My SSS-Rank Gluttony Talent: I Can Evolve Limitlessly
Chapter 52: It stopped

Chapter 52: It stopped

BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—BOOM!!

The light arrows struck like thunder, hammering Riley’s body from every angle. Each impact erupted in bright flashes, sending shockwaves rippling through the cracked ground.

Smoke and dust rapidly piled up from all the explosions, forming a thick cloud around Riley.

The wind howled as the final arrow slammed into Riley’s chest with a blinding flash.

FWOOOOOSH!!!

Terry stood with his spear raised, breathing heavily.

"Got him..."

But as the smoke cleared—

Growl...

A deep growl echoed, and Terry’s eyes widened.

Riley was still standing.

Steam hissed off his body. Blood dripped down his arm and torso, and the darkness around his body flickered, twitching like a dying flame.

But his eyes still glowed.

He took one step forward.

Then another.

"More..." he growled.

His voice was deeper now, distorted.

"Need... more..."

Before Terry’s eyes, the wounds carved across his upper body slowly began to close.

The dark smoke that had been scattered by the arrow barrage slowly returned, forming an even thicker shroud around him.

"...No way," Terry muttered under his breath.

His spear lowered slightly.

The thing had just taken a direct hit from over twenty light-based projectiles, yet it was healing like nothing happened.

Riley growled mindlessly, his massive frame twitching. His face remained blank, and expressionless, yet, it kept sending shivers down Terry’s spine.

The hero’s jaw tightened.

’If I don’t finish this now... it’ll just keep healing,’ he realized, beads of sweat rolling down his cheeks.

’That last attack... that wasn’t enough. I have to go all out—end this with my strongest move!’

He gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on the red spear.

But a new thought crept into his head, and his eyes widened in realisation.

’...Why haven’t I gotten a single system notification this whole time?’

His eyes darted to Riley’s status tab, floating just a few feet away.

[???]

[???]

[??? / ???]

Just like before... there was nothing above the beast, except for a bunch of question marks.

Every time he had landed a blow, no notification popped up, not even a simple ’—1’

Terry swallowed hard.

’So all those attacks... everything I’ve done since I got here...’

His fingers trembled around the shaft of his weapon.

’Was it all useless...?’

He took a slow step back.

Then—

Those glowing, inhuman eyes of Riley snapped straight at him like a beast locking onto its prey.

Terry froze, his pulse spiking up.

Fwoosh!!!

Suddenly, its massive frame vanished again.

Terry’s instincts screamed.

"Wha—?!"

Out of nowhere—

WHAM!!!

A massive fist exploded into view from the left, swinging toward his face like a baseball bat.

His eyes widened in shock, and all the blood in his body instantly turned cold.

’Yeah, this is it... I’m dead...’

*

A few minutes earlier...

Riley found himself standing in a large, endless dark room... or a void. Wherever he was, he didn’t know.

It couldn’t exactly be called a room since there were no walls, floor or even a ceiling.

He was rendered completely blind, unable to see or even feel his own body.

Just... darkness, thick and suffocating all around him.

He could barely breathe, feeling like he was drifting in the middle of a massive, raging ocean.

And then—

He felt it.

A strange, pulsing force pulling him down, trying to drag him deeper into the abyss.

It wasn’t physical, not like chains or ropes or anything he ever experienced before.

But it was like something deep inside him kept trying to drag him down... to whatever existed below.

His arms—if he still had any—flailed in the darkness. He fought back, struggled, and kicked against the pull. But it was like swimming through tar. The more he moved, the deeper he sank.

The weight grew heavier.

His thoughts slowed.

And yet, through it all...

He could feel something strange familiar within the darkness surrounding him—pure hunger.

A gnawing, primal instinct that kept echoing all around him, screaming feed, eat, devour.

The pressure increased again.

Riley gasped silently, his mind trembling slightly from the pressure.

’Is this you...? Trying to consume me...?’ he thought to himself, his breath—if he even had one—getting caught in his throat. ’Gluttony?’

’But no ... I won’t let you consume me.’

Even as the darkness dragged him deeper, Riley continued to fight back with sheer willpower.

He might not be able to see, nor even move properly, but his resolve to not get consumed by gluttony refused to fade.

’You’re my power... I can’t let myself get controlled by you, I won’t.’ he thought, resisting even harder, even though the pressure kept increasing.

However, all his efforts were futile, and just like before, the pull on him only seemed to be growing stronger the harder he resisted.

So he just stopped, letting himself go still.

So he stopped.

’If brute force won’t work... then I need something else.’ he thought, his mind sharpening.

Suddenly, he felt it... a small ripple within the void around him.

It was merely a faint tremour and the only way he was able to sense it giving off a separate feeling from the rest of the void.

Compared to the hungry, primal instincts surrounding him, the one coming from the ripple felt rather calm, and serene.

He focused on it, reaching for the pulse like a diver finding a current.

It flickered at first, uncertain. But as he tuned his senses in, it grew stronger, and he followed it.

As he did, he felt the pull on him growing weaker, bit by bit.

Each second he spent moving with the ripple instead of against the tide made the weight pressing down on him a little lighter.

’What’s... happening in the real world right now?’ he thought, as something in him twitched. ’What the hell am I doing right now?’

He couldn’t help but feel he had to get to the real world faster, or else his mindless gluttonous self might cause irreparable damage.

Then the ripple widened, the current turning into a wave.

Riley’s nose twitched, and he suddenly caught the scent of air.

It was fresh, dry... containing a weird mixture of blood and dust.

His lungs expanded, and suddenly, his eyes snapped open.

And the first thing he saw, was the familiar face of a blonde-haired man. His eyes were wide, and his body was frozen in terror.

And his massive fist, already mid-swing, was racing toward that same face like a meteor about to shatter the world.

His breath caught, and his eyes widened in shock.

Swoosh!

He quickly brought his hand to a stop, barely three centimetres away from Terry’s head.

Even though he didn’t hit him, the pressure of the swing still blew wind and dust across Terry’s face.

Terry gasped, realising that his head managed to remain on his neck.

If that attack had hit him, he would have surely died, forced to log out of the game.

Riley stood frozen, his thoughts swirling in confusion.

’Terry...? As in Terry himself?!’

’Why the hell is he here?’

’And... we’re fighting?!’

The darkness around his body twitched, but it didn’t lash out.

Terry slowly stepped back, the red spear trembling in his grip.

’It... stopped.’ he thought, letting out a low sigh of relief.

FWOOOOOSH!!

Riley suddenly vanished again, leaving behind a cloud of dust.

Terry flinched, turning around, expecting another attack on him.

However, seconds passed, then minutes... and still, nothing of the sort happened.