The Second Coming of Gluttony - Chapter 179

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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 179. Even If This Life Should End

‘Not yet—’
Bang!
Before the thought could finish, clasped fists came driving down on Indomitable Diligence as it lunged skyward.
The body reacted one step ahead of the mind.
Because he knew.
Like all Legion Commanders, the vampire before him was truly, sickeningly, an undying immortal monster.
Even if breath stopped, there could be no letting guard slip; even if every organ was crushed and ruptured, the assault must not cease.
Not until that peculiar dissolution reaction appeared—the one you could only witness when a Legion Commander died.
And so, just as Seol Jihoo raised both arms with all his strength once more, his vision suddenly jolted violently and spun downward.
Not until he’d rolled across the earth several times did a searing pain strike his back.
His flank grew hot as well.
Corrupted Purity glared at Seol Jihoo with a blackened face, her hair—once long enough to brush the ground—now half-burned away.
She had succeeded in breaking through Seo Yoo-hee’s interference and landing her attack.
“This crazy bitch.”
Seol Jihoo muttered under his breath and reached out. At once, the Ice Spear that lay half-buried in the earth rose of its own accord, spun with a crystalline whine, and settled into his grip.
Corrupted Purity shrieked like phlegm gurgling in a throat and charged in low flight.
A violent wind grazed his ear. The momentum was fierce enough that Seol Jihoo could no longer ignore it.
Perhaps it was time to trust Seo Yoo-hee once more.
Just as hesitation began to creep in—
Clang-clang-clang!
A chain’s metallic screech scraped against his ears.
An arrow shot from the left tore through the air and struck true, embedding itself in her ribs with lethal precision.
Corrupted Purity shrieked and tumbled backward.
Clang-clang-clang, clang-clang-clang!
The chains sang again. Two chain-bound arrows came streaking after her in rapid succession.
Corrupted Purity twisted her body to evade, but the arrows moved as if alive, whipping and writhing to coil around her wings.
In the end, she folded her wings sharply and let out a cry of frustration.
“What’s the Star of Greed doing here?!”
“Damn!”
Vile Humility, having just forced Sung Hu back with a savage onslaught, let out a curse of his own.
Though invisible to the eye, those chain-bound arrows were unmistakable proof that Superbia’s Leader had arrived with reinforcements.
Vile Humility glanced back at the fortress and swiftly grasped the situation: dozens of Valkyries swarmed chaotically around the City Gate.
The Star of Sloth had returned.
Given the grave wounds it had suffered, complete recovery in so short a time seemed impossible, yet it had forced its way back regardless.
And the moment breathing room opened, the Leader had been sent.
The feared scenario had finally unfolded.
When they’d relied solely on overwhelming force, on raw brutality with neither strategy nor tactic, it had seemed manageable enough.
How in the world had it come to this?
That vague unease which had lingered since the assault on the City Gate was now manifesting, piece by piece, as grim reality.
Screeeeeeeeeeeee!
To make matters worse, an abominable shriek suddenly tore through heaven and earth.
It echoed from beyond the Gorge.
More precisely, from where the Nest had been established.
Corrupted Purity’s eyes flew wide.
“The Nest—!”
Command of the superior Nest had been severed. No—the signal itself wasn’t reaching her at all.
It could only mean one thing: it had been destroyed.
Moments later, a cluster of figures emerged above the distant gorge, where black smoke was rising.
Though distance obscured details, the two Legion Commanders who perceived the aura spanning the entire Gorge stood slack-jawed.
“This can’t be…”
Corrupted Purity, now devoid of even the energy to rage, stared blankly ahead.
“Why is the Star of Greed… We were certain he’d left…”
The rigid-faced young man—who had spoken of leaving due to breach of contract—smiled faintly as he looked down upon the battlefield.
“What are you so pleased about?” asked one of his retainers, a woman.
He wiped the smile from his face at once.
“Nothing. Just curious what the Legion Commanders must be thinking right now.”
“Damn it. Even if the Legion Commander is one thing, you could’ve at least given us a heads-up beforehand.”
“To deceive the enemy perfectly, you have to deceive your own side first.”
“If you’re deceiving both, what’s the point? If you were going to help, you should’ve done it from the start. All this does is make people call you an opportunist. At least give some kind of warning—”
“I don’t care. I’m used to being cursed.”
Star of Greed pushed his glasses up, speaking with cutting clarity.
“And if I’d said anything beforehand, I had a feeling the Parasite Queen would’ve found out somehow. Then the Legion Commander would’ve adjusted accordingly, and there’d be no point in the deception at all.”
“There you go again—are you saying there’s actually a human who turned to the Parasite, acting under the Parasite Queen’s orders to deliberately sow discord?”
“There’s no hard proof yet, so it’s just a theory. But I think it’s possible. Otherwise, there’s no way Paradise would be in this much of a mess.”
With that, Star of Greed opened a book.
The woman, who had been grumbling continuously, watched the pages flip through automatically and her eyes widened.
“What—what are you doing? Why here? Wasn’t the whole reason for this chaos to wipe out the Nest completely?”
“That was the plan originally—”
The young man’s penetrating gaze fixed on the battlefield.
“But something better came up. In a good way, I mean.”
The woman’s expression turned puzzled.
“One superior Nest is worth more than nine intermediate ones. And one superior Nest is worth more than… oh, for goodness’ sake. What’s making that person so desperate?”
He clicked his tongue and reached out as if pushing something away with his palm.
At the same moment, Seol Jihoo, who had been charging at Indomitable Diligence, suddenly staggered backward several steps.
An invisible force rushed through like wind, blocking his path.
It felt less like obstruction and more like a gentle push—a signal to wait for now.
The reason became clear soon enough.
Whip-crack! Whip-crack!
Magical Ropes appeared from nowhere and lashed toward Indomitable Diligence as he stubbornly pushed himself up from the ground with his hands.
As they coiled around his body in an instant, a geometric-patterned magic circle streamed down from the sky and released a gush of transparent liquid.
As a result, Indomitable Diligence, who had been completely pinned down, was drenched head to toe in the substance.
Sizzle!
Watching the caustic liquid bore a massive hole into the earth, Seol Jihoo whistled low.
He wasn’t even screaming anymore. His flesh dissolved rapidly like rags, melding together into something grotesque and horrible.
But then, suddenly, light flashed.
Indomitable Diligence’s body was engulfed in brilliant radiance.
His limbs stretched and lengthened, his frame swelling outward as his body mass expanded vastly.
“Ha!”
Seol Jihoo’s eyes sharpened as he perceived the enemy’s transformation.
Indomitable Diligence had grown to over four meters tall, an enormous bulk of flesh and sinew.
His form, scarred and mangled from countless attacks, remained grotesque as before. Yet the very air around him grew heavy.
A suffocating pressure washed over him as if he stood before the gods themselves.
Divine Descent.
The moment Indomitable Diligence unleashed Divine Descent, Corrupted Purity and Vile Humility drooled in shock, and Seol Jihoo let out a small gasp of amazement.
Finally.
Finally, they’d come this far.
He’d only planned to break through one Stage, but thanks to good fortune, he’d reached the final one instead.
Indomitable Diligence’s use of Divine Descent, something normally forbidden to him, carried two major implications.
First, the plan to return to Tigol Fortress, which should be raging in fierce battle by now, was abandoned. He would remain absent from the front lines for some time.
Second, Indomitable Diligence had accepted death as a possibility.
Divine power or not, fundamentally speaking, even a Vampire Lord was nothing more than a mortal.
It would be different if a god directly lent power the way the Highlander received aid from the divine.
Channeling an immortal god’s power through a mortal vessel was impossible from the start.
The Parasite Queen, after much deliberation, had devised two countermeasures.
One enlarged the vessel itself through his species’ Parasitization. The other sealed half of the Divine Power she meant to grant him.
But these were only temporary measures. Normally, he carried half his power sealed within his body, and only released it when facing truly critical battles.
Even so, the unleashed Divine Power carried such tremendous force that even his enlarged frame endured unimaginable backlash.
In other words, Divine Descent in this situation was a clear signal that Indomitable Diligence’s death drew near—his final convulsion.
It was also, in a sense, self-sabotage.
Even at full strength, he’d need a long recovery period afterward. But weathering Divine Descent’s backlash in his current half-dead state?
At minimum, Seol Jihoo wouldn’t see Indomitable Diligence for at least a year or two afterward.
That’s assuming he even survived to come back.
“So it’s die either way, then?” he mused with a edge of mockery.
Yet despite the sarcasm, he understood the sentiment behind that choice made after careful deliberation.
When Indomitable Diligence first entered the Gorge, he probably never imagined resorting to Divine Descent. Even when his chest was pierced, he couldn’t have foreseen things spiraling to this extreme.
Indomitable Diligence calmly raised his fingernails and clawed deeply across his own face.
Eyes materialized from the torn surface, fixing Seol Jihoo with an unwavering stare.
A moment later, he raised his hand lightly, and the prisons of light constraining Nosferatu shattered with a thunderous crash.
It was a truly terrifying display of power, yet blood streamed relentlessly from Indomitable Diligence’s form once more.
How much longer could that body endure?
Not a full day, nor even half—not even one or two hours, he could have sworn it.
Seol Jihoo chuckled, but his grip on the spear never wavered as he watched the Nosferatu rising one by one, remaining vigilant.
Where he’d thrashed like a rabid dog until now, he’d have to pivot to darting evasion, like a squirrel scattering for cover.
The more Indomitable Diligence exerted itself, the faster the maintenance window would burn away.
‘I was truly foolish.’
The moment the thought crossed his mind, a sonorous voice echoed in his ears.
Seol Jihoo’s laughter died.
Indomitable Diligence’s tone was far calmer than expected, and he felt that unsettling gaze piercing straight through his body.
Whether it was his imagination or not, Indomitable Diligence’s eyes seemed to be smiling.
‘Fallen for the provocation without a moment’s thought… Hehehehe.’
A sinister chuckle followed.
‘All of you. Listen.’
Then Indomitable Diligence declared:
‘We withdraw.’
The words came abruptly, so simple yet utterly unforeseen by anyone present.
“What—what did you just say?”
Even Corrupted Purity let out a shrill cry of disbelief.
“Have you lost your mind? You’ve already descended—and now you’re running?”
‘Staying longer would waste time. The objective—was achieved long ago.’
Dozens of Nosferatu, finally unleashed, descended before their commander in a flutter of wings.
Seol Jihoo’s eyes narrowed to slits.
‘All I need to do is retreat. In any case, I leave the rest to you.’
And Indomitable Diligence truly turned, sliding across the earth and beginning to withdraw.
“Damn it—! What on earth are you thinking!?”
When even Vile Humility wordlessly wheeled his mount around, Corrupted Purity burst with fury, unfurling her wings.
“What—what’s going on?”
As the Legion Commanders actually began their retreat, Superbia’s Leader showed visible displeasure.
The Seven Great Legions fleeing with humanity within arm’s reach—it was unheard of, unseen.
Then came a troubling noise from behind.
The army of corpses that had invaded the fortress was now streaming back out.
Medusa and Hydra included.
Indomitable Diligence’s intent was unmistakable: he was sacrificing them to buy precious seconds of escape.
“How—”
The archer spun forward again, his face blank with shock.
Not only the Legion Commanders, but Seol Jihoo and Sung Hu had vanished from sight.
‘That wretched bastard.’
Seol Jihoo was already pursuing with every ounce of strength he possessed.
He watched keenly as Indomitable Diligence and the swarm of Nosferatu disappeared into the gorge.
‘What the hell is he planning?’
Using Future Sense to calculate every possibility, there had been no scenario in which Indomitable Diligence chose retreat from the moment Divine Descent was unleashed.
Evacuation with the Legion Commanders’ aid, without descent—that would be one thing.
But in his current state, it was painfully clear he’d collapse from exhaustion within hours.
Even absorbing all the Nosferatu would be pouring water into a cup with a hole in the bottom.
Of course, if he reached the Parasite Queen, possibilities might open up.
‘But the Queen can’t leave the Corrupted Throne right now.’
The distance from the Gorge to the Empire was no mere day’s journey, and there was no Base of Villainy capable of spatial transfer.
No matter how he turned it over, Seol Jihoo couldn’t fathom Indomitable Diligence’s logic.
Unless he devoured an equal-ranked Legion Commander—
‘Surely not.’
A memory suddenly surfaced.
Future Sense recalled the one time in the past when Internal Strife had broken out between Parasite Legion Commanders.
Yet Seol Jihoo didn’t slow his pace.
There was no guarantee that would happen again, but Indomitable Diligence was one of those Legion Commanders who had to be killed the moment an opening presented itself.
Above all, an inexplicable dread seized him.
He had a strong sense of déjà vu—that somehow, that repellent creature would survive this too.
Yet the distance wasn’t closing as quickly as he’d hoped. In a way, that was inevitable.
Even if he couldn’t use it completely, he was still drawing on that liberated Divine Power to evade.
Then starlight cascaded from the sky, and dozens of magic circles erupted into view all at once.
Seo Yoo-hee and Star of Greed, seeing the situation unfold, sprang into action without delay.
Yet the Legion Commander’s response was just as swift.
Corrupted Purity unleashed the Starlight Requiem, while the spectral mount ridden by Vile Humility impossibly clawed up the cliff face into the sky, swatting down the cascading magic one barrage after another.
Seol Jihoo’s face twisted.
‘Damn it!’
Even amid the chaos, he assessed the situation with cold clarity.
The Extreme Acceleration he’d landed in that first ambush—he couldn’t use it again.
The Festina Earring’s activation count was depleted, but more than that, his body simply couldn’t endure it.
Like an engine that had exploded from overspeeding beyond its limits, his body was coasting on momentum alone.
One more reversal of that counter-Heaven force, and he knew his flesh would tear into a thousand, ten thousand fragments.
Of course, Seol Jihoo had one final trump card he’d been hoarding, but somehow—at this distance—he had a chilling premonition it wouldn’t quite reach.
‘Just once…!’
One chance. That was all he needed. If only someone could create even the briefest opening—!
“I’m going to pour everything I have left into this.”
Suddenly a voice whispered, and he felt a sharp pressure bearing down on his shoulders before springing away.
His instinct snapped his chin back, and he glimpsed Sung Hu soaring through the air in a billowing white coat, fluttering behind her.
She anchored her form mid-flight with astonishing grace, then hurled her arm forward with every ounce of her strength.
It was a spear throw so stable, so beautiful, that Seol Jihoo had never witnessed its equal in dream or waking life.
Shriek!
The jade-green spear shot like a bullet through Nosferatu, aimed at piercing his back—but Indomitable Diligence wrenched his body sideways at the last instant.
By the thinnest of margins, it missed. Yet it was the opening Seol Jihoo had so desperately craved.
Not a fleeting gap. A substantial one.
Then one of the Nosferatu broke formation abruptly.
Seol Jihoo’s eyes went blank.
For clutched limp in that creature’s talons, as it scaled the cliff in clear mockery, was Teresa—helpless and drained.
[A fine tribute for Her Majesty. Do not kill her.]
Indomitable Diligence laughed sharply, braced against the wall to halt his momentum, and steadied his stance.
“You—!”
Sparks of fury blazed from Seol Jihoo’s eyes.
Whether it was a calculated trap or simply exhausting every remaining option, he couldn’t say.
But one thing was undeniable. He’d been caught.
“Plone! The princess—!”
He called out before the words caught in his throat.
He’d momentarily forgotten what Plone had suffered at Indomitable Diligence’s hands.
That was when it happened.
As he forced himself to shift his target, black smoke materialized, cutting swiftly through the air.
Impossible, and yet—he’d seen it multiple times now. It was Plone.
Indomitable Diligence had withdrawn his power to mend the wounds Sung Hu had inflicted, and in that window, she too had finally reclaimed her strength and returned.
Of course Seol Jihoo couldn’t have known any of this, but what mattered was that the fleeting opportunity was alive once more.
The opening Sung Hu had created still held.
From Seol Jihoo’s bared eyes blazed a cool, iridescent light of terrible beauty.
Level 7 Highlander’s Final Battle Secret Art.
Evolution.
In the next instant, Seol Jihoo’s presence evaporated.
His body faded away like mist.
‘…What?’
Indomitable Diligence, now resuming his flight, glanced behind him.
The presence that had been chasing him so relentlessly had vanished as if scrubbed from existence.
‘Did he give up?’
Hoping that was the case, he turned his eyes forward—and his face went slack.
It couldn’t be otherwise.
Because Seol Jihoo’s form was materializing before him like a specter.
Their eyes met. From the spear blade drawn far back, a golden light suffused with dreadful power rose like a pillar.
Level 8 Ghost Spear’s Secret Transmission Ultimate Art.
Spirit Made Steel.
In that infinitesimal moment, setting aside even the shock of being caught, Indomitable Diligence’s mouth fell open in pure dread as he sensed the density of the compressed, re-compressed power bearing down on him.
“Block—!”
The Nosferatu swarm was already converging on their master.
But.
“Enough of this!”
With a roar that shook like a lion’s cry, the spear blade traced a magnificent golden arc as it fell, tearing clean through the vampire’s flesh and bone, finally reaching its target’s crown.
A thrust born of absolute conviction bisected the body vertically, crashing earthward with devastating force.
Boom, boom…!
As the ground erupted in a thunderous explosion, both Legion Commanders felt it unmistakably.
When they spun around in alarm, they saw a golden blade burning with blinding radiance not only cleaving Indomitable Diligence in two, but splitting the very earth asunder.
From the severed edge, a pale luminescence burst forth, instantly washing the world in white.
The singular, unique response that occurs when a being imbued with Divine Power ceases to exist.
Parasite’s First Legion Commander.
The final moment of Indomitable Diligence.

(To be continued in the next episode)

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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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