Translator: FenrirTL
Editor: Doodle
=================
< Chapter 195: Victory Ceremony (5) >
Was it really an Outer God?
「Outer Gods are beings that were never fully realized. They are not something that can be comprehended through our common sense.」
Tension was evident on Lodbrok’s face.
「Hand me the sword. For now, it seems wise to delay the quest and focus on escaping from here.」
Without a word, Theo handed the blade of the Drake to her.
In an instant, the aura surrounding her changed drastically.
It felt like facing an untouchable master of the sword.
It was as if she surpassed the Nine Dragons and transformed into another version of Kyle.
It was entirely different from when she manifested in her original form.
‘Did Rody know how to handle a sword?’
It was peculiar that she, a Dragonborn, had mastered the sword—a human weapon. Even more baffling was her choice not to revert to her original form while confronting a divine being.
However, Lodbrok had no time to address Theo’s confusion.
Whoosh!
With an immense gust of wind, Lodbrok leaped forward.
“Aha! So you prefer playing over eating, huh? That’s fine! Nothing beats the taste of food after some fun! Haha!”
The corners of the mouth on the God of Gluttony’s forehead twitched as it erupted into mad laughter.
Hehehehe!
Each laugh sent tremors through the entire forest.
Theo suffered an excruciating headache, so severe that he thought his head might split open.
[An unauthorized entity has been detected within the quest.]
[The entity has been classified as a virus.]
[A vaccine program has been activated to eliminate the virus...]
Countless messages appeared above the God of Gluttony’s head.
“Hurrah!”
Boom!
When the creature fiercely stomped the ground and charged toward Lodbrok, the impact shattered all the messages into illegible fragments.
[An external shock has caused issues in system operation■■■■.]
[The vi■ pro■ram is ■■.]
[■The shock■■ ■stopped ■■gram's ■■operation.]
[■■■■ ■■■■■]
[■■■■■■■■■■■■■]
[■■■■■]
Lines of red warning messages overlaid the fragmented texts.
[SYSTEM ERROR]
The messages seemed entirely powerless.
‘In this quest, those messages should have been absolute authority...!’
Theo was further thrown into shock by the situation.
Judging by the circumstances, the God of Gluttony was likely not in its original form.
It was part of the malicious will of an Outer God, summoned by Granada and the Mad Dragon Emperor to forcibly unseal the Dragon Spirit’s Cursed Blade.
It seemed that the madness embedded in the Venom Core had awakened its true nature.
If so, this creature was merely a fragment, akin to one arm or leg of the God of Gluttony, and yet it possessed such overwhelming power?
The difference in presence Theo had sensed when he stood before the iron gates of the Pantheon, surrounded by the other Outer Gods, was not an exaggeration.
The fact that it matched—or perhaps even exceeded—Lodbrok, who had almost fully recovered her strength, was beyond shocking.
Boom!
“Ohohoho! As expected! You’re much better at playing than I thought!”
Each time Lodbrok swung her sword downward, bolts of lightning rained down in succession.
Theo realized that this was none other than the famed secret art of Sigurd, the Progenitor, known as Sword Lightning.
With each flash of lightning, one of the gluttonous demon’s arms was severed and sent flying, its legs blown apart in bursts.
Even its upper body was riddled with holes, nearly 40% of it obliterated.
Yet, despite losing more than half its face, the God of Gluttony grinned slyly.
Stretching out its hand, as if attempting to grab Lodbrok, it lunged repeatedly, only for Lodbrok to deliver swift strikes before retreating to maintain her distance.
She seemed determined to avoid physical contact with the creature at all costs.
“More! More! Play with me some more! Ahahaha! If you get caught, we switch roles, you know~?”
「……!」
In that moment, the outstretched hand of the God of Gluttony narrowly grazed past Lodbrok’s head, brushing her hair.
Rustle—
The strands of hair that had been touched instantly dried up, crumbled to dust, and scattered into the air.
“Aw, what a shame. Tsk! I could’ve switched roles. I really wanted to know what dragon meat tastes like~.”
「Who said I’d let you catch me? If you’re hungry, why don’t you chew on your own arm!」
“Heehee. Of course, I’ve already tried that. But, how should I put it... it’s dry. Too fatty, not much substance. You know, I think the taggers in this world suit my taste much better.”
「You pig.」
“Eh? You really don’t get it, do you? Pigs only have about 15% body fat, you know. So basically, what you’re saying to me right now is, ‘You’re really solidly built,’ and I take that as a compliment!”
Tap-tap!
The God of Gluttony patted its own belly while shaking its head.
“That’s why that doesn’t count as an insult to me! Look at this belly! Do you know how hard I worked to get it? I had to consume at least 30 worlds just to get to the point where someone might say, ‘Oh, looks like your belly’s starting to show!’”
At a glance, it seemed as though the God of Gluttony and Lodbrok were engaged in a conversation.
In reality, however, the God of Gluttony was not listening to Lodbrok but instead rambling on, saying whatever it pleased.
Its speech lacked both logic and focus.
「Partner! What are you doing?!」
Lodbrok urgently turned toward Theo. Her expression made it clear that she was barely holding on.
She was screaming that her time was running out.
Yet Theo, despite Lodbrok’s repeated pleas, showed no intention of leaving the area. Instead, he was completely focused on observing the God of Gluttony.
‘I can’t. If I try to escape recklessly, both Lodbrok and I are done for.’
Now that the Guardian was dead, it wouldn’t have been surprising if the Dragon Spirit’s Cursed Blade fell into the God of Gluttony’s hands at any moment.
In other words, this world itself was already little more than a sanctuary for the Outer God.
Any rash attempt to escape could result in the madness of the Outer God invading Theo’s mental domain.
He was already struggling to suppress the Sword Sphere, and allowing that madness into his mind would be the end.
Even if that wasn’t the case, leaving Lodbrok behind would mean she would have to face the God of Gluttony alone.
That was a battle she couldn’t possibly win.
If Lodbrok died, her body would become a vessel for the God of Gluttony’s will. The moment it took control of her body or the Dragon Spirit’s Cursed Blade, it would invade this world, and everything would be over.
Even the Nameless Sovereign was barely manageable. If another entity joined in the invasion, the world would truly meet its end.
‘What should I do?’
Theo frantically looked around, trying to figure out what he could do.
At that moment, the voice of a woman reached his ears.
『Can you… hear me…? Chosen… one…?』
The voice was faint and riddled with static, as if it could cut off at any moment.
Instinctively, Theo turned his gaze toward where the fallen Guardian, Nessie, lay.
『You… can hear me…』
When Theo tried to reply, Nessie’s voice hastily continued, though broken and labored.
『Don’t… react too much. If that Outer God… becomes aware of… my state… it will be disastrous.』
She seemed to be struggling for breath, pausing frequently as she spoke.
‘She’s squeezing out the last bit of her strength.’
Realizing there was no hope of Nessie reviving, Theo’s face hardened as he silently listened to her voice.
『Nessie!』
『How could a descendant of the Ancient Dragons end up like this…?!』
Perhaps it was the voices of her comrades, but Theo thought he heard Nessie let out a faint laugh.
It was the wistful laugh of someone reminiscing about a distant past they could barely remember.
『As you can see, that creature is always ravenously hungry. That’s something we can use to our advantage.』
Though Theo didn’t know it, Nessie had evaded the clutches of the God of Gluttony for a very long time.
Even though she had eventually been caught after exhausting her strength, the fact that she had survived for so long in this confined world meant she knew the Outer God better than anyone else.
Including its weaknesses.
『Feed it as much as possible.』
[The quest has been updated.]
+
[Scenario Quest #10]
An unidentified virus has forcibly occupied the Dragon Spirit’s Cursed Blade, Hrunting. Activate the vaccine program to remove it.
- Difficulty: SSS
- Reward: Ownership of the Relic of the Ancient Dragons, Enhancement of the Sword Sphere’s Will.
- Failure Penalty: Death
+
Feed it as much as possible?
Theo was at a loss. In this barren world, which had nothing but the forest, what could he possibly feed to the God of Gluttony?
『Isn’t there… the perfect… food… right in front of you?』
Nessie’s voice grew weaker.
In that moment, Theo’s expression froze.
He saw Nessie, smiling faintly with a trace of sorrow in her eyes.
[■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■……]
[■yst■m pr■cess ■eing ad■anced.]
[The fire■all pro■ram’s stage is being ■■■anced.]
[Current stage: Level 3.]
The activation of the firewall program.
Boom!
For a moment, the air surrounding the forest grew dense, and an immense gravitational force pressed down on the God of Gluttony.
Crack!
As a result, the hand it had extended toward Lodbrok to grab her neck slowed, and the sound of splitting skin and crushed muscles echoed loudly.
The grotesque sight of a fractured elbow bone piercing through its flesh, causing blood to pour out in streams, was horrifying to behold.
Taking advantage of the moment, Lodbrok retreated far back and took several deep breaths.
“Hah… hah… hah…!”
Sweat trickled down her forehead.
‘That was close.’
While the fight had been evenly matched at first, the situation was changing rapidly. Unlike Lodbrok, whose stamina was depleting quickly, the God of Gluttony seemed to grow stronger and more agile the longer the battle dragged on.
This was likely a sign of its increasing mastery over its avatar.
The mere existence of an Outer God, capable of threatening an entire world, was terrifying in itself.
‘At least I managed to buy some time.’
Lodbrok took a deep breath as she observed the God of Gluttony, whose movements had slowed to a crawl, restrained like a turtle.
Clink! Clink!
Dozens of iron chains erupted from the ground and tightly coiled around the Outer God’s limbs.
[Current Stage: Level 4]
As the firewall’s stages progressed, the garbled text began to recover bit by bit.
Clatter! Clatter!
The God of Gluttony scowled in irritation as more chains wrapped around its body.
“Just when I was starting to have fun, you dare to interrupt me? What’s the meaning of this?”
[The firewall program is advancing to the next stage.]
[Current Stage: Level 5]
Boom!
With each advancement, the gravity pressing down on the Outer God multiplied more than tenfold. The clear objective was to crush the avatar and drive it out.
“You’re ignoring me, huh? That means you’re the God of Causality, aren’t you?”
[The system administrator flinches.]
[The administrator asserts that they are not the entity in question.]
“Yeah, right. That tone of yours screams God of Causality. Stop pretending!”
[The administrator strongly denies being an old-fashioned god.]
[The administrator realizes their mistake a moment too late.]
“See? You just admitted it.”
The message, briefly fading, swelled again as the God of Gluttony grinned slyly and mocked it.
[The administrator vehemently insists they are part of the modern generation. They claim this is a fact other gods have already agreed upon.]
“Oh, come on. When a boss grills their subordinates about whether they’re modern or old-school, do you really think they’ll answer, ‘No, sir, you’re a total boomer’? Of course, they’ll say, ‘Yes, sir, you’re very modern.’ Isn’t that right, Mr. Boomer?”
[The administrator trembles in frustration at the brutal verbal takedown.]