The Devil’s Cage

Darkness engulfed Kieran in an instant, the slimy, wriggly motion accompanied by the foul stench of rotten fish reminding Kieran exactly where he was.

Inside the esophagus of the colossal crocodile.

He was meters away from the crocodile’s liver. He struggled hard, using his limbs and trying to stop himself from falling further down the beast’s throat. He was not keen on having a liver acid bath while the crocodile digested him into nothing.

The fact that the crocodile could swallow gold like it was water only proved how strong its liver acid was. If Kieran’s flesh came into contact with it, there would be nothing left of him.

However, the slimy wall of the esophagus and the wriggly motion of the crocodile sent Kieran further down the throat of the beast.

Kieran pulled out his dagger and stabbed it hard into the wall of the esophagus.

He stabbed it with all his strength, but the dagger did not even enter one third of the flesh of the crocodile. It was like stabbing an extremely tensile cowhide. It astonished Kieran, although it had stopped him from slipping further down towards the crocodile’s liver.

Before Kieran could catch his breath, the crocodile wriggled its esophagus again and its enormous strength forced the dagger out. Kieran was once again slipping down.

The wound made from the dagger spilled a hot liquid onto Kieran’s arm and face, scalding him.

[Minor Corrosion : Inflicts 10 Damage to HP…]

”F*ck!” Kieran cursed with all his heart.

At the same time, he quickly adjusted his body and stabbed the wall of the esophagus with his dagger once again. He avoided the same wound. He knew that if more liquid splashed on him, he would run out of chances. The battlelog notification had reminded him as much.

Kieran had once again stopped sliding down. Without any delay, he adjusted his waist and forced himself forward while at the same time avoiding the crocodile’s blood and the wriggling motion of its esophagus.

It was extremely hard for him to avoid all the liquid, and he got splashed on three times while he tried to evade it.

After the third time, he managed to climbed out of the esophagus and reach the crocodile’s mouth. The dagger that had helped him escape his doom had been destroyed in the process.

It was not the one from the newbie dungeon, but a new one that he had gotten from Guntheson. The original dagger had been confiscated by Duke Wayne’s men when they’d entered the sewer, along with a makeshift flintlock.

Guntherson’s dagger was nothing special. The only good thing about it compared to his previous one was its quality.

Its good quality proved that it had been maintained well by its master. However, after the rough climbing process, it had been corroded and deprived of its shine.

Kieran could see light through the crocodile’s mouth as the beast opened it again, trying to suck in more gold.

Its strong suction force was in effect once again.

”Sh*t!” Kieran knew what the crocodile wanted to do, and without a second thought, he latched onto its closest tooth.

He did not take the chance to try and escape from its mouth. He knew that he could not regain his balance fast enough, and it would be suicidal to stand against its suction force without any support.

As Kieran held on tight to the crocodile’s tooth, which was as thick as a grown man’s thigh, the suction force became stronger, its immense power forcing him to use both his hands and lay down flat, holding onto the tooth for dear life.

However, this was not enough to save him from the incoming danger. Countless gold from the hall started entering the crocodile’s mouth.

It was like it was hailing gold. Each piece and jewel struck Kieran’s body. Kieran was hit hard as the enormous suction force pulled all the small gold pieces and jewels inwards. There were bars of gold and sticks, all of them striking Kieran and making him clench his teeth in pain.

The impact felt like having your bones broken by a baseball bat. When the continuous striking stopped after two seconds, Kieran could not feel his body anymore.

[Buffeting Strike: Inflicts 120 Damage to HP, Heavily Wounded Status…]

[Heavily Wounded: Strength, Agility, Intuition decreased by 3 Ranks]

Kieran felt extremely weak. His body had reverted from his powered-up version to a normal person’s once again.

After the corrosion and the hail, Kieran’s 200 HP was down to 40 HP and still dropping.

The worst part was that the crocodile had opened its mouth again when it sensed that Kieran was still alive.

It could not stand its prey living inside its mouth. It wanted to swallow him down again.

Kieran realized he would not survive the next wave of hail, so he decided to act fast.

He took out his remaining [U-II] grenades and aimed at the esophagus of the crocodile, pulling the pins and throwing all three of them inside.

At the same time, the crocodile’s suction force started again, sucking all three [U-II]s deep inside its body.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A heavy, continuous sound came from its stomach area, dispersing the suction force.

The colossal crocodile growled in agony.

[Explosion: Lethal Damage, Inflicts 800 Damage to Target HP (400 Explosive Weapon (Explosion Basic) X2), Target is lethally wounded]

The battlelog notification confirmed that it had been an effective attack. Kieran was extremely surprised.

The next moment, a light bulb went on in his head.

”Although its outer skin is as thick as tank armor, the inside of its stomach is not protected by High Tensile Armor or the High Iron Skin Skill! Maybe this is my chance!” he thought as his survival instinct was ignited.

He might have a chance at killing the crocodile after all.

Any HP lower than 60% would enter Moderately Wounded Status, and any HP lower than 30% would enter Heavily Wounded Status. A Lethally Wounded Status would only appear when the HP was less than 10%.

At the same time, all stats would be lowered by 5 Ranks.

Kieran had only 30 seconds left before he would be transferred back to the lobby.

He took out the [M1905] and the [Viper-M1], aimed inside the crocodile’s mouth and started to shoot.

Bang! Bang!

[Shooting: Lethal Damage, Inflicts 1 Damage to HP (0.5 Firearm Weapon (Light Firearm (Master) X2)...]

[Shooting: Lethal Damage, Inflicts 6 Damage to HP (3 Firearm Weapon (Light Firearm (Master) X2)...]

The first shot was with the [M1905] and the second one was with the [Viper-M1].

”It lost 800 points of HP and entered Lethally Wounded Status! Although it has 10% of HP left, the exact number is still unknown! Sh*t! Here goes nothing!”

As Kieran looked at the notifications, he clenched his fists hard.

He could not determine the exact number of the crocodile’s HP. He had fired the [Viper-M1] once, but he was restricted by the dungeon’s 30-second reloading time. Although it had been rendered useless, Kieran had nothing left to lose.

He kept firing with the [M1905].

[Shooting: Lethal Damage, Inflicts 1 Damage to HP (0.5 Firearm Weapon (Light Firearm (Master) X2)...]

[Shooting: Lethal Damage, Inflicts 1 Damage to HP (0.5 Firearm Weapon (Light Firearm (Master) X2)...]

Kieran fired his gun nonstop, each shot contributing to the agonizing growl of the crocodile as it struggled and rolled around.

No matter how hard it struggled, Kieran had planted himself like a tree and would not budge.

The muzzle of the [M1905] kept flashing as the seconds passed by.

Four seconds!

Bang!

Two seconds!

Bang!

The beast had stopped growling and moving altogether.

A golden item appeared in front of Kieran and he grabbed it quickly.

As the timer went off, he disappeared into thin air.