Leveling with the Gods - Chapter 139
Chapter 139
Pssht—
The yellow current flowed through his hand and fell down.
Poseidon looked at the bottom of the pond. The water had completely dried up. The hole that had been dug beneath it was far too deep to fathom.
It was the place that Zeus’s [Lightning Bolt] had fallen.
‘Incredible.’
Although it was only one shot, it was still an amazing sight to see.
The power to eliminate an entire city.
The ones who possessed such power didn’t even exceed ten in the entire Tower. However…
“…This was outside of expectations.”
Pssht—
Zeus wore a confused expression for the first time in a long while.
“Outside of expectations?”
“It failed.”
“What?”
This was an even more surprising news.
Failed? And not just anyone else, but Zeus?
If he meant ‘failed’ regarding the total annihilation of Camelot, that was understandable. A city of that size was still difficult to destroy in its entirety even with [Lightning Bolt.] On top of that, Camelot had a High-Ranker, Merlin, in it as well.
However, Zeus wouldn’t have said it ‘failed’ with only that much.
From the start, the thing that he wanted wasn’t the entire city but just the castle.
“What happened?”
“An unexpected variable appeared.”
“Variable? What?”
“‘The Great Sage, Heaven’s Equal.’”
Poseidon’s eyes went wide. But he nodded because, although it was surprising, it was also understandable to a certain degree. An acceptable response.
There were not many in existence that could block [Lightning Bolt.] The “Great Sage” was definitely one of them. Considering the power of his 「Ruyi Jingu」 and 「Flying Nimbus,」 it was definitely doable. However…
“But why is he there? There’s nothing good for him if he ends up our enemy.”
“He’s a free spirit. He’s probably not even considering if he’ll make enemies or not.”
“So he’s fearless.”
“He has the strength to back it up. We can’t ignore him, nor can we simply just label him as our enemy.”
Hearing Zeus’s words, Poseidon nodded.
While it was true that obstructing the will of Olympus was an unforgivable sin, the subject in question wasn’t just anyone. “The Great Sage” couldn’t be considered a lone entity. Being the wielder of the power of immortality and cloning techniques, he was someone not even the major guild ‘Heavenly Realm’ could kill. On top of that, his rankings were much higher than Poseidon’s as well.
“Did his main body move?”
“There’s no way.”
The Great Sage’s current main body was in a situation where it couldn’t move. Which meant that the [Lightning Bolt] had been blocked by one of his clones.
“He wasn’t the only unexpected variable.”
“Was it perhaps Kim YuWon, that bastard, as well?”
“That’s probably the case.”
Poseidon had asked just in case, but it turned out to be reality.
No matter if The Great Sage’s clone had helped out, it was hard to believe that a mere player who wasn’t even a Ranker had blocked [Lightning Bolt.] That was a feat hard for even most Rankers to accomplish.
Then, at what level did they need to view Kim YuWon’s current strength?
‘Was he already approaching the strength of High-Rankers?’
After thinking about Kim YuWon for a second, Poseidon shook his head. No matter how incredible his growth rate was, that wasn’t the most pressing thing that required his attention right now.
Because due to this event, an even bigger giant might start to move.
“Asgard will soon know as well, then.”
“That’ll probably be the case.”
“What are you thinking of doing? Knowing you, you’ve probably set up a plan for what happens next already.”
At Poseidon’s question, Zeus nodded. “It’s not like there isn’t a way.”
“…Then?”
Their eyes met.
In that moment…
Bzzt—
Bang, splash—!
The two Arcane Powers collided in the air. Lightning poured down as a curtain of water erupted midair to block it.
The electricity flowed through the water and into Poseidon’s arm.
Bzzt, bzzzzt—
He could feel a prickling sensation through his hand.
Clench—
After looking at his numb hand for a second, Poseidon clenched it into a fist and glared at Zeus.
“I knew this would happen.”
The situation had formed in Poseidon’s head the moment he heard of the failure. The passing thought that maybe the reason that Zeus, in all his selfishness, had allowed Poseidon to come here was just to prepare for this moment.
“Are you thinking of cutting me off to be the scapegoat?”
“Sorry, brother.”
Rumble—
The sky opened up as a stormcloud descended and thunder roared.
Rumble—!
Bzzt, bzzzzzt—
Lightning fell from the sky. It moved as if alive, and after circling Zeus’s body, it gathered on his palm.
“All things…”
Grabbing the bolt of lightning that had just fallen, Zeus held the ‘weapon’ charged with incredible Arcane Power in his hand.
“…For the glory of Olympus.”
Consciousness waned back and forth.
YuWon’s body felt stiff. It felt as if he hadn’t moved in a few days already.
His eyes opened, and the view of a tall ceiling filled his blurry vision.
‘Did I pass out?’
It had been a while since he fought until his consciousness gave out.
No, in truth, it was hard to call that a fight. The only thing he did was block a singular attack from Zeus. No one would see that and call it a fight.
Clank—
As YuWon went to sit up, he noticed 「Edge of Nightfall」 on his chest.
As if someone had put it there, 「Edge of Nightfall」 was on his body. It had the effect of increasing his recovery rate in darkness, which included at night.
‘Was it Merlin?’
He seemed to have woken up a few days early thanks to this.
He sat up in a daze as wind blew into the room. His mind started to clear, and his memory slowly returned.
‘The reward.’
If you were a Ranker who had leveled up and had been climbing the Tower for a long time, it was the moment that you always looked forward to.
On top of that, if his memory was correct, the reward this time was much better than expected.
[Name: Kim YuWon]
[Level: 97]
[Strength: 99]
[Dexterity: 95]
[Constitution: 99]
[Perception: 99]
[Arcane Power: 105]
His stats were still nowhere near good.
Compared to most Rankers, his stats were undeniably impressive, but YuWon had even higher stats than this before. They were still lacking, and by a large margin too.
However, among them, there was still one decent stat.
[Arcane Power: 105]
“It… was real.”
Arcane Power stat +3.
Looking at the number, it wasn’t that big of a jump. However, his Arcane Power had shown no sign of progressing for the longest time. Even after conquering Susanoo’s dungeon and leveling up, it had only risen by two, but from this one incident, it had risen by three.
‘It’s much better than leveling up multiple times.’
Just as it became harder to level up the closer he got to Level 100, it was very difficult to raise a stat that had gone into triple digits. Also, the stat would have a bigger effect than before, even from this minor increase.
A straightforward reward.
No. Technically, this wasn’t even the reward from the test.
‘Two of the three increases were from the Arcane Power absorbed by Kyneē. The remaining one was the reward.’
Vwong, wooong—
Dozens of [Mana Blasts] were created, centered around YuWon.
The pale blue [Mana Blasts] were smooth and round like marbles. The number of perfect mana spheres exceeded 20, reaching 30.
“This is definitely more comfortable.”
The importance of stats refreshed itself in his mind every time they increased. The same person’s mastery over mana changed so drastically just because of the difference in the number next to the stat.
Even though the number only increased by three, he felt that he could create ten more [Mana Blasts] now. Also…
[Fragment of Lightning Bolt]
ᗌ Rank: S-
ᗌ Proficiency: 0.00%
ᗌ A small fragment of the ‘Lightning Bolt.’ Allows one to control electrical energy.
ᗌ A strong resistance to electricity.
ᗌ Amplifies lightning-attribute mana by 10%.
‘I didn’t expect to get this as a skill.’
[Fragment of Lightning Bolt.] The skill obtained after completing the ‘Destruction of Camelot’ test this time. The great power of and resistance to lightning, and the amplification of mana.
Just looking at the description, it wasn’t that impressive of a skill. However, the wording of ‘control’ in the skill’s description put this skill on a different level.
YuWon looked at the swarm of [Mana Blasts] that filled the room like fireflies.
And then…
Bzzt, bzzzzt—!
Sparks flew fiercely off them. The room was instantly filled with electrical charge.
Even though he was in the center of all this, YuWon didn’t feel any different. In the first place, the only ones affected by their own mana were ones inexperienced in mana control, which didn’t apply to YuWon.
‘Control… means…’ YuWon clenched his outstretched hand in front of him. ‘Something like this.’
Rumble, rumble—
On the ceiling, a dark stormcloud formed. The dozens of [Mana Blasts] coalesced into a small [Lightning Bolt.]
At that moment…
“That’s enough.”
Creak—
The closed door opened wide as Merlin entered the room.
“We did so much to block it, are you going to blow up the castle yourself?”
Cr-crack—
A mana cage surrounded the cloud.
YuWon dropped his outstretched hand and looked at Merlin.
“Old Man.”
“Again with that. Don’t call me ‘Old Man.’” Merlin quietly clicked his tongue and sat on the sofa at the far side of the room, shaking his head. “Is that a new skill you obtained? I didn’t expect to see that damned lightning again after only a few days.”
“How many days have passed?”
“It’s been five days. You slept for a while.”
Five days.
He had expected only three to have passed, so it was a lot more than he realized. The shock he received was probably that strong.
“Just what did you do? After you got hit by the lightning so suddenly and fell, the Lightning Bolt disappeared. And also…” Merlin looked at the dark marks created all around the room. “You’ve obtained a strength like this as well.”
“It’s hard for me to control it right now. I apologize.”
“I’m not trying to stop you, just tell me about it.”
“It’s the reward I got after passing the test this time. And the thing back then…” YuWon shook his head and stopped his explanation. “I can’t explain it properly. I just got a feeling.”
“A feeling? You did?”
Seemingly baffled by this, Merlin let out a dry laugh.
Although he hadn’t known YuWon for long, Merlin knew that he wasn’t someone who would move based on feelings alone.
But it was the truth.
“I also do this sometimes.”
Although he replied in a joking manner and shrugged his shoulders, it wasn’t like there wasn’t evidence for his actions.
The 「Divine Dark Crystal,」 the 「Divine Sea Crystal」… And the 「Divine Sky Crystal」 that Zeus currently had. If what YuWon guessed were true, these three stones weren’t separate in the beginning.
‘They might be trying to reform.’
He didn’t know for exactly what reason 「Kyneē」 ate up the power of the [Lightning Bolt.] However, thanks to that, he acquired a power that would be useful for his inevitable fight against Zeus.
‘The skill “Fragment of Lightning Bolt” gives a strong resistance against electric attacks. I’ll be able to use it quite effectively if I have to face Zeus sometime in the future.’
Although he suffered quite a bit, the things he had obtained in Britain this time were massive.
“If you can move around a bit, stand up. You have a guest waiting for you.”
Hearing Merlin’s words, YuWon could guess what it was about and asked, “Are you talking about Son OhGong?”
Hearing OhGong’s name, Merlin’s forehead scrunched a little.
Maybe eventually in the far future, but currently, Merlin and Son OhGong’s relationship wasn’t that good. On top of that, from the view of The Round Table, Son OhGong’s unpredictable personality made him a unstable bomb that could go off at any time.
“…It’ll be good not to say his name so nonchalantly. He’s famous for being ill-tempered. In any case, it’s not him.”
“Then?”
“It’s me, you punk.”
Creak—
Not able to wait any longer, the guest that had come for YuWon swung open the door and walked in.
Seeing a face he wasn’t expecting, YuWon’s eyes went wide.
“Ahjussi?”
Hephaestus had come to Camelot.
____
