Leveling Up through Eating

The outstanding characters of the Beyond the Heavens Empire were strangely motivated to attack Minhyuk. Every single one prepared to strike while Minhyuk continued to hit the egg again.

[The Growth Devourer will hatch in 1 minute 21 seconds.]

[Growth Devourer’s Egg. Durability: 184,003. Defensive Power: 44,300]

There wasn’t much time left, and Minhyuk activated Absolute Defense.

“Your Majesty! Your servant Brod will give all his might in attacking you! Mercenary’s Pinnacle Swordsmanship!”

“Hoho. This servant of yours will attack you with all I’ve got, Your Majesty. Uryaaah! Divine Pinnacle Spear!”

“Herakel! Herakel’s good at beating! Herakel will unleash my newfound strength. Three Hundred Ton Club!”

“One second. That’s how long it will take for Conir to cut Hyung. Heart Sword First Chapter!”

Their voices sounded excited, perhaps because they were thrilled.

Just like that, they all began to attack Minhyuk. Although Minhyuk did not suffer any damage thanks to the effects of the Absolute Defense, the impact was still transmitted to him as it was.

[You have accumulated Transcendence!]

[The system recognizes the attacker as a strong man!]

[You have accumulated Transcendence!]

[The system recognizes the attacker as a strong man…!]

[You have accumulated Transcendence!]

[...Transcendence!]

[...Transcendence!]

[...Transcendence!]

‘Wow… If Bender got hit with an attack when I’m in this state, then he’ll probably die in one go, no?’

Minhyuk was shocked by the notifications that were constantly ringing in his ears. He had never seen his Transcendence accumulate this fast.

“You’ve gone nuts! You’re crazy!” Varoghan shouted incredulously. No matter how he looked at it, there was no way this man’s trick would destroy the Growth Devourer’s Egg in just a minute. It was something that he could not bring himself to believe or think.

[You have accumulated a total of 35% of Transcendence!]

It only took eight seconds for Minhyuk’s Transcendence to reach 35%. The speed of accumulation was truly ridiculous.

From here on out, it could already be considered a problem. Why? Because Minhyuk’s Absolute Defense has ended.

“Your Majesty, please receive my Death Wolf!”

Hundreds of red sword lights flew toward Minhyuk and began to rip him apart.

Slash, slash, slash–!

The overwhelming attack hit Minhyuk squarely on the back, forcing him to stop his attacks on the egg.

“Keuaaaaack!!!”

“Heal! Heal! Heal! Heal! Heal!”

“Heal! Heal! Heal! Heal!”

As white lights continued to float from the priests’ fingertips, another baptism of skills fell upon Minhyuk.

Minhyuk was quite shocked by the attacks that came in succession. He thought, ‘My recovery cannot keep up.’

Even though Minhyuk’s defensive power has increased to a cheat-like level with the Transcendental Armor’s Black Dragon Armor form on and the STR and VIT stats, which he had built up by eating a variety of food, reaching an incredible level, his recovery still could not keep up with the speed at which his HP was dropping.

Minhyuk immediately grabbed Mandala’s potion and gulped it down.

Although there were high-ranking priests who could ignore the skill cooldown and time restriction in exchange for a lower recovery and Mandala’s potions, whose effects had been halved in exchange for the restriction's removal, the recovery they could bring was still limited. Fortunately, many priests were present, and they could take turns healing him.

Minhyuk’s face grew ugly. If things continued at this rate, then he would die. So, he immediately thought of a new trick.

“You’re really an idiot. Why would a human bear this kind of pain… Ack!!!”

It was to cut down Varoghan, who had screamed thrice in a row. The moment he struck Varoghan, beads made of blood appeared and got sucked into his body. These beads immediately restored Minhyuk’s HP.

‘The egg has a shell, so I can’t absorb its HP.’

But the living and breathing Varoghan was different. With the potions, the heals, and the absorption combined, Minhyuk was able to stabilize himself to some extent.

“Don’t stop!!!”

Thwack–!

Minhyuk glanced behind him when he felt something hit the back of his head again. And just like he said, Viel did not stop hitting him.

“G-good job.”

Viel slowly stretched his hand and gave him a thumbs up.

‘I’ll definitely deal with you later.’

The aggressive attacks from the vassals began once again. The vassals had used up quite a lot of their skills in over forty seconds. So, now, they were forced to stab and hit Minhyuk with their swords, spears, and even their blunt weapons.

“Your Majesty! Please take my sword!”

“Urk!”

“Please take the spear of this servant of yours!”

“Kghhk!”

“Hyung! I will hit you nicely!”

“I’m not a punching bag… kghhk…!”

“Herakel’s good at hitting!”

Thud–!

The loud thuds from their strikes made Minhyuk’s consciousness and spirit waver briefly. But thanks to their efforts, Minhyuk steadily accumulated Transcendence.

[You have accumulated Transcendence!]

[The system recognizes the attacker as a strong man!]

[You have accumulated Transcendence!]

[The system… a strong man!]

[You have accumulated Transcendence!]

[...Transcendence!]

[...Transcendence!]

[You have accumulated a total of 60% of Transcendence!]

But it was still not enough.

“Do it faster!!! Hit me harder!!!”

In ten seconds, the time for Minhyuk to accumulate Transcendence would end. The vassals immediately squeezed the last of their strength and attacked Minhyuk’s back with all their might.

“Uwaaaaaaah! Your Majesty, please take my sword!!!”

“This servant of yours is giving his all to stab your back!!!”

Thanks to their hard work(?), Minhyuk was able to rapidly accumulate Transcendence. Finally, the long-awaited notification rang in Minhyuk's ears, who had received a constant beating from them.

[The one-minute time limit to accumulate Transcendence has ended.]

[You have accumulated a total of 91% of Transcendence!]

“Stop!” Minhyuk cried loudly.

At the same time, everyone stopped in their tracks.

“Transcendence.”

Shwaaaa–!

A darker energy, darker than it had ever been, appeared around Minhyuk. Its existence alone made the air vibrate and the ground tremble.

The vassals looked at Minhyuk in surprise. It was not just them. Minhyuk was also surprised when he heard the notifications ringing in his ears.

[You have activated Transcendence!]

[You have transcended your limits!]

[You have transcended your limits!]

[...transcended your limits!]

[...transcended your limits!]

[You have gone beyond your limits and transcended to another realm!]

[The accumulated Transcendence has surpassed 90% for the first time.]

[You have received a special privilege. Transcendence will become 5% better.]

The notifications were different from usual. But that was not the end yet. A different set of notifications rang in his ears.

[The Transcendence’s buff effects have now been applied!]

[All of your stats have increased by 99%!]

[All of your attack power has increased by 91%!]

[All of your defensive power has increased by 78%!]

[All of your skill levels have increased by +5!]

[Your resistance to abnormal statuses has increased by 70%!]

[Your total HP and MP have increased by 80%!]

[The One who Maintains the Balance has restricted the accumulation of Transcendence. You can no longer accumulate Transcendence from the attacks of opponents recognized as allies.]

[Transcendence will remain in effect for thirty seconds!]

[Someone Anonymous has transcended the limits of a human being.]

[Someone Anonymous has transcended the limits of a God.]

[Someone Anonymous has transcended the limits of a Transcendental.]

A world message resonated all over the world.

Considering Minhyuk’s current level, stats, and attack power, his power could be equivalent to someone at Level 1,500. Even his skills’ levels had increased by +5.

Minhyuk dragged Varoghan back to the egg. Then, he raised his sword. The blade of his sword carried the word Destruction, shining more brilliantly than ever.

Bang–!

Lightning strikes fell upon Varoghan and the egg when Minhyuk swung his sword. The only difference was that the usual sixteen lightning strikes had turned into forty. It also dealt 3,000% additional damage!

Slash, slash, slash–!

With Transcendence in effect, Minhyuk’s speed has increased by several times. He could now swing his sword a dozen times per second. And every single strike was accompanied by lightning strikes that fell upon the egg. The egg’s durability, which he could only chip bit by bit earlier, had shown a noticeable decrease.

Nevertheless, the Transcendence’s duration and the egg’s hatching time were almost over.

[The Growth Devourer will hatch in 31 seconds.]

[Growth Devourer’s Egg. Durability: 109, 003. Defensive Power: 44,300]

[Transcendence will end in 17 seconds.]

A sense of urgency fell upon Minhyuk.

“Uwaaaaaaah!!!”

Despite the strain in his arms, Minhyuk swung his sword quickly and without any breaks. Minhyuk ignored the pain that pulsed in his muscles and squeezed all of his body's strength to continue swinging his sword.

[Transcendence will end in 10 seconds.]

Finally, Minhyuk was prepared to make his last move. It was a power that no one except Bender had ever seen.

Rumble–!

It was none other than the Transcendental’s Spear.

BANG–!

The black energy shot out of Minhyuk’s body, piercing the sky above them. This energy ran wild and created an explosion. Then, the exploded energy coalesced and formed a gigantic spear before Minhyuk.

Crack, crack, crack–!

The Transcendental’s Spear was a power that could deal an additional 33,000% damage to a single target. It was undeniably the strongest and greatest single-target attack skill in Minhyuk’s arsenal.

But now? The Transcendence had experienced a +5 increase in level. This meant that its power would be more significant. The desperate Minhyuk hoped against hope that this would be the case.

[Transcendental’s Spear.]

[The Transcendental’s Spear will deal an additional 83,000% damage with a 100% hit rate to the designated target.]

[The target will be left in an eight-second stunned state.]

Rumble, rumble–!

This gorgeous black spear, which looked like it could pierce through an elephant all at once, had shocking damage.

However, humans have something called “sense.” It was something that they were born with and was ingrained in their instinct. Just like an animal’s instinct. This sense was the reason why Varoghan was very confident.

“This- this is my victory! K- keuhahahahaha!”

Varoghan’s animal instinct told him that this was his victory. Even Minhyuk and his vassals could tell that even that spear could not pierce through that egg. This sense also told everyone present that breaking that egg with the remaining time would be impossible.

But they failed to take one thing into account. The system has the power to ignore these animal instincts and senses.

Minhyuk laughed. “Wrong.”

Rumble–!

A stronger and darker black energy was sucked into the black spear. This energy made it bigger and stronger. At the same time, a powerful force began to gather at the tip of the spear. One look and anyone could tell that this spear could pierce through anything.

Boom–!

A huge shockwave erupted the moment Minhyuk held the spear in his hands. At the same time, these notifications rang in his ears.

[Double Skill]

[You have a 1.2% chance of triggering Double Skill. Upon triggering, the skill’s effects will be doubled.]

Minhyuk’s hair fluttered from the wind created by the powerful shockwave that erupted from the spear in his hands. Then, he threw the spear at the egg with all his might.

BOOM–!

The spear collided with the egg.

The egg looked like it was struggling hard and did not want to be pierced by the spear. Meanwhile, the black energy that wrapped the tip of the Transcendental’s Spear fluctuated fiercely as it tried to penetrate through the egg’s shell.

Crack–!

A pleasant and very welcome sound rang in everyone’s ears.

Crack, crack, crack–!

The Transcendental’s Spear pierced through the egg and the wall behind it before flying out into the world.

BANG–!

Crack, crack– Crack, crack, crack–!

[You have successfully destroyed the Growth Devourer’s Egg.]

Cracks stretched out from the point where the spear pierced through the egg. Then, it began to crumble. When the egg crumbled, a series of notifications rang in Minhyuk’s ears.

[The Growth Devourer has taken the growth of many people as its nourishment.]

[The one who destroyed the Growth Devourer’s Egg will obtain the EXP that it has accumulated.]

“...!”

The notifications left Minhyuk in shock.

[You have gained 100 billion EXP.]

“...?”

Just when the thought, ‘It’s much less than what I expected.’ flashed in his head…

[You have gained 100 billion EXP.]

[You have gained 100 billion EXP.]

[You have gained 100 billion EXP.]

[You have gained 100 billion EXP…]

The sound of the following notifications, which were almost buried in the constant EXP acquisition notifications, left Minhyuk extremely delighted.

[Congratulations.]

[You are the first player to have reached Level 700!]