Chapter 118
Translator: uly
Chapter: 118
Chapter Title: The Gluttonous Intruder
"Damn... Artemis...!"
Crack.
Black fragments fell from his cracked body here and there.
Since it was the body of a constellation, comparing it to human organs spilling out wasn't far off.
In pain that would make anyone pass out on the spot, Baalzebub steadied himself with bloodshot eyes.
Truly, no matter how he thought about it, it was an utterly unreasonable power.
How could a single arrow reduce a constellation to near death like this?
"Huff. Huff."
If it were a normal wound, it would have healed by now, but Baalzebub's injuries showed no sign of improvement no matter how much time passed.
On the contrary, his mind was clearer than ever, and the reason was the arrow shot by Artemis—the Full Moon's power.
The brutal judgment of the moon that destroyed from within.
However, when creating the Full Moon back then, another constellation who had helped from the sidelines had infused it with the Blessing of Moonlight, saying it couldn't take a life. As a result, an absurd arrow was born that regenerated the internals destroyed by the Moon's Judgment with the power of the blessing.
Crunch.
"Cough!"
But that constellation probably hadn't realized it back then.
That death would have been a sanctuary for them instead.
An endless cycle of regeneration and destruction until the arrow's power faded.
Because of the regenerative power, neither death nor even unconsciousness was allowed, explaining why Baalzebub was still holding on like that.
Yes, Baalzebub wasn't enduring out of his own will.
The arrow's blessing was forcibly anchoring his mind.
"Bu, but where is this?"
Baalzebub, who had been immediately expelled from the territory upon taking the Full Moon hit, now checked his exact location.
He should have returned to his own territory, but the unexpectedly vicious pain of the Full Moon had eaten away at his mind, leading to an unintended crash landing.
'A beautiful place...'
And this place, whose constellation's territory it was, shocked Baalzebub in multiple ways.
Golden fruits hanging plump from trees brimming with vitality.
Majestic fish leaping vigorously through the river currents.
Mushrooms glowing with iridescent lights and other items radiating extraordinary auras!
Baalzebub instantly recognized that each one was an incredible spiritual medicine.
What constellation possessed such high-quality spiritual medicines in abundance?
Gulp.
Ah, how cruel.
To have this feast of delicacies before him and force [Gluttony] to stay still!
"...I'm hungry."
But wasn't there something wrong with this line of thinking?
The pain and stress from the Full Moon, combined with Gluttony's brief restraint, began twisting Baalzebub's decisions.
And as a result, in just 10 seconds, Baalzebub revoked his previous choice.
'If there's something I want to eat, I eat it, no matter what it is. Refusing that is basically denying Gluttony outright.'
"And who told them to display these spiritual medicines so openly? This is all the fault of the constellation who owns this place."
Before food, reason fades and instincts rage with impulse.
And that impulse intensifies even more with delicious food in front.
"My mouth... My mouth isn't enough."
The impulse Baalzebub felt now was among the top three he'd ever experienced.
Crack.
Baalzebub began creating countless mouths on his body.
This reflected his personal belief that when eating, mouths should fill completely and sample various foods at once.
How many would he need to devour all the food in this territory?
Baalzebub grinned widely at this happy dilemma, creating mouths on his cheeks, neck, backs of hands, shoulders, and more.
Gurgle.
But creating mouths consumed energy, so midway through, Baalzebub started feeling intense hunger pains.
Having already forgotten the Full Moon's agony in his focus on the food before him, Baalzebub used all his mouths to...
Chomp. Crunch crunch.
...devour someone else's possessions.
'Delicious! Delicious! Delicious!'
All the mouths on his body moved ceaselessly, consuming the food.
And what he felt was one thing alone.
Exquisite taste.
Every part of his body rejoiced.
He hoped this joyful time would last forever.
These were so supremely delicious that he seriously considered turning his back on Pandemonium if he could just keep eating them.
Crunch. Chomp.
But no pleasure lasts forever.
Even joyful times must end.
Regrettably for Baalzebub, that moment came sooner than expected.
The owner of this territory had discovered Baalzebub.
Munch. Crunch. Chew chew.
But even with the owner arriving, Baalzebub's mouths didn't stop.
No, he didn't even turn his head.
His eyes, hands, and mouths had been fixed solely on the food from start to finish.
What kind of obsessive gluttony was this?
He should stop immediately and apologize, yet he kept stealing and eating.
No, ignoring the owner entirely!
"Baangjebeong."
"Geuring di-dab mit-hal-ten-deung."
Even answering the question was mere courtesy to the owner who had prepared such fine food.
Stuffing new food in before swallowing what was already there meant the answer the owner wanted would come after devouring everything here.
Every one he met was extremely self-centered.
But this territory's owner had already encountered a similar constellation, so he knew how to deal with them.
Thud.
Creatures like this never listened to words alone.
So, he had no choice but to crush them with force and make them understand.
That was the answer from the lord of paradise.
The constellation called [Black Despair].
"Kek. Kuek."
I looked at the intruder writhing on the ground in inexplicable agony, then surveyed my Paradise MK-2 that I had created.
From Amrita to golden ginseng, rainbow mushrooms, and various other spiritual medicines—they were all gone.
And unbelievably, this guy had eaten the dirt too.
The ground over there was gouged out in bite marks.
"Kuaaaak."
No, don't vomit—answer me.
Having just witnessed him spewing black fragments from his mouth, I seriously pondered how to deal with this.
'Should I just dump him on Aphrodite?'
She'd get mad if she heard, yelling why drop a bomb on her, but this was a rationally reached conclusion.
Look, I haven't been here long, right?
Of course, lately unique ones like Aphrodite and Freyja had visited, letting me meet a few constellations, but among them, the only one I could ask for this kind of... favor was Aphrodite.
Just as the plan to offload him to Aphrodite was solidifying...
The constellation, who had been sprawled vomiting on the ground, suddenly began splitting his body.
'Not for nothing did I call him a worm.'
This guy had been made of bugs from the first moment I spotted him, and even now.
Of course, that wasn't the main body—just some kind of bug-based clone or avatar.
Ah, but since it had personality and moved independently, maybe avatar or puppet is more accurate than clone?
Crunch.
"Kuheeeok! Sp, spare."
In that brief moment, I applied force to the core of the guy trying to split into hundreds and flee.
The core presumed to be the full bug.
Of course, that wouldn't let him speak properly, so I forcibly recombined it into a body.
Precisely, something small embedded in his core.
Where did I feel this before...?
'It's the same power as that Divine Archer climber used.'
The same power as the Divine Archer.
That means...
This guy in front of me was the Divine Archer's contracted constellation, Artemis.
"A, Artemi...ss?"
If it had been Artemis, I was willing to overlook her earlier mistake since she'd helped me.
As I looked down coldly with that in mind, the guy suddenly broke into a cold sweat, forcing a strained smile as if enduring great pain.
"Y-Yes! I, I'm Ar... guk... temis."
See? My guess was right.
...But did Artemis originally have any myths related to bugs?
"Y-Yes! The beautiful song of grasshoppers under the moonlight and the hunter's flight, supersti... tions... yeah."
No, I'm not suspicious or anything.
I'm just curious how much this place's Artemis differs from the one I knew.
Aphrodite had some differences from the myths I knew, so maybe Artemis too.
And if I can help, I will.
Artemis started stammering, struggling to answer my question.
Is it that hard to answer?
Well, even a goddess would be embarrassed to admit eating dirt no matter how hungry.
"It, it's because of that day! That day!"
Eh. Um... Artemis must have it pretty bad, huh?