Leveling with the Gods

C265

Lights shone over the city.

The Valkyries in the distance were dumbfounded by the spectacle.

"This is King Odin..."

"The city has vanished."

The city disappeared without a trace.

A city of giants, many times the size of a normal city, evaporated into thin air.

There was nothing that could stop it.

Odin's power was beyond natural disaster, almost divine. Unless Surt himself came, there was likely no one who could stop him.

"Forward."

Odin gave the order to advance.

Two of the cities in Muspelheim had already vanished.

His eyes were filled with venom and fury.

'Surt has set his eyes on Baldur.'

News of Surt's appearance in Jotunheim had already been received.

YuWon and OhGong traveled there and kept Baldur safe.

He could rely on YuWon and the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal for that.

Now, he had something to do.

"OhGong and Diablo will take care of Surt."

It wouldn't take long.

Surt, who was determined to return to Muspelheim, couldn't be stopped for long.

But in the meantime...

"In the meantime, they will attack the cities of Muspelheim. To agitate Surt."

Until now, Odin hadn't moved because he didn't know when Surt would move.

But now...

Surt had traveled to Jotunheim to kill Baldur, and Odin took the opportunity to attack Muspelheim.

Only Surt could stop Odin.

That was a fact Surt knew well.

'If that was your intention, to provoke me...'

Crack-.

The long spear in Odin's hand grew stronger.

'I will do the same to you.'

Bam-.

All the giants fell to the ground.

YuWon started walking toward his destination.

Thump-.

His steps were heavy.

He felt his stomach burning, as if his guts had already melted.

'What kind of enmity did I have with fire in my previous life...'

His body burned, and it was hard to be patient with the fire.

The good news is...

['State Anomaly: Burn' has reached level 7]

['Golden Cinder Eyes' resist 'Burn']

['Holy Fire' resists 'Burn']

[Burn resistance increases]

His resistance to 'Burn' was incredibly high.

Hah, hah, hah-.

While walking through the flames, YuWon continued to check his condition.

'How much longer can I hold on?'

The Heart of Fire continued to absorb the fire constantly.

But this place was the very center of Muspelheim, so he didn't have much time.

[Arcane Power increased by 1]

[Arcane Power property changes to fire property]

[Transformation begins]

Then, the nature of his Arcane Power began to change.

If he had made it this far, it meant he was halfway there.

'Almost there.'

The fire intensified.

With that, YuWon entered the lava.

Boom-.

It was like falling into a sea of red.

The burns quickly intensified.

If he hadn't obtained the Golden Cinder Eyes, it would have been difficult for him to survive, even with the Heart of Fire.

'Surt, he tried to devour this fire in the future.'

['Heart of Fire' absorbs the fire around it]

['State Anomaly: Burns' decreases]

He could still endure it.

No, as long as he had the Heart of Fire, resisting in this lava wasn't that difficult.

The problem was elsewhere.

Freee-.

Yuyuan's eyes shimmered.

Amidst the crimson waves, a gigantic red crystal appeared in his pupil.

'Is that it?'

That's the 'fire' Odin spoke of, Surt's fire.

The center of Muspelheim, the source of the fire.

A concentration of fire that had burned for countless years.

To create it, Surt had worked for a long time.

'It's even difficult to approach it.'

Normally, it would have been a force that YuWon's body couldn't withstand.

But now that he had swallowed the Heart of Fire, it's a different story.

Inside YuWon, there was a massive container called the Heart of Fire.

Now was the time to fill it.

Swoosh-.

YuWon reached out his hand toward the crystal.

As he approached, he could feel the immense fire within.

When he brought his hand closer, a huge amount of Mana was absorbed by the crystal.

Woosh!

With the speed of a waterfall, the fire accumulated in his heart.

The burns eased and started again repeatedly. But at some point, it reached the point where it was difficult to endure with the Heart of Fire alone.

From now on, relying solely on the heart was not possible.

Fwoosh-.

['Holy Fire' adapts to the 'Heart of Fire']

[The 'Heart of Fire' adapts to the 'Holy Fire']

From now on, it was real.

'The limit of what my body can withstand was surpassed long ago.'

Indeed, it was impossible for him to handle the fire that Surt had gathered with his current body.

All he could do now was "transfer" the power.

The idea of controlling it all had to be abandoned.

If he became greedy, he could lose everything.

This action is like saying,

'This is the first time I steal.'

Stealing an empty house. It's like entering an empty house and taking the strength Surt had accumulated and storing it in a container.

"Do you think he's doing okay...?"

Son OhGong murmured as he lay on the ground with his arms outstretched. His upward gaze captured the half-red and half-blue sky. After Surt disappeared, the sky returned to how it was before.

Diablo staggered over and sat down next to OhGong.

"You're not as good as the rumors say."

OhGong raised his head.

His golden eyes narrowed as he looked at Diablo.

"Are you picking a fight with me?"

"I'm just stating my honest opinion."

"I'm tired, that's all. I'm tired."

Lifting the entire Jotunheim was no easy task, even for OhGong.

It required a massive amount of Arcane Power and a great concentration to use the Flying Nimbus.

Naturally, he was destined to tire out soon.

"That's true too. But it's different from what I've heard. Did you have such a soft heart? It's foolish to waste so much energy trying to save those people."

"Now you're mocking me?"

OhGong gave Diablo a look and scratched his head.

"It's because of a promise. There's nothing I can do."

"A promise? With whom?"

"There's something like that. Why do you want to know?"

Diablo shrugged off the probing question.

Having transformed into his original form once during the fight against Surt, it was now difficult to maintain that form, and he had returned to his human form.

"Anyway, in the end, we failed. That bastard actually managed to escape."

"Would we have won if we had kept fighting?"

OhGong asked, and Diablo looked at him.

The answer was unexpected.

Surely he would have regretted not seeing the outcome.

"It wasn't a fight we could win. We should be grateful that he left hastily."

"But you fought hard for someone who thinks that way."

"Well, we've bought enough time."

Five hours.

That was how long they held out against Surt.

Fortunately, there was no significant energy loss during that time.

It was thanks to Son OhGong and Diablo.

At first, Surt fought as if he would kill both of them, but then he realized it was taking too long and turned around.

"You don't always have to defeat your opponent to win," he said, "because in a fight where you don't have to fight, the one who gets what he wants wins."

The corners of OhGong's lips twisted upward.

"Therefore, the result of this fight is not what you think."

Certainly, it wasn't a pretty fight.

No one died, and the outcome wasn't decided.

Diablo, on the other hand, thought that this fight might not be his victory.

But Son Goku's reaction was unexpected.

"I've heard that the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal hates losing more than dying. It's a bit different from the rumors."

Diablo, who thought OhGong was his kindred spirit, looked at him in surprise.

Actually, OhGong had a similar personality to Diablo.

He loved to fight, enjoyed it, and hated to lose.

But there was definitely a difference.

"The fight should be seen in the long run."

"The fight should be seen in the long run."

That's what YuWon said.

"Someone told me that. Don't just focus on defeating the enemy in front of you. The true victory is much further than what we have in front of us."

The long, long battle against the Outer Gods.

OhGong had won and lost many of those battles.

He lost allies and suffered defeats.

Instead of simply enjoying the fight and winning, he began to think about how he could ensure that everyone survived.

"So, this fight."

It was in that fight that OhGong learned a lesson about the greater good.

"We're going to win."

***

***

Surt returned to Muspelheim.

It was to contain Odin, who had no opponent.

Standing on the burning land, Surt looked at the wounds on his arm.

"It's a nuisance."

Sharp tooth marks.

The wounds had not yet healed, and the blood was still flowing.

It was inflicted by Diablo.

Pak.

Shortly after, he felt another pain in his chest cavity.

This one was bigger than the one on his forearm.

"Great Sage, Heaven's Equal..."

Is he truly immortal?

The image of Son OhGong daring to fight ignorantly, relying on his physical strength and life force, came to mind.

A small man, wielding a staff bigger than himself, at the exact moment, used a technique called the Flying Nimbus to tie him down, and took advantage of the opening to plunge the Ru Yi Bang into his chest.

It was quite a shock.

OhGong and Diablo suffered worse injuries, but it was a humiliating blow to Surt, who thought he had no opponent in the world other than Odin.

After the fight, he returned.

"...What the hell happened?"

Surtr, who returned to his home after a long time, showed a surprised expression that seemed like it could tear apart at any moment.

Fallen giants on the ground.

As soon as he saw them, a single thought passed through his mind.

"This can't be."

Surt rushed towards the lava.

The lava seemed warmer than usual. The difference was too pronounced to be a mere illusion.

And as expected...

"...Who's there?"

There was no response.

"Who did this?"

The "Fire" he had been working on for so long had disappeared into thin air.

Vogl-.

Surtur's anger caused the cooled lava to boil again. Surtur emerged from the fiery lava.

"Find him."

Ziying-.

Surtur's voice spread through the air, so that tens of millions of giants could hear it in the distance.

"Find the Fire and bring it to me, or else..."

Thump, thump, thump-.

Before he could finish speaking, the giants behind him moved hastily.

"You will all die by my hand, not Odin's."

He had to find the Fire that had vanished. He had to take it, even if it was not fully formed yet, to definitively defeat Odin.

The giants began to move.

They unleashed their giant hounds, which could track the fire, and set off in pursuit. For once, Surt had no intention of standing still.

"He couldn't have gone far."

The Fire had not yet become an item that could be stored in the inventory. Furthermore, the temperature was too high to hold it with bare hands and move it.

The Fire couldn't have gone very far. So he could still find it.

Surt thought so, unaware that the Fire he longed for had already vanished from the world.