Chapter 224
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 224
Chapter Title: The Glutton Archduke's Fall
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The crocodile thrashed its limbs desperately to escape the Tower of Babel's top-tier authority.
“Guhk! Why do you have a power like that!?”
“I lent it out to my girlfriend for a bit. Now I’ve taken it back.”
Ju Gonghyeok mocked the bait-biting crocodile with a cynical glare.
“Your hide withstood Heinrich’s destruction for a full minute, huh? Let’s see how long it lasts against Selection.”
“I never said anything like that!”
“Nah. I heard it plenty every time we met.”
Thud!
Ju Gonghyeok slammed Selection into the crocodile’s forehead.
[Selection activated – Target: Gluttony Archduke Ammut.]
“Gaaagagagagaga!”
A torrent of blood exploded from Ammut’s maw.
Its prized white hide remained intact, but its tongue and internal organs were shredded to pieces.
“Now, what should I select next? Round two.”
The crocodile, spewing bloody froth, let out a screech that wasn’t even a scream.
Bodily fluids leaked from its entire body, and its eyeballs bulged from its slippery hide.
Selection again.
Its hide and muscles separated from within Ammut’s body.
Splat!
One kick, and the bones protruded massively over the hide.
But thanks to that boasted invincible hide, they couldn’t break through.
“Lasted three rounds, huh. You could brag about that. Heinrich would’ve popped like a balloon from one hit.”
“Grk, krrrk…….”
The area was a sea of blood from the guts and fluids Ammut spewed everywhere.
The Gluttony Archduke Ammut convulsed, vomiting filth-mixed bloody foam, then went still, fully a corpse.
“Whew! Took more time than I thought.”
Seeing Ju Gonghyeok, drenched in dark red blood and grinning refreshingly, the Celestial Knights’ morale crumbled.
“W-what do we do now?”
“We’re already way behind schedule. We should’ve entered the 88th floor five minutes ago…….”
Nathaniel grabbed Ju Gonghyeok’s shoulder and took to the air.
“Let’s hurry! We don’t know when it’ll give!”
“Aaah~ Too many errors. Gonna take at least twenty minutes.”
As Nathaniel flapped closer, Gigalo Machina’s lens glowed red from resource starvation.
[Observation. Core defense forces annihilated.]
[Giga-Deus class demon - Gluttony Archduke Ammut destroyed.]
[In event of enemy hack, Highest Administrator Heinrich’s order ‘88th floor breach - exterminate Demon King Bel Marduk’ impossible.]
[Emergency response protocol initiated.]
Shing!
Gigalo Machina’s chest opened, instantly assembling the most suitable weapons for the situation.
[1st-class combat weapon – Photon-Phase Shift Forcefield Generator]
[1st-class control tool – Dimensio-class Phase Space Distortion Field]
[Maximum output deployed. Range fine-tuned.]
The description was long, but the photon transmission was brief.
Nathaniel blinked at the antenna (Photon-Phase Shift Forcefield Generator) protruding from Gigalo Machina’s chest in an instant.
“Huh, what’s that?”
“Photon-Phase Shift Forcefield Generator and Dimensio-class Phase Space Distortion Field.”
“What the hell is…… Kyaaack!?”
Blinding sparks flew from the antenna, and a glowing forcefield net crushed Nathaniel.
“It means all of space is gonna crush us.”
Ju Gonghyeok muttered as if he’d predicted it, under the immense pressure from repeated spatial compressions.
Boom!
Ju Gonghyeok slammed into the floor alongside the others and quipped good-naturedly.
“No matter how much I like it, getting stuck this gooey isn’t my thing, right?”
“Shut up with the bullshit and act like usual—get excited that our chests are touching.”
“Skinship forced on me like this isn’t my taste.”
“You’re trash who only likes taking the lead in perverted shit.”
“Yep.”
Ju Gonghyeok grabbed Nathaniel’s hand, who was on his back.
“Get in for now.”
Nathaniel’s materialization unraveled, slipping into Ju Gonghyeok’s clothes.
“Urkghgh!”
“I-I’m gonna die…….”
Groans echoed from all sides.
The surviving Celestial Knights were all plastered flat to the floor.
The ground was completely pulverized, cracked everywhere, yet bizarrely holding.
‘Figures.’
This level of pressure should’ve collapsed the floor ages ago.
Ju Gonghyeok gripped his knees and rose slowly, grasping the metal tube connected to Gigalo Machina.
Gigalo Machina reacted sensitively.
[Hostile organism, contact with connection tube 5954.]
[Hack attempt risk. Disconnect connection tube.]
Bang!
The metal tube detached from Gigalo Machina, losing form and crushing instantly.
Gigalo Machina was fine-tuning to prevent damage to the floor and tubes while maintaining connection to the Dimensional Deity.
Ju Gonghyeok felt his legs would shatter under the pressure but pressed forward.
Bang! Bang!
But every time Ju Gonghyeok touched a metal tube, it spewed lubricant and snapped.
As time passed, the churning space mixed his brain into mush, nausea rising.
“Quit playing dirty.”
Ju Gonghyeok glared up at the sparkling Gigalo Machina amid deadly sparks.
“Blinding. You little fucker.”
Sparks danced between Ju Gonghyeok’s fingers too.
[『Thunder God Zeus(SS++)』 manifests!]
[Ultimate ability 「Astrafe」 activated!]
Sparks from his fingers split into thousands, tens of thousands of strands.
Ultralow-temperature plasma filled the churning space, engulfing the metal tubes and Gigalo Machina.
[Warning! Hostile entity attack!]
[Not a thermal attack…….]
Ju Gonghyeok wasn’t aiming for a simple attack.
The plasma was oddly modulated, transmitting data to the metal tube.
[『Game Master(?)』-『Destruction Deity Vulcanus(SS+)』.]
[Tri-God Synthesis.]
[「Cyber Hacking Bluetooth」- Wired didn’t work? Wireless will.]
Vaccine data was injecting into Gigalo Machina’s circuits.
[Hack detected! Firewall reinforcement! Immediate response!]
As GM’s hack progressed, the spatial distortion eased.
Ju Gonghyeok shook out his hair lightly.
“Fuck. Bluetooth stings a bit, huh? Too late, asshole.”
- Ready!
Crack—
A spatial rift, seen ad nauseam today, tore from Gonghyuk’s hand.
[Archangel authority -『Selection』 activated!]
[Target - Integrated Deity Gigalo Machina internal circuits.]
[Selecting and separating magical bindings inside and outside the Deity.]
Beep—!
[Kingmaker Cluster fabrication – Applying 415th magic countermeasure patch.]
[Per Highest Administrator (Gigalo Machina) command, halting all activity to begin virus removal.]
With the vaccine applied to the system, Gigalo Machina shut down completely.
As the main system crashed and the 88th floor gate began closing, the Dimensional Deity’s massive arm moved.
[Per Highest Administrator (Heinrich) command, proceeding to 88th floor.]
Conflicting orders.
The head slumbered from the patch, but the arm awoke, trying to enter the 88th floor gate.
Grind!
The gate tried to close, but the Dimensional Deity’s palm caught it.
Normally, dimensional severance would slice it off, but the Dimensional Deity was tough too.
“Ah, looks like it’s mostly sorted.”
Hijack complete.
The Dimensional Deity would soon escape Heinrich’s influence.
Now just wait for Gigalo Machina to reboot normally.
Clang—! Ting—!
Sounds of battle echoed from the gate linked to the 88th floor.
“Guess it’s started.”
Bel Marduk versus Heinrich.
The Demon King and the Four Heavenly Kings’ fight had begun.
‘The betrayal came quicker than expected, but it’s not all bad.’
In the end, a civil war where they beat each other.
Demon King or Heinrich—whichever died was a win.
Even if Heinrich used the Dimensional Deity and Thousand Deities to sweep the challengers, the Archangels here would join and make it even.
‘The moment the Dimensional Deity completes, Bel Marduk is done.’
And the instant it’s stolen, Heinrich’s fate is sealed.
“GM, load the anti-Heinrich setup.”
[37 minutes until virus removal and reboot.]
[Inputting anti-Heinrich combat settings.]
[Dimensional Deity scheduled to shift from Bel Marduk extermination setup to Heinrich extermination setup.]
Future human or Heinrich—didn’t matter.
It was only a matter of time.
“Tell whichever comes first to hurry up and die.”
The Machina Clan’s complete liberation.
The absolute ally, Dimensional Deity.
The finale of this long tale was finally approaching.
“Just a matter of time now.”
Ju Gonghyeok prepared to face Demon King Bel Hydra.
* * *
The Dimensional Deity’s shattered fragments vanished into the void.
Watching it plunge a finger into its own chest, the Dragon God muttered.
“That thing breaks too, huh.”
The Dragon God approached the shield’s edge, raising his crescent blade.
The Godkin shouted at the Dragon God.
“Yahuhan! What are you doing!?”
“Cutting.”
The Dragon God pulled back his crescent blade.
At the stance to slice the shield, the beastkin protected by the void’s swirling currents panicked.
“Stop! Dragon God! What if something’s out there!?”
“Hold steady, O Head of Dragons!”
The Godkin hurriedly grabbed the Dragon God’s shoulder.
“What the hell are you planning to do out there!? It’s dangerous!”
“I must cut that thing.”
The Dragon God gripped his crescent blade tightly, staring at the Dimensional Deity.
“Cut that, and nothing in the world will be beyond my blade.”
“Stop.”
The belatedly arrived Archangel Sandalphon seized the Dragon God’s crescent blade.
“Challenger. If you recklessly leave the shield…….”
“Don’t interfere.”
The crescent blade’s sharp aura peeled back Sandalphon’s skin.
Even without swinging, his palm shredded, Sandalphon groaned and released the blade.
The Godkin retreated from that eerie energy too.
“I’m going there.”
The Dragon God’s crescent blade sliced through the angelic shield like tofu.
The void’s currents surged like waves, swallowing the Dragon God.
“Yahuhan!”
The Godkin wailed in despair.
Before fully surrendering to the void.
Head of Dragons. Yahuhan turned to his kin with emotionless eyes.
“This place… is boring.”
The beastkin sighed at the sight of the Dragon God buried in the void.
Ju Gonghyeok aside, no other challengers had ever experienced this unknown space.
Fear was natural.
In a way, even the Dragon God, who dove into the void bare-handed, felt the same.
Unlike Ju Gonghyeok, the Dragon God knew no countermeasures for the void.
‘My mind feels pierced by darkness.’
Perception crumbled, vision vanished.
Consciousness flickered, terror of his existence dissolving like sand overwhelming him.
The Dragon God barely clung to his sanity.
To maintain existence, he reminded himself what he was.
* * *
Before the name Dragon God attached, Yahuhan was called a genius.
A genius born once every millennium.
Outstanding even among the elite dragonkin, unrivaled among his peers.
At twenty, following his mother’s advice, Yahuhan sought out the tribe’s strongest elders.
‘Dragon Tribe’s Twelve True Heirs.’
Warriors called the twelve sons of the Ancestral Dragon God, inheriting his ultimate arts.
The Head of Dragons seat was vacant, but each was a famed warrior on the plains.
His first opponent was Claw of the Dragon.
‘Long son of Dragon Witch Amir. Yahuhan, come to inherit the Dragon God’s true heir.’
“Little punk’s got spirit.”
The Claw of the Dragon, chuckling as he raised his spear, had it and both arms broken in one strike.
Whisker of the Dragon, Heart of the Dragon, Horn of the Dragon, Scale of the Dragon……
Yahuhan sought out and defeated each true heir training in the tribe’s depths.
In merely half a year, he toppled them all and inherited their techniques.
In truth, Yahuhan knew the outcomes before fighting.
It was like instinct.
‘Weak.’
‘Pathetic.’
‘I’m different from them.’
The Dragon Witch and his mother, Amir, said.
‘I knew it too. You were born with very special blood.’
As she passed the final technique, she smiled in satisfaction.
‘My son Yahuhan, you are the true successor of the Dragon God and heaven’s rightful inheritor. When you come of age, you’ll ascend to the great warriors’ heaven, join wills with the Ancestral Gods, achieve all heaven’s glory and a warrior’s every honor. Only you are worthy.’
Yahuhan nodded silently.