Leveling Up through Eating

Chapter 1190

For Conir, Herakel was like an older brother, a hyung. The two slept together in the same room and would always talk with each other before going to bed.

–Conir will sell more tomorrow.

–Me too! I’ll sell more tomorrow, too, Conir. We’re rich now.

–Wow! We’re rich now!

The two would excitedly talk about how rich they were before falling asleep together in the same bed. Then, they would wake up early and wash their faces together. On their way to work, Herakel would always carry Conir, who would either nod off or rub his eyes sleepily while on Herakel’s back.

The two were always together. That was why Conir was missing Herakel deeply right now. Even though Conir knew that Herakel was not in the Beyond the Heavens Empire right now, he was still looking for him all over the empire.

Some people called them the Idiot Brothers. Others hated Herakel, who only knew how to break things and cause accidents daily. Herakel failed to control his strength again recently and destroyed the stables, causing the horses to escape. Because of that, Conir thought he was the only one who wanted Herakel. That was why he ran around alone to look for him.

Conir frantically searched the empire for Herakel and suddenly encountered a baby piggy with a bulging belly.

“Oiiink. Oiink…” The baby piggy looked at Conir with a bitter smile on his face.

“Kihyeeee…? Kihyeee…” The dragon, Luna, looked at Conir and called out awkwardly.

‘Herakel’s not here either.’

Conir ran again, this time into Grandpa Ben, the Spear God. Grandpa Ben always scolded Herakel for the loud thumps he made whenever he walked around.

–This rascal. The ground is shaking. Hoho.

Grandpa Ben just smiled faintly and stroked Conir’s head.

Conir ran into Brod next. He had scolded Herakel just recently for breaking the stables. Brod, who was wiping the blade of his sword, patted Conir on the shoulder and smiled at him.

He ran past everyone just like that.

“Herakel! Where are you?! We have to open the store. Where are you?!”

Conir, who was searching for Herakel, encountered a lot of people. At one point, he had started crying. Conir was a boy with an intellectual disability. To him, Herakel was one of his real friends.

He was deeply fond of Herakel, and it occurred to him that perhaps not everyone felt the same fondness and affection for the huge man as he did. Conir, who felt as if he was alone in the darkness, continued to cry. “Herakel… Conir… misses you…”

Then, Haze gathered everyone.

–Based on what His Majesty told us, we believe Herakel is on another continent. There’s also a high chance that Hera has him. We believe she’s on par or perhaps even stronger than the Absolute Gods of our continent.

Conir interpreted Haze’s words like this: Hera was someone they could not reach. She was someone that even Conir, the Sword God, could not deal with. So, they had to accept the fact that Herakel was gone. However, Conir could not accept such a conclusion. He grabbed the hilt of his sword tightly. Even if he had to go alone, he would save Herakel.

“Conir.” That was when Haze spoke. Then, light breached the darkness that wrapped Conir.

When he looked up, a huge crowd gathered around him. There was the woman who sold fruits, the man who sold sandwiches right next to their store, the man who sold potions, the elderly couple who always greeted Herakel daily, and the executives of the Beyond the Heavens Empire.

That was right. Conir’s interpretation was wrong. Spear God Ben had already finished his preparations. Brod had already wiped the blade of his sword and was ready for battle. Even Beanie and Luna were prepared to go right away.

There were a lot of people in the Beyond the Heavens Empire who were very worried about Herakel.

“We’re all done with our preparations.”

“How about you, Conir?”

At that moment, Conir realized that even if their opponent was an Absolute God-level individual, even if the opponent was out of their reach, the Beyond the Heavens Empire was all done preparing and ready to fight.

“Conir’s done preparing!” Conir shouted out.

***

Minhyuk had never felt fury like this before.

Hera had brainwashed Herakel and forced him to kill his wife and his children with his own hands. Even worse, Hera made him pay for his ‘sin’ by giving him eleven difficult tasks. Shockingly, he was able to accomplish them. Finally, the manipulative and shrewd Hera wanted him to die in the final task.

Rocado had asked Minhyuk to take care of Herakel. As time passed, Minhyuk came to consider Herakel to be like family. That was why he wanted to save him, and that was also why he started all seven trials simultaneously.

In a way, it might seem like he had lost his temper. Yet that was not the case at all. This was a foothold, a springboard for the plan that Minhyuk wanted to carry out.

[Nemesis’ Lion. Level 879.]

[Gaia’s Hydra. Level 899.]

[Artemis’ Deer. Level 868.]

[Erymanthius’ Boar. Level 931.]

[Stymphalian Lake’s Monstrous Bird. Level 973.]

[Cretan Bull. Level 869.]

When Minhyuk cut down the Nemesis’ Lion, this notification rang in his ears:

[The Nemesis’ Lion is a being that does not die!]

“You f*cking b*tch, you dared to touch my younger brother. I will never let you go.”

Minhyuk wanted to punish and crush Hera thoroughly and return to every suffering that she had caused Herakel. He immediately summoned the Immortal Knight Order.

Watching over the dungeon in an invisible state, Hera could not help but laugh when she saw the twenty or so Immortal Knights.

‘Did he say that this guy is the Battle God?’

She had heard stories about the Battle God. She knew he was the god who ruled and governed all armies. Yet the people that this man, who was said to be one of the Absolute Gods ruling over all armies, looked completely insignificant.

Why did Hera think that they were nothing? This was because they were wearing nothing but shabby helmets and torn capes. Even their swords were covered with rust and looked dull. Someone among them looked small and frail, with red hair peeking out of her helmet. On the other hand, the monsters in Hera’s Dungeon were all legendary beings in the Gaia Continent.

Not long after, the Cretan Bull charged toward the twenty or so Immortal Knights. However, the knights just stared at the bull.

‘They can’t even react to the bull’s charge?’ Hera smirked.

The Cretan Bull was gigantic, but it was also uncharacteristically fast. From what it looked like, these people could not even react to it, as it was as fast as lightning.

Hera believed the Cretan Bull would soon trample on them and send them flying away. But the small and frail woman among the knights stepped forward. Her sharp and piercing glare that peeked through the gaps in her helmet landed on the Cretan Bull.

“M- moooo…!”

The Cretan Bull felt overwhelmed by the heavy killing intent that engulfed its entire being. It tried to slow down and stop, but it was too late. The woman’s sword had already cut through its body. Blood spurted out of the gigantic body of the Cretan Bull. The lady knight looked nonchalantly at the Cretan Bull, which failed to stop in its tracks and could only slip on the ground.

Only after Hera had witnessed everything unfold did she realize something.

‘It’s not that they cannot react…’

Hera’s eyes snapped open.

‘It’s because they think it’s not worth evading?’

The small and fragile knight was none other than Hegemon King Ellie. Now that she was already an Absolute Demigod, she was not someone that the Cretan Bull could dare to approach recklessly.

Finally, the knights, who Hera thought were weak and insignificant, started moving. All of them shot out at the same time.

The Hydra, much stronger than its counterpart on the other continent, spat out a poison that could melt flesh.

Sizzle–!

The biggest problem about this Hydra was that its head would grow again if its opponent failed to cut off all its head in 0.9 seconds.

“Kihyeeeeeck!”

“Kihyeeeeeeeee!”

“Kihyeeeeeck!”

The Hydra kept on spewing green poison from its mouths. But nine knights had already appeared in front of each Hydra head. Among them were Mercenary King Venteio, Sword God Valen, Great Demon Gremory, Overlord Raldo, the Dragon King, and Elven King Argon.

At that moment, the Stymphalian Lake’s Monstrous Bird suddenly cried out, “Kihyeeeeeeeck!”

[Monstrous Bird’s Cry.]

[The Monstrous Bird’s Cry increases its allies’ defensive power by 30% and HP by 20%.]

The Monstrous Bird had the power to give out buffs. The Hydra’s body grew even more challenging when it used its power. But it was no use.

Slash–!

Swoosh–!

Slash, slash, slash–!

Thud– Thud, thud, thud–!

The Hydra’s heads began to fall off one after another. It just took 0.5 seconds for them to cut off the Hydra’s heads. Hera’s jaw dropped open as she watched the Hydra’s eight heads fall at the same time. Unfortunately for them, the head in front of Argon did not fall off.

Fwoosh–!

Their heads regenerated once again. However, the Hydra was already terrified.

Then, at that moment, Minhyuk said, “Duplicate the Eight Trial. Duplicate the Ninth Trial.”

Monsters did not usually appear in every trial, but Hera had modified the rules so that some trials would have monsters stronger than the ones Herakel killed when performing his tasks.

Dozens of man-eating horses appeared and charged toward the knights. But none of them were their opponents. When Hera saw this, she felt a bit nervous.

‘He’s treating these strong powerhouses as his subordinates?’

Hera was a god with great pride. But even for her, it was completely unacceptable for someone from another continent to become the God of Heroes. To top it off, this man was Herakel’s master.

Not long after, a smirk graced Hera’s face. In the end, Hera was the master of this dungeon. Of course, she would have to pay the price if she increased the dungeon’s difficulty level as she pleased. However, if she could present higher rewards to the opponent after increasing the difficulty level, she would not need to pay the price.

However, assuming that this dungeon would never collapse, then… Hera raised the level of difficulty without any scruples.

[Hera, the owner of the dungeon, requests the help of one of the Twelve Gods of Olympus, Poseidon.]

[Poseidon can descend for two minutes in Hera’s Dungeon.]

[Upon his descent to Hera’s Dungeon, Poseidon’s abilities will drop by 25%.]

[Hera has raised the dungeon’s level of difficulty as she pleased. She might have to pay the price for what she did.]

[Hera has increased the dungeon’s level of difficulty moving forward. You will be able to receive bigger and greater rewards.]

[If you clear Hera’s Dungeon, you can obtain one of her accessories.]

[The Golden Apple will become more outstanding and possess far greater power.]

A considerable force suddenly erupted inside the dungeon. Inviting Poseidon to the dungeon also cost Hera a lot. She had to work for one hundred days at sea just to get him there. But if she could make that bastard into Hades’ eternal slave, then the story would be different.

Hades, Hera, and Poseidon were all in a contractual relationship. If this bastard bit the bait she threw and died, then the price she had to pay for summoning Poseidon here would disappear.

Since Poseidon was one of the Twelve Olympus Gods, a long notification window appeared in front of Minhyuk the moment he appeared.

[The Twelve Gods of Olympus’ Descent.]

[An overwhelming and heavy force weighs down on you and suffocates you.]

[All of your abilities will decrease by 25%.]

[The overwhelming force lowers your morale by 20%.]

[You have an invincible body that can ignore and resist all kinds of abnormal states.]

[You have resisted an abnormal state.]

Fortunately, Minhyuk possessed an invincible body. As he assessed the situation, he could not help but release a shaky breath.

‘Is this the power of one of the best gods of Gaia Continent?’

[God of the Sea Poseidon. Level 1,031.]

What was even more surprising was the fact that Poseidon’s abilities had been decreased by 25%. This meant Poseidon could exert power on par with someone at Level 1,300. The problem was, unlike Minhyuk, the members of the Immortal Knight Order could not resist abnormal states.

[Tidal Wave.]

[Poseidon’s Tidal Wave will devour anything and everything within a 300-meter radius and could deal an additional 24,000% damage per second.]

A massive tidal wave appeared in the dungeon and swept away the members of the Immortal Knight Order. The worst part was hundreds of spears were hidden inside the tidal wave that pierced through their chests.

Minhyuk saw the twenty members of the Immortal Knight Order being recalled in just an instant. Even if they were under the influence of an abnormal state, they were still strong. This meant that the force of the tidal wave was ridiculously strong to the point that it could reverse their summons.

And it was not just them. Even Minhyuk, swept away by the tidal wave, saw his HP dropping rapidly.

‘It ignores all defenses?’

Even the Silver Dragon Armor did not function properly when faced with such power. When he was on the brink of death, Hera, as usual, reached out. This was so she could escape paying the price for summoning Poseidon here.

[Hera makes an offer to you.]

[In exchange for increasing the level of difficulty of the dungeon, she will allow you to summon someone, even a god, that you know.]

[If you accept the offer, Hera will not receive any restrictions for inviting Poseidon into her dungeon.]

[However, if Hera’s Dungeon collapses, she will have to pay the price for increasing the dungeon’s level of difficulty as she pleases.]

Hera snickered as she watched Minhyuk and the knights flounder, swept away by the tidal wave Poseidon summoned. She was confident that Minhyuk would have no choice but to accept her offer.

[The Dungeon Challenger accepts your offer.]

The truth was that Minhyuk had planned and designed it to lead to this outcome.

The first part of his plan was deliberately superimposing most of the trials. The second part of his plan was to summon the Immortal Knight Order and overwhelm the dungeon's monsters. The third part of the plan was to silently and secretly wait for Hera to make an offer so that she could compensate him for her not to pay the price.

Flash–!

A light beam fell from the sky and shot straight through the tidal wave. The man, engulfed by that light, held Minhyuk’s hand and saved him from the ravaging wave before placing him on the ground. After doing all of that, the man shot out.

Slash, slash, slash–!

None of them could even see the man’s figure. Even Poseidon failed to react against his opponent. The man’s sword was a step faster. He had already swung his blade before Poseidon could even move a finger.

“Heaven Destroyer.”

[Heaven Destroyer.]

[The overwhelming force will deal an additional 37,000% damage to the designated target.]

The man, whose sword could rip apart and kill even the heavens, slashed and tore apart one of the Twelve Gods of Olympus, Poseidon.

“K-keuhaaaaaaaack!”

An ear-piercing scream rang in the dungeon. At the same time, Hera locked eyes with the newcomer.

[The Transcendental’s Energy overpowers all the enemies in the surrounding area!]

That was right; the one Minhyuk called was none other than Transcendental Bender.

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