The Second Coming of Gluttony - Chapter 55

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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 55. Cannot, Can (2)

The axe blade came into view. That was all there was.
The moment of impact—a sharp static crackle, then darkness swallowed his sight.
Only his bridge of nose burned with sharp, searing pain. All other sensation vanished.
No metallic ring, no sensation of being cut. As if time itself had been severed.
But it didn’t last.
“…….”
The pain
“…ah.”
came slower than he expected.
‘Ahhhhhhhhh!’
If he could have, he would have screamed until his throat split. But the terrible agony wouldn’t permit even that.
Blood seemed to surge backwards through his veins. Crack—bones splintering, flesh tearing. His shoulders were shredded and ravaged, a stimulus beyond dimension, a pain beyond words.
Worst of all was the devastating truth: both his arms had no sensation at all.
Not that he couldn’t move them—he felt nothing at all, as if they’d never existed. The thought that the impact had torn his arms clean off seized him.
‘I shouldn’t have….’
Regret flooded in too late. A porter should have stayed quiet, should have stayed put. Why did I have to step forward?
‘Am I dead?’
Now that he thought of it, the world around him had gone quiet. Like hearing through water, everything was muffled.
Was his hearing gone, or was he dead? Seol Jihu, grasping at these thoughts, suddenly noticed a gap in his reasoning.
If he were dead, there should be no pain. Yet he could feel it—so how could he be…?
“!”
Consciousness snapped back. His eyes flew open.
The first thing he saw was the enormous axe blade, so close it nearly touched his eyeballs. He could see the edge trembling with perfect clarity.
Both arms, which he’d thought at least shattered, were still attached. His spear shaft, gripped in both hands, met the blade and held back the axe’s advance.
Seol Jihu’s expression went blank. Disbelief at his own action.
His shoulders felt as though they’d split, his grip on the spear threatened to fail and shatter—
Yet one indisputable fact remained: he had held. And he was still holding.
In a moment where one wrong move could mean the annihilation of the entire Expedition Party.
Seol Jihu had successfully defended against the sudden, overwhelming assault.
Hrrr?
It wasn’t over yet. The distance was razor-thin. Surprised by the sudden intrusion, the female Lioneran nonetheless knew this human was not her match. A creature so frail that the slightest pressure would crush it into the ground.
She poured strength into her hands gripping the axe. Just a little more, just a bit more pressure—!
“Ugh…!”
Under the mounting pressure, Seol Jihu let out a groan.
Joy at being alive was short-lived. A cold blade’s edge pressed against his forehead. A thin line of blood trickled down into his eyes. His vision grew red, and resignation began to seep into his mind.
To think he’d held this long was already miraculous. He couldn’t push further. This time, he really would die.
The instant that thought crystallized, despair suddenly convulsed violently in the opposite direction. Like being dragged from an infinite abyss up onto dry land.
‘Why?’
Why give up before even trying? He hadn’t exhausted his full strength yet.
“Guk!”
He seized the spear shaft with both hands and pulled with all his might. His palms stung as if they’d split, but he ignored it. His gaze fixed on the enemy sharpened into something fierce.
The resignation that it was finished transformed into the will that it wasn’t over yet.
The abandonment that he couldn’t push further became the determination to never surrender.
And so the despair that he could not became hope that he could.
Seol Jihu’s eyes, which had grown increasingly dim and unfocused, rekindled their light the moment he rejected all that pessimism.
“Krrr…!”
Drawing a deep breath,
“Gghuuk…!”
he summoned even his most primal strength, pouring every ounce of power and Magical Power from his whole body.
A vast latent strength, the likes of which he’d never felt, surged forth crudely. He gathered every bit of that powerful, searing energy draining away like an ebb tide and concentrated it into his arms. The spear shaft vibrated with an eerie hum.
His face flushed red. His muscles swelled to their limit, his veins bulged as if ready to burst.
Crack!
Seol Jihu, teeth gritted, slowly began to lift both his arms.
In that moment, everyone present could see it clearly. An impossible scene.
Or more precisely,
“Krrrrrrrrrr!”
Seol Jihu’s spear pressed slowly upward against the female Lioneran’s axe.
The blade that had descended toward his face rose above his crown, then gradually lifted toward the sky. The arm gripping the axe trembled visibly—proof that the female Lioneran too was pouring every ounce of her strength into the clash. Yet like someone raising a heavy barbell, slowly but unmistakably, she was being driven backward.
As the unprecedented force intensified by the second, confusion flickered across the Lioneran’s eyes for the first time.
In that fraction of a moment, Seol Jihu’s body swayed.
The reason was simple: the Lioneran could endure no longer and stumbled back a step.
Yes—she retreated. The expedition party stared in disbelief, as did even the Lioneran commander sprawled on the ground, pierced through by lightning.
It was something impossible, a sight that shattered common sense. Against a monster that supposedly surpassed a Level 4 warrior, a Level 1 warrior had not merely held his ground through sheer strength—he had pushed her back.
‘I should thrust now….’
The moment he lost his target, his strength evaporated in an instant. His legs gave way, his broken knees buckled against the earth. Exhaustion seized his entire body. He could barely manage to stay upright.
Watching Seol Jihu’s labored breathing, the Lioneran instinctively raised her axe. She knew she should kill the mage. But the terror she had just tasted screamed that she must kill this human first.
Crack!
In the next instant, a ribbon of lightning blazed down like a lance of pure light, severing the Lioneran’s right arm. The creature dropped her axe and wailed pitifully.
Seol Jihu, who had been staring blankly, suddenly felt a massive palm slap his back.
“Hagh!”
“Good boy! Good, very good!”
When had he arrived? Dylan, usually so composed, was grinning widely and quivering with excitement.
“Ahahaha!”
Then came another sensation—a quick, light touch on his head as someone passed. Cho Hong glanced back at him as she went and burst into delighted laughter.
“Ohohoho!”
Samuel, laughing like a madman, slapped the young man’s shoulder as he rushed past.
‘What—what are these people doing?’
He was already exhausted to death.
“Why do you keep—”
“Uwaaaah!”
Before he could finish asking them to stop, Hugo let out a roar.
“Uwaaaaaaah!”
Bellowing again, Hugo’s face was flooded with an indescribable mixture of excitement, exhilaration, and joy as some overwhelming emotion surged within him.
Seol Jihu stared blankly at Hugo, who seemed to struggle even holding the battle axe but suddenly hefted it with tremendous force—then felt arms wrap around his neck. It was Alex.
“You did it! You really did it!”
Alex cried out in a voice flushed with excitement, looking ready to kiss him.
“Seol created an opening at the cost of his own life.”
Dylan continued, his voice still trembling with excitement.
“There aren’t many left. Sweep them all away!”
Uooooooooo!
Emboldened by Seol Jihu’s feat, the expedition members charged in all directions, burning with fighting spirit.
Soon the Forest of Negation filled with the sound of clashing weapons and the cries of Lionerans.

The battle ended in moments. The outcome had been sealed from the instant the female Lioneran’s ambush failed.
The Lioneran commander had tried to turn the tide by killing the mage and the priest, but Seol Jihu’s unexpected intervention—which she hadn’t even accounted for—was a miscalculation.
Though no one died, the expedition had no time to rest easy. The moment the battle ended, Ian consumed another memorized Motus Stabilitate and had everyone drink an additional Potion.
Only after the post-combat excitement had settled could the party take time to regroup. Hugo, who suffered the worst injuries, had Alex attend to him while she chanted a Holy Incantation, while those with lighter wounds drank Healing Water.
Meanwhile, some gathered the weapons the Lionerans had dropped, while Dylan, Samuel, and Ian exchanged grave words among themselves.
Lionerans, once they establish a territory, rarely abandon it. That these creatures—and a pack including a commander and a female—had appeared in the middle of the Forest of Negation was an event that could not be ignored.
The real problem was that no one could fathom why the pack that dwelt in the Mountain Range, which lay beyond the Forest of Negation, had descended this far.
After a long period of deliberation, Ian spoke quietly.
“It reminds me of the Germanic migrations.”
“Pardon?”
Dylan looked puzzled at the sudden reference to German history. Ian shook his head.
“No, no. It’s only speculation at this point. In any case, I’ll take responsibility for this matter and report it to the Crown.”
There was no sense in dwelling on a problem that couldn’t be solved immediately. With that thought, Ian turned his gaze to Samuel.
“And regarding the expedition—”
“I would like us to continue.”
Samuel spoke as if he had been waiting for the question.
“It must be somewhere nearby. Unless it’s a secret tomb, the odds of it being hidden are low. If we can’t find it within an hour—or even thirty minutes—I’ll stop right away.”
It was less greed for treasure and more a plea tinged with desperation. Ian sighed and looked toward Dylan.
“What do you think?”
Dylan, having collected his thoughts, asked in return:
“How many incantations do we have left?”
“Two. As for Potions, we have enough to get by.”
“Then an hour should be manageable. We’ve dealt with the Lionerans so the threat is gone, and we’ve suffered no casualties. Though Alex lost his Artifact and Seol lost his primary weapon, so our overall strength has diminished somewhat.”
“Huh? That guy?”
“So they say.”
Dylan’s gaze fell on Seol Jihu, who was carefully gathering up shards of broken spear, while Cho Hong did her best to comfort him. The moment Seol Jihu had withdrawn his Magical Power after the battle, the spear shaft had begun to crack violently, then splintered into pieces.
“Well, he took an impact like that.”
Ian, who had been muttering to himself, tilted his head. Something didn’t sit right. If it had snapped clean in half, fine. But shattered so evenly all over? When you thought about it, the whole affair was already absurd—a male single-handedly intercepting a female Lioneran’s assault and overwhelming her, even briefly….
“If that kid hadn’t been there, I’d be dead for sure.”
“I’m—I’m so sorry. We had no idea she’d show up from behind again.”
Samuel apologized frantically, and Ian let out a booming laugh.
“It’s fine. Honestly, I didn’t see the female coming either.”
“You didn’t, sir?”
“The Lioneran sex ratio is overwhelmingly skewed toward males. That’s why females, from birth, are strictly protected by the entire pack. Even if they’re born with formidable natural strength, direct combat participation is extraordinarily rare… Well, in any case.”
Ian stroked his beard and smiled knowingly.
“If you’ll grant me one favor, I’ll vote for continuing the Expedition.”
“A favor, sir?”
Ian lowered his voice and spoke in hushed tones. Samuel nodded with a slight smile.
“Let’s do it. I was thinking the same thing myself.”
“Let’s go.”
The three approached Seol Jihu. As Ian picked up a fallen fragment, a glimmer of interest crossed his eyes.
“Ah. This was an enchanted spear, then?”
Seol Jihu turned around. He kept his expression deliberately neutral, but a hint of despondency showed through.
“Did you buy it from the Neutral Zone? It’s not particularly impressive magic, but it seems to have had a shock-dampening effect… Is that how you managed to hold on?”
In truth, it would be more accurate to say that the spear had collapsed internally, unable to withstand the Magical Power that Seol Jihu had pushed to his absolute limit—a preposterous level that reached mid-upper rank for someone of Level 1. Of course, without knowing that, such a thought was all Ian could muster.
In any case, it was frustrating for Seol Jihu. He’d scraped together the money for the most expensive spear he could afford, only to lose it after wielding it just a handful of times. The effect of the Forest of Negation kept him from showing it, but his disappointment ran deep.
Seol Jihu’s shoulders sagged, and Ian let out a deliberate cough, signaling with his eyes. Samuel stepped forward and patted his back.
“Don’t be so discouraged. I’ve brought two pieces of good news!”
“?”
“First, we’ve decided to continue the Expedition. If my prediction is right, we should find the Tomb soon.”
“I see.”
“There might be a high-quality spear in that Tomb. Or even if there isn’t, no matter—we can sell just a few pieces of Burial Goods and buy you several far better spears!”
Seol Jihu nodded, bewildered. A Porter has no claim to the artifacts recovered during an Expedition. In other words, from his position, it shouldn’t matter whether they continued or turned back. So what made this good news?
“And.”
Samuel picked up the bag lying beside the young man and called over the native. He’d been irritated just moments ago watching how the man kept dumping all his cargo on Seol Jihu. After handing the bag to the two men, Samuel turned around and winked.
Seol Jihu’s face, which had been blank, brightened. He’d understood what Samuel meant by that gesture.
“Really?”
“Of course! I, Ian, and Dylan all agreed. Besides, if we don’t recognize a hero who stopped a female Lioneran as an Expedition Party member, who would we recognize?”
It wasn’t flattery—he meant every word. What Seol Jihu had accomplished was something even a Level 3 Grace would struggle to do.
“Brace yourself.”
Samuel, linking arms with Seol Jihu, laughed playfully.
“I’ll hold my tongue while we’re still in the Expedition, but the moment we leave the Forest of Negation, you’ll be bombarded with questions. There’s no end to what people want to know.”
Such things were of no consequence. For now, what mattered was that he’d finally been recognized as a member of the Expedition Party he’d so desperately wanted to join. Of course, he couldn’t let that joy show. They were still in the Forest of Negation, after all.
A short while later, after Samuel announced that a Level 1 warrior had newly joined the Expedition Party, he reorganized the formation. Little had changed—only Seol Jihu’s position had shifted to the left, beside Cho Hong.
With preparations complete, the Expedition Party resumed their march.
About twenty minutes later, true to his word, Samuel discovered what appeared to be a Tomb.

(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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