{Chapter: 199: Dex's Insides}
His stomach tightened with hunger. A growl rumbled inside him—not audible, but felt—as if something deep in his gut had started to salivate.
All the while, the two women beside him watched his expression transform, the heat rising between their thighs despite themselves. There was something raw, something darkly sensual in the way he handled that relic—like
he was undressing a lover with his thoughts.
"Gods, he's hot when he's focused…" Bella whispered, almost too low to hear.
The other woman beside him Maya swallowed hard, her thighs shifting beneath her silk dress.
Dex muttered to himself, frowning, "Damn, you're making me hungry…"
He wanted to savor it later. Somewhere dark. Alone. But the temptation clawed at him.
His will snapped.
Without another thought, he lifted the fragment to his lips, opened his mouth, and—without even chewing—swallowed the damn thing whole.
The two women gasped in unison, their lips parted in shock. Bella clutched his arm, her fingers digging in slightly.
"W-what did you just—?!"
Even the seasoned auctioneers onstage went silent, their expressions frozen in disbelief.
The entire hall shifted in mood, like reality had taken a sharp turn.
Wasn't that fragment so hard that even a demigod's blade couldn't cut it? And he just… swallowed it?
Had they just watched a man eat a relic like candy?
The murmur of awe and horror spread like wildfire. People gawked, eyes wide. Some were amused. Others were terrified.
But all were curious.
"What kind of race is this guy from...?" someone muttered in awe.
Back in his seat, Dex licked his lips again and leaned back with a low hum of satisfaction. His voice came out husky, almost regretful: "Fuck… should've chewed. I bet it would've tasted even better..."
He turned to his companions—both women still staring, eyes wide and mouths slightly agape—and waved a hand in front of them.
"You two good?" he asked casually.
The seductive trance snapped. They both jumped slightly and shook their heads, cheeks flushed.
"N-nothing! It's nothing!" they said in unison, breathless.
But their thighs rubbed together under the table.
They were wet.
And they didn't even know why.
Dex just smiled and leaned back.
Let them wonder.
Let them burn.
He had already tasted something far more delicious than any of these women ever could be.
And yet… he wouldn't mind dessert later.
One of the women stood close to Dex Bella, her fingers daintily brushing a lock of hair behind her ear as she leaned forward, her gaze fixed curiously on his abdomen. Her voice was soft and breathy, edged with a touch of hesitant concern.
"Um… Dex," she murmured, her eyes flickering downward to where his stomach was—"Doesn't eating like that… cause indigestion? I mean, that thing looked like it could break a blade. What kind of body can handle something like that?"
Her tone, though seemingly innocent, carried an undertone of fascination. She couldn't help but imagine the raw power required to digest something so monstrous—something not even a demigod could bite. That known heat radiated… from below her it made her more wet. His strange heat intrigued her more than she'd admit.
Dex casually patted his stomach with a dull thump and gave a slightly strained smile. "Well… yeah," he said with a short exhale. "Feels like I swallowed a furnace. I might actually have indigestion this time."
His answer stirred a ripple of concern in the other woman Maya, who had been trailing her fingers along the edge of the table as she eyed Dex with barely concealed interest. She immediately stepped closer, letting her shoulder brush against his arm with deliberate softness.
"Are you alright?" she asked, her voice laced with gentle worry—though her lips curved in a way that was far from sisterly. "Do you want to rest for a while? You've… gone through a lot today."
Her ample chest subtly pressed against him as she leaned just a little too close. The warmth of her breath brushed against his cheek.
Their tenderness, however, did not go unnoticed. The women behind them, the ones who had been watching Dex closely from the beginning, quietly seethed in jealousy. One of them bit her lower lip and crossed her arms, her fingernails tapping against her skin with quiet irritation. Another narrowed her eyes and hissed under her breath, "Shameless…"
But Dex, entirely unfazed by either affection or envy, shrugged with indifference. "No worries. It's just a little… turbulence inside."
His casual words downplayed the chaos occurring in his gut, though his voice held a warmth that made the women around him sigh inwardly, wishing he would lean on them—just a little more.
Still concerned, the flirtier of the two moved even closer, the curve of her hip brushing against his leg. "Well… if it gets worse," she whispered, "I know a very, very nice pharmacy down the alley—discreet too. They sell potions that do… wonderful things to your body. Digestion, stamina, even pleasure…"
She traced a slow circle on the table with her fingertip, her tone teasingly layered.
Of course, she wasn't trying to be nurturing. Neither of them were. Deep down, they knew the truth: this man—this monster—was their golden goose. He was a walking anomaly of strength, mystery, and power. And if he died—if something really did go wrong—their dreams of using his influence to rise in status would die with him. The legendary items they had only just gotten their hands on would be stripped from their fingers and offered up to the noble lords who cared only for strength.
So really, their concern was business… disguised in skin-deep warmth and sultry charm.
Dex, ever perceptive, caught every layer of falsehood beneath their words—but he said nothing. He didn't mind. They were playing their role, and he was playing his.
But what he didn't tell them… was that the "turbulence" inside him wasn't from his stomach—it was from what he had just devoured.
Inside, the fragment that once held a sliver of a soul was writhing like a mad dog backed into a corner, thrashing about in the corrosive sea of his infernal stomach.
It screamed in agony.
"Graaahhh…! I'll kill you! I'll kill you, Grent… Grent!! Curse you—aaaahhh!!"
The fragmented soul wailed with blind hatred as if trying to claw its way back into the world. Dex scratched his head lazily, bored by the howls.
"Persistent bastard," he muttered.
Deep inside him, flames seethed with demonic heat, melting everything in their path. As a fire demon, Dex's insides were less like organs and more like engines of devastation. His stomach and heart could rival the heat of a star's core—constant, merciless furnaces. The acid swirling inside him was potent enough to dissolve not only matter but even intangible things like souls and curses. A divine artifact shard might survive a battlefield, but it stood no chance in the molten abyss within him.
He focused, stimulating his internal heat.
The soul's cries grew weaker, breaking into spasms of static-like hate and confusion. It was fading fast.
Dex could tell this leftover piece of spirit had only survived so long by clinging to the properties of the copper it was attached to. It had been sleeping—barely alive—until Dex's presence stirred it.
Even now, it screamed a name it didn't remember. "Grent… Grent…" But the name was empty. The memory, shattered. The hatred, blind.
It was pitiful… and tasty.
Dex closed his eyes as he absorbed the slowly melting essence. He could feel it—feel the changes starting inside. That interrupted evolution from long ago, halted by the world's own laws, now resumed. This fragment added something new to his foundation—more depth, more comparison, more contrast.
A sharper edge to the blade he was becoming.
New colors appeared in the mix of his existence.
As the soul unraveled, its last fragmented memories bled into Dex's mind. Like a foggy dream slipping into consciousness, he caught flashes—images of ancient places, forgotten lovers, long-dead battles, and sins so old they had no name.
Each piece made him stronger.
The loser, even in death, still obeyed the oldest law.
The victor takes everything.
Even if the victory was won not with a sword—but a bite.
And as the taste lingered on his tongue, Dex grinned with lazy satisfaction.