Leveling with the Gods

Side Story 86

"It wasn't my intention to be king from the beginning."

Not so many years ago, a dozen years to be exact.

Zeus recalled the moment he met Odin and drank with him.

"There were many wars in Asgard. We had many enemies. Jotunheim, Muspelheim. All the giants were our enemies."

"It was the same for us; we didn't get along with the giants."

"Yes. It was the same for both of us. Ha-ha!"

Unlike Zeus, Odin was a heavy drinker.

He had already consumed several barrels of strong rum.

"Back then, I was just a soldier."

"King Odin, a soldier."

"Is it unimaginable?"

"Yes, it is."

"I myself feel strange about my current appearance. I can't adapt to it, even after so much time."

Odin looked at his face reflected in the wine cup.

A great country and guild that ruled over several worlds.

Asgard.

"I, the King..."

On the surface of the transparent wine cup, the king representing this great nation was reflected.

"There is a big difference between doing it well and enjoying it. Someone said that. They say I'm a great ruler."

Zeus nodded.

The King of Asgard, Odin.

He was one of the few whom Zeus recognized, along with Vishnu.

No.

Though it wasn't for long, even he looked up to him when he was a child.

He dreamed of becoming a great king like him.

"What's the point of denying it when everyone agrees? Besides, if you have to do it, it's better to do it well than badly."

"What do you mean?"

"Sometimes I dream of those times."

A dream.

Just talking about it made Odin's eyes shine intensely.

"I dream of leaving everything on my shoulders and fighting for my country with all my heart."

It wasn't that he missed or remembered it.

They weren't even that close, and their meeting was brief.

But why?

After his death, he thought about many things.

Kwa-rang!

He threw a Lightning Bolt at the hunched Administrator.

His body was filled with energy.

The temple with the Lightning Bolt was Zeus's world.

"A meaningful death..."

Odin achieved his dream.

In a battle for the fate of Asgard. He fought against countless Outers and died as a warrior, at the forefront of the battlefield, not as a king.

At first, he wondered what that meant.

Anyway, isn't everything insignificant after death?

For the cold Zeus, it was a hard phrase to understand.

However.

"Maybe it is."

When he saw Odin's last moment of death.

Seeing him die with a smile, his perspective changed a little.

Warrior.

Zeus had never been in that position before.

Perhaps they are not so different from a "King."

['Temple of Lightning' resists 'Mana Master']

['Temple of Lightning' successfully resists 'Mana Master']

[All Lightning-type Arcane Power is amplified by 200%]

The Lightning energy residing within him exploded.

With a sensation that the muscles of his entire body were twisting, Zeus extended both arms.

Kwa-rang!

A Lightning Bolt struck inside the temple.

The Administrators moved from side to side to block and dodge it, and then.

Flash!

A rain of Lightning Bolts descended from the temple ceiling.

"Zeus!"

Craaack-le!

Jotakua, with a distorted face, ran towards Zeus again. She seemed to be oblivious to the rain of lightning falling.

'It seems she's very angry.'

In that case, even better.

When the fight is dominated by emotions, attack and defense become linear and predictable.

Thanks to YuWon killing Chatoqua, the toughest opponent had become easier.

Zeus, gripping the spear in his hand, looked at her with bright eyes.

Buuung!

Crack!

There was a roar as the spear and the two hands collided.

Meanwhile, the other Administrators pounded on the temple walls to try to escape.

"It's blocked!"

"This side too!"

The Temple of Lightning.

Whatever they did, the Administrators couldn't use their power inside as they normally did.

Were they prepared for this?

Even Zeus couldn't face the four Administrators alone, including Chotaqua.

The power of the Administrators lay in seizing control of Arcane Power, and in front of them, all Players couldn't use even half of their power.

However.

This space had a power that countered the Administrators' power.

That was the source of his confidence.

He had created a space that could counter the Administrators' power and, on the contrary, multiply his own power.

Zeus had been waiting here, having set a trap in this place.

'I thought it would be easy. No, I thought it had to be easy.'

It couldn't be otherwise.

There were four Administrators.

And one of them was Jotakua, the Administrator of Floor 95.

Even if Zeus was strong, he thought there would be no other variables unless Hercules or The Great Sage, Heaven's Equal, accompanied him.

But he never imagined they would create a space that countered his power.

'First, I have to get out of this space...'

"You won't be able to escape so easily."

A cold voice.

The moment the surprised Administrator turned his head...

Puuuk!

Craack, craackl-le!

The Lightning spear that started from Zeus's fingertips pierced his chest.

"Otuyeg!"

The cry of another Administrator.

Jotakua was now pinned to the temple wall.

It seemed like she had been pushed back in the recent battle.

At that moment, the Administrator, feeling a sense of crisis, revealed his true form.

Hualak!

Zhejeok, zhejejeok!

Flames that glowed with a grayish tone.

He gleamed with eyes full of fire as he exhaled an icy cold.

Zeus!He roared.

Frost formed in the temple filled with lightning due to the icy cold.

However...

Swaaaa!

Feeling the Arcane Power burning rapidly within him, Zeus looked at the administrator's corpse that he had just pierced.

"... One down for now."

---------------

Floor 63.

The Golden Castle of Asgard, once called the center of the world.

Soldiers were nervous about the appearance of an intruder.

"W-what is that? What is that?"

"Shhh. What do you mean 'that'? Are you crazy? What if someone hears you?"

"Hey, do you really think anyone will hear it from here?"

"Don't underestimate the Rankers' senses. Those guys are monsters we can't even imagine."

The words of a new soldier who had just entered Asgard made his superior break into a sweat.

In the distance. The entrance to the Golden Castle.

There, a burly man was sitting cross-legged, showing a back full of scars.

'Why has Hercules come here...?'

Hercules.

Ranked number 2.

The second in command of Olympus and a High-Ranker who was only below his father Zeus in the Tower's ranking.

It was known that he had the power to destroy a Great Guild by himself.

Unlike Zeus, the ruler of the Olympus Great Guild, he was a being who had achieved his position solely with his own strength.

"I don't know. I asked him his purpose, but he didn't say anything to me."

"I thought I'd faint looking into his eyes. What kind of gaze is that...?

Puf!

"Don't call him 'that,' you bastard!"

Clearly, Hercules's personality was quite friendly.

No, beyond being friendly, he was famous for not even being good at wielding fists, let alone killing people.

There was no doubt; there were even rumors that the Hero of the Gigantomachy had lived as a lumberjack in the countryside for quite some time.

However...

Can that rumor really be believed?

The gaze he actually saw in Hercules was different from what the rumors said.

It wasn't exactly fierce or terrifying.

'But it looked like he was about to do something big.'

Although he was just a soldier, he was a player defending the Golden Castle.

Although he wasn't a Ranker, he was an expert who had managed to climb to the 90th floor of the Tower.

That's why he could sense something of Hercules's aura.

"There will be... a great battle soon."

He had already informed Thor and the Valkyries about Hercules's arrival.

They would probably receive a response soon.

And the enemy of the upcoming battle would be one of two.

"Either Hercules or an even greater enemy."

------------

Hercules, sitting cross-legged, focused his mind.

In the face of the impending great battle.

At this moment, without Zeus, Son OhGong, or YuWon, he had to be a firm gatekeeper.

"W-what is that?"

A soldier's voice came from afar.

It was a small voice, but the word "that" stood out and caught his attention.

'This is too much, seriously.'

His concentration was broken. Hercules awkwardly laughed and scratched his head with one hand.

'I chose this place between two options.'

"Where should I go?"

Before descending to the Golden Castle.

When Zeus asked Son OhGong to use his clones to ensure the safety of the other Guilds, Hercules asked him about his own role.

He had the omniscient eyes of Hermes. Moreover, he was the one who best saw the overall situation of the Tower.

Hercules offered himself as a chess piece for Zeus to use.

However.

"It's one of two."

Contrary to what he expected, Zeus's answer was not very clear.

"This place and Asgard. That's where you should be."

In the Celestial Temple, Zeus was lost in thought.

If he were an Administrator.

When this battle started in earnest, who would he attack first?

"Explain. What do you mean?"

Without a clear answer, Hercules pressed for an explanation.

What could he be thinking?

Zeus, still frowning, shared his thoughts.

"We can't let the Players take over Olympus and Asgard. And especially Olympus."

If Odin were still alive, it might be different.

In the current Tower, Olympus was undoubtedly the strongest Guild.

Of course, Asgard was still standing.

Thor, with Gungnir in hand, would become a second Odin over time, and his power, including the floors he dominated, remained intact.

However.

The absence of the giant 'Odin' was undoubtedly a painful loss.

"Their options are three. Attack this place where I am, or attack Asgard, weakened without Odin, or..."

"Why are there three options if there are only two, Olympus and Asgard?"

"You seem more like the Monkey for being so impatient. You've chosen your friends poorly."

Hercules fell silent at Zeus's reprimand. In his impatience, he had interrupted Zeus halfway through the sentence. Thinking about it, he should have been able to quickly guess the next option.

"The last option is to attack both at the same time."

Both...

Only then did Hercules understand why Zeus was talking to him about this.

"That's right. Your body is only one."

He realized a fact that he had forgotten for a long time.

Hercules.

The second most formidable power in the Tower, after Zeus.

"So choose. Where will you go?"

He realized that, depending on where he was and what he did, thousands or millions of lives could die or live.

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