The Second Coming of Gluttony - Chapter 167

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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 167. Skirmish (2)

The day of arrival passed without incident, but the moment dawn broke the next morning, the fortress stirred into frantic activity.
Soldiers sealed every gate of the fortress with heavy bolts, inspected defensive installations, and occupied themselves with headcounts and unit deployments.
If Teresa held supreme command of the Haramag Kingdom’s forces, then Cheonji wielded authority over the Eswhen contingent.
At the Royal House’s request, Cheonji first requisitioned every last mage and priest without exception.
The more practitioners of such specialties gathered, the greater their efficiency; and since their numbers were few and their importance vast, the intent was to manage them collectively.
She also selected accomplished snipers and stationed them along the Fortress Walls, and in the course of these arrangements, Uriel Maria and Marcel Gioinea were withdrawn from the team.
Seol Jihoo felt a pang at losing two reliable comrades, but it was hardly unexpected.
This wasn’t some small regional skirmish—a massive pitched battle was virtually inevitable—and assigning people to the right positions according to their skills was simply the proper course.
Besides, Uriel Maria had already pledged to look after the Carpe Diem Team members first, so his regret faded quickly.
Next, Cheonji ordered the formation of squads of ten.
The Eswhen fighters were no professional military accustomed to coordinated movement. They lacked formal combat training, were unfamiliar with discipline and command structure.
Rather than awkwardly mimicking an army, it was far more efficient to pair those who already worked well together and operate them as independent fighting units.
The combined Carpe Diem and Blood Line team originally numbered fourteen, but with Uriel Maria and Marcel Gioinea withdrawn, and two more drawn from O Ra-hee’s contingent for the same reason, the squad came to exactly ten.
Three Upper-rank Warriors and seven Level 4s—the strongest force in their squad.
After completing this minimal reorganization, reconnaissance reports arrived several days later in the dead of night.
The Parasite army had suddenly accelerated its advance, now bearing down on the Gorge.
According to the scouts’ words: “They’re pressing forward as if they mean to swallow the Gorge whole.”
The decisive moment had rushed terrifyingly near.
“Eat all you can while you have the chance.”
In the chill of early dawn, Cho Hong slipped cheese and ham between soft bread as she spoke.
Seol Jihoo, who had been gazing vacantly toward the Fortress Walls throughout the meal, flinched.
“Once the fighting starts, you won’t have a moment to breathe. Those Parasites come pouring in like they’re dying to get through. Before you know it, you’re swatting them down one after another and your stomach’s already screaming.”
“That’s right. Even if you’re not hungry, it’s good to line your stomach. Keeps your body limber.”
Hugo, who had drained a thick stew straight from the bowl after blowing on it to cool it slightly, wiped his mouth and added his own thought.
Cho Hong folded the bread in half, completing an instant sandwich, and handed it over. At a wave of her hand, Seol Jihoo took it without protest and shoved it into his mouth.
Cho Hong hummed softly as she began making more sandwiches.
After the meal ended, Seol Jihoo led his comrades toward their assigned position on the Fortress Walls. The dim dawn was already retreating, and daylight was slowly breaking through.
The sun crawled sluggishly across the sky, eventually settling at zenith. Much time had passed, yet the Haramag Kingdom’s heavy infantry remained arranged in perfect ranks and files as though measured by ruler, their posture unwaveringly composed as they gazed calmly outward from the walls.
The sight of hundreds, thousands of spear points they held upright reflecting sunlight with brilliant radiance was spectacular enough to inspire awe in any observer—a breathtaking vista.
It was then.
Seol Jihoo’s eyes, which had been quietly observing the forward expanse, twitched.
A dot appeared, hazy in the distance. The small point kicked up murky dust and swelled in size with stunning speed, soon filling his entire field of vision.
An invisible tremor transmitted through the air, and the fortress shook.
A trumpet blast pierced the sky from the watchtower on the high ground—Whoop!
The signal that enemies had been spotted. The murmur of activity intensified.
Moments later, from far off, a black tide surged forth.
Through ravines and over ridges.
The Parasite army emerged in successive waves from all corners of the Gorge.
They streamed in like a deluge, blackening both sky and earth.
“Here they come.”
The moment Pi Sora spoke, Seol Jihoo’s ears caught it clearly too.
The sound of feet pounding the earth and bodies squelching and dragging—a noise that sent shivers down the spine merely to hear it.
A trumpet call sounded again. The signal to prepare for combat.
The distance closed to mere kilometers in an instant. Thanks to consuming the Golden Phoenix Bird, Seol Jihoo’s vision had sharpened to the point where he could distinguish individual creatures in detail despite the remaining distance.
Common bugs and roaches were everywhere. Unknown Parasite species were beyond counting, and Medusas—towers built from corpses of all kinds—numbered well over ten.
Most unsettling of all was the source of that elephantine thudding: a creature that looked like nothing else.
To be precise, it was a monstrosity the size of a mammoth bearing nine serpentine heads—grotesque beyond description.
“Shit… Hydra’s here too.”
“Hydra?”
“One of the highest-ranked species in the upper tier. Hard to kill, and it uses something close to magic….”
Cho Hong’s expression darkened with irritation as she scratched her head roughly.
As Arbor Mutuo had said, the Parasites possessed no strategy, no tactics—nothing of the sort. They were advancing in overwhelming numbers, easily exceeding ten thousand, crashing forward like an enraged wave.
That was it. The war had already begun the moment the enemy entered the Gorge.
Seol Jihoo swallowed hard, his gaze darting across the scene. Teresa stood upon the Fortress Walls, watching with ice-cold eyes.
Why was she standing still when the enemy had entered striking distance?
Just then, the unpleasant sound of cockroach wings beating scraped against his ears.
A sound that had grown familiar. The cockroaches that had been skimming low suddenly surged skyward all at once, their wings whirring.
The swarm that darkened the heavens descended with the ferocity of a ravenous locust plague sweeping in to devour everything in its path.
If they allowed this advance to continue unchecked, chaos would engulf the Fortress Walls—that much was certain.
‘Arrows, at least—something!’
“Target the cockroaches! All units, load and aim!”
A voice he recognized cut through the noise.
Screeeee—!
The sound of the powerful drawstring belonged to the new weapon Arbor Mutuo had mentioned.
Seven soldiers hung from each massive ballista, tilting the firing mechanism upward and working the pulleys.
Arbor Mutuo, eyes fixed on the sky above, bellowed until his voice cracked.
“Left flank first! In sequence! Fire—!”
Thunk-thunk-thunk-thunk! Heavy bolts sang out as massive blade boomerangs streaked forth from the left in succession.
They spun like windmills, carving violent arcs through the air as they flew.
And when they struck the cockroach swarm charging in like ravenous beasts, Seol Jihoo’s eyes narrowed with intensity.
Crunch-crunch-crunch—!
The grating sound lasted only an instant.
The cockroach horde burst apart simultaneously, as though fed into a massive grinder.
There was no other way to describe it. The brutally spinning blades shattered through those hardened carapaces without resistance, tore through their bodies, and obliterated them.
Those creatures that had rushed forward with such hunger were all ground to nothing beneath the blades—a sight so satisfying it felt like his chest opened.
It was not finished. The blade boomerangs that had passed through the cockroach wall had lost some momentum, but they still spun, falling in diagonal lines toward the ground.
And they carved through the densely packed enemies below, slashing and sweeping with terrible precision.
Until they struck earth or their force was spent.
Like corpses draped in burial shrouds, the bisected bodies of Parasites fell in a rain of cockroach remains.
Roooaaarrr!
A tremendous cheer erupted. The shout that tore from the fortress echoed across the valley.
“Ha-ha-ha! Incredible! It’s incredible!”
“Yes! Yes!”
Cho Hong and Hugo both swung their weapons and howled their joy, and Seol Jihoo screamed until his throat burned raw.
Kyaaaaaaaa!
The Medusas, by contrast, shrieked in rage. Their carefully sent vanguard had been annihilated without inflicting a single blow, and frustration boiled over.
Soon ten of them opened their jaws wide simultaneously, and deep crimson flames kindled within their maws.
“Flame attack!”
True to the cry, ten spheres of fire, each the size of a man’s torso, erupted forth.
They streaked across trailing tails of flame, their momentum seeming unstoppable—but the priests who had prepared their incantations beforehand layered shields upon shields, and the fireballs dissipated harmlessly before they could even touch the fortress.
“Load!”
The ballistae, already reloaded, sang out once more.
This second volley was deliberately aimed downward, and the blade boomerangs fell upon the Parasites with the force of a gale.
Seol Jihoo watched the cascade of blades sweep the battlefield clear and felt an exhilaration he could barely contain.
A stray thought flickered through his mind—why had an empire powerful enough to have invented dozens of such devastating weapons collapsed so swiftly?—but there was no time for idle questions now.
The fearsome Parasite army was being torn apart before his eyes.
Could they win? Could they lose? The wavering scales of his hope tilted decisively in one direction.
A glimmer of possibility bloomed in his chest—that they might prevail, that they might live to see another day.
Meanwhile, the Medusas that had been glaring at the fortress with hatred shrieked again, and the center ranks, which had faltered only briefly, trampled over the corpses of their own kind and surged forward with renewed savagery.
It was then that Teresa’s expression darkened.
“Damn it.”
By rights she should have been celebrating the weapon’s effectiveness, but instead she clenched the crystal in her fist, irritation etched across her face.
“What’s wrong?”
At Ian’s question, Teresa exhaled a short breath and murmured, her voice low.
“…We’ve found a nest.”
Ian’s eyes widened.
Knowing well the habits of Parasites, Teresa had ordered a second covert sweep of the Gorge rather than an immediate return to the main battlefield.
And sure enough, a reconnaissance scout had discovered a nest nestled deep within the ravine and reported back.
They must have begun rooting themselves there during the march.
“But didn’t the scouts report seeing nothing on their previous sweeps?”
“They hid it carefully to avoid detection. A nest is—a Parasite’s most precious treasure.”
Ian clicked his tongue in frustration before speaking.
“Can’t we organize a separate unit to destroy it?”
“They’d be devoured the moment they arrived. The nest itself possesses considerable combat power, but more than that—Parasites never leave their nest unguarded.”
Teresa spoke with sharp precision.
“Then what do you propose? Should we focus entirely on holding the fortress, or—”
Teresa was caught in an internal struggle.
Just then, light flickered across the communication crystal. A report had come in—they’d discovered additional nests.
Nine mid-tier nests, and what appeared to be an upper-tier nest as well.
“Damn it all!”
Coarse profanity spilled from Teresa’s delicate lips despite herself.
“Those madmen! An upper-tier nest?”
The sheer number of mid-tier nests was troubling enough, but the emergence of a single upper-tier nest was the real problem.
If they weren’t careful, the fortress they’d spent months constructing could be stripped from them in mere days.
If Medusa served as the mother spawning lower-tier variants, then a nest could be thought of as the parasitic mass host that birthed those mothers.
Mother spawning, territorial control, localized corruption, corpse absorption, and parasite expulsion—and more.
Because nests possessed multiple abilities unto themselves, they were like a reassuring mother figure to those who commanded them. But for those facing them, they were nothing short of a nightmare.
Case in point: even the Tigol Fortress, which had withstood the firepower of five of the Seven Great Armies, fell unable to endure the erosion of two hundred nests.
Ian’s expression darkened.
“We have no choice now.”
Teresa fixed her gaze on the Hydra standing motionless in the rear and spoke.
“Blast it. I was wondering why it just sat there… it was guarding the path to the nests. Ian. How is the incantation progressing?”
Ian glanced sideways at five mages standing within a star-shaped formation, chanting their spell.
“Given the scale of it, I expect it will take some time.”
Teresa ground her teeth.
“Damn. We have no choice then. We proceed by the book. Santus!”
“Preparations underway immediately.”
The scarred man who had been listening attentively from the start issued his orders at once.
The Fortress Walls erupted into activity. The heavy infantry holding their positions descended in orderly formation and assembled before the City Gate.
The Earthians assigned to the interceptor unit did likewise. Seol Jihoo hurried down with his companions.
He waited at a proper distance from the soldiers gathering before the gate.
‘What is this?’
Whatever was happening, the situation had suddenly become chaotic.
The orders that came down were twofold: wait for the heavy infantry to create an opening, then advance. First, they were to neutralize Medusa.
After that, further orders would come depending on the situation.
‘First?’
He’d heard the fortress would provide full covering fire, but his head tilted in confusion.
“All archers—load!”
At Teresa’s cry, the archers atop the Fortress Walls drew arrows in unison, nocked them, and raised their bows.
“Fire!”
As her clear voice rang out sharply, hundreds of arrows were loosed at once.
Seol Jihoo, watching the arrows disappear beyond the walls, snapped to attention at the heavy sound ahead.
Soldiers were lowering the heavy bolts sealing the gate and pushing the doors open.
As the crude gate groaned steadily wider, what met Seol Jihoo’s eyes was a torrent of arrows descending like a cloudburst and Parasites tearing through the barrage to charge forward.
Viewing it from above was one thing; facing it head-on was something else entirely—the pressure hit him like a crushing wave.
“Charge forward!”
Yan Santus’s roar unleashed the heavy infantry in perfect unison. The moment they cleared the gate, they split into two columns and swept outward, before finally wheeling to face the enemy in double-file formation.
The instant they collided violently, Seol Jihoo’s eyes widened in shock.
The recoil from the impact was so tremendous that armored soldiers were launched airborne as though catapulted.
Yet the elite heavy infantry of Haramag somehow managed to plant their shields and thrust their spears, establishing a line.
Without additional reinforcements, they couldn’t hold indefinitely.
Seol Jihoo gripped his Ice Spear tightly.
Watching the bloodshed unfold before him, and realizing he would soon be thrust into that maelstrom, his heart began to race.
“Wait. Don’t charge ahead recklessly.”
Cho Hong rested her hand on Seol Jihoo’s trembling shoulder and spoke.
“It’s not our turn yet.”
“Why? Are you nervous?”
Pi Sora asked while working her neck left and right, then spoke with confidence.
“Don’t worry. Just stick close behind me.”
O Ra-hee let out a quiet laugh.
“Don’t lose your nerve.”
She twisted the ends of her hair habitually and lifted the corners of her mouth in a smile.
“War is lost by those who fold.”
All three women offered the words to ease his tension, but unfortunately, Seol Jihoo was only half-listening.
Because his inner state was the exact opposite of what they imagined.
‘Ah… this feeling…’
There was something oddly familiar about the sensation.
Seol Jihoo finally understood the nature of the flickering emotion that had plagued him since entering the Gorge.
His heart constricted, his lower abdomen tightened. His mouth tingled, teeth chattering against each other. His limbs trembled, unable to contain the rush.
Heat flooded through his entire body as if he might explode at any moment.
This was it.
This was what Seol Jihoo wanted.
Ever since that first murder he’d committed on impulse in Stage 3, something inside him—something with its reins cut loose—writhed and seized control of his entire body without consent.
A moment later.
Cheonji’s order to advance finally came down. At that instant, Seol Jihoo drove his foot into the earth harder than necessary, more forcefully than he realized.
The moment he burst through the City Gate, his restricted vision suddenly expanded, and the vast battlefield spread before him in full.
Seol Jihoo drank in the inexplicable liberation, and began to charge forward with such ferocity that his bangs whipped about his face.
All while unaware that his Ice Spear blazed with golden Aura.

(Continued in the next chapter)

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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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