Leveling with the Gods

Chapter 433

C433

In a dazed state, Shiva maintained an unmoving expression as if time had stopped.

He had no idea what was happening. He didn't understand how Vishnu and Brahma, who had clearly lost consciousness, were standing.

"What... what's happening?"

Shiva's jaw dropped as if it had fallen, unnaturally.

Vishnu and Brahma, who had awakened from their slumber, looked at him with the same expression in their eyes.

"We thought we were one."

"We thought we all had the same thought."

As if they were having a conversation, Brahma naturally followed Vishnu's words.

"But it turns out we didn't."

"Why do you think that was?"

The moment the three of them tried to become one,

Shiva's darkness swallowed Vishnu and Brahma. As if they had been preparing for a long time, Brahma and Vishnu's minds were absorbed into the depths of the darkness.

If they hadn't heard YuWon's words and regained their senses,

Because they trusted Shiva so much, they wouldn't have tried to resist.

At this moment, their minds might have been completely consumed by Shiva.

'I thought this was my space...'

Saaah-.

The hazy smoke hanging over a dark space disappeared.

The blue sky appeared over the place where they were standing, and a clear river flowed under their feet.

Shiva's world had changed.

In fact, from the moment the other two began to regain consciousness,

This world had become something that belonged to all three of them.

Kwaaahk-.

Shiva's hand holding the scythe was filled with power.

The thought of consuming the other two and becoming one faded away.

Vishnu and Brahma did not trust Shiva. Thanks to that mistrust, when Shiva's darkness caught them, they managed to resist and fully regain their minds.

The reason for their mistrust was obvious.

Shiva looked at YuWon.

'It's because of that guy.'

Planting suspicions about Shiva in the minds of Vishnu and Brahma.

And to prevent Shiva's darkness from forcibly absorbing the two, protect them here for a while.

It wasn't a difficult task.

"You can't trust the ranking after all, can you?"

YuWon's words made Shiva's pupils dilate, as if he was asking what the hell he was saying.

It was what Diablo, who had been in the same place with YuWon and Shiva until the day before, said.

"Without those two, you're nothing."

Three people who were one.

But the smallest part of all was Shiva.

YuWon's words disturbed the balance of Shiva.

Swiish-.

In an instant, the space between YuWon and Shiva distorted. With a kind of mysterious technique, the distance between Shiva and YuWon shortened.

And at that moment...

"When the distance shortens..."

Ssssss

Shiva felt a sharp, burning sensation that pierced from his chest to his shoulder.

"How did you think you could win?"

Chaaak!

"!"

A long wound that extended from his chest to his shoulder.

Shiva raised his hand to touch his shoulder. He had no idea when he had been stabbed with a sword.

No, rather...

'How should I have reacted...?'

Shiva was looking at YuWon from behind without realizing it.

And when their eyes met that way...

'Golden...'

Shiva realized that YuWon didn't have Golden Cinder Eyes, but different eyes.

A golden gleam in his eyes. There was a deeper mystery in them than in Golden Cinder Eyes.

Eyes of Foreknowledge ().

Eyes that foresaw the desired future.

"When the distance shortens, it's the same for you and me."

If he didn't know, he wouldn't know, but if he knew of the existence of the ability, there was no reason for YuWon not to use his Eyes of Foreknowledge.

"I thought about when you would use that ability."

The day before.

YuWon had seen Shiva and Diablo clash.

To suppress Diablo, Shiva had used an ability that closed space using darkness, and YuWon had been able to see what kind of ability it was.

If he knew what kind of ability it was.

And if that ability was in the context of an ability that suddenly reduced the distance.

It wouldn't be that difficult to use the shortened distance to his advantage.

Step~

Vishnu approached Shiva.

He addressed him with a calm voice, as always.

"Why did you do that?"

"..."

Blocking the flow of blood from his shoulder to his arm with his hand, Shiva looked into Vishnu's eyes.

Then...

Thwack!

Like a fern, a small hand struck the back of Shiva's neck. Brahma, who couldn't take it anymore, smacked Shiva's head.

"Do you think you did something right, you idiot?"

Crack!

Shiva raised his head again, sharpening his gaze. But instead of Brahma, who hit his head, he saw Vishnu, who hadn't done anything.

And then...

"Because."

"What?"

"Because... you are the real one."

He said it quietly, as if he was whispering.

"I've been thinking about it for a long time. Which of us is the real one. What we would be like if we were one."

Frustration mingled in Shiva's eyes.

"To find out, I searched the place where we used to be. Somewhere within this vast Tower, under a roof with no visible sky. That place."

"So... you found it?"

"Yes, I found it. I didn't really have high expectations. It was just curiosity and useless obsession."

Their true form when they became one.

Initially, he was just curious.

"That's when I understood. We were one, but we weren't one."

"What are you saying?"

"In reality, we're just separate fragments of you."

Vishnu's eyes shook.

The three of them had no memories of when they were one. They thought those memories would only return after they became one.

"Why is your ranking unusually high among the three? Haven't you at least wondered why once?"

Shiva's words made Brahma look at Vishnu.

Now that he thought about it, it was strange.

Even though they were originally one divided into three, their rankings were different.

Brahma, who didn't particularly excel in activity, had the lowest ranking, followed by Shiva.

But Vishnu's ranking was unusually high compared to the three.

3rd place.

Right after Odin.

Therefore, most of the Rankers said that Vishnu's ranking, which showed no notable activity or skills, was just a faade.

"But the Administration knew. They knew that we were separate fragments of you, Vishnu."

The truth was a little different.

Originally, they weren't one divided into three.

They were "two" derived from one.

"Do you understand now, Brahma?"

Shiva smiled maliciously and taunted Brahma.

"We're not becoming one. We're just being devoured by that bastard..."

"Damn, you talk too much."

Fupish

Brahma covered his ears.

It was as if he had heard something he shouldn't have heard.

The unexpected reaction made Shiva stare blankly for a moment with a dazed expression.

Then...

"Yes. Your cup has been filled with it for a long time."

Brahma denied what Shiva had thought for millennia.

"Both of us came from Vishnu, right? So what? Shouldn't you understand that at least?"

"Of course..."

"Of course, that's what you thought, right? You didn't want to disappear. So what about it? Do you feel it's unfair?"

Gurgling

Shiva's knees trembled.

The weight pressing on his body. The strength emanating from Brahma's small body overwhelmed him.

"What you're saying is that you tried to take something that wasn't yours in the first place."

Grk...

The blood in his mouth tasted bitter. Just as he was about to run towards Brahma in frustration, a sharp sword entered his throat.

"Stay still."

YuWon's sword.

When did the sword's tip reach here? Shiva's eyes shook.

Now he really thought it was the end.

The strength holding up his two legs was released, and Shiva knelt.

"Tsk."

YuWon looked at Shiva as if he were pathetic.

This guy was also a part of Vishnu.

"Well."

YuWon's gaze still directed towards Vishnu, who had a calm expression as if he had no emotions.

"Even the purest people have dark sides."

When Vishnu split, he wanted to create different friends and brothers among them.

"Brahma was like a pure friend, like a child. That's why he didn't grow."

When Vishnu became one, that was the story of his other side.

"Shiva was my shadow."

"Shadow?"

"Everyone has a bad side. I have it too. Shiva was that side."

"I don't understand."

"People don't show their bad side, not because they don't have it. Everyone has a dark side and a light side; the difference lies in which one is bigger, which determines how they manifest externally."

At that moment, it was hard to fully understand those words.

But now, seeing it with his own eyes, it made sense.

"He's the smallest and, to be honest, the least impressive compared to Vishnu and Brahma."

Shiva was smaller than Vishnu and Brahma. Not in terms of physical size but in terms of the presence he radiated.

Everyone has various sides, but not all sides are of the same size.

No one is perfectly square.

And of all those sides, Shiva was the smallest aspect of Vishnu.

"What are you planning to do now?"

YuWon shifted his gaze from Shiva to Vishnu and Brahma.

Now that the two of them had realized, there was no way Shiva could harm them. The darkness Shiva had been preparing was gone, and he was much smaller than the other two.

There was no room left for YuWon's intervention.

And the answers to YuWon's questions were already decided.

"Things got a little complicated, but..."

"We have to become one again."

Their opponent was Shub-Niggurath.

Originally, they were supposed to face him much later.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Shub-Niggurath had entered the Tower alone.

And to stop him, they needed the power of Vishnu, the greatest being in this Tower.

"Alright. Then, please hurry."

"And what about you? What do you plan to do now?"

"Are you going to fight right away?"

To Vishnu and Brahma's questions, YuWon nodded.

"Not immediately."

"Then, what?"

"There's something else I have to do."

With those words, YuWon withdrew the sword pointing at Shiva's neck.

"Let's talk about that later. When we're all alive, if we get to that."

YuWon's figure gradually faded, and Vishnu and Brahma nodded.

It was the right answer.

This wasn't the time for quiet chats and trivial conversations. Right now, outside of this place, the battle with Shub-Niggurath was in full swing.

YuWon looked at Shiva, whose expression seemed desperate, along with the three Devas.

'With this, we've fulfilled the first condition.'

One of the conditions to trap Shub-Niggurath.

The existence of Vishnu, who was now one.

With this, at least one of the conditions was met.

And now...

'Although I'm sorry for forcibly waking you...'

['The Egg' is silent]

The egg where Danpung was asleep.

YuWon, who had been patiently waiting for its hatching, began to gaze intently inside.

'Right now, we can only use all the advantages we have, even if you're in that state.'

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