Both Jang Bung and Hyeon-o had reached 9-Star.
The process had been extremely grueling.
They had been 8-Star creatures hunting 9-Star prey.
Overcoming the gap between their realms had not been easy.
Jang Bung and Hyeon-o had faced several life-or-death crises.
Afterward, they dealt with every demon in the 9-Star region.
There was only a single 10-Star demon in the region.
"Now only that thing is left."
"Jang Bung, that thing is impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
Hyeon-o was so terrified that it looked ready to piss itself.
"That's a flood dragon!"
A flood dragon was an imugi that had failed to become a true dragon.
And this one even had horns.
Nearly a hundred meters long, it lay with its entire body coiled into a circle.
An imugi preparing to ascend to heaven.
At the Great Perfection of the Qi Refining Realm.
It was a 10-Star demon on the verge of becoming a Great Demon.
Among the human race, it would be equivalent to a cultivator just shy of the Foundation Establishment Realm.
If it broke through the final wall, it could advance to the Foundation Establishment Realm.
It was a fitting appearance for a flood dragon waiting to become a true dragon.
"That thing is nothing but a big horned python."
Of course, it was a snake nearly a hundred meters long.
With two horns, it would also possess several divine abilities.
"Even so......"
Pythons were natural predators of crows.
Hyeon-o had good reason to be afraid.
Jang Bung needed to give it some courage.
"We have to kill that thing to claim the center of the barrier."
"The center of the barrier?"
"It's where the barrier stone that maintains the secret realm is located."
Each region corresponding to a realm had a barrier stone.
But unlike those elsewhere, the barrier stone at the center of the secret realm was special.
"It's the barrier stone at the heart of the formation. More spiritual energy is concentrated there than anywhere else in the secret realm."
This nameless secret realm was composed of a formation and barrier.
It blocked outside intruders.
It was also like a mechanical device that supplied spiritual energy to the interior.
The heart of the formation.
A power source lay near the barrier stone.
Spiritual energy was generated there.
Then it spread throughout the entire secret realm.
The horned python resembling a flood dragon had coiled around the barrier stone to absorb that spiritual energy.
"It can't leave that place. We have a chance."
The horned python could not easily abandon the barrier stone.
It was a treasure that aided its cultivation.
Because it could not leave the barrier stone, its attacks were bound to be predictable.
"Are you sure the flood dragon can't leave that place?"
"If it could, it would have come looking for us already."
Jang Bung and Hyeon-o had been prowling around the surrounding 9-Star region.
With the creature's senses, it should have noticed them.
Yet it had remained motionless, still wrapped around the barrier stone.
"Think about it. That thing hasn't eaten any of the nearby demons."
At 10-Star, it was the strongest creature here.
It could easily dispose of a 9-Star demon.
"Oh? You're right."
It could gain spiritual energy by devouring the nearby demons.
There was no reason not to eat them.
That meant......
"Guarding the barrier stone is even more profitable than that."
Rather than Guardian of the Barrier, the title Occupier of the Barrier suited it better.
Remaining by the barrier was more beneficial than eating demons of lower realms.
Which meant......
"We'll gain a huge advantage if we claim it for ourselves."
"Ah!"
Hyeon-o now understood why the reward was worth the risk.
"So we have to defeat that flood dragon somehow and claim the barrier stone."
Greed appeared in its eyes as well.
Every cultivator desires to raise their realm.
No, that desire was even fiercer in them than in mortals.
In the immortal cultivation world, realm is both strength and authority.
It was even connected to lifespan.
It would be stranger for someone not to desire a higher realm.
"But... how are we supposed to fight that thing?"
Greed aside, the flood dragon remained an extremely difficult opponent.
It was the strongest demon in the secret realm.
"No matter what happens, that thing won't leave the barrier stone."
The flood dragon had lived here for many long years, guarding this place.
Intoxicated by the sweetness of spiritual energy, it had no desire to leave.
As time passed, that became an obsession.
It had made itself the Guardian of the Barrier.
'It was similar in the game. Guardians of the Barrier nearly always followed the same pattern.'
Jang Bung had fought Guardians of the Barrier in the game as well.
Flood dragons were not the only creatures that appeared as Guardians of the Barrier.
Many different demons could fill the role.
But because they could not leave the barrier stone, their attack patterns were simple.
They were field bosses that a group of players could defeat by working together.
Although it was only Jang Bung and Hyeon-o this time... they still stood a chance.
"You attack from the sky. I'll attack from the ground."
There was one of it and two of them.
Attacking from opposite sides was bound to split its attention.
Hyeon-o could fly swiftly through the sky.
It was an expert at dodging.
Jang Bung would attack the flood dragon from underground.
He was an expert at hiding and deceiving.
They complemented each other well.
"Then let's begin!"
Hyeon-o flew through the sky near the flood dragon.
Jang Bung created a mudfield and slowly advanced toward it.
***
"Aagh!"
WHOOSH— WHOOSH— WHOOSH—
Water Cannons shot from the flood dragon's mouth.
They were so fast that Hyeon-o barely evaded them.
ROAR—
ROAR—
"This is impossible!"
The flood dragon's Water Cannon was not its only ranged attack.
It spewed flames from its mouth.
The creature was like a flamethrower.
It seemed as though the entire sky had become a sea of fire.
"Fall back!"
Jang Bung gave Hyeon-o the order.
It retreated accordingly.
'Just as I expected.'
When Hyeon-o fled far away, the flood dragon did not pursue it.
It refused to leave the vicinity of the barrier stone.
The creature was a stationary Water Cannon and flamethrower.
Once its target fled far enough, it could no longer attack.
While Hyeon-o drew its attention......
Jang Bung spread the mudfield toward the barrier stone.
'Good thing it doesn't have two heads.'
If it had been a two-headed snake or a hydra, fighting it would have been extremely difficult.
With only one head, its attack patterns were simple.
WHOOSH— WHOOSH— WHOOSH—
"Aagh!"
Water Cannons.
CHOMP—
"Save this crow!"
Bites.
ROAR— ROAR—
"This is impossible!"
And gouts of flame.
Its attacks followed distinct patterns.
Somehow, Hyeon-o managed to dodge them.
If it truly could not cope, it could always flee far away.
As long as the attacks did not hit, it would suffer no damage.
The flood dragon was easier to fight than expected.
'I'm almost there.'
Jang Bung's mudfield had spread all the way to the barrier stone.
As it did, the ground gradually turned soft and muddy.
The flood dragon's body slowly sank into the mudfield.
'It still hasn't noticed.'
Its enormous size made the flood dragon's senses dull.
It did not notice even as part of its body sank.
The flood dragon became a frog in slowly boiling water.
With all its attention focused on Hyeon-o......
It failed to notice the trap closing around it.
ROAR—!
Only after half its body had sunk into the mudfield did it finally notice.
The creature roared in fury.
'Now! Let's go!'
Matching the timing, Jang Bung began swallowing the flood dragon from the tail.
ROAR—!
The enraged flood dragon......
WHOOSH— WHOOSH— WHOOSH—
CHOMP—
ROAR—
ROAR—
It unleashed a three-part combination of Water Cannons, bites, and gouts of flame at Jang Bung.
'That won't be nearly enough.'
Jang Bung was inside the mudfield.
On top of that, he was swallowing the creature's tail.
It was difficult for the flood dragon's attacks to deal him any serious damage.
ROAR—!
The creature violently whipped its tail around, trying to shake off the slime.
The flood dragon's tail attack......
Wriggle— Wriggle—
It ended as nothing more than a feeble squirm inside the mudfield.
'Once it enters the mudfield, it's nothing but an earthworm.'
It was no different from a worm trapped in mud.
Its movements were severely restricted.
'This still isn't easy.'
Jang Bung had chosen the flood dragon's tail rather than its head.
To swallow it properly, he needed to start with the head.
If he started with the tail, his prey could easily escape.
That made it extremely difficult for the slime to swallow the flood dragon.
'But I can't start with its head.'
The flood dragon would immediately realize what Jang Bung was planning.
Then he would receive the full gift of its three-part combination: Water Cannons, bites, and gouts of flame.
It had reached the Great Perfection of the Qi Refining Realm.
Even Jang Bung would struggle to endure a frontal assault from a 10-Star demon.
"Hyeon-o! Distract it!"
"Got it!"
'Heart-Speech isn't bad after all.'
There was no such thing as a useless ability.
'I can talk even while I'm eating the flood dragon's tail.'
Heart-Speech was a voice of the mind passed directly from one mind to another.
He did not need to use his mouth.
'No one else can hear it either.'
Jang Bung and Hyeon-o's plan remained secret.
They could attack together without the flood dragon realizing it.
'Shapeshifting Art, Disguise Art, and Heart-Speech all have their own advantages and disadvantages.'
Heart-Speech was more useful than he had expected.
It was not merely an extra ability bundled with Disguise Art.
***
Following Jang Bung's instructions, Hyeon-o darted about in front of the flood dragon's eyes.
ROAR—!
The enraged flood dragon turned on Hyeon-o......
WHOOSH— WHOOSH— WHOOSH—
CHOMP— ROAR— ROAR—
It gave Hyeon-o the full gift of its three-part combination: Water Cannons, bites, and gouts of flame.
"Aagh! This is impossible!"
Even as it screamed, Hyeon-o somehow evaded the flood dragon's attacks.
The flood dragon failed to catch Hyeon-o.
It focused on the slime eating its tail.
ROAR—! Wriggle— Wriggle—
It twisted its entire body, trying to dislodge the slime from its tail.
"Hyeon-o, now! Peck out its eye!"
"Got it!"
ROAR—!
The flood dragon groaned in pain.
The eyes are a weak point for every animal.
That was true of snakes as well.
It was a vulnerable part of the flood dragon.
Hyeon-o's beak tore the eyeball apart.
WHOOSH— WHOOSH— WHOOSH—
CHOMP— ROAR— ROAR—
After losing an eye, the flood dragon attacked Hyeon-o in a frenzy.
Meanwhile, Jang Bung swallowed more of its tail.
Even then, he had only swallowed a fifth of the flood dragon.
"Hyeon-o, peck out its other eye too!"
The flood dragon resisted the slime, whipping its tail around.
It was trying to pull its body out of the slime's mouth.
They could not give it a chance to escape.
It was possible to fool something once, but not so easy to fool it twice.
An opportunity this good might never come again.
"Impossible, impossible!"
"It's fine. It's focused on me. It doesn't have the attention to spare for you."
The flood dragon's body was being devoured by the slime.
It had no attention to spare for the crow demon flying before its eyes.
"All right. I'll try it."
ROAR—!
Gathering its courage, Hyeon-o pecked out the flood dragon's remaining eye.
The flood dragon screamed in agony when both its eyes burst.
With its sight gone......
WHOOSH— WHOOSH— WHOOSH—
CHOMP— ROAR— ROAR—
It indiscriminately fired Water Cannons, bites, and gouts of flame in every direction.
But Hyeon-o had already fled far away.
'Clever little thing.'
It was exceptionally quick when it came time to flee.
Blinded in both eyes, the flood dragon vented its rage at the sky.
It had completely lost its head and was no longer using spiritual perception or anything else.
'Rage has robbed it of reason.'
It was simply throwing a fucking fit.
'Thank you for the meal.'
While the flood dragon raged, Jang Bung swiftly swallowed it from the tail upward.
Before long, more than half the flood dragon was inside his stomach.
It flopped around like a fish out of water.
But most of its body had already been swallowed.
Resistance had become meaningless.
Jang Bung seized the opportunity and swallowed the flood dragon's head as well.
'Luckily, its body isn't all that thick compared to its length.'
Even a python does not take up much volume when it coils its body.
The hundred-meter-long flood dragon entered the slime's stomach.
WHOOSH— WHOOSH— WHOOSH—
'Ah! Cold!'
ROAR— ROAR—
'Hot!'
The flood dragon's Water Cannons and gouts of flame made the slime's stomach alternate between hot and cold.
'My stomach burns.'
But it was bearable.
The creature was a rat trapped in a jar—a snake trapped in a slime's stomach.
Given enough time, it would eventually exhaust its strength and die.
Before that happened......
'I should use the spiritual energy here.'
The spiritual energy around the barrier stone was the densest in the secret realm.
He absorbed spiritual energy through his subordinate mud slimes.
At the same time......
"Hyeon-o, come here. You did well."
"What about that thing?"
Hyeon-o was still afraid of the flood dragon.
It could sense the flood dragon's energy within the mudfield.
"It's fine. It's inside my stomach. It won't last long."
"That's a relief."
Hyeon-o also knew that no one could endure the inside of the slime's stomach for long.
The battle was already over.
Jang Bung and Hyeon-o had won.
"Now I'll give you your reward."
He used the abundant spiritual energy to grow spirit herbs and spirit trees.
Spirit fruits hung in heavy clusters from their branches.
The area around the barrier stone truly was a sweet deal.