Chapter 113: Hell Inside and Outside

A sudden thought abruptly surfaced inside his mind.

‘Mana…’ he muttered inwardly, a small light returning in his exhausted eyes.

Until now, he hadn’t ever truly attempted to control mana himself.

His skills used mana naturally, instinctively, as if the energy moved on its own whenever a skill was activated.

But never—not even once had he consciously tried to guide it with his own will.

Even now, he wasn’t truly certain.

But trapped inside this living nightmare, with the stomach wall around him constantly twitching and pulsating like the inside of some grotesque void, he had already run out of options.

So, with no other way out, this was the only possibility he could desperately think of.

He forced his heavy breathing to steady faintly.

His vision suddenly changed, and the thin energy currents before him became visible.

Mana.

He could see it now.

Countless faint streams flow through the inside of the creature’s body like veins of dim blue light, endlessly moving beneath the layers of flesh surrounding him.

The mana inside the creature’s body was somewhat strange.

Different.

Maybe denser.

He didn’t fully understand it, and he neither had the time nor the luxury to think about it.

Every second he stayed here made breathing more difficult, his lungs burning with greater intensity.

He removed the dagger from the pulsating flesh embedded around it and stared at the blade in his hand for a very long moment.

Then—

His trembling fingers tightened around the hilt.

Slowly, very slowly, he tried to guide the mana inside his body toward to hand.

At first, nothing happened.

Then, faint streams of mana finally began moving weakly through his fingers.

Lucian’s breathing immediately grew heavier.

The sensation was weird.

Unlike anything he’d ever felt.

The mana currents shook unstably as they travelled through his arm.

Soon, thin particles of blue light began leaking out from his fingertips and his palms

But not the way he wanted it to.

Instead of flowing into the dagger, the mana scattered into the surroundings, dissolving into the air around him.

His teeth clenched again.

But he didn’t give up.

Once again, he tried forcing the mana forward.

Again.

And again.

Each attempt felt harder than the last, and also slowly strained him mentally.

The energy refused to obey him properly, constantly slipping away from his control, no matter how desperately he focused.

Sweat dripped down his chin, threatening to break his focus.

Without blinking, his eyes stayed on the exact same spot throughout.

Almost half of his mana reserves disappeared within only a few minutes.

And yet, he still hadn’t achieved anything.

Breathing was getting more and more difficult, and he was continuously gasping for oxygen every few minutes.

His body was slowly giving out.

The lack of air, along with something in it that made his lungs burn.

At this point, he was very, very certain that everything inside the creature was toxic.

The flesh.

The fluids.

Even the air itself.

His lungs felt like they were slowly being scraped from the inside every time he inhaled and exhaled.

If not for the weak poison resistance skill he had gained from killing goblins earlier, he was almost certain he would have already died by now.

But even that resistance was clearly reaching its limit.

“Cough—! Cough…!”𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

He coughed out loudly, hoarse and trembling.

His body shook harshly from the force of it.

Instinctively, he raised his hand to cover his mouth, only to stare down at the blood over his palms.

For a second, he simply stared at it silently.

‘I might not even make it outside…’ he thought bitterly, a strange smile appearing over his pale lips.

A sudden chuckle escaped him for no real reason.

His shoulders trembled faintly from the laugh before he mildly shook his head.

There was no point in thinking about that now.

His eyes lowered toward the dagger once again.

Something inside him kept on insisting that this would work, that this might be the only right way to get out.

Then another thought surfaced inside his mind.

‘If I die… will I regress again?’ he asked inwardly.

[…]

Akasha didn’t answer anything, and he could only feel a faint worry through their connection.

He still didn’t understand why she was worrying about him.

Was it because she would be gone if he died?

Or was it something else?

He did not know.

The lack of an answer was enough for him to understand.

‘I cannot.’

Still, he didn’t let his eyes wander from his left hand holding onto the dagger tightly.

About a minute passed.

The mana flowed continuously through his fingertips.

And for a change, he slowed down the process and lowered the amount of mana flowing, trying to guide it little by little.

Then—

A tiny strand of mana finally entered the dagger’s hilt.

Lucian’s eyes widened instantly.

For a second, he thought he was just imagining it, but then another tiny particle entered the dagger.

Then another.

‘More…’

His breathing grew uneven as he concentrated harder.

Gradually, the mana stopped scattering outward as much as before.

The energy slowly began gathering together.

The dagger in his hand trembled faintly as the mana flowed through the hilt before spreading across the blade itself.

More and more mana poured out continuously from his body into the weapon.

Its surface began to slowly illuminate as the streams of mana currents flowed around it, wrapping around the thin blade completely.

Lucian stared at it breathlessly.

It worked.

It actually worked.

Despite his ears ringing for some unknown reason, his vision blurring and fading every few minutes, he didn’t let his focus wander even slightly.

[Ding!~]

A familiar chime rang inside his head, before a blue screen materialised right in front of his eyes.

[You have learned the skill: Fine Mana Manipulation.]

[Fine Mana Manipulation]

– Allows delicate and precise mana adjustments

– Improves control over small-scale techniques

– Reduces accidental mana leakage

Before he could even process the notification, another screen popped up immediately before him.

[You have learned the skill: Mana Reinforcement Layer]

[Mana Reinforcement Layer]

– Forms a denser mana coating around objects

– Increases durability and defensive stability

– Reduces damage taken by coated targets

The moment the messages flickered before him, the flow of mana felt easier, steadier, as if his control over it got better.

The blue, luminous coating wrapped around the blade more tightly, becoming slightly denser and far more sharper than before.

“Ha… ha…”

Taking deep breaths and without wasting another moment, he drove the dagger directly into the pulsating flesh once again.

This time, the blade pierced through far more easily than before.

As soon as the dagger embedded itself against the already torn wall, Lucian dragged it downward.

A deep slash tore through the creature’s inner flesh.

The surrounding tissue convulsed violently.

Then—

The surroundings suddenly shook with a terrifying force, making him almost lose his footing as a massive tremor rippled through the fleshy surroundings like a wild earthquake.

Before he could fall into the acidic sea below, he stabbed the dagger into the flesh again.

And placed his bare foot directly into the torn opening to anchor himself.

The surrounding tissue continuously pulsed and trembled violently around him.

Lucian gritted his teeth while struggling to maintain his balance inside the small torn space, doing his best not to fall off.

‘What is happening outside?’ Lucian thought with a grim and dark expression.

The acidic liquid had risen just below his bare feet, splashing over in waves, inflicting a burning sensation.

Sweat completely covered all his body, mixing with the wetness after already dipping himself inside the acid.

His clothes clung heavily to his skin.

His breathing was becoming increasingly unstable.

And if that wasn’t all—

The temperature inside the creature’s stomach was rising rapidly.

The air inside was becoming hotter with every passing second for some reason.

But still—

Still ignoring all of that—

He continued to tear off the flesh while steadying himself from the trembling that was getting more and more violent.

***

“Aaakkkkhh…!”

Lia’s scream echoed violently through the ruined streets as her body crashed directly into the remains of a collapsed building.

Concrete exploded under the impact.

Her body rolled across the rubble before finally slamming against broken concrete.

Blood completely soaked through her clothes.

Her white T-shirt had long since turned crimson.

Large tears covered both her shirt and pants from countless impacts and wounds.

Her left arm was twisted unnaturally backward, and multiple deep gashes were covering her body.

Blood continuously flowed from her forehead, sliding down her face and neck.

The enormous worm slowly turned its enormous head toward her once again.

Its grotesque body towered above the ruined streets like a living nightmare.

Before it could move further—

Lia’s tilted head abruptly snapped upward, her eyes instantly widening.

“Burn…”

Her voice came out low, and the moment the word left her lips—

A massive fireball formed before her.

The flames spun violently together, rapidly enlarging in size within seconds.

The surrounding temperature spiked sharply.

Then—

BOOM—!!

The fireball shot forward like a cannon blast and slammed directly against the worm’s head.

Flames exploded outward upon contact.

The enormous creature’s head jerked backward.

The flesh around the impact was charred immediately.

Lia lifted her head completely before standing up with her legs trembling violently.

Blood dripped continuously from her body.

Yet she still stood.

With a loud crack, her twisted arm abruptly snapped back into place, the bones shifting unnaturally before rapidly healing.

The deep wounds covering her body began closing visibly.

Another fireball formed in her hands.

Without hesitation, she hurled it directly toward the worm again.

Patches of burned flesh spread further across the monster’s enormous body.

It had been several minutes since the fight had begun, and during that entire time—

The worm had repeatedly slammed Lia through buildings like a ragdoll, destroying the structures, collapsing them under the impact.

But still, Lia hadn’t died.

Every injury, every broken bone, was healed within minutes.

And the air around her rose further and further.

Her glowing eyes remained fixed entirely on the monster before her.

Rage.

Pure rage burned within them

“Get my brother out… and die!!” Her trembling voice rose further.

Her loud scream echoed across the ruined street as she threw several fireballs toward it one after another.

Explosions erupted repeatedly across the creature’s body, making it violently thrash in response.

Then suddenly—

The ground beneath Lia trembled unnaturally, and before she could react—

A massive earth spike erupted from the ground, piercing directly through her back.

The sharp stone burst out through her stomach in a splash of blood.

For a split second, her body froze completely.

Then—

“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!”

Her scream tore through the air.