Leveling with the Gods

Side Story 39

Asura had sat in silence until dawn when he suddenly disappeared without a trace.

YuWon didn't think he had changed his mind. After all, he had lost his bet with him.

"Promise me you won't kill without my permission if you lose against me. I'll give you about a hundred chances to challenge me."

YuWon knew Asura as someone who would be willing to give even his life in exchange for keeping a promise.

'It's strange that he disappeared. I thought he would accompany me for a while, as he can't kill without my permission.'

He had no idea where Asura had gone. However, he could guess what he was doing right now.

'Learning new things.'

He had become demoralized after their fight and had given up on the challenge. Although that meant a definite defeat, he was someone who walked the Path of Asura.

Being someone who never stopped learning and growing, maybe he had even learned something from that battle.

In any case...

Tssssss.

The sky tore.

He had gone out for some fresh air at dawn, but now he encountered an unexpected guest.

"The news travels fast, huh."

A beam of white light spilled from the dark dawn sky.

The Olympian Rankers descended in their Sun Chariots.

And at the head of them was the warrior who sat on the Throne of War and Wisdom.

Athena.

YuWon didn't avoid her gaze as she observed him from above.

'Did she come to see Hercules? Or me?'

He had no way of knowing her purpose. However, judging by the number of Rankers accompanying her, it didn't seem like she intended to fight.

'She also doesn't seem to have any hostility.'

However.

YuWon felt considerable curiosity in the way she looked at him.

'She doesn't seem to have come without knowing anything.'

Bum, bum.

Heavy footsteps resonated from behind.

Hercules appeared beside Pandora, while Pandora rubbed her sleepy eyes.

"This is the first time I have so many guests."

"I'm sleepy..."

Pandora, who had been dozing off standing up, leaned against YuWon's chest.

Finding a comfortable spot to lean on, she closed her eyes again and fell asleep. Even in the midst of all this noise.

Hercules stretched and raised his head to look at Athena.

"Come down, sister."

Hercules' words made YuWon turn his head in surprise.

Hercules, seeing YuWon's surprised expression, asked:

"What's wrong?"

"It's true. She's your sister."

"Did you just realize?"

"No. I knew from the beginning. I just forgot for a moment because of her appearance."

His face wrinkled. Hercules also knew. That his face looked older than his other siblings, like Aphrodite and Athena.

Two people who seemed close. Athena looked at both of them for a moment before taking the reins of her horse and descending.

"We had some trouble finding you."

Athena looked around at the trees.

The 38th Floor World, full of densely populated trees.

Finding Hercules there was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

The fatigue on her face was probably due to that.

"Why have you come all the way here?"

Hercules' gaze turned to the Rankers who were behind Athena.

"Dragging these armed women along with you."

Athena's warriors.

They played a similar role to Asgard's Valkyries within Olympus.

A group of warriors.

Although their number was small, the fact that they had mobilized meant something important.

"It seems to be because of them. The reason you're so on guard."

"If you had come alone, I would have welcomed you gladly. As you know, I am a quite despised son in Olympus."

"Don't worry. If I had wanted to fight you, my father would have come in person instead of these girls."

"If you're here..."

Hercules' eyes filled with golden energy.

"Will he also come?"

Zeus.

Hercules was especially sensitive to that name.

And in the face of Hercules' anger, Athena said with a bitter expression.

"...It seems they haven't reconciled yet."

"It's not reconciliation, it's forgiveness. I am in the process of doing it, so don't pressure me."

Hercules' mother, Alcmena. She had lost her life long ago due to a plan by Zeus.

Although the reason was to create a perfect being like Hercules, he couldn't easily accept Zeus, as he had been involved in his mother's death.

Not reconciliation, but forgiveness.

Even that was something father and son had to strive for.

That was the relationship between Zeus and Hercules.

"I understand. For my father, apologizing must be difficult."

"He has already done it."

"My father?"

Athena's pupils shook.

It had been a long time since she had last doubted her ears.

Hercules' words were so hard to believe.

Nothing less than Zeus.

Had he apologized to his son?

"If he hadn't, do you think I would have stayed in Olympus?"

"True. You're right."

"Let's leave aside unpleasant conversations. Why have you come to this corner, sister?"

"It's hard to talk while smiling."

Athena muttered with a bitter smile.

Though she didn't expect a grand reception, she didn't anticipate the first impression to be ruined from the start.

It seemed coming with others and mentioning Zeus's name without reason had been a mistake.

Furthermore.

"...Father is calling for you."

The words she would say from now on could only further excite Hercules.

"And him too."

When Athena pointed to YuWon beside her, Hercules' excitement grew even more.

Craack, craackl-e

"Why also this friend of mine?"

"Friend?"

It didn't sound like a mere title. It could be sensed even in the conversation YuWon and he had had before.

Hercules, who had been living as a lumberjack in the mountains, had treated him as if he were someone very familiar.

Moreover...

"Calm down."

How could he get so excited just by hearing that they were looking for him?

"That's impossible. From today, I am no longer a lumberjack; I am a warrior."

"From today?"

Hercules' gaze turned to YuWon. In response to that look, YuWon brought his hand to his forehead and sighed.

'Is this to hide something or to reveal it...?'

It was comforting to see Athena and Zeus's sensitive reactions to looking for themselves.

That showed how grateful they were for caring about him.

However, what Hercules had just said, acknowledging that he had been influenced by YuWon, was no different from expressing gratitude for that.

Furthermore...

"It's not necessary."

YuWon reached out and touched Hercules' shoulder, who stood between him and Athena.

"Anyway, I was going to go."

"Go where?"

"To Olympus."

His visit to Hercules was not just to leverage his strength.

"I want to take a look at that Zeus guy in Olympus."

Hercules had as high a status in Olympus as Zeus, after all. It seemed he thought that entering Olympus with Hercules instead of Hargan would increase his influence and word power.

"Zeus? That guy?"

Athena's forehead furrowed.

The words mentioned by YuWon grated on her ears.

He was the father of all in this world, equivalent to a king.

If she let them speak so disrespectfully about Zeus, she would no longer be Athena.

"You're speaking a bit disrespectfully."

Athena pointed at YuWon with her gaze.

"Who do you think I am?"

"Well, I haven't heard much about your name."

"That will change soon."

Athena, staring at YuWon with her narrowed eyes.

YuWon looked back at her and asked.

"Both father and daughter are suspicious, huh?"

"What are you saying?"

"Alright. Why not talk more to make your mouth hurt? But..."

Toc-toc.

He cracked his knuckles and reached into his inventory.

"Anyway, even though I'm going, the attitude must change a bit."

In response to YuWon's reaction, Athena also pulled out her Aegis.

"I think that's not something you should say here."

Along with that, Athena looked at Hercules.

In this fight, she needed Hercules' approval before anyone else.

Although Athena occupied the next position after the Three Gods in Olympus, she couldn't draw her weapon so blatantly in front of Hercules.

Because Hercules was an absolute being, not even Zeus, the King of Olympus, could do anything hastily.

"Do as you wish."

Hercules nodded.

As soon as Athena prepared for her battle against YuWon, Hercules smiled slightly and added.

"If you can, that is."

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

Athena faced YuWon.

She raised her symbolic weapon, the Aegis Shield, upward.

'Is it really him? Kim YuHun.'

At first glance, he didn't seem that formidable.

As expected, she couldn't recall any face even when seeing him in person.

Even examining YuWon's previous actions, she couldn't find convincing traces.

Therefore, Athena couldn't easily believe the news about the man in front of her.

'A Ranker outside the Ranking. No, he might not even be a Ranker.'

In the Tower, where the Ranking existed, facing an opponent shrouded in so much mystery was unprecedented.

Perhaps because of that.

Zeus became even more interested in him.

"It seems rumors are circulating."

At first, when Hargan told me about it, I thought he was just an extraordinary guy.

That the Administrators would appear in the Great Celestial War. And that's why he needed Zeus's help.

Moreover, asking him to launch a Lightning Bolt.

Zeus didn't dislike such audacity.

No...

Rather, he liked it.

Although a Ranker couldn't be an ordinary person, Zeus had seen many of them being trampled.

However, no Ranker had dared to ask him for something like that.

That's why Zeus wanted to know more about him.

However...

"They say he even defeated some Administrators despite being from a lower floor. Isn't it ridiculous? A guy who doesn't even appear in the Ranking."

Contrary to his first impression, the guy who once seemed like a mere pebble now was like a complete star.

He had defeated an Administrator.

Not just one, but three.

Despite Hargan's testimony, Zeus wouldn't believe it unless he saw it with his own eyes.

"Is he an Administrator, an Outer, a High-Ranker unknown even to the Administration Bureau... or is it all just a rumor?"

They needed to know the guy's identity.

That's why Zeus gave an order to Athena.

"Find a guy named Kim YuHun. If what Hargan says is true, his next destination will be the 38th Floor."

"And what should I do when I find him?"

"Bring him here."

He wanted to see Kim YuHun in person.

Athena couldn't fully understand Zeus.

"As a guest? Or...?"

"No matter the method or deal. Leave it to your judgment."

And one more thing.

Zeus always revealed his true intention at the end.

"And if you can confirm the rumor is true, even better."

-KO-FI

'Ko-Fi' for Advanc3 Ch4pt3rs (Up to '95' more ch4pt3rs)Publication of up to 6 weekly ch4pters, thanks.

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