Leveling with the Gods

Side Story 26

The second participant enters the circle.

[The main round of the Great Celestial War begins.]

[Elimination will occur automatically upon resignation, fainting, or death.]

[There is no time limit.]

Asura fearlessly looked at the participant who had entered the circle.

A man holding a large bow in his hands began to string the empty bowstring.

"Are you Lee Ye?"

The corners of Asura's lips lifted at the sight of Lee Ye.

"I'll do my best not to be an unworthy opponent."

Lee Ye was tense.

Although he didn't emanate any aura or battle spirit, it was impossible not to feel the pressure when facing Asura.

It was natural.

Asura. A High-Ranker ranked 9th.

'It's the first time I'm facing a single-digit High-Ranker.'

It was also his first time fighting an opponent of such caliber.

Tension and fear.

However, Lee Ye took a step forward.

He wondered what would become of his promise with Kim YuHon if it ended like this.

'If I don't do it, no one will.'

Anyway, he thought victory was impossible. His goal from the beginning was information about the Elixir, not the position of General Chief or the point prize.

So, he had to prolong the battle so that the tournament wouldn't end like this.

'I don't know what that guy wants, but...'

Crunch~.

The bowstring tightened.

'At least I'll give him some time.'

The moment he released the taut string.

Piiiuuu!

Swish!

An arrow made of Arcane Power grazed Asura's head.

"It's not my style to feel you out, so..."

Puf!

Lee Ye's body spun towards Asura's back.

"From the beginning, I'll go with all my strength."

Bum, bum, bum!

The force behind each step was comparable to the spear technique of decent High-Rankers.

Firing arrows rapidly, Lee Ye circled Asura.

Pabababababa!

Arrows rained incessantly.

Asura's figure blurred and dispersed like a mirage.

Lee Ye's eyes moved.

It's not that he had really disappeared just because it seemed like he had.

"Where are you?"

Tightening the bowstring, he changed the direction of the arrowhead.

Turning in the direction Asura had disappeared, he sought the real location of the enemy.

He listened carefully for any movement.

At that moment...

Sss.

"Not bad at all."

The cold blade of a knife grazed his throat.

Hearing Asura's voice beside him, Lee Ye quickly turned his body and wielded the bow.

Clang!

With an explosive sound that almost burst his eardrums, Lee Ye's body flew backward.

"Ugh..."

A groan escaped from his lips due to the impact that traveled through his wrists.

For a moment, he had the illusion that his neck was being cut.

If he had reacted a bit later, it probably would have been.

The idea of surrender crossed his mind for a brief moment.

'...But this is getting me excited.'

Lee Ye tightened the bowstring again.

Taking distance, he focused the strength in the vision of his eyes.

Asura, with two swords in hand, kept his distance.

His carefree attitude was evident.

A High-Ranker using swords against an archer didn't approach.

"Fine."

Kwaaaak!

Tightening the bowstring towards the sky, Lee Ye gleamed with his eyes.

"Let's see if you can dodge it all."

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

Pabababapab!

A rain of arrows fell from the sky.

Asura, with his black sword, shot an innumerable number of arrows that could only be counted with the eyes.

For those watching, there was no other word than "amazing."

It was impressive that Lee Ye fired so many arrows alone, but even more impressive was Asura, who deflected them all without a single mistake.

"Eh, isn't it amazing?"

"Do you see that? How does he deflect them?"

"Lee Ye, shooting the bow, is amazing too. He's cornering Asura."

"He's probably slowly building up energy."

"Still, it's amazing. There's a rank difference, but he's doing this..."

Pabababapab!

The arrows poured onto the ground again.

When Asura's divine figure disappeared, Lee Ye's field of vision widened.

The battle repeated in the same way.

Now, he seemed to know where the sword would come from.

Swoosh-.

Following the direction of the cold sword, Lee Ye changed the direction of the bow.

This time, it wasn't just about blocking.

Grgrgr-.

The bowstring tightened towards Asura's head.

At that moment...

Paeaeng-!

Clang-!

The arrow shot at Asura and Asura's sword blocking it.

Lee Ye's eyes, who had been thinking of giving up meat and taking bones, widened.

'Did he block this from that distance?'

Pop-.

Lee Ye, who quickly distanced himself, tensed the bowstring again on reflex.

Kiiiiiing-.

Whoosh, whoosh-.

Golden flames spread from the arrowhead.

[Starts 'The Arrow That Pierced The Sun']

[Charging 'Sunset']

Only nine shots in his lifetime.

The only skill allowed only to Lee Ye.

'I didn't think I'd use it here-.'

There's probably no better moment for this shot than now.

Lee shot Sunset, charged for the fifth time, directly at Asura.

Flash-!

With Lee Ye's arrow shot, a dazzling light burst from the stadium.

Along with it, a tsunami seized Ashura's body.

The enormous arrow made of Arcane Power pierced through Asura's body.

Crack-.

Asura's sword stood upright at a right angle.

He hadn't even used a special skill.

He simply lowered the vertically raised sword.

However...

Ssssh!

Lee Ye's arrow, seizing Asura's body, split in two.

"…Wow."

Lee Ye stood petrified in the same pose in which he had shot the bow.

That had been a critical hit, or so he had thought.

Sunset was the most powerful assassination skill Lee Ye could use.

He thought that even if he couldn't pierce Asura's neck with this, at least he could deliver a good blow.

'The doubts I had from before were correct.'

Swoosh-.

Lee Ye lowered the bow in his hand.

Then, Asura tilted his head in curiosity and asked.

"Are you giving up?"

"Stop fooling around."

A long battle of thirty minutes.

At first glance, it might seem like an evenly matched battle, with the lower-ranked Lee Ye fighting hard, but it wasn't the case.

'I knew you were looking down on me. You were just evaluating my level.'

Not a drop of sweat ran down Asura's body.

Even though he should have had to move a lot and consumed a considerable amount of focus to deflect so many arrows.

It wasn't just a matter of having great endurance.

From the beginning, he wasn't using all his power against him.

"I saw it clearly a moment ago."

The critical hit he had unleashed.

Asura's sword that was brandished when he deflected the Sunset.

"Why are you wasting time?"

There was no injury on Lee Ye's body.

Not because he had dodged them well. If the previous attack had been used to attack instead of defending, Lee Ye had no confidence in being able to block or dodge it.

The difference in skill was so evident.

However, Asura had not attacked Lee Ye until now and was wasting time.

"Isn't it the same for you?"

"Same for me... ?"

"You're wasting time."

"...?"

Lee Ye wore a perplexed expression. He couldn't understand why Asura, who seemed to be seeking victory, was wasting time.

Seeing Lee Ye's expression of doubt, Asura sat down abruptly on the ground.

"What's wrong, don't you know?"

Bam.

Lee Ye was taken aback by the sudden action. It didn't even cross his mind to shoot an arrow at his vulnerable posture.

At this moment, the only thing he found difficult was understanding Asura's intentions.

"Thanks to you, I've had fun. If I had faced a mediocre guy, it would have been boring."

"What are you doing?"

"If you don't know, wait. If you already know the skill difference, withdraw."

From the beginning, he hadn't even considered him. Asura was confident he could block Lee Ye's arrows at any time.

"What are you doing?!"

"Fight, Asura!"

"I've bet all my fortune on you!"

"What is Celestial Realm doing?! Why don't they warn that guy?!"

Boos echoed in the stands.

They had come to this place to witness the duel. They had paid between hundreds and thousands of points to enter the stadium, and some had even descended several Floors after hearing the news of the Great Celestial War.

And yet, Asura, in the main match that had started, sat without fighting.

"How annoying."

Asura frowned. Opening his narrowed eyes, he clenched his fists and struck the stadium floor.

Boom!

Rumble, rumble.

The stadium floor cracked.

Through those cracks, Asura's Arcane Power spread throughout the entire stadium.

Whoosh, whoooosh.

Asura's presence enveloped the entire stadium.

The boos from the stands stopped.

Tens of thousands of spectators cowered before a single Asura.

'... Is he being too lenient?'

He had silenced all the spectators in this grand stadium in a single breath.

Lee Ye could have done it too if he had tried, but it wasn't something he could do as naturally as breathing.

Lee Ye felt his breath being cut off by the pressure emanating from Asura. His will to fight shattered and crumbled to the ground.

Feeling the strength escaping from the hands holding the bow, Lee Ye looked at Asura with narrowed eyes.

"Now you look a bit better."

"What are you doing?"

"Seems like the only one who doesn't realize here is that guy."

"That guy?"

Lee Ye's gaze followed Asura to the side.

The participants who were standing outside the circle.

Lee Ye's eyes widened as he followed Asura's gaze.

'Kim YuHon?'

The guy who had told him he would provide information about the Elixir.

A guy whose name couldn't even be found in the ranking, not even through rumors.

"He can't be found in the ranking. Does he have a good eye or a good nose?"

"What are you talking about..."

"You have pretty fast reflexes."

Heavy step~

Another presence felt inside the circle.

Lee Ye's gaze turned to the sound of approaching footsteps, seemingly unaffected by Asura's aura.

"How troublesome, how troublesome..."

'An old man?'

He looked quite old.

The old man with white hair, shaking his head with a puzzled expression, had already entered the circle where the battle was taking place.

Intervening with other participants couldn't be allowed.

That went against the rules of the Great Celestial War.

"If we don't do anything, what are we going to do, my friend?"

The old man scolded Asura.

At his appearance, Asura stood up from where he was sitting and slowly drew the two swords he had sheathed again.

Slide~

The two swords came out with a clear sound, different from when he fought against Lee Ye.

Asura responded to the old man's words by showing his sharp teeth.

"I'll start moving now."

Asura and the old man faced off.

Lee Ye, who had unintentionally become caught between the two, looked closely at the old man who had burst into the stadium.

'Who is he, really?'

He was an old man who gave off a mysterious feeling. With a calm expression like the sky, as if a God had descended.

A kind impression and a warm flow of Arcane Power that made your body feel relaxed as you approached.

It was a face he had seen somewhere.

Lee Ye, who had pulled that face from the depths of his memory, wore a surprised expression.

"Taishang Laojun?"

-KO-FI

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