Leveling with the Gods

C496

Pandora sat for a while, gazing at the black clouds covering the distant sky.

Although she couldn't see them, she could sense that YuWon and Son OhGong were fighting in the distance.

However, she didn't move. She had neither the ability nor the reason to intervene in the two's fight.

She didn't want to interfere.

But...

Suddenly, Pandora stood up and began to walk.

YuWon was definitely going somewhere.

She had to follow him. She was certain. Because she had been by YuWon's side only for this day.

Foolish Chaos leaned against the wall.

A black wall at the end of the world. It was the wall separating the Tower and the Outer, a wall that would never collapse.

"Umm...."

Groaning in pain, he raised his head.

He used to come here sometimes. It was the closest place to his home, so he felt a little calmer here.

The pain in his chest was quite intense.

Hercules.

A wound created by him and Zeus.

The wind made his hat move a bit. Covering himself again as if embarrassed to show his appearance outside, he adjusted his hat.

And suddenly...

"Do you feel ashamed?"

Unwanted memories came to his mind.

"Father..."

A faint whisper.

The face and name he would prefer to forget kept appearing over and over again. Those memories stirred Foolish Chaos's insides.

"Fool, and once again a fool, my father."

Fool.

He doesn't know how many times he must have repeated that curse.

But he never got to know.

What would happen because of his own foolishness.

"The day you feared so much has come."

Although he wouldn't hear it, probably.

Thump-.

Foolish Chaos passed the huge wall separating the Tower with the tips of his fingers.

"He will come here."

Crack-.

A part of the wall cracked.

At first glance, it seemed only a small crack. But the wall that seemed indestructible stretched following Foolish Chaos's gesture.

"Now, I can't stop him either. Didn't I tell you? If you kept giving so much, someday you would regret it, right?"

He scolded his father, whom he considered a fool. He asked him why he did it, if he had another choice.

"Don't be ashamed of your face. If you hide it, no one will see you."

The voice was gentle.

Undoubtedly, it was a phrase for him, but the hand that took off the hat, which had been pressed against his head, was truly repugnant.

"You are a presence that shines more than anyone. Trust yourself. And trust the name I gave you. Be proud and stand firm."

How much he would have liked that to be true.

If it had been, maybe at least he would have been by his side.

"If you had said that, you should have continued straight on the path."

But he chose everyone.

Foolish Chaos's gaze turned to the cracking wall.

That wall was the trial.

Crack, crack, crack.

"This wall you built no longer makes sense. I will destroy it."

The border between the outside and inside of the Tower.

That border crumbled.

Then...

[You have consumed Points]

[The wall created by 'Amorphous(無定形)' will collapse]

The crack probably wouldn't be as large as they had originally planned.

Certainly, their goal was to destroy all those walls and create a world without borders.

But even so, it wasn't so bad.

"If this place is so important to you, try blocking us once again."

Swooosh-.

The sky began to change with the collapse of the wall.

"Under that name that has become a rag. I..."

The voice continued in Foolish Chaos's mind.

"The reason I gave you names is for that purpose."

[You have entered 'Amorphous Chaos']

It was a strange sensation.

Although he was clearly moving his feet, the sound of his steps was not heard. He didn't know if he was walking on the ground or simply lifting his feet into the void. Even for YuWon, who moved on his own, it was confusing.

'But this feels familiar to me.'

A dark place like space. YuWon remembered being here before.

Probably when he slit Shub-Niggurath's throat.

'Was I here?'

Having made the decision to enter boldly, it turned out to be a place he had already visited. He wasn't sure whether to be glad to be in a familiar place or scared.

Back then, at least Danpung was there, but now there was no one by his side.

"Ah--!"

It was at that moment.

A familiar voice reached his ears, but it was slightly distorted. He couldn't tell if it was the distance or the special nature of this space.

He instinctively turned his head.

YuWon's eyes widened in surprise.

"Pandora?"

Why was she here?

Pandora ran towards YuWon hastily. She seemed to be panting a bit, as if she had run from quite a distance.

"Come on, let's go together."

She said, panting between uneven breaths.

YuWon looked at Pandora. He knew she had an unusually strong attachment to him, but he didn't expect her to follow him here.

And more than anything else.

'Even Son OhGong couldn't enter here.'

It wasn't only Pandora who tried not to leave him alone.

Although only for a moment, Son OhGong also tried to enter here with YuWon.

But from the beginning, that was impossible.

Only those bearing the name of Azathoth could enter here. Even if Son OhGong was considered a High-Ranker with outstanding power in the Tower, he was not someone allowed to enter.

So, who was Pandora?

'Is there something more?'

Certainly, he had the power of an Outer.

The one who gave him that power was Zeus, and the one who gave that power to Zeus was Foolish Chaos.

So, who gave that power to Foolish Chaos?

"...Yes."

When it came to that point, YuWon made a decision.

"Let's go together."

Perhaps this had something to do with Pandora's strong attachment to him, he thought.

Pandora's face lit up.

She began to follow YuWon, who walked while she caught her breath.

There was no more conversation.

There was no time to pay attention to Pandora, who was clinging to his back.

Step, step.

The sound of steps began again. It seemed that the journey through this void of chaos had finally come to an end.

He looked around.

A familiar place.

It was the Black Woods.

'I also came here at that time.'

Thinking about it, it was a funny scene.

"Danpung-ah! Danpung-ah!"

YuWon searched for Danpung in this Black Woods along with Zeus.

They had traveled who knows how much to find the guy who suddenly disappeared. Blindly following, they ended up coming here.

But this place was Azathoth's space.

'Where did I find him back then?'

YuWon tried to remember.

But no matter how much he thought, he didn't remember the way. He had been running non-stop, and it seemed like all parts of the forest looked the same.

'Maybe...'

['Eyes of Foreknowledge' read the path of the 'Black Woods']

'Will it work?'

A path shone in his golden eyes.

He saw densely planted trees. He saw himself and Pandora walking among them.

'Oh!'

It was such a complex and difficult path that it might have taken years. The Eyes of Foreknowledge consumed a large amount of Arcane Power.

It was a headache he hadn't felt in a long time.

However, thanks to that, it wasn't so difficult to find the way.

But then...

"There..."

Pandora pointed with her finger somewhere.

It was the same direction YuWon saw with the Eyes of Foreknowledge. Surprised, YuWon turned to look at Pandora, who had stuck to him.

"There?"

"Yes."

"And then?"

"Just pass three trees and turn right. And then..."

Pandora described the path that YuWon had read with difficulty.

In some ways, what she understood about the path turned out to be better than YuWon's convoluted path. Unlike YuWon's path that took unnecessary turns, the path she showed him was closer to being a shortcut.

And when the explanation of the path ended.

"He..."

Looking at something, Pandora spoke with a look as if she were enchanted.

"He is there."

Floor 63.

The world where the strongest Guild in the Tower, Asgard, is located.

In that world, signs of something unusual were glimpsed.

"He's not coming back."

"How many days has it been today?"

Asgard's Rankers looked at the sky, uneasy.

A sky tinted in purple.

At first glance, it was endlessly beautiful, but gradually that color became darker and deeper.

The change in the color of the clouds and the sky not only worried the Rankers but also became a topic of interest for anyone.

Recently, there were no places where this sky appeared without causing harm to life.

"Is it the fourth day?"

"The evacuation of the residents should be coming to an end."

"It's lucky. As nothing has happened yet, we've had time to evacuate."

The purple sky was an omen of the battle with the Outers.

However, that sky used to disappear after a day, at most two. It was already the first time that a sky like this persisted for four days.

Fortunately or unfortunately, that sky only changed color and did not cause any additional problems.

Thanks to that, residents and Players unrelated to Asgard had already evacuated.

Step, step...

From the top of the wall, they continued to watch the sky.

"Oh, Prince Thor..."

"Ah! Yo, Your Majesty?"

Thor and Odin climbed the wall together.

He was a king who had been sitting on his throne without moving for a long time. Although the sky within Asgard's territory turned purple, Odin barely moved.

But why?

"It seems that something is inevitably going to happen."

Craaack, craaack.

A blue lightning flowed from Thor's body.

He was the most belligerent character in Asgard, and he was increasing his tension before the battle. Thor, Odin's son, hoped that a day like this would come sooner or later.

"It's much faster than I thought. Too fast."

Odin looked toward the sky.

The sky turning purple.

It announced the end gradually, becoming darker and darker. The sky was getting closer and closer to the vision of the future that YuWon had told him.

"Zeus, it would have been good if that friend were here."

He had heard the news of Zeus's death.

He learned that he had disappeared from the Ranking and felt an inexplicable sadness for several days.

Had he become close enough to call him a friend? Or was it the fact that both shared the title of King that created an affinity between them?

Just for fun, Odin imagined Zeus standing in that place and reached out his hand.

And at that moment...

"Father."

Woo~

A white and pure spear formed in Odin's hand.

The Rankers standing on the wall were surprised and opened their eyes wide. Even among them, there were those who had been in Asgard for hundreds of years and had never seen that spear.

"That's..."

"Gungnir?"

One of the strongest items in the Tower.

The spear that symbolizes Odin and is Asgard's national treasure.

"There's no need to keep waiting, right?"

Odin, holding the spear, assumed a throwing posture.

The direction was the sky.

To announce the declaration of war, Odin activated Gungnir.