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Chapter 153: Beast of Deceit and Rapacity (2)
Chapter 153: Beast of Deceit and Rapacity (2)
Chapter 153: Beast of Deceit and Rapacity (2)
-Who dares to steal my food!
“Cough cough!” Il-Ho gagged, feeling his stomach churning.
Such a terrifying divine power it was!
The voice alone was enough to overwhelm him with dread, making him cower like a mouse standing before a cat.
Is this a high-ranking god’s power!?
It was a force far beyond the Low-tier Gods Il-Ho had dealt with before. Facing the overwhelming aura, Il-Ho desperately suppressed his trembling and spoke, “Urk, you... are you Beast of Deceit and Rapacity?”
-Quite impressive. You withstood my voice, which is imbued with divine power.
The god growled with contempt.
-That’s right. It is I—the god of all beasts.
Il-Ho cried out in anger, “The Divine Beasts of Eden serve you with all their hearts! They gave their everything in hopes of saving their homeland! Yet, here you are, betraying their faith and devouring them! How can you call yourself a god!”
-Well, that’s amusing. Enlighten me, how am I wrong?
The god scoffed.
-If not for me, those beasts would’ve been devoured by the God of Destroyer. I even gave them hope to continue living on. I’m sparing when it comes to eating them, only once every two or three days to stave off my starvation.
The red ceiling made of flesh churned actively.
-I even went so far as to erase all memories of those I devoured from the minds of others. Tell me—is there any god more merciful than I am?
Grit!
Il-Ho gritted his teeth. Apparently, the god, the owner of this stomach, believed that he was doing the right thing.
“No matter how great of a god you are!” Il-Ho yelled while coughing out blood, “You mustn’t deceive your followers, who sincerely believed in you!”
-Grrr! So, what if I deceive and prey on those insignificant beasts?! I am the Beast of Deceit of Rapacity!
The ragged laughter made the walls churn ferociously.
-But you. You look familiar...
Il-Ho felt an ominous gaze on himself, as if a pair of indescribably huge eyes was staring down at him.
-...Aah. Aren’t you the one who killed my apostle I sent to the world of insects?
“Uugh!”
Il-Ho sweated buckets of cold sweat at the mere gaze.
-Amazing. You should at least be of a Low-tier God level. No wonder my apostle was killed by you.
Ruuumble!
-Consider it an honor, for you shall become a part of me.
The god declared.
Swooosh!
Tentacles protruded from the walls of flesh, and a bubbling river of acid rushed toward Il-Ho and Rollie.
“Argh!”
Il-Ho maneuvered the Soul Mecha Lazenca, dodging the tentacles’ sudden attacks, but there were just too many of them!
-Hahaha! Interesting! Let’s see how long you can last!
The god’s laughter rang out. He was like a beast playing with its prey.
Swoosh!
Black tentacles shot out in all directions, filling the enormous stomach of the malevolent god, which seemed to span several meters long.
Tsss!
The black tentacles grazed Il-Ho’s armor, corroding it.
I can’t dodge them forever!
Il-Ho bit his lips hard until it bled.
If we’re really in the evil god’s stomach...!
He glared at the wriggling ceiling. “I’ll break through those flesh and make my escape!”
Then, Soul Mecha Lazenca responded according to Il-Ho’s will.
Ding! Ding!
[The Soul Mecha Lazenca grows stronger in proportion to the pilot’s will and life energy.]
[Please put focus on your will and life energy.]
Il-Ho couldn’t understand what the Soul Mecha was saying, but he decided to use the strongest, ultimate skill he had.
“Skill, Super Strong Body!”
Crack! Craaack!
Il-Ho’s muscles bulged explosively, compressing at lightning speed.
Rooooar!
Like an active volcano, Il-Ho’s life energy pulsated through the Soul Mecha armor.
[Pilot Il-Ho ranks among the top three most powerful users of all time!]
[The pilot’s will and life energy power partially fulfills Soul Mecha Lazenca’s evolution requirements!]
[Part of the Soul Mecha Lazenca has evolved into its second form!]
Clack! Clack!
Then, the armor protecting Il-Ho’s right arm transformed into a dragon’s head.
[Pilot Il-Ho, do you wish to use Soul Mecha cannon, Dragon Fist?]
Sparks flew, and massive golden divine power enveloped Il-Ho’s fist.
Perhaps this could...!
“Take this, evil god!” Il-Ho swung his fist at the ceiling.
-Kyaaaa!
The golden dragon struck the ceiling as if spewing Dragon’s Breath.
Krrrr! Baaaam!
Then, a huge beam of light, dazzlingly brilliant and sacred, hit the red flesh. It held phenomenal power that not even a Mid-tier God dared to belittle!
-Kyaaa!
The god of the beasts screamed. His stomach shook as if rocked by a 10.0 magnitude earthquake.
“Huff! Huff! Is that enough?”
Having poured everything into that single strike, Il-Ho was panting heavily, glaring at the ceiling above.
The red wall stood strong.
“No way...” Il-Ho fell into despair.
Twitch twitch!
He only managed to create a tiny hole, the size of a child’s fist, so small that even Rollie couldn’t escape from it.
-You damn insect! You’ll pay for this! I won’t forgive you! Never! Krrr!
Along with the god’s roar, a barrage of tentacles rained down on Il-Ho. This time, there wasn't a single gap among them. Was the god just toying with him all along? Entertained by his attempts to escape from his fate?
“I’m sorry, Rollie! I can’t save you!” Il-Ho shut his eyes tight in despair as the tentacles closed in on them.
-Il-Ho, stay back.
Just then, like a ray of light, a voice pierced through the world of despair.
-Demon Lord’s Heavenly Sword...
At the same time, Il-Ho saw an image of him in his mind.
Woooong!
It was God Yu Il-Shin, wielding the Demon Lord. He pointed the sword, bursting with gray sword qi, at God-Maker.
-Ultimate Stance, Demon Lord's Disintegration!
God Yu Il-Shin swung the sword with the grace of a masterful brushstroke. A sword qi of unprecedented power, belonging to neither a malevolent nor benevolent god, crossed the world’s boundaries. It reached Il-Ho, who was imprisoned in the god’s stomach.
Slash!
Il-Ho narrowly dodged the Demon Lord's Disintegration, which only managed to carve a small hole in the ceiling.
Riiiip! Flick!
Black blood gushed into the stomach, forming a wound hundreds of meters long.
-Aaargh! My stomach!
A deafening scream, incomparable to when Il-Ho struck with the Dragon Fist, erupted. His eardrums exploded, and blood flowed out from his ear holes. But that didn’t matter—God Yu Il-Shin sent a telepathic message.
-Now, Il-Ho. Take your friend and leave!
“O’ great and merciful God Yu Il-Shin! Thank you! Muuuscles!” Il-Ho squeezed every ounce of energy he had left, and flew toward the hole God Yu Il-Shin had created.
-Aaaargh! This accursed god and apostle! I, Beast of Deceit and Rapacity, will remember this! I will rip you to shreeeds!
The roar from the god echoed behind Il-Ho, which he couldn’t hear. “Muscle escapeee!”
Flash!
Il-Ho and Rollie finally made their escape from hell.
***
Il-Ho and Rollie lay unconscious on the island’s sandy shores.
-Healing Ring Finger of God.
A warm, dazzling white light, akin to a mother’s embrace, enveloped both of them.
Ssss—
Their injuries began to fade, as if being washed away.
Chatter chatter!
“Ugh...”
When Il-Ho first opened his eyes, he saw a group of beasts surrounding them. Recalling the rampage earlier, he had his guard up, but...
“Ah, they’re awake-nya!”
“No wonder I didn’t see them anywhere! So, they were hanging out here-moo?”
“Tsk! You should’ve brought me along!”
Light had returned to his friends’ eyes, which relieved Il-Ho. Was it because they’d defeated Zappa and severely injured the beast god? Either way, the Divine Beasts had returned to normal.
“Hic, Il-Ho...”
Rollie soon regained consciousness. She looked around for a few moments. Upon discovering they were no longer in the beast god’s stomach, her eyes flew wide open. She’d returned to the beautiful island of Eden, surrounded by her precious friends!
“W-we’re alive? B-but how? Il-Ho, did you save me?” tears of gratitude welled up in Rollie’s eyes as she looked at Il-Ho.
However, Il-Ho shook his head. “Not me! God Yu Il-Shin saved us!”
“Who... is God Yu Il-Shin?”
Il-Ho puffed his chest and smirked. “Kekeke! He is the greatest and most merciful god of all gods! I serve him! If you want to thank someone, thank him instead!”
“Waaah, thank you, God Yu Il-Shin.”
“Not like that, Rollie.” Il-Ho shook his head, then demonstrated it by raising his arms. “Now follow me, Rollie! Great and merciful God Yu Il-Shin! Puck puck!”
“P-puck puck?”
“That’s right! Now, try it out!”
Raising her cute little arms, Rollie exclaimed, “Great and merciful God Yu Il-Shin! Puck puck!”
“Your pronunciation is slightly off. You need more practice.”
“It’s too hard.” Rollie dropped her shoulders.
“Gosh, how long are you going to ignore us-nya!”
“Rollie, come quickly! We should continue with your birthday party-woof!”
“Let’s play, let’s play-oink! There’s a lot of delicious food!”
The Divine Beasts rushed to carry Il-Ho and Rollie into the air, bringing them to the party.
***
Back in reality...
Tadan tadan tadan~?
A fox was playing violin, which resounded through the screen on God-Maker. I showed a fatherly smile as I watched Il-Ho and Rollie enjoying themselves at the party.
I’m glad I could save them.
In fact, I was even prepared to get transported forcibly because I’d intervened. But fortunately, none of that happened this time.
[Infinite Abundance explains that since you’re now both a Malevolent and Benevolent Mid-tier God, your opponent probably didn’t have the necessary causality to make that happen.]
Thank you for the clarification, Abundance noona. Phew, that’s a relief.
Just then, God-Maker responded ferociously.
Ding! Ding!
[Warning!]
[High-tier Malevolent God Beast of Deceit and Rapacity requests to engage in a God’s Sacrificial War with you!]
[Would you like to accept the High-tier Malevolent God Beast of Deceit and Rapacity’s request for a God’s Sacrificial War? (Yes/No)]
Course’ not.
I selected “No” in a heartbeat. I wasn’t crazy enough to fight a monster with a stomach spanning several kilometers? Although I’d unwittingly become a god, I was but a peace-loving citizen.
“...Ugh, how dare you make me suffer such humiliation. Just kill me instead!”
Meanwhile, a large, burly man, bound and covered in blood, yelled at me. He was left with only a pair of briefs on him, as if he was a victim of assault.
The sound of sirens wailed in the distance, heading toward us. There seemed to be more than one. I could see why. The entire hill behind my neighborhood had been decimated—all thanks to me and this almost-naked guy.
Gal Joong-Hyuk shouted at the top of his lungs. “Kill me! I said kill me already!”
I grabbed my head and sighed.
Haa, how am I going to clean up this mess?