Leveling Up Through Eating

Chapter 1034

The Battle God had been protecting and leading the gods for thousands of years. It was a well-known fact that the current generation Battle God was the one who brought and maintained peace in the Land of the Gods. During his reign, the Land of the Gods was at its most peaceful.

The Battle God had been sitting in this position for a long time. He had long grown exhausted. As time passed, the current generation Battle God felt like he was making more and more mistakes. So, he believed he should find a new successor who would lead the gods. But that was not the case for the other gods.

The Battle God’s Five Generals were gods that the Battle God himself selected. They were as powerful as the Battle God and were chosen to help him lead the gods in times of war. Among them were the God of Magic, the God of Archery, and the God of Martial Arts.

“Not yet. Please. We hope you can fight for the Land of the Gods longer.”

“The next generation Battle God still has a lot of shortcomings.”

Many of the gods feared that the current generation Battle God would leave his position. They believed that Minhyuk was still not fit to become the Battle God.

‘It’s not that I don’t understand what they’re saying.’

Minhyuk was still young. And to top it off, he was also a foreigner. At present, he indeed lacked many qualities to become the Battle God. But the Battle God believed that Minhyuk would be able to show his true worth as the Battle God as time went by.

“Please forgive us for going against your choice, Battle God.”

“I understand why you’re doing this.” The Battle God shook his head.

The Battle God’s Five Generals were the only ones that the Battle God could trust.

‘Once you have given your trust to someone, they will risk their lives and jump into the fire pit to protect you.’

That was just how loyal the Five Generals were to the Battle God. That was why the current Battle God hoped that Minhyuk would be able to win their hearts someday, too.

Swoosh–

Then, at that moment, the Battle God and the Five Generals turned their heads in the same direction.

The Battle God’s pupils shook as he thought, ‘I felt the power of death coming from God’s Prison.’

At this moment, the Battle God realized something had happened inside God’s Prison. The Battle God summoned the Absolute Gods and headed straight toward God’s Prison, stating that it was an emergency.

Crackle–!

“Ugh!” One of the gods groaned as sparks covered the hand that he reached out to open the prison doors.

That was when the Battle God realized something. He said, “We can’t go inside.”

However, it was evident that something big was going on inside. The God of Searching immediately released his power and slowly let it search the prison's interior.

“From what I can see, Athenae’s power dwelling inside the prison has weakened. It seems like they had taken advantage of it. And now, the entire prison is shrouded with the power of the God of Death.”

“Are you saying that they’re trying to break out of prison and go out in the world?”

The Battle God finally realized that the words of the prison warden named Erach were valid.

“Those guys will come out…?”

“If they come out all at once, then it would be too much for us to handle.”

Of course, they were fully aware that the gods imprisoned inside had grown weak after being subjected to their Mother, Athenae's power, for a very long time. Nevertheless, if all the gods imprisoned inside came out simultaneously, something unimaginable would truly happen. This was mainly because they did not know what the previous generation God of Death wanted to do.

“Battle God, we need to declare a state of emergency right away and evacuate the celestial dwellers,” the God of Cooking said.

Everyone knew that many of the gods would die to prevent this catastrophe.

‘At least 20%,’ the Battle God thought as he gritted his teeth.

“If only we can get inside…”

A different outcome would definitely unfold if they could just go inside and slowly deal with the prisoners instead of waiting outside until they all came out at once.

“...!”

But then, at that moment, the eyes of the God of Searching grew wide. He reported in front of all the gods, “Battle God, there’s already someone dealing with the God-rank monsters and fighting against the gods inside.”

“What?” The Battle God uttered in shock. Who in the world would fight the imprisoned gods inside the God’s Prison?

“It’s Lord Minhyuk.”

“...!”

“...!”

“...!”

Everyone was shocked. Why was Minhyuk, the next generation Battle God, inside God’s Prison?

“Impossible. Are you saying he has detected the danger before us and is fighting alone to protect the Land of the Gods?” The God of Magic said.

Well, his words were only half-correct. Minhyuk was sent here by The Growth Cultivator of The Teacher Beradon and enjoyed a leveling-up spree. Of course, he was also fighting desperately to stop the prisoners from breaking out of prison because he was fully aware that they should never be released into the world.

“That’s reckless…”

“But if the next generation Battle God told us that we have to take control and deal with God's Prison, we will never believe him and even deny his words.”

The gods did not trust the next generation Battle God. However, it was also confirmed that they had always ignored Warden Erach's words and continued to ignore the situation in the prison.

“He’s fighting alone for our sake…”

The gods were deeply moved. But that was not what mattered right now.

“Alone?”

“That is very reckless…”

“He’s not alone. I can see Evan by his side.”

“The previous generation Battle God?”

“Even so, what can two people do inside?”

Everyone shook their heads and dismissed their actions as ridiculous. Nevertheless, the reality in front of them was harsh and bitter.

“Minhyuk is moving forward while carrying a heavy burden.”

“...”

“...”

“And he’s doing it for the sake of the Land of the Gods.”

When they heard the words of the Battle God, everyone turned to look at God's Prison. They all knew that the young man was fighting to solve a problem they had all ignored and turned away.

***

[The Godslayer’s Brand is shining brighter.]

[You have killed more than 100 gods.]

[Your stats and attack power will increase by 30%.]

Minhyuk could feel a strong power surging through his veins. When he ate his dish earlier, he could obtain power comparable to a Level 800 being. Now, with the effects of the Godslayer’s Brand, an effect that could overlap with any buff effects, he could have power comparable to someone at Level 900. In that he was in, he felt like he could win against any opponent that came his way.

Meanwhile, Evan could be seen gasping for air. Minhyuk told him, “Now, it’s my turn. Good work, Evan. I’ll take care of it from here on out.”

Minhyuk worked(?) Evan to the bones because he wanted to comfortably increase his stats quickly and level up simultaneously. But he did not do it purely because of his greed. He did it so both could escape this place smoothly and safely.

Minhyuk checked the Hunt Rate.

[Hunt Rate: 41%]

With this, he had safely secured the Light of Purification. But Minhyuk knew that the higher the Hunt Rate, the better the rewards he would receive. There was also the fact that he could increase his level by six during all of this.

‘I can’t give up on leveling up and obtaining better ingredients as a reward.’

Minhyuk took a deep breath. Thanks to the Godslayer’s Brand, all his skills on cooldown were made available to him once again.

“I’ll quickly break through them. Please stay behind me and keep up.”

After one long and deep breath, Minhyuk began to run deeper inside the prison. As he ran, one of the gods appeared to block his path.

Minhyuk quickly triggered the Dual Swordsmanship Technique. Then, he summoned Viel’s Puppet Doll and the Ego Chain Sickles. The opponent was knocked down in a mere thirty seconds with the combination of the three.

A few moments later, five gods appeared in front of him. Minhyuk triggered the Sword of Carnage and cut down one of the gods. The attack killed the god and slaughtered the rest at the same time.

[The Godslayer’s Brand is shining brighter.]

[The Godslayer’s Brand is shining brighter.]

[The Godslayer’s Brand is shining brighter…]

The more he killed, the stronger he grew. Now, only thirty minutes were left in the two-hour duration of the Godslayer’s Brand. So, he had to take advantage of this opportunity.

‘He killed ten gods in just five minutes?’

Evan, running behind him, inhaled sharply at the scene before him.

Fwoosh, fwoosh–

Minhyuk continued to run. This time, seven gods appeared to block his path.

“Supreme Overlord’s Technique.”

Crackle–!

A blazing flame appeared and swept the gods away.

“Crazy.”

Right after that, Lightning’s Crazy mode ran rampant and killed everything that dared to block his path. Just like that, Minhyuk got closer and closer to his destination. What was waiting for them at the end of this passage? It was none other than the previous generation God of Death.

At that moment, Minhyuk thought, ‘I have to hunt as many enemies as possible.’

This was so he could increase his Hunt Rate and his level.

***

The previous generation God of Death Beagan had conducted experiments on human beings and had crossed a line that he should not have crossed. When his deeds were discovered, he was immediately put on trial and sentenced to be imprisoned for life.

God of Death Beagan loathed Athenae for imposing such a severe punishment upon him when all he did was experiment on humans. So, he sharpened his blade and bade his time. Now, the opportunity that he had been waiting for had arrived. He would now turn the Land of the Gods into a wasteland.

But a strange bastard appeared and was now trying to ruin his plans. When Beagan first saw the man through his crystal ball, he thought he did not need to care about him. The problem was the deeper the man went into the God’s Prison, the more the brainwashed gods died. And now? The speed at which the gods died was getting faster and faster.

Beagan was quite shocked when he saw the gods being slaughtered at such a fast speed. Of course, he had realized at one point that one of the reasons why this happened was because of the brand that Evan bestowed upon the man.

Finally, the man reached Beagan's location. The fifty gods surrounding Beagan jumped straight toward the man.

“Transcendence.”

Bang–!

The armor on the man’s body turned black with a single word from the man. Then, the man jumped among the gods and released a ridiculous amount of force. With every swing of his sword, a god would fall and die.

“Sword of Tempest.”

A sword carrying an ego appeared beside the man, summoning hundreds of blades that flew straight toward the gods. The shock that Beagan felt initially did not disappear as the gods continued to fall under the man’s sword.

Meanwhile, Minhyuk was delighted to see the ridiculous amount of EXP he was gaining and the significant increase in his Hunt Rate.

At that moment, Beagan said, “So, you were sent by the Battle God.”

“???”

Of course, the Battle God would not let him be. But Beagan was the God of Death.

Rumble–!

[Resurrection Authority]

[All of those who died will be revived.]

[The undead will follow Beagan’s orders.]

[You will only be able to obtain 50% of the EXP from the undead revived by the Resurrection Authority.]

The souls of the gods who died under Minhyuk’s blade screamed as they gathered around Beagan. Then, with an order from Beagan, their souls turned into the form of skulls until they turned into skeleton knights.

The fact that they died and got revived meant that they had been significantly weakened. But Beagan was confident that this man would never be able to do anything against more than 300 gods.

“Huh? So lucky!”

Minhyuk’s face grew bright.

“Calamity.”

Then, a sword fell from the heavens and pierced through one of the 300 revived gods. Not long after, swords covered with flames devoured and engulfed all of the revived gods, slaughtering them in just under a minute.

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

Beagan hurriedly cast a barrier. But he was left speechless at seeing more than 300 gods dying simultaneously.

‘Woah, shit! The EXP I got is amazing!’

Minhyuk was in awe. Thanks(?) to Beagan, he obtained a lot of EXP with just one single attack.

Calamity was a skill that he had to use carefully. He often carefully weighed the pros and cons before triggering the said skill. But in this situation, Minhyuk knew he would gain more using it.

“You bastard!!!” Beagan gritted his teeth. “Did you know how long I have been waiting for this day?!”

He has been waiting for this moment for almost ten thousand years.

[Sacrifice Authority.]

[In exchange for sacrificing his life and subjecting himself to eternal extinction, Beagan summons the Gods and the God-rank monsters from Hell.]

[If you kill the previous generation God of Death, his soul will be destroyed.]

Creak–!

A massive door appeared and opened right behind Beagan. If he got defeated here, Beagan would no longer be able to avoid extinction. Even so, he did not regret making such a choice.

The Gods and God-rank monsters who crawled out from the Gates of Hell once dominated the Land of the Gods. They charged straight toward the man when they stepped out of the gates.

When Beagan saw the man's desperation, he quickly began to use all of his skills.

Bang–!

Boom, boom, boom–!

The constant bombardment of attacks slaughtered the gods. But the rate at which the gods rushed out of the Gates of Hell was still much faster than the rate at which the man killed them.

Nevertheless, Minhyuk did not give up. Despite constantly being surrounded by the gods and receiving their attacks, he persisted and fought back.

“So, you’re doing this to protect the Land of the Gods?”

“???”

Beagan’s words went through one ear and out the other. Minhyuk was too busy and desperate to increase his Hunt Rate and EXP by at least 1%. Also…

‘The higher the Hunt Rate, the more delicious the ingredient!’

This thought was enough to motivate the staggering Minhyuk. In the end, Minhyuk’s body was devoured by countless charging gods’ attacks.

[Your HP has dropped below 10%.]

Despite his shaking arms, Minhyuk continued to swing his sword and cut down the enemies around him.

“Uwaaaaaaaah!!!” He shouted and used the remaining of his strength to attack his enemies.

‘He’s willing to go this far just(?) for the sake of the Land of the Gods?’

Beagan was in awe. However, the man could no longer handle the charging gods. In the end, he collapsed. But even though he was already in that state, he continued to swing his sword to cut one more god down.

“N– No…!” the man screamed.

A delighted smile settled on his face when Beagan heard the wretched scream.

“NOOOOOOO!!!” The man shouted in despair. But not long after, his expression changed. Then, he said, “Purify.”

Flash–!

A bright light burst out from his body, burning all the gods around him.

“...?”

Beagan looked at the man in shock.

The man sighed and stood up. Then, he looked nonchalantly at Beagan. Beagan had opened the Gates of Hell by using his soul as collateral. This meant that he would die now. Not long after, the light reached Beagan and began to burn his body.

“Phew. I almost died there.”

“...?”

Beagan could not understand what was happening. He said, “If– If you had that power, then why did you look so desperate as if you wanted to protect the Land of the Gods until your very last breath?!”

“???”

Minhyuk looked blankly at Beagan and said, “I just wanted to try it once?”

Beagan’s death was, in a sense, an actual death. After all, his soul would be destroyed.

“You little shit! You f*ck!@#!@#!!!”

Then, Beagan’s soul disintegrated.