Leveling with the Gods

C280

Chaaaaaak-!

A swift sword strike.

Susanoo swung his arm as if bored.

-How boring.

Not aiming for vital points and simply swinging the sword.

It wasn't challenging. Susanoo knew human vital points better than anyone and had always targeted them when swinging his sword.

All he had to do was the opposite. Yet, the feeling when swinging the sword was incomparable to before.

-I don't even feel the need to exert my strength against these insignificant losers, honestly.

Without the tension of battle, without the taste of blood, without the thrill of knowing whether he could live or die. It was an empty fight. The only thing left was the feeling of being on a battlefield, just that.

"Man, how are we supposed to get through to that guy?"

"He's on a completely different level, isn't he?"

"Is this the power of a High-Ranker...?"

There's no business in front of dishonesty. (?)

Although it wasn't a valid phrase for Rankers, the number was nothing short of ten thousand.

At this rate, they had enough strength to crush a Ranker even with numbers.

But the players were being overwhelmed by a single Susanoo.

"These fools."

From Susanoo's perspective, it was ridiculous.

"If they believed in numbers and all charged together, it wouldn't be impossible."

Of course, if that happened, he would have to use Kusanagi as well.

If the situation became truly desperate, he would prefer to wield his sword with determination.

-Don't think unnecessary things.

Surprisingly, YuWon's warning continued.

He had planned to kill some of them if the situation became urgent, but YuWon had just cut off his tail.

Susanoo frowned. Thus, he could only continue using a dull sword.

But...

Sigh-.

Among the players who had gathered in front of him.

He saw several people, they didn't look ordinary.

-Eh?

Susanoo's eyes gleamed.

The corners of his mouth lifted slightly. It seemed that he could finally enjoy himself a little.

Three players were approaching Susanoo.

Looking at those three, dressed in black armor and short in stature, Susanoo began gathering his Arcane Power.

-No objections, right?

Zas...

Susanoo drew another sword from his belt.

The Kusanagi Sword.

One of the Three Sacred Treasures, a gift from YuWon to Susanoo.

-Then...

-Just let them in.

Susanoo's hand, which was pulling out Kusanagi, stopped at YuWon's words.

It wasn't of his own volition. He was simply responding to YuWon's command.

-Really?

-This is my Trial. I don't want the fight to unnecessarily escalate.

-You're not letting me have any fun.

Although he complained, he couldn't resist.

Susanoo lowered the sword he had in his hand.

-Enter.

"...?"

The three approaching players looked confused.

They were suddenly told to enter.

After exchanging glances for a moment, they nodded.

Immediately, the castle door swung wide open, and the three players began walking inside.

"What's going on?"

"Why are they just entering like that?"

"Are they discriminating against us?"

"It's unfair!"

"Woooh-!"

Boos erupted from various places.

The veins on Susanoo's forehead bulged. He felt the sword in his hand grow more powerful on its own.

-How dare those insects...?

He wished to kill them with a single blow. But until he received the order from YuWon, he couldn't do it.

Realizing that no one was being killed, it was likely that they resorted to booing like this.

"I'd rather fight those guys back there than these."

Susanoo looked back at the players who had just entered the castle where YuWon was.

No.

In the first place, they were not Players, but outsiders.

"Envoys..." (Note: Formerly called: Messengers)

[The first trial is on hold]

[The second trial begins]

A message crossed Yu-won's mind.

It was a separate message that didn't reach the other Players participating in the same Trial. It was natural since this trial focused on YuWon from the start.

"The first trial involved stopping the players gathered outside the castle."

It even had a time limit.

But suddenly, the time limit disappeared, and the second trial began abruptly.

The Administrator arbitrarily changed the contents of the trial.

"I thought there might be a second and third trial..."

Creeeek...

The massive door began to open.

He already knew who would enter from outside.

They were the ones he sent himself.

"Although now that I think about it, it's not surprising that they sent the Envoys."

YuWon looked at the three people entering the room.

The men who had opened the massive door were, ironically, very short.

They reached his waist.

Unless you looked closely, they looked like children or dwarves.

Envoys.

Men who did the dirty work for the Administrators, planned and organized the Trials, and occasionally became their spear and shield.

They were the second obstacle in this Trial.

"It doesn't make sense, does it? That the Envoys are involved in the Players' Trial."

"If you find it difficult, you can give up right now. This is not a common Trial; it's more like an event."

The three Envoys looked at Yu-won.

YuWon stood on a sofa. Since this was the interior of Muspellheim's castle, the land of the Giants, the furniture here was several times larger than regular furniture.

Amidst that, the presence of the appearing Envoys felt very small.

"It's still too early to give up."

Three Envoys.

It was an unplanned encounter, but that was not a reason to give up. Of course, from the perspective of the Envoys facing YuWon, it was a challenging and risky task.

"You shouldn't see us as mere envoys."

The three Envoys chuckled and began to gather energy individually.

A considerable-sized energy filled the room.

A room similar in size to a small village sports field.

The energy filling the room was clearly difficult to consider as that of simple Envoys.

"Most of the Administrators' Envoys are composed of fairies. It's natural that the majority of them are short."

The flow of energy felt from the Envoys was, in a way, expected.

"Despite that, the fact that they are so tall means they possess powers that transcend their race."

An Envoy the size of YuWon likely held at least the position to lead a group of low-level Envoys.

Beings that possessed enough power to rival High-Rankers.

They noticed Susano'o's power and moved to break through it.

However...

"If you are the second, I can more or less imagine what will come in the third."

A much higher level of difficulty than he had initially thought.

This was a completely different level of difficulty from simply protecting the castle against players with mediocre skills.

Facing Envoys approaching a High-Ranker level was impressive.

Even if he climbed several floors at once, it still didn't make sense.

"I suppose I'll get a great reward for this."

"I heard you wanted to climb."

The Envoy clearly understood what YuWon was thinking.

"What matters to you is strength and time. We won't make a mistake in our assessment."

YuWon nodded.

Time and strength.

They were simple and straightforward explanations. In fact, YuWon considered these two things to be the most important.

To stop the Outer Gods, more strength was needed, and to strengthen the Tower's power, enough time was needed.

That's why YuWon needed to climb the Tower as fast as possible. Even the slight tingling sensation he felt when promised that he could climb several floors at once was for that reason.

"As long as you pass the Trial, you will achieve what you set out to do. Of course, the same will happen if you give up halfway."

"I suppose they considered that I already passed the first trial, right?"

"That's right."

Tsut, tsut-.

The energy emitted by the Envoys coiled around YuWon's neck.

The three Envoys did not consider YuWon an ordinary opponent.

YuWon quickly assessed the energy surrounding him.

"It's like gas."

The energy that was nauseating and dispersed around him was no different from some kind of gas. With a little pressure, it would explode with a blast.

There was enough Arcane Power around him to create quite a powerful explosion.

"Before we start the fight, I have one last question."

Before starting the fight, YuWon looked at the Envoys, who glanced at each other and nodded.

"What is it?"

"The outside scene is being transmitted. But probably, only the Administrators are watching the inside. Is that right?"

The eyes of the Envoys widened.

It was a correct assumption, but it was unthinkable that YuWon had considered that.

Convinced that the silence was an affirmation, YuWon continued.

"So, the situation here won't spread outside through the Administrators or those under their authority, right?"

"And what if it doesn't?"

"Then it's fine."

The corner of YuWon's lips lifted.

At the same time, the Uranus Heart in his hand emitted a light.

Chak~

In that moment...

Tak.

Boom!

Following the signal from one of the Envoys, the energy of the Envoys that was extending around YuWon exploded.

Ahhh!

The nature of the explosion was different from fire.

If fire generated intense heat, this was closer to icy cold.

Such intense cold that it seemed to freeze even time.

Due to the remnants of the explosion, blue smoke rose towards the ceiling.

"Those who wield fire energy are weak against ice. It's obvious and natural, but that also means it's equally effective."

The Envoys were filled with determination and energy.

The three wielded a type of magic that was the antithesis of YuWon and his natural enemy.

The sharp cold mist gradually dissipated over time. The envoys expected to see YuWon frozen within.

However...

Tap-.

YuWon, defying their expectations, emerged from the mist as if nothing had happened.

"So, they've even prepared this. Those Administrator lords are quite thoughtless."

Toc, toc-.

Shaking off the frost from his body, YuWon walked out.

His carefree appearance made the Envoys furrow their brows.

"How...?"

"The advantage of attributes only matters when there's a significant difference in comparison."

Creack-.

A Lightning Bolt leapt from the Uranus Heart to YuWon's hand.

Crack, crackle, crackle-!

Arcane Power began to fiercely burst.

[Tartarus has been summoned]

This time, the power of lightning, imbued with dark magic, started to fill the room.

The Arcane Power surging from YuWon's hand covered the lights on the ceiling. Dense debris of Arcane Power filled the room without escape, causing the Envoys to step back.

"You are not even worthy of a breeze from my fire."

Swoosh-.

Following the gesture of YuWon's hand, the Black Lightning that filled the room sprang into motion.

Zap, zap, zap-!

The Lightning Bolt headed towards the three Envoys.

"Attack them."

With those words...

Flash-!

[Lightning Bolt]

The second Trial came to an end.

Crash-!