Leveling with the Gods

C370

Dozens of ships filled the sky.

Each of them was enormous, capable of accommodating hundreds, even thousands of Players.

"It's impressive, isn't it?" said Agni, the High Ranker of the Veda Guild, as he licked his lips at the magnificent view that spread before him.

With his red hair waving in the wind, he walked to the bow of the ship. The sight that unfolded before his eyes was something not even a High Ranker like him, who had lived for thousands of years, had witnessed before.

"That's true. How many Guilds have gathered here?"

His words were interrupted when a brown-haired woman approached from behind Agni.

It was Kubera, another High Ranker of the Veda Guild, and she gazed up at the sky with an intrigued expression.

"If you add up the Small and Medium Guilds that barely managed to get a ship, it seems there are more than ten Guilds."

"Were there so many dissatisfied with the Administrators?"

"And yet, there are fewer than expected due to Asgard."

"That's right, they received a special order from Asgard."

The power of Asgard was overwhelming. Although they claimed to rule the Tower's order, no one dared to mock their influence.

So when Asgard issued an order not to cooperate with Poseidon, it was natural that frightened Guilds emerged.

Of course...

"Cowards," muttered the people of the Veda Guild. They were not a Guild that feared such an order.

Agni smirked as he observed the Guilds gathered before him.

"Asgard won't be able to turn a Guild like this into an enemy."

Veda was a formidable Guild even among the Great Guilds. While they might not be able to defeat Asgard in a war, they had enough strength not to be easily defeated.

The same could be said for the other Guilds present here.

Except for the Small and Medium Guilds, some had influence over an entire floor.

Furthermore, even the Great Guild, the Zodiac Guild, was on its way here.

Swoosh~

It was then that the flow of Arcane Power changed.

Water, air, fire, and all kinds of power attributes flowed in the air.

The mana floating in the air began to flow in a specific direction. Like an accelerated blue torrent, the movement of mana sped up.

"What's going on?"

Something seemed suspicious.

Agni was a High Ranker who had been in the Tower for thousands of years. His ranking position was 191. That meant there were fewer than two people in this whole world with more influence than him.

And that Agni was feeling something.

You can't say the sea is small just because the current is weak.

That was precisely the sense of power he felt at that moment.

"Agni!"

And Kubera felt something more than that too.

"Hey..."

"Yes."

Gulp-.

Sweat ran down Agni's forehead, and he swallowed hard.

"I know it too."

A clear face that appeared in the distance, as if they were looking at him through a telescope.

Odin was holding Gungnir in his hand.

"Gungnir is coming! Get ready!"

"It's Gungnir!"

The Veda Guild's Rankers prepared to defend.

Agni's flames unfolded, and Kubera's power caused the earth to rise to form a wall.

The other Guilds also became aware of Odin's presence on their ships.

"Stop him!"

Tens of thousands of Rankers began to manifest their abilities.

Rocks gathered, and an intangible barrier formed in the air.

Powers of various elements like fire, water, and wind blocked one direction.

Only one.

It was to stop Odin's spear, Gungnir.

Flash, crack-.

A powerful force shook violently.

But Agni wasn't worried.

'I've heard many rumors about Gungnir, but he's alone.'

Most of the people here were high-level Players.

And among them, there were thousands, tens of thousands of Rankers, and several High Rankers mixed in.

Could one individual penetrate a defense created by a force of this size?

Even a God would find that impossible.

Odin: 'Still, it's lucky.'

Flash, crack-.

Odin assumed a throwing posture as his body flexed.

Odin: 'Because I can't see Asgard's Rankers here.'

And so, in the moment Odin finished preparing to throw the spear.

Kwaang, kwarrang-!

The shape of Gungnir in Odin's hand began to change.

['Gungnir' is activated]

The message appeared in the minds of all who saw Gungnir.

That message was enough to bewilder the tens of thousands of Players.

"Eh?"

"What, what is this?"

"Hasn't it activated yet?"

The surprise was momentary.

Gungnir, with its activation underway, rose and absorbed all the power in the world.

FLASH-!

Kwaang-!

A line stretched across the sky.

And beneath it, on the wreckage of shattered ships, Odin set foot.

"It's not a matter of how many numbers there are."

Thud-!

Among the fallen Rankers.

"A poorly coordinated defense is like a flimsy house that crumbles at the first gust of wind."

Swish-!

Toduk, toduduk-.

Odin looked up, where a gigantic golem of fire and rock loomed.

"Agni and Kubera, right? It seems they have survived."

Throwing Gungnir, Odin had nothing in his hands.

However, neither Agni nor Kubera could approach him easily.

Thud-!

Blood dripped from Agni's shoulder and fell to the ground.

The massive rock golem summoned by Kubera was also much smaller than what she could normally create, due to the injuries sustained while stopping Gungnir.

Swoosh-!

Agni watched as Rankers staggered to their feet amid the wreckage of the fallen ships.

Most of those caught within Gungnir's range had either disappeared without a trace or died instantly.

Being alive in these circumstances was almost a miracle.

"The attack reduced my strength by 20%."

Gungnir.

He had heard that name many times.

The Tower's strongest weapon, capable of piercing even a floor and flying beyond.

Although rumors were often exaggerated, he thought they were too extreme.

But it turned out he was wrong.

'How could it be so monstrous?'

There was a story circulating among Rankers, considered a myth.

It was said that among High Ranker Players, the differences in abilities were not so great.

Their rankings depended more on their power and influence than their actual skills.

And Agni fully agreed with that idea.

Even Kubera, who was right beside him, was ranked lower than him, but victory or defeat would depend on the condition the two were in.

He thought the same would apply to Odin.

But...

'He's a monster.'

This exceeded his imagination.

With a single blow, he swept away more than a dozen Rankers and tens of thousands of Players.

It was a thrilling sensation.

"If only that power were for our benefit..."

Agni's voice was filled with emotion.

How would it have been if that monster had been on their side?

It felt so comforting to think about it.

Of course.

"For your benefit..."

From Odin's perspective, that was completely impossible.

"The Administrators are our enemies. It sounds like you're saying that."

"Aren't they?"

"What they desire is order and balance."

"And what does that order and balance serve? How does it benefit us?"

Crack-!

Agni clenched his fist.

"At this moment, isn't it true that we don't even have penalties here in the lower part of the Tower?"

Penalties.

Restrictions that limit the power of higher-level Players.

Those restrictions disappeared along with the death of the Floor 1 Administrator. Rankers who descended felt the same lightness as on the upper Floors.

They felt as if they had truly found their ideal world.

Of course, even so, Odin couldn't accept that opinion.

"If it's not useful to us. We'll kill them and take their power. Is that the meaning?"

"It's not that..."

Agni was left speechless.

He had nothing to say. What he said wasn't entirely wrong.

The world ruled by the Administrators.

The greed of the Guilds wanting to share that power and authority.

That was clearly the core of this struggle.

"There's no need to discuss further."

Swoosh-!

Agni's flames were a signal.

The surviving Rankers from the Veda Guild surrounded Odin.

"As you've already used Gungnir, you're no longer terrifying."

The momentum of Gungnir was a one-time thing. To restart it, it would take a long time and Arcane Power.

No matter how high his Rank 2 was, Odin wouldn't be terrifying without Gungnir.

Of course, even though he had used Gungnir, Odin still had over a thousand Rankers at his disposal.

Asgard was a mandatory gateway to transcending the Administrators.

They were an outstanding Guild governing the laws and order of the Tower, just like the Administrators.

So, this was the moment to deal with Odin, who had already used Gungnir.

"Today will be the day when Asgard's throne changes."

Swish~

Though the power of Gungnir had diminished after piercing through defenses and destroying ships, Odin sighed as he looked at the Rankers from various Guilds who were still willing to fight.

"It seems I've rested for too long."

He wanted to withdraw with as few casualties as possible.

"But these brats meddle so much."

Crack-!

YuWon's foot fell onto the head of a remaining Ranker.

Around him, the ground was littered with the bodies of Rankers and Zodiac Guild Players.

YuWon breathed heavily.

"Huff-."

It had taken longer than expected to finish.

It was due to the large number of enemies and their meticulous organization.

"Where are the others...?"

He looked around for others using his Golden Cinder Eyes, but there didn't seem to be any hidden enemies preparing an ambush.

It was likely one of two possibilities.

Either they were down here somewhere, or they had given up the fight and fled.

"It's time to finish this."

The ones remaining were just a few survivors.

He needed to find an alternative means of transportation.

He had been thinking about it.

He needed to earn money, or rather, points.

"Let's call the Envoy..."

In the world of the fourth floor. Just as he was about to call the Envoy who worked there...

Tic-.

"Eh...?"

YuWon's eyes widened.

Thinking it couldn't be true, YuWon stopped calling the Envoy and quickly checked his inventory.

It was an item he had tucked away deep in his inventory and forgotten for a long time. It didn't have a specific use, but he couldn't bring himself to discard it.

As he rummaged through his inventory, a faint sound he had barely heard became clearer.

Tic, tac-.

Finally, his fingers found the item he was looking for.

Kwak-.

YuWon was taken aback as he realized that his hands were unexpectedly stronger than usual, and he struggled to control such little strength.

He withdrew his hand from his inventory.

YuWon examined the damaged clock he had taken out.

And at that moment...

"Je..."

Something resembling an empty laugh escaped from his lips.

It was real.

Tic-.

The second hand began to move.

It was definitive.

The Clock Movement that had stopped working came back to life.