand was tearing through the giant snake’s belly skin and ripping out the flesh inside.

And Aurel didn’t miss this opportunity.

Quickly rushing forward, Aurel used the sparrow chirpers as stepping stones to jump into the air.

TAK!

The moment Aurel’s hand touched Jörmungandr’s body, she used all her strength to tear open the giant snake’s flesh.

As sticky blood gushed out and massive muscles tore apart, a snow-white girl fell out along with gastric acid.

It was Charlotte.

“Lady Charlotte!”

Charlotte’s condition wasn’t good. Her skin, which had been white, was now pale, and one of her hands had been cut off and wasn’t regenerating.

Aurel immediately fed Charlotte her blood.

Although Aurel knew human blood would be more effective, there were no human users within reach.

***

Through my hazy consciousness, I felt red blood dripping down.

My parched lips became moist, and vitality began returning to my weakened body.

Right after, strange memories flowed in.

Memories of a sparkling world and a view looking down at everything from the sky.

But those memories quickly subsided.

As soon as I regained consciousness, I jumped to my feet.

“Lady Charlotte!”

“Lady Charlotte!!!”

Aurel and Hwang-gu rushed to me from both sides.

I realized this wasn’t the afterlife but outside Jörmungandr’s stomach.

How had I managed to escape?

I had mountains of questions, but there was no time for conversation right now.

That was because the giant Jörmungandr had not yet fallen.

The creature was raising its massive head and attacking everything around it.

Occasionally it spewed ominous black flames from its mouth and used its long tail to sweep away everything on the ground.

Each time, at least hundreds of people were sliced away.

I drew my sword using the shadow and stood up.

“Lady Charlotte!”

Aurel grabbed me, looking worried.

I took a slow, deep breath and answered.

“This is the final battle. We have to defeat it.”

“But…”

“It looks like we’ve almost got it…”

I said this while checking Jörmungandr’s status through my Mystic Eye.

The health of that massive and powerful creature had already fallen below 50%.

We couldn’t repeat what happened with the Manticore.

I checked the condition of the two girls, spread my wings, and jumped down.

***

It was a long, drawn-out battle.

All the consumable items we had brought were depleted, and the durability of the weapons we were using was completely exhausted, requiring me to take out several new swords.

Of the nearly one thousand subordinates, an enormous number had died, leaving only about two hundred.

I could confidently declare that throughout my entire life as a vampire, this Jörmungandr was the strongest.

Other users would give the same answer if asked.

I sighed.

Seoul, which I had tried so hard to protect, had collapsed with just one tail attack from Jörmungandr.

Seeing the roads caved in and flipped over, it was clear that the slave detention center below had also been destroyed.

It would take tremendous effort and time to bring Seoul’s population back up to 10,000.

“Lady Charlotte!”

“Lady Charlotte!”

The fortunate thing was that Aurel and Hwang-gu had survived.

I staggered over and leaned against the two girls.

I felt sorry that I couldn’t hug them since both my arms were gone.

“Your arms! Lady Charlotte’s arms!”

“It’s okay. They’ll grow back soon.”

“Your arms!”

They would grow back quickly after chewing some Blood Fruit and drinking human blood.

I smiled at the two girls’ fuss and looked up at the sky.

The large moonlight hid behind the clouds as if embarrassed by my gaze.