188 THE TERRIBLE APPETITE
Suddenly, the man's expression shifted, his eyes scanning his mini-map. "Why are there so many dots around me?" he snarled.
"That's because you've made everyone here hostile toward you," Piggy explained, its tone matter-of-fact. "Hostile enemies and fatal enemies are indistinguishable on your map."
"Fine by me," the man snarled. "I'll eat every fucking dot here!"
As he continued his rampage, a demon shaman stepped forward, guiding his team of demon mages, he raised a staff that crackled with energy. "Your reign of terror ends here, wretch! We'll claim your cursed life!"
The sky darkened as the shamans conjured a colossal skeletal hand, its nine jagged fingers glowing with destructive energy.
"Try swallowing this, you monster!" the shaman screamed as the hand descended.
"This spell is dangerous," Piggy warned. "It could kill you."
"Nothing can kill me," the man replied coldly.
His body began to change.
Rocky spires erupted from his flesh, encasing him in jagged armor. Fragments of metal and wood from his previous meals jutted from his body like grotesque ornaments. His transformation culminated in a towering, stone-clad colossus.
The spectral guardians orbited him like a living shield, amplifying his power.
When the skeletal hand struck, the armor absorbed the impact, shattering the attack into harmless sparks.
From a distant hill, Leo watched the carnage unfold.
"Wtf!!!"
After luring the monster—Lillrune—into the demon camp, Leo slipped away under the cover of his invisibility cloak and rejoined Yun-Yun and Petunia.
"What are those spirits surrounding him?" Leo asked grimly.
"They're the souls of fallen mages," Yun-Yun replied, her tone somber. "Fragments of their magic are bound to him, enslaved."
"Why are they protecting him?" Petunia whispered, her face pale.
"It's the Sin of Gluttony," Leo explained, his voice heavy. "Anything he devours becomes part of him. Stones, wood, metal... even souls. Now, those fragments of power are protecting him."
On the battlefield, the demons faltered.
Their strongest spells had failed, and their numbers dwindled. Lillrune leapt into the air, his massive form casting a shadow over the camp. His maw expanded, transforming into a dark, all-consuming void like an eclipse consuming the world.
The demons' screams echoed as they were swallowed whole.
Petunia shuddered. "That's horrendous, even for demons."
"He's growing stronger," Yun-Yun said, her voice tinged with dread. "Bringing him here may have been a mistake."
Leo shook his head. "Better here than in the city."
Below, the battlefield fell silent. The surviving demons fled toward the ruins of Sodom, their will to fight shattered.
"You may have pushed back the demon army," Yun-Yun said cautiously. "But you've created a bigger monster."
Leo's gaze lingered on Lillrune, now a grotesque fusion of flesh, stone, and rage. "I didn't create him," Leo murmured, his voice filled with regret. "He was made to destroy me."
Unaware of Leo's distant gaze, Lillrune stared at the retreating dots on his mini-map.
"Lilleo Gullee," he growled. "You can't escape me. I'm coming for you."
Lillrune entered Sodom's ruins.
------
"Well, good riddance," Petunia muttered as they watched Lillrune disappear into the ruins of Sodom.
Without a word, Leo pulled out a flare and fired it into the sky. The bright trail arced high before bursting into a vibrant signal, visible for miles.
"The mages from the city will be here soon to seal the magic portal," Leo said, his tone calm but resolute.
"You had this all planned out?" Yun-Yun asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Sorry, I didn't have time to explain everything," Leo replied.
When Leo first recognized Lillrune's unparalleled potential for destruction, a plan had quickly formed in his mind.
The demon army had been lingering near the plains of Heaven's Cage, refusing to return to the ruins of Sodom despite their defeat in the Trial by Combat. Leo saw an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.
He approached General Nahum with his idea, offering a way to drive the demons back into the ruins and ensure they could never use the portal again. Though skeptical, Nahum eventually agreed to the plan.
The flare was the signal—the demons had retreated, and the engineer mages would soon arrive to seal the portal to Sodom's ruins forever.
"What did you extort from Nahum this time?" Petunia asked, crossing her arms.
"I haven't decided yet," Leo said with a grin. "But after this, I doubt there's anything he wouldn't give me."
"Should we leave now?" Yun-Yun asked, glancing toward the distant ruins.
Leo shook his head. "No. I'm going into Sodom's ruins. I need to make sure Lillrune ends here."
"I'll come with you," Yun-Yun said without hesitation.
"No," Leo replied firmly. "Your wounds from using the Orb of Elevation haven't healed yet. I'll handle this."
Yun-Yun's expression tightened, but she didn't argue.
"Be careful," his wives said in unison.
Leo nodded, his gaze steady as he turned toward the ominous silhouette of the ruins. "Lillrune here I come for your fat ass."
-----
[In Sodom's ruins]
Leo wasn't a stranger to the ruins of Sodom. As soon as he stepped into the desolate realm, his mini-map revealed Lillrune's dot—a stark red mark cutting through the shadows. The monstrosity was chasing the demons toward their main camps, leaving devastation in his wake.
"By the time this is over, the demons will be gone from this world," Leo muttered to himself, a grim satisfaction in his tone.
Careful to avoid detection, he masked his own presence by leaving a distance and followed the path of Lillrune's rampage.
The trail was impossible to miss. A wide swath had been carved through the ruins, and everything in its path—rocks, roots, debris from ancient structures—had vanished, consumed entirely.
"Damn it, that pig can eat an entire world," Leo grumbled under his breath.
From a distance, he could see Lillrune even without consulting his map.
The former man had transformed into a towering colossus, his grotesque body as large as a fortress tower.
Each time he opened his gaping maw, an unstoppable vortex pulled everything into the abyss of his stomach. Every object and creature devoured became a part of his massive frame, adding new layers of stone, wood, and metal to his grotesque, ever-growing bulk.