The moment the world went dark, Nick felt nothing.
There was no pain. No pressure. Just a sudden, terrifying void.
Then—
Agony.
'Am I dead?' He questioned, but the answer soon came to him before he could contemplate further.
The searing burn of acid touched his skin, and the choking stench of bile and rot invaded his senses.
'What the fuck—!'
Nick barely had time to process the fact that he was still alive before instinct took over. He flailed, kicked and screamed — but it was all futile as his body was severely crippled from his overexertion in running away.
His attempt at screaming was reduced to nothing more than a hoarse gurgle, which made him realise that he couldn't attempt such a thing again — since he had to conserve his oxygen.
With his best guess, there was only enough air inside… wherever he was to last him a few more minutes.
Then, he started sliding further down the fleshy tunnel, becoming more and more constricted on all sides as he did so, with each muscle spasm of the beast's innards dragging him deeper into its digestive tract.
'No no no no no! I am not dying like this!'
But what could he do about it?
'Please… kill this fucking beast before it digests me!'
He could only hope that Dido and the War Beasts can finish their battle with the beast in time to get him out.
Outside, the forest had erupted into chaos.
Dido's eyes went wide with shock when she saw the scene before her.
"It ate him!?"
But she didn't let the terrifying sight of what just happened to Nick affect her. Her aura flared up the next second, so fiercely that the surrounding air practically dimmed as her own body shined brighter.
Her figure blurred as she launched forward in a streak of white and silver.
The rest of the War Beasts stood in stunned silence for a fraction of a second too long — just enough time for the Whiteclaw Snake King to finish lifting its massive head, the faint bulge of Nick sliding down its throat…
"Spread out!"
Dido barked mid air, already hurtling toward the beast after summoning a deluge of her own Beast Armaments to assist her.
Armour, a spear, and a few augmentation types. Dido was quite literally geared up to the max.
"We hit it now! Focus on the head! If we take out the brain, we can end this battle quicker than it started!"
Back inside, Nick's world was rapidly devolving into a nightmare.
His clothes had already dissolved, and his body was next. His skin blistered wherever the snake's digestive fluids touched. The air was hot, sticky, and quickly running out of oxygen, making it suffocating. His limbs were pinned on all fronts; not that he could even move them of they weren't.
He couldn't breathe.
'Think, think! Dammit!'
His Sabertooth Wolf Beast Armament had already served its purpose, and he wouldn't be able to use it again until his body was back in shape. His strength was completely drained. He had nothing left in the tank…
Except—
'No… there's still my Awakened White Ox dagger.'
His eyes snapped open! — …then closed rapidly after a spurt of acid found its way into them.
'Ouch! Fuck!'
It wasn't as if he had decided against using it at the start; it's just that he thought it would likely… definitely be completely useless against a Radiant Beast!
It's only an Awakened Beast Armament after all — what the fuck was it supposed to do to something like the Radiant Whiteclaw Snake King?
Fuck all, was what he'd say.
But there was no other choice now.
He summoned the Beast Armament and it appeared in his right hand barely a moment later.
He grit his teeth, focusing all the remaining dregs of his willpower into forcing his severely injured body to act again.
Cut!
Slash!
Bang!
The sounds of weapons assaulting the Beast's head echoed through its body, reaching Nick's ears.
'YES!! YES, KILL THIS THING!'
Hearing that the others were close to killing the Radiant Whiteclaw Snake King, Nick finally acted.
An unfamiliar feeling of his muscles tearing flooded his arm as he forced himself to slash the blade upwards.
"RRRGHHHH—!!"
A guttural roar of pain and rage muffled by the layers of snake flesh surrounding him made its way out of Nick's lips, tearing the muscles in his face in the process.
Nick truly summoned all that his body could offer, bringing the full force of the Awakened White Ox's Beast Armament with it.
His body expanded, muscles tearing all over in bursts of white hot pain.
And then, he sliced.
And sliced.
And sliced…
He kept on slashing, barely even able to conjure up a thought anymore with how bad the pain had gotten.
The only thing keeping him conscious was his intense will to just vent his rage onto the beast.
Even though his dagger only left minor scratches on the beast's innards, he kept on hacking at it.
Only death could stop him from venting his rage, his anger, all his pain on the Whiteclaw Snake King now.
He'd probably be in a flow state if it weren't for the state he was in.
"Looks like it's finally about to give in!" Dido shouted to Meylin and the other War Beasts as they feverishly looked towards the body of the Whiteclaw Snake King swaying.
Dido's spear had dealt the most damage, poking out one of the huge snake's eyes and dealing the final blow to its brain.
In just a few moments, it finally keeled over and let out its final breath.
"Haha! We did it! That's another Radiant beast down baby!" Meylin shouted excitedly from the side, while everyone else joined her in celebration.
Well… nearly everyone else.
"Nick is still inside. He could still be alive." Dido reminded herself and the others, almost forgetting that he had been swallowed by the huge snake just a few minutes prior.
'Tsk. Come on, he's likely already been dissolved into a pile of snake shit by now.'
Meylin complained inwardly, but kept it to herself as she knew Dido wouldn't like it.
"So, tell us captain. Did you get another Beast Armament?" Another member, completely ignoring Nick's situation, asked Dido.
Dido stopped mid walk, her mind blanking for a moment.
"The Beast Domain hasn't said anything to me…"
Everyone looked at each other in confusion.
Normally, Dido should have received a message from the Beast Domain upon the huge Whiteclaw Snake King's death, as she dealt the last blow.
…But she didn't hear anything.
The snake was definitely dead, so that begged the question — who dealt the last blow?