Leveling with the Gods

C429

Everyone had left the meeting room and disappeared. Only one person sat in a chair, fists clenched, waiting for someone.

The door swung open, and someone entered.

With closed eyes, Shiva, who was sitting and waiting, raised his head to greet Brahma.

"You've come?"

"Don't you see?"

"You arrived a little late. No, you arrived very late."

Originally, according to the agreement, they should have become one again at this moment. But it didn't happen that way.

'Vishnu...'

Shiva looked behind Brahma.

Originally, they should have come together as well. But that plan had gone astray.

Brahma was alone.

"Something must have happened."

"What happened?"

Brahma responded vaguely as he sat down in front of Shiva.

A small child crossed his legs while sitting. Naturally, Shiva's gaze lowered.

Now, out of the two, only one more had to come.

And that other one, Vishnu...

"He's close."

They weren't completely separated.

He was observing them from a nearby place. Probably, through the threads connected to his fingers, seeing the invisible to the eye was not a problem for someone like him.

Again...

'Things are a bit off.'

There was no need to panic.

From the start, if they had never intended to become one again, neither Brahma nor Vishnu would have come this far.

Their decision had not changed yet.

"Why are you on guard?"

"Huh? Why?"

"You can't act, Brahma."

Shiva burst into laughter.

"Trust me. I don't know what you're watching or worrying about, but from the beginning, we've always been one."

"I don't doubt that. It's just..."

"Just what?"

"There's an urgent matter."

"Urgent?"

"Well, it's..."

"That?"

Shiva's expression, which had seemed like he was joking before, twisted slightly as if he was asking if this was a joke.

An unusual breeze flowed. Cracks appeared on the wall, as if representing Shiva's mood.

But Brahma, without hesitation, pulled out a piece of candy he had stored in his inventory.

"It's just something I have to do. You've waited ten thousand years; can't you wait a few more hours?"

"It's not as we agreed."

"Don't worry. In the end, we'll become one."

"..."

Shiva stared at Brahma intently. He probably wasn't speaking in vain. You could feel that his words were sincere.

But still, it felt uncomfortable.

'Why the hell do I feel this way...?'

At that moment, someone else entered the meeting room.

And in the moment he saw...

"There was one more."

Shiva could understand why the original plan had gone awry.

"That's right; you were here."

Sitting on the stone that had originally belonged to Odin, he raised both legs onto the round table.

YuWon waved his hand while looking at Shiva's red eyes without avoiding them.

"Pleased to meet you."

"Why greet so awkwardly?"

"Insincere greetings are always awkward."

"You've messed everything up."

"Don't speak so bitterly."

As if he knew it would be like this, YuWon glanced at Brahma, who was stubbornly avoiding his eyes.

"It hasn't even started yet."

Slash-.

Kusanagi drew a red line and cut through the body of a goat.

The goat tore apart like a block of tofu. In the short period, he didn't know how many times he had swung the sword, but the goat split into thousands and tens of thousands of pieces.

But...

"Beeh-."

Even in the midst of such tearing, the goat's pupil remained intact, looking greedily at Susanoo.

"Isn't this enough?"

He clicked his tongue. Susanoo's hand holding Kusanagi tightened.

Woosh-.

The power of the Magatama Jewel emanated from Susanoo's hand holding Kusanagi. The Arcane Power surrounding Susanoo began to tremble unusually.

If it didn't die even after being cut into thousands of pieces...

"Then, I'll turn you into dust."

SLAAAASH-.

The sound of the wind blowing and the sound of the sword moving blended together.

Susanoo lifted Kusanagi high with one hand.

He whispered lowly so only Brunhilde, who was fighting around him, could hear.

"If possible, get as far away as you can."

Whoooosh-.

The wind gathered at a point.

Before the words could continue, Brunhilde shouted to the other Valkyries.

"Everyone, get away from here!"

And, as expected.

"I don't want you to be swept away by the storm and die for nothing."

Whoosh-!

[Storm Cut]

The wind gathered at the tip of Susanoo's sword split into hundreds of thousands of blades, cutting everything around.

Kwaaaah-!

The goat's body literally crumbled into dust. Even when cut into such small pieces that it couldn't be seen, the goat couldn't survive.

After cutting another goat like that, Susanoo was profusely sweating.

"Is this enough for five?"

Killing them one by one was quite challenging. If it was just about endurance, they could be defeated slowly, but the teeth of these creatures were strong and threatening enough to make the Yata Mirror crack.

Beeeeeh-.

Beeeh-.

There were still many goats left.

Numerical disadvantage. Among the Rankers currently in the area, Brunhilde was the only one with the ability to directly assist Susanoo.

"Was this what he was paying close attention to?"

Susanoo had been acting alongside YuWon for a long time.

During that time, YuWon seemed to be constantly preparing for something, and Susanoo considered it excessive.

If he continued like this, it seemed that YuWon would become one of the Tower's top Rankers in a hundred years, and YuWon had been moving to attract several Great Guilds, including Olympus and Asgard, to join his side.

Plus, counting the Bull Demon King, Son OhGong, Asura, and other High-Rankers.

'I just thought it was excessive perfectionism...'

But after directly fighting against these guys, he understood why YuWon acted that way.

If he had to fight against enemies like these, even if he became stronger, he would feel inadequate.

"Susanoo!"

Brunhilde's shout.

Susanoo, who was momentarily lost in different thoughts, snapped back to attention.

But on the battlefield, even a brief moment of distraction could cost you your life.

Zwack-.

Susanoo realized he had already entered the gigantic mouth.

"Cursed..."

Oong-.

The Yata Mirror emitted light. It was already too late to jump and dodge with his own legs.

At this moment, he could only rely on the power of the item.

Just as the Yata Mirror was about to emit light...

Thud, thud-.

Two hands and two feet blocked the goat's mouth from closing.

Before he could even think "Who is it?" the goat was thrown backward. The sound of the goats' bleating intensified with the appearance of a new enemy.

Diablo, shaking the hand he used to push the goat, looked at Susanoo.

"What's this? This kid?"

This kid...

That's what he said to Susanoo, the great Susanoo.

Normally, if it were the usual Susanoo, he would have drawn his sword immediately.

But it wasn't the time to argue about those things.

"He hasn't died yet."

"What?"

Zwack-.

Diablo turned.

A punch extended reflexively. And at the same time, the goat's teeth bit into Diablo's arm.

Kwaduck-!

Phwoosh-.

The goat's teeth pierced Diablo's shoulder. It wasn't a deep wound, but Diablo's furrowed brows showed he was in pain.

"What are these things?"

"I told you, right? He hadn't died."

Szzz-.

The goat's head was torn off.

Diablo quickly kicked the goat and stepped away. Susanoo looked at Diablo and asked.

"So, who is this kid?"

"...They don't seem to be easy enemies."

Diablo.

As soon as he heard the news at the Meeting, he was the first to run.

When it comes to a fight, he loves it more than anyone else, which is natural.

And for someone like him, the presence of the goats in front of him...

He hissed.

"This is going to be incredible."

He approached with indescribable pleasure.

Boom!

Diablo pushed forward and flew. While watching Diablo, who began swinging his fists as he flew towards the goats, Susanoo chuckled and stuck out his tongue with an empty laugh.

"I've never seen anyone crazier than me in a fight."

He also lived for blood, battle, and the sword.

But this guy in front of him, as passionate about fighting as he himself was, was something he had never seen before.

"Is that how others see me?"

Then, a giant shadow covered Susanoo's body. It was shortly after Diablo arrived.

Goooooo...

He raised his head and looked up.

Countless ships soared in the sky.

"Are they the Devas and Asgard?"

The ships of the Devas and Asgard arrived on the battlefield.

The Guilds representing this Tower.

And in addition, on the ground, Demons and Angels also gathered.

An army that appeared in the blink of an eye.

The Valkyries pushing the goats suddenly stopped. Brunhilde, who was panting, also took a moment to catch her breath.

"They've finally arrived."

The tension that had been present until a moment ago melted away as if it were dissolving.

After living for so long, she had never imagined that she would see something like this with her own eyes.

The mere sight made her heart beat forcefully. No matter how magnificent an entity might be, it was meaningless if they couldn't stop this.

"Is this it?"

But she forgot something important.

That the first bleat she heard wasn't the same as the bleats of the goats around her.

-BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH-.

The bleats spread under the purple sky.

A chill ran down her spine.

The tension that had disappeared for a moment increased again. No, it wasn't just tension that could describe it.

It was terror, despair, and discouragement.

"What the hell...?"

Even with all these Guilds and Rankers as allies, it was an overwhelming fear.

Brunhilde searched for the origin of the bleat as stillness spread across the battlefield.

And then...

Beeeeh...

A goat turned its head while letting out a bleat.

Beeeeh...

Beeeeh...

Beeeeeeh...

The goats began bleating towards a particular place. Watching the goats move slowly, the armies of Asgard and the Devas, as well as Diablo, who was wreaking havoc, came to a stop.

Gulp...

Not even Diablo realized what was happening.

That he was feeling fear and trying to swallow his own saliva with effort.

Jiiiiik...

A goat's belly opened.

It was the largest goat among the crowd, and it seemed that the lamb in its belly was freeing itself, killing its mother in the process.

And so, by opening the goat's belly, a human with two horns slowly emerged into the world.

"Has... this been here from before?"

When Diablo asked the question, Susanoo shook his head.

"No, there's no way."

Beeeeeeh...

A body over two meters long, with skin so pale it was almost white, and dark purple eyes without sclera.

She was a beautiful woman.

The goats followed her as if she were their mother while bleating.

And upon seeing her...

"...If it had been like that, we would all already be completely annihilated."

Because he had just realized that the owner of the bleats he had heard moments ago was her.

For the first time in his life, Susanoo felt what desperation was.