Chapter 516
[The condition has been met.]
[‘Bifrost’ has been opened. The bridge to Asgard is now connected.]
[A new faction has entered the floors!]
Wuuuung!
A pure white light poured down, and Heimdall and other Norse deities appeared beyond the gate.
Along with them, hundreds of ‘Valkyries,’ the strongest fighting force symbolizing Norse mythology, appeared.
The deities who had only been running away until now began their counterattack.
“I have been counting down the days for this moment.”
“Damn those Olympus bastards. I’ll grind them to dust!”
Loki and Thor’s eyes bulged with veins.
The day Asgard fell and Yggdrasil burned.
The feelings of those who turned their backs on their ancient homeland could not be put into words.
All they could do was endure, fighting on with hearts full of bloody tears.
But now.
The time had come for all that suffering to be rewarded.
It was time to release all that accumulated resentment.
Meanwhile, Olympus was completely caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the Norse deities.
“F-Father!”
Athena, watching the battle unfold, urgently called for Zeus.
Zeus had also noticed the presence of the gate.
“Those rats… Do they have any idea where they are right now…?”
Zeus’s voice was filled with rage.
If they could clash head-on, Olympus’s power was in a different league.
They had already smashed the Norse warriors countless times before.
But things were not going as he wished.
While Olympus was scattered everywhere and fighting separate battles, the Norse side was perfectly arrayed and ready to charge as one.
On top of that, the main divine beasts were gathered together to deal with Veteran Corporation.
This was dangerous.
“Athena! Right now—!”
“Attack!”
Zeus didn’t get to finish his sentence.
At Thor’s command, the musclebound warriors who cried out for Valhalla charged forward.
“Ooooooh!”
“Thor fights with us!”
“Kahahaha! Let’s fight with honor and meet again in Valhalla!”
Warriors unafraid of death.
And a wedge formation breakthrough that created devastating destructive force.
Kwaaaang!
In an instant, a hole was punched through the Olympus formation.
“Kuaaaagh!”
“Waaaagh!”
Olympus suffered tremendous losses as the Norse warriors surged in.
Hundreds—no, over a thousand—warriors fell into cold corpses.
The attack was so swift and sharp that defending against it was almost impossible.
If they responded even a little bit too late, their entire force could be wiped out.
Ares made a quick decision.
“Nemea!”
At this point, he planned to throw every divine beast into battle and wipe out Veteran Corporation, then bring in the rest of their forces.
That was the only way to restore balance.
“Groooar!”
The mythical divine beast, recognized for her value in battle against Heracles.
A giant lion blocked Jinhyuk’s escape.
Drool dripped from her sharp fangs.
But just as Nemea was about to pounce on Jinhyuk.
Thud!
An even larger beast cut in front of Nemea.
Another divine beast from Norse myth—’Fenrir.’
“Groooar!”
Fenrir let out a fierce roar.
As if calling out to comrades long separated.
And with that roar as the start.
The divine beasts countering Olympus appeared one after another.
Charybdis, who devoured everything that passed above the surface. But something even that monstrous being could not swallow passed beneath the surface.
An endlessly long shape.
The world-spanning serpent ‘Jormungandr.’
“Gruuu…”
“Scree…”
Jormungandr’s yellow eyes met Charybdis’s red eyes.
That marked the moment when a storm swept the once-calm surface.
When these giant divine beasts—easily over several hundred meters long—clashed head-on, the entire floor shook.
Divine beasts from Jotunheim, Niflheim, and Muspelheim also began to appear.
Cold frost scattered as Hraesvelgr, in the form of a white eagle, spread his wings.
It was chaos—pandemonium.
“What the hell did you do, you bastard!”
Of course, the Olympus deities had no choice but to look for the culprit—Jinhyuk.
⁕⁕⁕
“Man, this is intense.”
No matter how much cursing was going on everywhere.
Jinhyuk was munching popcorn while watching a battle scene straight out of a movie.
It was gourmet popcorn bought at a premium price from the Coin Exchange.
Half Cheetos flavor, half caramel flavor.
“Contractor, are we really just going to sit here and watch?”
Alice, munching popcorn next to Jinhyuk, asked.
“Yeah. Everyone else is fighting so hard, I kind of feel bad. Munch munch.”
Teresa also chimed in.
Of course, all three of them had their mouths full of popcorn.
Tremble…
Ares’s fists shook with rage.
“To think you’d dare eat in front of me… Are you so desperate to die?”
“Ah, sorry, sorry. I should have more respect for the other side, but I keep forgetting. I wasn’t even planning on eating butter-grilled squid. See?”
Jinhyuk raised both hands in innocence.
That relaxed attitude only provoked Ares even more.
“I admit you outmaneuvered us. Honestly, I never imagined you’d rally all those cowards who always run away every day into one place. But…”
Ares infused his spear with magic.
[Ares activates Lv??? ‘Blessing of the Twelve Olympians’!]
Golden energy flared from the spear tip, sharper and longer than before.
A skill only the twelve Olympian gods could use.
That blessing surpassed sword energy in every way.
It allowed for maximum output with minimal magic power.
“Don’t you know that a force without a base can’t even bring out half its true power?”
“What? You mean you get that much weaker without a base?”
“As expected, you really don’t know anything, rookie.
“Fine. I’ll explain it just for you, since you’re so clueless. Be grateful—this is information I’m giving you before you die, so make sure you listen closely.”
Ares, now completely full of himself, continued.
“A base is the very source of a faction’s power. How long you’ve rooted yourself somewhere, how many achievements you’ve piled up there—that’s what determines the rank of a myth. In that sense, Olympus is the strongest force of all.”
His tone oozed pride.
You could feel just how impressive it was that they ruled one of the upper floors of the Tower.
“But they’re different.”
Ragnarok lost Yggdrasil.
Asgard, which had upheld their mythology, also fell.
Even if the chief gods and divine beasts survived, it was impossible for them to reclaim their former glory.
That’s why Ares was certain the outcome of this fight was already decided.
He’s right.
Everything he said was correct, but…
“There’s just one thing you got wrong.”
“Wrong? And what exactly would that be?”
Ares scoffed.
He thought Jinhyuk’s words were just the loser’s whining.
However, in the next moment…
“Don’t tell me…”
All the laughter disappeared from Ares’s face.
“I went through hell to collect these. From the Sun’s Spring to Rear Queen, I’ve got more stories than could ever fit in a book.”
What Jinhyuk pulled out was a uniquely shaped yellow seed.
And.
A glass vial filled with a clear liquid.
Both items looked utterly ordinary, but knowing what they were, Ares couldn’t just brush it off.
“S-Stop!”
Ares frantically reached out.
But Jinhyuk was a step faster.
Tap!
The moment the seed touched the ground, the glass vial shattered and the liquid gushed out.
Then…
[‘Sun’s Spring’ has been used.]
[‘Restarting Seed’ is blooming!]
[The myth of a lost faction is beginning anew.]
⁕⁕⁕
The world tree, burned to ashes.
But Yggdrasil was never truly gone.
It had simply waited, biding its time to reappear in the world.
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
A radiant light burst from the young sprout.
It was the very embodiment of Norse myth’s essence—unimaginable beauty and overflowing life: ‘Yggdrasil.’
“Ah…”
“Yggdrasil…”
“I never thought… I’d see this day again…”
Valkyries, locked in brutal battle and bleeding, broke down and wept where they stood.
They couldn’t stop the tears from flowing in the face of such an unreal reality.
[‘Second Yggdrasil’ releases its magic!]
The rippling golden wave grew stronger and stronger.
A warm energy seeped into the bodies of warriors fighting on the battlefield.
In that instant.
A cheer so loud it seemed to shake the air erupted.
“Ooooooh!”
“Waaaaah!”
It was hard to believe these voices came from warriors exhausted by fierce combat.
The soldiers at the front lifted flags marked with Yggdrasil.
Wounded fighters who had fallen picked up their weapons and stood.
[All those affiliated with the higher deity ‘Ragnarok’ have their combat power increased by 100%!]
[Morale rises by 300%!]
[Special skill ‘Last Resistor’ is activated!]
[Last Resistor]
Effect: Until the last person falls, the morale of Ragnarok will not break. Attack and defense power increase by 30%, and pain is reduced by 70% due to pain immunity.
A flood of notifications appeared.
Although this second Yggdrasil was nowhere near the first in terms of size or influence…
The momentum felt here on the battlefield far surpassed the original.
[Thor activates ‘Thunderous Roar’!]
…Never again would they lose it.
The pride of warriors, more precious than life itself.
“Push forward! Warriors of Valhalla!”
Once again.
The momentum shifted.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
With the sound of drums, the fired-up warriors charged.
And among them were members of Veteran Corporation.
Tap…!
Accelerating with ‘Domain of Wind,’ Jinhyuk began to wreak havoc at the front.
[Unique Ability ‘Grave of Swords’ is activated!]
Two daggers, radiating black sword energy.
Crash crash crash crash!
With the addition of ‘Soul-Chasing Sword,’ he became an unstoppable monster, mowing down everything in his path.
“Out of my way, that one is mine—kuh!”
“A mere human dares to face me, who’s been through countless battles… Guaaaagh!”
Ordinary soldiers couldn’t even buy time.
“Alice, Teresa, please cover from range. Focus on targeting enemy unit commanders—we’ll break down their forces methodically.”
“Okay, got it.”
“Don’t worry.”
Fighting outnumbered was what Veteran Corporation did best.
“Kahahaha! See, humans really are entertaining. Good, I’ve almost fully recovered my magic, too.”
“I will join in as well.”
Anubis and Berial also finished preparing to move once more.
Now it was time to show everyone just what it meant for one faction and three mythologies to have formed an alliance.
