Leveling with the Gods

Chapter 113

“What are you thinking about so much?”

Susanoo approached YuWon. Although his body was still covered in purple flames, he moved as if they didn’t hinder him.

“We don’t even have enough time for fighting.”

Swiff—

The sword moved again.

YuWon’s eyes followed the blade, and with the enhanced senses from [Sensory Field,] he was able to feel the movement as well.

But the sword was still so fast it was hard to follow.

On top of that…

Vwoong—

The specters melded to the tip of Susanoo’s blade were burning with a ferocity like compressed Arcane Power.

Fwaaaaah—!

Ke-ting—!

A distinct line was created in the path of Susanoo’s sword.

This had the power to make the boundary between the living and the dead ambiguous and instantly switch their places.

After dodging by a hair’s breadth like he did last time, YuWon loosened up his tenseness.

‘This won’t end with just some blood being spilt after getting cut.’

There was a chance that the wound would be something he could never recover from, and it would cause him to suffer for the rest of his life.

“It’s no fun if you just keep dodging,” Susanoo muttered regretfully and then nodded. “Well, this is still something.”

The tip of his blade moved again.

The sword looked like an afterimage.

Although he had both [Cinder Eyes] and [Sensory Field] active, the blade was changing so much that it was still hard to follow.

‘His nickname of “Sword Spirit” wasn’t just for show.’

There was more to this attack than what he could see. Thanks to [Cinder Eyes,] he was able to at least get closer to seeing the true nature of the sword, if he didn’t even have that, he might have seen multiple swords at once.

“You dodge well.”

Fwooosh—

Susanoo charged while his body burned from the [Holy Fire.] The flames didn’t get any hotter, meaning that Susanoo didn’t fear them.

Tang—!

YuWon parried the sword up into empty air instead of it hitting his chest.

The look in Susanoo’s eyes changed.

“You little…”

He smiled.

Bzzzt—

From the glove on YuWon’s right hand, black light shone out.

[Kyneē]

The item that Susanoo was looking forward to all this time had finally activated its power.

Crack—

The back of 「Kyneē」 opened up, and a yellow light began to shine through.

The rate at which the ‘eye’ opened was very slow. If one wasn’t paying attention to it, it would be hard to tell if it was opening or not.

Crash—!

“That’s right! This is how it should be!”

“Kyahahaha, hahahaha—!”

“Kyaaaaaa—!”

The spirits wrapped around Susanoo’s body cried out, and the specters’ energy increased explosively.

In an instant, Susanoo’s body felt many times bigger and heavier.

The space around YuWon and Susanoo froze solid, and the air was filled with the breath of the specters.

YuWon looked at Susanoo.

Rank 57.

He looked as if he was trying to regain his past glory. You couldn’t even tell that he was an Undead that had been dead for over a thousand years with the immeasurable power that was coming off of him. He was fortifying his strength and his weak, rotten body with the souls of the damned.

“Please, don’t die too easily.”

Crack—

Susanoo took hold of his sword with both hands and took the stance of ‘One Cut, Two Pieces.’ He was planning to cut YuWon’s body in half as he raised his sword.

“I have a lot to hear from you.”

YuWon could feel with his entire body the grand energy imbued in Susanoo’s sword. It was as if a great storm was advancing upon a small candle flame.

Compared to the power of the bottomless amount of specters that he was exuding, YuWon’s strength was still little and very lacking.

But even then…

Swoosh—

YuWon didn’t dodge as he held his blade.

“Are you trying to crack a boulder with an egg?”

To face it head-on rather than step aside… Susanoo felt both expectation and disappointment as he saw YuWon’s incomparably poor sword. He thought that maybe YuWon would reveal another trick to resist him, and at the same time, he also thought that YuWon had given up.

Vwooooooong—

In that stopped time, YuWon’s thoughts moved.

‘I can see it.’

“Hii, hihihi—”

The cries of the specters could be heard, and their forms could be seen.

His vision had become clear. YuWon had seen them for a long time, and he had felt them as well.

‘The Divine Sea Crystal has the power to dominate all that live under the sea.’

YuWon thought back to the time he controlled the monsters of the sea through the 「Divine Sea Crystal.」

‘And the Divine Sky Crystal has the power to dominate all that are in the sky.’

Bzzt—

Black Arcane Power poured out of 「Kyneē.」

‘That means, the Divine Dark Crystal…’

Through the yellow gap, YuWon’s will emanated.

“Follow…”

He could hear the voices of the dead, and he looked at them head on.

At that moment…

‘…Me.’

Flash—!

The eye of 「Kyneē」 opened.

[Summoning Hell.]

“Kihihihi—?”

“Hyaaaak—!”

The specters cried out in confusion as if they had lost their way.

With that, Susanoo, who had been increasing his power through them, also became confused.

“What…”

The specters started to escape his control.

These specters had followed and moved by his will for thousands of years. But to come all the way to this point just to listen to another’s command…

As the power of the specters disappeared, the half-human form of Susanoo also started to turn back into a skeleton.

“What is this? Answer me!”

“It’s what you told me.”

Susanoo had told YuWon that he was not wielding 「Kyneē」 properly. After that, YuWon had tried to discover a way to use 「Kyneē.」

“Of course, you only thought of this the same as other necromancers.”

“> Ah, alright. So it wasn’t something like you feeling guilty about using it or something like that?

Susanoo treated 「Kyneē」 as an item that could control the Undead. That was why when YuWon wasn’t using it to control the Undead, he misunderstood it as YuWon’s moral choice to not turn a dead person into an Undead.

In a sense, it may not have been an entirely wrong answer. In reality, Hades had entire armies of the dead, as much as Susanoo did. If he was able to use 「Kyneē」 properly, YuWon might become able to control Undead as well.

However…

‘This is electrifying.’

’The real power of 「Kyneē」 was absolute dominion over the dead.

“In any case, since the boulder got smaller…”

Bzzzzzt—

The magic power pouring out from 「Kyneē」 surrounded his sword, and YuWon intruded into Susanoo’s space.

“It now looks breakable.”

「Kyneē」 had stolen Susanoo’s control. Susanoo attempted to bring the dead back under him, but it didn’t go as he wanted.

Shwooo—

The specters still covering Susanoo’s body were only half the amount from before. Even now, about half of the specters had escaped 「Kyneē’s」 control and were still under Susanoo’s command.

The stationary blade began to move again.

The blade infused with the power of the specters fell down.

Crack—

Crash—!

A wave of purple light melted away the specters’ souls and flooded the ground. YuWon exploded his Arcane Power from within and faced the sword head on.

It was a reckless move.

Shwaaaa—

The thousands of specters that were following Susanoo consumed YuWon. The ground the two men had stood on split into a million sections.

That one sword slash had changed the terrain of the room.

Susanoo rested his sword on his shoulder and looked at the place YuWon had been.

“Me? Breakable?”

YuWon did show quite an interesting trick. He also had incredible skill that made it hard to believe that he was just a 21st-Floor player.

But even then, Susanoo didn’t think for a split second that he would lose.

“You dream of the impossible.”

This dungeon was his eternal playground. He would never lose, and even after dying, he would enjoy fighting.

That was what must happen.

But…

“A dream? That’s too grand.”

Bzzz, bzzt—!

The purple wave split as YuWon revealed himself.

“You’re but a small detour where I’m going.”

* * *

Translator – Jreaming

Proofreader – BringTheRayn

* * *

Bzzzt—!

The yellow eye flashed again.

[Summoning Hell.]

A black spot formed on the ground below where YuWon was standing.

Now, he could make a guess as to what that was. There was no need to think too deeply about it.

Hell.

‘The world where the dead live.’

He lifted his sword.

‘And Kyneē is the medium through which the power of that world is borrowed.’

Ironically, the method to properly wield 「Kyneē」 could be learned unintentionally.

YuWon had faced many specters as he climbed from the 1st floor to the 100th floor of the tower. And during that time, 「Kyneē」 had absorbed the resentment of many spirits, and YuWon was able to realize the original abilities of the item called the 「Divine Dark Crystal.」

Vwoong—

The sword gripped in the hand with 「Kyneē」 fell down.

Clang—!

“Kyaaa—!”

The spirits cried out.

Susanoo’s strength shook, unstable.

As YuWon struck down with his sword multiple times, Susanoo’s stance broke for the first time.

This was the time to push him in.

Rumble—

[Your arm has been imbued with the power of a giant.]

The strength in his arm increased by another increment. His right arm became so tense that it felt like it would explode.

Bang—!

“Kugh…”

The boney arm quaked.

Susanoo glared at YuWon as he took on the sword strikes. He was starting to get pushed back in strength, little by little.

Susanoo increased his killing intent and tried to gather more spirits of the damned, but it was no use.

‘Just how?’

Just how was he able to stand so tall in front of him? Susanoo had killing intent that even most High-Rankers would fear. To stand so confidently in front of him was an anomaly.

However, after clashing head-on like this, Susanoo felt that the things he felt were strange this whole time were just the tip of the iceberg.

Being able to withstand killing intent was not a matter of how strong or weak you were, and without willpower and experience, it was impossible to resist.

“You… What are you really?”

It wasn’t something one should say to another while crossing swords. However, he really couldn’t hold back his curiosity in the end.

At this, YuWon said, “I said I’ll tell you if you win.”

He spoke while half-ignoring him and swung again at Susanoo’s sword.

Clang, bang—!

The two swords clashed consecutively.

The advantage had slowly started to shift after the eye of 「Kyneē」 had opened.

‘Just why!’

Susanoo burned the souls of the specters like fuel. However, at some point, the specters had escaped Susanoo’s control. With that, as his fuel started to run out, the balance between strengths was rapidly breaking down.

‘Just why are they still escaping my control?’

That wasn’t the end.

Bzzzzzt—!

The eye of 「Kyneē」 shone fiercely.

As the shell of specters around his body all disappeared, Susanoo was able to meet its eye directly for the first time.

When that happened…

Gwooong—

An intense fear covered his entire body and pierced his mind. He couldn’t put strength into his hand holding the sword. It was as if his hand was shaking with fear.

‘What is that?’

A giant, yellow eye could be seen behind YuWon.

Susanoo froze.

At that moment…

Fwoooosh—

“Ku-aaaahhhhh!”

A burning pain that felt like it was scorching the inside of his bones.

In reality, it was a sense of pain that he hadn’t felt for a long time.

Susanoo struggled to put out the flames on his entire body.

It was odd. He had definitely died and become an Undead, an existence which could not feel pain.

The flames didn’t die down and became even fiercer.

YuWon looked at Susanoo and smirked.

“So this is scary for you.”

[Holy Fire] consumed the fear of its target to grow, and that still applied even if the fear wasn’t of the flame.

“No matter how great a High-Ranker you were, you were still someone who died in the end.”

The dead were under the influence of 「Kyneē.」 That influence didn’t merely affect the specters that Susanoo was controlling. Susanoo himself was also an Undead that had died a long time ago.

As the armor of spirits was stripped away from him, Susanoo started getting affected by 「Kyneē」 as well.

“What a meaningless end…”

Step—

YuWon approached Susanoo.

“This is perfectly fitting for you.”

They were close enough that he could touch him if he stretched out his hand.

As Susanoo was suffering under the flames, he glared at YuWon.

“You dare—!”

Shwip—

The blade flew directly at YuWon, aimed at his neck.

However…

“Stop.”

Grab—

Susanoo’s sword wasn’t able to reach YuWon.

The hand holding the sword trembled.

The will to kill YuWon and the will that opposed it fought in Susanoo’s mind.

It was YuWon’s command that won.

Tang—

YuWon’s palm covered Susanoo’s face.

Susanoo had lost all his strength at some point and became a true skeleton.

“Goodbye.”

Flash—!

The eye of 「Kyneē」 emitted another flash of light.

Crumble—

Cracks formed in Susanoo’s bones, and he crumbled to dust.

[You have cleared Susanoo’s Dungeon.]

[You have obtained Susanoo’s Soul.]

[You have obtained Susanoo’s Legacy.]

[You have obtained Title – ‘King of the Dead.’]

[You may leave the dungeon with the ‘Return’ command.]

[The dungeon will collapse in 30 minutes.]