Chapter 461: Greed
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 461: Greed
“A god…”
“Puhahahaha. What bullshit.”
The absurdity of it made me laugh.
[Weapon Integration]
[Mode - Levatain - Sword of the Enraged Surtr.]
[Through the effect of Weapon Integration, the user gains the fire attribute. Forms horns of undying flame born from rage.
Grants perfect resistance to fire. Dramatically increases fire-attribute attack power. Allows the user to convert the emotion of rage into flames. Grants control over fire and heat without consuming mana. Consume all mana to generate a flame of ruin capable of incinerating the world. Consume all emotion to summon an undying flame of rage.]
Mode Levatain. In a way, I suppose I could have looked like a god. My entire body was wreathed in fire, and the horns of flame sprouting from my head could certainly be seen as divine. To be more specific, no one could argue if they called me a god of fire.
“O-Our Savior…”
“That… that’s…”
The people on the ground below were all staring at me blankly. Jane was offering a prayer, while others just stared with vacant eyes. Of course, Ann and the others were among them. They seemed confused by my appearance and aura, which had changed from before. Compared to my form when integrated with Dainsleif, this one certainly looked more divine, more sacred. I could understand their expressions.
—It’s too soon to compare me to that crazy bitch!
I gave a slight nod to the voice I heard. Perhaps influenced by the atmosphere, Ann also muttered as she looked at me.
“Savior…”
“Pfft.”
They probably couldn’t hear it, but a laugh escaped me. To the people below, I might as well be their savior. It wasn’t for some grand cause, but in the end, I had helped them, so I couldn’t deny it. Still, I had never imagined they would react like this.
I immediately turned my gaze to the grotesque monster before me.
Its appearance was utterly foul. Thousands of glistening eyeballs, a long tongue lolling out of a bizarre mouth, drool constantly dripping from it to the ground below. It was no longer in a state that could be called human. Anyone could see that the woman had been completely consumed by her emotions.
She had failed to control the emotion of greed and had been devoured by it. I had seen many others who wielded the power of the Seats, but this was a first. That thing could no longer even be called a person. It probably had no awareness of what it was thinking, what it was fighting for, or why it was even here.
All I could feel from it was the primal emotion of refusing to have what was its taken away.
“I told you we’d meet again. It seems you don’t remember who I am.”
“You… Youuuu!!!!”
“Pfft.”
“Do you even know what you look like right now? You stupid bitch. You’ve been completely consumed by your emotions.”
“You dog-like vermin!! You… you filthy monster!! How dare you speak to me!”
“Look down, you moron. I think you know better than anyone who looks like the monster here.”
Thousands of eyeballs glared at me. It should have been chilling, but I found it rather enjoyable. It had been a while since my last fight. A fight to test how much stronger I’d become, to see how much I’d accomplished.
“Sh-shut up! Before I… rip out your tongue, sh-shut that mouth right now. I… I… I knew it! I knew you’d c-c-come! I knew you’d b-be here! I knew you’d c-come to take what’s m-mine! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!”
“Seems you’ve forgotten muttering about a god.”
More drool spewed from its grotesque mouth.
“Sh-shut up! That… that mouth! Shut it!!! You… you’re not a god…”
With a desperate shriek, a heavy fist came flying through the air. The sheer wind pressure told me how much power was behind it. It was a crude method of compensating for a lack of true power with sheer size and mass. The force behind it was probably comparable to Goff’s in his prime, but this fist was completely different from the one I’d fought back then.
In the first place, it was a punch thrown without any form. Even if she had suddenly gained power, our accumulated experience was on different levels. I began to feel sorry for even momentarily comparing Goff to this monster.
Setting aside the time they’d spent throwing punches, Goff’s fists back then hadn’t been this light. I remembered his fists weren’t so ugly, swung only out of a desperate fear of losing what he had. In fact, it was the opposite. I slowly bared my fangs.
“That hurt.”
His punches back then had hurt quite a bit.
KRA-KOOOOM!!!
The massive fist collided with a giant hand of fire.
A deafening roar echoed, and the shockwave tore through the air, spreading in all directions. The wind pressure caused the flames to whip about, but there was no damage. On the contrary, it was the grotesque monster that seemed to be in agony.
“Aaaaaaaarrrrggghhh!!!”
Clutching the hand that was now caught in my fiery grip, it screamed. The scene was like the climax of a fantasy movie. Without moving a single step, I quietly raised the corners of my mouth.
“Moron.”
“You… you thief… I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!!”
It swung its other massive fist, but a great wall of flame materialized in the air, refusing to let her enter my domain. The moment the grotesque monster’s fist struck the wall of fire, another tremendous scream echoed.
“Lost the ability to learn, have you?”
“Aaaarrrggghhh!”
The gap between us was too vast to even call this a test. I swung my arm once more, and a torrent of fire engulfed the giant monster.
“Kneel.”
Perhaps due to the pressure of the mana-infused flames, the monster’s knees immediately slammed into the ground. With a crunching sound, the earth around it was thrown into the air. I extended my hand with an indifferent expression, and chains of fire began to wrap around its entire body. Naturally, its resistance was fierce.
“Let gooooooo!”
But it was a meaningless gesture.
It screamed, constantly clawing at its own body to tear off the fiery chains, but they had already taken hold, tightening around its body and burning it. Soon, the only sound in the now-silent arena was her continuous, unending scream.
FWOOOOSH!
The sight of the massive flames roaring as they slowly incinerated the monster’s body was, in truth, surreal.
“Aaaarrrggghhh!”
But it was also an enjoyable sight.
“Levatain.”
—Yes, darling.
The Sword of the Enraged Surtr, Levatain. A colossal sword of fire began to form in the air, the flames rapidly converging on a single point, swelling in size. It was a beautiful sight. It looked like something out of a myth, or perhaps like a special effect from a movie. I wasn’t particularly talented at sculpting, but a giant sword was clearly taking shape in the air.
The sword continued to grow, and in an instant, it was large enough to swallow the monster whole, looking down upon its enemy.
“I’ll never let you take it… Never! Never!!”
“Same here.”
“……”
“You fucking idiot.”
“I… I was chosen!!”
“Of course. You were chosen.”
“I’ll never… I’ll never give up! I’ll protect everything!”
“Things don’t work the way you want them to. If it were that easy, you wouldn’t have ended up like this.”
I had never once thought of myself as chosen. Not in my past life, and not now. Not when I found out that Choi Seulgi and I had returned, not when I watched myself grow stronger and stronger, and not when I climbed higher with the help of so many others. I had never, not once, thought I was chosen.
‘Idiot.’
One might think I had low self-esteem, but it was that lack of absolute confidence that had always been my driving force. I was beginning to understand, just a little, why Maria hadn’t grown as much as the others, why her unique ability was a world of dreams.
I slowly swiped my hand downwards.
And then…
Following my hand’s motion, the colossal sword of fire fell directly upon her.
FWOOOOSSSSHHH.
“No… way…”
“What is that…”
“Our Savior…”
“……”
A sword of fire, descending upon the monster. It would have been strange if the audience watching this stage didn’t react. The sword, carrying an immense amount of mana, began to emit a strange roar as it fell. The fiery blade, which had been slowly picking up speed, suddenly shot forward as if exploding, sucked into the chained monster.
KRA-KRA-KRA-CRACK!!
“Aaaaaaaarrrrggghhh!!!! It’s hot! H-Hot!!!”
The emotions that maintained the monster’s form were also affected. Cracks began to spread across the monstrous shell encasing Maria Trump. The thousands of eyes, the giant arms and legs, the grotesque mouth—they all lost their power in an instant and faded away.
FWOOOOSSSSHHH!!!
“Kyaaaaaaah! H-Help me… S-Save… save me…”
The sight of the monster burning and writhing in agony wasn’t entirely pleasant. Yet, everyone there watched the scene as if entranced.
As the shell of greed crumbled and fell away, what was revealed inside was the face and form of Maria Trump herself. She kept trying to pick up the pieces that were falling off, but of course, she couldn’t. I let out a dry laugh at her movements, as if she was trying to protect the body of the greed-eaten monster as if it, too, were her own.
The monster with a thousand eyes was no longer here.
Instead, standing in the same spot was a naked Maria Trump, looking around her surroundings.
It felt as if she had lost her immense power in an instant. Separating them before their sync became perfect had been effective.
“Ah… uh…”
“……”
“Ah…”
As I slowly descended to the ground, I could feel their gazes on me. Jane and the others were truly looking at me with dazed eyes. The moment my feet touched the ground, Jane slowly bowed her head and knelt. It was the highest form of respect she could offer.
A few others, not understanding the situation, also began to bow their heads. Of course, they weren’t doing it because they truly thought I was a god. It was simple reverence for strength. The expressions on some of the humans’ faces were clearly of that kind.
I thought that if the Kim Taesung of my past life had been here, he might have reacted the same way. The power I had just displayed was that absurd. That sword had been forged from a portion of the very rage these people had felt toward their incompetent and corrupt leader. It was no wonder they were reacting this way.
“Our Savior…”
“……”
The very people who had once followed her were now bowing their heads to me. Watching this, Maria continued to look around with a pale face.
“Ah… uh… ah…”