Leveling with the Gods

C263

"Who's coming... now?"

Baldur doubted his ears.

And then...

The sky that had turned red entered his field of vision where YuWon had been observing.

"I said Surt."

"He's coming here?"

It was none other than Surt, a presence as great and dangerous as Odin in Asgard.

"Are you talking about the sky?"

He was perceptive.

YuWon felt relieved to see that he now seemed to be able to communicate to some extent.

'At least he's not a fool.'

Sometimes a sense of justice can blind you.

That's why it was so difficult to be a Hero.

You had to be fair, wise, and capable.

Fortunately, Baldur was close to being an Asgardian "Hero" in that sense.

Of course, he was still very young and unruly in YuWon's eyes.

"Yes."

"Why is he pursuing me?"

"Because you're the Prince of Asgard."

"Is that the only reason?"

"If he kills you, Ragnarok will be even greater. That's what he wants."

"Killing me?"

A face that still didn't fully understand.

He had good perception, but it seems he still lacked much experience.

YuWon clearly explained the reason.

"Yes, with your death, Odin will make it so."

Odin's love for Baldur.

That was the final ingredient for Ragnarok to be complete.

With Baldur's loss, Odin would break the peace he had maintained and start a great war.

"My father..."

Baldur nodded slightly at YuWon's words.

Baldur.

He knew more about Odin than anyone. He had a vague idea of what Odin would do after his death.

"I see why you called me King."

"When you die, this Tower will turn into a gigantic battlefield. So, for now, you'll be out of this fight."

YuWon spoke again with more force.

"Your job is not to fight, but to survive."

"Huh-."

Baldur lowered his head in frustration and sighed.

His mind was in turmoil.

"I'm not used to this."

To escape instead of fighting. That's the only way to win this fight.

Baldur closed his eyes for a long moment and then opened them, looking at YuWon.

"What will happen to the other giants here?"

"They will escape too."

"If Surt really comes, they won't be able to flee. Giants are not very fast on their feet, and besides..."

Baldur's mind returned to the young giants he had encountered before.

"There are children in this city."

The largest city in Jotunheim.

It was unknown how many hundreds of thousands or millions of common giants would die if it fell.

That's why Baldur couldn't move his feet voluntarily even though he understood the whole situation.

But then...

"Don't worry," Son OhGong said as he patted his chest from behind.

"I'm here."

"I've heard the name Great Sage, Heaven's Equal a lot, but..."

He doubted his ability to confront Surt, even if he was the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal.

And that doubt reflected on his face.

"Hey, don't worry, I used to..."

"Stop," YuWon said, preventing Son OhGong from getting too excited and jumping around.

The sky, which had been as red as a late autumn sunset, had now turned completely crimson.

There wasn't much time left.

"Again, this is not a fight to win. It's a fight to protect you," YuWon said, feeling the pressure of time.

When Baldur nodded, YuWon continued.

"Leave Jotunheimr to this guy. You and I will go to the Golden Castle together."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, and so are you..."

Casting a glance at OhGong, YuWon sighed deeply.

"Don't fight recklessly."

"I have confidence. Don't worry too much, alright?"

"It's when you seem so sure of yourself that I worry the most."

But there was nothing more they could do at this moment than trust each other.

"The first priority is to evacuate the giants."

"Do your job well."

The corners of OhGong's lips curled up, and his body floated up.

"It's a waste of time if you just lose it."

Surt began to move.

That meant this was going to be an all-out war.

And if Baldur died in the process, and Odin lost his composure, all their plans and preparations could crumble.

Therefore, YuWon said confidently.

"Don't worry about that."

Kak-.

A pure white cloud swirled around YuWon and Baldur.

"It's noisy, hurry up and go. Do you know how to handle it?"

"I'll borrow it for a moment."

YuWon circulated his Mana.

With a metallic sound, the door opened, and the Flying Nimbus carrying the two quickly disappeared.

Tak-.

OhGong, on the other hand, slowly emerged.

His expression was filled with boredom.

"I'm not even fighting, I'm just doing stuff like this."

Ung-.

Arcane Power accumulated in OhGong's toes.

The immense Arcane Power that had consumed half of the Immortal Peach Garden began to condense. The ground shook, and white clouds began to cover the ground from OhGong's feet.

His foot that had fallen once stepped firmly on the ground.

"Awaken-."

Thud~

"Flying Nimbus."

Guguugugu-.

As if there had been an earthquake, clouds began to rise above the ground.

An enormous cloud that enveloped Jotunheim.

It was as if the dark clouds in the sky had descended to the ground.

Even more...

"What, what is this?"

"Both in the sky and on the ground..."

"Clouds?"

The bodies of the giants of Jotunheim rose up.

The clouds lifted the city.

Sweat began to form on OhGong's forehead, and a dazzling light emanated from his golden eyes.

"Take them away."

Hwareuk-.

The clouds began to move.

The Flying Nimbus lifted the hundreds of thousands of giants and carried them away.

Seeing that scene, Son OhGong's eyes turned to the red sky again.

"Far away, very far away."

Huh-.

One side of his golden eyes turned red, and he looked up at the sky.

Soon, the Eye of Muspel disappeared.

Now it was time for the other one to appear.

Zazac-.

The red sky opened, revealing two hands tearing through space.

Woo-.

A chill ran through his body just from its presence.

Thump-.

The world trembled for a moment as the figure that had opened the sky stepped onto the ground.

Surt.

The pinnacle of giants.

His flames churned the earth and burned the world red.

"A step too late, Surt."

The giant, with his entire body covered in hot lava, looked at Son OhGong.

He had realized.

That it was Son OhGong who had caused all this commotion.

But...

"Surt will have no intention of fighting you."

As YuWon had said, Surt stopped paying attention to Son OhGong after seeing him.

His gaze turned to the city of giants, now being carried away by the Flying Nimbus.

In the face of Surt's reaction, Son OhGong felt a pang of wounded pride, but at the same time, he admired it.

'Just as he said.'

"Because his targets are Baldur and Odin."

Surt thought he had no opponent other than Odin.

No matter how high OhGong's rank was and how skilled he was, his goal was to provoke Odin.

Odin was all that mattered.

That's why Surt wouldn't worry about OhGong.

"First, we must find Baldur and get him out. Then we can move the giants of Jotunheim, and Surt will be chasing in vain."

"You mean using the giants of Jotunheim as bait?"

"Anyway, if we leave them as they are, the city will be destroyed. It will probably disappear without a trace."

It's better to do everything possible to save them.

"Surt won't be able to leave his position for long. We just need time. Therefore, the key point of this matter is..."

"To avoid a frontal fight?"

"Exactly."

He knew it well in his head.

It's just that his heart didn't understand.

That's why YuWon repeated it over and over again.

"Please endure. You can't face Surt alone right now."

"Well, can't I really...?"

Despite having expended a great deal of energy activating his Flying Nimbus, Son OhGong couldn't contain his burning fury.

"I want to test it."

Kaaaak-.

OhGong pointed his Ru Yi Bang at Surt, who had completely taken his eyes off him.

"We just have to buy time, right?"

As long as the outcome is the same, it's fine.

After rationalizing with himself, OhGong made a decision.

"It's just that I can't bear the curiosity."

Surt, the fire giant who rules Muspelheim.

Occupying the fourth place in the rankings, he is known as the king of giants.

"How far am I from that guy?"

If he stopped before an opponent like him, he would no longer be the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal.

***

***

[How far am I from that guy?]

Ding-.

YuWon, who understood Son OhGong's situation through his player kit, sighed deeply.

As expected.

"This idiot, really..."

He thought he had matured a bit, but that wasn't the case.

"Can we leave this to the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal?"

"That guy won't die."

A firm belief in Son OhGong.

At least he could be sure of that.

"The question is how long he can hold on."

If he were in perfect condition, it might not be a problem, but Son OhGong had already spent a lot of energy using his Mana to move an entire city with its people around.

Of course, in terms of total power, OhGong was probably among the top three in this Tower.

However, he was still pushing his limits.

"Do you think he can withstand it?"

"I think he can. Although not for long in his current state."

Baldur seemed puzzled.

YuWon left OhGong in charge of the giants of Jotunheim.

To buy time, to keep them alive from Surt, who was trying to find Baldur.

But YuWon didn't seem to believe that OhGong could handle Surt in the first place.

"With that in mind, why did you leave the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal alone?" Baldur's eyes narrowed at the idea.

"Are you planning to use them as bait and abandon them?" he added, with a threatening look.

If he was trying to abandon the giants of Jotunheim to save himself, Baldur wouldn't tolerate it.

But luckily.

"No way."

YuWon had no intention of abandoning either side.

"It's difficult to stop Surt. It will take Odin himself to stop him."

Odin was the strongest fighter YuWon knew, and he had reached the pinnacle of both magic and spear handling.

As such, he was capable of defending against Surt. In fact, Surt had invested a great deal of time and effort to defeat Odin.

YuWon knew it all.

That's why Baldur couldn't understand.

"If you knew that, why...?"

"Then now."

Just as Baldur was about to ask why YuWon didn't call Odin.

On the contrary, YuWon asked a question.

"Where is that Odin?"

Baldur couldn't answer because he really didn't know. But what he did know was that this situation was just a piece of the puzzle that YuWon was painting. He could feel it because YuWon was smiling.