190 THE CORE
Leo dove behind a pillar, quickly opening his control panel. He scanned the magical codes in Lillrune's Gluttony Cakra Core, hoping to find a way to fix the mutation.
"I'll kill you, Lilleo!" Lillrune's voice boomed as his enormous body barreled through the chamber, smashing walls and crushing debris underfoot.
"Come on, come on," Leo muttered, his fingers flying across the interface. "This program makes no sense!"
The more he analyzed Lillrune's magic, the more he realized the core's corruption wasn't just a mutation—it was sentient, rewriting itself faster than he could keep up.
"Now you see why I needed your help," Vanessa said, her voice suddenly echoing in his mind. "We couldn't change the code from our side."
"Neither can I!" Leo snapped, dodging as Lillrune smashed through another pillar.
"You'll have to distract him while you work," Vanessa advised calmly.
Leo grimaced. "Great idea. Got any more brilliant suggestions?"
Summoning his dragon guardian, he sent it soaring toward the ceiling. The golden light awakened the gargoyles, their stone bodies cracking and shifting as they came to life.
Instinctively, the gargoyles attacked the biggest threat in the room: Lillrune.
"Good. That'll buy me some time," Leo said, diving back into the code.
But despite his efforts, the mutation persisted. The core's sentience resisted every change he tried to make.
"Do something! He's eating the gargoyles!" Vanessa warned.
"I know!" Leo snapped. "I just don't know what to do!"
Lillrune roared in triumph as he consumed the gargoyles, their energy feeding his ever-growing form.
Time was running out, and Leo knew he had to think of something fast—or risk being devoured along with the tomb. Suddenly an enormous darkness enveloped him. The next thing he knew he was eaten into Lillrune's stomach.
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[Inside Lillrune's Stomach]
Lillrune's stomach was a bizarre and boundless expanse, a grotesque world of discarded debris and devoured treasures. Floating among the chaos, Leo drifted past everything the monster had consumed—ancient relics, broken weapons, and even the anvil from the blacksmith's forge in Sodom City.
"Great. Now I'm fucking food," Leo muttered, glaring at the mess around him.
"You must find the mutation and fix it," Vanessa's voice echoed in his mind.
"Fix it? How? I can't even find his Gluttony," Leo snapped.
"Don't worry about finding it—it'll come to you," she said cryptically. "Eventually."
Lillrune's Gluttony Core absorbed the essence of everything it consumed, and now that Leo was inside, the core would inevitably seek him out.
"I don't know what to do even if the damn thing does show up. Every time I try to change its fucking codes, it adapts and becomes even worse!" Leo said, frustration bubbling over.
"Then don't fix it. Contain it," Vanessa suggested.
"And how am I supposed to do that?"
"You're the hacker," she replied.
Leo gritted his teeth. "I don't understand this programming language! I rely on modifying existing magic codes—cut and paste, tweaking what's already there."
Vanessa paused. "What do you need from me?"
"Give me your strongest containment spell," Leo said, determination hardening his voice.
"We've tried that before on Gluttony," Vanessa warned. "It didn't work. Gluttony always breaks through."
"Just give it to me," he insisted.
Before Vanessa could reply, the Gluttony Core appeared—a pulsing, writhing mass of malevolent energy, glowing with a sickly light. It surged toward Leo, its slimy, ever-shifting form hungry to consume him.
"This is it," Leo muttered, steeling himself.
A radiant magic circle flared into existence around the Gluttony Core, Vanessa's containment spell surging to life.
Yet, as if sensing the danger, the core expanded violently, its gelatinous mass pressing against the spell's boundaries, beginning to engulf it.
"Told you it wouldn't work," Vanessa said, her tone flat but laced with frustration.
An unnatural growl rumbled from the Gluttony Core, a deafening roar that reverberated in the air. It surged toward Leo in a burst of raw, terrifying power.
"Arrghhh!" Leo gritted his teeth, his body trembling under the crushing weight of the Sin of Gluttony.
The overwhelming pressure bore down on him, enough to obliterate most people. But Leo resisted, a spark of resilience flaring into life within him.
"I'm still alive," he murmured, half in disbelief, as he realized there was something deep inside him—something protecting him.
But the protection was fragile, fleeting. The core swelled ominously, preparing to unleash another devastating surge.
Desperation sharpened Leo's focus as his mind raced across his control panel looking for possibilities. His eyes darted to the containment spell, scrutinizing its intricate design.
"I can't rewrite Gluttony's code," he muttered, an idea sparking urgently, "but I can alter your fucking containment spell."
Without hesitation, Leo took a gamble. His mind moved weaving adjustments into the containment magic's codes. The circle shimmered, its field widening as the modified spell expanded.
The Gluttony Core shrieked, its gelatinous body constricting against the augmented barrier.
"Rawwwrrr!"
Before it could retaliate, the containment spell encased it again, tighter than before.
Vanessa shook her head. "We can't hold it for long, even with that adjustment."
"I know," Leo replied grimly, his voice steady despite the chaos.
The core bucked against the spell, swelling with violent force, about to break free soon.
But Leo was ready.
He extended his hands, channeling his own magic. "Let's see how you like being eaten," he growled under his breath with determination.
Vanessa's eyes widened as she realized what he intended.
Leo activated the magic nodes bound to his Touch of Consummation, the demon ability that allowed him to absorb and assimilate sacrifices.
With surgical precision, he delved into the structure of Vanessa's containment spell, pinpointing to its fragile receptors. Then he tried linking the two together connecting his Consummation to the Containment spell.
With a final surge of willpower, Leo unleashed his touch.
"Alright, let's hope this works," Leo muttered, his mind moving swiftly as the linked spell came to life.
The connection sparked immediately with a surge of raw energy coursing through the air as the two magics fused. Vanessa's containment spell expanded, fortified by the relentless hunger of Leo's Touch of Consummation.
The effect was instantaneous and devastating.