Chapter 54
Chapter 54
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: Tower of Gluttony (4)
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Snakes' heads wriggled out from the body of a snake, and more heads emerged from those bodies, forming millions of them—what could you even call that sight?
Hiss! Hiiiiss!
And the spectacle of those snakes devouring countless corpses in single bites—what words could describe it?
Crunch! Cruuunch! Gulp!!
Should it be called divine wonder, like something a god would do? Or should it be deemed horrifying, like the work of a demon?
Either way, one thing was clear: it was no act of a 'human.' Nothing a human could ever accomplish.
Kaguya Hime...
She might truly have transcended humanity to become a demigod, as the Japanese would say.
Munch munch gulp!!
It took barely an hour for the hundreds of millions of sea monster corpses to vanish.
Of course, far more remained, but the snakes' proliferation was accelerating.
Hiiiiss!
The black snakes' feast was downright chilling.
Queen Harpyia's death triggered the collapse of the ant hell.
Rumble!!
"...No time to rest."
Lee Sang-hyun dodged the cascading sand and rocks, sprinting straight for the staircase.
He completely ignored the treasure vault. He wasn't about to risk his life for some paltry loot.
Boom! Boooom! Rumble!!
The moment Lee Sang-hyun reached the stairs, Queen Harpyia's kingdom caved in completely.
Saaaaand...
In its place lay a barren expanse of sand and an empty desert.
This was why Heavenly Demon Ryu O-shin couldn't help but feel on edge.
Grind!!
Number one? Fine.
Even number two would be tolerable. But third place?
For Ryu O-shin, the Heavenly Demon, it was utterly unacceptable.
What was even more ridiculous was that until just recently, he'd been in fourth place.
Can you believe it? The Heavenly Demon—the supreme Heavenly Demon who looked down on even the heavens themselves, the absolute being above all—stuck at a mere fourth place?
...It's laughable.
Of course, he had an excuse. He hadn't reached the ninth and final stage of the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts.
Just one step away from the ninth, but still at the eighth. The gap was as vast as heaven and earth.
So fourth place... and now third... it was understandable enough.
He hadn't become the true transcendent beyond the heavens.
He wasn't invincible.
Perfectly...
Perfectly understandable.
...But Ryu O-shin's nerves were razor-sharp regardless. Understanding it intellectually didn't stop the genuine irritation gnawing at him.
No matter that he hadn't completed the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts, the fact that he hadn't reached the pinnacle infuriated him.
And above all, the second-place ranker, Kang Mu-hyuk, grated on him.
Some third-rate swordsman from South Korea—a mere vassal state to Greater China, the world's true center—sitting at number two?
"Do you accept your defeat?"
And to have lost—not once, but twice—to that third-rate swordsman? It fueled Ryu O-shin's rage.
Grind!!!
Yet Ryu O-shin held back. To evolve into the true transcendent beyond the heavens, he curled in on himself with patience.
"...The day I complete the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts, I shall become the one and only supreme being, conquer the world, and wash away this shameful defeat with Kang Mu-hyuk's blood."
The crouching dragon's eyes burned with ferocity, awaiting the moment to soar.
Ironically, for Sword God Kang Mu-hyuk, his greatest threat wasn't the Heavenly Demon Ryu O-shin at all—it was Dragon Shrine Maiden Kaguya Hime.
The reason? She was his natural counter.
A predator-prey relationship, perhaps?
He could beat Ryu O-shin, but Kaguya Hime? Impossible. Like trying to slash water with a sword, no matter how fiercely you swung.
That's why Kang Mu-hyuk always kept tabs on Kaguya Hime. Spies monitored her every move, and he'd even launched satellites for surveillance.
"...You're saying she entered the black tower?"
"Yes, sir. Mr. President. We've confirmed Dragon Shrine Maiden Kaguya Hime entering the black tower."
Kang Mu-hyuk received the report after midnight. It was late, but as a top priority, it went straight to the president himself.
Kang Mu-hyuk double-checked.
"You're certain she entered the black tower?"
"Yes, absolutely. According to our planted 'observer,' she entered at precisely 1:03 a.m."
"1:03 a.m...."
The sudden report of Kaguya Hime entering the black tower muddled Kang Mu-hyuk's thoughts.
Of course, his mental fortitude didn't betray that on his face.
"Understood for now. Report any further anomalies immediately."
"Yes, sir, Mr. President."
Once the security chief left,
alone in his office, Kang Mu-hyuk pondered Kaguya Hime deeply.
'...What the hell is she scheming? Why enter the black tower at this juncture?'
Of course, nothing good came to mind.
To Kang Mu-hyuk, Kaguya Hime was both enemy and fanatic.
A zealot capable of anything.
No pleasant thoughts could arise from that.
'...Damn it. What a mess because of one crazy bitch.'
Grind!!
Kang Mu-hyuk gnashed his teeth.
The fourth floor was a misty jungle shrouded in pale fog.
'...This isn't ordinary fog.'
Unlike natural mist, this fog was malevolent. It clung to the body like it was being manipulated by someone.
And visibility was zero with the naked eye. Even player skills to pierce fog or darkness—eyes of clarity—were useless. No matter how much mana you poured into your eyes, you couldn't see beyond two meters.
'...Insects?'
Lee Sang-hyun realized the fog—the water vapor—contained tiny insects.
Buz... zz... buz... zz...
They were so minuscule he'd been slow to notice, but they were definitely bugs.
And the entire fog was infested with them. As if the mist itself was the swarm's true form.
'If I'd mistaken it for normal fog and breathed it in without suspicion, I'd have been done for.'
A chilling realization. Inhaling or ignoring it would have spelled disaster.
'Die, all of you.'
Ignorance might be one thing, but now that he knew, they were no match for Lee Sang-hyun, wielder of water's essence.
He crushed the microscopic bugs hidden in the vapor.
They were so small, it took barely any effort—like tossing a pebble into still water.
Siiiigh...
Vast numbers of insects vanished at once.
The pale fog began to dissipate, soon revealing the dense jungle beyond.
"......"
The jungle was a demon's lair.
A paradise for carnivorous plants? It attacked and devoured anything in reach, no matter what.
'...The Forest of Gluttony, I suppose.'
Lee Sang-hyun frowned at the jungle fitting the Tower of Gluttony so perfectly.
The plants' assaults weren't that threatening. Compared to the immortal desert ants, it was leisurely—relaxed, even.
However, the jungle seemed to function as a single 'organism.' The entire forest was hostile, even altering its form.
'...Annoying.'
Having burned through much mana battling the ants, Lee Sang-hyun wanted to avoid a fight.
Slither. Slaaash!!
But when they came at him this relentlessly... even the unwilling start to crave battle. Human nature.
'I'll turn this into a parched desert.'
Lee Sang-hyun planned to drain every drop of moisture from the jungle, wiping out the carnivorous plants entirely.
It would take time, but it was feasible—easy, even. Unlike a desert, the jungle was sodden with humidity.
But then Nameless intervened.
Nameless said time.
"Time? You mean..."
Lee Sang-hyun grasped the meaning instantly.
No one uses 'time' when they have plenty to spare.
It could only mean they were short on it.
"No dawdling, got it."
Lee Sang-hyun shook his head sharply, banishing stray thoughts. He expanded his sensory domain to its maximum.
Thump. Thump.
'They wouldn't make me wander aimlessly. There has to be something in this jungle—a boss monster like Queen Harpyia.'
A simple hunch, but a solid one.
"......"
His sensory domain spread endlessly through the jungle's humid air.
How far did it reach?
Something pinged within it.
'...A monster.'
Huddled amid the overgrown carnivorous plants, but distinctly different. A heartbeat confirmed it as some beast.
Thud... thud... thud...
And enormous, like Kerberos. Likely some giant monster.
'Over there.'
Pinpointing the location, Lee Sang-hyun dashed toward the presumed behemoth.
Swoosh!!
The plants blocked desperately, as if guarding it, but to no avail.
Kaguya Hime devoured the withered, twisted sea monsters wholesale.
Crunch! Cruuunch! Snap!!
She'd climbed the tower to hunt the culprit who emptied the Purification Tower's first-floor sea, but this was almost too leisurely...
No issue, though. To exit, one had to descend to the first floor anyway.
Plus, the tower's mechanics favored late entrants overwhelmingly unless someone died—so no need to chase blindly.
Just catch them before they cleared it.
"Devour them all, leave none behind."
Thus, Kaguya Hime felt no urgency, coldly consuming what had once been soldiers.
Munch munch gulp!
Cruuunch!!
It took half a day for the mountain of sea monsters to disappear.
Yet Kaguya Hime's belly didn't swell an inch. It lay flat, like someone starved all day.
Unnatural, considering the colossal number she'd eaten.
"All processed, my lady."
Even her voice held no satisfaction—rather, it hinted at greater hunger.
Dragon Shrine Maiden Kaguya Hime obeyed the Dragon God Yamata no Orochi's command.
"As you will, noble one."
Her eyes were serene yet vicious, like a serpent flicking its tongue.