The Second Coming of Gluttony - Chapter 74

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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 74. Reverse Scale

Everyone stopped in their tracks. Veronica glanced back at the rear.
“Huh?”
“Ah….”
Seol Jihoo’s mouth fell open.
‘The color changed again.’
To be more precise, the cavern’s color had shifted to red the moment they’d tried to enter.
‘Do not approach!’
His throat had gone dry. Regret flashed across his mind. He should have been cautious from the moment he saw yellow. But he’d grown reckless, fixated on the Mystery and acting in haste.
“What’s wrong? Leader?”
“We should turn back.”
“What?”
Veronica’s eyes widened in shock.
“Are you serious? We’ve come this far—you want to just leave?”
Mikhail’s reaction was identical. Seol Jihoo had been about to say he had a bad feeling, but he closed his mouth instead. A simple hunch wouldn’t hold weight. Especially not with an archer.
He needed justification. Grounds that his team could understand and accept. The problem was he couldn’t think of a compelling reason.
“If my suspicions are correct, this is definitely one of the laboratories. It won’t be an easy place to deal with.”
“It doesn’t really look that way to me.”
“Doesn’t even seem like a laboratory.”
He’d half-expected this, but there it was anyway. Immediate objections came flying.
“And even if we’ve seen mutants, they’re not opponents we can’t handle.”
“There might be a higher-order entity overseeing the mutants.”
“I don’t know… with our current strength, I think it’s worth a try.”
“I don’t see it that way.”
“Listen, caution is good and all, but don’t underestimate us. Three of us are on the verge of Level 4, Maria and Cho Hong are close to Upper Tier, and you’re a considerable asset yourself, aren’t you?”
His words weren’t wrong. Truthfully, at this level, an expedition should be feasible. He’d prepared thoroughly just in case, never expecting to retreat like this.
“Hold on. Seol? So what exactly are you saying we should do?”
As the argument threatened to escalate, Cho Hong stepped in to mediate.
“There’s no need to rush. I’d like to return to Haramag and reinforce our numbers first.”
“Reinforce our numbers?”
“Yes. We need at least one Upper Tier member. If word gets out that we’ve uncovered a Mystery, they’ll definitely be interested.”
“That makes no sense!”
Mikhail objected immediately.
“What if someone discovers this place while we’re gone? We’ve already torn it apart—the traces are obvious. You’re telling me to cook rice just to feed it to dogs?”
“It’s only half a day’s journey. There aren’t any other Earthians in the village anyway.”
“That’s something you can’t know for sure. And even if we follow the leader’s plan, there’s still a problem. A Mystery—a Mystery! When an Upper Tier member gets involved, who do you think will get the spotlight?”
“You, Mikhail.”
“After suffering through all this to get here, to watch someone else waltz in and get credit? Leader, please!”
Mikhail stubbornly refused, pleading. That’s not your place to say. Seol Jihoo had to struggle hard to swallow the words rising in his throat.
From observing Samuel, he’d learned that the man never got angry in any situation and always tried to mediate disagreements. But if he actually voiced his true thoughts now, the response would be obvious. It wasn’t as if they hadn’t done anything wrong before.
‘He said he was fine with turning back just moments ago….’
Of course, there was a reason Mikhail’s attitude had shifted. If they hadn’t found anything, that would be different. But now that they had concrete results, which Earthian would simply give up and turn back?
Seol Jihoo clenched his jaw. No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t find a good solution.
‘Should I just go in?’
Not Immediate Escape, not tactical withdrawal. The thought flickered for a moment, but he shook his head firmly. Even a Choice Warning could kill you if you made the wrong call, and the danger of red—a level higher—was unthinkable.
In the end, only one option remained.
“It’s better than dying. No matter how I think about it, the answer is no. We’re turning back.”
To order them as leader.
“No. I’m against it.”
But Veronica spoke as if she’d been waiting for this, and Seol Jihoo closed his eyes. During expeditions and exploration, Heather held similar voting rights.
“I don’t sense any presence inside the cavern. Either there are mutants, or there’s nothing like before—one or the other. Either way, I think we should go. There’s no reason not to.”
Because they’d dealt with mutants relatively easily before, Veronica’s argument carried weight. And in a situation where opinions were divided like this….
“Well, but since the leader is so opposed….”
Veronica, reading the mood carefully, continued hesitantly.
“Let’s put it to a vote. What do you say?”
Another vote. Seol Jihoo looked between Maria and Cho Hong in turn. If both of them supported him, he could at least tie.
“I’ll count the leader as voting to turn back—in favor of retreat. Mikhail and I will vote to proceed—against it.”
Veronica turned her gaze away.
“I’m against it for now.”
It was Gyersal, arms crossed, who spoke first.
“At minimum, we need to check what’s inside. The leader brought us here with High Rank creatures, so if there’s nothing in there, things could get awkward for us.”
“That’s true. It could happen.”
Maria, who had been listening quietly, nodded with an indifferent expression. Seol Jihoo felt his heart drop.
“We should consider the possibility that it won’t work out. So I’m also against it. Please don’t take it the wrong way.”
One vote for, four votes against. The ballot was decided in an instant. As Cho Hong made a clicking sound with her mouth, Seol Jihoo sighed.
A thousand thoughts flashed through his mind. He even felt the temptation to activate the Nine Eyes. But absolutely not—he couldn’t do that. He was already drawing enough attention as it was. If word got out that he possessed a useful innate ability, he couldn’t begin to guess what would happen afterward.
‘I should just not go in.’
That’s what he would say—just as the thought formed,
[You can’t do that.]
A voice slipped through the discouraged Seol Jihoo’s mind.
[Once you’ve joined the Expedition Team, we’re a community whether you like it or not. There are times when you have to do things you don’t want to do, times when you’re forced to bend your will. But if you insist on doing as you please all the way to the end, I can’t think of you as a member of the Expedition Team anymore.]
It was what Samuel had said.
Heather cleared her throat and opened her mouth.
“It’s decided then?”
……
“Leader?”
……
Seol Jihoo remained silent. Cho Hong, scratching at her temples, approached and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Hey.”
“…Cho Hong.”
“We don’t have a choice.”
“But—”
“I know. What you’d prefer. But they don’t know you like I do.”
That much was true. If they’d gone through the Forest of Negation together, they might have thought it through once more.
But Cho Hong was right—there was truly no choice. Just as with life itself, it was too greedy to expect everything to go according to your wishes.
“Don’t worry too much. Whatever happens, your sister will protect you!”
Cho Hong patted his shoulder firmly and declared it with conviction.
Though he muttered his compliance in the end, his face remained rigid. He wasn’t in the mood to smile.

The team, having organized their formation, cautiously entered the cave.
Contrary to their concerns, there was nothing inside. Only another circular chamber emerged. The area was so similar it was virtually identical. The only difference was that the ceiling here was twice as high as the passage they’d come through.
“This is depressing in its own way.”
Mikhail laughed bitterly.
“I really can’t figure out what this place is for. I can’t get my bearings at all.”
Gyersal, too, wore a disappointed expression. Seol Jihoo felt equally bewildered. Everything he could see was tinged crimson, and yet nothing was happening?
“Wait.”
At that moment, Veronica, who had been looking around, bent one knee and fixed her eyes on the ground.
“Here…”
Her eyes narrowed to threads.
“There are traces.”
“What?”
At Veronica’s words, everyone gathered at once.
“Footprints. Human footprints.”
Tap.
“About three or four days old… ah, it’s cold!”
Veronica, who had been following the traces with her eyes, suddenly jerked her head up. Mikhail asked.
“What’s wrong?”
“No…”
The ceiling, too, showed nothing. Veronica, who had tilted her head to gaze up at the dizzying height, lowered her gaze. She tilted her head quizzically and traced her cheek with her fingertips.
“What is this? Where are these water droplets coming from?”
And just as she was about to read the traces on the ground again, her complexion turned rigid. Assimilation Ability. Veronica’s eyes widened as if in realization. That was when—
From the far end of the ceiling, a massive elliptical ash-gray object slowly revealed itself.
Whiiiiiiirrrrrr!
Dozens of tentacles shot forth from the body, spreading out all at once like an umbrella opening. They descended at a terrifying speed, closing the distance in an instant.
In that split second, Maria’s eyes flew open and she hurriedly drew out a Cross, while—
Thud-thud!
Rapid-fire metallic clanging rang out.
It happened in the blink of an eye—the writhing tentacles swept across the entire team all at once.
“Ugh, ahhh!”
As dozens of tentacles, each twice the thickness of a forearm, pressed against the white barrier and squirmed just inches from their faces, Mikhail let out a belated cry of alarm and fell backward on his rear.
Now that the enemy stood revealed, Cho Hong stared vacantly and murmured.
“A Nest… why is it here?”
Her face had gone pale with shock.
“D-damn it all…!”
Maria spat out a curse.
“Nest or whatever, we need to do something, fast…!”
Her whole body trembled, sweat pouring off her in sheets. Mikhail finally gathered himself and struggled to his feet. In desperation he slashed at the tentacles, but they didn’t so much as flinch. Each blow he landed regenerated instantly—the speed far eclipsed anything he’d seen from the Mutants.
“You bastards! I can hack at these tentacles all day and it won’t matter…! You have to hit the body itself…!”
Veronica quickly drew back her bowstring. The arrows she fired embedded themselves in the main body one after another, yet dealt almost no damage.
“Useless!”
Maria, gripping the Cross so hard her hands ached, ground her teeth. The frustration was crushing, as though her chest might burst.
Crack, crack-crack!
“…Ah…!”
The moment fine cracks began spreading across the protective barrier, her expression twisted. She squeezed her eyes shut and gathered every ounce of her strength, desperate to pour more power into it—
“?”
A deafening screech suddenly pierced the air, and the pressure dropped sharply. Cracking one eye open to look around, she spotted Seol Jihoo with his right arm raised to the sky. As he shook out his bag, Spears tumbled forth in a cascade. Seol Jihoo snatched one up, took a few bounding steps, and hurled it with all his might.
Thunk! The Spear shot toward the ceiling and struck the massive body dead-on. Two of them were already embedded—he must have thrown one before. Maria gasped out a breath of relief.
As Javelin Throws rained down in succession, the Nest shrieked as though the cave itself would tear apart. Seol Jihoo grabbed another Spear. The tentacles recoiled like a startled colt. He threw it with speed, but this time the tentacles intercepted it mid-flight. Seol Jihoo clicked his tongue and shouted.
“Everyone! Get out of the cave…!”
His cry didn’t finish. Several tentacles had driven themselves deep into the entrance.
A low rumble filled the space—the shadow cast by the creature grew larger and larger. Every hair on their bodies stood on end.
Boom!
“Ugh!”
“Grrgh!”
The tremendous vibration made the ground itself heave. The team members barely kept their balance, their faces grim. The exit was sealed. They’d pushed too far inward—a fatal mistake.
There was no time to blame Veronica. The ash-gray Nest that filled their vision was incomprehensibly vast. Its height alone exceeded two meters, and its width appeared twice that. As it breathed, the grotesque sight of its body bulging with veins of sickly color, writhing tentacles coiling and uncoiling, made one’s stomach turn.
“This is… a Mid-Tier Nest. Why is a Parasite here?”
“A Mid-Tier Nest? A Parasite?”
At Cho Hong’s muttered words, Seol Jihoo tightened his grip on a Spear and asked.
“A Nest is a type of spiritual entity. This one’s an advanced final-form Medusa—it creates those and then uses them to spawn lower-tier individuals….”
Cho Hong let out a shudder.
“But that’s impossible. I’ve never heard of a Nest having an Assimilation Ability or a Regeneration Ability!”
Her disbelief was written plain across her face as she crumpled forward.
“You fucking bastards! If only you’d listened to him!”
Seol Jihoo cut off her words.
“Enough. Let it go. Not now.”
“We don’t have enough power even if we work together. Do you want us all to die here?”
At the sharp edge in Seol Jihoo’s voice, Cho Hong clenched her jaw.
“…Damn it!”
In the end, she raised the Mace and began to chant. Her frustration was understandable, but blame would accomplish nothing. What mattered was that the way out was blocked, and they had to fight their way through. Seol Jihoo barked out orders.
“Veronica!”
“Y-yes?”
“Keep firing arrows at the main body to divide its attention. Gyersal, you protect Maria—no matter what.”
Even as his jaw tightened, Gyersal stepped forward with Shield raised, positioning himself in front of Maria.
“Cho Hong. Mikhail and I will flank it left and right to harass it.”
“So I seize the opening and destroy the body?”
Quick as a flash, Cho Hong nodded, her Mace glowing white-hot.
“It’ll be tough, but I’ll do it.”
Moments later.
The warriors bolted forward in three directions simultaneously. The moment they burst from the barrier, tentacles descended upon them as if lying in wait.
Whissssh! The tentacles whipped through the air with fearsome speed and edge. They hadn’t even made contact yet, but the shear force stung the skin like knife-wind. One solid block might send them flying, or slam them into the rock wall hard enough to crush bone.
Bang!
Seol Jihoo leaped nimbly aside; the tentacle that missed him tore a long gash in the ground before pausing for an instant. Seizing that moment, Seol Jihoo brought the Spear down in a vicious arc.
Thwack. The heavy, wet sensation of cutting through thick flesh transmitted up his arms. Thanks to the Spear’s quality, the tentacle split cleanly in two. The severed limb thrashed like a lizard’s tail. When Seol Jihoo saw frost slowly spreading across the severed surface, he gripped the Spear tighter.
‘The Nest itself has no abilities at all.’
If he could handle the tentacles, this wasn’t hopeless. If he focused on evasion and methodically whittled them down one by one…!

The moment the thought crossed his mind, he caught sight of tentacles surging down with ridiculous haste—dozens of them. They should have dispersed in three directions, yet more than a dozen came at him regardless. Seol Jihoo pulled himself clear in a burst of speed.
Bang-crash, bang-crash. The explosions deafened him. The ground trembled beneath his feet. Enduring the violent vibrations radiating from all sides, Seol Jihoo spotted a nearby tendril and raised his spear to strike—but it was hopeless. The tentacles poured down through the dust as if to mock his effort. Just as he flinched and began to retreat, the tendrils suddenly froze mid-air.
Quiver-quiver. They hung suspended as though forcibly seized, unable to move an inch. Seol Jihoo realized Maria was holding them for him and immediately thrust his spear, severing three lengths of tentacle in rapid succession. The fewer remained, the lighter the burden—he couldn’t afford to waste this opening. He charged at the remaining mass.
But greed has its price. By binding so many strands at once, Maria’s limit came swiftly. As the tentacles tore free from her hold, Seol Jihoo felt a sickening sensation wrap around his ankle. His vision tilted ninety degrees as a tendril swept across the ground where he’d been standing.
“Ah.”
Crash—Seol Jihoo tumbled across the earth. His arm was instantly coiled tight by another tentacle. Relying purely on instinct, he swung his spear blindly—and miraculously, his left arm came free. But what awaited him as his senses cleared was far worse.
“Aaaaaaah!”
The belated agony of his shattered ankle. And before him, a cluster of tentacles swelling with bulbous intent, lined with gaping mouths. Toward the youth screaming in pain, a torrent of viscous green liquid sprayed forth.
“Lushe Ru Rushria!”
His entire body blazed with pure white light. The liquid, arriving just a heartbeat too late, mysteriously slid away without penetrating his skin, trickling to the ground instead.
Hiss-crack! Where the liquid touched earth, pale smoke billowed up as the ground dissolved. Seol Jihoo’s mouth hung open in shock—then warmth spread through his body like a gentle tide. The pain in his ankle vanished; strength flooded back into him.
He had no time to voice his thanks. The creature, believing itself victorious, found its prey alive once more—and fury made its tentacles strike with renewed ferocity.
The moment he steadied himself, Seol Jihoo retreated in chaos and swept his gaze across the battlefield.
Mikhail was hidden behind the creature’s mass; Cho Hong had fallen back like him, catching her breath. She proved herself a seasoned warrior—more than a dozen severed tentacles lay ruined around her—yet her expression carried something like frustration.
“Haah… haah….”
Maria’s condition was far from well. She gasped like a madwoman, sweat drenching her blonde hair until it dripped water onto the stone.
She had no choice. She’d just cast three spells in succession to protect Seol Jihoo. And then, holding three directions at once, she’d needed to summon nearly ten incantations in mere moments.
“And if you collapse too, what exactly are we supposed to do?!”
When their eyes met, Maria erupted in exasperation. Rationally speaking, Seol Jihoo—a Level 2—was performing admirably. She knew this; she was hardly oblivious to it. What truly provoked her irritation lay elsewhere.
“Why would you force me to exhaust my spells already?! Do something, quickly!”
She’d nearly burned through her prepared incantations, yet the Nest remained intact. Thanks only to Cho Hong’s skill and Seol Jihoo’s efforts, they’d eliminated about a dozen tentacles—but at least thirty remained.
Uuuuh…!
Perhaps frustrated at being thwarted at critical moments, the Nest released a low, ominous sound. Maria flinched. She felt its gaze upon her like a predator’s.
“Block it!”
Cho Hong, reading the danger, cried out. The three warriors charged desperately—but one tentacle slipped through their defense and bore down directly.
“Lus—”
Maria realized she was too slow and dove behind Gyersal. In that same instant, the tentacle suddenly veered from its course.
Whack!
“Aaaagh!”
The curved tendril lashed Veronica’s flank without warning. The archer, focused on supporting Mikhail, shrieked as she was hurled against the wall, leaving a crater in stone.
“Damn it! Veronica!”
Blood spraying from her lips, Veronica crumpled to earth. Mikhail, seeing her fall, cried out and reached toward her—his attention broken. A tendril seized the opening and raked across his back. With a strangled gasp, he crashed to the ground and went dark.
“You stupid bastard!”
Maria shoved Gyersal’s back frantically.
“What are you doing?! Bring them back, now!”
Two fighters down in an instant. But what was truly devastating was—
Crunch, crunch-crunch-crunch!
The tentacles she thought destroyed were stirring once more. Where Cho Hong had smashed them, foam bubbled slowly; where Seol Jihoo had cut, ice chips fell in a fine spray. The regeneration was sluggish, yes—but the implication was unmistakable.
‘We’re finished.’
Even as Seol Jihoo swung his spear, his insides twisted. The battle had become hopeless. Two were down; he and Cho Hong would have to shoulder the full weight. Gyersal remained, but if he joined the fight, Maria would be left undefended.
“I’m done for anyway—get them back, or do you want to die here?!”
When Gyersal stood motionless like a stone monument, Maria kicked him hard in the shin. Only then did he shuffle forward—and suddenly his face turned grim. He raised his shield to the right and hugged the wall, sprinting at full speed.
Maria, chanting desperately, suddenly wore a look of panic. Gyersal vaulted over Veronica. He sprinted past Mikhail without so much as a glance. At full tilt, he bolted behind the Nest and vanished.
‘Whether I die this way or that, I die.’
Watching the situation unfold, he made a ruthlessly pragmatic choice: abandon the team and flee. If he stayed, death was certain—so why not take his chances running?
“You cowardly bastard….”
Maria lacked the strength even to shout. She simply collapsed, shoulders sagging. Cho Hong let out a hollow laugh.
Even Seol Jihoo, dodging attacks while dancing on the knife’s edge between life and death, saw it clearly: Gyersal bolting for the exit alone. Whether the tentacles noticed him or not was irrelevant. All the strength drained from his limbs. You might know the depths of the ocean, but never the heart of a man.
‘He didn’t seem like that sort of person….’
Three remained. Perhaps convinced of its victory, the Nest swayed like a dancer, writhing its tentacles at Seol Jihoo—who it had easily forced to retreat—like some tiresome insect.
Even in despair, Cho Hong’s mind remained sharp. The battle was already lost beyond recovery. Time, too, favored the Nest. There was no path forward now—but what if those incapacitated tentacles regenerated?
“Seol! Pull back! Wait for an opening and get ready for one final strike!”
Cho Hong shouted with sudden intensity, planted her feet, and drove her mace downward.
“What are you—”
Maria’s brow creased. Cho Hong’s lips moved at dizzying speed, murmuring in rapid, unbroken cadence like an incantation.
Then a deep hum began. Her long hair started to rise, strand by strand, lifting against gravity.
Blaze of light!
Radiant brilliance erupted from the ground beneath her feet. A power unprecedented filled the chamber with a resonant hum. Even the Nest, reaching its tendrils toward the fallen Mikhail and Veronica, froze in shock, too startled to continue.
Uuuuh…?
By the time its attention shifted, Cho Hong was already enveloped in brilliant, cascading light. Seol Jihoo, who had obeyed her command and created distance, stared with eyes wide as moons.
“Cho Hong?”
The wavering aura of light transformed into elegant armor of radiance that wrapped around her upper and lower body. A tiara shaped like wings settled upon her brow. From the crown of her head, light cascaded downward, dyeing even the ends of her hair in a beautiful silver that shimmered brilliantly.
Maria’s mouth fell open. A Level 4 Descent ritual—the highest echelon invocation that only those acknowledged by the divine could master among holy warriors.
Valkyrie Skirt.
“A-are you going for mutual destruction!?”
Even as Maria cried out, Cho Hong didn’t respond. She simply gazed down at the nest with those noble, silver eyes like a snowy plain, raising a radiant mace and silver shield.
Maria bit down hard on her lower lip. She wasn’t a fool. She understood all too well why Cho Hong had made this choice.
If that was the case.
“Damn it, damn it!”
Maria yanked open her bag roughly and produced the altar. Conflict flickered across her face, but with trembling hands, she finally placed the cross upon it.
Soon she whispered the words of protection, then knelt solemnly with a grim expression. Slowly she lowered herself and opened her mouth.
“Lushe Ru Rushria!”
The ritual had begun.

(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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