Leveling with the Gods

Athena was silent for a moment.

It was difficult to answer.

"The Heavenly Demon Cult has the Heavenly Demon."

This was clearly a High Rank that had been dormant for a long time.

However, he had been a High Ranker since long before the Gigantomachy.

"Furthermore, behind Kim YuWon is the alter ego of the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven."

The Heavenly Demon.

And the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven.

Besides, Kim YuWon alone is better than Ares.

In such a state, it was not a good idea to make the Heavenly Demon Cult an enemy, power-wise.

"This side also needs at least four High Rankers, including me."

"Take Hermes with you. I'll choose the other one tomorrow."

"If it's just one person..."

"It's time to let her out too."

Athena's eyes snapped open.

She could only think of one person's name for him to use the word "let her out."

"Really?"

"I'm sure she's waiting. She'll want to get on her feet and come out."

"She doesn't like the battlefield much."

"I know."

Zeus rose from the pond and stood up.

He looked away from the pond and spoke as he walked away.

"So you'll have to back off a bit when you fight next to her."

Athena turned her head and looked at the pond Zeus looked at.

A calm surface.

'What was he looking at?'

After becoming the King of Olympus....

Zeus, who had extremely limited outside activities, saw the world he wanted to see through this pond.

In times like these, when Olympus was shaken....

What did he see?

Now that Zeus is gone.

As if drawn to something, Athena saw her reflection in the pool.

* * *

42nd floor, Hell.

In the deepest of all places, Hargaan found the person he had been waiting for.

"You call me to a place far enough away."

The deepest depths of Hell.

The place where all the most dangerous creatures in Hell, not to mention Cerberus, came from.

In a place where even Rankers were reluctant to enter, the two met.

"It's late."

Sitting leaning against a stone, YuWon looked at the time on his player kit.

"I've been running hard. The road up and down was a little jammed."

"Stuck? Like traffic?"

"Traffic? What's that?"

"I see."

YuWon shrugged and stood up.

Since it was one of the deeper places, everything was dark.

Looking around, where even the dimmest light was precious, Hargaan asked.

"But isn't it dangerous down here? It's too low..."

Paji Jiji-!

The bottom lit up.

A few bright spheres of lightning floated around YuWon.

At that moment...

"Eh......?"

Hargaan spotted the corpses of the monsters he hadn't seen before, shrouded in darkness.

"How many are there?

Hundreds.

No, maybe a thousand. Apparently they had gathered to eat YuWon, but failed.

In this desolate place, where not a blade of grass grew and there was nothing, YuWon cleared the monsters and waited for him.

"...I don't think you called me here for a chat."

At Hargaan's words, YuWon nodded.

"There's something I need you to help me with."

"What is it?"

"How many floors have you climbed already?"

"Now? Sixty-one floors."

"That's fast."

"Fast, yes. If I wasn't so busy these days, I'd probably go faster."

Unlike YuWon, Hargaan was focused on climbing the Tower as fast as possible. He could still climb the Tower as fast as YuWon, but in terms of speed, Hargaan was faster than YuWon.

"You have this too, don't you?"

Phazik-.

A sphere of lightning erupted from the air.

YuWon pointed at the "Lightning Fragment" he had created.

"That's right."

Pajik-!

Yellow lightning began to flow through Hargaan's body.

Unlike what YuWon got as a reward for the test, it was an ability mixed into Hargaan's genes.

A more pure and complete ability.

In terms of pure quality and quantity of Mana, YuWon's power was stronger, but the maturity of his skill was incomparable.

"But why?"

"Are you ready to fight your father?"

Hargaan's eyes widened for a moment and then returned to normal.

YuWon referred to the fight against Zeus as a fight with her father.

He was asking her if she was willing to take a different path than her father.

"Why are you asking me that, as if I have any doubts?"

"I ask just in case."

"What isn't, isn't. That goes for any parent, and while I'm grateful for giving birth to me, it's my mother who raised me."

Hargaan, who gave an answer without hesitation, made a slightly bitter expression.

"Even more so, Hercules, if you look at that older brother..."

Hercules.

A weapon of war from Olympus, planned and created by Zeus.

After Hercules' change of heart, Hargaan asked YuWon about Hercules, and after hearing the answer, Hargaan was overwhelmed with mixed feelings.

He wondered if he might be like that too.

"The Olympus I have seen is a place where the end or the outcome is more important than the cause or justice. Whatever is done to get there is done without regard for the consequences."

"And you want to change that?"

"At least my mother taught me I should."

The corner of YuWon's mouth turned up.

It wasn't a very long conversation.

But at least this conversation was enough to convince him.

'He hasn't changed.'

He wondered what he would do if the Hargaan he knew in the future and the Hargaan he knew now were different because of his intervention.

But he hadn't changed.

No.

If anything, he had become more quickly the Hargaan he knew.

Now there was something else he was missing.

"There is something you can help me with."

"Me? What thing?"

"Your father. The fight against Zeus."

Hargaan's pupils instantly dilated.

"And you're in it."

"Are you mad?"

Hargaan's voice rose.

This wasn't about wasting his life or anything.

"Why would I want to be in there? You or me... No, not you. This is a mistake. Anyway, what do you think I can do to help by getting into that fight?"

Monster corpses lying around. And the victory in the fight against Ares.

Hargaan stuttered and changed his words as he quickly recalled those two things.

However, the conclusion was no different.

"Don't you have confidence?"

"...Should I have it? In the first place, who would dare to fight him?"

It was understandable, since this was not just any opponent.

Zeus.

King of Olympus, and a being in his own right.

In a fight against him, Hargaan would be no more than a tiny ant.

"Zeus. King of Olympus, Ruler of the Heavens, Lord of the Thunderbolts. Many names, but currently occupies ninth place."

YuWon recited the approximate information about Zeus.

Ranked 9th.

Of course, that was just for now.

'Later, he moved up to 5th place.'

A rare promotion for a High Ranked Player in the upper echelon.

It is said that while the power of Olympus has since diminished, the power of Zeus himself has actually grown stronger.

"I know. No, you don't seem to have realized how high rank nine is in this tower."

"I know that too."

I probably know better than anyone else.

Few people in this era have met as many High Ranked Players at the top as YuWon.

"So you're saying you can't fight him head to head because he's no match for you right now?".

"It's not that I can't, it's just that it's a meaningless fight..."

"Pointless."

Creackle-!

YuWon's Lightning surged and mixed with Hargaan's.

"It certainly seems that way."

"...I know you're not one to talk nonsense."

Hargaan let out a long sigh.

He knew it was nonsense.

However, YuWon in front of him always managed to do such nonsense.

Maybe...

Maybe, he thought, just maybe, this time it was true?

"What are you basing this on?"

"There are two, which one do you want to hear first?"

"Does the order matter?"

"It does matter. Because the first one leads to the second."

"Then you just have to say them in that order, right? Why do you have to ask?"

"Because you will be surprised. Prepare your heart and listen."

"Surprise me? Why?"

"Because you..."

YuWon chose Hargaan for one of two reasons.

"You are the only son Zeus truly loves."

For that reason alone, he held the key to Olympus' destiny.

* * *

Those were cruel words.

Having to fight against the father who loved him.

YuWon's words shocked Hargaan more than ever....

But it didn't matter if he believed it or not.

Even if that were true, it was an immutable fact that Zeus was straying.

The only question was.

'It remains to be seen if he will make the same decision knowing this.'

Yuwon looked at Hargaan, who was sitting amidst the corpses of the monsters.

'Pajijik, Pajijik-!'

Lightning swayed unsteadily.

It was proof that Hargaan's emotions were out of control.

YuWon couldn't answer Hargaan's question of 'why'.

But it was definitely true.

Probably all sorts of things were going through his head right now, including the truth of what YuWon had said.

"I'm going crazy."

Hargaan scratched his head and opened his mouth for the first time in hours.

YuWon approached Hargaan again and asked.

"Are you organizing your thoughts?"

"There's nothing to organize. I don't even know if what you say is true or not."

"If you don't believe me, I have nothing more to say."

"No. I really believe you. Because what you said seems to be incredibly true."

"It usually is."

"Showing off. What are you, from the future?"

YuWon replied with a shrug. Mind you, inside he felt a little stabbed.

"Well, whatever, assuming you believe me."

"What difference does it make? All I have is my heart."

"So what's changed in that heart of yours?"

"I'm going to fight. That hasn't changed."

The result was the same.

"I can't say it won't hurt. Taking down a parent who loves you..."

Hargaan's tone was calmer than expected.

Perhaps he had ordered his thoughts, or perhaps he hadn't realized it yet.

In any case, his response remained the same.

"But there is no war. It's not right for hundreds or tens of millions of people to die in a senseless war."

"Glad to hear it, then."

"Then let's hear..."

The flow of conversation was interrupted for a moment.

"What's the second reason you need me?"

It was then that Hargaan forced the flow back together.

Ziying-.

The player kit buzzed in Hargaan's arms.

"Wait a second."

Hargaan hurried to check his player kit, as he had received many important calls lately.

As soon as he saw the message...

"This..."

Hargaan's expression hardened and he turned his player kit to show YuWon the screen.

"Look at this."

And on the screen...

[Apollo: Our father has ordered to attack the Heavenly Demon Cult].

[Apollo: Your friend, doesn't he belong to that guild?]

The message was more urgent for YuWon than for Hargaan.