Chapter 56
Chapter 56
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: Tower of Gluttony (6)
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Tower of Gluttony (6)
FWOOOOOOSH!!
The end of the pitch-black abyss, where not even the tiniest speck of light could be found, was the deep sea.
Glug... glug...
Bubble... bubble...
The impact of the fall unleashed a staggering number of air bubbles.
A normal player would have blacked out on impact or flailed around, unable to tell up from down. But Lee Sang-hyun had the Origin of Water.
'A sea, huh.'
So he neither passed out nor lost his bearings.
On the contrary, he gained near-infinite freedom and rapidly regained his strength.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
His sensory domain—the ability to perceive objects through moisture and Super Sense—extended all the way to the edge of the deep sea, mapping out its contours.
And he sensed a colossal monster.
'...An octopus?'
The giant beast had nine legs lined with suckers and enormous eyes. It was an octopus.
'A Kraken?'
The only octopus monster Lee Sang-hyun knew of was the Kraken, the sea's apex predator and stuff of nightmares.
He knew of Cthulhu too, of course, but that was less a monster and more a divine entity. Besides, its humanoid-octopus hybrid form set it apart from a Kraken.
'Anyway, taking that thing down should do it.'
Lee Sang-hyun gripped the Knight King's magic sword and glared at the Kraken. This colossal beast was every bit as massive as the Hydra he'd just fought—if not bigger.
And unlike the relatively sluggish Hydra, it charged with terrifying speed.
'...Fast.'
Its sheer size made its approach feel even quicker than it really was.
Lee Sang-hyun readied for battle.
Soon, the Kraken closed within a kilometer.
VROOOOOM!!
Was it trying to instill terror in its prey? Its massive eyeball unleashed a crimson glow.
"......"
Honestly, it was a chilling sight. The inky deep sea, the gigantic monster, those glowing red eyes.
Thump. Thump. Thump...
All the elements to trigger primal human fear were gathered in one place.
Of course, Lee Sang-hyun remained utterly calm, unshaken by fear.
'It'd be a tough matchup if I were ordinary... but for me now, it's actually an easy opponent.'
Centuries ago, people feared the Kraken because it was a sea monster.
It dwelled in the ocean—a realm that shackled the freedom of land-dwellers and threatened them with drowning.
But for Lee Sang-hyun, with the Origin of Water, it was far easier prey than any land monster.
'Pierce its heart in one shot.'
Dong... Dong... Dong...
The Kraken's heart was slightly above its mouth. A straight shot down its throat should nail it dead-center.
'Here goes.'
Lee Sang-hyun kicked off the water as if it were solid ground. He rocketed forward at blinding speed.
The water didn't impede him. Instead, it parted before him, propelling him farther and faster.
Kuwaaa... aa... aa...!!
The Kraken's legs spread wide, revealing its cavernous maw.
Its massive jaws bristled with hooked fangs, and countless more teeth lined the interior, waiting for prey.
Even viewing it from afar sent chills up the spine—a truly horrifying spectacle.
But Lee Sang-hyun didn't hesitate.
He charged straight in.
Whiiiish!!
Nine tentacles whipped around.
The colossal mouth snapped shut.
The Kraken intended to crunch this long-awaited meal with a CRUNCH!
「?!!」
But then an unidentified agony surged through it... and a hole punched right through its heart.
「Kua... aa... aaak...?!!」
In disbelief, the Kraken thrashed wildly, emitting a maddened roar.
There—the prey it had just swallowed was bursting back out.
「Kr... aaa... aaa...!!」
Too late, it realized: this wasn't some meager snack. It was a horrifying monster.
Blub... blub...!!
Desperate to flee, it turned tail.
Its survival instincts blared warnings only after its heart had been pierced.
"?!!"
A bone-chilling dread pierced his brain. Every nerve ending screamed, and electric terror clenched his jaws.
Blub... blub...!!
Lee Sang-hyun bolted upward immediately. His survival instincts warned that something was surging up from below.
'...What the?!'
His instincts never lied.
From the deep sea floor below, something erupted and seized the fleeing Kraken.
「Ku... aa... aaak...?!!」
More precisely, a colossal entity drawn by the Kraken's glow chomped it down whole.
Blub... blub... blub!!
Unbelievably...
...it was devouring the 200-meter Kraken...
...like squid legs at a barbecue.
'...Insane.'
Ten kilometers tall... 10,000 meters. It dwarfed that with ease.
This monster transcended the giant beast category entirely—making even colossal beasts look quaint by comparison.
「Biii... iii... iii... iii... iii... iii... iii... iii... iii... iii... iii... iii... iii... iii... iii... iii... iii... iii... iii... iii... iii... iii... iii... iii... iii... iii... iii... iii... iii... iii... iii... iii... iiiiit...」
It was the scream of the abyss.
Blub... blub...!!
The monster's true nature: a Titan. The primordial colossal beast, progenitor of all giant monsters.
And a demon.
Lee Sang-hyun knew instinctively.
The demon Charybdis was leagues beyond Neptune.
Thump...! Thump...! Thump...!!
His fear-soaked heart felt ready to leap from his chest. His spine turned to ice, and his survival instincts rang nonstop alarms.
Gulp.
'...That was close.'
If he'd been even a fraction slower to flee, he might've ended up Kraken chow too.
「Biii... iii... iii... iii... iii... iit...」
Having devoured the Kraken, Charybdis halted in place, its milky white eyeball rolling ceaselessly.
'...Reacting to the light?'
It had only targeted the glowing Kraken and ignored everything else. That clinched it.
'...Right. A normal player would've lit up down here. But I didn't need to.'
No one could navigate the deep sea—where even Heavenly Eye failed—without light.
They'd ignite a flame to ward off the dark or escape it. Darkness was humanity's primal terror, after all.
But Lee Sang-hyun perceived through water, so he stayed dark.
By forgoing the fire humans so desperately needed... he went unnoticed, even right under its nose.
「Biii... iii... iit...」
"......"
The crisis averted, but beating that monster... the demon Charybdis? Doubtful.
Lee Sang-hyun pondered gravely.
'...Even thousands or tens of thousands of sword beams wouldn't kill it. What if I dove into its gut?'
Crunch...! Chomp...! Crunch crunch...!
Those gnashing teeth made entering its belly sound unrealistic.
'...Even if I pierced the teeth, one wrong move and I'd dissolve in its stomach. It's no ordinary monster—it's a demon.'
Plus, demons brought unknowns. Better to avoid reckless dives.
'...So what now? How do I take down Charybdis?'
No answers came.
Just one of those roving white eyes was hundreds of meters across. A toothpick of a sword seemed laughable against it.
「Biii... iii... iii... iii... iii... iit......」
Demon Charybdis.
Was it something a human could slay? Or an inescapable natural disaster...?
"......"
Towers always gave warning signs before opening.
For instance, the white tower would stain blood-red, unleashing waves of blood from the summit that birthed hordes of monsters upon the land.
The red tower would blacken the surrounding earth like roots taking hold, spawning its own monster legions.
Thus, a white tower turning red signaled a monster wave. A red tower's environs dying black was the cue.
That's why folks near the deadliest red tower checked the soil hourly—they'd killed the most humans to date.
Blackened earth meant the tower was about to open.
But in twelve years, no black tower had ever stirred.
White, red, and underground red towers had opened, sure. But the six black ones? Never once.
So no one knew their signs.
"Wha...? Wh-what...?"
The first to notice was Seiryō, the guardian corps protecting the Imperial Palace—home to Kaguya Hime, high priestess of the Dragon God Church.
"Right now..."
"The black tower..."
"Moved... right?"
"...No way."
The guardians panicked, forgetting their duty. The rookies, especially new to the post, went blank-headed in confusion.
"N-no, it's nothing. We must've seen wrong."
"Y-yeah! It's night—we got tricked."
"H-ha... What an idiotic mistake! Tarnishing Seiryō's honor..."
Unfortunately, it wasn't a mistake. After twelve silent years, the black tower...
...stirred with anomaly.
Shooooooo...!!
"Gah?!!"
"Gaaah?!!"
"Wh-what is that?!!"
"It's sucking us... in?!!"
"R-run...!!"
"No...!!"
Colors began vanishing into the black tower. Not just people—vibrant buildings, roads, roadside trees, even river hues—all drained into it.
Shoooooooohhh...!!
"The colors...!"
"They're disappearing..."
"The black tower's... devouring all color...!"
"Impossible..."
"How could this..."
"What is..."
"The end of the world...?"
No one resisted. They were stripped of color without a fight; the ashen remnants were all they salvaged.
"L-look at that...!"
"Wh-wh-what..."
"The sky..."
"It's vanishing..."
"My God......"
The people were utterly aghast. Even the sky had lost its hue.
Shwaaaaa!!
That lofty firmament... even carefree clouds... all surrendered their colors to the black tower.
"Ah... aaaah......"
What else to call this but calamity?
Terror gripped them at this absurd disaster.
And that day...
Japan lost all color.
The catastrophe, born at the nation's heart in the Imperial Palace, swept nationwide, erasing every shade—from sky to soil.
What remained?
Only scorched ash.
"Gods above..."
The Japanese prayed with fervent hearts.
For a great deity to descend and save them.
"Please, deliver us from this."