“Ahhk! Where the hell is this?”

Chun Sungjae was surprised. After the monarch had swallowed him, he was in a dark, damp, and unknown space. 

When he saw the chunks of flesh underneath him, he bit his lips.

‘This is the monarch’s stomach.’

He was sure of it. His soul had been extracted and swallowed by the monarch. And he soon heard the confirmation of his assumption.

[You cannot exit the body of the Abundance Monarch.]

[Warning! After 10 minutes, “Chun Sungjae” will die. Abundance will have completely absorbed your soul.]

[If you’re not quick, you will become one with the Abundance’s body.]

Chun Sungjae reacted in fright. “Ahhk! Don’t declare my death with Uncle’s voice!”

It was the worst. He would become one with a mere monster instead of his uncle.

‘I have to get out of here.’

Was it because he had been swallowed right now or that Lee Gun’s blessing was working on him? Although his body looked half-translucent, nothing had happened to it yet. 

However, he was in danger. The only silver lining was the fact that he could use his skills.

A Zodiac Saint had a soul contract with their Zodiac. That was why Sungjae could still receive and use the magical energy of his Zodiac.

And so, the young man immediately activated his attack magic.

Kwah-jeek!

A fire pillar capable of instantly melting steel surged from the ground.

Kwahng!

“…!”

However, the magic didn’t work at all. This flustered Sungjae, and he tried to use his spell again.

[It is useless.]

“!”

An unfamiliar voice surprised the young man. This place was the monster’s stomach. Aside from him, no one should be alive in here.

When Chun Sungjae turned his head, his eyes turned round.

[Magic doesn’t work inside this place.]

“Pisces Saint?”

Yes, a person was sitting atop the flesh full of corpses. It was none other than the Pisces Saint, the Zodiac Saint for the Pisces temple.

The Pisces temple and the Gemini temple were considered to be a pair, the two great magic temples.

This woman didn’t look too older than Sungjae. She was half translucent, so it was obvious that she was a soul like him.

“Why are you —”

[What do you mean, why? I was eaten twenty years ago.]

“?!”

Chun Sungjae’s expression was a sight to behold.

‘Twenty years ago? What do you mean? The Pisces Saint sent Constructs to Uncle’s holy ground not too long ago.’

Chun Sungjae looked like he was about to have a mental breakdown, but the Pisces Saint spoke up.

[You’re amazing. You can maintain your shape even after the monarch swallowed you. Is that because of the power of the Zodiac surrounding your body?]

“…!”

[Well, it doesn’t matter. You won’t be able to kill the monarch. You won’t be able to leave this place. Give up and accept your fate….]

Kwahng!

A powerful green light descended above Chun Sungjae’s head.

Chun Sungjae’s face immediately brightened when he sensed the familiar power. “Uncle! It is you, right?”

- Yes.

The contract between a Zodiac and a Zodiac Saint was a soul contract.

Even though Sungjae did not have his body, he was connected to his Zodiac; they could converse.

Lee Gun let out a deep sigh of relief when he heard his nephew’s voice. 

It was great that his Zodiac Saints had come to the location where the monarch had appeared. However, he had received a notification that said the signal to one of his Zodiac Saints had been severed. Of course, the soul contract was still up, so he immediately knew it wasn’t true death. 

After checking up on his nephew’s well-being, he continued.

- I am nearby, but I can’t enter this place.

“!”

Currently, Lee Gun was at the center of the barrier. The barrier erected by the monarch was large, but that didn’t matter to him.

[You have used the power of space.]

He had control over space, so breaking in was easy. However, the problem came afterward.

- That bastard put up two barriers. I was able to break through the outer barrier. However, I can’t break through the central barrier, where you guys are located.

The reason for that was simple. The barrier on Chun Sungjae’s side wasn’t being registered as space by Lee Gun’s skill.

Chun Sungjae furrowed his brows. “That means Uncle has no way of coming here…”

- No. Why don’t you use Zodiac descent? Not the possession type. Let me descend using my main body.

“What? If I use it, Uncle will be summoned within the monster’s stomach… Ah!” Chun Sungjae was smart, so he immediately recognized Lee Gun’s plan.

- The fact that the monarch is there means it probably possessed someone’s body. The probability is high. Even if it tried to hide its power, it shouldn’t be able to avoid detection from the dome. The power of a monarch stinks too much.

“You’re right. It did smell human. Maybe, it possessed an S-rank who went missing on the last raid…”

Lee Gun laughed when it turned out as he had expected.

- Then killing it is possible.

The Pisces Saint furrowed her brows when she heard their conversation.

[I know what you’re thinking, but it’s a monarch. If you call a Zodiac here, the Zodiac will get digested in this place.]

There was a problem even before one reached that point.

[This place continuously steals magical energy. If you want to use a high-rank skill like Zodiac summon, an average amount of magical energy won’t be enough. A brat like you can’t—]

The Pisces Saint flinched.

Chun Sungjae was looking at her with a smirk on his face. It was the smile of a child. “I just have to top off the magical energy I lack, right?”

“!”

As soon as he spoke, the Pisces Saint did a double-take. The reason was the magic Chun Sungjae used.

[Magical Energy Connection(SS)]

Chun Sungjae had studied the Zodiac Saint Contract and had developed this special skill. Its function was simple.

<Make a Moving Lee Gun Figurine>

Like a Zodiac, Sungjae could provide a doll with magical energy and make it move. He could use this puppetry by providing magical energy!

He had developed this skill for impure(?) motives, and it didn’t look that useful at face value. However, it was a worthwhile skill.

[You have made a connection with the servant of the Pisces.]

[You can provide her with magical energy.]

[You have changed the rule. The circuitry of the spell has been reversed.]

[The one who gives magical energy will now receive magical energy from the recipient.]

When a connection was made through force, the Pisces Saint was shocked.

‘This bastard is using puppetry magic in reverse to steal my magical energy!’

The direction of the magical energy’s flow had changed direction. Sungjae had used the skill as a straw to extract magical energy. That was why the Pisces Saint quickly tried to escape this space.

[Koohk!]

However, she couldn’t move her body after the connection was made.

This was how Chun Sungjae ate the magical energy of the Zodiac Saint, but he still seemed unsatisfied.

“Give me your Zodiac’s magical energy!”

[!!]

As his voice rang out, something surprising happened.

[Chun Sungjae is extracting the Pisces’s magical energy through the Zodiac Saint.]

An incredible light surged forth.

In simple words, Chun Sungjae was dragging out the magical energy of the Pisces since the Pisces Saint was connected to it.

Normally, there would be a barrier magic placed over the Zodiac Saint to block such infiltration attempts.

‘However, it’s easy if the opponent is a soul.’

The Zodiacs and the Zodiac Saints were connected through the soul. When a Zodiac used magic, the structure of the spell would get engraved into the Zodiac Saint’s soul.

And a magician could see the structure of a spell; it was like being able to see the coding script. Just messing up one line would be a victory.

On the other hand, it would be dangerous for Sungjae if he touched something wrong by mistake. He had to be prudent.

‘Thankfully, I learned the basic magic language from the Fairy Monarch.’

[Koohk!]

Through the technique, the magical energy of the Pisces flowed into Chun Sungjae!

[Zodiac Descent]

Finally, he was able to use one of the highest-ranked summon techniques. At that moment…

[You did well.]

Kwahng!

Accompanying the light, Lee Gun was summoned within the stomach of the monarch. However, his appearance was different from normal.

‘That appearance …!’

He was sure of it. It was the Lee Gun that Chun Sungjae and Chun Yooha had seen when they had received their baptism. In the baptism space, they had seen the Serpent Bearer’s true divine form.

An endlessly long, enormous serpent was summoned beside Sungjae.

Even if the Monarch’s stomach was large, right now, it was the size of a human’s stomach! There was no way it could contain such a large snake.

Kwah-jee-jeek!!!

[Huh-huhk!]

Unable to win against the size of the serpent, the monarch’s stomach exploded, and its body was ripped apart!

Kwahng!

Chun Yooha, Goat, and Carly, who had been outside all this time, were surprised.

“Uncle!!”

It was as if the monarch had vomited light. Something had ripped apart the monarch’s stomach and came out. It was a serpent.

Since the serpent was made out of light, making out the exact figure was hard.

However, they were sure who it was.

“Uncle!”

* * *

Boom!

Having its stomach as well as its entire upper body blown apart, the Abundance monarch fell.

Goat and Carly were unable to shut their mouths.

The serpent made out of light, which had come out of the monarch’s body, changed into a familiar figure.

Tahk!

“M-My god! Lee Gun-nim!!”

“Ah… Lee Gun-nim!”

“How…!”

Lee Gun had been wiping away the blood, but he laughed when he felt their gazes. “Why are you so surprised? If I can’t break through from the outside, I just have to break through from the inside.”

“…!!!”

Goat was unable to shut his mouth.

Even if it was a barrier that couldn’t be broken from outside, how could he use such a wild method…!

“Have you lost your mind?! There is no way a monster’s stomach would be normal…!”

This monarch was a monster that could melt and eat a Zodiac. Its stomach should be potent.

In reality, Lee Gun’s skin was melting after he had returned to his original form. Of course, this wasn’t a problem for him.

“Whatever! I have Super Regeneration.” When Super Regeneration activated, Lee Gun’s body started healing.

‘I also gained some resistance when I destroyed the gate. I acquired the monarch’s data.’

[Fragment of Abundance]

- Increased resistance against the unknown civilization’s attacks (Poison, body, etc.)

Since he had acquired this particular monarch’s power, the power was more effective. That was also the reason Lee Gun had decided to go ahead with something as dangerous as appearing inside the monster’s stomach.

‘Thankfully, the one to be swallowed was Sungjae.’

Abundance had a connection to the power of Life. Whenever Abundance used the power of Life, which it stole, Sungjae’s power of Life also became stronger. That was why Sungjae was fine.

However, Goat just stared at Lee Gun in horror. “How can you do something that the Zodiacs are afraid to do…!”

The monarch also seemed to have not expected this. It glared at Lee Gun.

[You are crazy! Something is wrong with your head.]

Then there was Chun Sungjae. He had a very troublesome attribute. The monarch should have killed him on sight instead of swallowing him.

Was it because the monarch was damaged? The barrier around Seoul suddenly started to shake.

‘The barrier is being released…!’

However, Goat soon glanced at Chun Sungjae’s limp body. “Lee Gun-nim! Sungjae!”

As if to assuage Goat’s worry, Lee Gun showed something to him. Despite what was going on, Lee Gun had remembered to grab Sungjae’s soul. It might be different from others, but Chun Sungjae was a Zodiac Saint who had made a direct contract with him.

Unless Sungjae’s body had died, a temporary extraction of his soul wouldn’t kill him.

‘It would have been dangerous if thirty minutes had passed.’

“Don’t worry. I’ll put it in right…”

Boom!

“!”

A golden-green light started swirling around the fallen body of Chun Sungjae, and something surprising happened.

[The Zodiac Saint of Life has used a skill of Life.]

[Self Revive]

Chun Sungjae gasped as he opened his eyes.

“Kuhk! Kek kek….!”

Lee Gun seemed intrigued by this, while Goat and Yooha looked at Sungjae with great relief.

Soon, Lee Gun took hold of Heaven’s Punishment. “Let’s cut open this bastard’s stomach.”

They looked at the broken body of the monarch, who still looked like Chun Sungjae, when all of a sudden…

“Sungjaeeeee!”

Everyone’s eyes turned round at the familiar voice.

“Sungjae!”

When the barrier had shaken, Hugo had pushed through a crack. After landing in front of the group, he looked at Sungjae… No, he looked at the monarch in fright. “Gun! What did you do!”

Baffled, Lee Gun scolded Hugo. “Your son is over there. This one is a fake.”

“What?!”

As if he had fulfilled his obligation, Lee Gun once again raised his ax.

The flustered monarch tried changing its face into the faces of Chun Yooha and Chun Jiwoo, but Lee Gun snorted.

The monarch seemed capable of reading the memories of its opponent to change into a person that could affect its opponent the most.

As if to prove this point, it didn’t change into Hugo.

This was why Lee Gun found it contemptible. “You must be trying to stop me from attacking. It is useless with those faces…”

At that moment, the monarch’s face once again changed to that of a different person.

“!”

Everyone’s eyes turned round at the never-before-seen face, but it was different for Lee Gun. Killing intent instantly appeared in his eyes.