Leveling with the Gods

Side Story 89

"Who do you think killed Yog-Sothoth?"

In the mist, the eyes of the Great Dreamer widened almost to the point of breaking.

A chilling coldness that froze the soul was felt.

Perhaps no one else but him knew the meaning of that question.

-Don't tell me...

It can't be.

That's what he thought. Because he has already disappeared.

Azathoth was no longer a being that existed in this world.

-Don't be arrogant.

Yes.

Even if it was a probability among thousands, millions, if it were real.

-It can't be you. He's gone.

Just thinking about it, the Great Dreamer felt fear.

The being that killed Yog-Sothoth.

It was one of the two that the Great Dreamer feared.

"Do you really believe that?"

At that moment...

¡Zzzhht!

["Amorphous So■l" complains of hunger.]

["Amorphous So■l" drools.]

Numerous teeth became visible.

The Name that was like the heart of Azathoth.

The chaos monster that devoured all Names drooled as it observed the Dream.

"And now what do you say?"

-This is...

When Amorphous Chaos revealed itself, the voice of the Great Dream Fragment trembled.

A voice mixed with fear and confusion.

YuWon realized through the pulsating mist that the creature felt fear.

However...

-You are imitating his Name.

Precisely because he was the one who knew Azathoth best.

The name of the Broken Chaos was insufficient to deceive him.

"If that's what you think, then there's nothing to be done."

¡Ssssh!

YuWon unsheathed his sword from his waist.

[The 'Otherworld Adversary' confronts the Great Dream Fragment]

[The 'Otherworld Sword' (2nd version) reacts to the Great Dream Fragment]

The Sword and the Name that cut through the Otherworld began to roar.

By wielding this sword, displaying the Otherworld Adversary...

"If you're determined to fight, I have no choice but to kill you."

At that moment, he was only YuWon.

¡Spat!

The tip of YuWon's sword cut through the purple mist.

Under normal circumstances, it would not have been possible to cut it.

It was nothing more than a set of intangible dreams.

It was not something that could be cut with a sword.

The Great Dream, watching from the other side of the mist, knew that too.

However...

¡Crack!

In the end, it was cut.

It was the power residing in YuWon's sword. And the power residing in YuWon's Divinity.

-You... are our natural enemy.

He felt relieved.

A power opposing the Otherworld.

He thought it was impossible for Azathoth to possess such power.

"I've cut it into pieces to make it easier to eat."

¡Zzzhht!

The Chaos's teeth opened wide.

"Eat it all."

["Amorphous So■l" devours the Great Dream Fragment.]

¡Squish!

It devours the amorphous dream.

More delicious than any delicacy in the world.

While being devoured by those teeth, the Great Dream warned YuWon:

-We will find out who you are.

Wait.

¡Drip!

It was only a separated fragment of the Name, not the main entity.

The meal ended quickly.

YuWon sheathed the sword again.

'I see.'

He knew that the Name he possessed was nothing compared to Azathoth's.

Azathoth, the father of all and the origin of Names.

He thought that if he showed his Name, maybe it would stop, but it didn't.

"Don't you want to believe it?"

To be clear, he was not Azathoth. YuWon had his memories and some of his abilities, but that didn't mean he was the same being.

The difference was clear.

Scale.

"No one can compare to him. Not even Yog-Sothoth."

Yog-Sothoth. Shub-Niggurath. Nyarlathotep.

Even these, who could be considered the leaders of the Outer Gods, were nothing more than insignificant bugs compared to Azathoth.

First of all, Azathoth had not truly died; it couldn't even be said that someone had killed him.

Even after "dying" in that way, he was showing signs of resurrection without his own will.

"Is it not enough?"

He understands.

His opponent was a being who had experienced the true Azathoth, not him.

It was natural that he wouldn't believe it, or even if he believed it, judged that he could fight.

"Is it over?"

Pandora's voice sounded nearby. Clearly, he had asked her to take care of the defeated Zeus.

Screech.

Turning his head, YuWon realized that she had not ignored his request. She was dragging Zeus, who had lost consciousness, by the neck.

Zeus being dragged on the ground.

It was a rare sight.

"Yes, it's over."

YuWon said that and looked at Danpung, who was sitting on his head.

"Danpung."

"Abba-?"

"They ignored us."

The little one's cheeks puffed up.

Danpung, who was being assimilated by the Name, was sharing YuWon's feelings.

He was probably furious.

"Hit him."

It was an unclear pronunciation, but it was understandable.

"Yes."

Whoosh.

YuWon raised his fist towards Danpung.

It was the first time he did it, but the creature knew what YuWon wanted and extended its small fist, the size of a nail.

"Let's give him a beating."

Bam.

------------

Thud.

The flame giant knelt on the ground.

With a lost leg and both arms broken, the flames burning fiercely on Cthugha's body were gradually extinguishing.

-It seems like... you're too late.

He looked at Hercules, who was standing below him. His body was blackened by soot, and he was breathing with difficulty.

However, unlike him, Hercules's spirit had not yet extinguished.

-You should have acted before they grew stronger. No, we should have weakened them with them ten years ago.

Hercules was strong.

Rank 2.

That meant the Administration Office had evaluated him as the second most dangerous after Zeus.

And it was true.

He wasn't as smart as Zeus, nor did he have special skills like Son OhGong's clone technique.

However, his brute strength was so formidable that it surpassed all of that.

Crack.

Hercules took a step towards Cthugha and looked up at the sky.

A clear and empty sky.

The massive serpent that had been blocking that blue light was no longer there.

"Did it flee?"

It was a cunning being. As soon as it judged that victory was tilting against it, it abandoned its companion and fled.

Boom.

Smashing the ground, Hercules jumped high and landed on the back of Cthugha's neck.

The battle was over.

Cthugha no longer resisted.

It preferred a clean death rather than fighting in a repugnant manner.

Whoosh.

¡Clang!

The club struck Cthulhu's neck.

Crack.

With a sound of broken bones, Cthugha's body collapsed forward.

Thud.

As the giant fell, the battlefield froze.

The other Administrators had fled, and the Envoys were being tended to by the Valkyries of Asgard.

With this...

Asgard had temporarily regained security.

Crack.

"We've won!"

"Asgard!"

"Life forever!"

Brunhilde led the Valkyries in a jubilant chant.

Asgard, forever.

It was a chant that sounded like a spell, passed down since the kingdom's foundation.

And among them, one.

There was one who couldn't celebrate.

"Perhaps there are worlds like that somewhere."

He responded to Cthugha's words with a bitter smile.

In a battle where there are winners and losers, there is always someone who dies.

This time was no different.

"No, originally it should have been like this."

Ten years ago.

Hercules encountered his future self using the Clock Movement.

"It feels like looking into a mirror."

A body that felt like living steel. Although his face had not aged, his eyes shone with the light of the years that had passed.

It was his future self, who had fought against the Outers for a long time.

"If things had been as they were originally meant to be."

This world was destined for that fate.

Far from winning the battle, they would have been defeated, and the world would have been taken from them.

"We were saved. By that guy."

Don't forget it.

To that guy.

------------

A ruined temple.

YuWon found a relatively intact room and laid Zeus there.

"At least there's one intact room."

The walls were cracked.

It was fortunate that only this damage occurred after a battle between so many Rankers, Zeus, and the Administrators.

Of course.

This was only possible because Zeus had separated the space where he fought the Administrators.

Pop.

He took a high-ranking elixir from his inventory and poured it over the wounds.

A high-ranking elixir he always carried with him.

He didn't skimp on it, as he would be paid double points later.

Zeus groaned, feeling the coolness of the elixir even while unconscious.

Thanks to the use of the high-ranking elixir and his own good recovery ability, he would wake up soon.

Having finished treating Zeus, YuWon turned to Pandora.

"Shall we go?"

"Why?"

Pandora blinked and tilted her head.

She seemed to be asking where they would go now.

"I have nowhere to go. Just thought you might feel uncomfortable."

"Me?"

"Ah. Well, this isn't a very pleasant place."

More than anything, YuWon was concerned about Pandora's past.

When he first met her, she suffered from a trauma of being locked up for a long time.

She had improved a lot, but she couldn't be comfortable with the culprit right in front of her.

However.

"It's okay."

Pandora shook her head.

"I just need to be by your side."

For her, what mattered was being next to who, not where.

"Uh..."

Pandora's words left YuWon speechless for a moment, and then he nodded.

"Yes. In that case... since you say that..."

Pandora's responses like this always surprised YuWon.

He wondered why she trusted him so much.

Why does she trust me so much?

At first, he thought she simply did it out of gratitude. But now it wasn't like that.

Maybe I do too.

I feel something similar now.

"Abukoreri."

At that moment, a voice with a clumsy pronunciation was heard.

Danpung, on Pandora's head, smiled at YuWon.

Although his words couldn't be understood, their meaning was conveyed.

'Do you like her?'

YuWon's expression wrinkled immediately.

What does that little one know?

For a moment, he clenched his fist wanting to give that little rascal a tap on the head, but then sighed thinking it was foolish.

"Then, let's stay here until Hercules returns."

"Yes."

It's unknown whether Zeus will wake up first.

Or if Hercules will return first.

But neither of them should take too long.

'But we can't take a nap here...'.

YuWon glanced sideways at the cold ring in his hand.

"Pandora."

"Yes?"

"I'll leave it to you for a moment."

Detailed explanations were not needed.

Pandora nodded at YuWon's words and told him to go.

Now, she was also a companion he could trust more than anyone.

Zheezh.

The ring shone.

The Arcane Power it contained began to move in response to YuWon's Arcane Power.

['Uranus Heart' is activated.]

[Entering 'Tartarus.']

By activating the ring, the countless souls it contained could be seen.

Tartarus.

The bottom of hell, the sea of the dead.

'Will it stay still?'

[Entering 'Tartarus.']

To meet the being that was there, YuWon plunged into the sea.

-

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