Leveling with the Gods

C484

At the moment he spent half of his Divine Power...

"Ah, ugh, cough!"

Through Amorphous Chaos, YuWon found Danpung sitting on the throne and stumbled, coughing as if he could barely breathe.

In the face of YuWon's sudden reaction, Hercules and Pandora hurriedly ran towards him. Although it was only an instant, that moment felt longer than ever for YuWon.

"Amorphous existence endlessly repeating destruction and creation."

A voice resonated in YuWon's mind.

Who was it?

He remembered.

Shub-Niggurath.

It was when she broke the wall that separated the Tower and entered.

"Now, he will find his form and appear before us..."

"Please, we ask you not to aim your fangs at us."

She seemed to know Danpung's true identity.

Still, she came.

Perhaps, in the worst case, she came prepared to fight even against Danpung.

'She must have judged that she could win.'

In the slowly flowing time, various memories passed through YuWon's mind.

"Nothing will change."

This was also Shub-Niggurath's voice.

When was this?

It wasn't the first time. It wasn't a memory from the future either.

No...

It wasn't YuWon's memory.

"The Phoenix dies and is reborn from the ashes, but its embers don't light up the sky from the beginning. You are the same."

Rebirth...

Who?

'Does she mean Danpung?'

She seemed wary of Danpung. Danpung died once and was reborn through an egg.

"In my eyes, you are still a child. Your enormous power and greatness have collapsed, and the power your Name had has faded, leaving only a shell of your true Name."

True Name...

A single Name that is the essence of existence, which no one else can take.

Danpung had lost everything, and only that Name remained.

"Everything is correct, but there is one thing wrong."

'Is it my voice?'

It was evident that the one who had spoken with Shub-Niggurath was himself.

That was something he expected.

He didn't remember cutting Shub-Niggurath's throat or taking away her Name.

That meant that during that time, he had been acting as someone else.

And this conversation now was a dialogue between that "someone" who could be Danpung and Shub-Niggurath.

"The True Name (Jinmyeong) is not a shell but the core. Your many names that you cling to are just that."

A Name?

How important was it?

"They are just a pretty and deceptive shell."

Why did they cling to it so much?

"The power of the name is- #@#,......"

After that, the voice barely heard.

Was it because he spent too much Divine Power in an instant, or was it a mistake to try to see through Amorphous Chaos?

The conversations with Shub-Niggurath didn't return to YuWon's mind anymore.

As consciousness slowly faded...

In the last moment, YuWon thought.

Kim Danpung (Autumn Leaves).

If he had known he was such an amazing guy, he would have given him a more respectful name.

Flash-!

Baaang-!

A golden spear cut through the sky.

For a moment, it seemed like the world was split in half. A golden spear divided the sky in two for a brief moment.

And The Goat Who Gives Birth to Madness, being pierced by that spear, finally fell to the ground.

Thud!

At the fall of the goat, Zeus held his breath for a moment.

But that didn't last long either.

Shwaaaaah-.

Suddenly, an oppressive atmosphere squeezed his breath.

The feeling that everything in the world turned into an enemy, strangling his neck. The sky, shining in gold, turned black, and the earth dried up and cracked.

Perverse Fertility Deity.

This was Shub-Niggurath's second name, taken by Foolish Chaos.

"That Name is a bit difficult to handle as well, I must say."

Unlike "The Goat Who Gives Birth to Madness," destroyed by Vishnu, "Perverse Fertility Deity" had a complete form.

Naturally, the more power he used, the more the Name would expand, squeezing Zeus's breath even tighter.

Snap-.

Zeus's skin tore.

Zeus no longer had the strength to stop it.

Or rather...

"...So it was there all along."

Zap-.

"What...?"

When Zeus's figure suddenly disappeared, Foolish Chaos looked around in surprise.

Where did he go?

"There was only one chance."

Puuk-.

"...!"

Foolish Chaos's body twisted with the impact he felt in his stomach.

Zeus's hand, which he had lost sight of for a moment, had pierced Foolish Chaos's body.

"...Luckily, I caught it."

Chance.

It seems that the opportunity he referred to was the fact that Foolish Chaos suddenly used its great power.

While he was fighting The Goat Who Gives Birth to Madness.

Zeus kept looking for Foolish Chaos's location and waited for a brief moment of opportunity.

Kwak-.

Zeus, who had pierced Foolish Chaos's stomach, clenched his fist.

"Kugh..."

Despite having many Names, he was also a living being with a body. The pain of having his body pierced and torn from the inside would never be light.

However...

"...It's useless."

Zeus still didn't know him very well.

Pain alone wasn't enough to kill him.

The death of an Outer. Among them, his death was different from that of normal life forms in the Tower.

"Boasting about having a chance after piercing through my body? Isn't that too arrogant?"

"Don't worry..."

Sweat ran down Zeus's forehead.

"Now is the beginning."

Craaack-le-!

Bum-!

The Lightning Bolt emitted from Zeus's hand swept across the body of Foolish Chaos and rose into the sky.

What he had just experienced was a level of impact he had never felt before. Although 'Perverse Fertility Deity' continued to wither and kill Zeus's body, he showed no concern for the changes his own body was undergoing as if they were mere nuisances.

"Do you want us to die... together?"

"The death of you will mean the disappearance of that 'Name,' right?"

Foolish Chaos and Zeus's eyes met.

Although Zeus's body was clearly dying, his pupils burned more intensely than ever.

'This is dangerous.'

Instinctively, the warning signal lit up.

That Lightning Bolt was dangerous.

It was a type of power completely different from the Lightning Bolt he had seen so far.

He had to get out of there.

Chop-!

Foolish Chaos grabbed Zeus's hand. It was to push away Zeus's hand that somehow pierced through his body and to expel the force of the Lightning Bolt that began to flow into his body.

But...

"I didn't tell you..."

Craaack-!

The Lightning Bolt emitted from Foolish Chaos's body spread in all directions.

"I seized the opportunity."

"Ugh..."

Foolish Chaos groaned at the force of the Lightning Bolt spreading throughout his body.

This wasn't just painful.

Zeus made it clear.

The death of you will mean the disappearance of the 'Name.'

["The Wandering and Cunning Spirit" is annihilated by the "Lightning Bolt"]

["The Child Who Cannot Cry" is annihilated by the "Lightning Bolt."]

["The Serpent That Treads the Earth"...]

[...]

The Names were disappearing.

Although Foolish Chaos tried to stop it somehow, he couldn't.

Zeus burned his own Lightning Bolt to erase the Names within Foolish Chaos.

Zeus's pupils narrowed.

If possible, he wanted to leave a fatal mark on that Name.

It seems that he first had to eliminate the small Names that overlapped in that Name.

"You had accumulated many ugly Names."

"Zeus...!"

The force of Zeus's Lightning Bolt was clearly extraordinary.

That power was enough to instantly turn hundreds or thousands of Nameless Outers into ashes and destroy them.

Names.

It was something that, although only written with words and letters, meant the essence for the Outers.

From the moment he realized that fact, Zeus set out to erase the Names Foolish Chaos had.

"Do you really think you can kill me just with that?"

"If I can't, at least I can weaken you."

Craaack! Craaack-le-!

The Lightning Bolt struck and erased the Names.

"Perverse Fertility Deity" was still in effect. On Zeus's earth-colored face, Foolish Chaos realized that he was determined to die.

"Grrr... Aaah!"

[The 'Darkness of Lost Dreams' is annihilated by the 'Lightning Bolt']

[The 'Lost Calf' is annihilated by the 'Lightning Bolt']

[The 'Buried in Desperation...']

[...]

The more the Lightning Bolt roiled through the body, the more names disappeared from Foolish Chaos.

From the smallest Names to the largest.

Zeus was trying to die alongside him.

"I tell you, there is... a way for you to survive."

Hope of survival.

Sweet words stirred before his eyes.

First, if he were to stop at that point, he shouldn't have started in the first place.

"You need..."

Coff...

The words didn't continue.

The Lightning Bolt, created using the vitality of the body, was like squeezing a dry towel.

Moreover, 'Perverse Fertility Deity' continued to corrupt Zeus's body.

Crack-!

Zeus grabbed Foolish Chaos's body with his other hand. As if he couldn't afford to let go.

"There is..."

“What a terrible guy…”

He was amazing.

Even if he was a High-Ranker with great physical strength, he should have lost consciousness and fallen.

No, he should have overcome that state long ago.

Despite that...

Craack!

'What kind of power is this?'

Foolish Chaos couldn't free himself from Zeus's hand in any way.

Whether it was the force gripping the pierced flesh in the body or the force holding the shoulder.

It was stronger than usual, certainly not weaker.

What the hell was going on?

"...More."

It was at that moment...

Zeus's voice, tilting his head, began to murmur something quietly.

Silence...

"A bit more..."

A voice that came out along with the sound of grinding teeth.

What was he murmuring?

Crack!

As his consciousness clouded, Zeus forced strength into his gums and hands. If there was no more Arcane Power left in his body, he burned his bones and flesh to use them as firewood to generate lightning.

Crack, crack!

The skin of the body tore, and a Golden Lightning Bolts sprouted from within the cracks.

The Lightning Bolt devoured flesh and blood. The pain was indescribable, but it was the only way Zeus could increase his power at that moment.

'If this body is going to die anyway...'

With no strength to resist further, his head fell on its own.

The pupils falling downward gradually lost their luster.

'It wouldn't be a waste to burn this body.'

Erasing Foolish Chaos's Name.

That was the goal in coming here, but his Name was surrounded by too many other Names.

'However, I don't want my body to burn uselessly.'

That was pride.

As the King of Olympus who had lived for thousands of years, he wouldn't die in vain.

Craack, craaack!

'So please...'

In the last moment...

Zeus's eyes, dying for his pride, shone again with splendor, and Lightning Bolts burst from within Foolish Chaos's body.

-Aaah!

Contemplating the figure of Foolish Chaos screaming...

['Foolish Chaos' is damaged by the 'Lightning Bolt']

Zeus continued with the wish he had desired so many times for a moment.

'Please endure a bit more.'

As they say, after the storm comes the calm.

The candle burned brighter just before extinguishing.