Villain Hides His True Colors

Chapter 98:

Silence had fallen upon the summit of Mount Olympus.

Shirahui had a bewildered expression, and the giant made of light and clouds was blinking his eyes with a blank look.

After a brief moment, Zeus who had belatedly understood the situation exploded in a thunderous roar.

S-such impudence!!

The clouds that formed Zeus turned bright red and hot steam rose.

How dare you threaten me, Zeus! Dont think I would fall for such a trifle!

Terrifying mana began to rage around his body. Lightning arcs fluctuated violently as if it was going to descend at any moment.

Seeing that, I spoke.

Ahjussi, you must think Im bluffing.

What a coincidence! I didnt know you were bluffing

Right. So youre saying I can kill her?

I gripped the sword in my hand.

The sharp Red Velvet Curse dug into Shirahuis flesh and blood trickled down from her neck.

Immediately after,

W-wait!!

Zeus hurriedly shouted as the lightning that seemed to descend at any moment scattered.

What? I cant kill her?

D-dont you want to save that child?

Ah, of course I want to save her. But I told you earlier. If I cant have her, neither can you.

Mortal, your soul will fall to the abyss of Tartarus! Arent you ashamed of yourself for doing such a dirty thing?!

Hehe, thank you for the compliment.

Being called dirty was the best kind of compliment to a gamer. As if Zeus couldnt contain his anger any longer, his body of clouds shook and emitted lightning.

Kueaaak!!

Boom, boom, boom!

Lightning erupted from his body and struck the surrounding mountain peaks. Snow burst and evaporated in an instant, destroying the giant mountains.

Oh my, that was scary.

That power was truly worthy for him to call himself a God. It was at a level incomparable to the people I had dealt with so far.

Perhaps even if I had fought him at my prime in the first round it would have been hard to say who would win.

After seeing that, I quickly organized my thoughts.

What was I supposed to do now?

I had stalled for time on a spur of the moment, but it didnt make sense to fight him like this.

A simple whim of his lightning was enough to destroy a mountain, so facing him head-on was nothing short of suicide.

In the first place, I didnt come here to fightWhatever happens, I just needed to rescue Shirahui.

Looking at the rampaging Zeus in front of me, I whispered into Shirahuis ears.

Noona. Hold on tightly to my fur.

F-fur?! Wh-what do you mean

I ignored her bewilderment and immediately used my skill.

*Dire Wolf

Bright light wrapped around my body and soon a beast with fierce teeth took its place.

A w-wolf?!

Hurry up and get on! You dont have to be scared

Good!!

Hmm?

I was worried that Shirahui might have hesitated due to my ferocious appearance. However, on the contrary, she had climbed onto my back as if she had been waiting.

Was it just his imagination that she even seemed happy?

A-ahI cant believe my dream came true like this

She seemed to be muttering something to herself, but now I couldnt afford to listen to her.

I only had one chance.

My mana exploded momentarily as I put focus on my feet.

Baang!

Snow that was piled high collapsed and formed a snowstorm. I ran straight down the mountain using the blind spot caused by the avalanche.

A giant wave of snow followed behind me as a cold piercing wind grazed my ears.

Brat! Where are you trying to escape?!

Damn it! Already

Although I didnt think I would be able to get rid of such a monster, he had found me so quickly that my efforts were simply in vain.

Foolish! Theres nothing under the sky that can escape my eyes! If you ask me for forgiveness now, Ill give you a painless death!

However, I hadnt risked my life to give up here. Whether it was kill or be killed, I would struggle to the end.

Your face!

(TN: Childish slang children say.)

I-Im going to strike you down!

Zeus angered voice caused Mount Olympus to shake.

For some reason, the back of my neck felt itchy. As a result, I instinctively changed direction.

At that moment,

Booom!

Lightning fell where I originally was and completely extinguished the surrounding area.

Damn it! He was suddenly trying to kill me.

If I was hit directly by such an attack, besides me, even Shirahui who I had wanted to save wouldnt be safe. Zeus didnt care about her anymore?

Booom!

Bang!

Bang!

As if Zeus really didnt care what would happen, he kept scattering lightning. Each time I would twist my whole body and avoid the attacks.

However, that didnt last long.

As the number of falling lightning increased, it became increasingly difficult to avoid it.

A mere mortal thought he could avoid the sky! Obediently accept your fate!

Damn it. At this rate

Although I was running to the point of being out of breath, there was still a long distance before I could escape this mountain.

Perhaps because Shirahui had sensed the dire situation, she spoke in a trembling voice.

Im fine, soJust leave me here. The fact that you came all the way here

Dont say that! Ill never give up!

B-but then youllheuk.

I could feel Shirahuis hands clutching my fur. And a little later, she buried her face into my back and started sniffling. I didnt know if it was tears or a runny nose, but the dampness was very unpleasant.

This headache was really going to be the death of me!

As I was distracted by Shirahuis trolling, light suddenly flashed in front of my eyes and a huge lightning bolt struck.

Baang!

[ Absolute Defense activated. ]

The ground I ran on exploded and the impact threw my body away like a kite that had its string cut.

Kyaaak!

Keuk!

had activated at the last second and the fatal attack was nullified.

However

Damn it!

Looking ahead, a giant crevasse was blocking my path.

* * * * * * * * * *

The situation was a mess. I would have to cross in the direction of Zeus to escape.

However, would he allow such a gap?

To make matters worse, it was impossible to see where Shirahui had fallen. It was like losing a key item for a quest.

Soon, Zeus voice came from the sky.

Keuhaha! How dare you think you can escape from this almighty.

Damn it! A way

A truly desperate crisis.

I thought of all the skills and abilities I had and calculated dozens and hundreds of methods, but I couldnt find a way out of this.

Was it really going to end here?

Perhaps this outcome was predetermined from the beginning. I hadnt regained my strength from the first round, yet I had tried to confront such an opponent.

The reward for the Challenge was so tempting that I had inadvertently become greedy.

However, it wasnt an unwarranted belief.

The Challenge appeared, which meant clearing it wasnt impossible. As a result, I had naturally thought there would be a way this time.

Perhaps I needed other items or conditions to clear it

While regretting it, dark clouds forming an angry giants face hung over my head.

A long time ago, there was a mortal who challenged the sky with wings he had made. With the delusion that he could go against the sky, he dared to challenge me. But do you know what happened to that foolish human?

Rumble, rumble!

Lightning flashed in the dark clouds. The terrifying energy gathering was incomparable to before.

His wings melted before the vast sky and his soul was burned to ashes, leaving no traces behind. Thats heavens punishment. No one can go against fate! So Ill turn you into ashes too and scatter you in the deepest part of Tartarus! Ill let you repent for your stupidity there!

From the clouds, the arm of a giant made of light appeared. A terrifying energy converged between its grasp, forming a streak of lightning.

The force was so powerful that the surrounding sky was torn apart and the space beyond the dimension was reflected.

So this was his true power

I didnt even think to avoid it. No, in the first place, could I avoid it with my skills?

Even with all the skills I had, it never crossed my mind that I could stand up to that attack.

Looking at it, I felt as if my fate to die here had been set since the beginning.

However

***

[ Translator Yasi ]

[ Proofreader Karane ]

What the hell was this?!

Even if it was a boss designed to be unwinnable from the start and even if it was a buggy game, gamers were those who would always find a way to clear it!

I returned to human form and took out an item I had kept in my inventory until now.

An item called Transcend Skill.

(TN: Author had called it Strengthen Skill in chapter 17, but it has been so long that he probably forgot.)

It was an item that could open up new possibilities beyond a skills limit by enhancing it.

The probability of it appearing from a box was heinous, and the effect usually obtained through transcendence showed a power beyond its grade, so I was saving it to use someday if I found a good skill.

However, now I wasnt in a position to care about this or that. If I die while trying to save a consumable in a boss fight, what kind of foolishness would that be?

Damn itI never thought I would use this here.

There were currently two skills that had been enhanced to the intermediate level.

brought by Inherit at the start of the second round and obtained from the first skill selection.

In fact, they were both low-grade skills that were too wasteful to transcend.

However

I had no choice but to bet on this now.

As such, I chose .

[ Used on . ] 

[ transcended to . ]

And the result,

Classification: Ability

Grade: D (Transcended)

Description: Changes the bodys state of matter.

*Elementary: Liquid

*Intermediate: Gas

*Advanced: Plasma *New*

Yes!!

Fortunately, my prediction was right and the gamble was a success.

Plasma. The fourth state of matter that followed solid, liquid, and gas.

According to a childrens science book I had read a few months ago at the nursery, the commonly found neon signs and fluorescent lights were representative of such plasma phenomena.

And

Lightning was also plasma.

I didnt actually know how much turning my body into plasma would help, but there was no other way at the moment.

Meanwhile, the lightning that had left Zeus hand finally began to fall.

Disappear, mortal!

Baaang!

Was it because I was feeling more threatened than ever? The accelerated lightning slowly illuminated the world as if it had stopped for a moment.

I could clearly see the lightning falling towards me.

A destructive force that divided the world as if tearing it in two.

To fight against it was as reckless as a child jumping in front of a truck.

However

When has it ever been easy?

In the first round, my enemy was the world itself.

Endless battles with heroes every day.

To win against such a world, I had used everything I could and had always squeezed out more power than I had.

But as a result, I had reached the pinnacle by knocking down enemies greater than myself.

So this wasnt the first time Ive ever had a crisis like this!

[ Youve encountered a Giant. ]

[ activated. ]

With an unyielding fighting spirit, I was going to confront an impossible enemy.

*Plasma

All the cells in my body ionized as it turned into a purple current.

In between the air current, red mana intertwined like a snake.

Overlapping it was a shield radiating light.

This was the best decision I could make now. All that was left was to believe in my resilience and my durability enhanced by the dragon gene.

I was gambling everything on this to resist Zeus.

Finally, the attack that was descending collided with my shield.

Baaang!!!

Ding!

My trusted shield was shattered like glass in less than a second.

As a result, the lightning that had penetrated struck me directly.

Duung!

Kkeuaaak!!

My pain tolerance was nothing short of a skill itself, but this time, even I couldnt resist screaming.

A splitting pain as if my soul was being torn apart.

The attack that had penetrated my body felt like it was trying to erase my existence from this world.

If I hadnt changed my body into a kind of lightning-like plasma, I would have disappeared without even time to think.

The lightning thrown by Zeus and the resilience of my began a close tug of war.

When will this hellish attack end? A moment felt like an eternity.

But nevertheless, I was still alive.

And this fightit was my victory.

Haakhaak

I fell to the ground and looked up at the giant in the sky, breathing heavily.

Zeus had such a look of shock that it even showed in the clouds.

Y-you brat! Who the hell are you?! H-how can you go against ordained fate when youre just a mortal?!!!

Looking at him, I smiled victoriously.

I could tell from this fight. It wasnt possible to identify it exactly, but there was something different in Zeus attack beyond it being simple energy.

In that sense, he was a formidable enemy where victory couldnt be guaranteed even if it was the first round.

And, I had just blocked an attack from such an enemy head-on. Not only that, it was with an ordinary body that hadnt yet undergone metamorphosis.

However

It seemed my victory was just this much.

HaaThis was a bit problematic.

Did I underestimate Zeus too much? The aftermath of the attack was much greater than expected.

Body, mana, soul. It was all tattered.

I couldnt move at all.

My original plan was to take advantage of the gap after the major attack to run straight past him.

However, now it was impossible to escape.

It cant be that theres something wrong with my divinityAh, or maybe there was a dimensional error of some kindNo, that cant be.

With me like this, Zeus muttered something to himself. After his brief moment of confusion, he spoke to me.

I dont know how the hell you managed to divert your fate, butNow that its like this, you must be removed at all cost.

Zeus raised his lightning again. It wasnt an attack with a huge force behind it like earlier.

However, I didnt have the strength to stop even that much now.

N-no!!! N-Noah-ssi!!!!

I caught sight of Shirahui who had fallen somewhere running towards me.

And

The lightning falling down my defenseless self.

As expected, I shouldnt have played in a hunting ground beyond my level. HuuI shouldnt have been greedy for no reason.

I instinctively felt my end. However at that very moment,

Baaang!

Suddenly, an unidentified blue light gushed out from my forehead and the falling lightning scattered as it was.

?!

You brat! What trick did you pull this time?!

Well

Even if he asked me, I didnt have an answer. Rather, I wanted to ask him. What was going on here?

Just then, from somewhere came the voice of an icy woman.

Who dares persecute the child I love!

Space split between the cracks of the blue light and a woman in a turquoise robe walked out.

She glanced at Zeus floating in the sky and clicked her tongue.

Tsk, still as ugly as ever.

She seemed to be an old acquaintance of his. Though, the relationship didnt seem very friendly.

Bitch, I dont know where you appeared from all of a sudden, but do you know who youre saying such nonsense to right now?

Hmph! Youre so arrogant after gaining only that much divinity.

Wh-what?! You brat!! Insignificant mortal!! Do you really want to die?!

The woman slowly took off her hood. Between the indigo hair that flowed down, her face was revealed.

Ice-cold eyes and skin as spotless as porcelain. Even features with the ideal balance.

She had the most perfect aesthetic face I had ever seen in my life.

The only peculiar point was the two ears that looked like a wolf swaying above her head.

Tsk. Did you just call me a mortal? How absurd.

Y-y-you?!

Zeus stammered in a very flustered voice when he saw her appearance.

Who was this woman that had startled Zeus so much? I couldnt even begin to guess.

Did she feel my gaze? She turned and looked at me. And as if the frozen snow was melting away, she immediately spoke with a cheerful smile.

Aiya. Im so glad to meet you in person like this.

Noona, do I know you?

HuhuIm disappointed. Have you forgotten me already?

It seemed the woman knew me, but for me, even if I looked back in the first and second round, I had no recollection of her at all.

HmmI really dont know who you are.

Maybe it would be best if I formally introduce myself.

She approached me with light and graceful steps. And like a beast looking at its prey, she spoke.

This one is the mother of all beasts, the master of the Frigid Steel Forest, Turbak!

Her white and slender finger gently touched my forehead.

Tuk

Huhu, do you still not know who I am? My male.

??!!??

The perverted and suspiciously clingy savage God had appeared.