Leveling with the Gods
chapter-510

C510

Crack, crack~

The power of Lightning Bolt boiled around the heart.

The golden discharge embedded in his body flowed through his arm and concentrated in his fist. It was at that moment that his gaze flickered, and he extended his fist.

Kwang-!

With the sound of Lightning Bolt striking, the fist pierced the body of the gigantic Outer. The creature, covered with a hard, crustacean-like shell, lost half of its body.

Kung-.

"Huuuu-."

Hercules, with sweat drops on his forehead, exhaled deeply.

How many of them had he taken down? It seemed to easily surpass the three-figure mark.

'Although this should be enough.'

Hercules' gaze, after eliminating the last remaining Outer, turned to Pandora, who was behind him.

At first, he was worried, but she turned out to be strong. In terms of pure combat strength, she ranked among the top three of Olympus.

She also seemed a bit tired, but showed no significant wounds.

'No need to worry.'

Step-.

The sound of footsteps drew Hercules' attention to YuWon.

It was quite an intense fight. Although Hercules also fought with all his might...

"It's overwhelming."

The strength that YuWon showed was beyond common dimensions.

The desert where he stepped was completely covered in black chaos. Driving herds of goats and waving flames, YuWon devoured thousands of Outers.

They called that the Divine Power, right?

Since he arrived here, YuWon became stronger and stronger.

'His gaze has changed again.'

The eyes that were looking at the remains of the Outers on the ground.

Having observed this for almost a month since they arrived together, Hercules immediately recognized to whom those eyes belonged.

The current YuWon was one step closer to Azathoth than Kim YuWon.

"Traces of Sothoth?"

Hercules perked up his ear at YuWon's murmur.

"Sothoth?"

"Did you hear?"

YuWon's eyes gradually returned to normal.

But it wasn't exactly the same as the first time. Hercules, who was making eye contact with him, didn't know if it was YuWon or Azathoth.

"Yes, this time I heard it clearly."

Sothoth.

This Name, the closest to Azathoth, had two extra letters at the beginning. However, Hercules couldn't even hear the abbreviated Name at first.

But now, after about a month, Hercules finally heard that Name for the first time.

"Who the hell is Sothoth?"

Now that he finally heard the Name correctly, Hercules began to show interest in it.

YuWon mentioned the Name Sothoth several times. As if that Name was the only one he should take into account.

"You've probably seen him once."

"Have I seen him already?"

"In the sky. The guy I told you not to look at."

The name of that being was Sothoth.

'Sothoth...'

Hercules remembered the immense nebula he saw from the sky.

It was as if he was looking at the infinite. In front of that immense existence, Hercules felt that he himself became infinitely small.

That wasn't just a living organism, but a collection of countless worlds. He couldn't even imagine fighting against something like that, regardless of whether he was sure to win or not.

"If there's something peculiar about him, I must say he's the ex-husband of Shub-Niggurath."

"Ex-husband?"

"In reality, Shub-Niggurath pursued him unilaterally. That was around the time they started calling her 'Whore.'"

"I guess they also had something called love."

"More than love, it was closer to madness. She was more captivated by a bigger Name."

"She?"

The image of Shub-Niggurath appeared in Hercules' mind. The power she wielded was truly overwhelming.

The power that overwhelmed the kings of this Tower, including Vishnu, Odin, and Zeus.

She had the power to corner the Tower on her own.

However, she was called Whore because she wagged her tail for an even greater power.

Sigh~

Hercules raised his head and looked at the sky.

"So are you saying it's him?"

A purple sky with twinkling stars.

Recalling the day he ascended to outer space, Hercules asked:

"But what do you mean by traces?"

"It means they are not Names I gave."

"Explain more."

"These guys were born by eating the Names that Sothoth distributed. I don't know if he distributed them just now or a long time ago, but..."

YuWon, or rather, Azathoth, smiled as if finding the matter amusing.

"If it's the latter, then we should consider that he's acting in my Name."

At that moment, Hercules was surprised by the presence emanating from YuWon.

Up until that moment, he hadn't noticed anything, but when he said those last words, he was clearly closer to Azathoth.

Had he realized that?

YuWon shook his head forcefully and changed the subject.

"Anyway, it's a good thing. The fact that you can hear all the Names also means that your status has increased."

"Really?"

Definitely, the past month. Hercules was fighting against the Outers, accompanied by YuWon, and Hercules felt that he was undergoing a change in himself.

Tock.

By cracking his knuckles, Hercules sighed in disappointment.

"Still, with this, it's still very insufficient. In the end, it all depends on you."

Despite everything, Hercules thought that the core of this battle still depended on YuWon.

The power of Azathoth that he possessed.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the outcome of this battle would depend on how that power was utilized.

However...

"That's not necessarily true."

"Why?"

"In the end, this is not a fight that I can wage alone. Although I have the Name of Azathoth, it doesn't mean I have completely become Azathoth."

"What are you saying...?"

In an instant, Hercules, who didn't understand, raised his head.

The sky visible from any place. YuWon called that sky 'Sothoth'.

Moreover, the beings that had just appeared were traces of that Sothoth.

"Is it because the Names are scattered?"

"Yes."

"So your role is to take care of that Sothoth, right?"

"Good thing I didn't come with Son OhGong. If I had, making him understand would have been harder than fighting."

YuWon didn't deny it.

This war wouldn't end without destroying that sky. Not only Foolish Chaos but also that purple sky, everything had to be dealt with for the war to end.

"These beings have Names and power. They probably have the Names they received from Sothoth."

"Do we just need to stop those nuisances?"

"Yes."

"That's all..."

Hercules' seemingly indifferent reaction made YuWon raise his head.

"Foolish Chaos is included among those 'nuisances.'"

Hercules' expression froze instantly.

Foolish Chaos.

The one who took Zeus's life. Maybe because they had already faced each other once, Hercules boiled even more with anger.

"That's good news to hear."

"You have to be careful with him. I can't understand what he's thinking, and besides..."

"It doesn't matter what he's thinking."

Light sprouted from Hercules' golden eyes that turned golden.

Losing him was my mistake. It's a mistake I want to make up for."

"Really?"

YuWon, who hesitated for a moment, finally nodded.

Anyway, it was an inevitable battle. If so, maybe it's better to clash than to talk.

However, there was still something that worried him.

'Aside from the others, I thought Nyarlathotep, that guy, would be different, but...'

The little one following him. Suddenly, it seemed to distance itself and stand on the opposite side.

'How will he use that Name?'

Foolish Chaos.

One of the greatest Names Azathoth had. The other half of Amorphous Chaos.

Although Sothoth was also a problem, how he would use that Name was also a variable.

YuWon raised his head to look at Sothoth.

When will he move?

'Do you really have so much to prepare?'

That guy's "door" was impassable even for someone with the name Azathoth.

That's why YuWon had to meet him and come down again.

Did he feel fear?

Or maybe he needs more preparation.

Whatever the reason, it was clear that Sothoth wasn't moving immediately.

He couldn't let that time pass in vain.

The last month.

He encountered quite a few Outers and regained their Names.

Thanks to that, he was able to regain quite a bit of strength along with the Names.

[Divine Power: 401]

In the end, his Divine Power surpassed 400 after steadily rising one by one.

He was beginning to wonder.

When all the Names are gathered.

At the moment when the name 'Azathoth' is complete, what statistics will it show?

Step~

An empty desert.

To find more names, YuWon began to walk again.

Again, three months passed.

The Tower went through a busier time than ever.

The 100 worlds moved simultaneously. Rankers and players from the upper levels of the Tower joined together as one.

That day, more Guilds moved than in the entire long history of the Tower. More than the day of the Gathering, when they fought against Shub-Niggurath.

"They're almost all here."

Odin saw countless Rankers entering his field of vision.

The Great Guilds that were the axis of the Tower, including Asgard and Olympus. And also the intermediate Guilds that had somewhat publicly revealed their names.

It was thanks to Son OhGong's role that even the Four Divine Beasts, known for being lazy, could gather.

"It was a good decision to leave this to the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal. Seeing so many gathered in a short period."

Odin nodded at Brunhilde's close words.

It was definitely a good choice. At a time when they needed to move as many Guilds as possible in the shortest time possible, there probably wouldn't be anyone else as determined and capable of handling the work as Son OhGong.

"Where is that Monkey now?"

"He's up there, riding on his Flying Nimbus... But..."

"But?"

"In my opinion, he gives the impression that he's preparing for battle."

"Preparing?"

Odin's gaze turned to the sky.

Preparing? Son OhGong?

It was a word that didn't fit well. Son OhGong would eagerly dive into the fight and jump with joy if he got excited.

Among the clouds...

With his sight extended through magic, Odin could see Son OhGong's back.

Sitting on a cloud and staring fixedly at the 'wall.' As Brunhilde said, Odin could see some determination or resolution in Son OhGong's posture.

Above the extremely large cloud that covered the sky as vast as the purple.

Uncovering the eyelids that were covered, the Golden Cinder Eyes were revealed.

"...They're coming."

Thud-.

In the middle of the desert, someone walked slowly. YuWon stopped his steps and raised his head.

After not looking at the sky for a while, YuWon, who suddenly raised his head, was followed by Hercules.

"Why are you doing that?"

Thud, thud-.

Before Hercules' question was answered, he turned to look to the side.

"Pandora, why...?"

"My... body..."

Pandora trembled.

Although it seemed like she had adapted quite well to the desert's cold, she was trembling more than when she first arrived outside.

Hercules, who was bewildered.

And Pandora, who was frightened.

YuWon, without responding to Hercules' question, looked up at the sky and spoke.

"Is it coming?"

The star-filled sky filled YuWon's view.

"...Sothoth."

Those stars began to fall.