Side Story 46
YuWon and Zeus conversed for quite a while.
Zeus had much more information about the Administrators than YuWon had thought.
He knew about their movements, the traitors within Deva, and even the dark influence of the Administrators that spread everywhere.
'It seems like they've been quite busy.'
For the past ten years, YuWon had enjoyed peaceful days.
Thanks to everyone forgetting about him, he could live the days he longed for.
However, Zeus hadn't stopped during that time.
He had become the best and led the most powerful Guild. He had become the axis of the Great Guilds and hadn't taken his eyes off the movements of the Administrators.
The conversation continued.
Pandora fell asleep during the boring conversation, and Hercules could only move his eyes from left to right without really participating.
Just when the conversation was about to end, YuWon was convinced by the information Zeus had provided.
"Who helped you?"
"Do I have to tell you?"
"It seems you have no intention of doing so."
"You're very sharp."
A sign that he would also hide something since Zeus was hiding something.
YuWon frowned and looked at Zeus.
"Anyway, it must be one of the Administrators."
"Yes, probably."
A response that was neither affirmative nor negative.
It didn't seem like Zeus was going to give a decent answer even if he asked more.
The missing link to gaining information about the Administrators.
Zeus seemed to intend to monopolize it for himself.
'It won't be easy for him to give it to me.'
YuWon and Zeus weren't exactly comrades.
As always, they only shared a common goal. To achieve it, they revealed what was necessary to each other, and each kept their own secrets.
YuWon brought the cold tea cup to his lips.
Of the information he had gained from Zeus, only one thing worried him.
'Ananta….'
Ananta.
The ancient enemy of Deva, a being that Vishnu couldn't kill and could only seal.
'He has allied with the Administrators.'
If the Administrators involved him, the fight would become even more complex.
"We can't allow this to drag on."
At YuWon's murmur, Zeus opened his mouth.
"Do you mean Ananta?"
"Yes."
"Who is he?"
Hercules still had a perplexed expression.
Unlike YuWon and Zeus, he didn't know the name Ananta.
'For him not to know, it must be a name that has been lost in history.'
It was natural for Hercules not to know Ananta. Only the High-Ranks of Deva close to Vishnu knew that name.
Moreover, Hercules was quite young among the High-Ranks.
"He is a monster that Vishnu sealed a long time ago."
"Not only Vishnu, but also several ancient Rankers fought against him. Including the Bull Demon King and Odin."
"How do you know that? You're the one who most recently entered the Tower."
At Zeus's question, YuWon smiled slightly with his golden eyes.
It was a timely question.
"I experienced it."
"You experienced it…?"
"…"
Zeus, right across from him, was pouring tea into an empty cup.
He seemed to be trying to act as if nothing, but for a brief moment.
A slight brow movement caught YuWon's attention.
"Using the Golden Cinder Eyes while observing me is a bit cheating."
Whoosh.
The Golden Cinder Eyes, used to observe Zeus's expression.
Thanks to the Golden Cinder Eyes, which could detect even the subtlest changes in the opponent's expression, as well as the truth and lies hidden in them, Zeus had no choice but to reveal his intentions.
"Well, I guess you're right. The information was given to me by the Tutorial Administrator."
Tutorial.
YuWon, remembering the enormous beggar-like Administrator he had met a long time ago, his eyes sparkled.
"He came to me and revealed information about the Administrators. He said he didn't want the outcome of this battle to tilt one way or the other."
"Originally, did you think we would lose?"
"Of course... although..."
A slight brow movement caught YuWon's attention.
Looking YuWon in the face, Zeus uttered words that were difficult to say.
"That guy also forgot about you."
The Tutorial Administrator was special.
The lower the level of the Administrator managing a floor, the weaker they were, but he was an exception.
Tutorial.
The lowest place in the Tower, where all worlds gathered in the Tower.
'I have no memory of that guy.'
Even without that, it was already quite strange.
An Administrator who didn't exist in Azathoth's memory.
And that same Administrator had visited Zeus and given him information about the other Administrators.
"Now tell me. You said you experienced Ananta?"
The Tutorial Administrator's story was worth hearing.
He had received one; now it was time to give one.
YuWon nodded and answered Zeus's question.
"Ah, yes. I did."
"How?"
"You know where I come from, right?"
YuWon, who answered a question with another, stood up immediately.
Zeus, who hadn't received the answer he wanted yet, frowned a bit, and YuWon gestured to Hercules to get up.
"We can't stay here; we have to hurry."
"Are you going to move without giving a proper answer?"
"Didn't I say before?"
According to his memories, quite some time had passed since Ananta woke up. And most importantly, Vishnu, guarding the seal, had died recently.
"We can't waste time."
From now on, time was their enemy.
-------------
Boom, boom.
The valley trembled with each step Vritra took.
The four Administrators followed Vritra into the depths of the long valley.
Drip, drip.
A river flowed through the valley.
As the scent of grass began to waft, Vritra, leading the way, turned around and looked at the Administrators.
"If you try something stupid, I'll set all of you on fire first, so keep that in mind."
"Don't worry. Since we have the same goal, there's no reason for us to betray you here."
Swish~
Vritra, who stared at them for a while and warned them again, stepped aside and folded his outstretched wings.
And then, what was revealed was...
"A tree?"
"Is it Vishnu's ability?"
A massive yellow Dragon surrounded by trees.
No.
It wasn't just one Dragon.
"Yamata no Orochi would cry."
"How many heads does it have?"
A Dragon with an countless number of heads.
Monsters with multiple heads like Hydra or Yamata no Orochi were insignificant compared to him.
Ananta.
That monster with the name meaning "infinite" was a being that stood at the top of monsters like Yamata no Orochi or Vritra.
Grrr~
Was it because of the uninvited guests?
The heads of Ananta opened their mouths one by one and roared threateningly. Upon hearing that sound, Ananta's closed eyes began to open.
Bound to the tree, he looked at the four Administrators who had found him.
"What are the great Administrators doing here?"
Unlike his threatening attitude with clenched teeth, Ananta's voice was calm and polite.
While the other Administrators shuddered at the appearance that the body and heads were separate entities, the highest-ranked Administrator among the four took a step forward.
"We will release you from the seal so that you can help us."
"The seal is already broken. I am just resting at the moment."
"Now that you've opened your eyes, you can do anything with your power. But if you force the seal now that you've opened your eyes, you will also suffer damage."
Vishnu's tree that sealed Ananta was powerful. It not only bound his body from the outside but was also embedded in the hundred hearts of Ananta.
If he forced the seal now that he had opened his eyes, he might fall into a long period of sleep again.
"We will help you. In return, you also help us, Ananta."
The Administrator said this and explained the plan they had.
It was a plan to reclaim the Tower, which was originally their world, and expel the entities known as Players.
Then...
"If you can do it, do it. I will wait."
He received a rather positive response.
"Hoo-."
"It seems to have gone well for now."
At Ananta's response, the Administrators approached him.
The closer they got, the more chills they felt.
'How strong was he at his peak?'
'Did those guys seal him?'
'Good thing we hurried. If we had delayed, he would have devoured us.'
The Administrators clung to Ananta to break the seal.
A green glow emanated from the hands of the Administrators.
The work to undo Vishnu's seal had begun.
----------------
Ananta closed his eyes again.
He silently waited for the Administrators to break his seal.
A day and a half.
The Administrators had been working hard to break Ananta's seal for a considerable amount of time.
"I didn't think it would take this long."
Was it really a weakened seal?
Crunch~.
The trees embedded in Ananta's hearts twisted and slowly came out.
Very slowly and with the utmost care.
The speed at which the seal was breaking was much slower than initially expected.
"It's not just Vishnu's tree."
"Yes. That guy couldn't have created a seal of this power on his own."
"There are some more. And besides-."
The 51st-floor Administrator broke into a cold sweat as he watched the most annoying force resisting his power.
"There's something much more annoying mixed in here than Vishnu's seal."
This was different from a simple seal. If it had been just a simple type of magic seal, it wouldn't have taken this long.
Moreover, if that were all, Ananta would have already broken the seal on his own.
"It probably won't be easy."
Crunch~.
As doubts about the seal increased...
"That's a spell I created myself with great dedication."
"A spell?"
The Administrators turned their heads upon hearing an unfamiliar voice.
Two people walked towards them from the other side of the valley.
Step, step.
"Well, it seems that guy Gandharva didn't just set up a simple seal. He really had us in his sights."
A tall man with two horns on his head and a black club in his hand.
"As expected, it's always more fun when I'm with my Hyung-nim."
Son OhGong, with an expression that couldn't hide his joy, walked with the Ru Yi Bang hanging over his shoulder.
The Great Sage, Heaven's Equal (平天大聖) and The Great Sage, Who Pacifies Heaven (齊天大聖), who once fought together against Celestial Realm, approached Ananta.
Vritra, upon discovering the Bull Demon King, bared his teeth and looked at him with his torn red eyes.
Bull Demon King.
The being who, along with Vishnu, had sealed the King of Monsters, Ananta, with a powerful spell.
-Bull Demon King, how dare you come here-!
In the instant Vritra's cry echoed in the valley...
Zas!
In the blink of an eye, the Bull Demon King's hand, which was already next to Vritra's head, grabbed his teeth.
"Shut up and close that stinky mouth first."
Boom!
The Bull Demon King, gripping Vritra's teeth, slammed him to the ground with all his might.
Son OhGong, participating in a battle with him for the first time in a long time, smiled at his Hyung-nim's fiery action.
"You're still alive, brother."
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LWTG (Novel)