The Second Coming of Gluttony - Chapter 1

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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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Episode 1. Prologue

Splurt!
Blood sprayed across the ground.
The female character’s vacant gaze dropped downward.
A spear shaft lodged beneath her left breast.
The moment she felt the cold blade pierce her heart, her eyes flew wide and her body crumpled.
As the female character fell, someone wailed in anguish and hurled himself at the man’s back.
Speed like slivers of light.
The man flinched and released the spear.
That was all.
He spun at once, his fist whipping around with terrible force.
The one struck went down hard.
The man did not stop—he brought his blood-slicked fist down again.
Crack!
The skull shattered in an instant.
Still he did not stop.
Once, twice, three times, four….
Screaming, roaring, he hammered the enemy’s head.
Until the skull fractured to dust and brains turned to pulp.
Only then did he cease and sweep the crimson-hazed world with wild eyes.
He retrieved the fallen spear.
He drove it into the earth, slick with gore and tissue.
The man, wearing the visage of a demon, hurled himself into the roiling haze.
Into the swirling ash and dust….

***

Cough. The female character, sprawled on the ground, hacked dryly.
At the acrid stench that permeated the air, her upper lip quivered.
Her nose wrinkled only briefly.
Then she lifted her head sharply, surveying left and right.
“Is anyone… still here?”
A thin wind swept past.
“Are they all dead?”
Silence answered her waiting.
She let out a mirthless laugh and hummed in a singsong voice.
“All dead, all dead now.”
The charred corpses were the better option.
In the pools of blood, what might once have been human drifted like flotsam.
A second glance around the ruins, and disappointment etched itself across her face.
Her throat stung.
Raising only her upper body, the female character coughed and spat.
Her complexion eased somewhat, and with weakened eyes she gazed up at the distant sky.
‘How did I end up…’
…like this?
One day, an alien species appeared in this world.
As it later became known, the invading race had been exiled from their native world.
After long years adrift through the void, they descended upon this star to carve out a new nest.
To make themselves masters of this world.
“Wretched bastards.”
The female character was a princess of a kingdom under the Empire.
She had learned of the alien species’ arrival at six years old, and of the Empire’s collapse at ten.
The Empire, which had boasted supreme strength as the Undefeated Sun through overwhelming technology and Magical Engineering, endured barely four years.
Afterward, as they conquered the star and devoured even the Sovereign God whom the Empire revered, the land became a wasteland.
It likely began then.
The star bereft of its god became prey for the many races that had long lurked, watching for their chance.
The leader of the invading alien species crowned himself a new god and launched assaults in all directions.
And right on cue, new alien species began appearing one after another.
Species that emerged under the banner of ‘survival’, species that rose beneath the flag of ‘conquest’….

The female character let out a hollow laugh as memory swept through her.
The land once ruled by humanity had tumbled into a war zone for countless alien races.
Ground down here, trampled there.
The native population’s plight was like a candle guttering in the wind.
It was then that the Seven Gods appeared—beings born alongside this world itself, yet never worshipped.
The Seven Gods promised to aid the humans who remained.
And the natives swore to honor these new deities.
So the bargain was struck, though the gods’ ‘aid’ turned out to be rather darkly amusing.
Nothing less than summoning species as similar as possible to the world’s native population, then raising them as a new army.
But there was no help for it.
Even that mighty Empire had collapsed in a mere four years, and the military strength of the subordinate kingdoms beneath it was so depleted as to barely warrant the word ‘strength’.
And the war had ground the population down to desperate extremes.
“Damn those bastards.”
The woman, who had been staring blankly up at the sky, spat out the curse.
‘I never believed in them from the start.’
In truth, the early days hadn’t been so bad.
The Earthlings who began answering the summons one by one grew rapidly under the gods’ protection.
But as their power swelled and they gradually overwhelmed the natives, things began to shift.
The reasons were manifold.
They split along national lines, racial lines, religious lines, or for political reasons.
At bottom, it came down to interests.
As the Earthlings fractured, even the Kingdom that had united its strength began to crack.
The alliance forged under the banner of survival fell to pieces, and the strength they had barely restored was weakened by internal strife.
Some even raised their hands against the gods themselves.
It was infuriating.
And that wasn’t all.
When the final war came at last, most of the Earthlings hadn’t participated at all.
They coldly turned away the natives’ pleas for reinforcement and simply went home.
And that was precisely why the woman’s resentment was kindling with each passing moment.
“Dogs….”
Just as she was about to curse again, the woman’s mouth snapped shut.
Splash… splash….
A quiet sound echoed through the Mountain of Corpses, Sea of Blood that was gradually growing cold.
The sound, drawing steadily closer, stopped not in front of the woman but slightly to her right.
Where a corpse lay charred black.
[Remarkable.]
Before it stood something defying description—an immense darkness.
[Impressive indeed! I had no great hopes, yet you survived this blood-soaked struggle….]
‘An Earthling?’
As if answering the woman’s silent question, the man sprawled on the ground barely managed to lift his head.
A violent surge of feeling rose in her, but the woman could only swallow it down.
The Earthling’s condition was so pitiful it was hard to bear looking at.
Though few in number, not all Earthlings had abstained from this war.
Which meant this man’s state was proof he had kept his honor in his own way.
That thought stirred pity in her, and yet a sense of waste.
If all Earthlings had been like that man….
[I would praise you further, but your life hangs by a thread.]
A low voice vibrated through the air.
[You kept your covenant, so now it falls to me to keep mine. What is it you desire?]
In the slowly descending darkness, the man’s lifeless eyes fixed forward.
He opened his mouth slightly, and blood mixed with viscera surged up and spilled out.
No voice came—only the whistle of air escaping.
[There is no need to speak. I can read your thoughts… Yes, you wish to live again?]
The woman nearly laughed at that moment.
Live again? In this state?
What was there to live for?
Everything was already destroyed beyond saving.
[Not a desire? When your life hangs by a thread, how dull. Then what is it you seek? Surely not wealth in this moment? Honor, perhaps?]
“…….”
[What was that?]
The voice suddenly rose.
[You want to begin again?]
An oppressive, suffocating dread rolled forth all at once.
[Impossible!]
The wrathful cry rang through the earth like a struck gong.
[No matter what merits you have earned, is turning back time even something one speaks of? You accomplish merely this much and hope to undo everything?]
“…….”
[Arrogant fool! Should you achieve ten times over the deeds you have done today, perhaps then. But in your current state, I cannot grant this wish. Not even a handful of flesh shall return — let alone your soul.]
“…….”
[Stubborn to the end. Your life grows short, and in honor of the service you have rendered thus far, I shall bear with you this much. Speak another desire.]
Then silence descended.
[…Why did you wish for such a thing?]
The man with his head bowed looked pitiable.
The voice that touched his ears softened slightly.
[Child, ask for resurrection instead. If you truly wish for it, would it not be better to attempt it by earning merit in what comes after? I cannot promise success, but…]
The man’s shoulders trembled faintly.
It seemed almost as though he were laughing silently.
Surviving this battlefield at all was a miracle — an act of providence itself.
And yet he would need to achieve merit ten times over?
Everyone knew it was impossible — the man, the woman, and the voice itself.
The man raised his head with great effort.
His lips moved faintly.
[A memory?]
“…….”
[Your heart, in this moment…?]
“…….”
[If not body and soul, you wish to leave behind even the feelings you experienced here?]
This time, taken aback, silence came again.
[…Conveying emotion through memory… true, emotion is merely a thought of sentiment, after all.]
After a long pause, the voice spoke.
[But even that… is beyond my power.]
For just an instant, the dying man’s lips twisted.
[Forgive me.]
That was all.
The shoulders that had been heaving slowly grew still.
Thud — the man’s head dropped, and he did not lift his face again.
And he moved no more.
[Fool….]
Suddenly, something like a hand emerged from the darkness.
With a tenderness that belied explanation, it slowly caressed the man’s head.
“I understand.”
The woman, who had watched from the beginning, suddenly spoke.
The darkness paused its hand.
[You bear… the blood of royalty.]
“Yes, Gula.”
As though it were of no consequence now, the woman laughed softly.
“The Kingdom has fallen. The Gate will be overrun. After witnessing such horrors, wouldn’t death be kinder? Through the Covenant you’d lose the memory anyway — it would be clean. And surely there’s somewhere to return to.”
[No. This child did not wish to return.]
At the weighty words, the woman’s eyes widened.
[He said there would be nowhere to return to.]
“Nowhere to return….”
Those words stirred something in the woman’s heart.
A fellowship of misfortune, one might say.
The Kingdom fallen, there was nowhere for her to return to either.
A few humans might remain, but soon they would be worth less than cattle.
Because humanity had not emerged as the victor in this war.
“Then why didn’t you at least hear him out?”
Darkness chuckles softly at the quiet muttering.
[Absurd. Every outcome has a cause. This child’s wish creates consequences that interfere with the past in one way or another.]
The woman laughed hollowly.
She didn’t understand what was being said, nor did she wish to.
It sounded like an excuse.
[His accomplishments simply weren’t sufficient to fill the void of causality.]
“For something you claim doesn’t matter, you seem quite regretful.”
[How could I not regret it? This child was born under the destiny of a Leader.]
“A Leader?”
The woman’s eyes widened in surprise.
A delegate of the Seven Gods and apostle of divinity—one of the Seven Seekers of the Way chosen to face world-class calamities.
The problem was that only one of them had participated in this war.
[Yes, he shone brighter than any star. Though I ruined him with these very hands… Why do humans only learn to regret when it is too late?]
Darkness falls silent.
The woman closed her mouth as well.
She had forced the conversation only because she didn’t want to die alone.
She had regained consciousness for only a moment, yet from the instant her eyes opened, she had known she would not live long.
The woman’s gaze fell upon the man who was already dead.
There was something pitiful about the shabby manner of his passing.
If he had truly wished for time reversal, he must have walked a threshold of terrible death countless times.
But it was not enough to achieve what he desired.
He fought like a dog and died like a dog, without any compensation.
“…Gula.”
After a moment of hesitation, the woman rummaged through her garments.
“Grant this Earthling’s wish.”
[Hmm?]
“You haven’t forgotten the royal family’s covenant, have you?”
The initially perplexed darkness stopped speaking.
On the woman’s outstretched palm lay an ornately crafted pendant.
Though stained with blood, the radiance of the original couldn’t be hidden—it glowed with pure light.
[That is…]
“If you add this Earthling’s merit to the covenant you made with my father, surely you could grant one final wish? Even if time reversal proves impossible.”
[…Do you have such loyalty to go that far?]
“Of course.”
When the Earthling came, the royal family had also promised him reward.
The cowards who fled to preserve only their own advancement weren’t worth considering, but this Earthling before her had not abandoned his post.
Since he kept faith, it was the royal family’s duty to repay with sincerity.
Moreover, it was the last shred of pride the dying woman could maintain.
[I could grant a wish for you as well?]
“What could you possibly grant me?”
The woman laughed softly.
Through the long war, she had learned one thing: even gods are not omnipotent.
What more could one ask for in a world already ended?
[I say it again—this child cannot return.]
[Only the feelings of longing and regret will be conveyed to him, not as a lasting imprint in memory, but as the fleeting form of a dream.]
[It could fade as something trivial, or be forgotten as nothing more than a night’s dream.]
[What is certain is that you and this child will both die here. Is that acceptable?]
The voice echoed in her ears repeatedly, as if confirming the terms.
If there had been no conflict, it would have been a lie.
But she was exhausted.
It had been a truly, truly long war.
She had endured as one of this land’s leaders all this time, but now the woman too wished to rest.
To return to nothing and sleep peacefully wouldn’t be so bad.
‘If all Earthlings were like you…’
Then perhaps she would have had no regrets.
[So that’s what you wish to grant? Even at the cost of abandoning your own rights?]
For the first time, a smile settled on the woman’s lips.
“Yes.”
At last, the wish was decided.
[Then, so be it.]
In the darkness, something unfurled like wings spreading wide.
[Come closer, my child.]
Suddenly, the world drained from her body.
The moment awareness returned, her vision swam in and out of focus.
The world spun, and something unknowable hurtled toward her at impossible speed.
And in that final moment of sight,
[When we meet again—.]
she saw a blue fragment hovering above the man, and
[How I do look forward to it.]
the darkness laughing, bright and joyous.

(To be continued)

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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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