My SSS-Rank Gluttony Talent: I Can Evolve Limitlessly

A strange hunger coiled in his gut, twisting and crawling as though something deep inside had awakened.

It wasn't the familiar ache of an empty belly—it was something darker, sharper. An urge. A craving. He wanted more. More demons. More flesh. More power.

The realization only made his body tense further. His mind retraced the fight, and the truth clicked together.

Because Juer'lo had transformed into his strongest state at the end, Riley had managed to devour him at the peak of his power. That was why the attributes were so absurdly high. That was why his gains were nothing short of monstrous.

It made sense now. Juer'lo in his full demon transformation had been terrifying. His power had skyrocketed to the point where Riley, even with all his tricks, would never have stood a chance head-on.

He hadn't defeated him with strength—only by catching him off-guard, only because the demon had underestimated him.

Riley clenched his fists, his expression twisting with a strange mix of satisfaction and hunger.

This… this was the power of his updated SSS-rank Gluttony. Before, the talent had been terrifying, but now it had evolved into something far beyond. To absorb sixty percent of an enemy's attributes—such a number was almost unfair.

His lips curved faintly as the hunger in his gut pulsed stronger.

'When will I get to devour something like that again?' The thought lingered, thick and heavy in his mind, tempting him with visions of stronger demons, of feasts of power waiting to be consumed. He could almost taste it, the idea of sinking deeper into that insatiable void.

But he shook his head sharply, snapping himself out of the spiral. His eyes narrowed, and he exhaled slowly, forcing the dangerous cravings down.

He couldn't lose himself in those thoughts. Not now. Not yet.

Gluttony was extremely overpowered, but he if he himself get too swallowed up by the feeling of devouring creatures, he would lose control.

It would be just like back then, and he would turn into the Hungry Demon all over again, devouring whatever came in his sight.

He exhaled softly, clenching his fists.

He found feel the veins bulge against his skin as the rush of new strength surged through every fiber of his being.

His jaw tightened, and his eyes gleamed faintly in the dim light of the boss room.

'With this… I've grown leaps and bounds again.' The thought resounded in his mind like a triumphant roar.

The difference was unmistakable—before, he had been struggling desperately against Juer'lo, barely able to hold his ground, relying on cunning and timing.

Now, though? The gap between them was gone. If that two-horned demon stood before him again in this very moment, Riley had no doubt—Juer'lo would be no match for him.

The memory of the battle replayed in his mind—how Juer'lo had transformed, how his aura had grown overwhelming, how Riley had only survived by exploiting carelessness.

That desperate edge was gone now. At his current strength, he would dominate the fight outright. No tricks. No desperation. Just raw, crushing superiority.

But as the taste of his newfound strength burned in his blood, another memory surfaced—those haunting, suffocating eyes of the high demon that had peered through Juer'lo's mind.

Even though he had only glimpsed them in passing, Riley felt them seared into the deepest parts of his consciousness. Cold, ancient, and immeasurable. A weight beyond anything Juer'lo could ever dream of.

He found himself subconsciously comparing his current self to that being. His fists tightened again, nails digging into his palm.

'No… I'm not its match. Not even close.' The admission left a bitter taste in his mouth. That high demon radiated power that eclipsed anything he had ever encountered. Juer'lo, for all his arrogance, was nothing more than a disposable pawn in comparison.

Riley's teeth ground together, a low gnash echoing in the silence of the room.

'Killing this Juer'lo is only the first step… I've still got a long way to go.' he thought, his gaze hardening.

His true enemy was not Juer'lo. It was not even the high demon whose eyes had burned into his soul. No—the ultimate goal lay far higher, far darker.

The demon lord. A being whose existence loomed over everything, so far from Riley's current level it felt like staring at an unreachable peak.

He exhaled slowly, his breath steadying. His lips curved into a faint curl, not quite a smile, not quite a sneer—something in between, sharp and confident. But then… the taste of victory isn't too bad. It was intoxicating, in fact. Each step forward, each demon devoured, brought him closer to his goal.

And then, like an echo creeping back from the edges of his memory, one phrase from the high demon returned to him. His expression tightened as the words slipped into his mind like poison. 'Make things more interesting…'

His brows furrowed, his thoughts twisting sharply. 'What did he mean by that?'

They kept replaying in his mind for some reason, making him feel rather uneasy.

The way the demon had spoken, the casual indifference in its voice, the almost playful dismissal of events that Riley knew should have been devastating—it unsettled him to his very core. It wasn't just arrogance. No, it was something else entirely. A certainty. A certainty that made his skin crawl.

His mind retraced the words again. The tone, the phrasing, the rhythm. The high demon hadn't spoken like someone enraged at the fall of crucial assets. He hadn't spoken like someone lamenting a setback.

Instead, he had spoken as if the deaths of Harty and the Dark Fanged Boar were nothing more than minor inconveniences, roadblocks he expected, and perhaps even welcomed.

Riley's chest tightened.

'The way he put it… it's like Harty's death, and even the Dark Fanged Boar, didn't actually affect their plans that much…' he thought, his jaw locking.

The thought made his stomach churn. Harty wasn't just some random demon, and the Dark Fanged Boar wasn't some random beast. They had both been integral to what Riley remembered of the invasion.

This realization left him feeling extremely on edge. His body trembled slightly, though not from weakness. It was unease, an internal alarm ringing louder and louder the more he thought about it.

From what Riley knew from his past life, the Dark Fanged Boar had been the very first weapon the demons unleashed during the invasion of Earth.

It was the beast that had shattered defenses, that had spread terror through cities, that had massacred thousands in mere days.

Its rampage had been the announcement of the end, making many feel there was no hope again, until Terry appeared.

And Harty was a spy planted by the demons in the novice village, there was no way his death wouldn't have affected their plans.

Riley's teeth pressed down against each other hard enough to ache.

'If even those didn't actually affect the demons… then was I right to even kill them in the first place?' he thought, a bitter storm swirling in his chest.

He had believed that by eliminating them early, he was changing the course of things.

That his rebirth gave him the edge he needed to alter fate. That his decisions, his victories, his killings were chipping away at the demons' hold over the future.

But if he was wrong—if the demons were so prepared, so entrenched in their plans that even those deaths did not shake them—then what had he actually accomplished?

He gnashed his teeth harder, a sound like grinding stone filling his own ears.

'Even after my rebirth… it seems there are still a lot of things I don't know,' he thought, frustration curling inside him like a venomous snake.

The truth was more dangerous, more elusive than he had expected. For every answer he tore from his enemies, three more questions took its place.

But wallowing in uncertainty would gain him nothing. He forced himself to steady his breathing, his hand clenching and unclenching as he wrestled the storm within.

If there was still much he didn't know, then he had to keep learning. Keep growing. Keep devouring.

'For now…' Riley thought, eyes narrowing with resolve, 'I'll just check all the new skills, traits, and talents I managed to get.'

His lips curled slightly at the corner, though it wasn't amusement. It was hunger. An eagerness to see what his gluttony had rewarded him with this time.

He exhaled slowly, his body calming as his mind anchored itself again. After that, there would be no hesitation.

'Once I've gone through everything, I'll surely proceed to the next floor,' he thought. His gaze sharpened, almost gleaming with anticipation.

Because his plan was already set. He knew what awaited him. He knew what prize was waiting to be claimed. He was going to kill the boss of the final floor. That much was decided.

And that monster wasn't just any boss. Riley's pulse quickened at the thought. Upon its death, it would drop an Epic-grade armor!

He could still remember it vividly from his past life. Terry, had been the one to claim it. Terry's strength had skyrocketed afterward, his fame spreading rapidly across the players like wildfire.