Chapter 80
Everyone held their breath as Ariella laid out her plan.
It was an unusual idea, one that none of them had considered before. At first, they were surprised, but no one could find a reason to object.
Or rather, they didn’t want to.
“It’s the only way we have right now.”
“Fine. Let’s do it.”
Richmond immediately sent a magical message to Geru.
“Geru, something will happen to your body soon. Don’t panic. Wait for further instructions!”
Ariella began chanting her enchantment spell.
She focused, recalling the feeling she had when enchanting the longsword the other day.
“Gravitate! Sharpness!”
Magic flowed out of her and sank into the ground beneath her feet.
Vwooom!
Her golden eyes glimmered once again.
She extended her senses deep into the earth while sending the enchantment magic downward.
Moments later—
‘There! I found him.’
Her magic pierced through the soil and rock, reaching Geru’s body inside the monster’s stomach.
But the enchantment hadn’t taken hold yet.
‘I knew it wouldn’t be easy…’
A drop of sweat rolled down her forehead.
The mana stone that Richmond had implanted in Geru was already bound to another powerful spell: the necromancy that had turned him into an undead.
The mana stone’s immense magical power was swirling violently through Geru’s body.
And Ariella needed to carefully weave her magic into this turbulent current—without disturbing Richmond’s spell.
‘If I disrupt his undead magic, Geru will…’
If the necromancy failed, Geru’s body would dissolve in the monster’s acid instantly.
‘Careful. I have to be very careful.’
She poured all her concentration into the enchantment. This was far more delicate than anything she had done before—more complex than enchanting a sword in her workshop.
Her back was soaked with sweat, and the entire group stood silently, hardly daring to breathe.
‘Good… I’ve wrapped my magic around the mana stone.’
She carefully tied the enchantment to the mana stone, which was glowing with power like a raging sun.
This was nothing like working with a blank stone; this was threading magic through a storm.
Click!
The magic latched into place like gears locking together.
“It worked!”
It was like hooking a massive fish on a line.
The mana stone accepted her magic and began to circulate it vigorously. Geru’s body was now under the effects of two enchantments.
First—Gravitate.
This spell made objects impossibly heavy.
Now, Geru’s body weighed over ten tons.
She sensed his body sinking lower, pressing down on the monster’s stomach wall. The monster’s insides were stretching and tearing under the enormous weight, like a hammock breaking under an elephant.
‘That must hurt.’
Even swallowing a small rock hurts the stomach.
Now imagine a body as heavy as a boulder, but sharper than glass.
That was the second enchantment—Sharpness.
It made Geru’s body razor-sharp, turning his entire frame into a living weapon.
“Richmond, tell him to thrash with everything he’s got!” Ariella ordered.
Then she shouted louder, her voice trembling with urgency:
“If there’s something you wanted to say, fight! Your daughter is here waiting for you!”
Moments later—
“!”
Ariella felt Geru move.
His arms flailed. His legs kicked hard at the monster’s stomach.
A ten-ton undead covered in invisible blades was rampaging inside the beast.
Even a full-grown dragon wouldn’t be able to endure that pain.
‘It’s like a bomb going off in its gut.’
And indeed, her prediction came true.
RUMBLEEE!
“An earthquake!”
“The monster’s moving!”
The deeper Geru thrashed, the more violently the monster reacted.
The tremors grew sharper and closer to the surface.
Ludwig raised his voice.
“Get ready! It’s coming!”
And then—
BOOOOM!
The ground exploded.
“SKRIEEEEEECH!”
Earth and rocks shot into the air like a volcanic eruption.
The monster—the Dead Eater—burst out of the ground, roaring in rage and pain.
The massive beast, dragged from deep underground, screamed with a metallic screech that sounded like nails on steel.
Even the soldiers, who had retreated far back, felt their knees tremble.
The monster writhed, rolling on the ground in agony.
Richmond was the first to attack.
“Bone Spike!”
Shuuuk!
From the ground, a massive spear of bone shot upward, growing hundreds of meters in an instant.
The razor-sharp tip pierced through the monster’s neck, carefully avoiding its stomach.
THUNK!
The beast was skewered like a fish on a spit, pinned to the earth.
It roared and thrashed, but its head was immobilized by the spear anchored firmly into the ground.
“Awooooo!”
A wolf’s howl echoed.
It was Ulken, the lycanthrope warrior.
His muscles swelled as he leaped high onto the bone spear, running up its length like a tightrope acrobat.
In a flash, he reached the monster’s chest.
“Here?”
“Yes!” Ariella confirmed.
Ulken slammed his claws deep into the monster’s hide.
SHRRRK!
“SKREEEEEE!”
The Dead Eater screeched as Ulken hung on, swinging and spinning dangerously as the monster thrashed.
He extended his claws even further, his body morphing effortlessly—a lycanthrope’s specialty.
And then—
THUNK!
His claws pierced a tough inner membrane.
Though this was his first time fighting a Dead Eater, his hunter’s instincts screamed the truth.
‘That’s it. I’ve pierced the stomach wall!’
He slashed downward with all his strength.
SHRRRAAAK!
The stomach wall tore open. Acidic fluid gushed out like a waterfall.
“Whoa!”
Ulken dodged the spray and shouted down.
“Ludwig!”
Ludwig raised one hand toward the torrent of acid raining down.
FOOOOM!
A wall of flames erupted from his fingers, incinerating every drop of acid before it touched the ground. Even the poisonous fumes turned to harmless smoke.
With the Demon King’s magic shielding them, Ulken turned and yelled again.
“Ariella!”
She quickly released the enchantments.
Geru’s body returned to normal weight and smoothness.
Ulken shoved both arms into the wound.
SSSSS!
Smoke hissed as his fur and skin burned. The stench of charred flesh filled the air.
But Ulken didn’t stop. In his battle trance, pain was nothing.
His hands closed around something soft and heavy.
He pulled with all his strength.
SLUUURP!
He yanked out a body, slick with orange stomach acid.
“Got him!”
The smell of burning flesh was awful, but Ulken didn’t care.
He threw Geru over his shoulder and leapt back onto the bone spear, sprinting down toward the ground.
THUD!
They landed safely. The moment they touched solid earth, the Bone Spike spell faded.
“He’s safe!”
SHING!
That was when Ludwig drew his sword.
