The Djinn's voice rang in his head multiple times. Viktor was only semi-conscious, but the sight that greeted him as he opened his eyes jolted him fully awake. Not only was he surrounded by darkness, but the 'ground' under him was disgustingly slimy.
His expression darkened. What's more, a strong fishy smell permeated his surroundings, filling him with nausea.
He wished to quickly break free, but his body felt as if it was fully restrained.
"F**k. I'm inside the fish stomach, aren't I?"
<Yes, you are. Fortunately, your metal suit saved your life.>
Viktor reflexively sneered upon hearing the Djinn's words.
"Saved my life? It's only going to make me suffer before I die."
The Djinn did not respond. Even without looking at him, the Djinn could tell that he was greatly annoyed.
Just as Viktor finished speaking, his whole surrounding suddenly started to shake. A split second later, a mass of water surged through him for a few seconds like a wave before it all flushed out.
"Urrrgh, just kill me already!" he shouted out of irritation.
<Really? You're giving up now?>
"Of course not!"
This damned situation was already exasperating to the extreme, but the Djinn just had to make it worse!
Viktor racked his brain for a way out of this hell. Knowing that he was still underwater, he needed to make sure that if he did manage to get out, he would be able to make it out safely. If he were not careful, he might be devoured by the fish once more just after getting out. Even worse, the fish might even chew him up.
Even if he managed to escape, the fact that he was wearing metal armor would make it difficult for him to move, especially considering that he would need to swim fast to get away from the situation as safely as possible. Moreover, he was also still affected by the drawback of [All Might], and it would take at least 2 hours for him to regain his strength.
And those still had not taken into consideration how the limited oxygen would make it impossible for him to breathe properly later.
Despite the fact that Viktor had come up with a plan, he still needed to wait in this disgusting place for 2 hours.
This was probably the worst hour of his life. There were a few situations where he somewhat disliked his enhanced sense of smell, but this situation made him wish he could just get rid of it entirely.
Saying it was just stomach-churning would be a great understatement.
Viktor's expression darkened even more. Being trapped in this gigantic fish's stomach made him realize how much he needed to look for a more secure stopover. He firmly decided that as soon as he got out later, he would not stay in the bunker any longer.
To put it another way, he did not want to be anywhere close to the sea.
He patiently waited for his strength to return, and as soon as the drawback duration was over, Viktor quickly took out all of the metal he had stored in the alien ring.
[Metal-bending]
Viktor formed a sturdy metal pole that stretched as long as it possibly could. He kept stretching it to the front and back until finally, he felt it getting stuck.
The creature began to shake violently.
"How do you like that, huh! I hope you choke to death for eating me!"
Despite his words, Viktor closed his eyes and braced himself. As expected, another wave of water suddenly rushed in, indicating that the creature's mouth was open at the time. Without wasting any more time, Viktor swiftly took out his tier 2 axe and used it to pull himself up.
Each swing of the axe caused the creature to violently tremble, and after several strikes, he was flushed out of its stomach and to its mouth.
When he tried to swim out, the mutated killer whale kept moving violently, causing the water to constantly flow in and out of the fish's mouth like a never-ending wave. Although its mouth was open, the space was not big enough for him to get out.
Instead, the powerful jaw crushed him, causing him to suffer from pain throughout his entire body.
The pressure was powerful enough to render him unable to stand for an extended period of time. Even so, there was no way he was going to let it have its way. Not when he was this close to getting away.
[All Might]
As soon as he cast the skill, Viktor began to push back and cut the inside of the creature's jaw multiple times. Then, without sparing a moment, he slammed his back against slashed jaw to force it open.
But even after using his 80+ strength, the extra space was still not big enough for him to go through.
"No!! Get me out of here!!"
Viktor hastily looked around for a solution, and at that moment, the long metal pole he previously made caught his eye.
It was still sticking out of the fish's mouth.
Without hesitation, he focused all his strength into a single, powerful kick to push it deep into the mutated killer whale's guts.
BAMMM!!!
Following a wailing sound, the creature's jaw finally widely opened up.
At breakneck speed, Viktor jumped out of the jaw of death and quickly used all of his muscle power to swim up to the surface. The moment he saw a block of ice, he used all his remaining strength to break through it.
Crackk!
Viktor had no time to be concerned about the fish. Instead, he quickly turned his attention to the closest land a short distance away. As he ran as fast as he could, another notification came into his mind.
"Fu*k!! It can't be 5 minutes already!!" he blurted out.
But contrary to his expectation, the message came as a complete surprise for him and provided him with great relief.
[You have received the spirit energy of Mutated Killer Whale - Level 85.]
[You have received 2 points in strength.]
[You have received 3 points in endurance.]
[You have received 4 points in spirit force.]
It appeared that his last action unintentionally killed the creature.
"Haha, lucky me!"
After going through a long journey, he eventually reached land. He laid on the snow, his breath caught in his throat as his energy started to drain.
"F**kkk! I survived, Djinn! I survived!" Viktor exclaimed. At the moment, indescribable relief washed over him.
<Congratulations, that was impressive indeed.>
After taking a few seconds to breathe, Viktor realized that he was now on the other side of the sea. His body began to feel the ramification of the divine skill's drawback effect, causing him to become disoriented.
The next problem was that the night had come and he really should not stay in this place any longer than necessary. Thus, he immediately made his way to move to another place.
Unwilling to walk past the sea, Viktor took a long walk around the shore while trying to keep as much distance as possible between himself and any creature that came within his sensor's range.
"What an unfortunate day…" he remarked, his voice cracking due to the mix of emotions.
Viktor even made the decision to leave the yacht where he had left it. He could only hope that it would be fine the next morning when he returned.
Finally, he made it back to Arkhangelsk Town just before dawn.