Leveling Up through Eating

Chapter 1131

Supreme Rundalk had become arrogant after killing the Pillar Evaluators. Nevertheless, he continued experimenting with his powers first and learning about them more before pointing his sword at Chaos.

Back then, he chased after the hiding Pillar Candidates who had killed a lot of people or carried notorious reputations. During his experimentation, he had killed sixteen of the most brutal and vicious Pillar Candidates. At that time, Rundalk considered his deeds an act of justice and proof of his power. Now that he was looking back on it, he realized that perhaps it was foolish behavior.

“Today, that number will increase to seventeen.” Rundalk smiled bitterly.

Not long after, he raised his head and looked at Agintomachia, a being with the face of a human and the body of a black mantis above them. Despite the heavy and overwhelming force that Rundalk had sent, it could still squeeze half of its body from the space it ripped apart.

After listening to the story that rang in his ears, Rughamon knew that everything the man said was true. Even Duke Vakkaman, who was still pinned to the wall, was shocked. He almost shouted, ‘The Supreme…!’ out loud. While the young boy, Brelin, was looking at their Director Rundalk in shock.

Rundalk wanted to hide it from the children. He did not want them to see this part of him.

‘I don’t want them to know what kind of person I was.’

Even though he told them so, Rundalk did not want to show them his ridiculous power and strength.

“Kekekekekeke! Then, If I kill you, I will be one step closer to becoming a true Pillar.” Rughamon, who looked like a hollow skeleton, cackled.

Rundalk found the situation unusual. Of course, there was a reason why he chose to make a majestic and spectacular appearance.

‘If only…’

He looked down at the children’s wooden sword in his hands. Upon entering the venue of the World Cutie Competition, everyone was required to surrender their weapons. Only the knights and soldiers of the Luvien Empire were allowed to wear weapons inside the venue. But when Rughamon made the heads of the soldiers and the knights explode, he promptly threw their weapons out and locked the doors. In other words, he eliminated this risk factor.

Nevertheless, the master would never blame his tool.

‘This feels shitty. I’m being restricted.’

A children’s wooden sword was much smaller, shorter, and of poorer quality than ordinary wooden swords. If the sword in Rundalk’s hand were real, then Agintomachia would have already been screaming while his blood gushed out.

Regardless, there was only one way for them. And it was the only way to save everyone.

Rundalk, with the children’s wooden sword in hand, slowly went into position. When he was locked up in the Pandemonium’s Prison and was left to die slowly, he recalled the words that Minhyuk had told his daughter.

“Brelin.” With the white haze still spreading from his body, Rundalk stepped forward and said, “Close your eyes.”

“I don’t want to.”

Twitch–

‘Hmm? This shouldn’t be the case, right?’ Rundalk thought, his balance collapsing. Then, he turned to look at Brelin.

“I want to see what kind of person the director of Sprout Academy is.”

Rundalk finally smiled faintly after realizing that it was not some kind of rebellious attitude on Brelin’s part.

“Then, be careful.”

Then, he kicked the ground and leaped forward. Rundalk was fully aware of the situation.

‘This will be very difficult.’

It would be fine if he were alone. However, the teachers and children were being held hostage in this venue with him.

What made things even more complicated was that black magic could cast long-range attacks. In other words, he would have to fight back against them while protecting the children. And this was a challenging feat.

And there was also the fact that Rundalk had died after being confined in the Pandemonium’s Prison. He might have been brought back to life but lost almost 25% of his powers. In other words, he was no longer as powerful as the Supreme of the past.

As Rundalk destroyed the hundreds of black magic pouring down on them, he caught sight of worm-like things made from black mana toward the other people in the venue.

“Supreme. Once those worms dig into their bodies, those children will become my test subjects.” Rughamon laughed deeply. “Can you protect them?”

Stomp–!

Rundalk trampled on the crawling worms while his sword flew out and struck hundreds of worms that appeared all at once. The problem was the worms were constantly shooting out of Rughamon’s staff.

Meanwhile, Agintomachia had finally finished its descent. It immediately swung its mantis-like arms at the charging Rundalk.

‘Every single attack that Agintomachia makes also triggers mind control magic.’

Rundalk evaded the attack. He took a very unexpected action. He took a string and wrapped it around Agintomachia’s sharp arms. Then, he tugged the string and pulled the guardian god down with all his might.

Thud–!

He kicked the struggling Agintomachia’s upper body once before hitting him non-stop with the wooden sword in his hands.

Bang–!

There were no cuts on Agintomachia’s body because Rundalk used a wooden sword. Nonetheless, the impact of the blow, albeit weaker, sent Agintomachia flying toward Rughamon. This move made it so all of the attacks Rughamon sent toward Rundalk and the kids hit Agintomachia squarely in the chest.

Slash, slash, slash–!

Rughamon, who collided with the shrieking Agintomachia, rolled on the ground.

“Ugh!”

At the same time, the Supreme’s power stretched out from Rundalk’s hands.

“Supreme Swordsmanship. Chapter 1. Rampant Supreme.”

Slash, slash, slash–!

Hundreds of sword lights appeared in the air and immediately shot toward the reeling Rughamon and Agintomachia. Rughamon flinched unknowingly at the sight of the attack. Surprisingly enough, many of Rundalk’s sword lights missed the two.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh–!

Of course, quite a few attacks targeted Rughamon and Agintomachia, but most targeted the door behind them.

Rundalk frowned. “Damn it. The blade of the sword is far too short.”

The children’s wooden sword was almost half the size of an adult’s sword. In other words, Rundalk could not adapt quickly because of the difference in the weapons.

“K-keufufufufu! I see, so the Supreme is nothing but a f*cking shitty old man!” Rughamon laughed at Rundalk.

Rundalk shot a barrage of attacks again, but the results remained the same.

“Keuhahahahaha!” Rughamon cackled to the point where his belly started to ache.

‘What the hell? Is there such a shitty person?’

In the end, Rundalk could only sigh as he narrowed the distance between them. At that moment, Agintomachia suddenly opened its mouth and gathered a considerable force. With the children behind him, Rundalk could only charge forward to block Agintomachia’s attack.

“Keuaaaaaack!” Rundalk screamed as he endured the laser-like force that stretched out from Agintomachia’s mouth. He hurriedly grabbed the god’s mouth and turned him around to escape from the attack.

Bang–!

The force shooting out of Agintomachia’s mouth landed on the door behind it. Rundalk managed to avoid the attack easily but suffered greatly during the process. Blood was pouring out from the area that had been hit by the laser-like attack earlier.

At that moment, hundreds of attacks from Rughamon landed on Rundalk’s already bleeding body.

Slash, slash, slash–!

“I will never let you lay a hand on the children.”

Rundalk accepted all of the attacks with his body. He did not let a single one of the black magic attacks come their way to reach the children. He even used the power of the Supreme that nullified all of the magical attacks shooting toward them.

After blocking the attacks, Rundalk again charged forward and engaged in a fierce battle against Rughamon and Agintomachia.

“D-Director…?”

Brelin just could not understand. Why was their director allowing all of the attacks from his two opponents, attacks that he obviously could avoid, to land on his body? Considering the power of Agintomachia, a being from the legends, it was already very shocking to see Rundalk fight toe to toe with it and Rughamon simultaneously.

“Director, you’re going to die like that!”

If Rundalk continued to do that, he would die. Rughamon was ruthless and vicious after all.

“Wouldn’t it be much easier for you if we do it like this?”

[Rughamon’s Concentrated Attacks have been activated.]

[Rughamon and Agintomachia’s attacks will be focused on a single target!]

This was a power that Rughamon only used when he wanted to concentrate his attacks on a single enemy. The truth was Supreme Rundalk could nullify this power. Rundalk glanced at Brelin in the end, but he still accepted the attacks.

At that moment, the attacks, which were scattered all over the place, began to shoot toward Rundalk and Rundalk alone.

Bang, bang, bang–!

An overwhelming bombardment of magical attacks landed on Rundalk. Even Agintomachia’s power, which could rip apart his surroundings, was directed at him. Explosions erupted and devoured Rundalk’s body and made his blood spurt and gush out.

‘What the hell? What a monster.’

Not a single groan escaped from Rundalk’s mouth. And despite the blood covering his entire being, Rundalk grabbed the children’s wooden sword tightly and continued hitting Rughamon.

Boom–!

“Keok!” Rughamon groaned as a heavy blow landed on his body. However, he did not remain idle. He immediately sent an explosion of black magic at Rundalk.

Bang–!

Despite the barrage of attacks, Rundalk remained unfazed. He just stood there and looked at Rughamon nonchalantly.

Slash, slash, slash–!

Rundalk continued to swing his sword and hit Rughamon. Meanwhile, Agintomachia swung its sharp arms from behind and constantly cut Rundalk’s limbs. Regardless, the attacks did not make Rundalk stagger or stop.

One hit.

Slash–

Two hits.

Slash–!

Three, four… a hundred and forty hits. Rughamon, being hit non-stop, felt as if every bone in his body was broken. The pain was searing. He could not help but wonder if he could even be a match against the man hailed as the Supreme in front of him if he was holding an actual sword.

In the end, Rughamon could only flinch and cower from the pain of the non-stop beating. And when he caught sight of Rundalk’s gaze… fwoosh… goosebumps rose all over his body. The look in Rundalk’s eyes was frightening. It was like he was not a human but a bug. There was no fluctuation nor guilt in his eyes.

The gaze left Rughamon in fear. Unable to overcome the fear, he could only unleash a barrage of attacks.

Bang, bang, bang–!

The barrage of attacks eventually broke Rundalk’s left arm. The pain made the man stagger, but Rundalk remained unfettered and continued to hit Rughamon like crazy.

“Sp… spa…!” Rughamon shouted in terror.

Rundalk raised his sword and began to unleash an overwhelmingly heavy force.

Vwooooooong–!

Perhaps it was because his aim was off? The attack brushed Rughamon’s ears and landed on the door behind him.

“Spare me! Please, spare me! I BEG YOU!!!”

Rughamon had the upper hand. However, he was so terrified that he could only clasp his hands and beg the man before him.

Rundalk tried to swing his sword once again. Alas, his body had already reached its limits.

“Urk…!”

Just when he vomited a mouthful of blood…

[Agintomachia has started to control your mind.]

…Agintomachia’s mind-control magic succeeded. A dozen mind-control magic accompanied each attack from Agintomachia. Its mind-control magic would only work on opponents that were weaker than Agintomachia. In other words, opponents that he could undoubtedly control. Otherwise, it would only work if the opponent was near death.

The command that Agintomachia relayed through the mind control magic was ruthless.

[The Massacre Control has started.]

“Keuhahahahahahaa!” Rughamon laughed maniacally.

Agintomachia’s Massacre Control was a type of mind control that would force someone to slaughter every single being in the area who did not possess black mana.

Rundalk’s now black eyes turned to where the children were. Then, he began to walk toward them.

“This is my victory! Did you hear me?! Huh?! You f*cking bastard! You’re now going to kill the children who you have been working so hard to protect with your own hands!”

This is why black magic was considered unorthodox and immoral. Mind-control magic often forced someone to do something that should never have been done.

Rundalk slowly walked toward the children with the children’s wooden swords covered with Rughamon’s blood in his hands. At that moment, Brelin appeared with his hands spread open. He was blocking Rundalk’s path.

“D-Director…?”

Rundalk’s creepy black eyes looked down at Brelin. Then, he raised the wooden sword and struck the boy.

Slash–!

“Keuhaaaaaack!”

The other teachers from the Sprout Academy jumped forward and blocked Brelin, receiving the attack in the boy’s stead.

The attack from the Supreme was something that no ordinary human could endure. The teacher could only collapse on the ground. It felt like all the bones in his back were broken from that one strike. At that moment…

[The opponent is trying to resist your mind control.]

[The opponent is unable to break away.]

[The opponent is trying to resist your mind control.]

[The opponent is unable to break away.]

“Stop resisting. It is complicated to break the mind control of the Black Magic God.”

Rundalk once again raised the wooden sword in his hands. When Brelin saw this, he could tell his head would burst if this wooden sword landed.

“I’m fine.” Brelin hugged Rundalk. “Because this is not what the director wants.”

In that brief moment, Rughamon witnessed an incredible scene.

[The opponent has resisted your mind control.]

It was just one second. But in that one second, Rundalk could turn and throw the wooden sword in his hand toward Rughamon. Rughamon cackled. He could easily evade the attack by simply turning his body to the side. And the place where the wooden sword landed? The door behind him.

At the same time, Rundalk pushed Brelin away and immediately broke his right arm.

Crack–!

His left arm had been shattered earlier. Now, with his right arm equally broken, he was no longer able to attack the children with his hands. As Rundalk looked at Brelin, he shouted, “MINHYUK!!!”

Crack, crack, crack–!

At that moment, loud cracks began to spread in the venue. Not long after, the sound of something breaking echoed.

Clang– Clank– Bang–!

An explosion erupted from the place where Rundalk’s attacks landed.

BOOM–!

Someone walked out of the smoke and debris created by the explosion. This someone was none other than Minhyuk. He looked highly furious as he glared at Rughamon and Agintomachia.

‘Don’t tell me…’

Various scenes from earlier flashed in Brelin’s head. Then, he realized something.

The hundreds of sword lights that did not hit the target.

The frown as Rundalk gripped the small sword in his hand.

And the sword that he threw at Rughamon at the final moment.

Brelin turned to look at Rundalk, his pupils trembling. There was blood dripping constantly from the arm that he shattered to protect him.

Not long after, the story that rang at the appearance of the Supreme rang in Brelin’s ears once again.

[The Supreme never makes a mistake.]