Leveling with the Gods
chapter-504

C504

In Hercules's voice, YuWon didn't turn around.

YuWon had warned with his own lips not to look at this place. And, observing the situation, the probable reason was that there was a possibility that what Hercules wanted to see was beyond the door.

Despite that, YuWon never took his eyes off it.

"I think I should take a look at least once."

To the extent of coming here to see what was beyond that 'door.'

Hercules frowned with a puzzled expression.

It was strange. It didn't make sense.

How could he have changed his mind so much in a month?

"Are you referring to that guy?"

YuWon turned his head while nodding.

Hercules' body trembled when their eyes met.

It was as if, through his eyes, he could see two different people.

Hercules felt like he was being absorbed by those eyes, like when he saw the door in the purple nebula.

'Isn't this Kim Yuwon?'

Suddenly, looking into his eyes, he had doubts.

After looking into his eyes, Hercules suddenly wondered if the Kim Yuwon in front of him was really the Kim Yuwon he knew.

He didn't look completely different, of course. But he wasn't the same Yuwon he knew either.

"First of all, you two..."

Swoosh...

YuWon waved his hand.

"Leave first."

"What are you talking about...?"

Swoosh...

Hercules' words couldn't keep up.

Following YuWon's gesture, Hercules and Diablo fell downward.

With a 'clang' sound resonating behind the two rapidly retreating figures, they fell downward.

It seemed like Hercules and Diablo were shouting something from afar.

"Why did you come here when you said we couldn't come?"

YuWon didn't care at all.

After sending them back like that, YuWon turned his body again and looked at the purple nebula spreading before him.

Soon, his gaze toward it changed.

His tone as well.

Beyond the wide-open "door" in the center of the nebula...

YuWon, who was looking there, smiled slightly.

"You are 'todos y uno, uno y todos'... (The All-in-One; The One-in-All)"

Omm...

The nebula reacted to the name that sounded like a spell.

No,

Ung, uuh, uung-, uung-.

That sky symbolizing the very existence of the Outers began to roar strongly in response to YuWon's words.

"Oh, Sothoth, ambitious existence, desiring what exists without existing in the void. Oh, Sothoth..."

A voice harboring various complex feelings: sadness, reproach, and regret.

The nebula responded to YuWon's call.

Uung, uung-.

Ooo, ooo, ooo...

Ooo, ooo, ooo, ooo...

He was deeply doubtful.

And, at the same time, mocking.

Is it really him?

Will it really be different this time if it's him?

And, as if mocking the nebula's mockery,

YuWon's gaze looking at the nebula changed.

"I am not the one you know."

Feelings like nostalgia, longing, and sadness faded. All the things he had as Azathoth, which were unnecessary in this battle and even a nuisance, drifted away and disappeared.

What remained in YuWon's eyes was only a desire to win.

"Thanks, now I'm more confident."

The corner of YuWon's lips lifted.

It was worth it.

The effort to get here was worth it.

"I'll be back soon."

Swoosh...

YuWon's figure became increasingly faint.

The nebula, which had been violently shaking toward YuWon and toward Azathoth residing in his body, began to lose its light little by little.

Blink...

As if a giant were blinking.

The light went out and on repeatedly, and from within that, a voice flowed.

-Aza...

As if he didn't believe it.

No.

As if he were confused about who he was.

-Toth...?

The purple-colored sky.

The existence named "Sothoth" in the sky looked down again.

An existence that could be Azathoth.

Towards YuWon.

Hercules and Diablo were thrown by YuWon and fell to the ground.

Hercules, as he passed through some clouds in his descent, kept his gaze constantly on the sky.

Crack!

"What the hell are you thinking?" He tried to move but couldn't.

Something was tightly squeezing his body, and he couldn't stop his fall.

He wanted to go back up as soon as possible.

Bang!

Finally, Hercules and Diablo landed underground, where they originally were.

Right in the middle of the battlefield between the Outers and Asgard.

"What... what is this?"

"Did something else fall from above?"

In a vast and extensive field, the Rankers retreated bewildered by the rising dust.

Meanwhile, Hercules, lying on the ground, felt an exhilarating vibration in his legs.

From what height had they fallen?

Grrrr...

-Uuh...

Diablo still seemed dazed.

It was understandable. After all, they had been thrown from several kilometers in the air by YuWon's uncontrollable force, and their bodies barely held on.

-Kim YuWon, that bastard...

Diablo, shaking his head several times, finally regained consciousness.

Looking at Hercules, who was also stunned, he seemed quite unharmed despite the impact.

-What the hell happened?

Hercules' eyes blinked as he heard Diablo's muttering.

"You also saw it, didn't you?"

-By looking at him, I know that something has changed in him.

Certainly, YuWon's look and behavior seemed strange.

As if he had become someone else, an unfamiliar sensation.

Hercules quickly raised his head and looked up.

"But, what did you see up there?"

He still couldn't get the scene out of his mind.

Countless twinkling stars and the star nebula that encompassed them. And in the center of that nebula, a wide-open door.

That was as far as Hercules saw.

But Diablo, it seemed, had seen beyond that.

-I don't know very well.

"You saw it and don't know?"

-The moment I fell, I forgot everything. Right now, it also seems ridiculous to me. That something I don't even remember scared me so much.

A dry laugh accompanied by black smoke came out of Diablo's mouth.

He had been scared for the first time in his life, but he couldn't even remember who his opponent was.

-One thing is for sure.

With a sigh of disappointment.

Tightly gripping the sword that he hadn't let go even while falling from such a height, Diablo continued speaking with a tone of regret.

-Kim YuWon, that guy is dead.

He stated it with conviction.

Even if he didn't remember. No, even if he couldn't perceive it at all. It didn't seem to Diablo that YuWon could come back alive after facing that.

But...

"Dead? Who?"

Between Diablo and Hercules, someone appeared silently in the dispersing dust clouds.

Diablo, seeing YuWon who had just appeared, opened his eyes in surprise and let out a beastly sound.

Grrr!

Terrified, he took a few steps back.

Hercules, though he didn't make a sound, was also surprised.

Whether from above or now here, how could he appear so silently?

"When did you arrive?"

"I just got here."

"You... are you okay?"

"Are you asking how I came back?"

Hercules, who hit the mark, nodded.

Although he hadn't seen what was inside the door like Diablo, the enormous star nebula he had seen from the sky seemed to be an unbeatable existence.

"I came because I thought you would think that. Just in case you came back up after I sent you back."

It was an action taken by YuWon who knew Hercules's character well.

YuWon thought Hercules would come back up even if he dropped him. He wasn't the type of person to leave him alone in such a dangerous place.

"So, don't go up and stay here."

Rumble...

A vibration was felt all around.

YuWon, with a soft voice, murmured.

"...Daoloth?"

A changed tone of voice and an intense look.

Hercules, looking at YuWon, was surprised again.

It was the look he had seen up there. Although the face and voice were clearly YuWon's, in an instant, it transformed into someone else.

"Hey, you..."

What the hell had happened?

Hercules, who was about to ask that, felt his eyes shake.

YuWon's figure was becoming fainter.

He, once again, disappeared from the place.

A purple mist covered the ground.

The impact coming from the inside made the mist twist several times.

Bang, swoosh!

The Rankers caught in the mist resisted with strength.

The Bull Demon King, who caught the essence of the mist with a spell. Michael wielding his sword while Athena's Arcane Power unleashed with her Aegis Shield.

And the thousands of Rankers following them.

Did they know?

Krrrrrrr-.

That the mist that enclosed them, when seen from afar, is a single creature so large that it cannot be expressed in words.

Under the sky.

A gigantic creature of a size that cannot be identified at a glance, unless it's a satellite.

Made of mist, it had a dragon's head and tail, and it was crouched.

Clack-.

And in front of that creature.

A person as small as dust in comparison approached.

"You've come too."

YuWon looked at the huge mist.

He remembered that it wasn't this size before.

Apparently, he had also accumulated quite a few Names.

Woo...

Magnum Innominandum extended its arms.

The mist enveloped YuWon like giant waves, and he, like the others, was swallowed by the mist.

At that moment...

Swoosh!

The mist surrounding YuWon disappeared, and Magnum Innominandum's legs were torn off and flew away.

The mist trembled in surprise. YuWon, who broke the mist with an outstretched hand, murmured as if he knew that would happen.

"You've grown more. You're still so greedy."

With a voice that seemed to know him well.

-More, you say?

The mist shifted, and "Magnum Innominandum" looked at YuWon.

The eyes were larger than mountains. A creature the size of a small country, its movement itself was a tremendous threat.

-Do you know me?

The mist, trembling, conveyed its insecurity. The doubt that perhaps, through its voice, leaked.

Magnum Innominandum.

The Nameless Mist.

Indescribable Existence.

All those Names spoke.

That the human in front of him couldn't be the one he knew at all.

That it shouldn't be.

"It seems you don't believe me either."

However.

Skaack-.

"It's been a long time. Nyog'Sothep."

With a sigh of regret, YuWon drew his sword and aimed it at the creature.

Nyog'Sothep.

The Name he had given to The Nameless Mist.

"I've come to take your Name."

Poo-hwak!

Towards that name, Azathoth swung his sword.