Leveling with the Gods

A Heavenly Mountain without the Sacred Fire.

The only thing that could be assumed to be there was Pandora.

How Pandora had disappeared, information about her was a blank sheet and nothing was known about the background of her birth.

'It's just a guess right now, but.......'

[The '????' Egg urges you.]

'It doesn't really matter.'

This message was more than a guess.

The fact that the Egg reacted meant that the tracks of an Outsider were going where it was headed.

It didn't matter if it was Pandora or someone else, as he had already received the message, he could only be more cautious.

'There's very little left now.'

He was certain of it.

Certainty that the egg would hatch, albeit a little sooner than he had expected.

Perhaps it would be the end or the beginning of a whole chapter of his life he had never known.

"Are you hungry?"

[The '????' Egg nods.]

"Yes, let's go."

YuWon smiled, the corners of his lips twitching upwards.

It's almost time.

''I'll fill you up in a bit.

Soon, he'll be able to meet the guy who was inside the egg.

With that thought, YuWon looked out the window of the Sun Chariot.

And then...

"Who are you talking to?"

"......."

Hargaan's voice pierced the back of YuWon's neck.

In his eyes, YuWon seemed to be talking to himself like a madman.

* * *

Jii-ii-ing-.

Toucheck-!

One of the Heavenly Mountain's peaks was cut off by the impact of the Heavenly Demon Sword and the Aegis.

It wasn't even a sword strike, just a sword strike that bounced off a shield.

Chik-.

Athena flew to the ground, cushioning the impact with a hand on the ground.

When she looked up, she saw the Heavenly Demon Spirit's sword falling towards her.

Skak-.

Ssshhhhh!

The ground crunched under the sword.

Athena's sword distorted the trajectory of the sword wielded by the Heavenly Demon Spirit. Athena hurriedly stomped her foot to close the distance between her and the Heavenly Demon Spirit.

'Quickly.'

She expected it to be slow due to its size.

It was hard to imagine a creature that size unleashing an ability that fast.

But the Heavenly Demon Spirit was different.

'The form of a giant made of a mass of mana that follows the user's movements. Naturally, its speed doesn't differ from the Heavenly Demon's.''

Cheon Mujin's eyes quickly followed Athena, and the Heavenly Demon Spirit's sword once again moved swiftly. Athena raised her Aegis to block it, swept it away, and closed the distance once more.

Close distance.

"You're not the only one who can atacaa."

Boom-.

Athena's Aegis stretched forward, striking the Heavenly Demon Spirit in the abdomen.

Boom!

Boom!

A shattering impact.

The Heavenly Demon Spirit's body shuddered, and at the same time, Cheon Mujin's mana, which was holding the Heavenly Demon Spirit, shuddered.

And without losing that small space, Athena threw the spear (?) she held in her other hand.

Twack!

The spear shot out towards Cheon Mujin.

It blew off one of the peaks of the Heavenly Mountain.

Unfortunately, Cheon Mujin had raised his sword just like Athena, deflecting the spear's trajectory.

"I see."

Pak-.

Thousands of spearheads appeared in the sky.

In the narrow distance...

For the first time since the fight had begun, Athena was on the offensive.

Kak-.

Puck, puff, puff, puff, puck-!

A hole began to appear in the great Heavenly Mountain.

Chen Mujin, who had been dodging the attacks with his footwork, took a look at his crumbling house and muttered.

"...Not a pretty sight."

A crumbling house.

Seeing it, Chen Mujin's Heavenly Demon Spirit rose up again.

Goo-goo-goo-goo-.

The Heavenly Demon Spirit's sword soared towards the sky.

Chak-!

The sword moved again, aiming at Athena.

Clang, clang-!

Gigigigeek, Paang-!

Spears and swords clashed, shattering into pieces.

Athena used her unbreakable Aegis to parry the Heavenly Demon Spirit's sword, and charged towards Cheon Mujin.

Meanwhile, Hermes and the Warriors of Olympus flew back and forth, fighting the Four Heavenly Lords.

Pandora sat motionless as Athena commanded, her eyes taking in the scene.

At that moment...

Shiiik-.

Thud, thud, thud.

Someone's corpse flew from afar.

The body, which looked like it belonged to an Olympus player, had not been dead for long.

That was the beginning.

Pandora's view of the battlefield had changed.

Aaaaaaa-!

Kak-!

It's this way! This way!

Wait, stop ......!

Puff, puff, puff-.

Puff, puff, puff, puff-!

The sounds of stabbing, slashing, burning, killing.

All kinds of emotions flashed like fireflies in Pandora's eyes: fear of death, murder and anger.

Swoosh-.

Pandora rose from her place.

Without realizing it, his body began to move on its own.

"Ah..."

She reached out to the fireflies scattered in front of her.

They were corpses, but to her eyes, it looked more beautiful than anything.

"Back then..."

A long time ago.

The image of a box, given to her by Zeus, flashed through her mind.

-This is my gift to you, Pandora.

-But you must not open this box. Never, no matter what.

He gave her a box as a gift and she must never open it.

At first she thought Zeus was making fun of her. But she accepted his gift and forgot about the box.

A long time passed.

She remembered the box when she needed it to survive a Ranker that had wiped out her entire family.

'At that...'

Finally, Pandora opened the box.

And then...

'They came out.'

She could see those bright lights.

Bam-.

Pandora walked onto the battlefield.

A single step on this vast battlefield.

However, there were three people who turned their heads with that one step.

"Pandora?"

"Oh, no...."

Athena and Hermes.

T-.

"...Who is she?"

Cheon MuJin.

In a single step, all three had noticed Pandora's presence.

The pause in the battle between Athena and Cheon Mujin gave the illusion of a pause, if only for a moment.

"What did you bring?"

After releasing the Heavenly Demon Spirit, Cheon Mujin looked at Athena floating in the sky.

In the distance, a presence could be felt beneath the Heavenly Mountains.

Cheon Mu-jin felt that this presence alone was more dangerous than anything else on this battlefield.

And then...

'Pandora has moved.

Swoosh-.

Athena watched Pandora across the inner surface of Aegis.

Pandora began to move slowly.

It wasn't very fast, but it didn't look like it would take her long to reach this battlefield.

On the other hand, somehow, her pace seemed to be picking up.

'Once she reaches the battlefield... the allies will be annihilated.'

Of course, the same would be true for the Heavenly Demon Cult.

The only ones left standing would be her, Hermes and Cheon Mujin.

And that would be neither a victory nor a defeat.

That was not the outcome Athena wanted.

'Now what do I do...'

And so, as Athena struggled with Pandora's existence.

Another familiar face reflected inside the Aegis.

"...You arrived."

* * *

Pak-.

Pandora's pace became faster and faster.

Maneuvering from the half-destroyed ship, she reached the beginning of the battlefield.

Then several players saw her and approached her.

"Are you from Olympus?"

The Murim players and the Olympus players differed in their attire.

They assumed Pandora was from Olympus because of her attire and reprimanded her for arriving so late.

"You're not even fully armed yet."

"The punishment comes later. We're in battle now."

"Hey you! Hurry up and get your gear ready. Or are you, by any chance, a backup?"

"Either way......."

"Guys..."

Pandora's eyes scanned the players gathered around her.

"You guys scare the crap out of me."

Despite hearing the same words, the facial expressions of the five players were strangely different.

Some looked away as if stung, others blushed with anger.

Some even bowed their heads in embarrassment.

"Scared? What the sh*t..."

Chilling.

A strange sensation ran down their spine.

Only then did the expressions of the five players become the same. Their faces turned blue, their eyes widened to tears, and their bodies began to tremble.

"Look at that."

Squawk-.

Someone started choking.

"They scare me."

"Kuck, kuck, kuck......."

The players were choking.

One of them stabbed himself in the heart with the knife in his hand. With a pop, the player fell to the ground, his heart pierced.

Five suicides in the blink of an eye.

Pandora looked at the scene and moved on.

No, she tried to move.

"How far are you going to go with that slow pace?".

A voice came from behind her.

Pandora's head turned. She could see two faces.

"Stay here. There's no fun in going there."

YuWon and Hargaan.

The two jumped out of the Sun Chariot, landing behind Pandora.

'It was real.'

YuWon looked at Pandora's face.

It was a beautiful face.

Pandora's features glowed in a way he would only see a few times in his life.

But it wasn't just that.

The moment he saw her, there was another reason why he was immediately and instantly convinced that it was Pandora.

'The ability to maximize all the negative emotions around her, just as he had heard.'

All these unpleasant feelings swirling in his chest.

Every unpleasant emotion she could think of, bubbling up as if they could explode at any moment.

It was like the Pandora she knew. She maximized all the negative emotions around her, centered on herself.

And it was nothing more than a skill Pandora exuded as naturally as breathing.

"This is so annoying, what is this woman doing?"

Hargaan was also suffering within the confines of her ability.

Fortunately, unlike the players who had just committed suicide, Hargaan did nothing to end her life immediately.

He was still not very high on the ladder, but he was as mentally strong as most Rankers.

Thus, Hargaan looked at Pandora with a sour look.

"Zeus......."

Pandora saw Hargaan at Yuwon's rear.

"Zeus?"

A face that looked more like Zeus than any other.

Upon discovering Hargaan, Pandora's body stiffened like a wooden stone.

Whether intentionally or not, Pandora's movements stopped. YuWon glared at Hargan.

"Hargaan."

"Huh?"

"Go to the Heavenly Mountain and help Master. Don't stay here too close."

Normally, he would have insisted on fighting alongside him.

But this time, she couldn't.

"All right. I guess that's what I should do."

Hargaan's gaze drifted to the bodies of the players who had taken their own lives.

"I'm in danger too."

Pandora's influence was growing stronger even at this moment. It was safe to get away from her as soon as possible.

Staggering, Hargaan passed along the road around Pandora. Pandora's eyes followed him, but he soon turned his head to look at YuWon.

"At least you still have instincts."

Before he knew it, YuWon had unsheathed his sword.

Perhaps, just a moment ago, he would have tried to decapitate Pandora if she hadn't turned her head.

"More or less, the table is already set..."

At YuWon's feet.

Jjeouk-.

[The '????' Egg opens its mouth.]

The Egg, about to hatch, began to show its first teeth.

"It's time to eat."