Leveling with the Gods

C401

Tremble, tremble...

A pressure weighing on the shoulders came as an overwhelming burden.

It didn't need to be spoken aloud as it was obvious.

The aura emanating from the Goblin King's body was charged with sincerity, so YuWon could feel it clearly.

Swoosh...

Within the mask that had come off, the face of a goblin was revealed.

The King of hundreds of millions of goblins.

Holding an immense club in his hands, charged with enormous strength, he pointed it towards YuWon.

"Haa..."

While YuWon had thought about training and adapting to his new stats, he never anticipated this would happen.

'Nevertheless...'

YuWon felt a surge of strength in his legs as they stood on the ground.

Strength: 148.

And with the stamina backing up that strength, it reached 151.

Unless he regulated his strength, his body seemed to be brimming with energy.

'There's no harm in checking.'

A power that could light up the eyes of even the Bull Demon King and the Goblin King.

Simply having an increase in strength and stamina stats shouldn't cause this reaction. Moreover, the Goblin King, the creator of the Physical Enhancement Ritual, knew better than anyone how a drastic increase in YuWon's stats shouldn't have resulted in this reaction.

That could only mean one thing.

He had experienced an unexpected change.

Rumble, rumble...

The muscles around YuWon began to slowly twist.

Arcane Power spread throughout his body, and that Arcane Power distributed throughout his body conveyed strength.

"Even when you put it that way..."

[A Giant's strength infuses throughout your body.]

The opponent was the Goblin King.

An opponent who had no trouble adapting to his body.

"We can also go unrestrained."

Giiiiiiing!

Fwoosh!

['Golden Cinder Eyes' reveal the truth]

['Eyes of Foreknowledge' illuminate the future]

['Sensory Field' is activated]

A red aura covered YuWon's golden cinder eyes. They were the Golden Cinder Eyes floating above the Eyes of Foreknowledge.

Many figures of the Goblin King unfolded before his eyes.

And in that fleeting moment...

Bam!

He saw the image of himself being struck by the Goblin King's club.

Woosh!

He immediately leaned his body forward and evaded the club. The future he had seen changed and revealed a different scene.

The ground collapsed.

Kwaaaaang!

The Goblin King's fist destroyed the ground where YuWon had been standing.

['Skysteps' is activated.]

[Movement speed increases.]

Jump!

YuWon leaped upwards. His fist passed over the Goblin King's head and stretched towards his side.

Thud!

The Goblin King was pushed back and flew through the air.

Kwiiiiick! Zziiiiiip!

The Goblin King dug a leg into the ground to support his flying body.

An instant confrontation.

The Goblin Servant's mouth opened as he watched the scene from a distance, atop the bamboo.

"The king..."

The Goblin King was pushed back.

It was hard to believe even after seeing it with his own eyes. YuWon hadn't used any particularly amazing techniques, but naturally, he evaded the Goblin King's attack and launched a counterattack.

YuWon was also surprised.

Crack!

YuWon looked at his fist embedded in the Goblin King's side.

Using the Eyes of Foreknowledge had become much more natural. Although only about a second had passed, seeing the future had its advantages.

In the past, his fist wouldn't even have properly embedded into the Goblin King's body.

'I can do it now.'

He had enough strength and stamina.

The use of the Eyes of Foreknowledge was also much less exhausting.

Although it was still challenging to directly confront the Goblin King in a clash of pure strength, he had a good chance if he used the Eyes of Foreknowledge.

'Above all, this wasn't a sparring match from the beginning.'

Zap!

A red sword was drawn from Kim YuWon's Inventor.

The Kusanagi Sword.

He needed a sword with enough durability and damage potential to pierce the thick skin of the Goblin King.

Rumble!

The thunderous sound when the Kusanagi Sword was unleashed.

The Goblin King advanced towards the Kusanagi Sword, surrounded by lightning.

"You know how to fight quite well."

The Goblin King, with a fully goblin face, turned to YuWon.

Then, he extended his fist towards him.

Boom!

Inside the vast bamboo forest.

Rumble, rumble!

Within it, lightning kept exploding, and flames soared.

Rumble, rumble, rumble!

The ground trembled as if experiencing an earthquake. The sturdy bamboo, which didn't even budge in a typhoon, broke and fell to the side.

Goblin Servant raised a hand to shield himself from the lightning bolts flying from afar.

Crack, crack-le!

The intensity of the lightning bolts coursing through his arm was unusually strong. There was no issue for Goblin Servant, as he had undergone his own ritual, but if caught in that, it would be different.

The light was so dazzling it was hard to see. Amidst it, a warm sensation of heat radiated through his arm to his face.

Boom!

YuWon's sword clashed with the Goblin King's club.

The sword recoiled, and finally, the Goblin King's fist sunk into YuWon's torso.

Boom!

YuWon's body flew backward.

From the Goblin King's perspective, who was fighting hand-to-hand, this was something strange. Until now, YuWon had been sliding like an eel using the Eyes of Foreknowledge, and suddenly he had become so predictable.

However, Goblin Servant, who was observing from a distance, could see it.

Rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble!

Mana Cannons filled the sky.

It was already too late when the Goblin King noticed them.

Crack, crack, craaack-le!

Lightning-type Mana Cannons fell like a torrential rain.

Although they didn't have as sharp a shape as lightning bolts, they were more powerful than attacks from most High-Rankers firing at full power.

'Was he setting a trap?'

Deliberately hinting that he could be caught or avoided, YuWon diverted the Goblin King's attention.

At the last moment, he released all the Mana Cannons he had been preparing, allowing the fists to draw near.

The battle operation was so smooth it was dazzling. There was no issue with the trap and the process of luring the opponent in.

'His ability to create Mana Cannons and his Arcane Power to control them on this scale are top-notch.'

Goblin Servant was a High-Ranker. Although his rank was low due to his inactivity and stay in Goblin Country, he at least had the confidence that he could be a High-Ranker within the top 100 once he finished all his business with the Goblin King.

But when he compared YuWon in front of him, he felt like everything around him dimmed.

However.

"Anyway..."

Crack, crack, craaack-le!

Amidst the storm of lightning bolts rushing like a hurricane due to the thousands of Mana Cannons.

Goblin Servant saw the Goblin King standing amidst it.

"He still can't match the King."

The Goblin King, touching his sore neck, looked at YuWon amidst the storm of lightning.

"This attack is quite refreshing."

Refreshing. These were not words worth spitting out after being hit by those monstrous Mana Cannons.

"I have a good instinct. Was all of this to set up this trap?"

It was quite a well-prepared strike. YuWon looked at the Goblin King with a look of annoyance.

At a glance, the Goblin King seemed unharmed.

Eventually, accumulating this kind of damage, he would collapse, but that would require too much time and effort.

And before that, it might be him who got tired first.

'Shouldn't we avoid fighting this way?'

He knew how to deal with such a resilient type.

Hercules and Satan were examples of that. They needed a unique attack for opponents with extreme resilience.

Just like Nir.

However...

'There's no time to release it.'

The problem was that there was no time to release the attack.

Moreover, Nir required a considerable time to charge and activate.

To create an opening of that kind, Sasano'o had to buy time, which would be impossible against the Goblin King.

So, there was only one option.

'I must get within his range.'

Create a sharper Lightning Bolt and deliver a strong blow within the Goblin King's reach was the only solution.

Crack!

YuWon's toe pointed towards the Goblin King.

That was the first change in the battle.

Crack!

A gigantic Lightning Bolt formed in YuWon's hand.

The Goblin King smiled as he clearly saw what he was planning.

"A head-on battle?"

With Kusanagi in hand, YuWon advanced towards the Goblin King, closing the distance between them. It was pretty obvious what that meant.

At this point, there was no way not to notice.

It no longer made sense to keep the distance and gradually accumulate blows.

"All right."

Crack, crack!

While lightning was still falling from the sky.

The distance between YuWon and the Goblin King shortened.

"It's fortunate it's not otherwise."

Twenty steps.

YuWon felt a strange unease in the Goblin King's expression, who began to smile while still out of reach of the club.

"I've also figured out how to destroy those eyes."

Swiish~

In YuWon's eyes, letters began to filter from the ground into his body.

The Goblin's letters were the omen of Sorcery. As soon as those letters caught you, you were under the Spell.

But...

Chyaah!

Densely written letters spread from the center of YuWon and the Goblin King, forming a narrow space.

It was a change that happened in the blink of an eye.

Looking up, YuWon noticed magical letters inscribed in the sky too.

'How...?'

As much as he was the Goblin King, he couldn't use magic solely with his will, without any gesture or movement. It required a certain time to perform spells.

And there was only one moment when he had enough time to do so.

"I was wondering why you didn't come out immediately even though you were fine. Were you hiding and preparing for this?"

"The only thing you can see with those eyes is about 2 seconds at most."

That meant he was planning for a distant future, avoiding YuWon's sight.

Just in case, YuWon shot a Lightning Bolt towards the 'wall' created by the Goblin King.

Baaang!

Thud!

YuWon's body staggered from the force reflected on the wall.

The wall didn't even flicker. It seemed that it wouldn't be possible to bring it down with just one or two attacks.

"It's futile."

Step!

The Goblin King took one step closer to YuWon.

"Now, you can't escape anywhere."

"...Seems that way."

He wasn't fazed at all. Anyway, YuWon intended to change the range of the fight to a closer one.

So, what changed was...

Whoosh!

In an instant, a punch came at his eyes.

Dodging it wasn't too difficult.

The problem was what came next.

Whoosh, whoosh!

Crash, bang!

Punches and mace strikes kept coming relentlessly.

Dealing a fatal blow in close combat seemed like too much arrogance.

'Going so deep into close combat was a mistake.'

Swish.

'But I can't retreat too much...'

Clang.

YuWon suddenly stopped.

It was precisely what he saw would happen if he took a step back.

'Damn.'

Blocked by the wall, receiving the Goblin King's mace attack was the consequence of retreating.

"Knowing it doesn't mean you can dodge everything."

Swish!

"...!"

YuWon's eyes widened at the punch that struck his abdomen. A direct impact on his organs seemed to induce nausea.

"Especially in such a tight space like this."

Gulp!

Knowing the tide is coming doesn't mean you can avoid it or stop it. That was the reality in this situation.

With the space blocked by the Goblin King's spell, Eyes of Foreknowledge couldn't be of much help at this moment.

Inside this confined space, the Goblin King's attacks weren't the type that could be simply dodged or blocked by foreknowledge.

'There's no other option.'

With the way to create distance eliminated, there was only one choice left.

'We'll fight at this range.'

YuWon spit out blood and clenched his fist. Escaping this situation would only mean defeat. Right now, he had to rely on his body strengthened through the ritual and fight as best as he could.

Grrrr, grrrr...

The Arcane Power throughout his body activated his muscles. In this desperate situation, his senses sharpened, and Arcane Energy flowed through his body, strengthening his muscles with its high resilience.

And so, his transformation began.

[The power of the Giants accumulates throughout your body]

[The flame of the giant and demon reaches its peak in your body]

[The 'Recreation of the Giant King' begins]

What YuWon was experiencing now was something a bit different from what he had experienced so far.