Chapter 446 - Ragnarok (4)

“Haaa,” Oh Kang-Woo exhaled heatedly.

He scrunched up and licked his lips. He touched the goat horns that sprouted on his forehead and then extended his arm.

Fwoosh!

The Flames of Voracity burned from the ends of his fingers and began to slowly spread. His arms were now covered in flames— no, they became fire itself.

‘More.’

This was not enough. He needed to make flames that would set his entire body ablaze, just like when he fought against Tai Wuji.

‘More, more, more.’

The thirst strangled Kang-Woo. The hunger was burning him from within. He opened his mouth and stared at Odin as he stuck out his tongue.

“You... should be enough, right?” Kang-Woo asked.

Odin would allow him to reach far greater heights.

Odin stared at Kang-Woo with a stiff expression. A condensed storm raged around Gungnir’s edge. He slurred, “You...”

Odin’s blue eyes slightly trembled and a chill ran down his spine.

‘Demon.’

There was no better way to explain Kang-Woo, who was covered in black flames.

“Right?” The demon opened his mouth even wider and smiled.

His yellow irises filled with madness stared at at Odin. He lightly bent his knees and leaped.

Boom—!

Kang-Woo shot toward Odin along with a massive sonic boom. He pulled back his fist covered in the Flames of Voracity and pushed it forward.

Fwoosh—!

The flames of Voracity shot at Odin like a cannonball.

“Kuh!”

Odin bit his lip anxiously. He did not know what those flames were, but he could instinctively tell that he should not touch them. “Haap!”

He swung Gungnir upward. The storm raging around its edge absorbed and then deflected the Flames of Voracity. The wind mixed with the flames shot upward like a pillar.

“A mere demon...”

Odin’s one eye shone.

Crack. Rip.

His armor burst as his muscles swelled. They swelled up to a point unbelievable for an old man. His muscles squirmed as if they were alive. Odin raised Gungnir high, causing an enormous storm to rage around them.

Odin roared, “Dares to undermine a god?!”

His voice was so loud that it could overpower the storm. Kang-Woo bent backward and snapped his finger. A golden energy wrapped around the area and prevented Odin’s roar from spreading.

“Yeah.” Kang-Woo smiled. “That’s more like it.”

He laughed brightly and pulled out Ingrium attached to his waist. He raised his right arm to the side and tapped the ring on his middle finger.

“Come on out,” Kang-Woo called Slushy, who was sleeping within the Key of the Demonic Sea.

However, Slushy did not come out of the ring no matter how long Kang-Woo waited.

‘The hell?’

Kang-Woo frowned aggressively in irritation.

“Are you in your rebellious phase?” he asked the ring as he looked down at it.

Slushy did not respond. He would usually bounce out of the ring and cling to him, but he was not doing so.

Kang-Woo bit his lip. He could tell that something had gone wrong. As he was in his thoughts, his demonic horizontal goat pupils with yellow irises turned back to his usual eyes with round pupils and black irises.

Fwoosh!

“Fuck.”

The Flames of Voracity ate away at Kang-Woo before he even had a chance to regain control over it. His unfathomable hunger was eating away at his sanity. His burning desire was turning his sense of reason to ash.

“Argh...”

𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Kang-Woo lowered his head with his hand on his forehead. His desire was running out of control like a racing truck with malfunctioning brakes. No matter how hard he tried to suppress it, his unleashed desire was burning him at an alarming rate.

“Haaa, haaa, haaa,” Kang-Woo panted heavily. His eyes, which had momentarily returned to those of a human, reverted back to his demonic goat eyes. “Fuuu.”

His head turned blank and was filled with hunger.

‘What was I thinking about again?’

He did not remember— no, he did not feel the need to remember. His mind was hazy despite not opening the Doors.

‘I have to... become stronger.’

Only his desire burned brightly within his hazy consciousness.

‘I’m not good enough yet.’

At this rate, he would not be able to reach the point that he wanted. He needed to walk forward even more. No, he needed to run. Only then...

Kang-Woo gritted his teeth. The Flames of Voracity covering his arms grew larger. Ingrium burned with the Flames of Voracity.

“Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!!” Kang-Woo roared.

He swung Ingrium at Odin holding Gungnir. The giant flames poured out from the demonic sword’s edge and burned space itself.

“Hup!” Odin inhaled shortly.

He gripped Gungnir with both hands and swung it around like a windmill.

Whoosh—!

An enormous storm surged from Gungnir and mixed with the Flames of Voracity. A powerful heat storm slightly extinguished the Flames of Voracity covering Kang-Woo’s arms. Odin’s blue eye shone.

Boom!

Odin stomped his foot and lowered his stance with the spear shaft under his armpit.

“Die.”

Crackle—!!

The storm condensed around Gungnir’s edge and blue lightning crackled within it. The lightning was so powerful and blinding that Thor’s lightning could not be compared to it. Odin then straightened his knees from his lowered stance and twisted his torso.

“Gungnir.”

He thrust Gungnir forward. The condensed lightning storm and Gungnir’s edge burned bright red.

“Heh.” Kang-Woo smiled as he stared at the spear flying at him.

Badump, badump.

His heart was beating uncontrollably and sparks of ecstasy ran down his back.

‘Yeah.’

Kang-Woo was reminded of his battle against Tai Wuji.

‘This is it.’

He had been craving this feeling— this exhilarating sense of despair.

“Kihi,” Kang-Woo laughed as the corners of his mouth ripped to his earlobes.

He stuck his tongue out and extended his left arm forward.

Stab.

Gungnir’s edge pierced Kang-Woo’s left hand. The Flames of Voracity began to eat the immense power contained in Gungnir’s edge.

Crack, crunch!

However, the speed at which Gungnir was piercing through Kang-Woo was faster than Kang-Woo absorbing the power within Gungnir. His left arm was ripped open completely as Gungnir continued to drill into him. Kang-Woo quickly raised his right arm, but even that was ripped apart in less than a second.

Stab.

“Kurgh.”

Gungnir shot through Kang-Woo’s heart after he lost both of his hands. A giant hole was made from under his collarbone to just above his belly button, obliterating his organs in the area.

“Arghh...” Kang-Woo crouched. “Not... enough.”

Wriggle.

Although almost half of his body had been obliterated, his destroyed organs began to regenerate at an incredible rate. The speed transcended logic as if Kang-Woo had opened the Doors.

‘Or had I opened them already?’

Kang-Woo did not know nor did he want to know. He did not feel the need to.

“A little more...”

His thirst burned his throat. He looked at Odin as if begging him. It didn’t matter whether or not the Doors were open. Kang-Woo only cared about one thing.

“For...ward. For...ward.”

It was to walk toward the prey in front of him without breaking down.

“I...”

Kang-Woo had to win. He could not afford to lose. If he were to fall apart... If he were to lose...

“I have... to... win.”

Wriggle.

Black mucus gathered and regenerated his destroyed organs. He leaped forward once he was fully healed.

Odin extended his right arm, completely expressionless. Gungnir, which had drilled through Kang-Woo, flew back into his hand. Anyone would have been bewildered by a monster whose body instantly regenerated from a fatal wound, but Odin did not falter.

“If you will not die,” Odin remarked as his blue eye shone with blazing spirit. “I will keep killing you until you do.”

Whir—!

Gungnir’s edge began to divide until thousands of them filled the sky.

“Haaaaaaap!!”

Boom!

Odin’s white hair fluttered in the wind. His muscles swelled to the point that they would explode. He twisted his torso back and threw his spear with all his might at the demon charging at him. The thousands of spear edges filling the sky poured down like rainfall on the demon.

Kang-Woo looked up into the sky at the thousands of spear edges.

“Burn,” he commanded with Soul Speech.

The Flames of Voracity covering his arms burned even stronger.

“Burn, Burn. Burn. Burn. Burn.”

He used Soul Speech over and over again as if he were singing. The flames around his arms spread out like a net.

━━━━━━━━━━━━!!

Thousands of spear edges collided with the net of fire. The explosion that transcended sound shook the World Tree.

“Kurgh!”

Odin quickly stepped back from the explosion that distorted and tore apart space itself.

Crack, crack!

“What the...”

However, he could see the monster, who was still charging at him despite his body being torn apart by the distorted space.

Crunch!

The monster ate Odin’s right arm before he could do anything. The Top-rank Deific Essence barrier was negated all too easily by the monster’s teeth as they dug into Odin’s flesh.

“Kurghhhhh!!” Intense pain traveled up Odin’s arm. He bit his lip and raised his left arm. “You fucking monster...!”

He raised Gungnir and swung it down at the head of the monster eating his right arm.

Crack.

The monster’s head exploded.

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

However, the monster’s mouth did not let go of Odin’s arm.

“More, more, more,” the monster muttered chillingly as he continued to devour Odin’s flesh. He then screamed like a crazed beast, “MORE, MORE, MORE, MORE!!”

Odin’s expression turned pale.

“You—”

Odin was about to say something as his eyes trembled, but the monster covered in flames grabbed his neck before he could and pulled it down. The monster, who had been eating Odin’s arm, opened his mouth wide like a snake and swallowed Odin’s entire upper body whole.

Crunch, crunch.

Kang-Woo waited for the bell chime as he devoured Odin’s body and Deific Essence.

‘Alright, come on. Hurry up and tell me that I reached Transcendent-rank Deific Essence.’

He waited for the blue message window, but no matter how much time passed, no such message window appeared. Forget that, not even a message window saying that he absorbed Odin’s Deific Essence appeared.

“What the hell?” Kang-Woo came back to his senses as if he had been doused by cold water. “Why... didn’t I reach it?”

He had absorbed the corpses of hundreds of gods and even devoured the Deific Essence of Odin, a Top-rank god.

“After all I ate? Huh? I ate everything I possibly could.”

No matter how long Kang-Woo waited, the message that said he reached Transcendent-rank Deific Essence did not appear.

“Fucking why?!”

Boom!

He stomped his foot aggressively.

“Haaa, haaa, haaa.” Kang-Woo crouched. “More... more, more, more, more, more.”

Even after eating hundreds of gods and devouring Odin whole, the hunger burning him from the inside did not disappear.