The Monarch Who Levels Up by Devouring - M.L.U.B.D Chapter 1 (Part 2):
A violent storm of mana raged around me.
Simultaneously, the wounds covering my body healed at an incredible rate.
Tension flickered across the faces of the Ancient Gods.
If I were in peak condition…
I had enough power to drag at least one of them down with me.
I had attained the rank of [Monarch], and among them, I was the strongest Player humanity had ever produced.
Hyperion’s eyes widened.
“I’ll end you with my own hands!”
A spear wreathed in heat left Hyperion’s grip, streaking toward me like a beam of light.
Divine power compressed to its limit.
A presence akin to the sun manifesting in this world.
“Mortal, one second is all I need to erase you.”
He wasn’t wrong.
The moment that spear touched me, my body would melt away in an instant.
Exactly.
What I was after was precisely that immense “divine power.”
Thud! Hyperion’s spear pierced my heart.
A scream tore from my lips involuntarily.
Hyperion’s face twisted in shock.
“Why?”
“Why did I let it hit me?”
I grinned.
It must have looked like my wounds had healed.
But only on the surface.
All I needed was to make those arrogant Ancient Gods unleash their full power.
“Hyperion, withdraw your spear now!”
“What is that bastard planning—?!”
The panicked shouts of the Ancient Gods.
That won’t do.
I stretched out both hands and gripped Hyperion’s spear tightly.
“I could use some energy right about now.”
That “one second” you mentioned?
That was all I needed.
I slammed the red stone in my left hand against the shaft of Hyperion’s spear.
[The Dawn Jewel has detected strong divine power.]
[Converting divine power into the user’s mana.]
An overwhelming surge of mana flooded my veins, spreading throughout my body.
Looks like Hyperion really went all out to finish me off.
Thanks to that, I now had enough mana to activate the “myth” I had built up until now.
Climbing to the top of the Tower had nearly drained my mana reserves.
[The essence of Chronos interferes with time.]
[The essence of Atropos severs the present timeline.]
[The essence of Clotho spins a new thread of time.]
[The essence of Lachesis weaves the rewritten time.]
[The essence of Ishtar anchors the newly recorded past into the present.]
…….
Click—! Clack—!
The divine ranks of the gods I had [Devoured] until now interlocked endlessly, fueled by Hyperion’s divine power.
The “time”-related artifacts humanity’s last stand had scraped together at the cost of their lives.
Though I had absorbed all their essences, my weakened body couldn’t activate them.
Hyperion’s divine power provided just enough energy to set the accumulated concept of [Time] into motion.
Time reversed.
As a sensation of weightlessness lifted me, the forms of the Ancient Gods—Hyperion included—faded into obscurity.
“See you in the future—no, the past.”
I raised my middle finger in farewell.
* * *
The floating sensation gradually subsided.
Beyond the flickering darkness of my vision, a sliver of light seeped in.
I blinked several times.
A bright yellow ceiling came into view.
A contradictory feeling—both unfamiliar and nostalgic.
It was the studio apartment I’d lived in during my youth.
Did it work?
I pinched my cheek.
The flesh stretched.
When I pulled hard enough to bring tears to my eyes, the pain was undeniable.
“Ha… Hahaha.”
Despite the stinging pain on my face, laughter burst out.
Time reversal.
The final gamble had succeeded.
A miracle even those damned Ancient Gods couldn’t achieve.
By devouring the essences of gods related to [Time], I had returned to the past.
“When exactly did I go back to?”
Groping around the desk, my hand found my phone.
[October 9, 2025]
[07:06 AM]
The date on the screen told me I’d gone back 30 years from the point of regression.
23 years old.
Fresh out of military service.
When I touched the back of my head, my hair was noticeably short.
Tch.
At least I didn’t revert to my military days—I clicked my tongue in relief.
“The regression seems successful.”
Muttering to myself, I skimmed through online articles.
Articles about the Tower.
Among them were names I recognized.
Ellen, Sergey.
Players who would rise to become [Monarchs] in the distant future.
They were also comrades who had fought shoulder-to-shoulder in a dying world.
Before the Ancient Gods intervened, we had clashed countless times.
I chuckled softly, reminiscing about the past—no, the future.
Speaking of which…
“That damned Tower is still standing, huh.”
I gazed at the structure visible through the window.
A massive edifice that had risen simultaneously across the world.
The Tower of Babel .
The Tower had appeared on Earth ten years ago.
Without warning, it sprouted in the capitals of nations worldwide.
‘At first, the Tower was called a blessing.’
Priceless treasures.
Elixirs that cured rare diseases.
Mana stones, hailed as the third energy source.
The vast wealth pouring from the Tower was enough to shake the global economy.
Players soared in popularity.
Those who received the Tower’s invitation—[Players]—became the new elite, the envy of all.
Unaware that the very rewards they coveted were the prelude to ruin.
‘The more rewards the Tower dispenses, the faster dimensional synchronization progresses.’
The Tower of Babel had already consumed countless dimensions.
The rewards for overcoming trials were nothing but bait.
But even if people stopped entering the Tower, could the world be saved?
‘Once synchronization begins, it’s only a matter of time.’
In the end, the Ancient Gods must be defeated.
If I wanted to avoid the fight, I wouldn’t have regressed in the first place.
I could have just worshipped some god as my constellation and left Earth.
I clenched my fist.
I won’t lose a second time.
Just then, an emotionless voice echoed in my ears.
[The Tower of Babel has sent you an invitation.]
[A place where you can obtain wealth, power, and glory.]
[Risk your life and challenge it.]
[From now on, you are a Player.]
Ah, so today was the day.
October 9, 2025—the day I received the Tower’s invitation and became a [Player].
Back then, I’d felt like I’d won the world.
A bitter smile touched my lips.
“Status Window.”
I muttered the command I’d called up countless times.
Player – Yu Jin-Ho
Age: 23
Level: 1 / Race: Human
Rank: Unranked / Class: None
Ability: Devour
Strength: 7
Agility: 6
Stamina: 7
Endurance: 6
Mana: 1
[Ability – Devour]
Absorbs the essence within living beings or objects.
*Special Notes
<Tutorial not completed. Cannot level up.
Compared to my status window before regression, it was pitiful.
Thirty years of accumulated power—all reset.
‘But the most important thing remains.’
I smiled.
Devour.
The ability that would one day elevate me to the strongest Player.
At first, I hadn’t understood how to use it properly.
The concept of “devouring”—I’d thought it simply meant stealing a fraction of a defeated monster’s power from its corpse.
I was wrong.
I picked up a nearby cup.
[Devour activated.]
[No essence detected in the target.]
[Essence absorption failed.]
The cup remained unchanged.
But the smile on my lips deepened.
When I first gained this ability, I thought I could only extract essence from the corpses of monsters I defeated.
A misconception.
The [Devour] ability targeted both tangible and intangible entities.
‘Essence isn’t something only living beings possess.’
In the broadest sense, essence encompassed rank, concepts, and even divine authority.
If I devoured the Olympic Flame, dedicated to Zeus, king of Olympus?
I could “devour” a fragment of Zeus’s myth.
‘There’s plenty of essence in this world that can be devoured.’
I licked my lips.
The Tower’s entrance opened on the first of every month.
About 20 days remained until I could enter.
Plenty of time.
I needed to prepare thoroughly.
I pressed the power button on my computer.
Time to research what essences I could devour.
And plan how to grow stronger by absorbing them, step by step.
Ancient Gods.
The revenge starts now.