Leveling with the Gods

I knew where the Giant King was, but there was a problem.

It was the roaring lava.

How do you get into a sea of lava that's hard to get near?

'Hercules could get in without difficulty, but I...'

I wondered how long I could last in there.

It wasn't only YuWon who knew....

"Get out of the way."

Hercules headed toward the lava.

It was YuWon who had been fighting alongside him for quite some time.

Now, just by looking at him, he could see what he was about to do.

A fist glowed upward.

Boom, boom.

Hercules slammed his fist into the boiling lava.

And then.

POOF!

Lava erupted from his fist downward. The force transmitted to the depths caused the river of lava to split, revealing the submerged earth below.

Huduk, hududududududu-.

Chaaaaaaaaaah-.

The lava rose and fell again.

Swoosh-.

Hercules placed the lion skin he was wearing on YuWon's head.

[You receive the 'Lion King's Blessing'.]

[All elemental resistances increase]

[Absorbs a certain amount of damage]

Chiik, Chiik-.

The leather protected his body from the lava falling on his head.

It was a pretty good armor.

Not only did it have its own defenses, but it also possessed a special ability called "Lion King's Blessing".

Of course.

'Even without this, I could have protected myself with Triaina.'

Hercules, who had no way of knowing that fact, willingly gave up his lion skin to protect YuWon.

"Follow me. The way is clear."

"Ah...."

Kwagwagwagwagwagw-.

A hole opened up by a large impact.

He wondered if that could really be called a road.

"Yes. Road."

Anyway, to blow a hole in a sea of lava with a single blow.

Hercules, the Giant Slayer.

He alone possessed the power to destroy an entire floor.

"But didn't you say further down?"

"That's right."

"How far down?"

"The same as before."

YuWon pointed to the bottom, where the lava had disappeared.

"Just do it three more times."

"Okay."

Boom-.

Hercules brandished his fist as before.

"Though I feel cheated, for now..."

Kwaaang-!

The ground was dug deep.

"...I will trust you."

* * *

BANG!

A deep hole was dug in the ground.

Underground everything was dark and deep....

Nothing existed down there.

"What is this place?"

Hercules looked up, incredulous.

Surely, he thought, if he broke through the ground and went down, he would find a damp, dark space below.

But no.

The place they descended to was too bright and familiar to be subway.

Hercules looked up and saw a bright blue ceiling.

Light shining down. A blue sky.

It looked like the sky.

"Are we really underground?"

Underground, several miles deep.

If it weren't for the craters he had made, he might have thought it was just like the normal world.

Tak-.

Arriving at his destination, YuWon began walking toward the high mountains in the distance.

He didn't look very surprised.

Hercules wanted to ask him, 'How do you know this place?'

But he didn't hold back, so he did.

"How do you know this place?"

"I have an informant."

"An informant?"

"Anyway, even if I told you, you wouldn't know him. Even if I wanted to take him to meet you, I couldn't either."

'Because you told me.'

He had heard directly from Hercules that there was such a place.

Of course, I couldn't tell him right now.

Even if I said it, he wouldn't believe it unless Hercules had an ability similar to Son OhGong's Golden Eyes of Ash.

He would think I was crazy.

"So stop arguing and follow me..."

YuWon's expression and tone changed from the way he had been treating Hercules.

"If you want to know the truth."

Tak-.

YuWon walked towards a high mountain.

Looking at YuWon from behind, Hercules muttered to himself.

"The truth...?"

What kind of truth was he talking about?

He wondered if he was being tricked.

His suspicions about YuWon deepened.

Hercules knew that he knew who he was all along, but he didn't care.

It had been a long time since he had seen someone kind and interesting.

He figured it wouldn't hurt to have a friend like that, whoever he was.

But now that he was here, he wondered if YuWon was a scion of the Giants.

And if that's the case...

Maybe it's a trap.

YuWon was no longer trying to hide anything.

Maybe, if he followed him, there would be something.

Whether it was a secret or a trap.

'If it's a trap.

Creack-.

Hercules clenched his fists and followed YuWon.

'I'll tear them all apart.

* * *

YuWon headed towards a mountain.

A rather large mountain, perhaps several kilometers high.

However, YuWon didn't end up climbing that mountain.

"Why are you stopping?"

Hercules was no longer walking beside YuWon.

Looking at Hercules, who was still following him, YuWon asked.

"Why are you walking so far apart?"

"Because I'm suspicious."

"You don't know how to lie."

"What do you know about me that makes you say 'that'?"

"Well..."

That's why the one-way streets were that hard.

Actually, knowing only one side of the story was more uncomfortable than not knowing the other.

YuWon had felt it many times lately.

"Anyway, did you ask me why we stopped?"

YuWon pointed forward with his chin and said.

"If you stretch your fist there, you'll know."

"There...?"

There was nothing where YuWon was pointing.

Just a tall, forested mountain.

There were no roads or human traffic signs.

But he had to stretch his fist.

'I guess I'll just have to do as I'm told for now.'

At the moment Hercules was about to stretch his fist.

Woo-.

The earth and the mountains shook.

The earth shook and the mountains trembled.

"This vibration..."

Hercules' voice trembled.

"This energy."

His eyes were red and bloodshot, and the lid of his head opened, and the inside of his head turned white. (?)

Finally he found it

The Leader of the Giants.

The Leader of the Giants who had been at War with Olympus for a long time.

"Giant King!"

Thud, thud, thud-.

A flesh-colored figure emerged from the cracked ground.

He wondered how long he had been asleep.

The whole mountain, miles long, moved. YuWon looked at Hercules' face, which was going crazy, and asked.

"Is it that good?"

"......."

Hercules didn't answer.

It wasn't worth answering.

"Revenge, is that what you want?"

"...What?"

Swish~

It was the first time Hercules looked at YuWon with madness on his face.

Revenge.

YuWon seemed to know why he was killing Giants.

"Who are you?"

Hercules walked towards YuWon.

"Seriously, what do you think you're doing?"

"Don't get too excited."

YuWon looked at the slowly waking Giant King.

"I'm just trying to clear up a misunderstanding."

"Misunderstanding...?"

『Who's talking.... 』

A voice echoed in the air.

It was a simple voice, containing not a hint of mana, and yet it felt as if one's body would be crushed just by listening to it.

『I see, the Giant Slayer has traveled here 』.

The mountain stood up, stretched its limbs and lifted its head.

Long, thick legs.

They seemed to reach up to the sky, where the two men stood apart, and their great height exuded an unknown awesomeness.

『Your name was Hercules. 』

Hercules rose to fame in the First Period of the Gigantomachy.

The High Rank who killed most of the Giants.

The Giant Slayer/Hunter.

It was impossible for Gigäntes, the King of the Giants, not to know about him. (Note: This King of the Giants is literally called Gigäntes, but so as not to confuse us, I'll call him Gigäntes with dieresis).

"Yes, that's right, I'm Hercules."

Kwak-.

His curved fist clenched.

His life force resurfaced and, for the first time, mana began to flow from Hercules' body.

"Of course, I'm also the Giant Killer."

『Then the job is quite obvious. 』

A long, long sleep.

Upon awakening, an old enemy of the Giants appeared before him.

No way would Gigäntes allow this to happen.

Woo~

The mana that began to emanate from their bodies connected heaven and earth.

Just as they were about to collide.

Hwareuk-!

In the middle of the two, a huge flame erupted.

"Why are you stopping us?"

In the middle of them, YuWon was standing with his Holy Fire.

"What?"

『 Who is this person? 』

Gigäntes looked puzzled at the unfamiliar face.

There was also a subtle hostility in that expression and voice.

He probably thought that YuWon, who was not a Giant, was on the same side as Hercules.

'If we fight here, the outcome is obvious.'

The three Giants were on equal footing with the three Gods of Olympus.

As such, they were proud of their prowess.

Except for the three Gods, no one could defeat them.

But the opponent was Hercules.

'I can't think it will be the same now as it was a thousand years ago.'

Originally, Gigäntes would die here.

At the hands of Hercules, and in a very gruesome way.

He could not stand idly by.

If he did, there would be a second Gigantomachy, and the war would grow out of control.

As long as Hercules keeps looking for the Giants, it will happen.

YuWon brought Hercules to this place to stop it.

"Relying on strength and fighting ignorantly is the same thing no matter what race you are."

"What?"

『Are you saying that now because you can take responsibility? 』

Hearing the two voices at the same time, YuWon wrinkled his brow and looked at Gigäntes.

"Speak as quietly as possible. My ears hurt."

『What a cheeky guy...』

"Do you guys even know what you're fighting about?"

It was a fundamental question.

What were they fighting about?

It was Gigäntes who answered first.

『The perpetrator is the Giant Killer. He has killed, and will continue to kill, most of our kind.Do you need more reasons?』

Gigäntes had a clear reason. He had enough reasons to fight Hercules, who killed his own people and earned the title of Giant Killer.

But he probably doesn't know "why" Hercules hated the Giants.

"So Hercules..."

Yuwon's gaze turned to Hercules, who was standing in front of Giants.

"What you want is revenge for your mother who was killed by the Giants, right?"

Hercules' eyes flashed.

How many times had YuWon surprised him already?

"How did you..."

"Grab."

Flick-.

Zalgraak-.

"......?"

Hercules caught something YuWon had thrown at him with his big hand.

"Look what it is."

"What is this..."

An earthquake ran across Hercules' face as he examined the object in his hand.

A long, thin, red necklace.

It was something unforgettable.

"This..."

Woo~

Hercules' eyes rolled and the immense mana he had been hiding in his body began to shake the ground.

"Why do you have this?"

His anger shifted from Gigäntes to YuWon.