Leveling with the Gods

"Yamata no... Orochi?"

Amaterasu's Mana trembled.

The towering flames around him erupted, representing his anxiety.

Yamata no Orochi.

The worst monster in the history of Floor 44, which led to Susanoo's death.

The true owner of the Kusanagi sword.

"Why the hell him..."

The Kusanagi sword suddenly disappeared in Amaterasu's mind as he rolled his confused eyes.

That's why.

"This was his purpose from the beginning..."

Amaterasu's flame-covered face wrinkled.

With that, the Yata mirror was in YuWon's hands, and the Kusanagi sword was within Yamata no Orochi's body.

The Three Sacred Treasures had come together, but the process to obtain them had become quite complicated.

Amaterasu's eyes traveled to where YuWon was.

Unlike the others, who were surprised by the sudden message, YuWon's expression was calm.

As if he had foreseen all of this beforehand.

-Annoying bastard...

Goo Goo Goo -.

Before fighting Yamata no Orochi, Amaterasu intended to eliminate YuWon first.

An enormous flame shifted. A sword of flames that pierced through the clouds, as if to cleave the world in half, descended upon YuWon's head.

YuWon didn't move.

If he didn't move, he would be turned to ashes.

"Has he given up?"

Amaterasu pondered for a moment.

Kwadeuk-.

Then, the ground in front of YuWon opened up.

And above it...

Quaang-!

An enormous tail shot out suddenly.

Powww-!

Hwaahhhhh-.

The flames that failed to sever the tail exploded. Amaterasu's eyes widened as he saw the flames rise to the sky and the hardness of its hand.

-This...

A type of ominous feeling he had never experienced before.

A sense of urgency that sent shivers down his spine and an unsettling disillusionment that hung in the air.

A crimson gaze pierced through the dark flames. Amaterasu crossed his arms to protect himself just as the ominous feeling began to make itself known...

Cheerreureuk-.

Kyaaaaaaah-!

The giant mouth opened wide.

Kwaak-!

With fangs that couldn't be sharper, Orochi's head bit into Amaterasu's arm.

-Enormous...

Amaterasu furrowed his brow at the pain in his arm.

Even though it was only a body made of Arcane Power, the damage and pain he received were transmitted to his body.

Fire-!

Amaterasu raised his Arcane Power even higher and swung the sword he held in his other hand.

Perhaps feeling threatened, Orochi released its grip on his arm and recoiled.

Amaterasu felt his throbbing arm and looked beyond the smoke.

More than a dozen eyes.

He had forgotten.

Yamata no Orochi was a nine-headed monster.

"There are nine of them..."

Suddenly, he lamented that Susanoo had not been able to kill it, only seal it.

"But why..."

Amaterasu's eyes widened as he saw through the slowly clearing smoke.

"That guy is there."

YuWon was atop the head of Yamata no Orochi.

Eight heads in total.

One less than the original Orochi.

"Is it because the other one fell in the Colosseum?"

YuWon had once fought one of Yamata no Orochi's heads in the Colosseum on the first floor.

His thought at that time was, "Does this make sense?"

The monster that led to Susanoo's death.

Although it was just one head, he wondered how he would deal with something like that on the first floor...

"Not all heads are equal."

Each of Yamata no Orochi's heads had a slightly different shape/appearance.

Each one had a slightly different color, and each emitted a different aura, mood, and concentration of energy.

It was the ninth head of Yamata no Orochi that YuWon had encountered.

Now that he thought about it, it was probably the youngest.

Compared to the heads that were here now, it felt very young.

"Each heart is different. Nine hearts in total."

His mouth watered.

YuWon had already taken one of Orochi's hearts as an elixir.

It had worked quite well, but an elixir of that caliber would still have some benefits.

Moreover, he now had eight hearts in front of him.

Furthermore, they contained an even greater amount of energy than the ninth heart.

If he could take them all...

He would have to endure some poison, but he would probably see a modest increase in statistics.

"But why?"

YuWon looked down and narrowed his eyes in a strange manner.

The sixth head of Yamata no Orochi.

The green-haired head was following him. Despite YuWon's intention to summon Yamata no Orochi to wreak havoc, the creature seemed to be following him.

"Are you the owner of Kusanagi?"

Yamata no Orochi's voice resonated in YuWon's head.

If a snake spoke human, it would sound like this: a thin and creepy voice that couldn't be distinguished as male or female.

And YuWon managed to sense an energy that resembled that voice.

"Are you Kusanagi?"

"Kusanagi is me, and I am Kusanagi. There is no difference."

The response seemed to confirm it.

The Kusanagi sword was like the spirit of Yamata no Orochi. It had been with YuWon since he attacked Susanoo's dungeon. When Yamata no Orochi was sealed, it was because Kusanagi had disappeared from his body.

"Are you helping me because I am the master of Kusanagi?"

"No."

The other head of Yamata no Orochi turned to look at YuWon.

"I am not helping you."

Its eyes, bigger than YuWon's body, shifted.

Exactly what it was looking at was not YuWon.

"Abba, baaaa-."

Instead, they were looking at the guy with his arms wide open, staring at Orochi's heads, with his mouth watering.

"Danpung?"

What he was looking at was Danpung. Yamata no Orochi was helping Danpung right now.

"Did this guy ask for Yamata no Orochi's help?"

"Baah?"

Danpung, who had turned his head, looked at him as if asking, "Did I do a good job?"

He wanted to ask what he had done, but he didn't think he would get an answer.

And, of course, this situation couldn't have been better for YuWon.

"Good job."

Yu-Won stroked Danpung's hair once and looked at Amaterasu.

Even though he was missing one head, Yamata no Orochi was a monster that not even Susanoo had been able to defeat.

A creature that had once destroyed nearly half of the world on the 44th floor and claimed the lives of countless Rankers.

Such a Yamatano Orochi would undoubtedly be able to stand up against the Amaterasu in front of him.

"And Amaterasu won't surrender to Kusanagi either."

YuWon's eyes gleamed as he looked at Amaterasu.

Amaterasu's hand, which had turned into a giant of fire, was raised. Shortly after, Amaterasu appeared in the palm of the giant.

"Is he? The enemy?"

If so, he was probably referring to Danpung.

Fortunately, Danpung nodded and pointed forcefully at Amaterasu with his pinky finger.

"Baat, Abba, Bababat-!"

It looked like a child ratting out an adult.

But the effect was immediate.

"Good."

He wondered what the hell was going on.

YuWon, who didn't understand their conversation, didn't know what was happening.

But fortunately.

"I'll take care of that giant. It seems like they left it for me in the first place."

Saaaaah-.

The heads of Yamata no Orochi stuck out their long tongues, saliva dripped to the ground, melting the earth and creating a deep pit.

"But that's all. Right now, I'm missing one head and one heart."

Those words felt like a stab in the back of YuWon's chest.

He couldn't say anything more.

It wasn't his fault that Orochi was weakened, but he had taken its heart, and Danpung had eaten its head.

Still, Yamata no Orochi was also partly to blame for its current weakness.

"On the other hand-."

Among Orochi's heads, several were sweeping away the disorder.

"I'll take care of those annoying rattles."

Those were reliable words.

That was why he had summoned Yamata no Orochi after gathering a large number of players in the first place.

Even if Yamata no Orochi didn't follow him, its aggression would leave countless criminals dead.

"The 44th floor needs to be cleaned."

"Cleaned?"

"The criminals who have gathered due to the policies of the Three Precious Children. They have left the 44th floor stagnant for too long."

Odin's plan was to use Yamata no Orochi.

"Gather the criminals. To the place where Yamata no Orochi is."

In the future, Yamata no Orochi was resurrected by Amaterasu.

It was Odin who had defeated it with his own hands, so he knew its danger and planned to use it to clean the 44th floor.

The presence of Yamata no Orochi was a disaster for Amaterasu and the criminals on the 44th floor.

"That's enough."

Yuwon looked at Amaterasu, who had retained his giant form and still held the Magatama Jewel in his hand.

He planned to use the giant of fire to stop Yamata no Orochi.

And for that, he was using a tremendous amount of energy and concentration. Only thanks to the power of the Magatama Jewel, he could sustain a flame as large as Yamata no Orochi.

"That level of penalty is enough."

Kwak-.

YuWon grabbed the Edge of Nightfall.

In his hands, the Uranus Heart was beating wildly.

It felt as if it was screaming to be used as soon as possible.

Hwah-.

Hwaaaaah!

Black flames leaped before his eyes.

Amaterasu appeared over Yamata no Orochi's body.

Saaaaaaah-.

Naturally, one of Orochi's other heads turned to protect itself from Amaterasu.

Just because YuWon was on its body didn't mean he was safe. Amaterasu knew that.

However...

"What the hell are you?"

Amaterasu had no choice but to appear in front of YuWon.

"Who are you to do something like this?"

At first, Amaterasu found his caution strange.

No matter how skilled he was, YuWon was just a bud that had not fully matured yet.

Even if he had won against the High Rank Ares, he was confident that he could defeat Ares, even if dozens of them came for him.

Excessively vigilant and insecure.

But now that he thought about it, it was understandable.

And strangely enough...

"How the hell did you get the Kusanagi Sword..."

He still vaguely felt the anxiety he had harbored until that moment.

And then, at that moment...

-How?

Kak-.

Amaterasu turned his head, and the vague sense of unease in his eyes became evident.

-Because he was the first to find the dungeon I left behind.

[Summoning 'Susanoo'.]