Crunch. After crushing Aether’s head into pieces, blood and flesh stuck to the bottom of Jeong-woo’s shoe, but he didn’t even flinch. His cold eyes were still the same. “Haa.” He looked up at the nothingness, his sigh full of difficult emotions that spun around inside him.
He’d thought he would feel better after taking revenge. He did, but it was tempered by the complexity of his feelings. Perhaps he felt numb. Jeong-woo couldn’t figure out what he was feeling. He didn’t think that the kind of revenge you saw in movies was pointless, but he wasn’t an extremely forgiving person either. He didn’t know why the feelings he’d been expecting hadn’t appeared.
It was as though he’d just completed the first task of a series. The end was probably there, beyond the nothingness, the sky, and the world. ‘“Vieira, it would be nice if you could see this.” Jeong-woo called the name of his old lover, whom he planned to meet one day. Did she know he had awakened? Perhaps she wasn’t even looking in his direction, too blinded by her passion to get to the higher floors like in the past? He stood like that for a long time.
......
However regardless of how long he waited, no responses or messages appeared. Jeong-woo laughed at himself. He felt like someone who’d posted on social media hoping that an old lover would see how well he was living without her even though his old lover wasn’t interested in him at all. ‘Then, I have to go up,’ he promised himself. If she wouldn’t look at him, he’d make her see. And after that...Jeong-woo made himself stop. He’d just be more pathetic the more he thought about it.
He turned around to leave.
[Infected Mother Earth stares at you.]
Jeong-woo’s eyes widened as he whipped his head around. It was only a moment, but a gaze had turned to him. It disappeared quickly, but his senses had caught it. With a smirk, Jeong-woo began to walk. Waking up hadn’t been all in vain.
However, at that moment, his body grew translucent, revealing the letters inside him. Jeong-woo only covered it with his arm as though it wasn’t a big deal. His eyes grew heavy.
* * *
‘What...happened?’ Lam woke up with a frown. There was a ringing in her ears, and she couldn’t think properly. Then, she began to remember bit by bit—Yeon-woo’s subordinates and his party members charging forward, Dis Pluto jumping into the fray, Iapetos releasing his divine level when he was cornered, a heat wave intense enough to cut apart mountains, the soldiers being swept away, broken formation, screams of burning soldiers...
Lam’s head shot up as she remembered the last image. She recalled fainting after trying to save the soldiers in the hell of fire. “Please be alive,” Lam repeatedly muttered to herself as she looked around. The air was hazy from the heat, and she couldn’t see properly. Only after forcing magic power onto her eyes could she finally see around her. “Ah...”
The sight was devastating. Black lumps lay around—presumably the remains of her soldiers—and the only survivors were the higher-level officials who had a bit of divine level. Clang! They were fighting a difficult battle against Iapetos’ subordinates. It was even more difficult to find survivors from the thirteenth corps. Lam clenched her teeth. Why hadn’t she thought of it?
Releasing the divine level, or the Giant god’s power, was a weapon that the Titans saved for the very end. The Giant god’s power was the energy that Kronos had left behind, and Titans could regain a significant amount of their lost divine level after absorbing it. It was how they’d managed to bulldoze their way to Hades.
Since the Giant god’s power was the Titans’ life and strength, it couldn’t be replenished once it was used up, and so Titans were very careful about deploying it. However, Iapetos had released his divine level and used up most of his power. He didn’t even just stop at one time but unleashed it multiple times.
It didn’t matter how good Dis Pluto’s formation was, the divine level would destroy them all. Lam used her spear to support herself up. She had to clean up before even more damage occurred. What happened to Iapetos?
Just then, she heard Iapetos roaring. 『 Die! I’ll kill you, human! 』 He was now about a hundred meters in height instead of kilometers, and his aura had diminished according to how much he’d shrunk. However, he was still big.
Yeon-woo gasped for breath above his head. “Huuu. Huuu.”
Hadn’t he been swept away by the storm with her? Lam’s eyes widened in shock when she saw Yeon-woo. However, Yeon-woo’s attention was fixed on Iapetos below. ‘That almost got me.’ He hadn’t expected the sudden release of power either.
Yeon-woo’s plan was to pretend to be injured by Iapetos and wait for Paneth’s party to make their move. He had already discussed it with Kahn, certain that Kahn could defend himself since he could use Bain freely. He’d also provided a stage for Jeong-woo in order to keep his promise to let Jeong-woo kill Aether with his own hands. Fortunately, Nemesis’ skills were excellent, so it was easy to set up.
If Paneth’s party fell into the trap, many of them would die. Even if some were lucky enough to survive, their future was grim since Tartarus was the frontline that protected Olympus from the Titans and Giants. They were dabbling in betrayal, and on Poseidon’s orders at that. It might’ve been alright if they’d managed to get rid of him, but with Yeon-woo still alive, Poseidon and the others would have to tiptoe around Hades. Of course, Poseidon and the goddesses would deny their involvement and abandon Paneth’s party. What came next was obvious.
Hades wouldn’t let them be, and even if they somehow managed to escape, only hunger and thirst awaited them in the treacherous Tartarus. Yeon-woo didn’t care if they were put on death row or starved to death. He only needed Paneth, who had directly received the blessings of the gods.
However, his own carelessness had placed Yeon-woo into danger. ‘Thank you, Nike.’
『It’s a relief you’re safe. Don’t take too many risks.』
Flames rose slightly, and Nike appeared to look at Yeon-woo with worried eyes before disappearing again.
[Time Difference]
Yeon-woo sped up his thoughts and analyzed how he could deal with Iapetos. ‘Kronos’s power is too dangerous. I don’t know if I’ll be unscathed if the same thing occurs again.’ The damage to Dis Pluto was more serious than he thought. Another heat wave would end things. There was only one option left.
‘It’s a bit too soon.’ Yeon-woo’s eyes widened under his mask. ‘But I have to use the other wing.’
The slowed-down time returned to normal.
『 I’ll kill you, human! 』 Iapetos growled, stretching his hand up after realizing Yeon-woo was cheekily standing on his head. Yeon-woo jumped high in the sky before Iapetos’ hand could reach him.
“I want to ask if that’s the only thing you can say, but before that, I should thank you.”
『 What nonsense are you spouting? 』 Iapetos heard Yeon-woo’s mosquito-like voice and focused all his senses towards him. Now that he could no longer restore his power as one of the twelve Titans, he was thinking that he would only feel better if he ripped Yeon-woo apart. Even though he’d lost his divine level, he was still a god. A whirlwind spun around at his command, ready to burn Yeon-woo alive.
However, Yeon-woo was calm even in the face of the oncoming storm. The more intense his enemy’s aura was, the better it was for him since he could complete the right wing faster.
[Sky Wings (Right) is being composed.]
[Keyword: War]
[Searching for powers that fit the keyword.]
[The search is unsuccessful.]
[The search is unsuccessful.]
[The owners of the powers refuse to have their powers searched.]
The wing of death had been relatively easier to make because it was centered on the Black King’s power, which meant all the subordinates of the Black King were willing to cooperate.
However, the need to balance the right wing with the wing of death created a lot of problems. First, there were no candidates for the Core of the wing. Unlike the gods and demons of death who had a clear hierarchy, the other gods and demons were busy fighting over who was better. There were also complex relationships between them.
He considered using the Ruyi Bang pieces as an element, but he quickly rejected the idea since the Monkey King had too many enemies. As he’d struggled to come up with ideas, he decided to change his perspective. Did the frame for the concept of the wing have to be a complete one? Would it be acceptable to everyone if it lacked conditions? Wouldn’t that be fine?
Yeon-woo was planning to make himself the Core of the right wing. His entire life had been a battle. He’d fought with poverty in his youth, fought his mother’s illness during his teens, and had fought in Africa as a young man. And now, he was fighting with the Tower, climbing floor by floor.
[The keyword has been changed.]
Each fight had been difficult, and many had ended in failure. However, Yeon-woo had never tried to run away, and he always gained something from the experience, no matter how small. It was the same thing for the gods and demons who gave Yeon-woo powers. Most of them were transcendents from birth, but to become true gods and demons, they had to create their own level, which was filled with difficult tasks. They had to fight against fate and their own selves.
[New keyword: Fight]
This was why Yeon-woo wanted to use his accomplishments to create the right wing. He did things that no one else had achieved in the Tower, things that the 5,000 gods and demons would be greedy for. Also, Yeon-woo was confident he would add more feats to his list in the future. That was also a fight.
All he had to do was simply continue down the path he had been walking on his whole life. Yeon-woo was telling the gods and demons that if they lent him their strength, they should go all-in. He would gather them and create a complete item.
The right wing was the unification of all his accomplishments. It was the basis for a legend, which he needed to become a god. As soon as he balanced the two wings, he’d gain the divine level he sought. In other words, he wanted the domain of fighting.
Flash. The scapulae along Yeon-woo’s back began to glow faintly. The wing of death was entirely black, but this wing was flaming red.
His current opponent was Iapetos, whom he wouldn’t encounter under normal circumstances, so the keyword had activated in response.
[Powers that fit the newly changed keyword are being searched for.]
[Searching for powers.]
[Searching for powers.]
This time, there was no message saying that the search was incomplete. The gods and demons were contemplating deeply after he changed the keyword. If they gave their powers, the provisional contract would be broken, and their powers would likely become cogwheels of the right wing, like those of the gods and demons who’d lost their powers to the left wing. Just when Yeon-woo thought no one would step up, a message appeared.
[The first search has been successful.]
[The power ‘Goddess’ Stigmata’ that Athena from the godly society 〈Olympus〉 has bestowed upon you has become the first component.]
[A message from Athena has arrived.]
[Message: It’s a misunderstanding.]
[A message from Athena has arrived.]
[Message: It has nothing to do with him. It may have been like that at the beginning, but you’re the one I’m supporting now. I will always protect you.]
Soon, more messages began to pop up one after the other.
[The power ‘Heaven and Earth Transportation’ that Hermes has bestowed upon you has become the second component.]
[The power ‘Faceless Lawbook’ that Hundun has bestowed upon you has become the third component.]
......
[A message from Agares has arrived.]
[Message: Shit! Just when I went to the bathroom!]
[A message from Agares has arrived.]
[Message: Me, too! Me, too!]
[The power ‘Wicked Devil’ that Agares has bestowed upon you has become the sixth component.]