Leveling with the Gods

Chapter 114

Zwoom—

The eye of 「Kyneē」 closed.

The back of YuWon’s hand throbbed. As expected, at least now, backlash due to overusing [Hell] still occurred.

‘But now it’s a bit bearable.’

It was a skill he wasn’t able to use a lot at first before getting exhausted. But now he was able to endure it even after using it a considerable amount. It was thanks to his stats increasing enough to support its use.

“—Did he really die?”

It was Arthur’s voice. YuWon was able to hear Arthur from about the 90th floor. It was probably then that he realized the true power of 「Kyneē.」

“He was already dead. To be precise, the connection between his spirit and body has now been severed.”

“—I-Is that so?”

“And please don’t say something like that in the future. I’m scared a dead guy will come back to life.”

“—S-Sure.”

YuWon gave Arthur that important warning and then checked his rewards.

‘Soul and legacy, and a title…’

The legacy was a reward he was expecting already. The things he hadn’t expected were his soul and the title.

‘Kyneē is able to absorb souls…’

It was an unexpected variable. He didn’t think too deeply about it in Arthur’s case because he just thought it was possible due to a quest being created through the system. As it was a quest related to Arthur, it wasn’t strange for his soul to be attached to him afterwards. However…

‘This is my first time hearing about getting a soul as a reward.’

Of course, depending on the player who received it, it could be quite an incredible reward. If they had a necromancer-related skill, they would be able to control Susanoo as an Undead, which could be compared quite favorably to any other item in the Tower. Unfortunately, the current YuWon had none of those skills.

YuWon turned his attention to his other rewards.

‘The legacy… is that way.’

On the enormous chair Susanoo was sitting on before was a box.

For a dungeon to be created through the system, a reward must definitely exist. That was the rule decided by the Tower, and even for Susanoo to create a dungeon, he needed to prepare a final reward for it.

YuWon walked towards the box.

It was quite big, enough to easily fit a person inside.

YuWon opened the container darkened by rust and dust.

Creak—

A singular sword came into sight.

‘Kusanagi no Tsurugi.’

He knew what Susanoo’s legacy was from the start.

As one of the Three Precious Children’s Three Sacred Treasures, 「Kusanagi no Tsurugi」 was a reward Susanoo had obtained after defeating 《Yamata no Orochi.》 It was an item that was never able to shine after disappearing with Susanoo’s death. However, 「Kusanagi no Tsurugi」 would later become an item that represented the Three Precious Children.

But…

‘It doesn’t fit me.’

Tsurugi was a spirit blade. It increased the strengths of the user immediately but would gnaw away at the user’s strength and lifeforce in the long run.

YuWon wasn’t so weak to rely on a sword like this right now.

Shwoop—

YuWon put 「Kusanagi no Tsurugi」 into his inventory. He might use it in an emergency, but it would be used in another way.

‘And finally…’

YuWon checked his title.

[King of the Dead]

ᗌ Classification: Title

ᗌ Grade: S

ᗌ The one who oversees the dead. Withstand their weight and become their king.

ᗌ Can control the spirits of the dead using mana.

ᗌ Can put a spirit of the dead into a body using mana.

ᗌ Can summon the body of the dead soul using mana (if you have it).

ᗌ Can empower the body of the dead by using resentment.

After checking the effects of the title, YuWon’s eyes shook.

“Wait, this is…”

The name was familiar to him, and on top of that, the effects were also abilities related to necromancers.

“Did Hades’s skills come from this?”

The High-Rankers that represented Olympus were called by many names. Poseidon, God of the Sea; Hades, God of the Dead; Zeus, God of the Sky. Additionally, Zeus was also called the “Ruler of the Sky” and King of Olympus among other names.

From these, Hades had another name that YuWon knew of—King of the Dead. He had simply thought that was just a name that was associated with Hades.

“So this isn’t a reward that’s obtained after completing this dungeon.”

It looked to be a reward that was created after being able to wield 「Kyneē」 to a certain degree.

It was only then that YuWon looked down at 「Kyneē.」

First Arthur, and now Susanoo’s soul.

‘Then this soul as well…?’

He did think it would be nice to have a necromancer skill after seeing Susanoo’s soul. But even for YuWon, necromancer skills were quite difficult to obtain, and on top of that, getting a skill of a rank that could control Susanoo’s soul would be even harder to find.

However, with the power of this title, if this truly was the power of the King of the Dead, Hades’s power, he might really be able to control Susanoo’s soul and summon him as a Death Knight.

“This is beyond expectations.”

It was enough to make him not care about what Susanoo’s legacy was.

Rumble—

The dungeon started to shake.

The system did say that the dungeon would crumble after 30 minutes, so the destructive phenomenon had probably started.

“I’ll need to hurry up.”

YuWon decided to check the effects of his title later. For now, he opted to get out of this suffocating dungeon.

“Return.”

* * *

Translator – Jreaming

Proofreader – BringTheRayn

* * *

Step—

A lonesome forest.

In the world of the 1st Floor, this was the forest that was the closest to the edge of the world. A place far from human reach and uninhabitable. No one would step foot here since it took quite a while to reach this place, even with the Sun Chariot.

‘This is the perfect place.’

There was no one watching, and even if something happened, no one would get hurt. And if it was only this much, even Administrators and Messengers wouldn’t care much about it.

[King of the Dead]

YuWon focused on his new title. Although he obviously couldn’t use 「Kusanagi no Tsurugi」 right now, the title was a different matter. The title “King of the Dead” could become his strongest weapon depending on how he used it.

‘A necromancer…’

It was an unexpected gain. But because of that, his research on the related skills were lacking.

‘There’s no choice but to check it myself.’

YuWon held up his hand.

「Kyneē」 contained both Arthur and Susanoo’s souls.

Vwoong—

As he closed his eyes and focused, 「Kyneē」 trembled a little.

“—I’m getting the chills. Is it because of this guy?”

Shwaaaaa—

Just like Arthur said, there was a chilling feeling.

Like a cry that contained all the resentment in the world, Susanoo’s soul was still constantly resisting YuWon right now.

Crackle—

The soul of one of the highest ranked High-Rankers. Susanoo wasn’t a soul that YuWon could handle right now. Most of all, he was someone who had controlled spirits as a necromancer much longer than YuWon.

‘I won’t be able to control this guy for the time being.’

An uncontrollable Undead was just an ally that could turn at any moment. Right now, it was better to create a more certain ally.

‘How is this done?’

He tried lifting his hand that was wearing 「Kyneē,」 but he couldn’t figure out the right method. It was usually actions like this that let you use the skills obtained through a title.

‘There isn’t a message either…’

“—What are you trying to do?”

As his concentration broke from Arthur’s question, YuWon frowned a little.

“I’ve obtained a title related to a necromancer.”

“—A title?”

“Yes. But I can’t tell how to use it at all.”

“—An Undead is an entity that is built with a soul and a body.”

At hearing Arthur’s words, an idea came to him.

A soul and a body. Between them, the only thing YuWon had right now was a ‘soul.’

ᗌ Can summon the body of the dead soul using mana (if you have it).

He had forgotten such an obvious thing. Now that he thought about it, there weren’t that many people around him that knew skills related to necromancers.

It was a totally unknown and foreign ability.

“Are you saying I need to obtain a body?”

“—Yes. For the method of putting a soul into a body, I probably don’t have to tell you that.”

That would probably be fixed by one of the title’s abilities.

The problem came from the body needed for the soul to inhabit.

After thinking for a bit, YuWon started to move again.

“It’s like I have a necromancer senior now. Thank you for your help.”

“—Don’t say such a horrifying thing. I am Arthur. The ‘King of Knights’ Arthur. To compare me to a necromancer, I’m different from those lowlifes.”

Although he replied while complaining, there was a little sense of pride.

“Then…”

YuWon half-ignored what Arthur just said and walked deeper into the forest.

“I’ll be in your care in the future.”

Arthur replied without knowing what YuWon meant.

“—Alright.”

* * *

“Just what is this?!”

A totally tired tone. A scratchy voice and an unnatural movement, a weird mass bound by bones.

The orc corpse stood up and shouted.

[You have summoned your first specter.]

[Will you give it a name?]

A message popped up. It was a success.

“Arthur.”

[You have registered ‘Arthur.’]

The first Undead summon that YuWon obtained. It was quite satisfactory. Although the final product wasn’t that good, in any case, it was a moment where he had learned how to properly use the title.

‘Quite a shame I left the remains in the dungeon.’

Although it couldn’t be helped since the dungeon collapsed with the disappearance of Susanoo, it truly was a shame. If he had the real body of Arthur here, he would have become a really dependable ally.

‘But this isn’t too bad either.’

The “King of Knights,” Arthur. As a Ranker in the upper tier, he would still have incredible skill, even with this body. And the body, the container of the soul, could be improved little by little as time goes on.

But of course…

“Bring my body right now!”

Unlike for YuWon, this was the worst possible outcome for Arthur.

It was understandable that his ego wouldn’t allow being inside this average Orc body when he had been the incredible King of Knights before.

“I don’t have it.”

“What?”

“After defeating Susanoo, who was registered as the boss, the dungeon disappeared. It’s not that unusual.”

“No way…”

If he could make an expression with his face, it was probably like he saw his world ending.

YuWon did his best to suppress the laughter that was threatening to spill out in this situation and continued to speak, “Please be satisfied with that body for now. There’s no way to get another one right now.”

Flop—

In the end, Arthur ended up falling on his knees for the first time in his life and unlife. If he had tears to shed right now, he would have created a waterfall.

However, Arthur’s reaction was not YuWon’s focus. There was something more important right now.

YuWon fully woke up 「Kyneē」 and spoke.

“You should come out now.”

Wriggle—

The light pouring out of 「Kyneē」 became stronger.

In that moment, the power of 「Kyneē」 that was binding Susanoo’s soul became weaker.

“—This is a disgusting feeling.”

He was someone who had toyed with the souls of others for his entire life. And now that he was on the opposite side, Susanoo felt a disgust that he had never felt before.

“You need to keep your promise, right?”

The bet against Susanoo.

Right now, his powers could only restrain his soul, but as the bet was established by the system, he could force him to answer his question.

“—Seems like you have a lot of questions.”

“I have one question.”

“—Is it related to that idiot?”

“Uaaaaaah!”

Arthur was still screaming his heart out.

YuWon continued to ignore him and nodded his head.

“Yes.”

“—Ask away.”

“Who asked you to kill the King of Knights?”

There was only one answer he could receive. And YuWon was asking this after being certain that it wasn’t by chance that Susanoo killed Arthur.

However…

“—Sorry, but I can’t answer that.”

“Why?”

“—Because I don’t know what that guy was either.”

YuWon furrowed his brow.

It was a totally unexpected answer. He had confirmed that someone was behind it, but he wasn’t able to confirm who it was.

“—But I have a way to show you.”

Shwoooo—

The fog produced by 「Kyneē」 covered YuWon’s body.

At that moment…

Bzzzt—

‘This is…’

An endless army of Undead.

He could see through the eyes of someone in a colorful dragon robe who was sitting down.

Through this dark blanket of fog, Susanoo’s memories were laid before him.