Leveling with the Gods

Side Story 67

At the top of the blood-stained castle.

Odotok, odok-.

Under the blue sky where clouds descended, a hellish landscape unfolded.

Ananta, with the teeth of a yellow dragon chewing on the Envoys, savored the Administrator's flesh.

Ananta, blood at the corner of his mouth as he bit into the Administrator's flesh, raised his head.

"I was feeling a bit disappointed already..."

Suuk-.

Wiping the blood from his mouth with one hand, Ananta smiled widely.

Four Administrators appeared above Ananta's head. They all concealed their bodies with the same robe, as if hiding something within.

Gugugugu-.

The Administrator's castle where Ananta had been sitting trembled. Furthermore, the Arcane Power emanating from the four Administrators and the wrath they unleashed made the Arcane Power of Floor 93 reveal its deadly strength to Ananta.

The pressure weighing on him. As the Arcane Power he commanded began to show a rejection reaction, Ananta's pupils, who were peacefully enjoying his meal, narrowed.

"That ability you have is truly repulsive."

Craack, craack-.

The electricity emanating from Ananta spread around. When it came to mastering Arcane Power, there was no one who could surpass an Administrator.

Except one, Ananta.

The Monster King, the most powerful creature in the Tower. The one who was already the strongest had increased in size by devouring several Administrators.

Then...

BAAAAAANG-!

Explosions echoed in the void. Although it was merely a move to regain control of Arcane Power, the explosive power was enough to threaten the four managers.

An overwhelming power difference beyond resisting domination.

That was the power gap between the four Administrators and Ananta.

"Insolent, Ananta."

"It was us who freed you from the seal."

"Do you intend to make us all your enemies?"

The Administrators shouted threateningly.

But Ananta had already made a decision.

"Weren't we mere pawns from the beginning?"

From the moment he first awakened from the seal.

No...

Long before that...

-- "We were just experience, weren't we?"

Ananta realized.

Monsters.

The meaning of their existence, living and breathing, with a self within the Tower.

--"Hunt us, level up... Is that our meaning?"

After learning that fact, Ananta began leading an army of millions of monsters to attack the Players.

As a result...

Ananta and the monsters were defeated, and he was sealed for thousands of years.

"Do you think I wouldn't know anything for being sealed, Administrator Lords?"

Craack-le-.

Ananta's figure disappeared in the form of light. The Administrators were puzzled.

At that moment...

Kwaak-.

Ananta, who appeared behind an Administrator, pierced his torso with his hand.

Craaack-!

Electricity sprouted from the pierced arm. In an instant, the Administrator's body, completely charred, fell to the ground.

Black blood spurted from Ananta's hand. Licking the blood from his hand, he looked at the remaining Administrators.

"I have seen and heard everything."

Ananta's expression didn't change a bit, but his eyes burned with a different intensity. In his pupils, beautiful as jewels, a fiery rage toward the Administrators blazed.

"The screams of my children dying. The process of how they become experience and are devoured by those damn Players."

"The Players are the ones who killed them!"

"Yes, the Players hunt them, but weren't you the ones who created this System?"

It was an irrefutable argument. Players hunt monsters and level up. They level up, take Trials, strengthen themselves, and ascend. And then level up again.

The Administrators themselves were the ones who initially created this System.

"That's why I thought, if I break out of this damn seal, I'll kill you all."

Ananta smiled as he said this. With more anger than ever. As a king, he did not lose his smile.

"I will ask you, Administrator Lords."

Flutter~

Wings spread behind Ananta's back.

"Do you know how it feels to be hunted?"

They didn't know. They had never experienced it.

"Of course, you don't know. You are in a position of absolute power, where you don't need to be hunted or hunt."

The Administrators hesitated under the golden and shining gaze. And in that moment, when they were filled with fear...

Crunch-

Ananta began to move to devour the remaining Administrators.

"Thinking that awakening this guy would be a mistake."

"While he was sealed, did his anger turn towards us?"

"We should have come earlier."

Originally, they should have attacked when one of them was injured. But none of the Administrators could do it.

A massive Dragon stood before them.

Although its current size was small, they could feel it.

"-Don't worry too much."

The Monster King Ananta.

How much had the enormous Dragon with a thousand heads increased in size during its confinement?

"I will teach you."

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

Floor 93 Administration Office.

Numerous Rankers surrounded the place.

Rankers with clothes boasting the emblems of Olympus and Asgard, raising their banners.

Among them were also High-Rankers representing each Guild.

"To think that so many people would gather already."

"The last time was 10 years ago."

"It feels like it was just yesterday."

That was the conversation among the Olympus Rankers, led by Artemis, Dionysus, and Hermes.

It wasn't common for two Grand Guilds to join forces. Especially when it came to large Guilds like Olympus and Asgard.

And to think that so many people had mobilized to hunt just one monster.

"Has all available personnel already gathered? Quite a number have assembled."

"Fortunately, most of the Rankers are above. They probably didn't send the summon order to those below floor 50, right?"

Dionysus and Hermes didn't feel a great sense of danger, perhaps due to the presence of Zeus and Hercules.

"This time, please, let no one die..."

Artemis clasped her hands in prayer, remembering Apollo, who had fallen in battle ten years ago.

In front of them, Hades, representing Olympus, shook hands with Thor.

"It's been a long time."

"Your Ranking has risen; you seem happier."

"Now I can even see a bit of Odin in you."

The two exchanged warm greetings for a moment before looking around. Thor, in particular, seemed to have a pained expression as he remembered the events of ten years ago.

"That day comes to mind."

"Both Olympus and Asgard. It's an impressive sight."

Only in this place had tens of thousands of Rankers gathered.

The forces of two colossal Guilds upholding the Tower. Although it wasn't comparable to ten years ago, it was evident that it was an excessive number to gather in one place.

And furthermore...

Craack-le~

Craack-le~

Two people stood in the center of the battlefield, raising their Lightning Bolts in silence.

Zeus and Hercules.

The two biggest Rankers in this Tower had gathered in one place.

"It seems the Monster King is truly formidable. Judging by the number of people these two have gathered."

"Our role is simply to buy time so that it doesn't escape."

"I've heard things, but is that really all?"

"They said we're allowed to provide long-range support. But not to approach under any circumstances."

Ananta had the power to devour living beings and take their strength. To not become the next meal for Ananta and hinder the battle, it was imperative not to approach. However, the reason why Zeus sought Asgard's cooperation and gathered so many people was one.

"Consider that if we let it escape here, the world will end."

It was because they had to catch Ananta here at all costs. Because if they let him escape again, this time he might grow uncontrollably.

Krung, kurur.

It was then that the sky began to rumble. The dark clouds rising gradually had already surpassed the top of the Administration Office and were rising much higher.

Craaack~

The Lightning Bolts emanating from Zeus's body ascended into the sky. And when the tips of Zeus's fingers began to rise...

"Here it begins."

Hades, who watched the scene from afar, had a tense expression.

'What does he mean by it begins?'

Thor also pulled out Mjölnir and assumed a battle stance.

However, the enemy had not yet appeared.

However, Zeus did not stop the hand raised towards the sky.

"Understand. That guy's personality has always been like this."

Zeus rarely took the initiative in battle. However, Hades, his brother who ascended the Tower with him, knew better than anyone how Zeus was when he fought.

"Young people these days would call him a 'veteran,' I suppose."

At that moment...

Flash!

The sight of everyone watching the office from a distance turned white for an instant.

And then...

Kaboom!

Zeus's Lightning Bolt descended upon the Administration Office.

Fzzt, fzzzt!

Kwang, kwaaarrr!

A Lightning Bolt that not only enveloped the Administration Office but also pierced through the clouds and rose into the sky. The shockwaves from the Lightning even reached the forces of Olympus and Asgard, who had deliberately withdrawn.

"Stay away!"

"Watch out for the explosion!"

“Guild members with barrier abilities, hurry up!”

Artemis, Dionysus, and Hermes, leading the Olympus front, shouted.

The Valkyries, along with Brunhilde, also extended their shields forward to protect the Guild from the residual explosion of Zeus's Lightning Bolt.

Only after securing their safety from the repercussions of the Lightning...

Kururur-.

Only then did the eyes of the Olympus and Asgard Rankers catch the Lightning Bolt that Zeus had unleashed.

The Rankers were dumbfounded.

And the same was happening with Thor, the leader of Asgard.

"That's... the Divine Lightning..."

Thor.

He too was a Player who wielded electricity. However, the Lightning Bolt of Zeus that he saw before his eyes was difficult to consider as the same Arcane Power affinity.

The way he could unleash such a powerful Lightning Bolt in such a wide range was...

Hades, though with a difference in degree, was also amazed.

"In the end... even as a King, he still doesn't care about his surroundings."

Kwauuuuu-.

The Lightning did not dissipate for a while and continued to rise higher and higher.

A spectacle that blinded the eyes. And then, when everyone was absorbed in its power...

"...Here it comes."

"Eh?"

Thor was surprised and looked at Hades at his words.

"Hasn't it ended?"

Thor's gaze, thus asking, turned back to the huge pillar where the Lightning Bolt had fallen.

A monster that could survive inside that. He simply couldn't believe that an enemy could still be alive after receiving such a direct attack.

"That guy is not an idiot, and if this were it, he wouldn't have made such a fuss."

Hades spoke with certainty.

And as if responding to his words.

Chiik-.

A leg came out of the Lightning.

-KO-FI

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