Leveling Up through Eating

Chapter 1190

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.

“Herakel! Where are you?! Herakel! Conir misses you so much!”

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!]

[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.