Chapter 195
Chapter 195
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 195
Chapter Title: Eternal Unquenchable Flame (1)
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Where does gluttony end?
If a human can't feel satisfaction—no, if even after eating, that sense of fullness never comes—how long could gluttony go on?
Kadim could now answer that question with confidence.
There is no end.
No end at all.
It could go on forever, without end. He could keep eating eternally. Things this delicious could truly be devoured endlessly.
Kwaduk, kwaduk, kwadududuk—!!
A steak, crispy on the outside and bursting with juices within. A fine feast. The side dish of roasted bone marrow topped with butter was so savory it melted on the tongue—a delicacy worthy of the world's best.
Ppaduduk, ppaduduk, kwaduduk—!!
A spiky tropical fruit of unknown name. A delightful dessert. Peel away the tough rind, and sweet juice-soaked flesh filled the inside.
Tsubvuk, jjeogeogeogeok—!
- Queeeeek!! Queeeeeek...
Soup made from a progenitor demon chicken, limbs torn off as it thrashed. Not a bad broth dish. The deeply simmered stock brimmed with rich meaty flavors, and the softened bones and cartilage added a unique texture.
This vast white hill stretched endlessly to a vanishing point in the distance, lined with every delicacy imaginable. It was no exaggeration to call it a banquet gathering all the finest foods of the world.
Strangely, there was only joy in tasting them—no matter how much he ate, his stomach never filled. No worry of bursting from overeating, no concern of indigestion. He simply shoveled food into himself greedily, limbs splayed.
Sseu—gwak!
"......"
Occasionally, live ingredients like crustaceans or double-horned demons would lash out and slice his flesh. But it was no big deal. A swing of the axe severed limbs, or bare hands stripped skin and meat, and they quieted down quick.
Along the way, he couldn't comprehend it at all. Why had he ever given up this supreme pleasure of fine dining until now?
Mind dulled? Why keep his wits razor-sharp year-round for some damn reason? For that, he'd gladly trade a hundred times over just for one more second at this table.
The climb to the heights was agonizing, but the fall was all too easy. Kadim followed his unleashed desires, filling the bottomless pit of his cravings without end.
It wasn't baseless indulgence. No, he deserved this. He'd saved the world. Achieved the "true ending" while leaving the Hero as a good man. Endured heaven and hell to finish the first playthrough. This was just belated compensation for what he'd missed back then.
The outskirts' fare was exquisite, but the banquet's true marvel lay within. The deeper into the hill, the finer the foods became.
Each time he thought nothing could surpass the last, new horizons of flavor opened. Like a man possessed, he tore into fresh meats, gulped broths, swallowed fruits, poured liquor down his throat, and pressed on. Deeper, deeper—yes, surely the ultimate delicacy awaited at the farthest depths...
Then, at one point, he accidentally knocked over a vat of liquor, spilling its lid.
- Kuueeok, kuueee...
"......"
He faced his reflection in the pool of blood.
Veins burst in bloodshot eyes, crimson drool cascading like a waterfall from his mouth, a demon's face pickled in gore, bloody steam rising from gums and shoulders.
Why am I here?
Why am I doing this?
Dudung, dudung. His heart throbbed grotesquely. A chilling echo seeped into his mind.
Why think like that?
He gripped the pitch-black axe haft tight. Something told him it would snap him out of it. Yes, recite a prayer, summon divinity, and the madness would fade.
Sseu—gwak!
His other hand swung the blade, severing that arm.
Axe and forearm thudded to the ground. Fresh blood gushed from the clean-cut stump.
Less pain than hunger. The fallen arm and flowing blood resembled the meats and liquors he'd savored coming here. No reason not to consume it. Kadim slurped the sweet liquor dripping from the forearm.
No, this isn't... liquor.
Why think like that?
Swak—ak!
His left arm swung the sword wildly on its own again.
He barely ducked by bending his torso. Even then, the slash stretched full, wrenching his shoulder joint backward completely.
Peuduk, dududuk—!
But the dislocated joint realigned in an instant. Thanks to the stacked buffs from devouring countless demons.
He tried biting through tendons to disable the left arm. Other body parts fought back full force. Rigid back muscles prevented bending, grinding jaws snapped teeth with ppaduk, and the regenerated right arm clamped his neck viciously.
"Kuhk, keuheok......"
All muscles slipped control. Irresistible force seized his flesh. For a split second, his vision flickered. A familiar demon realm vista flashed by.
Pale dirt mounds, broken shovel handles, haphazard pits dug up, their surfaces already fully exposed... Just looking made his... heart stop... ominous... something.
Exactly, why think like that?
Why not just keep eating happily?
Better than snapping your neck and dangling, ripping off your face and flopping, twisting limbs and crawling writhing, crushing eyeballs and oozing tears, tearing out your throat and vomiting blood.
Just keep eating happily. That's better, right?
His grip released his neck.
It was right. Kadim resumed eating.
He resisted no more. Thought of nothing. Focused solely on devouring new dishes and plunging deeper into the banquet. After staining the entire white hill scarlet with blood, he finally reached the deepest core: another arched gateway leading to a pitch-black inferno.
Just before stepping through.
Kadim spotted something that wasn't food, for the first time.
Woong, woong, woong, woong...
A halo of light.
A rippling white halo.
Even as the world drowned in crimson, it held its pure white hue. Unshaken by the monster who'd devoured countless demons. Amid amorphous radiance, its central source retained form.
A human figure, serene expression oddly familiar.
The light stepped forward, shoving his chest.
Zu—reung!
The landscape compressed. Terrifying repulsion activated. His body rocketed back, caught in inertia's gap. In an instant, he retraced his path, madness and bloodlust scattering like mist.
Huuuuwuuung—!!
Only then did Kadim realize everything.
Why he'd come here.
"......It was you."
The reason Melissa had broken and twisted so.
*
Melissa stared intently at her 300-years-past self.
This wasn't some spacetime-twisted product. Rewinding time was easy only in the World Tree's dream—not in reality. If it were possible, she never would've opened the rift on uncertain odds.
One conclusion: a fake. Just like fake Kadim, nothing more.
But this fake was no ordinary trinket.
―――― Kwang! Hwaruruk, hwaruruk, hwaruruk—!
"Multiple Split Giant Fireball"—a spell she'd personally devised, known only to her.
―――― Hwaruruk, jjeojeojeong—!
"Inferno Flame Spear"—another spell unknown to others.
―――― Kuhu, kwagwagwagwa—!!
"Breath of the Furious Dragon"—a spell she'd only conceptualized, never shown anyone.
The fake wielded her spells near-perfectly. Accounting for years passed, identical. But most shocking: the fake used "magic" at all.
Deep blue mana sharply condensed in its heart.
This fake absorbed mana as a "mana vessel," storing it within.
"......Where'd that mana come from? All ambient mana should've been depleted."
"Not telling. Not until you pull Kadim out of 'hell'...... You won't learn a thing."
―――― Hwaruruk—!
"Heuk!"
"......"
Even "Mana's Blessing" blocking wounds—every unique ability mimicked perfectly. Precise enough to believe it'd jumped timelines from the past.
One person came to mind who could craft such a thing.
"It's Gordon."
"......What?"
"Whoever made you, probably Gordon. No shamanic traces on you, and Cyril-sister wouldn't exploit old comrades' memories like this, fake or not."
"......"
"That priest...... Useless then as now."
The girl Melissa furrowed her brow sharply. Knowing future her was the enemy, she dropped all courtesy.
"Shut it! That Elga fool's a total washout, but at least he wouldn't abandon a comrade to hell! Why'd you sit idle when Kadim headed to hell?!"
"......You've harped on that awhile now—who fed you that nonsense?"
"Told you! Not telling! Don't know why you turned into this scum, but get Kadim out quick, then crawl back to hell's depths!"
Melissa narrowed her eyes.
She'd found the fake's biggest weakness: "being truly like her past self."
Not a puppet following orders—it judged and acted on its own temper. Likely persuaded hard by its user to come here... But Melissa could easily unravel and manipulate that.
After all, the one to persuade was herself.
"No, I didn't sit idle. I desperately kept Kadim from hell. And now, those thieving rats are why I can't leave."
"......What?"
"If I go to hell, those thieves steal the 'sanctuary' Kadim and I dwell in. They're the real culprits pushing him there. Whoever incited you against me's surely their ally."
"......"
Flickering fragile eyes. Ashen gaze pierced its secrets. Even as the same person, unbridgeable experience separated them.
"Sanctuary...? What're you saying?"
"Literal. World's ending soon, but one sanctuary evades doom. I've long prepared it for Kadim and me."
"Is that the 'World Tree's Dream'...? But the woman who convinced me said... reverting its power to roots stops the world's end..."
"You don't buy that wholesale, right? They're scheming to steal the sanctuary for themselves."
"What...? Then why'd Kadim follow their lead...?"
"Kadim wanted to save more. Not just us—he wished to shelter others. But the World Tree's Dream's power is finite. If we took in crowds as he wanted..."
"......The time it'd hold would be pitifully short?"
"Worse. They'd turn feral over numbers, making the Dream not sanctuary but a slaughterhouse of mutual killing and expulsion."
The girl's pupils shook like candle flames in wind. The woman, eyes unblinking, wove plausible lies, then drove the wedge with firm address.
"Melissa."
"......!"
First time her name was called since arriving here. Girl Melissa flinched.
"Please. I can't leave to guard the World Tree's Dream. So go to hell in my stead—bring Kadim back."
"What? Th-that's..."
"No worry of returning. The living can exit hell via this rift anytime. But the dead can't, no matter what. Hurry."
"......How do you know?"
"I've been to hell already. For about...... fifty years."
"......"
Past self, hearing unbelievable future, froze in dismay. Confusion over whom to trust soon clouded her face.
Melissa snapped her fingers, refocusing attention.
"Melissa. If judging's hard, think one thing. Between 'future you' and 'those fearing doom'—who seems to choose truly for Kadim?"
"......"
Her tender emotional scale tipped. Time for the trump card.
"......Remember? In the demon realm, whenever tough, we talked—Kadim and me. Someday, on a field where sun never sets, smiling like the moon, we'd meet."
"......"
"One step left to that dream. I'll show you—the sanctuary they're after."
Melissa projected the World Tree's Dream from the ceiling.
Wooong—!
On the translucent orb's surface, golden fields basked in warm sunlight, grass waving. Facing the ideal paradise just as imagined, the girl's eyes rippled dreamily.
"See? Exactly as you pictured. Save Kadim safe, and we'll dwell here eternally. Planned no one but us, but...... you're different."
"......"
"You're me, soon enough."
Girl Melissa bit her lip, eyes shut.
The woman was half-certain. The girl would believe, head to hell, vanish. Inevitable—she knew that era's self perfectly. Prideful yet sentimental and stubborn girl couldn't escape the hardened woman's grasp.
But the woman, too hardened, overlooked one thing.
"One thing—you're wrong."
"......What?"
"In the demon realm, I never said that just to Kadim."
"What're you on about? I remember clearly..."
"No, I never said 'just Kadim.' Always with Gale, Gordon, Cyril-sister too—someday on a sunsetless field, smiling like the moon, 'all together.'"
"......!"
That self back then didn't treasure only Kadim.
The grand mage's conviction shook first time. The girl mage smiled slyly, landing her hit.
"Hng...... As expected, that first woman was right. World's doomed, yet you mention no other comrades?"
"Wait, that's not..."
No room for excuses.
The woman belatedly sensed mana flow. Too late—distracted, she'd missed it.
Hwarururuk—!
- Kreuoong—!!
A ring of fire appeared midair. A massive black panther leaped through from beyond, straight to the orb. The sudden intruder warping space, and atop it, the haggard dark elf—clearly.
World Tree Keeper, Lilia.
In that instant, eyes of two women once bound as sisters met.
Wooong—!
Black panther and true World Tree Keeper entered the World Tree's Dream.
"Ah, nooooooo—!!!"
―――― Hwarurururuk, kwagwagwa—!!
Rending scream shook the hall. Turbulent emotions raged. Blazing mana waves spread, fiery vortexes scorched vines. The area turned hellish furnace.
But too late.
Once World Tree Keeper entered the "dream," even a grand mage returned from hell was powerless. The World Tree's power, focused on the dream, began redistributing to roots.
Wooong, wooong, wooong, wooong...
"......"
The culprit ruining all was plain as day.
Kkaduduk. She wrenched her neck. Emanating savage heat to incinerate all life, the ashen woman glared bloodshot.
"You, you...... Know what you've done?"
"......"
Yet the girl mage showed no fear.
"Yeah."
As if noting it proudly, she blew embers from her book's cover and opened her record.
"Saved the world again."
*
A hazy divine figure burst from the rift like a stain.
―――― Kugugugugu—!
Magic poured like a waterfall, sweeping the body. No thrashing, no scream—just silent fall, as if asleep. Magic and divinity mixed thickly, form unclear, but its identity was obvious.
Only one among them had gone to hell.
"......Kadim-nim?"
"......My lord?"
Near the World Tree, gazing skyward, Ilenia and Duncan murmured together.