Leveling with the Gods

Side Story 50

Rankers.

Rankers are mighty entities that have conquered the Tower after overcoming 100 worlds and 100 Trials.

They are assigned a rank indicating their power and authority, as there is no higher place for them to ascend to.

However, all of this changed a decade ago.

"There is a ceiling over this world."

"A 101st floor?"

"That's what they say... but it's something different."

Floor 100.

Upon hearing that there was an even higher place, Rankers rushed to challenge it.

Of course, not everyone achieved the same result.

"The magnitude of Divinity varies."

"What is the criteria?"

"It seems like the ranking is changing."

Rankers who pierced through the ceiling and ascended to the sky gained Divinity.

However, the magnitude of their Divinity differed.

To be a God, one needs a Soul.

To be a Deity, one needs Dignity.

Only then is Divinity granted, the true qualification as a God.

And the condition to achieve all this is one:

Myth.

A God needs a story.

To build Divinity, a story worthy of it is required.

It's not that the story has to be special.

The events and outcomes one experiences while ascending and conquering the Tower.

The stories people pass on from mouth to mouth.

All those things were the story.

And the being with the most stories in this Tower is...

"If Odin were alive, it might be different..."

"No way. Even if Odin were alive, he wouldn't be a match for him."

"You're right, aren't you?"

Gigantomachy.

The King of Olympus.

Ruler of the Sky.

Father of the Gods...

A being who has created an countless number of stories.

"For now, Zeus is the best."

He had been pondering about the ceiling for a long time. And so, Zeus built Olympus, a grand temple as a monument to his name.

He fought and won the legendary Gigantomachy war, ensuring that his lineage played a crucial role in the battle.

The one who had crafted his Myth more meticulously than anyone else in this Tower.

Moreover...

[Dragon Slayer]

His Myth even encompassed the power of Indra.

Crack, crack-le-.

Remnants of the Blue Lightning Bolt flowed from Zeus's fingertips.

Zeus looked at the remnants of the Lightning Bolt he had unleashed and frowned disapprovingly.

"Not a very pleasant color."

The Blue Lightning Bolt.

An Arcane Power he knew how to handle but rarely used.

It was a power that Zeus had taken from Indra long ago, when he had lost his Lightning Bolt and sought to regain his strength.

The power once possessed by Indra.

A pure Lightning Bolt containing the power of countless Dragons and was the nemesis of Dragons.

The power of Blue Lightning Bolt was the bane of Dragons.

"I have no other choice now. I need it to slay that guy."

"I hope it ends today."

Zeus had been using the immense power he had taken from Indra as if it were his own Arcane Power.

There were two reasons for this.

First, Indra's power was too destructive and challenging to control. Second, he didn't like the color.

Crack-le.

Once again, a Blue Lightning Bolt spear formed at the tip of Zeus's fingers.

Crack.

Krrr.

Unlike the Lightning Bolt Zeus normally wielded, this one was large and rough. If Zeus's normal Lightning Bolt was elegant, this one had an aura of violence.

Perhaps because of that...

Zeus once again expressed his dissatisfaction with the Lightning Bolt he had created.

"Not that great either."

Zeus's ability to control his Arcane Power was astonishing, even to YuWon.

The Lightning Bolt he created was a technique of a difficulty level incomparable to the Mana Orb.

Zeus was the creator of that technique and still several steps ahead of YuWon in handling Lightning Bolt. Hence, it was natural for Zeus to be unsatisfied with creating such a rough and large Lightning Bolt.

"Launch it."

"Don't order me."

Boom!

Despite his words, Zeus threw the spear with all his might.

Downward, beneath the clouds.

Toward Ananta's head.

Flash!

Boom!

A pillar of Blue Lightning Bolt rose above Ananta's head, making the world seem to freeze for a moment.

Kyaaaaah!

Ananta's heads screamed.

The Yellow Lightning Bolt flowing from his body clashed with the Blue Lightning Bolt.

In the midst of the struggle, a Lightning Bolt shot out from the mouth of one of the heads that raised its head.

Boom!

A hole opened in the cloud where YuWon and Zeus stood.

Both fell to the ground.

Ananta stared at them, his eyes gleaming.

"Is that the power you gained by killing our brothers?"

His reaction wasn't so much anger at being struck by the spear but rather surprise at discovering the true nature of Zeus's power.

"That's right."

"What, that reaction...?"

Ananta, who had been looking at Zeus, was surprised.

Golden Lightning Bolt occasionally mixed with the Blue Lightning Bolt.

Upon discovering it, Ananta realized why a Ranker of Zeus's caliber had such unstable control.

"It seems you took that from someone too."

Boom!

Bang!

Ananta's tail lunged toward Zeus's head. At the same time, another Blue Lightning Bolt spear formed in Zeus's hand as he jumped upward.

"But unlike other monsters, it seems your head is quite rotten."

"Those are arrogant words. Originally, intelligence was granted to us, the Dragons, before to you."

"That's an outdated way of thinking."

Boom!

Explosions of Lightning Bolt erupted between Ananta and Zeus. Zeus threw spears and stabbed Ananta's heads with them, while the thousand heads cornered Zeus.

While Zeus was engaged with Ananta, YuWon headed towards where Hercules had rescued Son OhGong.

"Are you okay?"

Son OhGong, crumpled like a dried squid after being electrocuted, looked up at YuWon from the ground.

"I could have escaped on my own."

"Then you would have become another monster's meal again."

Son OhGong's eyes flickered at YuWon's response.

"'Again,' you say?"

That word implied that YuWon knew something similar had happened before.

"Don't you remember? Don't you have ears?"

"Ugh..."

"Then why risk your life in a battle you can't win?"

"Running away would be even more pathetic."

"Being trapped on Flower and Fruit Mountain was embarrassing enough for you."

"Damn it! Why bring that up again?"

Son OhGong, trying to get up in one swift motion, frowned. Even with his resilient body, this time it seemed like it would take him some time to recover.

"Kugh... Instead, is it okay if we leave him with that guy?"

Hercules, YuWon, and even the Bull Demon King, who looked exhausted, gathered around Son OhGong.

Ananta was a monster. From Shub-Niggurath and Yog-Sothoth, it was the first time he felt such a overwhelming power difference while fighting something.

However...

"You see."

Kwa-rung!

Zeus pierced Ananta's head with the tip of his spear.

"Is he okay or not?"

"...Oh."

Son OhGong scratched his head awkwardly after confirming the battle between Zeus and Ananta.

"Have you forgotten what power that guy has?"

"Who?"

"...It seems like you really forgot. I'm talking about Indra."

"Ah, right."

Son OhGong nodded as if he finally remembered.

Indra.

The being who wrote the first Myth in this Tower, known as the Dragon Slayer.

His power was naturally the nemesis of Ananta, a member of the Dragon Race.

YuWon left Ananta in Zeus's hands for the moment. He trusted that Zeus, with the power that was the nemesis of the Dragon Race, could handle it properly.

"For now, let's focus on catching Ananta."

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

Zeus, with a long spear in hand, swung it towards Ananta's head.

Heads stabbed and pierced.

Zeus's and Ananta's heads collided several times in a row.

Bang, kwa-rung!

Crack, crack!

The Blue and Golden Lightnings Bolts clashed without merging.

Zeus's brows furrowed.

No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't understand why he was here doing this.

'This really isn't my thing.'

His role was to be the leader.

Since long before the founding of Olympus, he had always been in command on the battlefield, finalizing battles from the rear.

So, why him...?

"Buy some time."

Pzzt.

Why was he following the orders of that guy?

Zeus didn't like this situation.

Of course, he knew the reason.

'Because that guy has information about Ananta.'

The more you know about the enemy, the easier the strategy.

That was an immutable truth for any opponent.

Of course, he wouldn't have believed it if it were someone else. But when it came to YuWon, things were different.

"I don't like it, I don't like it..."

Thuuud!

A Lightning Bolt burst in Zeus's hand.

At that moment...

"So, you're the King of Players."

Ananta, realizing Zeus's true identity, acknowledged the source of his power.

"Do you know me?"

Zeus didn't recognize Ananta. There were barely any records about him in Olympus, and Zeus wasn't so idle as to worry about a monster sealed long ago.

However, the opponent knows.

"Zeus. An arrogant one who calls himself God and Lord of the Sky."

From the moment he awakened his consciousness, Ananta had been observing the world with the eyes and ears of all monsters.

Also, the new Guilds born in the Tower.

The war against the Outers and the peace that followed.

That's why Ananta, although it was the first time he saw his face, could tell that the being in front of him was Zeus.

"The bloodline of Uranus. Yes. Now it makes sense. If you're his descendant, then..."

Uranus.

A being that existed in the same era as Ananta and possessed power similar to a monster.

If he was of his lineage, then Zeus's power made sense.

"You're wrong."

Craaack-le-!

Denying Ananta's words, Zeus raised the tip of his finger.

"I'm not anyone's bloodline. I'm not anyone's son, brother, or father."

Only he can define himself.

Crack, crack-.

Having said that, Zeus slowly approached Ananta.

"Don't dare to define me that way. Besides, I'm not the King of Players."

The dark clouds floating in the sky stirred.

Ananta's heads raised to look above the clouds.

Kurrur-.

An overwhelming Arcane Power that overwhelmed Ananta.

From Zeus's lips emanated confidence beyond arrogance.

"I am the King of the World."

Slowly, his hand descended.

And in that next moment...

Flash!

A huge Lightning Bolt, mixed with Blue and Golden Lightnings Bolts, fell upon Ananta.

[Divine Punishment]

BAAAAAAANG!

-KO-FI

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