C153
A throne situated above a hundred steps.
A man was sitting on it, basking in the warm sunlight in armor adorned with gold.
"What is this commotion?".
The man had a golden mane, clean features and smooth bronze-colored skin.
The High Rank residing on the 40th floor, the master of this temple, Ares opened his eyes, sensing the commotion coming from outside.
"Are you awake already?"
"Ah, yes. What were we talking about?"
"About the welfare of the worshippers..."
"Right, something boring again."
Ares, who had fallen asleep in the middle of the meeting because he was enjoying the warm sunlight, let out a big yawn and turned his head.
"I asked what that commotion is."
"Huh? Commotion?"
"Can't you hear them?"
Clang, ching-!
"The sound of swords clashing-"
Fwish-
"And of blood being spilled."
The sound grew closer.
The Rankers leading the meeting and the players who were part of the temple of Ares turned their heads.
As the sound grew louder, they could hear it more clearly. Only then did they realize that there was a commotion outside and they began to get nervous.
"Is it an invasion?"
"Wait, could it be Asgard?"
Everyone knew that the relationship between Olympus and Asgard had not been so good lately. Because of this, one of the "Three Great Gods," Poseidon, ended up being imprisoned in Asgard's subway prison as well.
Fortunately, because it was Zeus who had captured and delivered Poseidon, they were able to avoid war, but the situation seemed like an unstable bomb that could go off at any moment.
"No," Ares continued to sit as he shook his head, "it's just one person."
Bang!
The door didn't open. It was broken.
The broken door flew a few feet and skidded on the ground. Then the corpses of the players standing guard outside appeared, and the stench of blood filled the room.
Tap-
Two people entered through the broken entrance. They were YuWon and Arthur.
"Two people...?"
When the two entered, which was different from what Ares had said, the worshippers shot him furtive glances. Ares had been wrong, and even they themselves could tell.
Something was wrong.
"Take a good look, you idiots." Noticing their stares, Ares clicked his tongue in disappointment and looked around. "It's a person and an Undead."
"An Undead..."
"Ah!"
Arthur stood next to YuWon. From the ice attribute mana that continuously dripped from his body, the stench of an Undead could be felt.
Only then did they realize what Ares meant by "a person". Arthur was simply YuWon's summoning.
"But there's something weird." Excitement returned to Ares' eyes as he looked at YuWon. "I feel like I've seen that face before."
"I asked them to relay a message, but they simply charged at me with their weapons." YuWon wiped the blood from his sword.
His eyes turned upward, gazing at the wide ceiling characteristic of the Olympian temples.
And then his eyes met those of Ares, who was sitting in the highest seat.
"Who are you?"
"Kim YuWon."
After revealing his name, YuWon pointed his sword at Ares.
"I've come to fight with you."
* * *
* * *
"What have you...?"
"Do you know who you're standing before?"
"If it's Kim YuWon, isn't he that fearless player who recently started picking fights with Olympus?"
"No matter how fearless..."
The Rankers who were gathered there one by one started to pull out their Mana, hostilely targeting YuWon. Some of them lashed out with their Mana intentionally to attack YuWon as well.
But...
"So, do you know who you're facing?"
Crunch-!
Cr-Crack-!
Icy mana burst forth as Arthur took a step forward, freezing his forces. The room froze instantly as if in the middle of a long winter, and silence took over the room.
"Ice attribute mana..."
"That sword!"
"Is it... the 'King of Knights'?"
Because some Rankers recognized Arthur, the tension in the air grew thicker.
On top of that, unlike YuWon who was a newly promoted player, Arthur was a High Ranker who founded Britain. The fact that Arthur was swinging his sword at them was definitely threatening.
"I've only heard the stories. This is the first time I've seen it."
It was a known fact that Arthur had reappeared in Britain. At that time, the number of knights of The Round Table exceeded a hundred, and it was impossible to keep everyone from talking about it.
Including Olympus, many of the major guilds with prominent information networks knew that YuWon had Arthur under his command.
"Then, can I see this as a challenge from The Round Table?".
"Since The Round Table is under Asgard, this may be..."
"No, we have to see Arthur as a separate entity since he has become Undead. In the end, this is just that fearless kid acting independently."
"Tch. Are you doing this because you have Arthur?"
"Don't you know where he is..."
Even though they were saying that, none of them rashly moved from their seats. They knew that YuWon was an enemy of Olympus, but as long as Arthur was in front of him, he would not be an easy opponent.
However...
"Are your eyes just for show?" Ares himself wasn't looking at Arthur but at YuWon behind him. "That guy looks easy to deal with, doesn't he?".
He stood up from his seat.
Ares' face was much brighter than during the meeting. He seemed to find excitement in this situation filled with the smell of blood as he looked at YuWon with a much more animated expression.
"What brings you here, have you come to fight with me?"
"It's good that you at least understand my words." YuWon nodded. "That's right. I'm here to fight you. I've heard that on Olympus you never turn down an opportunity to fight or go to war."
"Yes, that's right. Because I love to fight."
"That's a relief. Those guys over there tried to stop me from meeting you."
"Those creeps did something unnecessary. I would have fought you if they had led you here. Haha!"
In any case, Ares seemed to welcome YuWon's visit. Even though hundreds of his subordinates had spilled their blood and died, that was just an afterthought for him. He found this situation amusing.
"But will you be alright? Unlike those guys outside, there are a lot of Rankers here. "
There were more than ten Rankers. Apart from them, there were also about forty players who had been brought in from outside. They outnumbered him and their skills were far from negligible.
YuWon looked at them and shrugged his shoulders. "Let's fight without the little guys."
"Wha...!"
"You really don't know how high the sky is, brat!".
"Lord Ares! There's no need for you to fight yourself! We..."
Bang-!
Rumble-
The loud impact shook the temple. Ares' minions startled and raised their heads.
"What do I hate most in the World?".
The whites of their eyes turned red. His eyes were filled with anger as he looked around the room emitting waves of bloodlust.
"It's interfering in my fight, don't you know that?"
"We apologize."
"Y-Yes. We'll be more careful."
Tap, tap-
Ares descended the stairs.
As he descended the hundred steps one by one, the pressure in the room grew heavier and heavier. Because of the weight pressing down on their shoulders, some lowered their bodies and even had to kneel down.
They had probably finished preparing to fight.
After descending all the steps, Ares looked at YuWon at the entrance. Arthur stepped back from in front of him and their gazes met.
"You want to fight me?"
"Not just fight."
"Then?"
"Winner takes everything the loser has."
"Everything?" Ares looked disinterested. "I don't have anything I want from you?"
"It seems you really aren't as smart, as the rumors say."
"What?"
"You couldn't possibly not know what I have, could you?"
"What you have..."
Ares' eyes snapped open.
The eyes of all the Rankers there widened as well.
Among the things YuWon possessed, there was one that even the High Rankers desired. The item that the Sea God Poseidon wanted, the item that was rumored to grant the power of a god to its owner.
The "Sea Stone," the "Divine Crystal of the Sea."
The fact that YuWon had that object was known to all the rankers of Olympus.
"Will you really put that into play?"
"Yes."
"You seem to be confident in your victory. Well, since you came here risking your life, one item is nothing."
There was greed in Ares' eyes for the first time. He, who had been born of Zeus and Hera, had lived his whole life getting everything he wanted. However, even he could not simply obtain the 「Stone of the Sea」 just because he wanted to.
"Sure, okay."
Naturally, he could only agree.
"It is customary to take the spoils of war. I'll kill you and take the Sea Stone from your body as proof."
Boom-
Ares stomped his foot.
"Everyone, stand back. I want to fight that guy alone."
It was just like YuWon had heard.
An aggressive and proud personality. He enjoyed fighting and was stupidly brave.
At Ares' command, the few hesitating subordinates moved, and a large circle formed in the middle of the temple.
"Very well. This should be enough."
YuWon looked at Ares, who seemed to be smiling in satisfaction. He carried a sword and a short spear in his hands and was calmly humming a tune.
Ares. The High Rank of Olympus who symbolized war and combat.
Although he had enough influence to create a faction within Olympus, it had not even been ten years since he became a high rank. Of course, in terms of talent, he was among the top five in Olympus, but his rank wasn't much more impressive compared to those of other factions.
"Arthur."
"Yes."
"Eliminate anyone who tries to interfere."
"I heed your orders."
Arthur bowed at the waist and then held the Rankers nearby at bay. Although there were more than ten of them, it wasn't so much that Arthur couldn't handle them. He had obtained Lancelot's body and had sworn complete loyalty with his soul at stake. At least until YuWon ran out of mana, Arthur could fight to the best of his ability.
"What, the 'King of Knights' isn't fighting you?". Ares looked a bit disappointed.
His eyes turned to look at Arthur who was watching his subordinates.
The "King of Knights." The historical Ranker who had established The Round Table and founded Britain.
Ares wanted to clash swords with him sometime.
"It will be a bit disappointing to face only you."
There was no need to talk about YuWon's abilities right now.
The amount of damage he had done to Olympus was unparalleled in the past thousands of years of its history. But compared to the damage, it was still unknown if YuWon had the level of skill similar to that of a high ranker.
"Why don't you use your Undead, aren't you a Necromancer?"
Necromancy was a rare skill. There probably weren't even a dozen if you searched the entire Tower.
That was why, once YuWon's ability was known, Olympus could only predict that YuWon's potential was many times above average.
That was the reason why Ares also found YuWon interesting. However...
"No."
YuWon had no intention of summoning the Dead or using the abilities of the "King of the Dead".
"He would be cheating if he used that."
There were two reasons. The first was that he was sure he could win even if he didn't use those abilities. And the second...
"There's a pretty strong one."
Just as he said, it really would be cheating. That one still needed to be hidden for now.
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Tags:
LWTG (Novel)