I Became a Mythical Hunter After Killing the Golden Goblin - Chapter 222
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 222. Divine Seat: The Messenger Who Traverses the Heavens
【Haaaam~~!】
Beyond the long field connected from Floor 101, in a place where Floor 110 should have existed, a being lay sprawled out, yawning widely as it slowly opened its eyes.
Hermes—or more precisely, a being forcibly summoned by the command of Zeus, the god of gods in Olympus, and had become the master of a layer in the Bottomless Pit.
The entity, emanating laziness and indolence from every pore, lay stretched across a straw bed dressed in tattered clothes fit for a convict.
The being had no name. Or rather, it once had a name, but that name had been stolen from it.
Alias: The Shepherd of the Sun’s Cattle.
Yes, it was a subordinate deity of Apollo, and had become a criminal for the reason that it had been sleeping lazily when Hermes stole the Sun Cattle.
What was even more pathetic was that Apollo, having received a musical instrument called the Lyre as a gift, discarded it to Hermes like garbage.
In a sense, Hermes was an irreconcilable enemy to the Shepherd.
In truth, it was bewildering even for the Shepherd. What madman would think to steal the sacred beast of the chief god? It had been left unguarded. Stealing something belonging to a god was no different from a natural disaster caused by a madman.
Of course, the Shepherd’s own tremendous laziness had played a significant role in the process, but from the Shepherd’s perspective, that was no problem at all.
And that laziness and idleness did not change even after becoming a criminal. Rather, it preferred the indifferent attitude of Hermes, who paid no attention to the pathetic Shepherd abandoned by the one it served.
It had even forgotten its anger toward Hermes. It thought it would live out its remaining life in laziness and die.
Yet suddenly, it was summoned for such a task.
【Ah…how troublesome.】
It had been appointed as the layer master governing Floors 101 through 110. Naturally, there was only one reason it had been placed at the front lines.
It was useless.
Its original work was that of a shepherd managing and protecting the Sun Cattle. Moreover, having devoted faith to Apollo and served as a deity under his command might earn some additional points, but that was all.
Among Hermes’ subordinates, most of whom were non-combatants, the Shepherd was the weakest in combat ability.
As a criminal, this was perhaps inevitable.
It understood this fact well. But it didn’t matter. Whether others looked down on it or not. It preferred its lazy and indolent existence all the more.
It had little interest in this position forcibly thrust upon it through compulsory summons.
After all, dying here wouldn’t mean truly dying.
Even rotten fish is still fish. No matter how much a lazy, lowly god treated as refuse by others, a god is still a god.
This meant possessing multiple divine powers and strength beyond that of ordinary beings.
Therefore, its assigned role was singular: to confirm the enemy’s military strength and report that information to the upper echelons.
Gaia had already exhausted all her power, and further interference with the Bottomless Pit was impossible. With no way to gather information, this stratagem had been devised.
Which meant it had to lose.
This was also Hermes’ stratagem, knowing the Shepherd’s nature well. Since it wasn’t the type to obediently fight with all its might and stake its life against an enemy anyway, the order was to drag out time as long as possible and gather information on the enemy.
Naturally, the Shepherd gave little thought to this command.
It was nothing more than a leisurely thought that if the opportunity arose, it should do what it was told.
Which is why it now spent its time in such lazy, indolent slumber.
Unaware of the hundreds of crimson message windows appearing before it.
***
“Huh?”
After completing two Hidden Quests and crossing into the hidden space according to Akasha’s information, I was left utterly dumbfounded by what lay before my eyes.
In a vast chamber sat an enormous pile of straw, and atop it, a man with shaggy red fur sprawled out in deep slumber.
It was hard to believe this was a being standing at death’s doorstep.
‘No, wait—maybe he’s acting this way because they said these are merely incarnate bodies or divine manifestations, so he doesn’t think he’ll actually die?’
Even with that reasoning, his current state made no sense. It was as if he were saying: do whatever you want with me.
〚True name: Atrote. His name has been stripped from him. He was once the keeper of Apollo’s livestock and the lowest-ranking divine being managing spiritual creatures. For reasons unknown, he became a criminal and was abandoned by Hermes. His defining characteristic is an extraordinarily slothful and lazy nature.〛
“I’m curious. To see someone capable of such laziness even with death staring them in the face.”
I wondered who would be lazier—him or the evil god of Sloth from the Seven Sins.
〚That is… I’m not entirely certain. Both are terribly slothful. Still, the evil god would likely be less lazy. At least he manages to accomplish what needs to be done.〛
The evil gods view the Seven Sins as both gift and curse. Ever since I first obtained Pride, my character had been steadily warped toward arrogance—a curse of its own.
This fool possessed a sloth far stronger than the curse derived from that concept itself.
I wanted to applaud him, but I had no desire to wake him and complicate matters.
Though it felt somewhat hollow, I could resolve this easily. In an instant, I drew both blades and awakened the predatory power slumbering within the Heavenly Killing Star, moving my body.
Slash. Slash.
Both swords cut through my enemy. The moment death was pronounced.
Zzzzzzzzzzzt!!!
A crimson star rose in the sky above, and my eyes rapidly flooded with red.
Simultaneously, the red aura tracking the soul escaping the divine manifestation soon found the true body of the creature sleeping in the Mindscape and Olympus.
Zzzzzzzzzzgh!
A massive crimson maw opened wide and swallowed him whole.
【U-ugh? W-what… is…!】
Only then did the livestock keeper finally open his eyes, and upon seeing the enormous crimson jaws bearing down upon him, he let out a shriek and desperately tried to move—but it was already too late.
Crunch!
The crimson mouth devoured the divine being, and all his power began flowing into me.
“As expected, completely devouring a true body is difficult.”
I could only consume divine manifestations at this level. The true body’s power was naturally sealed away. It wasn’t a loss—he was merely a divine manifestation of limited strength, a low-ranking being with little combat prowess, but divine power nonetheless.
The divine sword of the Sword of Infinite Slaughter underwent rapid evolution, and countless messages flooded my vision.
Most striking were the significantly increased stats and one new Authority.
“Authority: Master of The Sun.”
He had ruled over cattle-like spiritual creatures imbued with solar power, and befitting one who served under Apollo, he possessed an Authority related to The Sun.
Whether by fate or coincidence, I had once again obtained a solar attribute through my castle’s abilities.
“Of course, it’s pathetically weak compared to Ra’s power.”
If I were to rank the Authorities, Ra’s power would be 9-star, while this creature’s was at most 2 to 3-star at best.
Still, acquiring a familiar power wasn’t unwelcome. I gazed with satisfaction at the portal opening before me and moved forward.
Thus, my conquest of the Layer 100s truly began in earnest.
***
The fact that the master of Floors 101-110 had perished never reached Olympus first. It was inevitable. The entity that would have reported it had already been annihilated—who else could deliver such news?
Not even a trace of his soul remained. The predation strengthened by Heavenly Slaughter’s power consumed not merely flesh, but the very essence of the spirit itself.
The first to grasp this truth was naturally the Divine Being who governed Floors 111-120.
Before any message could even arrive, Shin Ju-ha appeared in his domain. Panic was the only reasonable response.
From Olympus’s perspective, it was a stroke of fortune that this particular layer master was, befitting a subordinate of Hermes, remarkably diligent and conscientious.
He immediately relayed the information to the other Divine Beings and Hermes, while cursing the shepherd inwardly.
Everyone shared the same thought: that mad sinner must be lazily sprawled in slumber again.
Thus they remained ignorant. Rather, they could not have known. That shepherd had lived in indolence, never once mounting resistance before his very existence was devoured, transforming him into mere sustenance that swelled the enemy’s power.
Because of this, the Divine Being of the 150s layer failed to detect that their opponent wielded the power of predation.
Indeed, the power of gluttony itself was a force that half-defied providence and law. Search the entire Abyss and such grotesque predatory power would not exist.
Now absorbed into Heavenly Slaughter and severed from Apocalypse, yet the predation of the demonic beasts had always been rooted in Apocalypse’s authority.
This meant it was absolutely not a power that would easily manifest in the Abyss or the world.
Thus intelligence about the enemy became forever unknowable. Once a Divine Incarnation departed, returning to the true body was impossible—unless the incarnation or avatar was slain and abandoned.
Naturally, no Divine Being of Olympus would make such a choice, and so the original plan to have returning Divine Beings transmit information from outside became impossible to execute.
It was inevitable. All the Divine Beings who would return to their true bodies and relay information had been consumed by predation. Who remained to share such knowledge?
An unstoppable momentum.
Shin Ju-ha tore through the layers with frenzied intensity. No matter how many traps were devised to delay him or ensnare him, no matter how much ingenuity was poured into their creation, Shin Ju-ha shattered them all—wielding Akasha’s knowledge and a power that vastly transcended his own layer’s authority.
And when Shin Ju-ha had just consumed the layer master of the Layer 150s, acquiring his dominion and strength.
Hermes finally sensed that something was profoundly amiss.
【This is… remarkable?】
Hermes was a Divine Being of considerable knowledge, possessing even a fragment of the small prophecy that Apollo governed.
The blood of the Titan race, descendants of the primordial giants. And with access to the fairy’s vast repository of knowledge, his power had grown all the more formidable.
By now, his knowledge alone was sufficient to forge countless mythologies.
Yet even he was astonished. There was but one reason why all the Divine Beings of Olympus participated in this plan without anxiety.
They could not die!
Even if the avatar perished, the true body and soul would not be annihilated. Of course, some damage would certainly occur.
And should Shin Ju-ha overcome the infinitesimal miracle and topple Olympus to clear the Bottomless Pit, they would certainly be swept away.
But that was a level of reliance on miracles that warranted little concern.
Yet now that very premise had crumbled.
【He possesses power to act upon a Divine Being’s true body?】
Hermes still did not believe that the true body and soul had both been consumed and transformed into his own strength. He merely speculated that there existed a method to kill the true body.
Coveting that power beyond mere destruction was truly far too unreasonable.
Though both possibilities bordered on the impossible.
【I must inform them of this immediately!】
Yet Hermes found himself paralyzed. There was no way. Once bound to a layer with primordial magic forcibly injected, he had transformed into nothing more nor less than a layer master.
There existed no method to communicate with the upper echelons.
【Damn it all.】
He could only pray. That Shin Ju-ha would perish before reaching him.
Of course, he was well aware that it was impossible for his subordinate Divine Beings—composed primarily of non-combatant deities—to overcome the monster and irregularity known as Shin Ju-ha.
And he also recalled the fact that he himself fell within that very category.
【Damn it.】
I wanted to strike my past self—no, the version of me who had volunteered for the Bottomless Pit, the me who had agreed to this cursed plan—and beat some sense into him.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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