My Three Vampire Queens In The Apocalypse-Chapter 23: Fighting the Mama Titanoboa [1]

My eyes settled on a familiar option.

[Basic Active Skill: Flame Spark – 1200 coins]

The description was simple but clear. It allowed the user to create small bursts of fire.

Under normal circumstances, it would barely qualify as a real attack. It was the kind of skill beginners picked up before quickly replacing it with something better.

But this wasn’t a normal battlefield.

This was a sealed, organic chamber filled with digestive fluids and unstable gases. A confined space where even a weak spark could trigger an extremely large explosion.

I purchased it without hesitation.

The moment the transaction completed, a faint warmth spread through my body. Knowledge of how to use the skill followed immediately, settling into my mind as if it had always been there. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

I could feel it clearly now, a small ignition point resting at the edge of my finger.

I exhaled slowly. That purchase left me with 1400 coins. The amount left was not enough for anything impressive. But it didn’t matter.

I continued scanning, this time looking for something most people would overlook. Something that didn’t seem useful on its own.

That was when I found it.

[Compressed Air Burst – 500 coins]

It allowed the user to release a short-range burst of pressurized air, something with minimal direct combat application.

I stared at it for a moment before letting out a quiet breath.

Minimal direct combat application. That was exactly what made it valuable.

I bought it.

As the skill integrated, I immediately understood its limitations. It wasn’t powerful. It wouldn’t knock enemies away or break through defenses. At best, it could shift things slightly out of place.

But in here, that was enough.

I focused on my surroundings. The creature’s stomach contracted rhythmically, its inner walls pulsing as they worked to break me down. Between those movements, I could feel pockets of gas forming and shifting.

They were unstable, compressed, and constantly moving. All I needed to do was control them.

That left me with 900 coins.

I needed one final piece, not for killing, but for surviving what came after. I returned briefly to the recovery section and selected the cheapest option that still had value.

[Minor Healing Potion – 500 coins]

I purchased it without hesitation.

Now I had 400 coins left. But it didn’t matter. Everything I needed was already in place.

I took a slow breath, steadying myself as the creature’s stomach tightened again, pressing in from all sides. The environment was hostile, suffocating, and constantly shifting.

But for the first time since I had been swallowed... It felt manageable.

I took a slow breath and forced myself to calm down, even as the burning sensation continued to eat at my skin.

At first, everything inside the snake had felt chaotic and impossible to understand, but the more I focused, the more a pattern revealed itself. The stomach did not move randomly. It worked in cycles.

The muscles would tighten and squeeze everything inward, then loosen for a brief moment before repeating the process again. That small gap between contractions was the only window I had to act.

At the same time, I paid attention to the air around me. Even through the pain, I could sense that it was not uniform. Some areas felt heavier and thicker, almost like the air itself had weight.

Those were gas pockets formed during digestion, unstable and compressed within the creature’s body.

They were not visible, but they were there. And more importantly, they could burn.

That single fact was enough to turn this situation around.

I steadied myself by pressing one hand against the inner wall. It was slick and constantly shifting, but it gave me just enough balance to stay in place. Rushing would only ruin everything, so I waited and observed the rhythm again.

The stomach contracted, squeezing everything tightly. The pressure increased, the acid surged, and for a moment it became harder to breathe. Then, just as quickly, it loosened.

That was my cue.

I activated Compressed Air Burst.

A short burst of air spread outward from me, not strong enough to cause damage, but enough to disturb the space around me. I used it again, adjusting the direction slightly, then once more, carefully guiding the movement of the gas instead of attacking blindly.

I was not trying to fight. I was rearranging the environment.

Another contraction came, stronger this time, forcing me to brace myself as the walls tightened around me. I endured it, waiting patiently instead of acting too early.

Then the pressure eased again. I used the air burst one last time.

This time, the difference was clear. The air around me felt noticeably heavier, thicker than before. The gas had gathered into one place.

That was all I needed.

Without wasting another second, I activated Flame Spark.

A small flame flickered to life at my fingertips. It was weak and unimpressive, something that would barely matter in a normal fight.

But this was not a normal fight.

The moment the flame touched the surrounding air, the reaction began.

The fire spread instantly through the concentrated gas, moving far faster than my eyes could follow. In a closed space like this, there was nowhere for the heat or pressure to escape, and the ignition turned into an explosion almost immediately.

The blast erupted in every direction at once, slamming into the inner walls of the creature and tearing through the fragile balance inside its body.

The snake reacted violently.

Its entire body convulsed, the controlled rhythm from before collapsing into chaotic spasms. The stomach tightened far more than it had before, as if it was trying to crush whatever was happening inside it, but the movement was no longer stable or coordinated.

That alone told me everything I needed to know.

It was working.

I was thrown off balance as the creature thrashed, my body slamming against the inner wall. Pain flared through me, sharper than before, and even with the resistance, the heat and shock left fresh damage behind.