The Second Coming of Gluttony - Chapter 177

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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 177. Deception

The moment Seol Jihoo finalized his plan and locked onto his target, the aura pouring from him snuffed out like a candle. The terrifying pressure that made flesh crawl to merely witness it, the killing intent that sent shivers down the spine—all of it evaporated as though washed away.
Lahin Mery only understood what had happened after releasing a breath she’d been holding.
‘Could it be.’
Without knowing the details, a worry crept in: had the duration of whatever technique classified as an Awakening Ability simply expired?
But Seol Jihoo said nothing, vaulting down from the City Wall with a single bound. She watched his retreating figure in a daze as he charged forward alone, carving through the army that surged toward him like a tidal wave.
Lahin Mery wasn’t the only one watching Seol Jihoo.
‘Hm?’
The Guide of Superbia, who had been in the midst of reloading, turned his eyes slightly. In the distance, he suddenly glimpsed blood spraying up in a fine mist.
Though the distance was considerable, to the Archer standing at the pinnacle of his craft, the vision was as clear as if witnessed at arm’s length.
‘What the—that guy?’
The Archer’s expression turned confused. The figure was clearly capable, breaking through the reserve forces alone, yet the action made no tactical sense.
If he hadn’t lost his mind to the terror of war, there was no explaining it. There had to be some reason behind it.
The Star of Pride didn’t pause in his work, observing the direction in which the figure—evidently Upper Tier Rank or beyond—was advancing.
Moments later, his brow furrowed sharply.
‘That madman. Has he lost his mind?’
Had there been some brilliant strategy involved, he’d have been prepared to lend support accordingly. But the moment he saw the direction Seol Jihoo was heading, all inclination to help vanished.
Because the place Seol Jihoo was running toward was the fiercest battlefield within the Gorge—a place where even a true Upper Tier would go to die.
It was where Seonghoo and Immortal Geunmyeon were locked in mortal combat.
Shortly after Seonghoo’s arrival, the two had abandoned the City Wall and turned the entire Gorge into their arena. It was hardly a one-on-one duel, however, given that Immortal Geunmyeon had summoned dozens upon dozens of Nosferatu under his command.
At first glance, the battle appeared to be entirely one-sided, with Seonghoo driving the assault. The reality was quite different.
The woman tried earnestly to shake off the Nosferatu that clung to her like corpses, pressing forward, but Immortal Geunmyeon concentrated all his attention on evasion, reabsorbing his minions the moment they fell.
It was simple enough: Immortal Geunmyeon had suffered no insignificant wound from Seonghoo’s surprise spear throw at the City Wall. He could have dodged it—except that a cursed old sorcerer had scattered a handful of Moonlight Powder moments before, which he inhaled in full. The resulting paralysis of his nervous system made him perceive the attack far too late.
He’d managed emergency treatment by hastily withdrawing the force he’d been using to hold fast to a malevolent spirit he’d intended to absorb later, but he judged that engaging in direct combat in his current condition was unwise.
So he’d relocated to the wider expanse Outside the Fortress while summoning his Nosferatu. It was a two-fold strategy: drain Seonghoo’s strength, buy time to recover from his wounds, and harvest the corpses of fallen Nosferatu to accelerate healing.
The strategy was bearing fruit; the wounds he’d suffered from the initial ambush had scabbed over considerably.
Seonghoo appeared to remain formidable, yet Immortal Geunmyeon didn’t miss the bead of sweat forming on her brow.
‘Just a little longer.’
Once he judged himself sufficiently recovered, he would launch his counteroffensive without hesitation. That moment would be Seonghoo’s death day—of this he was certain.
It was around then that Immortal Geunmyeon sensed the presence rushing toward this location.
‘That one.’
The face was familiar. The figure who carried the scent of Soma—something he’d half-wondered about. Slightly nagging, but skill-wise, nothing to write home about.
‘He didn’t die?’
Though he’d said it was annoying, he’d struck with the intention to kill. That the wretch had survived was mildly surprising, and his current display—tearing through the corpse army with impressive momentum to charge straight at him—was admittedly worthy of some praise.
But that praise ended there.
Seeing the way he bulged his eyes and bared his teeth in rage, Immortal Geunmyeon let out a soft snort. It was like watching a pup charge forward with its tail stiff and raised.
At the same time, however, a deep contempt flickered across his features.
No need to ask. It was obvious—the trembling of his pupils made clear he was rushing forward in fury over a slain comrade.
Common enough. When dealing with emotional insects—beasts and humans alike—one often saw passion spike before death. And then they’d spout predictable drivel about starting now, about unforgivable sins.
Immortal Geunmyeon despised that type most of all.
The gap in power was already overwhelming. A bit of Awakening wouldn’t bridge that divide in a heartbeat. As for Berserk—not worth dignifying. Nothing easier to deal with than an opponent who attacks indiscriminately without thought.
That’s why he found opponents like Seonghoo troublesome. No matter how he provoked her, she never took the bait. She maintained composure throughout the fight, dutifully executing her role—
That’s when Immortal Geunmyeon’s head snapped around in alarm.
A jade-green spear blade grazed sharply past his nose. In the moment his attention had wavered, Seonghoo had pierced through the meat-shield and struck. He nearly lost everything—plan and all—and ice raced down his spine.
‘Damn this woman.’
Immortal Geunmyeon gnashed his teeth and hastily pushed off the ground to retreat. He severed his concentration and refocused entirely on Seonghoo.
He didn’t forget to send half a dozen Nosferatu toward Seol Jihoo. Two would’ve sufficed, but he preferred to be thorough.
The Nosferatu pack, obeying their master’s command, immediately abandoned the battlefield and rushed at their target. And just as they extended their claws and talons toward the fearless pup—
Whoosh!
Their limbs passed straight through. Or rather, passed through was the better phrase.
The claws met no resistance. If anything, only the faintest sensation of a crosswind brushed against them. Rather than spraying blood, the target’s form dispersed like mist, dissolving away.
The six Nosferatu’s expressions went blank in unison. They turned to watch as the figure already bounded far beyond them, their eyes hollow with bewilderment.
After evading through Shape Shifting, Seol Jihoo’s eyes fixed on Immortal Geunmyeon with unwavering intensity.
So far, nothing had exceeded his expectations. But the next step would determine success or failure, leaving no margin for error.
Pop!
The moment he activated the Festina Earring, a familiar gust erupted around him.
In that instant, Seol Jihoo raised his magical power and forcibly pushed back against the wind’s trajectory. As he reversed the swirling current mid-flow, a tremendous backlash erupted outward.
He endures the cacophony and drives his left foot down hard against the earth.
Boom!
Electric current erupts from his sole, racing up his leg in an instant, spreading through his entire body.
But he redirects it with Magic, sealing off its path, then shoves it back violently—and the displaced current rages like a mad thing. Sparks dance across his skin as a tremendous recoil tears through his body.
As shock waves ripple inward and outward, alarm signs begin sprouting everywhere. His flesh swells like a balloon; muscles, veins, and capillaries twist and distend all at once.
As if his entire body might rupture at any moment, Seol Jihoo grits his teeth against the rising cry of pain. He pushes off from the ground once more, launching himself skyward.
Then, in mid-air as he tries to curl his arms and legs inward, a shattering agony flares suddenly—consciousness nearly scattering like leaves.
Using a technique meant to follow its proper course but deliberately Going Against Heaven to multiply its power—of course a backlash must follow. There’s no way around it.
His muscles, compressed to their limit like a wound spring, scream in protest. A single moment of carelessness and he’ll burst like a punctured balloon, scattering in pieces across the air.
Seol Jihoo endures through superhuman willpower, and by sheer force of will manages to bend his trembling, vibrating limbs inward.
‘One by one.’
He draws breath sharply.
The instant he releases the restrained force, unremarkable momentum transforms in a heartbeat. The suffocated Magic erupts again, violent and raw, bristling like thorns, spreading fierce killing intent.
He angles himself toward Immortal Geunmyeon and finally, desperately, throws open the gates he’d been sealing with all his might.
The suppressed wind, the crushed current—both ignite with double radiance and detonate. At the moment both forces meet at the edges of outer and inner limits, Seol Jihoo opens his entire body wide.
The coiled rebound bursts free all at once, slamming hard against both energies that strain to expand.
Crash!
A roar erupts—one that normal movement could never produce. His eyes widen to splitting, and as his spear-bearing arms plunge into a supersonic realm no human body should survive, searing pain engulfs him.
Acceleration upon acceleration, acceleration piled upon acceleration—the absolute extreme of speed.
The target wavers. Immortal Geunmyeon, reflexively turning, catches sight of an afterimage.
His composed expression falters. Seeing the afterimage not stretching into a long tail but instead shrinking rapidly, he narrows his brow.
The afterimage cannot keep pace with the object producing it?
There are two things Immortal Geunmyeon has overlooked.
First: Berserk is indeed an Awakening Ability that heightens combat performance, but it carries no drawback of lost reason.
Second: Seol Jihoo, bearing the experience and knowledge of Future Sense, turned his own fastidious nature to advantage.
Becoming a single flash of light—the moment Immortal Geunmyeon perceives a bolt of Raelektron striking like lightning, horror dawns late across his face.
Level 7 Highlander class ability
Basic Spear Technique – Transcendence
Splurch!
Blood sprays.
Immortal Geunmyeon stares down at his chest, eyes wide with disbelief.
The golden spear-tip protrudes from his left chest, piercing through from the back. In the moment he feels the cold blade pass through his heart—nearly healed until now—his eyes open fully.
“What….”
Immortal Geunmyeon turns his head slowly, his expression utterly lost in confusion.
Then he sees a young man resting his chin lightly on his shoulder, grinning with delight.
“Long time, no see?”
Seol Jihoo wrenches the spear upward roughly, twisting it. Immortal Geunmyeon cries out, arching his back.
“You—.”
Immortal Geunmyeon’s breath catches sharply as recognition finally dawns.
“It’s you.”
His lips tremble as he speaks again.
“You… it was you after all. What the Queen spoke of….”
“Yeah.”
Seol Jihoo pulls away his chin and lifts the corner of his mouth, accepting it plainly. Then his expression hardens suddenly.
“It’s me, you bastard.”
The moment his eyes open wide, Soma’s power erupts brilliantly from Seol Jihoo’s entire body. Force incomparably greater than before flows through the spear-shaft, churning violently through Immortal Geunmyeon’s interior.
Crack, crack-crack-crack!
“Grraaah!”
Blood vessels bulge in Immortal Geunmyeon’s eyes. He grits his teeth and raises his trembling hand. Simultaneously he summons blood-crimson energy to push back the Thunder Energy, but Seol Jihoo matches it, pouring in Magic without relent.
Energy against energy. Only then do the Nosferatu swarm rush in belatedly—yet they cannot touch him. Seol Jihoo’s entire form blazes with such overwhelming Soma power that anything approaching burns pitch-black to ash.
The Magic expenditure is colossal, a technique of profligate cost—yet Seol Jihoo never stops hammering his Magic forward. For this chance, he would scrape the bottom dry and pour every last drop without regret.
“Grraaah!”
Yet Immortal Geunmyeon, mustering every ounce of resistance, twists to seize the spear-shaft even as his face contorts—
Thud!
Another spear strikes ruthlessly, lodging straight through his heart. The jade-green Ice Spear, unlike its golden sister, pierces inward through his chest and erupts from his back.
“Guuurrrgh!”
His reaching hand grasps at empty air.
With a strangled gasp, Immortal Geunmyeon’s gaze locks on the woman in white who has suddenly drawn near. Seonghoo seized the instant when his resistance to her weakened, striking true.
She bears the shock of Seol Jihoo’s sudden appearance upon her features, yet she is no fool to squander such a rare opening.
She sets her left hand’s blade to his chest center and chants—and from Seonghoo’s entire form, emerald radiance surges like a tidal wave. Her Magic pours through the spear-shaft like flowing water, drenching his insides thoroughly.
Thunder Energy and Holy Water.
Among the forces that Soma wielded to hunt demons, these occupied the highest echelon, so their compatibility was exceptional. Like separated lovers reuniting after long years apart, the two energies swiftly intertwined and achieved perfect harmony.
Thus their push and pull lasted only a moment. The instant the dual forces unified, the scale tipped decisively. As golden radiance flowed through the jade luminescence that melted organs, Thunder Energy raged as though it had found its own domain, unleashing a catastrophic infinite discharge.
Crack-crack-crack-crack-crack!
The merged energy thrust violently against the blood-crimson aura that clung like tar, tearing through skin and exploding outward. In the next breath, when golden lightning crackled across every inch of his body, even Immortal Geunmyeon could endure no longer.
His spine arched further back, his helpless arms spreading wide.

Aaaaaaaaahhhhh!
A harrowing scream tore free.
It was that terrible.
“Hmm?”
Ugly Modesty and
“W-what—?”
Vulgar Chastity heard it echoing across the distance, so distant and yet so clear.
They had feared, yet hoped against it. The impossible was unfolding before them.
Immortal Geunmyeon’s essence was being carved away in great chunks. It was inconceivable that one warrior, even Seonghoo alone, could inflict this much damage.
An anomaly had occurred.
One that neither general could ignore—like when the Guide had appeared.
Though a little longer and they might breach the gates, Ugly Modesty abandoned his forces without hesitation and turned away.
Vulgar Chastity did the same. She fixed Seo Yuhee with a level stare, then, turning from her army with equal resolve, unfurled her wings.
It was the wrong choice—they both knew it.
But if Immortal Geunmyeon fell here, even victory in this war would be no victory at all.

Immortal Geunmyeon was utterly overwhelmed. From that first thrust onward, he had been struck as though by a megaton-class tempest riding a tsunami’s crest.
Had he engaged them both in a sound state of mind, he would have held his own at minimum, perhaps even seized the advantage as time passed.
But now such suppositions were meaningless. Underestimating Seol Jihoo out of careless assumption and concentrating all his attention on Seonghoo alone—his blunder had created a situation that could not be undone.
It was not merely that his strategy of killing two birds with one stone had crumbled. He had achieved the opposite: two catastrophes with one stone. He stood in grave peril.
Whoosh!
Unable to hold any longer, Immortal Geunmyeon deployed Mist Form and fled. Seol Jihoo surged in after him immediately, thrusting his spear forward.
Seonghoo was no different. The two of them moved in perfect synchrony, as though by prior arrangement, charging into the mist and tearing through it indiscriminately with their spears.
To have means of attacking mist itself—only one who understood that vampires’ defensive power plummeted drastically while in Mist Form could conceive of such an assault.
“Shrieeeek—!”
Immortal Geunmyeon, his entire body lacerated by the barrage, hastily dispersed his Mist Form.
“Get the heart again—!”
Seol Jihoo bellowed as he pursued relentlessly, and Immortal Geunmyeon desperately clapped his hands over the gaping wound in his chest.
But in the next instant, Immortal Geunmyeon could see the pale blue spearpoint driving toward his face.
Shick!
As the blade plunged deep into his eye socket, blood erupted.
Seol Jihoo withdrew the spear and, wasting not a second, moved again. The heart that Immortal Geunmyeon was desperately shielding went untouched. Instead, with malicious precision—eye sockets, philtrum, solar plexus, even the groin—Seol Jihoo targeted every vital point, stabbing relentlessly.
Immortal Geunmyeon staggered backward precariously, then suddenly clenched his teeth.
“Stop it!”
His fingernails shrieked as they tore through the air. Seol Jihoo, attacking without looking behind, yelped and dropped into a crouch.
“I mean it!”
As Immortal Geunmyeon kicked the crouching Seol Jihoo away, a verdant magical kick came flying simultaneously, as though Seonghoo were furious at whom he dared to strike.
The back of her hand, resting on his chest, was slammed hard—his ribs fractured with a terrible crack, his entire ribcage caving inward under the blow.
“Grraaagh!”
Fresh blood frothed from Immortal Geunmyeon’s mouth as he tumbled across the ground.
When he finally ceased rolling, a crimson carpet of blood spread beneath him across the earth.
“What are you two doing—!”
The moment Immortal Geunmyeon, barely raising himself, turned to search for Nosferatu in outrage,

(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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