THE CURSED GAMER

Chapter 442: Tomb Raider Neji

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Neji didn’t lack raw power right now.

He could charge “Boost!” for a few hours before the fight, and only then engage the Beast in a battle - if raw power was what he lacked.

He lacked the ability to mess with its regenerative abilities. So far, he hasn't had any luck with that. He had multiple so-called immortal-killer abilities, but none of them worked. Hakai didn’t work; the Skill description did say its effects can’t be negated or healed unless a skill of a higher class was used against it. That meant the Beast’s regeneration was indeed higher. Same with his Blackflame skill from his [Voidmancer] Class, which he used to kill the One-Tailed Beast. It didn’t do anything against the Beast 666. Since his Class skills’ levels were directly correlated to his Main Level, boosting his stats didn’t help it.

He needed to level up, which would level up his Classes. Otherwise, he had to farm for Anti-Healing abilities from somewhere else. From other Gods, namely.

“I think you would have had an easier time against the likes of Ophis or Great Red. But since you’re a God, and Trihexa is basically Anti-God, it's able to suppress you greatly. That might be affecting your other abilities that don’t come from Faith, though perhaps they are less suppressed than directly Faith-related abilities.” Momo theorized when they stepped out of another portal.

The fight against Trihexa ended a few hours ago, and by now Neji got the news that Norse had fallen already. He and the girls thought of a plan to cultivate power fast, and now they were executing that. 

He and Momo were alone here. The others, namely Rumi and Ryukyu, were with Quetzalcoatl. They were paying a visit to the Aztec Pantheon - at least what remained of it after a portion of their Gods were killed in Neji’s “Battle of Gods 2.0”. Their plan was to take over the Pantheon and destroy anything that would resist. The Pantheons had an immense gathering of magical artifacts, Sacred Gears, and other kinds of things. Even if the girls couldn't level up by killing people, they could use those artifacts to grow stronger.

Neji, however, was different from them. He could kill these Gods and Level. At the same time, with the help of the evolved [Mine], he could steal the said Gods' other abilities and divinities.

Currently, he was after the second option.

He and Momo floated over the skies of Scotland. As he had noticed before, many Pantheons have descended part of them on the mortal realm to assert dominance over their followers. Norse was no exception; they had picked a desolate part of Scotland to descend. After Asgard fell, Thor and his companions brought the civilians to this place.

"Odin's body is still there," Neji said as his eyes scanned over the area.

"As I thought. Usually, Norse Gods end up in Valhalla after death. Maybe because Trihexa destroyed Valhalla too, or that any God killed by Trihexa does forever, Odin didn't end up there. Thor and the others are keeping his body safe." Momo said.

The two of them lowered from the sky. Their feet touched the ground as they dropped in the middle of the town. There was a large wooden mansion here that seemed to be the place where the Gods were staying.

Asgardian civilians looked at them. There were also many other kinds of beings; Dark Elves and Frost Giants with whom the Asgardians had a bad relationship were also here. In these dire times, they chose to ignore their past mistakes and accept each other. All of the Norse realms have been destroyed, and only a tiny percentage of people managed to escape.

"H-hey, you two!" One of the Frost Giants yelled, pointing at Momo. Being a creature of ice, he might have felt threatened by her Phoenix aura. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?!"

By now, Neji's face was quite famous across the Pantheons. Perhaps because the Realm of Jotunheim was very secluded, he didn't recognize Neji. From the expression of many others, however, they knew who Neji was. One of the Valkyries quickly reprimanded the Frost Giant with a glare and looked at Neji.

She had golden hair and a muscular build, and she quickly stepped forward. "God, it is a pleasure to meet you. We of Asgard are extremely grateful to you for stepping forward and helping us escape. Please wait here, I'll notify Thor immediately."

She said and entered the mansion. Neji and Momo decided to wait. She nudged his shoulder making him turn to her.

"What?"

"A fight might break out; you know?"

She whispered, knowing well that if the people heard her they might think Neji was here to attack them.

"It's going to be fine." He shook his head. "They are not in the position to fight."

"It's still their Father's body…. Just Thor alone is one of the Top 10 strongest in this world, you know?"

Instead of replying, Neji looked ahead again. Momo frowned seeing him ignore her, as she tiptoed and pinched his cheek.

"...What are you doing?"

"Why aren't you replying? I am trying to make conversation."

Neji opened his mouth and then closed it. He sighed and smiled. "We can talk after we are done here. You should stay alert instead of chatting since things might get dangerous."

"I can take care of myself," she said with a frown.

"Thor is in the Top 10 in the world, you said."

"I am stronger than him," Momo said and crossed her arms. "I'm not a baby anymore, Neji. I am stronger than you, too."

It's been a few hours since Neji fought with Trihexa. If he stopped "Boosting" for a certain time, all its effects vanished and he had to start from the bottom up again. He was currently on his Base again. It'd be wise to have come here after Boosting, but then Thor and the others might have taken that as a sign of aggression.

So currently, he was on his Base powers. And it was true that he was weaker than her in this state. Even if he were to use Tenseigan Mana Mode, the Eight Gates, and Lightning Armor.

"Not for long," he replied as he wrapped his left arm around her waist, squeezing it and turning back forward.

She grumbled but didn't say anything, just smirking a little. "Sure, we'll see."

She didn't entirely believe that his plan would succeed. Even if he did somehow manage to get Odin's body, who's to say the Divinities would remain in that body for this long? It has been a few hours, and all of Odin's divine realms have vanished. That should affect Odin's divinity greatly.

Of course, they'd only find that out if Neji managed to get his hands on Odin's body.

“So the report was true,” As Thor walked out of the mansion, his face filled with grim sadness, Neji and Momo composed themselves. Thor was being accompanied by two other men from Asgard, and behind them was a man and a woman of Frost Giant origin.

[Odinson Thor – Asgardian – Peak Tier 60]

Indeed, he was strong. That day when the Gods attacked Neji in Jerusalem, Thor hadn’t left because he was scared of his life – he was simply making a tactical war decision.

Unlike what Momo said, he was stronger than her - at least at face value. For someone with her unique power set, Tier difference mattered less than usual. But indeed, Thor was not to be looked down upon. He was even stronger than his father, who was at Tier 58 from what Neji saw. Thor must have been on the verge of inheriting the throne if he was stronger than Odin himself.

That would complicate things slightly if a fight did break out. Neji won’t die, of course, but the fight might last longer than expected. At least, the two men beside Thor were weaker; they were his brothers from the looks of it. Baldur and Vidar at Tier 52 and Tier 51 respectively.

Behind them was Loki, an Evil God from the Frost Giant faction. The woman beside him was Hel, his daughter, the Goddess of the Realm Hel – which must have been destroyed by Trihexa too.

Despite being enemies, they were all part of the same Mythology. So in these dire times, they were walking side by side without attacking each other. Other than them, there was no other strong individual left in Norse. There were a few Valkyries, but they were mid-tier beings by Norse standards. Odin died, his wife too, and the father of Loki was gone as well. All of the other realm’s power-houses were done.

These five were the last pillars of Norse Mythology.

“I shall cut to the chase, are you here to ask for something – or just to check on us?” Thor stopped before Neji and said, their height matching as they looked eye-to-eye. “Before you answer that, allow me to innovate my gratification. I am extremely thankful that you fought that damned Beast long enough for us to escape.”

“I was hoping to kill it, but sadly I couldn’t. If I could, the rest of Norse would have been spared.” Neji replied, feeling Loki’s stare turn into a light glare. To his credit, he didn’t say anything foolish. Neji wasn’t obliged to fight for their Pantheon.

Thor’s hand fiddled with his hammer. It seemed to be an idiosyncrasy, a habit, rather than a sign of aggression. He looked at Neji again, properly this time, and even his magical senses did a scan.

He nodded. “I am amazed seeing you brush off the damage so quickly. It appears that the revival did you well. You are a lot more powerful now.”

“So it seems,” Neji agreed. “Back to your question, of why I am here. I am not here to pay a respectful visit if you were hoping for that. In fact, I am here for quite a selfish thing.”

Thor sighed, while the other Gods’ faces darkened. “As expected, you want something in return for your help. It is understandable. However… as you can see, we are not exactly in the situation for this. I am not saying Asgard wouldn’t repay you, but right now is not our best time. Shall we talk about this later?”

“Later will be the end of the world, young man,” Neji replied with a soft laugh. Thor was a few thousand years old; much more than Neji’s real age, but his memories and current persona made him older than this Asgardian God. “I am not here for something you don’t have, by the way. It’s not something that should hurt your current position either.”

Thor looked a little defeated at first when Neji didn’t want to wait. If Neji insisted, Thor’s pride would make him give Neji compensation. However, hearing his last words, Thor grew confused. Could there be such a thing?

“What do you have in mind?” It was Loki who asked, stepping forward and standing beside Thor. Thor didn’t object, perhaps it was better for the Trickster God to talk a deal with this wicked Admin.

“I,” Neji dragged for a moment, as if unsure about his words. “I was hoping you’d hand over Odin’s body to me. I’ll be direct, I am going to consume it for power.”

Thor’s hand curled around the hilt of his hammer. This time, it was not idiosyncrasy. It was a sign of aggression as killer intent filled the air, intensified by the other two Odinson.

Nobody attacked, but at this point, they might as well have.

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