Chapter 519
Wuuuuung!
A gate appeared, dazzling with light.
And there were easily more than five of them.
Gateways of different colors shimmered, their entrances flickering.
At the same time, familiar magic flowed out from within the gates.
[The mid-floor factions ‘Heavenly Demon Cult’ and ‘Murim’ fulfill their promise!]
[The lower-floor faction, Frostblade Tribe’s ‘Karakal,’ responds to your call!]
[The lower-floor faction, the ‘Asylum’ master, remembers your kindness.]
[The lower-floor faction, ‘Elves,’ joins the fight!]
[From the mid-floor faction ‘Immortal Empire,’ Grand Swordmaster ‘Abraham’ leads the knights!]
[From the upper-floor faction ‘Barbarian,’ warriors join the war!]
All those whom he’d had ties with—
And those he’d helped—appeared.
“Disciple! Your master has come to save you! How much have these bastards tormented you?”
“Dark Emperor, mind your dignity. The Murim Alliance is watching.”
“Ptui! Dignity, my ass! At this rate, my one and only disciple is going to die. What’s so important about pride?”
“Heh, looks like Young Master Chun is nearby too.”
The Dark Emperor, the Heavenly Demon, and Chuhon Sayoung each had something to say.
Beside them, Wolyoung, So Yumyung of the Wudang Sect, and other Murim experts had all finished preparing for battle.
Fwoosh!
Blue sword energy glimmered along blades, ready to be unleashed at any moment.
Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!
Next, Karakal of the Frostblade Tribe and his trolls reinforced the flanks.
Hundreds of elite warriors leveled their spears and shields forward.
“Fortunately, it looks like it’s not over yet.”
A ‘White Beast’ appeared at the tip of Karakal’s spear.
A dazzling white energy, reminiscent of a beast’s claws, blazed intensely.
“Chief, there’s a gap among the Olympus warriors on the left. If you lend some support to the Egyptian jackal unit, we might turn the tide on the left entirely.”
“Kahahaha! We’ll fight with the trolls as well.”
Karakal and Pudalak of the Barbarian tribe nodded at each other.
“We’ll take the ranged support.”
“Tch. If it wasn’t for the Elder’s orders…”
Sylvia of the Elf tribe, and Teslon—who had been outwitted by Jinhyuk more than once—readied their arrows.
Though grumbling on the surface, Teslon knew better than anyone that Jinhyuk was the reason their territory was preserved.
“Jinhyuk-nim…”
Andrea, from the Asylum.
“Finally, I can repay my debt.”
Grand Swordmaster Abraham, too.
All of them appeared from different gates, leading their own elite forces.
In an instant, countless factions squared off across the battlefield.
From different floors—
With different lives—
But, in this moment, all drew their swords for Jinhyuk.
—
“Is this… because my barrier was broken?”
Hermes swallowed bitterly.
The guilt of making such a ridiculous mistake pierced him to the bone.
“I forcibly set up a barrier that could deceive even the administrators. Of course I should have expected some blowback when it got breached.”
Below, Jinhyuk shrugged his shoulders.
He’d prepared several contingency plans, knowing they’d try to pull tricks.
And, as expected, this was the surest way.
Of course, it had only been possible because of Heimdall’s exceptional help.
‘Even so… they all came without hesitation to help.’
Jinhyuk’s eyes softened.
All the things he’d experienced while climbing the Tower flashed through his mind.
There had been hardships and pain…
But in the end, a kindness never betrays.
‘Well, there probably isn’t anyone as kind or compassionate as me.’
The only warm-hearted man among backstabbers everywhere.
Tsk tsk…
It was a moment of deep pride in himself.
Meanwhile, Uriel, facing Jinhyuk, scowled fiercely.
Just as victory was within reach, a stream of troublesome new variables appeared—of course, her head would pound.
But the biggest headache wasn’t any of those who had arrived so far.
Wuuuuung!
The final gate appeared, alone, in midair.
And from within, an all-too-familiar magic spread.
“Gabriel…”
Uriel ground her teeth.
Then, as the gate opened…
An angel clad in immaculate white armor and even whiter wings manifested.
The archangel ‘Gabriel.’
One of Eden’s strongest assets raised her sword against another angel.
“To think you’d conspire with Olympus like this… Was your talk of a truce all lies?”
“This too is for Eden’s sake.”
“That’s just your own thinking.”
“…Are you going to oppose me? You’ll regret it…”
“Hardly. This fight is as good as finished… If anyone’s going to regret it, it’ll be you.”
Gabriel raised her hand lightly.
At that cue, a massive force of archangels began pouring out of the gate.
It was the assault force that had played a key role in the raid on Guntafer’s citadel.
“As you know, these are my personal guard, called ‘Eden’s Spear.’ It looks like you brought only an average unit, sneaking behind the scenes—let’s see how long you can hold out.”
“You arrogant…”
Uriel gripped her mace.
With that, the curtain rose on a grand war involving countless factions.
KWAANG!
KWAKWAKWAKWAKWA!
Divine beasts, deities, and their soldiers clashed in a scene beyond imagination.
“Aaaagh!”
“Waaaagh!”
Screams and shouts blended as the stench of blood rose from the battlefield.
Gigantic divine beasts, like something out of legend, bared their fangs. Cataclysmic abilities and magic collided.
“All right! Let’s go!”
Jinhyuk clapped his hands, urging his allies on.
“Yoosung! That’s it—good work over there! Just a little more, you can do it. Your sword’s looking a bit dull, though.”
“Alice, your mana control is a bit lacking. You can do better, right? Hm?”
“Teresa, everything else is fine but… ha. Never mind. Maybe that’s just your limit. Anyway, let’s keep it up. Fighting!”
With mana and stamina not yet fully recovered, cheering was all the support he could give.
Everyone knew it.
They all knew, and yet…
‘What is this? Why do I feel so gross?’
‘I’m getting mad. I’m seriously pissed off. Aaaagh!’
‘It feels like I’m getting irritated from the inside out.’
The three were swept up by an inexplicable fury and began fighting even more ferociously.
But just then—
[The Light of Instant Death is aimed at you!]
A red warning blared as blue sparks flashed before Jinhyuk’s eyes.
The worst-case scenario he’d been wary of had just occurred.
The most dangerous attack at this moment.
If he took this hit directly, it would be fatal.
Jinhyuk poured all the mana he had collected until now into a single defense.
Wuuuung!
Mana gathered, forming the image of a goddess on the prow of a ship.
[Divine Shield ‘Friedwen’ that Guides the Ship is activated!]
One of the strongest defensive skills, capable of withstanding a god’s blow.
A brilliant wave spread in all directions to meet Astrape head-on.
At the same time—
KWAANG!
A thunderous roar, as if heaven and earth were shaking.
Lightning trying to pierce through, a shield trying to block it.
And what made such a clash possible was mana.
Rumble! Crackle!
In the turbulent air, Jinhyuk clenched his teeth hard enough to break them.
He’d distributed his mana as efficiently as possible, but even so, Zeus’s unique ability, Astrape, was on a different level.
If this had been the Jinhyuk of two years ago, he would have been reduced to ashes by a single strike.
But—
That was only in the past.
Now, empowered by the opportunities gained from reliving his memories, things were different.
Wuuuuung!
[Special Effect of Friedwen – ‘Light that Protects the Voyage’ is activated!]
[The more companions are with you, the higher the shield’s defense becomes.]
[Current number of companions who trust you deeply: 1,356]
[Current number of companions who reluctantly trust you; 7]
[Current number of companions aiming for your back: 5]
[Final calculation increases defense by 552%!]
With system messages popping up in succession, the light from the shield grew even more intense.
The radiance blazing forth carved a new path through the air.
Astrape’s spark split in two.
“Whew…”
Jinhyuk let out a long sigh.
His whole body felt as if it had been torn to shreds, but his eyes shone more brightly than ever.
—
“…”
In Zeus’s eyes, as he threw the lightning, was a shock he could hardly believe.
A human—not a deity or hero.
He had never imagined his unique ability would be stopped head-on.
Even among the other chief gods of Olympus, how many could take that last attack unscathed?
Hades or Poseidon, who could be considered brothers?
…Ares, the god of war?
Impossible.
Zeus couldn’t even picture it in his mind.
Even Athena, the most brilliant and powerful of his children, would have been wounded or barely managed to dodge.
In that sense, the human before him was astonishing—enough to send chills down his spine.
“He… he blocked Father’s lightning.”
“I knew he wasn’t ordinary, but… I didn’t think it was to this degree.”
“Are you saying that human has power on par with the chief gods? Is that it?”
“Ridiculous! Zeus must have gone easy on him. Otherwise, it’s impossible!”
Olympus was shaken by waves of disbelief.
“Hoho, no matter how lowly a human is, surely you didn’t just throw a little spark, did you?”
Aphrodite smiled coquettishly.
To the chief gods who knew little of battle, this was the only explanation that made sense.
But—
“…”
Athena kept her mouth tightly shut, face grim.
Zeus too, wore a grave expression and didn’t speak rashly.
Only then did the other gods realize the situation was far more serious than they’d thought.
“Hermes.”
Zeus finally broke the silence.
“Y-yes…!”
“If we rally the remaining troops, how much can we reduce our losses?”
“Uh, well…”
Caught off guard by the unexpected question, Hermes stammered.
“Zeus!”
“Father!”
“You’re not suggesting we run away, are you?”
“Exactly! Are you telling us to abandon prey that’s almost within our grasp? That makes no sense!”
Complaints burst out everywhere.
Olympus, riding high on a series of recent victories, couldn’t accept that their first defeat might come at the hands of humans, not other deities.
“Do you really believe we have the advantage in this fight?”
Zeus asked.
He wanted to know, not emotionally, but rationally—could they find a way out of this chaos?
KWAKWAKWA! KWAANG!
“Wipe them all out!”
“Calling yourselves warriors with such childish fighting? I’ll show you the true might of the Demonic Sect’s sword!”
“Kahahaha! A fight’s even more enjoyable than eating. It makes my head feel sharper!”
“Avoid a full-on battle—support the flanks in tandem with the elves as much as possible.”
“Remember, our cultists’ role is just to provide cover.”
“Knights, forward! Follow me and pierce straight into their heart!”
All from different floors.
Most were from the middle or lower floors…
But their commanders were all undeniably powerful.
Those who had followed them were the elites of their layers.
At Zeus’s question, everyone fell silent.
Except one.
“No.”
Only Athena stared toward the edge of the battlefield.
“There’s still one variable left.”
Someone who, until now, hadn’t entered the fray.
The strongest demigod in all of Greece, more influential than even the chief gods, still remained.
