CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED ELEVEN

Inside the Belly of the Beast, Part 2

A quick inspection of his HP told Sam he had just enough left for one explosive blow. It would be another gamble. One Sam had no choice but to roll the dice on. The problem was that Sam wasn’t sure even Gram’s stats were enough to pierce through to the outside of this monster’s body. Not while in his hands at least. He believed something else was necessary to give his attack that extra oomph.

I could have used that Elemental Weapon ability right now, he sighed. I just hope the alternative works.

Sam recalled how he’d used Bulwark’s aura to harden around Onus’s cylindrical head to amplify his attack against Chiron’s giant automaton. There was also [Dragon Hunter], the title which gave Gram’s wielder a 10% physical damage boost against dragon-type horrors. Stacking these abilities together with Gram’s high attack stat might just be enough. Although empowering Gram would mean losing Bulwark’s protection too. That meant Sam would only have seconds to pull off his attack before he was burned to the point of no return.

It’s do-or-die now.

Sam spare a few seconds to calm his breathing as it wouldn’t do him any good to be panicked now.

Lesson number five, concentrate…

Once his breathing had calmed, Sam willed what life force he could spare into Bulwark’s aura right before he pulled back the coating wrapped around himself and directed all of that energy to spread across Gram’s blade.

“Ugh!” Sam grimaced as his feet caught fire. “Gods, it hurts!”

Sam endured the pain while he waited for Bulwark to completely wrap around Gram.

Lesson… number two… Persevere. No matter the pain… No matter the struggle… a true hero… never stops to answer… the call when… it is given.

It wasn’t just his body now, but even his mind was aflame. Yet despite this pain coursing through him, Sam still managed to tighten his grip on Gram’s hilt. Then, with herculean effort—one that even those silent watchers from above couldn’t help but applaud him for—Sam swung Gram in a ninety-degree upward arc—and what happened next was pretty amazing.

CONGRATULATIONS! Your innovativeness combined with your accumulated experience has unlocked a new power from the [COMBAT] tree. [Sword Aura (ζ)].

Much like his Mortal Fist, Sam’s new Sword Aura unleased the energies of his life force in a single devastating blow. The near-invisible aura coating the sword expanded outward in tandem with his slash, creating an energy blade that carved through the Dragon Kholkikos’s fleshy insides like it was nothing more than a block of swiss cheese.

It’s not enough! Sam growled while the dragon’s ichor splashed across his face, although it didn’t burn him as the solar dragon’s blood had done. I need more power!

The slash had gouged out dragon flesh enough that Sam could see past bone and exterior scales, but he could never have fit through this hole he’d made. To make matters worse, the Dragon Kholkikos’ continued to thrash around, making it difficult for Sam to maintain his stance.

ALERT! HP has dropped below ten percent. All abilities will disengage to allow [Regeneration (Δ)] to heal you.

No! I can’t stop now!

Sam drove his free hand into the bloody gash he created to establish a connection with the dragon’s life force.

“Rejuvenation,” he whispered.

ALERT! [Rejuvenation (ζ)] is now active. Your stamina points will continue to drop by [2 SP] per second while this power is in use.

As that familiar sensation of absorbing the life force of another surged across Sam’s body, a flash of memories flooded into his brain he assumed belonged to the ancient human this horror had been before it became the legendary dragon that guarded Ares’ grove. However, unlike the emotions he’d felt with the banshee’s core, the dragon’s feelings seemed alien to Sam, and all he could glean from them was this great sense of disappointment which he instinctively understood was the discontent of someone who had so much but still desired more.

Perhaps it was because the dragon was so ancient that Sam couldn’t comprehend its memories well. He felt no pity for the Dragon Kholkikos though. This horror didn’t deserve it as the banshee had. Because this thing was evil.

I can’t hate it though…

The Dragon Kholkikos didn’t deserve his mercy either. Yet, Sam would still give it that. He believed that even the greediest of men didn’t deserve the millennia of suffering their souls had endured from this horrific existence it’s trapped in.

ALERT! HP has risen above ten percent. You are no longer in danger of deactivating your active abilities. Good luck, hero.

Thanks, Triple-A.

It was with compassion, not hatred, that Sam swung Gram a second time, driving the Sword Aura across the gash he’d made previously. Gram ripped through a great chunk of dragon flesh, and the hole it made caused outside air to breeze into the horror’s body.

Oh, Styx… Backdraft!

The reintroduction of oxygen into an enclosed space, caused the Greek fire to rush out of the dragon’s body through this same hole in an explosion of emerald flames that would also consume Sam.

He screamed, but he wasn’t the only one to do so. With its insides rumbling around him, Sam heard the dragon unleash a horrific, pain-filled roar. Not a death rattle exactly, but perhaps the final sigh of contentment from a tired soul that was finally free at last from the corruption that held it captive.

You have leveled up! You have leveled up! You have leveled up! You have leveled up! CONGRATULATIONS! You have slain the Dragon Kholkikos, earning you great fame among the pantheons. Fame with Olympian Pantheon increased by 500. [Because you used Gram to slay [Dragon Kholkikos], fame with Norse Pantheon increased by 300.] Olympian Fame: 2,500 Norse Fame: 300 Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt, looks upon you with favor. Apollo, your patron, God of the Sun, looks upon you with favor. Athena, Goddess of Wisdom, looks upon you with favor. Ares, God of War, looks upon you with disfavor.

Sam barely read the notifications popping up around him as he was too busy trying to escape the Dragon Kholkikos’s insides. And, as he began pulling himself out of the deep wound he’d created in the now dead dragon’s belly, he wondered how his friends felt while watching him reenact the scene of a baby alien exploding out of someone’s body.

Eugh. That’s not imagery I want in my head right now.

Sam felt a pair of hands grab each one of his, and moments later, Jackboot and Dr. Hearthstone pulled him out of the dragon’s corpse.

“That was the most insane and astonishing and brilliant tactic I’ve ever seen in my life.” Jackboot wiped the ichor coating his hands on his thighs. “You are certifiable, mate.”

Dr. Hearthstone gave Sam a look of astonishment that seemed strangely similar to his patented smoldering glare. “I have to agree. You were very reckless.” But then he added, “I’m glad it worked.”

They both gave Sam wide grins and patted him on the back, washing away his guilt of making them worry about him.

“You look like you took a bath in a tub filled with molten lava,” Farsight pointed out.

Sam glanced down at his body, noticing quickly that much of his dark blue suit was gone, exposing heavily burned flesh that was already beginning to heal thanks to Regeneration. The Apollonian armor and greaves survived the Greek fire though. Although, from their new battered and charred look, his armor’s durability must have weakened considerably.

Maybe I can get Mr. Moonday to repair them… I don’t want to throw them away… I’ve gotten attached to Chiron’s hand-me-downs, he thought.

To Sam’s relief, the bit of his suit that hadn’t burned away still covered his privates so that it looked like he was wearing dark-blue, form-fitting boxers underneath his armor. However, Farsight would also point out that Sam look like a huge pervert, which to his dismay, made Thunder double over with giggles.

“How’s it possible that only this piece of your suit survived though?” Jackboot wondered after he too had finished laughing at Sam’s expense.

“It must be Onus’ doing,” Dr. Hearthstone mused. “The powerful relic’s location on your belt possibly saved your crown jewels from getting burned.”

Oh. My. Gods. The imagery Dr. Hearthstone brought up sent a shiver racing across Sam’s entire body. “Please don’t ever say that again… Seriously.”

“At least you’re alive, lame-brain,” Thunder chimed in.

As Sam’s gaze focused on her, he noticed the dark circles around Thunder’s eyes and the sweat coating her face so that strands of hair were stuck to her cheeks. Thunder’s armor was singed in places too. Proof that the battle outside had been just as rough as the battle inside.

“Are you—”

“I’ll live another few minutes…” Thunder nodded toward the corpse behind Sam. “Shall we check on our spoils first?”

Sam glanced over his shoulder and saw the thirty-foot-long corpse curled up on the ground behind him.

“We beat it,” he realized. “Just like that?”

“Well, it helped that we were doing a pretty decent job out here.” Farsight walked over to his side to elbow him in the ribs. “But I guess that’s also because you were burning it from the inside with Greek fire, crazy bastard.”

She gave him a look that Sam imagined was about half-respect and half-disbelief.

“You weren’t planning on burning it, were you?” she asked in a knowing tone.

“No, not really…” Sam glanced up then, and he could almost swear that the stars that glittered across the night sky were twinkling just a little brighter tonight. “We play with the odds the gods give us and do the best we can.”