Chapter 238. Rune of Devouring
The condition for the Round 14 sub quest is simple.
Kill the Devouring Parasite within 5 minutes of it appearing.
Then the person with the highest contribution will receive the sub quest reward.
‘It’s not as easy as it sounds.’
When Ryu Min first learned the sub quest existed, even he had been dumbfounded.
How were you supposed to kill something that reflected 90% of damage within 5 minutes?
‘To kill it in 5 minutes, you’d need a hundred Master-rank Players to pile on and free-damage it.’
Then you could kill it in five minutes—no, in two.
But as long as the special rule that reflected 90% of damage existed, that would never happen.
‘They’d die to the reflected damage after one or two hits.’
And if you tried to hit carefully, there was the five-minute time limit.
‘Later I realized it. The Round 14 sub quest was designed so an ordinary person couldn’t clear it.’
Ryu Min tried this and that, but none of it worked.
Because the reflected damage was guaranteed damage that couldn’t be dodged or blocked.
Ah—there was one way to block it.
‘You use invincibility. That’s the only way to complete the sub quest.’
If he used the invincibility he’d received as the previous Round’s special reward, he could block even reflected damage.
He knew because he’d already tested it.
Maybe that was why Ryu Min’s steps toward the Devouring Parasite were so confident.
“Gururuk? Gureuk!”
Spotting Ryu Min, the Devouring Parasite let out a grotesque sound.
As if delighted by food walking up on its own, it flicked its tongue—and without any wind-up, it shot forward.
Papak-!
It was a speed that anyone with less than 1,000 Agility would inevitably get caught by, but—
‘Too bad my Agility is close to 300,000.’
Dodging the tongue, Ryu Min sprang upward, and in the blink of an eye he’d climbed all the way to the top of the Devouring Parasite’s head.
‘As long as I have invincibility, there’s no need to go easy on it.’
Still, it hurt his pride to go all-out against trash like this.
‘I’ll end it with one Moonlight Slaughter.’
Before that, Ryu Min used invincibility first.
[Temporary Skill ‘Invincibility’ activates.]
[You become immune to all damage for 60 seconds.]
[You have used a one-time skill.]
[The skill disappears from the skill window.]
The moment he felt his body being protected, he used Moonlight Slaughter.
Kiiiiiiiiing—
Then a flash flickered above the Devouring Parasite’s head.
KUKWAKWAKWAKWAKWAKWAANG-!
“Uaaaaaagh!”
The Devouring Parasite’s massive body exploded, and a vibration on the level of an earthquake surged outward.
When the startled players managed to steady themselves on the shaking grassland—
they saw a man standing through the hazy dust.
It was none other than Black Scythe.
[You have killed the Devouring Parasite!]
[There is a hidden sub quest!]
└Kill the Devouring Parasite within 5 minutes of it appearing
└On success ▶ Rune of Devouring awarded
[You have completed the sub quest!]
[As a sub quest reward, ‘Rune of Devouring’ is awarded!]
[The acquired rune is automatically engraved onto the player’s body!]
[Rune of Devouring]
-Effect: Experience and gold gained from killing monsters increase by 2x.
You gain stat points and Devouring stacks depending on the level of the monster you kill.
Additional effects are granted depending on the number of stacks accumulated.
└Stacks 100+ ▶ ?????
└Stacks 300+ ▶ ?????
└Stacks 1,000+ ▶ ?????
└Stacks 3,000+ ▶ ?????
└Stacks 10,000+ ▶ ?????
‘So this is when I finally get it. The Rune of Devouring.’
In the past, the one he’d killed—[Black Flame Dragon on the Right Hand]—had possessed a similar rune.
‘A rune that gives stats when you kill Players or monsters.’
The difference was that the Rune of Devouring applied only to monsters.
‘That doesn’t mean it’s a strictly worse version. It grants additional effects by stack thresholds.’
Unlike other things, Rune of Devouring stacks weren’t something you filled to a certain amount and then consumed.
They accumulated continuously.
So you could think of the effects gained through stacks as a kind of permanent buff.
‘The reward for killing the Devouring Parasite will come in when the results are tallied.’
Ryu Min turned with a grin—and saw that everyone’s gaze was fixed on him.
Every face looked stunned.
“To deal with that huge monster in an instant…”
“M-maybe it was weaker than we thought? Hahaha…”
“It looked strong at a glance…”
Looking at the corpse that had been reduced to mush—no, partly erased in places—players shuddered.
Because no one here had confidence they could kill it in one blow like Black Scythe.
Then, perhaps because the Devouring Parasite had been killed, the rule was revealed belatedly.
[You have killed the Devouring Parasite and safely completed the main quest!]
[The special rule for the 10th wave is revealed.]
<Special Rule: 90% of the damage the Devouring Parasite receives is reflected.>
“What? 90% damage reflection?”
“Then Black Scythe killed it with only 10% damage?”
“…That was only 10% of his strength?”
“But it’s reflected damage, right? Then why does he look totally fine?”
People stared with eyes full of shock and questions, but he had no obligation to answer.
From their perspective, they should be grateful enough that he saved their lives.
‘If I hadn’t stepped in, there would’ve been thousands of casualties.’
[The duration of Temporary Skill ‘Invincibility’ has ended.]
Maybe a minute had passed, because the invincibility buff wore off.
In truth, he hadn’t needed even a minute.
He’d only needed a single second—just enough time to endure the reflected damage.
‘In that case, now…’
Ryu Min’s gaze landed on Sosohan Mukbang, who was being suppressed by the four men.
‘Time to go back to reality and beat that bastard half to death.’
Maybe Mukbang saw Ryu Min’s nasty smile—his cheek fat trembled violently.
‘W-What… what is this? What the hell is this…?’
Even when the four men had surrounded him, Sosohan Mukbang had been on the verge of exploding in rage.
He couldn’t move, and people around him were looking at him like he was some kind of homosexual.
It was unfair, but he could grit his teeth and endure it somehow.
Because the 10th wave he’d been waiting for was right in front of him.
In the chaos, there would definitely be a chance to escape.
But that belief shattered to pieces.
‘They said there’d be chaos when the 10th wave starts, but X damn it—what chaos…’
Even when a boss-class monster called the Devouring Parasite appeared, he’d thought, There it is.
It looked strong as hell at a glance.
He could vividly imagine it massacring countless players and plunging everything into confusion.
‘That must’ve been the kind of “chaos” the archangel meant. But…’
That chance never came in the first place.
Because Black Scythe stepped in and cleaned it up neatly.
‘I’m screwed. It’s all screwed.’
The Devouring Parasite died, and the 10th wave ended too.
Judging by the guys gripping his limbs, it didn’t look like they had any intention of letting go until the very end.
‘I have to warp Black Scythe… I have to, so I can leave the survival game too, like promised… damn it!’
Because of these lunatics, his plan fell apart without him even getting to try.
He ground his teeth—but only for a moment.
The instant he saw Black Scythe staring at him and grinning, a crackling shock ran through his whole body.
‘D-don’t tell me… he knew?’
It wasn’t just his imagination.
Black Scythe was looking straight at him and laughing.
As if he knew everything.
‘T-Then the guys holding me down… all of them too…?’
They’d been tying him down on Black Scythe’s orders?
“Ah.”
Only now did every question get answered.
Why strangers with no connection had latched onto him and kept him from moving.
Why Black Scythe was laughing at him.
‘He knew everything. Even the plan to forcibly warp him to the Heavenly Realm.’
Otherwise, there was no reason he’d keep him restrained from this far away.
“Hahaha… I’m completely done for.”
He felt like an idiot in an instant.
Sosohan Mukbang let out a hollow laugh, then bit down hard on his lip.
No matter what, it was probably Black Scythe’s turn now.
To retaliate against him.
‘Me… you think I’m just going to take it like this?’
The anger he’d been holding back began to seep upward.
The moment he thought of the item in his inventory, a warp book was immediately in his left hand.
‘If I can’t send Black Scythe away, then I have no choice but to send some other bastard away.’
He pressed the book against the body of Yang Chiwen, who had been holding his left arm.
“Ra Krasi Betanium!”
“……”
He shouted boldly, but nothing happened.
‘W-was that not the spell?’
People around him were staring with strange looks.
“Ra Krasi Betanom!”
“……”
“Ra Crash Betaom!”
The more he recited spells, the more attention he drew.
“What is he saying?”
“Isn’t that the gay guy from earlier?”
“Did he get hit in the head during the fight or something?”
“I knew he was weird.”
Even amid the ridicule, Mukbang fought desperately to remember the activation phrase.
‘Damn it, what was it? Betanom? Betaom? What’s wrong? I definitely memorized it!’
Maybe because he was panicking, his mind went blank.
He couldn’t even tell which part was wrong.
‘Black Scythe is looking this way!’
He might try to stop him.
Before that, he had to recite it correctly—fast…
‘Ah! I remember.’
Sosohan Mukbang pressed the book and shouted.
“Ra Grasi Betaom!”
In that moment, a dark red light spilled out from the purple orb embedded in the book.
Seeing a reaction, it looked like the phrase had finally worked.
‘Got it. With this, I’ll send at least one of them to the Heavenly Real—’
Mukbang’s thought didn’t continue.
Because a purple hand suddenly burst out of the orb and yanked Yang Chiwen in.
“Kuaaaaaaagh!”
Crrrk—crrrrk!
Each time his body was pulled into the orb, the sound of bones snapping rang out.
Crrrk—KWA-DRRRRDK—!
When that horrifying sound finally stopped, Yang Chiwen’s body had already been sucked into the orb.
‘W-What… what was that? What did I just see?’
His left arm was free now, but Mukbang couldn’t bring himself to move easily.
‘D-did he get warped to the Heavenly Realm? But if it’s a warp, why did it look so painful?’
It was strange—but it wasn’t over.
“Uaaaaaagh!”
“Kkeuhaaaaaagh!”
Multiple hands burst from the orb, grabbed Dark Soul, Jang So-wi, and Spaniard by the head, and dragged them inside.
Along with the sound of bones being ground up, like being fed into a threshing machine.
Crrrdrk—ppadrk—
And Sosohan Mukbang wasn’t an exception.
Thuk-!
A demonic grip seized Mukbang’s leg and dragged him into the orb.
KWA-JA-RAK—KWA-DUK!
“Kkeu—uuaaaagh!”
As his leg was sucked into the tiny orb, a horrible pain tore through him.
“S-someone… save—!”
Only after his head went completely inside did nothing remain around the book.
There were only players left, staring at the situation with dumbfounded faces.
“What did I just see?”
“The five people who were just there got sucked into the orb.”
“What the hell just happened?”
Leaving the questions behind, the book floated up into the air on its own.
Woooong—
A blood-colored magic circle formed around the book, then with a soft pop, the orb detached.
“What is that?”
“Uh?”
“It’s getting bigger?”
The orb swelled like a balloon, growing until it was about the size of a person.
Inside the orb was a shadow.
A shadow with a human shape.
Crrrk—crrk!
Cracks began to spread across the orb’s surface, then—
Pachang-! It shattered, spraying fragments.
And what appeared along with it was—
[It has been a long time. Since I last breathed the air of the human realm.]
A demon, with bat-like wings and a tail.
Michael hurried to find Gabriel.
Because he wanted to know whether the plan had been carried out.
[How did it go? Did you make contact with the Player Lady Nemesis chose?]
[Of course. As planned, I met the guy and handed him the Demon’s Resurrection Tome. I deceived him into thinking it was a book that could warp someone to the Heavenly Realm.]
[Did he believe that?]
[He did. Without much suspicion, too.]
‘Tch. So it really went exactly as Gabriel’s plan.’
This was bad.
If the human they’d ordered approached Black Scythe and used the Resurrection Tome, then Michael’s wish would end here.
No matter how strong Black Scythe was, if he became a sacrifice to the Resurrection Tome, that was the end.
Perhaps misunderstanding Michael’s worried expression, Gabriel spoke in a calm tone.
[Do not worry, Michael-nim. Things will proceed smoothly.]
[Is there any chance of failure?]
[Who do you think I am? To reduce the chance of failure, I deliberately told him it only activates if you press it against the body.]
[Then he’ll try to use it while stuck close to him.]
[Exactly. Originally, it activates as long as you’re within a 10-meter radius.]
If the ordered Player used the book, then all Players within a 10-meter radius would be sucked into the orb as sacrifices.
Even Black Scythe.
[Most likely, Black Scythe’s soul is already inside the Resurrection Tome’s orb as a sacrifice, in the Demon Grand Duke’s embrace. Since we delivered such a splendid sacrifice as a gift, even if he used the tome on his own, the Grand Duke won’t have any complaints.]
[That’s probably true.]
He answered smoothly, but Michael’s expression still didn’t relax.
Though, this was only because he was worried Black Scythe might die.
[Are you still worried?]
[You definitely hid the item information, yes? And you delivered the item and the activation phrase exactly?]
[Of course. Before handing over the Resurrection Tome, I saved the info window. Would you like to check it once?]
[Do so.]
As Michael nodded, the item info window that Sosohan Mukbang had received appeared in front of him.
[Demon’s Resurrection Tome]
-Category: Consumable
-Grade: God
-Effect: Descent of the Demon Grand Duke’s incarnation
-Usage Restriction: Master rank or above
-Description: An item that can devour sacrifices within a 10m radius and summon the Demon Grand Duke’s incarnation. However, the descended incarnation is weakened to 1/100 of the main body.