Leveling with the Gods

C413

"Uwaaaa!"

The Lion King roared with all his might.

Dozens of arms pushed him backward. His cries mixed with the pain of his burning body.

YuWon was right.

"No... hurry! Kali!"

"It's already done."

Rumble, rumble, rumble...

Black waves filled the ceiling.

The waves flowing through Kali's hand surrounded Ubbo-Sathla, who stood in front of the Lion King.

"If you don't want to get swept away, retreat on your own."

"What? Wait...!"

Surprised, the Lion King quickly released Ubbo-Sathla and turned back.

When Kali spoke this way, everyone knew it was dangerous.

The Lion King quickly retreated, leaping back on all fours and leaving his mark on the ground.

And then, right after that...

A flow of mana fell on the spot where the Lion King had been a moment ago.

Kwaaaah!

A gigantic wave engulfed Ubbo-Sathla and the tentacles surrounding him. This was a technique prepared by Kali, considered one of the best at using magic manipulation in this Tower.

Of course, it also required a strong tank to withstand this.

"Huff, huff...!"

"You did well."

"Were you trying to kill me?"

"You have quick reflexes."

"What do you mean?"

The blushing and panting Lion King looked at Kali.

Kali, ignoring the fiery figure behind her, headed toward Ubbo-Sathla's remains.

"If you keep going this way, you'll probably encounter those protecting the slab. Kali, go with the Lion King."

"Me? With this guy?"

"It will be difficult for you to go alone. Originally, you need someone to protect you while you do your thing."

Kali looked at the remains as she spoke.

"So, what? Should I kill the creature protecting the slab?"

"No. If you can read the letters written there, recover the slab first. If you determine that you can't read them, you can destroy it."

"Is the slab itself the target? Why?"

"Because that's the true form of that guy."

These were words she didn't understand.

At first glance, it seemed to be just a common stone. Although it had letters on it, she couldn't read them.

Was this thing really the true Ubbo-Sathla?

"You'll understand if you destroy it."

There was no need to think further.

After all, she was just carrying out the mission YuWon had entrusted to her.

Kali lifted a leg and forcefully stomped on the slab lying on the ground.

Crack!

And then, as Kali was about to destroy another slab.

Thud, thududududuk...

Another fragment of Ubbo-Sathla fell to the ground in thousands of pieces.

The slab was gone. From the beginning, the fight was just a means to an end, and she didn't care about the letters on the slab.

Crack...

Asura, with his heavy and exhausted body, stumbled and fell to the ground.

Although it wasn't a violent battle.

Due to the nature of Ubbo-Sathla, he couldn't prevent his strength from dwindling more and more as he faced it.

Sssik...

Two faces smiled at the same time.

It wasn't a long fight, but it was quite entertaining.

YuWon was right.

"Asura, you will go on alone."

"Why just me?"

"Hercules and I will handle the larger main form. Here, only Hercules can break through the wall hiding the main form. Also, Kali and the Lion King work best as a team."

From the beginning, Asura didn't have the right personality to work as part of a team.

For him, the best partner was another Asura sharing his body. Swinging his sword in accordance with the team's movements would only dull his blade.

That's why Kim YuWon had Asura move on alone.

And as a result.

"It's definitely a guy who keeps his promises."

Asura was able to fight enough to be satisfied.

The shattered slab on the ground caught Asura's attention.

The slab that was destroyed along with Ubbo-Sathla.

Still, it seemed like a good idea to make sure.

Kwaat!

Asura swung his sword from where he was seated. The slab turned into dust and dispersed; at the same time, the nest where Asura was trembled.

Gugu gugu gugu...

The ground shook.

It wasn't just the nest that shook.

It was the sound of the Outers that were still left in Ubbo-Sathla's nest, heading toward them.

"They're causing a ruckus."

Sssik...

Asura got up with his sword raised.

Even though he had expended a lot of energy and vitality in his fight against Ubbo-Sathla.

He still felt excited by the fact that he could keep fighting.

The battle was not over yet.

['Fragment of Ubbo-Sathla' has been destroyed]

['Fragment of Ubbo-Sathla' has been destroyed]

[Ubbo-Sathla weakens]

YuWon smiled as messages appeared one after another.

They hadn't finished too late.

"Isn't that right?"

Kali and the Lion King.

And then, Asura.

The two of them had succeeded in breaking two of the three slabs.

Ubbo-Sathla's nest trembled. It was the shudder of Ubbo-Sathla's body.

Who are you?

Zzzooong...

On the ceiling.

A gigantic eye opened.

It was Ubbo-Sathla's eye, looking into the nest.

The eye was staring at YuWon.

It was filled with questions and curiosity.

He never told me about you.

By "he," of course, he referred to Foolish Chaos.

He was the mind behind the Outer Gods.

A being with the power to contain all the Outer Gods' power in three fingers.

However, despite his power, the being that had been active in the Tower for a longer time, the one who had the greater impact on the Tower, was indeed, Foolish Chaos.

And, of course.

Ubbo-Sathla was also acting in accordance with Foolish Chaos's will.

"Of course not. Otherwise, it wouldn't make sense to be here."

Pzzzz...

YuWon had no intention of answering Ubbo-Sathla's curiosity.

Instead.

He had another response in mind.

"When we fought against you, we were concerned."

YuWon turned to look at Hercules.

Hercules, who had been resting for a moment, held his club in his hand.

There was strength in the fist holding the club. YuWon nodded when their eyes met.

And then...

Boom!

Hercules slammed the ground with all his might.

Grrrrrr...

The entire nest trembled.

The club didn't stop. Hercules struck the wall again.

Boom!

The ground quaked.

YuWon's voice continued.

"How can we catch you? We can't find an answer just by fighting."

Kwaaaang!

Hercules's club shattered Ubbo-Sathla from the inside.

Unlike the ceiling that didn't break, the walls and the floor easily crumbled in front of the club.

Despite the attempts of other Outers to stop Hercules when he started swinging his club with all his might, stopping Hercules once he started moving was an impossible task, even for the Gods.

Kwaaaang!

Grrrrrr...

Ubbo-Sathla fought inside.

With a presence as powerful as Hercules within his body, it was challenging to resist when he began releasing his power.

"The answer is inside."

The broken slabs.

They didn't know what letters were written on them, but they were the core of Ubbo-Sathla's power.

"The slabs."

"The slabs?"

"When we broke them, they weakened his power."

It was thanks to the loss of one of Hercules's arms.

Hercules's ability to escape from Ubbo-Sathla's nest had been a genuine stroke of luck.

"Are there more of these slabs?"

"That's what we're going to find out from now on. We don't know if there are more."

"Is there no way to attack from the outside?"

"There isn't any."

"So, do we finally have to go back in there...?"

"I will."

"Alright. Stay here. This team..."

The team was formed.

Another sacrifice had been made. YuWon heard the news of the death of companions he had barely begun to know and remember their names.

That's how they found out this information.

"Without them, he can't use his power."

Kwaaaang!

Ubbo-Sathla collapsed.

The being that was more like a living fortress than a living being turned into a powerless sandcastle.

"But why? What could have been written on a simple stone slab that had him so attached?"

How to attack Ubbo-Sathla. That implied recovering or destroying the slabs he protected from within.

That was what made YuWon deeply curious about the slabs.

'After all, it seems like it was just an ordinary stone slab.'

A slab with letters written on it.

No matter how he examined it, he didn't feel any special power in the slabs. They didn't have any notable magical devices, and even Players who had just ascended to the first floor could easily break them.

However, remarkably, that slab was Ubbo-Sathla's main body.

As if it had been born solely to protect the slabs.

Since he became aware of the existence of the slabs, YuWon had been unable to shake that idea from his head.

Unfortunately, there was no way to verify it here and now.

This place was a Trial, not reality.

Kwuuuuung!

At that moment, a wave of dark energy spilled into YuWon and Hercules' location.

"Roooooooar!"

"Stop shouting so loudly. It's confusing enough without your noise."

Thud!

Two people arrived riding the wave.

They were the Lion King, who was roaring, and Kali, who had joined them to ride the wave.

Kali kicked the Lion King off the wave with a kick. It seemed they had reached their destination.

'They're still on good terms.'

YuWon smiled at the Lion King's boisterous reaction.

And that meant they had arrived.

Gradually, the other side was also arriving.

"It's noisy here too."

Unlike the other two people, Asura looked quite exhausted.

Because he had been acting alone, he seemed physically more tired than the other teams. Definitely, Asura had carried the heaviest burden among the three teams.

'Everyone is here.'

YuWon raised his head.

The trial to defeat Ubbo-Sathla.

The Adversary of This World.

Now was the time to finish this Trial.

"Let's get out of here."

"So, that was the reason you told us to meet after finishing."

Asura, the most exhausted, was the first to step forward. He still had enough energy to squeeze a handful of remaining Arcane Power from the tips of his four swords.

And the other team members did the same.

"Should we break everything like that guy?"

"It doesn't seem to be so difficult."

Just as the other team members were about to move...

Thunk.

"Is it over already?"

Hercules lowered the club he held in his hand and wiped the sweat from his face with the other while looking at YuWon.

"...?"

Their looks seemed to ask what was going on.

Instead of responding to those looks, YuWon looked at the obstructed ceiling.

Hercules' commotion was only a diversion to protect Asura, who was coming with the other members and YuWon.

"We can just stand still and watch."

The real thing would appear from above.

"Once we clear the slabs, our task here will be done."

It was time to bring this Trial to an end.