Leveling with the Gods

C614

In Tartarus, there existed an amount of Arcane Power close to infinity.

The vast sea of Hell was composed of Dark Arcane Power, and the souls of the dead wandered through its waters.

Anyone who entered as a living being was destined to become prey for the wandering souls.

However.

Hiss, hiss~

In the almost eternal history of Tartarus, only one person had managed to enter and survive without becoming its master.

"You're late."

Hiss~

A massive multi-headed Dragon illuminated the dark Tartarus with its glow. Its jaws devoured and chewed on the souls of the dead.

The Monster King Ananta.

The epithet preceding his name was not at all exaggerated.

"Have you been waiting for me?"

"Of course. This place is too boring and lonely, there's nothing to do."

"Don't the others keep you company?"

"They are just insignificant spirits wandering around here after death. Their level is not up to mine, how could we have fun?"

Ananta's voice was polite. YuWon noticed that Ananta's attitude towards him was different from before.

"Have you always been so courteous?"

"I didn't know you back then."

The eyes of the Dragon's multiple heads observed YuWon.

In the depths of the Tartarus sea, he could feel the fear that the wandering souls had for him.

"I have found that all the souls in this place serve you. That means you are worthy of it."

"And so what? Do you want to become one of them?"

"Don't compare me to that trash."

Tsutsuutsuutsu!

Ananta unleashed a radiant burst of lightning. In a brief moment, he devoured the spirits of Tartarus, illuminating everything with his power.

"I am the King of all Monsters."

His voice brimmed with pride. Ananta's determination not to bow to anyone reminded YuWon of a particular person.

Despite being injured and lying on the ground, he was the being with the greatest pride in the Tower, who proclaimed himself the "King."

"He's like him."

Zeus, the King of Olympus.

Although their way of speaking was different, Ananta's arrogance reminded him of Zeus.

There was a difference, however. Unlike Zeus, who was now an ally, Ananta was still an enemy.

"No."

That's why YuWon had come to this place.

If left as it was, Ananta would be trapped forever in Tartarus, eventually becoming a handful of Arcane Power.

"You will become one of them."

It was a waste, there was no doubt about that. Ananta was the Monster King, a being who ruled over the hundreds of millions of monsters that inhabited the Tower. Ṛ𝐚ℕŎ𝔟ĚṤ

Using him as a mere energy source for the sea was a great loss.

"Have you come to challenge me? Or to mock me?"

Ananta's eyes gleamed with intensity. Since YuWon arrived, Ananta had shown hostility.

Despite his courteous words, he harbored resentment. Probably, right now, Ananta considered that YuWon was mocking him.

But he was wrong.

"I've come to propose a bet."

YuWon didn't have time to waste on mockery or challenges.

He liked bets.

To bet something, with the possibility of gaining something in return.

Unlike gambling, which depended on luck, YuWon enjoyed bets.

'I've never lost a bet in my life.'

No matter what was at stake or what was done, YuWon always won.

Now, in front of him was Ananta.

The Monster King.

A being with even greater power than Zeus.

If that guy was his opponent in the bet, it meant that what he could win was also significant.

"What kind of bet do you want to make?"

"Don't you feel unfairly treated?"

Instead of answering the question, YuWon asked Ananta in turn.

"If I had been alone. And if you also had other companions, you wouldn't be in this state, right?"

"Unfairly treated?"

Krarara-

Several heads opened their jaws and burst into laughter.

It was a grotesque sound.

Without walls in Tartarus, the sound didn't resonate but spread endlessly.

It was a slightly different reaction than expected.

"I have no regrets or feel unfairly treated for my choice. That's what losers do."

"So you ran away? Back then."

"Isn't it foolish to continue a battle where you know the outcome? Admitting defeat is also a virtue of a wise king."

As expected.

"They really resemble each other."

If he just changed his way of speaking a bit, one might doubt if Zeus hadn't entered that guy's body.

Perhaps that's why...

"However, one thing is certain."

Perhaps due to his pride, the guy added at the end.

"In a one-on-one combat, there is no living being stronger than me in this Tower."

His voice brimmed with confidence.

YuWon smiled at Ananta's words.

He thought it would be difficult to convince him with words, but it didn't seem entirely so.

"This is different."

Zeus didn't utter unnecessary words.

Although he was the proudest of them all, Zeus was the one who cared the most about benefits, ahead even of his pride.

"Let's do it then."

"Really?"

Ssssk-

YuWon unsheathed the sword at his waist.

It was a sword too small and thin to face a giant Dragon.

Moreover, the Otherworld Sword was an item optimized for Outers.

Ananta, the Monster King within the Tower.

Unlike a being dreaming of grand things, he felt no threat from YuWon's sword.

"Do you want to fight?"

Two emotions reflected in Ananta's eyes.

Doubt and joy.

The joy was probably due to his desire for revenge against YuWon.

The guy wanted to get back at YuWon for imprisoning and humiliating him in this place.

Doubt was natural.

After all, in a bet, the one proposing it usually is the one confident in themselves.

"And what can I get?"

"I will free you from here."

"And if you win?"

"Fight as I command you just once. Then I'll release you. Of course, you won't be able to be the Monster King again."

He couldn't release Ananta without any kind of compensation.

The guy was the Monster King.

I couldn't release him unless he gave up that title.

"However, promise me something. I won't give you the order to kill your people. In fact, I'll be closer to the order to save them."

"...Are you trying to convince me now?"

"It's something like that."

"But only if I lose..."

Krrrrrrr-

The Dragons bared their teeth.

Doubt dissipated, and joy spread throughout his body.

He could fight.

After making that decision, Ananta began to exude a battle aura.

"However, you've convinced me a little."

Winning or losing, the goal was the same: to find freedom.

The only difference was that he would lose the title of Monster King.

He wouldn't be able to live for his companions anymore, but that was just the price of defeat.

He could accept that.

And most importantly, if he won, that was it.

"It's fortunate that you don't know me."

Sssst, sssst-

Sssst, sssst!

Tartarus lit up as if it were broad daylight.

The souls of the dead were terrified by his Arcane Power.

Even YuWon realized for the first time that a single entity could harbor such an amount of Arcane Power.

Apart from Yog-Sothoth and Shub-Niggurath, it was the first time he felt such enormity.

"It's probably the other way around."

['Magnum Innominandum' is revealed]

['The Nameless Mist' is revealed]

['The Dancer Who Dances With The Flames' is revealed]

['The Flame of Death and Decay'....]

The Names began to reveal themselves.

The Divine Power inside YuWon blossomed, releasing the strength that had been hidden until now.

"You are the one who knows nothing about me."

[......]

['The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young' is revealed]

['Foolish Chaos' is revealed]

['Amorphous Cha■s' is revealed]

When so many Names were revealed...

"Now I'll let you know."

Ananta felt that something was wrong.

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

He was special.

Since he was born, until now, he had always been.

"From today, your name is Ananta."

Parents he couldn't remember, neither their names nor their faces.

They gave the name Ananta to the single-headed creature that emerged from the shell.

"You are special. Very special."

Special? What did that mean?

At first, he didn't know.

A newborn couldn't understand those words or think deeply about them.

It wasn't until much later that he realized how special he was.

"So..."

Kwaaduk-

The memory of that moment was so vivid that he dreamed it every night.

"Chew well."

And so, his life began, devouring his two parents.

That's why he didn't remember their names or faces.

Because they were already inside his stomach.

At the age of three, he saw children playing with their parents among humans.

They seemed happy.

A child sleeping in his mother's arms.

A child who falls and stops crying when his father consoles him.

And their parents.

They were all happy and valued each other more than their own lives.

Not just them.

Even the beasts, everyone Ananta had seen seemed happy.

"Uuuu..."

And only then.

Ananta realized what he had done.

"Uueeeek-!"

He couldn't remember how long he had vomited.

What he did know was that more than a hundred days had passed.

Without eating anything. As if trying to get everything out.

"Ugh, huh-"

And when he regained consciousness.

Ananta realized his own identity.

'I am a Monster.'

He was literal.

In the Tower, monsters were beings incapable of thinking rationally, whose only existence was to kill.

The Tower gave them experience and turned them into prey for the Players.

He was different.

He could think normally and even had more power and wisdom than the Players.

But despite that, Ananta thought.

'I am the greatest Monster of all.'

He was a Monster.

What else could a guy who was born and devoured his parents be?

So Ananta devoured everything he saw.

There was no distinction since he had eaten his mother and father at birth.

As he grew stronger, his head grew.

His body, growing day by day, was sealed by many Players who had received the power of the Tower.

But he had himself.

"You are special."

Although he didn't remember their names or faces.

He was special, as his mother said.

But...

"What the hell is this?"

Crack, crack-

Baaa, baaa-

The countless teeth that filled Tartarus.

And the goats bleating and the flames within.

The Dragon heads shrank in fear.

Ananta's Dragons were terrified by the peacock that spread its wings and revealed itself.

Seeing the being in front of him, Ananta felt a strange sensation for the first time in his life.

"You..."

A being more special than him.

The misery of facing a being with an incomprehensible name and power.

"Who are you?"

Fear.

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KO-FI:

https://tinyurl.com/LEVELKO

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