Chapter 147: Outside. Battlefield of the Gods (3)
Kang Taesan could sense from their aura that they were quite weak. Compared to the labyrinth, they were on par with adventurers of the 20th floor, which was laughably insufficient for him.
“Is the outside world really this low level?”
Malakas flinched at Taesan’s gaze, but he kept silent, perhaps because he didn’t want to die.
Taesan propped his chin on his hand.
“Which god do you worship?”
“The Sun God, born from the heavens. He governs the vast sky and is a great deity.”
“We serve the Sea God, born from the earth. The only god who defied his fate to rule the sea.”
“Sounds like Hamon.”
They all had elaborate titles. It was different from the gods of the labyrinth.
Taesan turned his gaze to another man.
“Who do you worship?”
“I… believe in the God of Blue Plants.”
“Alright, Greeny.”
Taesan placed his hand on the man’s head. The man looked up at Taesan with a nervous expression.
“Be honest. What’s your and those guys’ level?”
The man glanced at the red and blue-clad figures. Taesan chuckled at the look.
“Who should you really be afraid of?”
The man gathered his wits and spoke.
“We’re at the bottom. We’re the weakest group here. If the strongest person in this place came, they could take us all down.”
“Yeah, I figured. With your level, there’s no point.”
If that were the case, he wouldn’t have needed to come down. Even an average 30th-floor adventurer could handle all of them.
This meant that Vargan had been diligently looking for someone strong enough.
Malakas’s face reddened at the green-clad man’s words. Finally unable to hold back his anger, he shouted.
“I can’t allow any more insults!”
“What are you going to do if you can’t allow it?”
“We will risk our lives and take you down!”
The man drew his sword with a clang.
The others behind him did the same, glaring at Taesan with fierce eyes.
“You villain!”
“Unforgivable!”
“So troublesome.”
Taesan frowned.
Both the red-armored and blue-armored figures seized this chance to charge at Taesan.
Taesan waved his hand.
[You have activated Frost Arrow.]
Crack.
Fragments of ice formed in the air, piercing through the armor with sharp sounds.
“Aaaah!”
“Uwaaah!”
They tried to block with shields and swing their swords, but it was useless. The shields were pierced, and the swords shattered.
They stepped over the corpses to approach Taesan. Taesan drew his sword in an arc, cutting down everyone who came near.
Defense, attack, self-sacrifice—all were trampled by overwhelming power. Malakas shouted in denial.
“This is impossible!”
In his world, he was exceptionally strong.
As the champion of the Sun God born from the heavens, even kings could not treat him lightly.
But in the battlefield of the gods, he was pathetically weak. He struggled against those serving other gods and continually lost, ending up with the smallest territory.
Even so, he never lost his pride.
He believed that it wasn’t his weakness but the weakness of his followers that led to losing his territory.
It wasn’t entirely false. He wasn’t that weak here. He was of average strength.
I am not weak.
It’s not my fault.
But that poor self-deception was now being shattered.
“Haaap!”
Crash.
His sword shattered with a light touch. As his consciousness faded, he saw a look of utter disregard.
Taesan brushed off his hands. All those who had charged at him were down.
[You have defeated all followers of the Sun God born from the heavens. The Sun God born from the heavens has been expelled from the battlefield of the gods.]
[You have defeated all followers of the Sea God born from the earth. The Sea God born from the earth has been expelled from the battlefield of the gods.]
Taesan looked up at the sky.
Two strong, dark auras were being sucked into the sky’s rift.
That must be the power of the gods.
[The gods of the labyrinth are pleased with your achievements. When you return to the labyrinth, you will be appropriately rewarded.]
“Does it end by just killing all the followers?”
His goal was the conquest of the battlefield. It seemed he could achieve it simply by eliminating everyone without any other conditions.
But that wasn’t everything. Taesan walked over to the green-clad man, who was lying in a daze.
“I want to ask you about the rest.”
“…What?”
The green-clad man’s voice was weak. He spoke with an expression of resignation.
“What do you want to know?”
Although the Sun God born from the heavens and the Sea God born from the earth were at the bottom here, their sheer numbers couldn’t be ignored. If they combined forces, even mid-tier followers would struggle to challenge them.
Yet, Taesan had eliminated them all in one strike, without allowing a single attack.
A monster.
‘He might even challenge those at the top…’
He was an unbeatable presence. The green-clad man gave up on surviving. Being the last one alive, there was nothing more he could do.
“If you send me back to my god peacefully, I’ll answer.”
“I’ll do that, so speak. I couldn’t hear everything earlier because those guys rushed me. Is there a difference in levels among you?”
“There is. Do you see the giant pillar at the far end of the sky?”
Taesan turned his gaze. As the green-clad man said, there was a single black pillar visible even from a distance.
“That’s a channel through which the gods convey their will or exert their power. The closer you get to it, the stronger the groups.”
“So this really is the bottom.”
The place where Taesan stood was the farthest from the pillar.
“What are the conditions to conquer this place and expel the gods?”
“…Not many. As you did, kill all the followers or destroy the statues.”
“Statues?”
“There is a statue made in the image of each god in their territory. Destroying it will banish the god, and the followers will lose their deity.”
“Like a game of conquest.”
The rules were simpler than expected. Kill everyone or break the statues.
Taesan’s quest likely required him to destroy all the statues of the gods to succeed.
Taesan stroked his chin.
“Tell me everything you know about the gods here.”
The green-clad man, perhaps truly resigned, revealed everything.
Which gods were here, where they were located.
“The next god is the God of Self-Proof.”
“Right. A god who ascended to divinity by proving himself. His followers are also very proud of that.”
“Quite similar.”
Taesan smiled.
The god of proof in the labyrinth, Fabsa, ruled over a very similar domain.
An idea popped into his head.
Taesan nodded.
“Good. I’ve learned everything I wanted to know.”
“Then…”
The green-clad man closed his eyes.
Taesan swung his sword.
[You have slain the last follower of the God of Blue Plants. The God of Blue Plants has been expelled from the battlefield of the gods.]
[The gods of the labyrinth are pleased with your achievements. When you return to the labyrinth, you will be appropriately rewarded.]
Another aura was sucked into the rift in the sky.
Taesan stood up.
[Going right away?]
“I don’t want to stay here long.”
Everything here was artificial. A battlefield created by the gods.
It was unpleasant.
“But I don’t think I can leave immediately.”
Taesan moved forward. As he approached the pillar, he felt a powerful aura.
An aura as if showing off its presence.
It seemed to be the domain of the God of Self-Proof.
[It’s simple. Just break the statue and it’ll be over quickly, right?]
“No.”
Taesan shook his head.
“I’m not going to end it that way.”
[Huh? Are you going to kill them all?]
“That’s not it. I’m just going to do something more.”
[Why?]
“For more rewards.”
Taesan spoke quietly.
“The gods said they’d reward me based on my achievements. Hearing about the God of Self-Proof gave me an idea.”
So he intended to handle it in a way that would please the gods, making them so delighted that they’d give more than they initially planned.
Taesan arrived in front of the domain of the God of Self-Proof.
There was a rather large mansion. The surrounding wall was very long, and the gate was large enough for a giant to pass through. The building beyond the wall was also richly adorned and splendid.
“So flashy.”
Taesan flicked the gate, decorated with all sorts of jewels.
Boom!
With a loud noise, the gate shattered into pieces and flew towards the building.
The debris from the shattered gate lodged into the building, making it creak ominously.
Taesan continued walking.
Before long, a multitude of people came running in a hurry.
“An intruder! Gather everyone!”
They shouted and charged at Taesan. Taesan didn’t stop walking and waved his hand.
With a light gesture, armor crumpled, and with a flick of his fingers, heads snapped. With a light kick, they flew far and crashed into the building.
“Th-this!”
Realizing they couldn’t possibly stop him, they shouted.
“Go fetch the Saint! We can’t stop him!”
Some ran into the building while the rest continued trying to block Taesan.
Taesan shattered them all as he moved forward step by step.
Just as he was about to reach the entrance of the building, a man in dignified clothing appeared.
Strong. At least compared to anyone Taesan had fought so far, this man was stronger.
“Are you the Saint?”
“I am.”
The Saint looked at Taesan with calm eyes.
“Who are you?”
“Would you understand if I said I came from the labyrinth?”
“The labyrinth?”
The man’s pupils shook.
“Seems like you know.”
[The representative of the God of Self-Proof seems to have been informed about us.]
“Then this conversation will be easier.”
Taesan approached the Saint. The Saint gathered himself and picked up a mace and a cross shield.
“Even if that’s the case!”
The Saint charged, swinging the mace with enough power to break through the walls and crush waves.
Taesan reached out.
Clink.
The mace was caught in Taesan’s hand.
“This, this!”
The Saint’s eyes shook. The mace didn’t budge, as if it were stuck in a rock.
“Is this because you’re just above the bottom? Not much difference.”
Taesan moved his fist.
The cross shield crumpled, and the Saint was slammed into the ground.
“See you later.”
Taesan walked past the unconscious Saint.
[Not going to kill him?]
The ghost asked curiously. Taesan had not killed a single follower of the God of Self-Proof.
“I said I’m going to get more rewards.”
[You have activated Repulsion.]
“Uwaaah!”
The followers were flung away as if the air exploded.
At this level, he could handle them all with just Repulsion, without needing any special skills.
As he brushed them aside and moved toward the source of the power, he found a massive statue.
It was a statue resembling an ancient Greek sculpture. A man with long hair like a woman, exuding a divine aura.
“So this is the thing to break?”
Taesan tapped the statue as if knocking on it. Protected by divine power, it was quite sturdy but not beyond his strength to crush.
“You, you!”
The Saint, who had woken up late, came rushing.
“Stop! Stop it! You’ll be punished by the heavens!”
“Why would I be?”
Taesan shrugged.
“I came here because your gods wanted me to. So I’m doing my job. Why would I be punished?”
The Saint stammered at Taesan’s words. He was the Saint of the God of Self-Proof. He had specifically been informed by his god about the conflict between the labyrinth and the outside gods. Hence, he understood why Taesan was here on the battlefield.
“If anyone should be punished, wouldn’t it be you? You failed to protect your god. Didn’t you come here prepared for this?”
This is the battlefield of the gods. A place where the followers of each god kill and get killed.
Taesan was simply doing what was expected in this battlefield.
Taesan placed his hand on the statue. The followers who had gathered screamed.
“But I’ll give you a chance.”
Taesan removed his hand.
The Saint asked with trembling eyes.
“…A chance?”
“Yes, a chance to prove your god’s worth. Show me that proof.”