Book Eater

Chapter 75: A Traditional Hero (1)

Ellenoa was surprised that the monster had suddenly come to a halt, but Theo, who shared Gluttony’s senses, could hear the conversation. The disgust that Gluttony and Pride held for each other was clear to him. Pride seemed to have outright disdain for Gluttony.

- Just associating with these inferior monkeys should disqualify you as one of the Seven Sins. What value do those who rely on time and luck have?

- Beauty and intellect are concepts that a garbage heap of flesh like you won’t understand.

Gluttony gave as good as it got.

- No matter how you collect and combine genetic factors, you are still limited to living creatures. You’re nothing but a loser who gave up on surpassing the limits of a species. After all, a collection of the best parts of creatures is nothing more than a chimera.

- Nonsense!?

Pride dismissed Gluttony, speaking with the arrogance it was named after. However, it had reduced the vocal range even further, forcing Theo and Ellenoa to the ground. The rumbling in the air that Pride produced was akin to Dragon Fear, an ability that had been lost in history.

Cough!

Theo coughed up some blood. His Circles were trembling as Pride shouted. If a human didn’t know magic or aura, their heart would’ve stopped. The enemy’s very existence was on a different level, and Theo could feel it with every syllable.

Damn it. What the hell is this monster? Why is it attacking us?!?

Theo hadn’t expected an actual answer to his hysterical question.

- The autonomous maneuver type grimoire, Pride. Like me, it belongs in the Seven Sins set. If the attribute I symbolize is [Gluttony], then it symbolizes [Pride]. It is a ‘species usurper specialist’, and creates a monster made up of the species it eats.

Gluttony’s answer was as concise and clear as ever. Theo quickly picked out some keywords and asked another question. He had a feeling that this information would determine the next few minutes.

Usurping species? Is that Pride’s power?

- That’s right.

Theo listened without missing a single word.

- Just like how I collect magic books, Pride is a grimoire that collects creatures. It has the ability to store the genetic information of a species, regardless of the individual performance of the organism. Once it eats a sample of a species, it can reproduce the innate traits of that species.

The innate traits?

- For example, a troll’s regeneration or an ogre’s muscular strength.

That was enough. Horror was clearly written on Theo’s face as he comprehended Pride’s power. Pride had the ability to eat a species and obtain its best traits! It wasn’t inferior to Gluttony’s ability to extract essences from magic books or magic power from artifacts. No, it might even be superior in terms of battle utility. Moreover, based on its current appearance, it looked like it could reproduce more than just one or two traits.

How many traits can it use at the same time?

- Hmm.?

Gluttony looked at Pride for a moment before replying.

- It has already unlocked four seals. Right now, it can use five combined... User, do you mean to fight Pride?

What choice do I have?

-There is no need. He didn’t come to eat us.

What??

The one who answered Theo’s question wasn’t Gluttony, but Pride who had been thinking about something.

- Well, it’s fine. It is a waste of time to chat like this.

The eight legs started advancing. As Pride’s chimera-like figure leapt forward, Theo stepped in front of Ellenoa and circulated his magic power. Theo’s inherited intuition was telling him to run away, but his human instincts made him act. He couldn’t seem to run away after thinking of the sacrifices the senior magicians had made.

Pride came to a halt.

- What are you doing, Gluttony? I came to eat a high elf. I have no interest in monkeys.

“... Don’t make me laugh.” Theo ignored his spasm of fear and stared at Pride as he declared firmly, “I won’t give anything to you.”

It was a courageous action that deserved a standing ovation.

- Then die.

The predator sentenced him to death without the slightest hesitation.

Pride transformed instantly to add three traits: a centaur’s lower body; a storm locust’s wings; and a spriggan’s acceleration ability. Its eight spider legs turned into four horse legs, while its upper body became a weird mixture of a locust and grasshopper.

- Swaeeeeek!

The air screamed as Pride instantly accelerated beyond the sound barrier. Its hooves, which contained enough destructive power to crush steel, were clearly intent on trampling Theo.

I’m dead.?

His body didn’t even catch the moment Pride had accelerated, let alone respond to the attack. So, it wasn’t Theodore who responded to the fatal blow, but the sleeping instincts of Lee Yoonsung inside him.

Kwaduduk...!

The skill, Protection Bangle, was activated instantly, allowing three shields to reflexively unfurl around Theo as Battle Song instinctively coursed through Theo’s body.

Battle Song. Last Requiem. Presto.

All five of his Circles spun furiously as his reaction was pushed to the maximum for a single moment. Theo sank deep into his consciousness as he tried to use one of the most advanced techniques in the eastern martial arts in a desperate attempt to survive. Force Dispersion would allow him to shunt the majority of the blow’s impact elsewhere, but it required almost superhuman timing and precision.

Theo’s two arms moved at a dizzying speed.

Paaaang!

Theo was thrown violently back as his arms broke and his ribs snapped. He had successfully transferred most of the impact away, but just the remnant shockwave of the blow had sent him flying. The redirected shockwave shattered seven trees and pulverized several boulders. If the shock wave had hit him directly, it would’ve killed him!

Cough!

Theo cast healing magic as he struggled to his feet. He had bowled over Ellenoa when he had been thrown back, but he was too shocked to be aware of it. He had managed to defend himself once, but there was no way he could do it again. He couldn’t even afford a glancing blow.

If I get hit one more time... I’m gonna die.

Pride’s defense was at least master level. Winning wasn’t even an option in this battle. Theo would just struggle desperately until he died like a bug. There was a terrible gap in strength between Pride and Theodore.

Pride laughed at Theo on the ground before giving one last ridiculing remark.

-You are quite good for a monkey. I will forgive this once.

It didn’t say anything else as its six pairs of compound eyes stared at Theodore. The red gleam in its eyes would’ve broken any lesser human.

Theo had an option. He could survive if he just stayed where he was. It might be cowardly, but survival was his first priority. Gluttony had advised Theo that he could survive if he just stayed still. If he just turned away from the shivering high elf beside him, he would live. It wasn’t a bad thing to run away.

... I’m crazy.?

Theo smiled as he slapped his cheeks hard.

Jjak!

Blood filled his mouth, but that was good.

Theo didn’t have to listen to this voice. His magic power, which had faded away with his fear, began to boil again. Still, there was no chance of winning, so Theo asked his companion for advice.

Gluttony.

- What?

Tell me how to defeat it. No, it is okay if I can’t win. Teach me how to beat up that son of a bitch.

Though it was a grimoire like Gluttony, the opponent was an independent monster that didn’t need a user. If so, Theo wouldn’t be able to battle it unless Gluttony cooperated.

Gluttony could feel Theo’s strong determination and asked uncomfortably.

- Why User? Why try so hard? This high elf isn’t that precious to you.

I’m not fighting for her. This one’s for me.

If Theo compromised once, it was easy to do the same again. The third would barely faze him. Theodore Miller would become someone who only lived because of his cowardice. He would rather die of his own will than become a cowardly bystander.

Gluttony could feel Theo’s determination to die with his beliefs strongly. It was a foolish, irrational judgment. However, Gluttony was drawn to the unknown choice.

- ... Okay. I will pay the price in advance. This is the first time I’ve had a user like you.

Gluttony’s previous users had always been cold, calculating magicians who sought the peak of magic. They had filled their pages with notes and died without leaving a name behind. However, none of them had tried to fight to the end for their own beliefs. Perhaps this strange user might show Gluttony what it hadn’t found.

The original sin, which collected wisdom, made a gamble for the first time.

[Error! Error! Unauthorized request. The 4th Seal has been released through an unusual means.]

[Gluttony’s feature has been opened forcibly. The user should check the information window of the corresponding feature immediately. However, this feature was unlocked via an abnormal path.]

[Grimoire “Gluttony” / C Rank]

[Gluttony’s 4th Seal was released through unusual means. From now onward, the user can borrow the power of an author that Gluttony has extracted. However, once the author has been overwritten, the author can’t be loaded twice.]

[The C Rank feature, Overwrite, has been triggered!]

[The object ‘Alfred Bellontes’ has been loaded into the user’s body.]

Alfred Bellontes was the war hero who had rampaged across the battlefield during the Bellontes Empire’s Revolutionary War half a century ago, and his reputation had become widespread. He was a battle genius who was avoided by even master level opponents. As Alfred’s deeply sleeping ego overwhelmed Theodore’s body and soul, Theo’s fingers shone with a blue light.

This was the fourth feature of Gluttony, the greedy grimoire.

At that moment, a hero from the history books opened his eyes in the present age.