“Kup.”
Astraeus gasped at the power pushing her back and blowing her away.
For a moment, disbelief filled her eyes.
She looked at her right hand. It was recovering after being burnt to a black crisp.
Instinctively, she looked around.
The ground flipped over, and the atmosphere was scalding. If she hadn’t created a barrier with her right hand as the price, a part of her body might’ve been blown away.
How was this possible…..?
He was only a mortal player. She couldn’t believe a mere bug that could barely live a hundred years could hurt her, who had lived for eons.
The strongest player in Dis Pluto had never injured her like this either.
Ghost Rifle Lam.
That guy was an exception.
But she couldn’t compare Hades’s apostle, who was on the verge of becoming a divine being, to a mere player from the lower world.
Aside from that, it was impossible for a mere mortal to hurt a supernatural.
Even if he had the Ruyi Bang, it was completely impossible unless he could wield the hated Great Sage’s power properly.
It was why Astraeus believed that she had made an error.
That it was just a simple happening because something went wrong with her holy power as a result of Deneb breaking.
She thought it would be an easy fix.
She stretched out a hand filled with holy power.
〈Curse of Starlight〉. It was an power of hers that forced her holy power onto her opponent and left an incurable poison.
She thought it would be enough to get rid of the annoying fire, break the Ruyi Bang and his strange sword, and crack his irritating mask.
But…..
Krrrng—
Yeon-woo thrust the Ruyi Bang forward once again.
The spear was twisted, and fire condensed tightly around it, exploding it at once.
[Vortex]
It was Benteke’s signature skill that he had once used to put Yeon-woo in danger.
[A hidden god is looking at you with the help of a goddess of ‘Olympus,’ Hestia.]
[A hidden god is in shock at the skill you used.]
[The hidden god reveals his name.]
[A message from Poseidon has arrived.]
[Message: How?! How are you able to use that skill?]
[A message from Poseidon has arrived.]
[Message: Stop now! That is a power I gave to my apostle! It’s not something you can touch…..!]
[The Channeling with Poseidon has been blocked due to the characteristics of Tartarus.]
Yeon-woo knew that more than 900 gazes were on him after releasing all of the powers.
Some had probably paid a price to the gods and demons who gave Yeon-woo his powers to share the Channeling with them temporarily.
The reason he didn’t pay particular attention to it was that it was better for him if more gods and demons were interested in him.
But it seemed as if Poseidon had been among those watching with the help of his sister, Hestia.
The goddess of the hearth and protection, Hestia, had given Yeon-woo an power called 〈Point of Spark〉. Fortunately, the Channeling was cut off while Poseidon was shouting in anger. It was thanks to the environment in Tartarus that the Channeling from the heavenly world was blocked.
‘I hope I don’t hear from him again.’
[The gods and demons connected to you through Channelings begin to have a discussion about you.]
[A vote is currently in progress.]
…..
[The case to prevent Poseidon from approaching you has been agreed upon unanimously.]
[The Channeling with Poseidon has been blocked permanently.]
Although he had only thought about it, the gods and demons acted as his guardian to prevent Poseidon’s approach.
It seemed as if they were bothered by Poseidon as well. Agares also annoyed them, but because he treated Yeon-woo with goodwill, they didn’t stop him.
Yeon-woo internally smiled with satisfaction and stabbed his Ruyi Bang forward.
Krrrr, kwakwang!
Kwakwakwa—
Every time a vortex came out of it, Astraeus was pushed back.
Not only was her right hand crushed again, she felt danger from the consecutive attacks that followed.
But Yeon-woo continued to stab his spear forward with determination, as if he wouldn’t let go of the opportunity.
[Black Gubitara – Wise Man’s Eyes]
[Draconic Eyes]
[Extrasensory Perception]
Using the detailed senses of Extrasensory Perception and Draconic Eyes on top of Fiery Golden Eyes, he continued to attack with the power of Vimalacitra.
Astraeus was backed into a corner.
The points that Vigrid aimed for were the flaws of her divinity.
The eyes of Vimalacitra, who was considered the greatest of the demons of war.
The Great Sage’s Ruyi Bang and Heaven Bracket.
And Time Difference, which was making detailed calculations.
There was no escape for her.
Chwak—
Vigrid, which had been following after Astraeus like a snake, pointed upward.
Astraeus stretched her neck back to dodge, but it was only after Vigrid had already slashed her left eye.
“Kyaaaak!”
A scream rang out.
[You have succeeded in planting a blood flower in a god of 〈Titan〉, ‘Astraeus!’]
[You have critically injured a god.]
[You have critically injured a god.]
…..
[You have achieved something not easily accomplished. Additional Karma is being rewarded.]
[You have gained 20,000 Karma.]
[You have gained an additional 30,000 Karma.]
[The title ‘One Who Hurt a God’ has been added.]
…..
[You have unlocked a part of the hidden conditions of the artifact ‘Vigrid-???’ Additional information is being given.]
“You dare! You dareeeee!”
Astraeus screamed. Her holy power moved, trying to restore her broken left eye, but strangely, it kept on dissipating.
A more horrifying pain followed when it did.
She belatedly realized that something strange had bloomed in her left eye and had reached her divinity.
It was the grotesque seed of a demon.
Blood flower.
The Black Gubitara was embedded in her soul.
A long time ago, in the legendary era, when there wasn’t order in the Tower, he was the being whom all gods and demons feared.
Why was the power of the Asura King Vimalacitara here?
From what she knew, Vimalacitra was a lofty being who never cared about what went on in the lower world.
No, to be exact, he ignored and detested the weak.
He was famous for being so picky that he hadn’t taken a single apostle all those years, but he had given his greatest power to a mere player who wasn’t even his apostle?
It meant one thing.
He had given the power that gods and demons silently agreed was taboo to a mortal.
The dangerous weapon of assassinating a divine being was in his hands.
‘No…..! I’ll be in real danger at this rate!’
Astraeus felt threatened for the first time in her life. She had been defeated by Hades’s apostle, Lam, because she had let down her guard like this in the past as well, but she felt it was more dangerous now. It was a threat to her ‘life,’ something she hadn’t felt after being trapped in Tartarus.
Gubitara was ravenously eating away at her soul.
Like a poison that slowly and quietly took away her breath. Her body felt heavy.
Yeon-woo, after being buffed with the holy power that Gubitara swallowed, cut off Astraeus’s right arm.
Puak!
A fountain of blood spurted from her shoulder. The blood sparkled almost unrealistically. Astraeus was now screeching.
Urrrng, urng—
‘I can do it.’
Yeon-woo felt like he could kill Astraeus.
He was sure with this attack.
Astraeus, a Titan who had fought for authority against the gods of Olympus in the past, was weaker than the Nine Kings.
The only reason why she was able to look down on players was because her level was higher than theirs.
But the moment there was a weapon to seal the gap between levels, she fell to the ground right away.
Yeon-woo didn’t know why.
It could’ve been because she hadn’t trained herself as a result of being confident in her divine level, or there could have been some secret to her that players didn’t know about.
It didn’t matter to him.
If he could catch a god, he would.
That was the only goal he had.
Gripping the Ruyi Bang again, he relayed more vortexes towards her. He didn’t have to worry about his magic power draining because the amount of holy power coming from her was immense.
Hunting the owner of the power with the power he took?
It was sweet.
Vigrid spewed black Aura again to corner her.
After her right arm, it was her left arm, then her left leg, and then her right. Only her body remained as it rolled on the ground.
“A, Ah…..!”
Astraeus was in a pathetic state for a Titan.
When was the last time she was this humiliated? From what she could remember, it was when she was chased away from Olympus and locked in Tartarus. After that, Hades had continued to watch her, but from about a thousand years ago, Titans had the upper hand.
But with Yeon-woo’s interference, everything was crumbling.
The monsters trying to invade the holy territory were swept away, and she was in horrible shape.
Moreover, Hades had suddenly begun to attack the other Titans with spirit.
The tide of victory was now on the temple of the King of the Underworld’s side.
The war that she thought they had won was now a mess.
And…..
Vigrid stopped right in front of her neck to finish the kill.
Astraeus didn’t have any choice but to say the name she didn’t want to say.
“T, Typhon! I’ll accept your deal! So please! Rescue me!”
She shouted at the sky.
But nothing happened.
“Please! Typhon!”
The moment that the blade was about to cut her throat, a column of light descended from the sky and wrapped around her.
Krrng—
The black Aura was flicked away by something incredibly strong.
Yeon-woo raised his head with a stiff face. Something out of the ordinary was trying to appear. It was an extraordinary pressure that could look down on the great divine beings. It was a dangerous feeling that Hermes, Athena, and even Hades felt threatened by.
And like a lie, the battlefield instantly fell into silence.
Dis Pluto and the monsters who had been jumping around froze.
In the dead silence, like time had paused…..
『Such…… pandemonium…….』
A huge eye was looking down from the split black clouds.
It was like a being too colossal to even imagine had made a small hole in the clouds and looked through it.
His eye rolled around as he quickly scanned the messed-up battlefield. And even Astraeus, pathetically on the verge of death by a mortal.
『You threw a fuss…… saying you could do it yourselves…… yet it ended up in this state……?』
Hades put down his sword with a frown.
“…..Typhon.”
There were two species that had caused chaos in Tartarus until now. Titans and Giants.
Kronos, the king of Titans was dead, only leaving behind his body, but the king of Giants was still ruling over them.
There were stories that he was half-human, half-monster: his upper body was shaped like a human while his lower body was like a snake. He had a hundred snakes on his head that shot lightning and was so big that if he spread his wings apart, he could block off all the light from the sun and turn the world into darkness.
The monster who had once bound Zeus to hurt him.
Typhon.
The god of Giants was showing himself for the first time.
[Hermes is silent.]
[Athena is quiet.]
[Ares grits his teeth.]
[Hestia looks away.]
The ever-so-proud gods of Olympus were keeping their silence.
『There’s…… a familiar face…….』
Typhon narrowed his eyes as he turned from Astraeus to Yeon-woo.
『The player that I saw…… from the Ten Gates…….』
The emotions in his eyes were those of amusement.
Yeon-woo realized that the gaze that kept on following from the 10 gates was Typhon’s.
But Typhon turned to Hades like he didn’t have anything to say.
『This……. looks to be enough…… how does that sound……? Letting me take these good-for-nothings……. you…… will be able to uphold your reputation as well…… right……?』
Everyone turned to Hades.
His face crumpled. He was about to turn the tide of the war, but it was put on hold.
He had no other choice but to nod.
Dis Pluto was exhausted from the long time they had spent on the battlefield already. If they fought longer, they might have been able to hurt the Titans, but it would be hard to stop the Giants from participating in the war.
Clack—
He put his sword back into its sheath. It meant Typhon could do what he needed.
It was a ceasefire.
『Thank you……. you…… unlike that cowardly Zeus…… I trust you…….』
With that, Typhon closed his eyes. The black clouds filled in the hole, and the light shining down on Astraeus became dimmer.
The presence of the Giant gods was turning faint. They were going back. Astraeus was among them.
That moment, Astraeus sighed in relief.
Now, she could live. Although Titans had to bow to the Giants now, they had to live for thre to be a next time.
‘Wait and see, human…..!’
Astraeus hardened her resolve to rip the human who made her like this into shreds.
But.
‘What…..?’
She looked down at Yeon-woo to see his hateful face before returning to her holy territory, but something was flying towards her. Like when Deneb was broken, the Ruyi Bang was coming in her direction in the shape of a long-spear.
But he had probably seen Hades and Typhon agree to a ceasefire earlier.
He was breaking it that easily? A mere mortal?
That was the last thought she had.
[Congratulations! You have succeeded in killing a god.]
[You have achieved something not easily accomplished. Additional Karma is being rewarded.]
[You gained 100,000 Karma.]
[You gained an additional 200,000.]
[A new reward is being given. It will take some time for the reward to be chosen.]
……
[You have gained the title ‘God Assassin’.]
……
[All gods watching the situation are shocked.]
[All demons watching the situation are smiling creepily.]
[A few gods look at you negatively.]
[A few demons express new thoughts about the level that will be given to you.]
[The ceasefire between Hades and Typhon has been broken.]