Zane's broken body stumbled and slid inside the beast's belly.
He could feel the heat coming from inside its gut...
Along with the pain of everything he had suffered.
And eventually...
His torn body landed with a wet thud onto a pile of corpses...
The remains of creatures slowly digested—flesh, bones, limbs, broken armor—
Some still faintly twitching... others already unrecognizable.
He himself... couldn't move.
He could barely breathe.
His consciousness was starting to slip away...
"...Why...?"
He stared up into the darkness...
"...What... what did I do... wrong...? Why... me...?"
His lips barely moved...
"I... I didn't... ask for this... I... I didn't... choose... this..."
Tears mixed with blood on his cheeks...
The pain was too much...
Too real...
Zane... just wanted to sleep—just to let go of everything.
He had suffered enough... and the hope still left within him had already left him.
He was about to fully close his eyes to let slumber take him—
But then...
Something glowed...!
"...What... is that...?"
From across the mound of dead...
A faint red light shimmered... like a burning ember in the dark.
"...Is that... treasure...?"
He could barely discern it with his half-lidded eyes, but... he stared at it... as a faint warmth reached him.
Zane... thought of reaching for it, a sliver of hope whispering that it could help him live another day...
But when he tried, he realized the right arm he tried to lift... wasn't there.
Only a bloody, bleeding stump remained.
He was reminded once more... that there was no hope left for him.
And so... he gave up, lowering the stump, and just... rested himself on the mound of flesh, waiting to be digested.
He... closed his eyes.
His thoughts grew faint...
He could feel himself slipping—
"...I'm sorry... whichever god I offended... please..."
He prayed one last time, hoping for salvation...
"...Just let it end... oh Gods..."
...But.
'...Gods...?'
That word... invoked something within him.
That word... reminded him of something.
"...Gods..."
That word... sparked a memory...
"...Damnit..."
A memory... of someone he hated.
╞═══ ◇ ◇ ◇ ═══╡
"Zane Ashfield... you are a heretical existence... and you must be purged."
╞═══ ◇ ◇ ◇ ═══╡
Those words...
And the repulsive face of his.
The old bastard priest.
His disgusting smile burned itself into Zane's memory—
That bastard who had cast him down here to die...!
"...Damnit...!"
He gritted his teeth, the rage within welling up...!
"...Damnit...!!"
His rage flared violently—blazing—burning...!
As once more... he was reminded—!
That he had been disposed away like garbage—!
"DAMNIT!!!"
He shouted in rage! His breath forced its way back into his lungs!
Rage surged through his broken form!
Hatred for the priests...!
Hatred for the gods...!
Hatred for the world that threw him away...!
He would not die here.
Not yet.
Not until he got revenge on those who wronged him...!
His eyes shot open, locking onto the glowing "treasure" in the distance—
His goal... was set.
And then...
He moved.
Slowly... painfully...
Zane began to 'crawl' using what was left of his body...!
His chest, his bloody stumps, even his head along with his own jaw—!
He dragged his broken form forward, inch by inch—!
Torn muscles screamed—his exposed bones ground against the rotting remains—!
But he didn't care.
He didn't stop.
He couldn't stop.
Rage pushed him forward...!
Hatred pulled him closer..!
He "clawed" himself forward...!
He even bit into the flesh beneath him, tearing through half-digested and almost rotten corpses just to pull himself closer—!
Acid filled his mouth. Blood. Rot. Iron.
It burned his tongue—choked his throat.
But he swallowed it all.
He didn't care.
Pain? Disgust?
None of it mattered.
The only thing that mattered...
Was revenge!
And if that glowing red ember could be the key to his path of vengeance, he would even crawl through hell...!
And soon enough...
He was reaching it...!
Just a little closer—
Just a little more—!
His vision blurred—his limbs throbbed—his whole body felt like it would crumble at any given moment—
But still... he moved closer!
Until finally...
He reached it.
It was...
An arm.
Not human.
But something else...
Something... powerful.
Covered in crimson scales, it pulsed with fire...!
Still intact, even inside the acidic chamber of the beast where everything else was slowly disintegrating.
This... was his 'treasure.'
And with his mouth, he bit the 'treasure'—
Information flooded into his skull—!
[DING!]
[You have found an Armament!]
[Armament: Right Arm of the Inferno Salamander.]
[Do you wish to graft this Armament onto your body?]
[YES] / [NO]
Zane did not hesitate—in his mind, he 'chose' the 'YES' option in a heartbeat—!
╞═══ ◇ ◇ ◇ ═══╡
Outside the belly of the beast...
The leviathan serpent slithered through the dungeon's cavernous path, its rough scales scraping against the jagged walls—
But—
"—!"
It stopped on its track.
A strange sensation rippled through its massive body...
A heat... unbearable... swelling from within...!
Its long body tensed. Its head jerked upward—!
Smoke began to seep out from its nostrils...! Thick... black... acrid—!
Its tongue flicked in distress, the stench of something wrong filling its senses...!
And then—
FWOOSH—!!!
A sudden blast of flame erupted from its mouth—!
The serpent thrashed—!
It slammed its body against the cave walls, tail whipping violently as if trying to rid itself of the agony crawling inside its flesh—!
The heat continued to rise...
And its body slowly glowed...!
The cavern lit up red as veins of molten heat pulsed under its scaly hide—!
The monster wailed in agony—roaring, writhing, screeching!
Its insides were burning, boiling and incinerating!
Then...
Flames burst from its maw, its eyes, and even its gills!
Every orifice became a vent for the firestorm erupting inside!
Until finally...
BOOM—!!!
The serpent's whole body was engulfed in roaring flames—!
Black smoke filled the cave, light washing over the once-dark chamber in waves of hellish orange...!
The snake gave one last spasm...
THUD—!
...before succumbing to the flames as its body crashed onto the cave floor.
Silence filled the cavern... but the crackling of fire still echoed, with embers dancing across scorched serpent...
Its still-burning corpse lay motionless—charred, split, and cooked from the inside out...
Until—
SSSHHK—!
A sharp crack tore through the serpent's blackened flesh—!
Something burst from within—!
An arm... glowing red.
Crimson scales shimmered as the arm forced its way out of the monster's stomach—!
And along with it...
Zane emerged.
He crawled, clawing his way out...!
Steam rose from his body...
His face drenched in blood and soot...
And his right arm... no longer human.
It burned.
It pulsed.
It was... alive.
And when he finally tore himself free from the confines of the burned serpent—
"—AAAAAAGGGGHHHHH!!!"
He yelled.
A cry of pain, rage... and rebirth.
His body trembled...
But his eyes...
His eyes blazed with fury.
He lived another day.
But more than that—
He returned from death's maw with fire in his arm...
And vengeance burning in his soul...!