Leveling with the Gods
chapter-571

Side Story 47

Crack!

The earth where Vritra's head had crashed cracked.

The Bull Demon King didn't stop just because he had subdued him once.

Boom!

Bang!

The iron club struck Vritra's head again and again.

The Bull Demon King seemed eager to crush Vritra's head immediately, swinging his club relentlessly.

Crack!

Bang!

Splash!

At that moment, Vritra opened his mouth wide and exhaled fire.

Fwooosh!

The scorching fire erupted from his mouth, melting the ground.

The Bull Demon King and Son OhGong leaped high into the air, and the Administrators also hurried to get out of the fire's reach.

Whoosh, whoosh!

The valley turned into a sea of flames in an instant.

The rocks and cliffs of the valley melted and turned into lava.

Vritra, who had exhaled fire, roared with his half-broken horns.

-Uuuuuuuuuuuah!

Kyaaaaaaaa!

Vritra's roar echoed in the valley.

The flames spouting from the ground swirled violently, and amid the deafening noise, Ananta still hadn't opened his eyes.

Son OhGong and the Bull Demon King, riding on the Flying Nimbus. The two, who had dodged the fire, descended and landed on the ground that had turned into lava.

"It's hot."

"Hyung-nim, are you hot? I'm fine."

"Are you bragging that you have Golden Cinder Eyes?"

The Bull Demon King clicked his tongue in annoyance and shook his head.

"Take care of that guy."

"Eh? But I want to fight against that Nantan or something."

"Stop talking in slang and grow up, kid."

"Hey!"

Son OhGong scratched his head in disgust. He had wanted to fight Ananta, but ended up fighting Vritra again, with whom he had already fought once.

However, he couldn't complain anymore.

His opponent was his Hyung-nim, the Bull Demon King, and his order was reasonable.

"No choice. I guess no one else but you can be that guy's nemesis."

The Bull Demon King patted Son OhGong on the shoulder to console him.

Despite his disgusted expression, Son OhGong didn't refute the Bull Demon King's words.

However, he was only concerned about one thing.

"How much has that guy's seal been undone?"

"I'm not sure. I haven't checked, so I don't know for sure."

"Be careful, Hyung-nim."

"Don't worry."

Clang!

The Bull Demon King slung the Mixed Iron Rod over his shoulder and looked at the two Administrators.

"Two, huh..."

His first battle against the Administrators. He had to hurry before Ananta's seal behind them broke.

"It doesn't seem like there's time for warm-up."

The Bull Demon King's eyes turned red.

It was time to become the King of Great Power for a while.

Boom!

The Mixed Iron Rod struck the thick stone wall in front of him.

Crash.

The solid stone wall shattered in an instant.

Immediately, the Bull Demon King's hand, which had lunged without hesitation, dug into the ground.

Crack!

Kyaaa!

An agonizing howl echoed from the underground.

-Shud Myuel!

The zombie-like giant-eyed Administrator, Ithaqua, shouted his companion's name as he ran towards him.

Crack.

The Bull Demon King raised his arm as he dug into the ground.

In his hand, he held a brown rock shaped like a long worm.

Boom!

Crack!

-...!

The rock-bodied Administrator, Shud Myuel, groaned in pain and crashed to the ground again after being hit by the Mixed Iron Rod.

The Bull Demon King wielded the Mixed Iron Rod mercilessly, as if he had lost his mind. The power that gave him the title of King of Great Power manifested instantly, shattering Shud Myuel's body.

Meanwhile, Ithaqua, who had come to his aid, lunged at the Bull Demon King with his long claws extended.

Sss!

Kyaaaa!

An attack as sharp as ten swords danced.

The Bull Demon King dodged Ithaqua's claws as he twisted, and a long wound appeared on his cheek.

And at that moment...

-You have fallen.

Sss.

The wound on the Bull Demon King's cheek turned purple. The Bull Demon King, who had been running like crazy, stopped moving.

Ithaqua's claws and the wound on the Bull Demon King's cheek were connected by a thin thread.

-No matter how small the wound is, anything touched by my power is included in my Curse domain.

Crack, crack.

A purple light emanated from everywhere Ithaqua's claws had touched so far.

The Bull Demon King knelt before the Curse activated through the small wound.

Tap, tap.

Ithaqua approached the Bull Demon King with slow steps.

"Although it took me a bit..."

He raised his hand, emitting the stench of a decaying body.

"Without you, The Great Sage, Heaven's Equal..."

Bam!

Ugh!

A hand covered Ithaqua's mouth.

The Bull Demon King, who had moved again, looked at him with red eyes and a gentle expression.

"Did you think a Curse would work against a Sorcerer?"

Grunting, growling~

"Keee..."

Ithaqua's face twisted by the force of the Bull Demon King's hand, and he quickly raised his arm.

At that moment, as he tried to injure the Bull Demon King again to curse him.

Boom!

The Bull Demon King's hand, which had lifted Ithaqua into the air with all his might, now held another item.

"Tear him apart!"

Kweeee~

A huge fan in the Bull Demon King's hand. The moment he swung it with all his might, a wind as strong as a condensed typhoon headed towards Ithaqua's body.

Kyaaa!

Sss!

Ithaqua's body split into dozens of pieces.

Even with his head divided into several parts, he muttered with clenched teeth like a zombie.

"It doesn't... make sense..."

Sizzle, sizzle.

With an unpleasant sound, Ithaqua's body slowly rejoined.

As all the features of the zombies originated from Ithaqua, he wasn't a being that could be killed so easily.

One thing...

'We need to reevaluate the ranking of the Bull Demon King.'

The Bull Demon King currently holds the eighth position in the ranking. His ranking had risen rapidly in the last decade thanks to his significant contributions in the fight against the Outers and acquiring a formidable ally like the Goblins.

However, that wasn't enough.

Unlike other Rankers, the Bull Demon King, who had stopped participating in public activities as if he had retired, was ranked below his true skill level.

'They should have judged him just below The Great Sage, Heaven's Equal, or even as his equal.'

Tap, tap.

Having shattered Shud Myuel's body and cut Ithaqua's, the Bull Demon King approached to cut the latter's throat.

His eyes glowed red, and his horns had multiplied several times.

Exhaling a steaming breath, the Bull Demon King raised the Mixed Iron Rod towards the Administrator.

And at that moment...

"It's amusing, Demon King."

The Bull Demon King's movement, attempting to swing the Mixed Iron Rod, halted.

Turning his head, he found thousands of eyes staring at him, and for a moment, his body wavered.

"What do you find amusing?"

Ananta, now with open eyes, looked at the Bull Demon King from his bind to the tree.

"Everything. Your courteous tone, your eyes that light up when you see blood. Have you stopped enjoying the taste of blood?"

"Are you mocking me?"

"Do you think I know nothing?"

Ananta's eyes widened.

"I've been awake for a long time. Since the Jade Emperor imprisoned you in the Celestial Realm."

"You don't seem to sleep much."

"When you sealed me, you weren't like this. You were much crueler and relentless back then."

The Bull Demon King's eyes stirred. An unpleasant sensation. As if thousands of snakes coiled around his body and thousands of mocking tongues touched his face.

"Do you want to forget it? That moment?"

"Shut up."

"I'm talking about the way you slaughtered millions of humans as a Yokai."

Pierce~!

A sharp pain shot through the Bull Demon King's head.

A memory he had been suppressing for a long time.

"I guess you can forget it if you live like this. If you live a good life, like a human, it's possible."

"Your venomous tongue remains the same."

Suppressing his anger, the Bull Demon King looked at Ananta with even fiercer eyes.

"It seems I'll have to kill you quickly."

"Do you know that?"

"I don't feel like listening to you anymore."

"Look carefully behind you."

"Behind?"

Was it a trick, or was it real?

That was his fleeting doubt. And in the moment that doubt lingered.

Brrriii~

The sound of music resonated from somewhere.

And a strange aroma reached his nostrils.

Dizziness.

The Bull Demon King's mind wavered at that precise moment.

Puff!

Smoke rose throughout the valley.

It didn't come from Vritra's flames.

That aroma and sound were not new to him.

"Gandharva... right?"

The Bull Demon King forcefully opened his eyes, enveloping his dizzy head. It seemed like he would lose his mind if he lost focus even a little.

Immediately, the Bull Demon King looked back, following Ananta's advice.

A man with gray hair that reached his legs limped closer with long, slender legs like those of a girl.

He approached the Bull Demon King while playing a flute with a pure, white face and greeted him.

"It's been a long time, Demon King."

"...Yes."

Gandharva.

The one handling the fragrance and sound was some kind of monster that wasn't an Administrator or a Player.

However, he had a human-like appearance. Except for the lack of focus in his eyes, he didn't look different from a young boy.

However, the Bull Demon King knew.

The horrible form that his true form had.

"Were you spying?"

He thought it was natural that he hadn't been involved in the fight for so long.

But his essence was mist.

In the first place, the monster named Gandharva could appear anywhere.

"I wasn't spying; I was waiting for the opportune moment."

"The opportune moment... you say?"

What moment was he referring to?

The Bull Demon King's eyes widened when he arrived at that thought.

'Won't it be?'

And then, he realized there were two more.

The Administrators who had moved to break Ananta's seal.

Cuckoo, cuckoo-cuckoo.

The trees that were pierced into Ananta's heart began to be uprooted.

The power of the spell weakened.

The spell the Bull Demon King had cast long ago had already been opened by the Administrators.

"...We arrived a little late."

Judging by the way his comrades were being pushed, it seemed they could have helped, but the other two administrators hadn't moved an inch from Ananta until now.

Their goal was only one.

The Monster King, sealed in the Vishnu Tree.

A being with a thousand Dragon heads, laughing at the world from the top of Dragons and Monsters.

Ananta.

Their sole objective was to release this being from its seal.

Kyaaaaah-!

A deafening roar and an oppression threatening to burst his heart.

And so, at the moment Ananta was freed from the seal, an identical message appeared for all Tower Players.

[The Monster King 'Ananta' has been released from the seal.]

[The statistics of all Tower Monsters will increase exponentially.]

[Ananta is currently in an unstable state.]

[Eliminate Ananta.]