The Second Coming of Gluttony - Chapter 173

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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 173. Despair, and….

Seol Jihoo didn’t move recklessly.
Rather, it would be more accurate to say he couldn’t.
Given the caliber of his opponent, caution was essential.
‘Damn it… how on earth….’
…In truth, he already knew that recklessness or caution would yield the same result.
Worse still, he wasn’t even granted the luxury of buying time.
He had to fight knowing he would die. Only now did he begin to grasp, even faintly, the mind of a soldier stepping onto the battlefield for the first time.
“If you won’t come, then I will.”
Footstep. Undying Diligence took a long, measured stride forward.
Seol Jihoo sensed instinctively that hesitation was no longer an option.
Die this way or that way—there was no difference anymore. The die was cast.
If he couldn’t land even a single solid thrust with his spear, he’d die with regrets.
That thought, paradoxically, kindled a grain of stubborn defiance in him.
Seol Jihoo gripped his spear tightly with trembling hands and steadied his stance. Undying Diligence gave an approving nod.
“That’s how it should be.”
Seol Jihoo opened his eyes wide, drove his feet into the ground, and lunged forward with a shout to shake off the terror. He threw his full strength into the thrust, drawing on every reserve he had.
The Ice Spear sang through the air in a golden arc, cleaving it sharply. Yet Undying Diligence simply tilted his head back slightly, motionless, and evaded the strike.
As though anticipating this, Seol Jihoo fluidly shifted from thrust to sweeping slash without pause.
In that fraction of a second, Undying Diligence’s knees bent at a perfect right angle.
His upper body arched sharply backward, and the spear shaft whistled through empty air.
Sensing the opening, Seol Jihoo stopped his arm midmotion and brought the spear down in a sharp strike—
“Do it properly.”
Undying Diligence spoke calmly, then pivoted on the arm bracing against the ground, spinning his body in a smooth rotation.
The spearpoint, which had grazed his ribs, drove deep into the earth instead.
Like a swallow turning mid-flight, Undying Diligence rose to his feet and dusted off his hands.
“This isn’t the end, is it?”
Seol Jihoo’s eyes trembled visibly.
His opponent’s physical prowess transcended imagination—but that was secondary. Drawing, deflecting, thrusting.
He had executed his three most practiced techniques in succession, the ones he was most confident in—and hadn’t touched even a hair on his opponent.
Worse, Undying Diligence had merely evaded, showing not even a hint of intent to counterattack.
It felt like being tested.
Seol Jihoo moved to withdraw and retreat, then stopped himself.
The distance was closer than he’d thought.
Besides, Undying Diligence showed no apparent will to attack.
A sharp crack—he activated the Festina Earring.
Wind enveloped his entire body, lending him power. Seol Jihoo rushed forward in a gale.
In a single breath, he carved his way in and compressed his body.
And just as he had when he felled the Orc Champion, he added the elasticity of the Bow Body Bullet Shadow as he thrust his spear—
‘Ah.’
Then he met those two eyes, gazing at him without emotion.
In that instant, a despair swept over him—something undefined, yet unmistakably present.
But by then his body was already fully extended, the spear rising.
Undying Diligence raised a finger.
Click. The spearpoint, discharging Soma Energy with fierce intensity, was hopelessly stopped by a single index finger.
No matter how hard he strained, it wouldn’t budge an inch further.
When Undying Diligence curled his second finger instead, Seol Jihoo felt his center of gravity plummet in an instant.
The moment his backside hit the ground hard, Seol Jihoo’s face went blank with shock.
He had known, intellectually. Yet the gulf between thought and reality was absolute.
Staring up blankly, he saw a pallid face with interest drained from it.
Undying Diligence examined his fingertips calmly.
They were only slightly scorched, as though singed by a cigar flame.
“So he only had Soma Energy.”
He rubbed his thumb and forefinger together, clicking his tongue in mild disappointment.
This was a star that even the Queen he served had feared. It was worth more than Tigol Fortress, which had fallen only after an all-out assault.
Surely someone of such power would have enough strength to catch Undying Diligence’s interest.
So his judgment that the current Seol Jihoo fell short of expectations was not unreasonable.
“It’s wasteful, I admit. But it’s your choice—I won’t say you didn’t warn me.”
His foot rose high, as if to crush Seol Jihoo underfoot and snuff out his life.
Rat-a-tat-tat! The Undying Diligence’s neck rotated with a sickening crunch.
Floné, who had been helping her companion, caught sight of Seol Jihoo’s peril too late and rushed to his aid.
“Ho.”
The Undying Diligence, its neck twisted nearly full circle, let out an appreciative gasp as it fixed that belligerent specter with its gaze.
“Right. I’d forgotten you were here too.”
With a contemptuous laugh, the Undying Diligence’s body dissolved into mist and shot skyward.
Floné pursued at full speed.
The crimson haze and black smoke spiraled upward together, intertwining as each poured forth its terrible presence.
“Floné!”
Seol Jihoo scrambled to his feet and conjured a Mana Spear, but dared not throw it.
The two of them were locked in combat at such close range that a single misstep could strike Floné instead.
[Die! Die die die!]
Floné clawed at her opponent with vicious precision, but her success was no greater than Seol Jihoo’s had been.
“The strength is there, at least….”
The Undying Diligence slipped aside by the merest margin, dispensing its assessment as it dodged.
“But you lack experience.”
The Undying Diligence materialized from the mist and smiled thinly.
“A naive young lady who’s never known the world, charging forward on strength alone.”
Floné raked her claws with murderous intent to silence that glib tongue, but the moment the Undying Diligence extended its arm, she was caught effortlessly.
[!?]
It hadn’t even taken solid form—how was she trapped?
Floné thrashed in panic.
[Eeek! Eeeek!]
The Undying Diligence gazed at her struggles as one might indulge a child’s tantrums, then poured forth a surge of power through its grip.
Crimson energy seeped in from the point of contact, swiftly bleeding through her entire form.
[Aaaaaaaaargh!]
Floné shrieked so violently the fortress itself seemed to shake.
Her essence paled in an instant, her strength faltering, and she plummeted.
“Centuries old or more by the look of it… but well worth absorbing all the same.”
The Undying Diligence descended slowly, satisfaction playing at the corners of its mouth.
An unexpected windfall—there was no reason for its mood not to be excellent.
The Undying Diligence extended a hand toward the limp, trembling Floné.
Seol Jihoo’s face flushed with rising fury as he bellowed.
“Floné!”
He charged forward with a wordless cry. A flicker of annoyance crossed the Undying Diligence’s face at his impudence.
“Troublesome.”
Its arm swung in a savage arc.
That was all it took.
Seol Jihoo’s vision went black. When his eyes opened again—
He realized he was staring at the sky.
And that he was hurtling through the air—
Until his body slammed into the ground.
“Kgh—!”
Bright arterial blood sprayed from his mouth.
And then—
“Hack….”
The pain—
“Agh… gaaaaahhhhh!”
—came faster than he could have imagined.
A yawning hole in his chest wept crimson as blood pulsed from the wound. Seol Jihoo’s body convulsed violently, then went slack.
His limbs twitched and tremored, his whole frame shaking.
“Gasp… gasp—!”
A shadow fell across Seol Jihoo as he gasped for breath.
“Well.”
The Undying Diligence approached with measured steps, raising its foot.
He possessed the Power of Soma after all—it was only fitting to make certain of his death.
“Since you brought me such fine nourishment, I’ll grant you a swift end.”
And as the creature brought its foot down with crushing force, a knight interposed a Heater Shield between them.
The silver shield flared with sacred power.
“Ugh—!”
Teresa winced, staggering backward in a spray of blood.
Undying Diligence’s eyes widened with something like surprise.
“Interesting. Princess of Haramag. Your strength has improved, then? No—”
He studied the longsword and shield radiating holy light, understanding blooming across his face.
“Your power hasn’t grown. You’ve simply acquired proper weapons.”
“Take him and run! Now!”
Teresa paid no mind to his observation, half-turning to shout the command.
Undying Diligence’s eyebrows rose. The golden-haired girl stood beside the seizing youth, chanting frantically, pouring everything into the healing spell.
“Maria!”
“Shut up! Don’t distract me!”
“Hurry!”
“You think I don’t know that? If I can just get him moving, maybe—just maybe—”
‘Run? With him?’
The fortress was nearly lost. There was nowhere to run to. More precisely: flight meant death.
But it was the princess—who’d chosen to stand and fight, not flee—who’d given that command. For the first time, a thread of discord needled through Undying Diligence’s mind.
And he was far from the only one.
“Raaaagh!”
A dark-skinned warrior charged, halberd blazing. Undying Diligence waited, then drove a fist forward like lightning—the warrior’s chest caved inward, and he flew backward.
“You bastard!”
The battle maiden swung her mace; he answered with a vicious kick to her jaw.
Two longswords came at him from opposite angles. He caught both, then yanked.
O Ra-hee and Pi Sora flew apart in opposite directions, crashing hard.
“Hmm…”
Undying Diligence tilted his head, regarding the four warriors groaning on the ground.
The moment the bearer of Soma Energy had fallen, everyone—the princess included—had rushed in without hesitation, as though the only thing that mattered was protecting that one life.
Desperate to shield him, no matter the cost.
Undying Diligence, who could not comprehend such things as emotion, felt a sliver of possibility cross his mind.
He recalled hearing once that the star was not shining, but dead.
‘A dead star…’
Seol Jihoo’s assessment—the one that had dropped like a stone to the depths of Undying Diligence’s consciousness—surfaced again.
It was mere intuition, but there was certainly something neither he nor anyone else fully understood.
Interest kindled once more. So when he saw a subordinate moving to finish the stragglers, he spoke.
“Stop.”
Three or four Nosferatu halted immediately, freezing in place.
Undying Diligence walked slowly toward Teresa, who remained standing alone.
“Damn it! Damn it!”
Maria was pouring curses into the void, all her focus on healing.
Her expression was desperate.
“Wake up! Come on, snap out of it! You asshole, please!”
She unleashed healing spell after healing spell, yet the wound on his chest was closing at a glacial pace.
Whatever had struck him carried an obstruction—something that clung to his injury and resisted mending.
By the time Seol Jihoo’s breathing eased slightly—
“Please, please…? Eeeeek!”
Maria’s desperate prayer turned to a strangled shriek. She thrashed backward, trying to flee.
Undying Diligence was approaching with long, deliberate strides.
One hand clamped around Teresa’s throat.
She’d recovered enough from her injuries, though Seol Jihoo remained suspended in shock, barely conscious.
When Undying Diligence lifted his hand, twisting upward, she rose without resistance.
He could have killed her then and there. But Undying Diligence, true to his methodical nature, preferred clean, certain work.
Or more accurately: he pursued efficiency.
The battlefield was already as good as conquered.
Only one task remained: find the star.
That meant either searching the fortress top to bottom or hunting down every last fugitive—work that consumed time.
But the moment his mission was complete, he could leave the cleanup to his subordinates. Undying Diligence had already decided to return to the two legion commanders and Tigol Fortress immediately upon success.
The sooner he withdrew, the better he could defend the key stronghold.
For that to happen, the star had to be here.
So he looked between Seol Jihoo and Teresa—one in each hand—and spoke.
“Is this the one? Or do you know who it is?”
If the former, I’ll take her. If the latter, I’ll kill her without hesitation.
Teresa fixed her with a glare filled with hatred. Undying Diligence, as though she’d expected nothing anyway, hurled her backward.
“A tribute for the Queen. Don’t kill her.”
Then, after glancing around, he walked toward a woman kneeling with both arms restrained.
“Answer me.”
Nosferatu forced Pi Sora’s head up.
Undying Diligence shook the hand holding Seol Jihoo.
“Is this the one?”
Pi Sora looked up with wavering eyes and, with effort, opened her mouth.
“…Jon….”
“Jon?”
“…He’s… ugly….”
Pi Sora tittered as though she’d lost her mind. Undying Diligence scoffed and struck her hard with his elbow.
Her neck twisted past ninety degrees, and her upper body went limp.
“Correct—”
“Ptui!”
Cho Hong spat before he could finish speaking.
As blood-tinged saliva soiled her uniform, Undying Diligence drove his heel into her crown.
Blood erupted from Cho Hong’s scalp.
Undying Diligence quietly drew out a handkerchief and wiped the spittle from his uniform.
Then he spotted a priest pressed face-down on the ground, both hands clasped together, trembling violently. A flicker of interest crossed his eyes.
“Answer. All you need do is confirm it.”
Undying Diligence spoke in a gentle tone.
“Answer and I’ll let you live. I promise.”
Uriel Maria’s trembling gradually subsided.
As Undying Diligence waited with patience, his eyes suddenly blinked.
Now he noticed the Altar beneath his feet, and a cross-shaped artifact slowly crumbled to ash and vanished.
“Mol Te Oculum Meorum!”
Uriel Maria’s head snapped up as she cried out.
“Mjolnir!”
A titanic hammer of light struck Undying Diligence’s face with perfect timing as he tilted his jaw back.
“…Haaah….”
Undying Diligence wiped his face, which crackled with electrical discharge, and let out a long breath.
“Screeeee—!”
As his foot pierced through her solar plexus, Uriel Maria shrieked and collapsed like a frog.
Undying Diligence withdrew his foot, tasted the blood streaming down the stone with a slight savoring of flavor, and smacked his lips.
“Should’ve kept that one alive, perhaps….”
Then, muttering “Can’t be helped,” he was tightening his grip when—
“Care for me to answer instead?”
A cheerful voice rang out.
Undying Diligence paused, his nostrils flaring. Before his eyes, a handful of powder drifted with a soft luminescence.
‘What is this powder?’
“Explosion!”
In the next instant, the powder ignited in unison, erupting in a brilliant blast that engulfed Undying Diligence’s face.
“Hss—!”
Undying Diligence reflexively inhaled, and the flames swiftly diminished. He shook his head sharply, hunched his shoulders, and turned.
An old man with a long white beard stood holding a staff.
“A sorcerer… Where did you procure this powder?”
“Just happened to come by it.”
Ian chuckled, spinning lightly. His subordinates moved to act, but Undying Diligence waved a hand as though he didn’t care.
“Do you have more?”
“Hardly likely. You were so thorough in eradicating it that I couldn’t even catch a glimpse. I was fortunate enough to secure only a minute amount by grace of heaven. The architect of it all would know best—why ask me?”
“…Fair point. Still, to gather even a little. You’re quite resourceful.”
“Much obliged for the compliment. But then again….”
Ian stroked his white beard and narrowed his brow.
“It’s strange. According to the Imperial archives, Moon Light was developed as one of the countermeasures against the Parasite Queen and her legion commanders, and one of the few that actually proved effective—”
“One of the weapons, yes. Crush a precious gem suffused with rare mana, pour it into a chalice filled with holy water, capture moonlight, and blend the two forces together. Fuse and condense the harmony of mana and sacred power. A rather clever idea, I’d say.”
“For all your words, it doesn’t seem to have dealt much damage.”
“Not entirely absent, though.”
Undying Diligence exhaled sharply, and a hardened clot of blood fell away.
“It worked. Barely, but it worked.”
He wiped his upper lip and fixed his gaze on Ian.
“A mage would know Equivalent Exchange better than anyone.”
He was saying that since Ian had answered his question, now Ian owed him an answer in return.
But Ian waved his hand dismissively.
“Your arithmetic’s off. I already knew that fact, and besides, you answered on your own terms. You can’t force it like that.”
“Force it? I’ve done it once—there’s no reason I can’t do it twice.”
Undying Diligence shifted his stance. Ian, laughing dryly, twirled his staff in a slow arc.
“Soram!”
The ground bucked and heaved as stone pillars erupted in a rush.
When Undying Diligence stretched his legs wide, he closed the distance in a jagged zigzag, leaving afterimages in his wake.
“Spiral!”
The surface of the soaring stone pillars warped as if caught in a whirlwind, and dozens of spikes burst outward.
Yet Undying Diligence smashed straight through them all with his body and came to stand before Ian regardless.
“For the fine show and the spirit you’ve shown, I’ll give you a chance. Answer my question.”
“Listen here. If you want an answer, isn’t it basic courtesy to ask the question first?”
Undying Diligence’s face turned sinister.
He lifted Seol Jihoo and opened his mouth.
“From now on, you can only say two things: yes or no.”
“I don’t know.”
With a sickening crunch, his skeletal arm pierced through Ian’s gaunt belly.
As his organs were torn apart, Ian gasped sharply.
“Ready to talk now?”
Ian’s face contorted in agony, but instead of answering, he clutched at the creature’s arm with trembling hands, desperately trying to hold on.
At this futile struggle, Undying Diligence narrowed one eye slightly—and Ian suddenly cried out toward something behind him.
“Now! You who bear the mark of divinity!”
“Wha—”
Undying Diligence spun around in alarm. But the landscape behind him remained unchanged.
His waiting subordinates simply stared blankly ahead.
Turning back to face forward, Undying Diligence saw Ian grinning as he pulled a small pouch from his robes and flung it.
“Heh, you fell for it?”
From the pouch erupted a fistful of powder that gleamed with moonlight.
Undying Diligence’s eyes flew wide open.
“Explosion!”
Bang! A brilliant sacred flame ignited and clung thickly to his face.
“Arrrgghhh!”
For the first time, a scream tore from his throat.
Undying Diligence reeled backward, clutching his face in both hands. Ian caught the falling Seol Jihoo and hurriedly dragged him beyond the blast radius.
“You… you vile old worm—!”
As Undying Diligence roared in fury, the boiling flames snuffed out abruptly.
“That’s it. I’m going to slaughter all of you!”
Laying Seol Jihoo down and preparing a wind-class spell to hurl him to safety, Ian’s expression darkened.
‘Damn that old chief.’
Watching the creature come diving at him like a swallow, he cursed Arbor Muto—whether dead or alive, he couldn’t say.
‘Should’ve taken more with me when I escaped.’
A fist crashed into Ian’s nose, cutting short his bitter smile.
Relentless blows followed—Undying Diligence landed five or six more vicious strikes before driving his pierced belly down with a brutal kick.
Ian, reeling from the onslaught, had no breath left to scream as he collapsed onto Seol Jihoo.
“I’ll kill you both at once!”
Behind Undying Diligence, a sanguine mist rose, embodying his rage.
The moment he swept his palm to strike them both down,
“!”
Undying Diligence jolted and threw his chin back in alarm.
In that same instant, a jade-green spear suffused with sacred power descended from the heavens like a beam of light and plunged into the earth.
[SCREEEEEEEEEEEE—!]
A terrible cry tore through the air.
“…What?”
Sprawled in midair and leisurely observing from above, Chastity’s eyes narrowed.
“This power is…”
With a grave expression, she swept her gaze slowly across all directions, then fixed her stare on one point.
As the Queen’s momentum shifted, the succubi that had been waiting unfurled their wings and took flight in unison.
And then.
“Well done.”
Hideous Modesty regarded the figure slammed against the City Gate—Cheonji—and offered congratulations on her efforts.
It seemed she had fought a fierce battle; half the skull was missing along with the helmet, but overall the creature remained intact.
By contrast, Cheonji stood glaring at her opponent, one hand clutching her spreading crimson wound, sweat beading across her face.
“You were alone, after all. Only a single retainer at your side. Yet you swept away the elite knights and even managed to wound me—I’d say you fought admirably. Don’t take it too hard.”
Hideous Modesty spoke while tearing a chunk from the human thighbone clenched in her grasp.
Cheonji watched Agnes lying crumpled before the ethereal horse, both legs torn away, and bit her lip.
Hideous Modesty let the dripping flesh fall and hurled the bone aside with a casual flick.
“Humans truly are delicious. At any rate, I’ve sated myself adequately. Now—.”
Mid-sentence, the skull’s head suddenly turned.
“…How strange.”
Half-chewed remains tumbled from the gaping jaw.
“That was… certainly unforeseen.”
The direction the legion commanders turned to look.
It was none other than the Peak of Dawn.

(To be continued in the next installment)

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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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