Leveling with the Gods

Rankers belonging to the tribes of Ares and Athena had something in common.

Not to fear death, and never to look back.

These were the beliefs one had to have when going to war. Fear, for them, was a mountain to overcome, never to possess, and if possessed, to conquer.

This was the way it had to be.

Huwareuk-!

A giant flame blazed in front of them.

The giant monster pounced.

"Look, what's that?"

To their eyes, the giant's form looked different.

A fire-sucking dragon.

A giant demon with two fiery horns and a frightening face.

Others were unrecognizable, imaginary creatures.

Huwaak-

A warrior must never feel fear.

Athena's instruction to stay away from fear.

She suffered more than anyone else, and taught it to her servants.

But those teachings were no longer useful.

With that thing in front of them, they could not help but feel fear.

Huwareuk-

He raised his flaming sword.

Bruuumgh-

Without realizing it, they took a step back.

"Get out of the way."

It was a friendly warning.

A warning before he swung his sword.

But no one in this room took it lightly.

A huge sword that was beginning to crumble.

Then, someone opened their mouth.

"Blood..."

The moment the sword came down.

"Watch out...!"

The shout was the catalyst.

The Rankers guarding the exit split into left and right and fled.

"Kaaaaaaaah-!"

"Uwaa-ah!"

Those who could not escape.

And those who overcame their fears, or were so frightened, that they froze in place.

They were consumed by the giant's fire.

"Have you ever been overcome by fear...?"

YuWon's eyes were riveted on the flames.

They are nothing but food for the flames.

A fire that feeds on the emotions of fear and dread.

His fear fanned the flames to burn even more intensely, and the Rankers, charred from head to toe, quickly collapsed to the ground, reduced to ashes.

" A scam is a scam. "

He felt it again.

Holy Fire was an ability best used against a relatively weak majority.

The problem was Athena.

She had fought in countless wars, and was one of the highest ranking women in Olympus, so she shouldn't be too afraid of Holy Fire.

But as long as Son Ohgong was there to stop her, there was no stopping YuWon.

"Arthur."

"Yes!"

"Let's go."

Swish-

YuWon walked towards the exit, surrounded by ashes.

Arthur followed behind him, watching his back. There were no more people following them toward the exit with the unquenchable flames

"It's a pity we didn't catch Athena here, but...".

YuWon remembered the necklace in his inventory.

"At least I got something out of it."

Up until this moment, YuWon had been under constant attack from Olympus.

But at this moment, for the first time, YuWon raised his fist towards Olympus.

He did so by killing Ares, son of Zeus and Hera and a high-ranking member of Olympus.

At that moment, a flare was released to signal the beginning of the battle.

* * *

Swing-!

The impact of the staff against the Shield of Aegis thrust Athena.

With her shield in hand, Athena spun and raised her sword skyward.

Cha-cha-cha!

A thousand swords fell from the sky.

They swung to where Athena's sword was pointing.

- Ohhh -.

With a glint in his eye, Ohgong shortened his staff.

Immediately after, he examined the swords around him, using the Golden Eyes of Ash to examine them one by one.

Swish-!

The swords flew at the same time.

Huwish-

Bruuuuumgh-

Son Ohgong twirled the staff with one hand, and used it to knock down all the swords one by one.

Clang-clang...

Tuk tuk tuk tuk-

The swords fell to the ground, turning to dust and scattering. As they were made with the arcane power of Athena, they were destroyed when she stopped exercising her power.

The thousand swords disappeared.

Tuk-

With a twist of his hand, Ohgong retracted the staff and held it in his hand.

Just as he was about to wield it once more.

"Wait."

Athena lowered her shield.

Ohgong, who had been concentrating on the combat, made a puzzled face.

"...Maybe it's not necessary to keep fighting."

"Why?"

"Kim Yuwon has already retreated."

At Athena's words, Ohgong looked around and saw.

The temple in flames.

And the Rankers reeling.

As Ohgong gazed at the chaos on the battlefield, Athena realized that this situation had not been improvised.

"This was prearranged."

"He doesn't like to deviate from the plan."

"You mean Kim Yuwon?"

"Yes."

It was a short conversation, but Athena could glean a lot from it.

'Did you know he was coming?'

Ares and Athena's relationship was well known among the Rankers of Olympus.

Siblings with the same father.

And like-minded allies who went to war together.

YuWon already had Athena's support in mind when he attacked Ares' temple, and would use Son Ohgong to stop her.

'To what end?'

Athena glared at Ohgong, who had now put away his staff.

Part of her wanted to grab him and force him to tell her everything he knew.

But he was only a clone.

Even if he had a conscience, it was unlikely he would spit out information for fear of death.

Above all, it was his nature.

If it was the main body, it was such a lofty existence that it would even be difficult to look it in the eye.

Shhhh-

The cloud on which Ohgong rode gradually increased in size.

At that moment, Athena realized.

It would be impossible to capture Ohgong, let alone extract information from him.

''Well, it's been fun. See you soon.''

Tohwaahhhh!

Ohgong disappeared into the sky leaving a white line.

Athena looked at his back and muttered.

"Soon...?"

* * *

After exiting the temple, Yuwon went straight down two floors.

Thirty-eighth floor.

A world where ninety percent of the land is covered with mountains and forests, and the other ten percent is desert.

It doesn't have much of a population due to the thousands of volcanoes ravaging around it.

Of course.

'How can you live in such a boring place like this?'

Chirp, chirp-

The echo of birdsong.

The sunlight sneaking through the leaves.

The pleasant, soothing smell of grass.

It was such a nice, peaceful place.

At least in appearance.

"Who knows. "

Yuwon kept walking, pushing aside the branches and bushes blocking his way with his knife.

It was a very vast forest.

There were very few towns and most areas were undeveloped, as if the players were just passing through.

This was one of those areas.

There was no point in finding one's way through such a place to begin with.

But....

"It's this way."

YuWon searched through his old memories and found the path.

All the forests looked alike.

But since the forest hadn't been touched by humans, it wasn't hard to find some trace of the person he was looking for.

Shhk-

YuWon crouched down and looked at the ground.

His eyes turned red.

Through them, he could see the faded marks on the ground.

'Found you.

Footprints.

YuWon followed the footprints.

How far had he walked?

As he walked, a large wasteland with sun shining revealed itself.

At that moment...

Tump-

The ground shook and the sound echoed through the trees.

Squish-!

In the distance, a tall, thick tree leaned sideways.

Trees several meters thick.

The ground rumbled once more as it fell.

Trump-!

YuWon walked in the direction of the sound.

The trees were falling regularly. As he got closer, he heard a man's voice above the noise of the trees.

''Are you lost?''

A deep, heavy voice.

It was the same voice he remembered, not one iota different.

Trump-!

Another tree fell.

The man's method of chopping was unusual.

He didn't take an axe and chop them down like a lumberjack, but rather he beat them with his fists, breaking them.

The fallen trees were piled to one side.

This was not just any lumberjack.

He must have at least outranked him to be able to break such a thick tree with his fist.

YuWon walked up to the man's back and asked.

''What are you doing here?''

The man's voice was unnatural, as if he had rehearsed it for a long time.

I see.

This kind of acting was uncomfortable.

''I'm not good at this.''

At YuWon's question, the man turned around.

He was about two meters tall.

Muscles that seemed to come alive at any moment.

The man who was punching a tree, wearing shorts and a shirt, opened his mouth when he saw Yuwon.

''Chopping down trees.

''Are you a lumberjack by profession?''

''Something like that, for now.''

''Then your home must be around here.''

"Why?

''It's just that I'm a bit tired and I was wondering if I could take a few days off and go away.''

''...''

The man looked at YuWon.

''Ask you for a favor when we just met? What a ridiculous and unnecessary thing to do.

''If you're lost, I'll draw you a map. It's dangerous around here, and you'd better get out quickly.''

''What could be dangerous in such a peaceful forest?''

"Not everything is what it seems.

''Really?''

The answer was predictable.

But YuWon felt relieved.

Unlike Son Ohgong, who had no idea where he was going, he had a straightforward character.

''Okay, but take me to your place. I'll pay for your accommodation.''

''But...''

''I'm so tired. I feel like I'm going to faint.''

YuWon exaggerated a bit, but he wasn't lying.

He fought against Ares, and then against the Rankers. YuWon's fatigue level had increased quite a bit from using Kynee and Holy Fire so much.

He was really exhausted.

The man looked at YuWon's face for a long while before replying.

''...Follow me.''

The man walked towards a pile of wood to the side.

A pile that looked like dozens of trees.

He lifted the pile of wood, which must have weighed several tons, and walked briskly towards the others.

YuWon sighed as he watched the man's back.

'That stupid personality is still the same.'

All you had to do was insist, and he would help you.

Despite his outward appearance, that kind-hearted man never knew how to refuse a request.

'Probably, it's not that hard to get to me.' Hercules was about to tell the meeting how to approach him, but it was a topic that shouldn't even be discussed in the first place.

"You don't have to tell me that. I'm sure I'll do it anyway."

'...Oh. I see.'

Hercules.

A High Ranker capable of crushing Olympus.

He was killing time in this isolated forest, chopping firewood.

'I can't believe it...'

Shhh-

As he followed the woodcutter, YuWon thought of his other name.

'I wonder how a guy like that earned the title of Giant Hunter/Killer.'