Chapter 348
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 348
Chapter Title: Envy and Greed
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Seven Deadly Sins: You have acquired Envy.
The fifth sin was envy.
You have been afflicted with a curse.
You have been afflicted with a curse.
You have been afflicted with a curse.
Curses, after a long while.
Jeong Hoon easily dispelled them and checked the next Sin Box.
Seven Deadly Sins: You have acquired Greed.
And the sixth sin was greed.
A curse came down once more, but Jeong Hoon brushed it off just as easily.
Now he had collected six out of the seven sins.
"Any reaction?"
Jeong Hoon summoned the Seven Deadly Sins.
Before him appeared not the childlike form, but a sturdy six-foot-tall man.
With the additional seal released, it had nearly regained its original appearance.
"Keh-heh, just one more to go!"
The Seven Deadly Sins fondled its body, reveling in joy.
"Divine artifact."
Jeong Hoon said with a grin.
At that smile, the Seven Deadly Sins coughed awkwardly and averted its gaze.
"Ahem... My powers aren't fully restored yet. Gather the last one, and maybe I can pull it out?"
"Oh, really?"
Jeong Hoon fiddled with the Cup of the Void as if disappointed.
Just beat the crap out of it.
"That's what I was planning anyway."
"W-Wait a second!"
As Jeong Hoon moved to use the Cup of the Void, the Seven Deadly Sins urgently dropped to its knees.
"Hmm? What? You weren't planning to hand it over?"
"No! I must've lost my mind for a second there!"
"Then hand it over."
"O-Okay!"
It must have sensed that hiding it any longer would spell disaster, as it obediently produced the divine artifact.
Unlike the Cup of the Void, this one was an old scroll.
"Is this the divine artifact you stole?"
"I didn't steal it, though..."
"You didn't steal it?"
"Yeah. This was personally bestowed upon me."
Jeong Hoon couldn't help tilting his head.
When he'd spoken with Abaddon, it had said the Seven Deadly Sins stole a divine artifact.
So he'd assumed Abaddon was after it to retrieve the stolen item.
But in truth, it had been bestowed, not stolen?
Ridiculous. Heavenly Throne ranks aren't allowed to possess more than one divine artifact.
"What? Why do you keep butting in?"
The Seven Deadly Sins glared at Tenebris.
Oh? This punk still doesn't know his place? Baal.
Yes!
Fix this insolent fool's attitude.
Me, sir...?
Who else is here besides you?
Uh...
Baal stood before the Seven Deadly Sins, swallowing his resentment.
"What are you?"
I am Lord Baal.
"Ha, since when could a mere lord stand tall before me?"
With six sins gathered, the Seven Deadly Sins had recovered most of its memories.
It remembered being a Transcendent seated upon the Heavenly Throne, so the Baal before it seemed laughable.
Ahem...
Hey, Baal. Was I a Named One?
...
This was infuriating.
That damn bastard.
Baal ground his teeth inwardly while glaring at the Seven Deadly Sins.
Oh? Got some fire in your eyes?
...Why aren't you showing proper respect?
"What?"
The lowly one is a Named One. Is this how you behave without manners?
"So what? Master, can I beat this punk up?"
The Seven Deadly Sins turned its gaze to Jeong Hoon.
But Jeong Hoon was engrossed in the divine artifact and didn't even glance their way.
"You have permission?"
What permission! He hasn't said a word!
"So what? If I say you do, you do."
The Seven Deadly Sins approached Baal with a demonic grin.
"Hey, Seven Deadly Sins."
"Yes? Did you call me?"
But at Jeong Hoon's call, it beamed and rushed to his side.
S-Survived...
Baal let out a sigh of relief.
Tsk tsk, how could a coward like that sit on the Heavenly Throne?
Why make me do it... Just handle it yourself.
Hey, that guy drained all my power. How am I supposed to beat him?
Then I'm supposed to be able?
You can. Why fear him when you even devoured your own master?
That's...
Pathetic. I'm disappointed.
Tenebris clicked his tongue and turned away.
Baal spat toward his back.
Contrary to Abaddon's words, the Seven Deadly Sins claimed it had received the divine artifact directly from a Named One.
That Named One was Psyche.
Heavenly Throne ranks could normally possess only one divine artifact, but she had specially bestowed an extra one upon the Seven Deadly Sins.
'I was kind of a big deal.'
Originally, the Seven Deadly Sins had been a Heavenly Throne rank right below the Named Ones, ruling the 1st through 5th Demon Realms.
'I was the top among the Heavenly Thrones, so I asked for one more divine artifact.'
That's how it received the additional onethe Heavenly Retribution Scroll that Jeong Hoon now held.
"I can see why that guy coveted this."
Heavenly Retribution Scroll.
With this, it could perfectly offset the Cup of the Void's weakness.
According to the Seven Deadly Sins, the scroll excelled at turning the tables in dire situations.
It could record and seal an opponent's abilities while stacking karma marks.
Once the karma count reached a certain threshold, it would deliver punishment to the target.
"Right? With this, dealing with that guy won't be hard!"
"But why were you sealed?"
"Huh?"
"You got this divine artifact bestowed. So you had two back then."
If it had used the Heavenly Retribution Scroll properly, it wouldn't have lost to Escannon.
Even funnier that a Transcendent ruling the 1st through 5th Demon Realms got sealed by mere Escannon.
"Logos intervened."
"Logos?"
One of Jeong Hoon's eyebrows shot up.
"Yeah. Because that bastard got involved, I got sealed without even resisting."
A story not seen in the episodes.
Who would've thought the Seven Deadly Sins was sealed like this.
It made sense why it had the divine artifact.
"But why didn't they take it from you?"
"I don't know."
"...Really?"
Escannon might not have known, but Abaddon did.
Would Logos not know of a divine artifact even Abaddon knew about?
There must be some other reason.
Otherwise, the Seven Deadly Sins couldn't have hidden it this long.
"Sorry. Once the seal is fully released, I might remember that too."
"It's fine. That's enough."
For now, the priority was gaining recognition from this scroll.
Currently, the scroll was blank.
Because the Seven Deadly Sins had severed the connection, leaving it ownerless.
Will you take the trial of the 'Heavenly Retribution Scroll'?
Just like the Cup of the Void, he needed to earn recognition through the trial to become its master.
"Yes."
At that moment.
"No way..."
The Ultimate Guide Hariel stared at the human before him in disbelief.
Not content with proving ultimate power, they gathered materials, hunted puppets mimicking Perlis.
They even cleared the final third stage in a landslide.
All in under three hours.
And not just one, but several people.
'What is this... The difficulty is weirdly low.'
The first humans from Earth to visit this hall.
Though it took ages to claim ultimate power, each trial was notoriously brutal.
Yet the subsequent visitors tackled quests of ridiculously lower difficulty.
'I, the administrator, don't have permission to adjust...?'
The funny part was failing every time he tried to reset the difficulty due to lack of authority.
"Hyung! How can you be slower than me?"
"Haha... When did you finish?"
"30 minutes ago!"
"Brat, I was taking it easy. If I'd rushed, I'd have beaten you."
"Ehe, so what's the result now?"
"...Fine. You did well."
Damn bastards.
Ones who should've quit whimpering at stage one were now bragging proudly.
A sight to behold.
"Now that we've cleared the quest, hand over the power."
Bong-gu smirked and held out his hand.
"You filthy..."
"Hmm? We passed your trials, so why the cursing? Wanna die?"
"Fine... Try killing me!"
"Whoa, this guy's totally insane?"
Bong-gu drew his dagger as if he'd been waiting.
Bang!
At that instant, a gunshot rang out, drawing Hariel and Bong-gu's gazes aside.
There stood Jeong Hoon's mother, Lee Na-yeon.
She had aimed at the ceiling and fired just before they clashed, stopping them.
"Bong-gu, stop it."
"Yes, ma'am! Sorry!"
At Lee Na-yeon's words, Bong-gu hurriedly backed away.
"You've successfully passed the trials presented. So please grant us the power."
"...Understood."
Hariel squeezed his eyes shut.
Whatever the case, they had completed his trials successfully.
To attack them now, denying recognition, would be unacceptable.
'Shameful.'
Hariel obediently unlocked the power for them.
Accepting new power.
You have reached the Ultimate.
Reaching Ultimate upgraded their job ranks from Celestial to Ultimate.
"You have ascended to the ultimate realm. With this, my role is... Gahk!"
Crack!
Hariel's words cut off.
With a cracking sound, his body toppled backward.
"Oho, this is pretty good for real?"
Bong-gu, having tested his skill on Hariel, flashed a satisfied smile and fled the hall.
"Wow... Kim Bong-gu, for real."
Ha-jin shook his head at the audacity and followed.
"I'll apologize on his behalf."
Lee Na-yeon apologized to Hariel before leaving with Yeo Sun-woo and Yeo Min-ji.
Left alone, Hariel stared blankly at the ceiling.
"What the hell just happened... Did that creature just strike me?"
Had he ever seen such absurdity?
Hariel's face slowly twisted.
"Fine, squirm all you want. It won't stop the annihilation anyway."
Code modification.
One of the 100 episode conditions fulfilled.
Additional release of the Seven Deadly Sins' seal, acquiring two divine artifacts.
All achieved before the third annihilation began.
"You've all grown a lot."
Jeong Hoon gazed at the people milling outside the window.
Each one's level exceeded 500.
Unavoidable, since dungeon levels had dropped and experience gains were maxed.
Thus, higher levels meant faster clears, accelerating leveling even more.
Some among them had even acquired heavenly powers.
Pre-pass on job change quests, eased heavenly energy supply, and drastically lowered quest difficulties.
That's how they reached heavenly power.
At this rate, the rest could reach the heavenly realm too.
It won't help stop the annihilation.
Tenebris's assessment was harsh.
"I know."
Jeong Hoon agreed.
James Marcus, America's strongest Paladin, had failed to stop even the second annihilation and passed the role to him.
But the second was nothing compared to the third.
The second came from Escannon's hands, but the third would be dealt directly by a Named One.
'What could the third annihilation be?'
With no info, preparation was the best he could do.