Leveling with the Gods
chapter-519

C519

Crack!

Hercules clenched his teeth so hard that one of his molars came loose and rolled around in his mouth.

Grrr...

The leg of a giant rose above him. With one hand, he lifted the giant and then struck it with his Club.

BOOM!

The giant's foot burst like a balloon. As the giant screamed and staggered, Being Intelligent Distorted lunged towards Hercules.

Hercules was about to strike the approaching creature with his Club when...

Grow, Ruyi!

BAAAANG!

A massive Ruyi Bang descended from the sky and blocked the path between Being Intelligent Distorted and Hercules.

...Huh?

Hercules raised his head with a confused expression.

That was Son OhGong's Ruyi Bang.

But why the hell had it gotten in his way?

When Hercules lifted his head in the direction where the Ruyi Bang had come from, he saw Son OhGong's foot.

BAM!

The sole of Son OhGong's foot kicked Hercules' face. Hercules staggered backward and sat on the ground. He let out a chuckle of disbelief.

What's going on?

Son OhGong grabbed Hercules' neck.

"What are you doing?"

Son OhGong growled.

As no one knew Hercules better than Son OhGong, he knew what Hercules was thinking.

"Do you want to die?"

"No. I want to live."

"But why..."

"I don't want to die; I'm fighting with all my might. Just like you."

Son OhGong's gaze wavered at Hercules' response.

Until a few minutes ago, Son OhGong was fighting with his mind half-lost.

He was so tired that Yokai Power had robbed him of reason, and at one point, he even attacked Pandora.

Naturally, Hercules, who had returned with Pandora, also knew about Son OhGong's state.

"Did I hear they failed over there?"

Then, Hercules removed Son OhGong's hand from his neck.

"Somebody has to die, but somebody has to survive. That's what winning means."

Hercules set off again.

He had already sweated too much, and his body was cold. The muscles that had seemed swollen like balloons before had now shrunk a bit.

Nevertheless, Hercules did not stop.

"Oh, come on, your stubbornness..."

Son OhGong had no intention of withdrawing either.

"You're right."

Finally, Son OhGong raised the Ruyi Bang and murmured.

"Not a bad idea."

Before the battle began, Odin's goal was one.

Not to retreat under any circumstances.

If this place, where most of the Tower's Rankers were, were penetrated, those inexplicable creatures could snatch away the lives of millions of people in an instant.

However, the situation was worsening.

"Zodiac Guild, retreat!"

"Four Divine Beasts Guild, Blue Dragon and White Tiger! Requesting support!"

Several Major Guilds had suffered devastating blows.

"Lemegeton Guild has been annihilated!"

Some Guilds had even ceased to exist.

"The Heaven's soldiers are retreating!"

"Lee Rangjin-gun is gravely injured! We need treatment...!"

Lee Rangjin, leading the Rankers of various Guilds, including The Heaven, had suffered severe injuries and had withdrawn from the front. The void he left changed the battle landscape in an instant.

It was pure chaos.

"It's enough."

Odin stood up from his seat.

Rafael, Uriel, and Brunhilde, who were healing him, were surprised.

"You're still injured!"

"We can't delay it any longer."

The unexpected rest had ended.

Brunhilde also did not believe that Odin would obediently accept treatment for much longer.

"I am a Warrior."

After closing his eyes for a moment, he listened to the sounds around him.

"Aaaaaah-!"

"We have to run!"

"To the Round Table!"

"To hell with the Round Table, we have to run!"

Shouts were heard.

Morale was already on the ground. The results began to show gradually.

Clang, clang-!

In front, Hercules was resisting to prevent the frontline from collapsing, using his robust body as a wall.

However, his body was already full of wounds.

Thud-!

Hercules, kicked by Being Intelligent Distorted's foot, vomited blood.

Glug!

"Damn it!"

Son OhGong's eyes widened.

The Yokai Blood he had been suppressing with difficulty since he attacked Pandora began to boil.

However, try as he might, his already exhausted strength would not recover.

Everyone was fighting at the cost of their lives.

Therefore...

Odin had to return to the battlefield.

"I guess...."

[The 'Asgardian King' has been dethroned.]

[There is no longer a king on the battlefield.]

[The morale of the allied forces is affected.]

[The 'Great Golden Warrior' dwells in your body.]

"....!"

Surprised Rankers turned around.

Odin, tired and wounded, with deep wrinkles on his face, slowly walked towards the center of the battlefield. Hercules and Son OhGong, who were busy fighting, also looked at him.

The power radiating from Odin had changed.

It was the moment he decided to go to the battlefield.

"I can't just stay here resting alone, can I?"

Brunhilde dared not stop Odin, who had a pale face, as he walked away.

Odin's determination was too heavy to be stopped by an inexperienced concern.

"Brunhilde."

"Yes, Majesty!"

"Thank you for following this unworthy king."

Woo, woo-!

A white Arcane Power sprouted beneath Odin's feet.

Odin began to walk, suppressing his roiling insides.

"It's been an honor to be with you all."

"Not at all."

Brunhilde kneeled behind Odin as he walked away.

"It was truly an honor for me."

Kieee-!

With a roar, a large mouth swallowed Odin.

Pum-!

Odin's fist exploded the Outer's body. Then, the magic that had materialized in his other hand unfolded.

Thud-!

Odin thrust the handle of Gungnir into the ground. Arcane Power spread across the land and engraved a large magic circle on the ground.

Puff, puff-!

Thousands of spears sprouted from the ground.

The spears were aimed at all the Outers, except for the allies.

The Outers, instantly turned into porcupines, collapsed, and Odin leaped among them.

"Uf-!"

Both arms holding the spear swelled.

The spear filled with Arcane Power swung with all its might, piercing through the enormous whale flying in the sky.

A whale with a hole in its body fell to the ground. Odin stood in the sky and set his fierce eyes on his next target.

He wanted to throw the spear instead of wielding it like this. But he couldn't even activate Gungnir. This would be his last attempt. Before throwing it, he had to take at least one more with him.

Baaang, bum-!

Odin's spear danced in the air. His ragged body surprisingly moved lighter than ever before.

"I think about death all the time."

That's what Mimir said one day when he woke up and looked out the window.

"Odin, how would you like to die?"

"Isn't it more about how you want to live rather than how you want to die?" Odin said, finding the question absurd.

It was obvious. Usually, when this kind of question was asked, it was about what kind of life you wanted to live.

"Uwaaaah!"

Bang!

The tip of Gungnir's spear cut another Outer in half. Odin's heart felt like it was about to burst, and his breath reached under his chin.

"Anyone can live. But choosing the moment of death is not something anyone can do."

"Choosing the moment of your own death. It must not be a very pleasant thing."

"I have a different perspective, Odin. Choosing the moment of death is as important as how you choose to live. Maybe that moment is the purpose of our existence."

Thus, as Odin looked for the next enemy, he felt the stealthy presence approaching from behind.

Bum-.

Turning his body, Odin also swung his fist.

No.

He tried to swing it.

"... Mimir?"

If the being in front of him wasn't Mimir, everything would have been different.

Thuuud-!

"---!"

An eye that grew as if it were going to tear apart.

Along with the impact felt in the stomach, the vision became blurry.

The being that looked like Mimir until a moment ago suddenly transformed into a single-cell humanoid.

The tentacle that stabbed his back pierced his stomach and entered his body, and blood spurted from his mouth.

"Kweup...."

The tentacle that passed through Odin's body lifted him into the air.

Odin's body, flying towards the center of the battlefield, was impaled on the ground.

Baaang-!

"Heh, coff!"

Laughter erupted with coughing.

Inevitably.

He knew that Mimir had died. Still, despite everything, what shook him was his weak heart that couldn't attack Mimir.

"Ha, haha, ha...."

Even though half of his torso had flown, Odin did not despair.

Rather, he felt much more relieved.

At this moment...

He understood it clearly.

"You ask unexpectedly simple questions for you."

"Did you already think about it?"

"Yes."

The day Mimir asked him about the moment of his death.

Odin could answer without hesitation.

"I want to die as a Warrior."

Woo, woo-.

[The user's Arcane Power is insufficient.]

[The durability of 'Gungnir' decreases drastically.]

The Gungnir held in Odin's hand began to glow. There wasn't much Arcane Power left. Physical endurance reached its limit, and if his concentration deviated even a little, he would lose consciousness on the spot.

"Not as the King of Asgard. But as a Warrior."

Odin's Arcane Power, combined with Gungnir's intrinsic Arcane Power, generated a wave of intense energy.

With the unusual flow of Arcane Power, the attention of the Outers turned to Odin. They had already developed caution towards Gungnir after several previous attempts.

However...

Gungnir could not be avoided or blocked simply because they were on guard.

"This is... my last...."

Crunch.

With strength in his fists.

"...throw."

Odin tensed his body like a bow.

At that moment, when the spear left his hand.

["Gungnir" activates.]

Flash~

Gungnir's light consumed everything.

Thuuuud!

Everything caught in the white spear's attack disappeared. Gungnir tore into pieces, and all the Arcane Power it contained discharged in a single blow.

Huaak!

The purple clouds covering the sky disappeared, and suddenly the light of the purest stars shone on the earth.

Pii.

Odin heard a buzzing in his ears as he gasped for breath. He felt his body slowly tilting to one side. His vision, which had turned black and white, became blurry, as if time flowed slowly.

Plop!

"I want to be incinerated with all my might on the most significant battlefield."

Odin lay on the cold ground, but a smile appeared on his lips.

In this moment when he was dying, he seemed to understand Mimir's mood a little.

Probably, he had also found the death he wanted, just like him.

He was also like that.

"Just one thing..."

The buzzing in his ears grew smaller.

Then, naturally, the sounds from the outside were heard.

"Odin!"

"Aaaaaah!"

"King Odin has fallen!"

"This is impossible, we can't win...."

The battle began to crumble rapidly as he fell.

His last battle, fought not as a King but as a Warrior.

"I worry about what will happen next..."

Steps~

At that moment.

Near Odin's head, several pairs of feet approached.

In Odin's blurry vision...

When he raised his head with difficulty to confirm the owner of those feet, he saw a familiar face before his eyes.

Was it a flash? Or was he seeing things at death's door?

He saw the face of someone who was supposed to be dead.

"Maybe I should have hurried a little more."

A man with loose golden hair and an air of majesty all over his body.

The other King of this Tower. The ruler of Olympus.

Zeus.

The man who was supposed to have died in the battle against Foolish Chaos approached Odin.

It wasn't just him.

"I couldn't have hurried more."

"Well, if I rush too much and arrive too soon, that would be worse."

"We arrived in time, huh?"

Hercules, Kali, Varuṇa of the Devas, and even his son Loki.

Truly, it was a mismatched combination he had never imagined.

"What the hell is going on...?"

Steps~

And among them.

Undoubtedly, there was a face that was hard to believe even when seeing it.

Odin's eyes moved slowly from the man's feet to his face.

White hair and wrinkles a bit deeper. There were some differences, but he was undoubtedly...

"Aaaaaah-."

At that moment, Odin, who looked him in the eyes, smiled without opening his mouth.

Mimir.

What had that guy prepared, risking his life? He would have liked to know before leaving, but now it seemed like he knew.

"So it was like this, right?"

His blurry vision didn't return. The head he had lifted with difficulty slowly fell down.

Now was truly the time to rest.

Because the perfect substitute had just arrived.

"...I envy you."

-Swish-.

The man who said that reached out and closed Odin's transparent, lifeless eyes.

With a complex expression, he smiled and continued speaking as he looked at the Odin who had closed eyes.

"You didn't escape from this place. Unlike me."

He had the same face as Odin.

"You did well. You didn't escape and kept this battlefield until we arrived."

A white light enveloped the battlefield.

When the Rankers, who were busy fighting, wondered what was happening, they looked around.

-Tic tac-.

They heard a small ticking sound in their ears.

-Tic tac, tic tac-.

-Tic tac, tic tac, tic tac-.

The ticking sound got louder. And at the end of that sound, time rewound.

Inside the light cloud, countless Clock Mechanisms intertwined and tangled in a complex manner. The disarticulated time was smoothly connected by a force and created a straight path.

"They" crossed the torn and flipped time like this.

Hercules.

Kali.

Loki and Varuna, Helios and Persephone, the Dragon King...

And Odin.

Numerous Rankers with the same names and faces as those living in the present appeared en masse on the battlefield.

Thud!

Odin's spear shook the earth. His presence was engraved again on this land.

"Now-."

Thus, as if replacing Odin's dead body.

[The "King of Asgard" leads the battlefield.]

The one who came from the future began to exert his Divinity.

"We will fight."

From the present to the future.

It was the moment when the baton was passed.