C431

Step-.

Vishnu entered without a sound.

In fact, it wasn't necessary to look to know it.

It was instinct.

"It's been ten thousand years, hasn't it?"

"I don't know. I don't even remember."

"Is time important?"

The three felt the same.

An instinct they wanted to become one. A strange sensation of mutual attraction, like magnets.

Ten thousand years had passed.

They were just trying to return to normal, but for some, it seemed frightening.

However...

"The situation isn't good."

Shiva took out his Player Kit from his pocket and showed a message to the two who hesitated for a moment.

"We should hurry."

[Kubera: Asmodeus has been defeated]

The battle had started not long ago, but a High-Ranker serving as the axis of the Demon Kings had been defeated.

There wasn't much time.

To the fate that Vishnu had seen.

Shiva looked at YuWon.

Vishnu and Brahma. The two seemed to have no particular interest in him.

Had they prepared in advance or something?

'It would be good if we could get rid of him together...'

But it didn't seem like the two would move alongside him.

So there was no other choice. As YuWon had said, if he lost his strength by confronting him for no reason, it could go wrong.

Had there ever been so many conflicts in such a short period?

Events that deviated from the initial plan. And the feeling that YuWon knew something about the three.

He thought that he couldn't continue like this.

But...

"It's not the time to worry about that guy."

Shiva decided to move forward despite the concern.

Yes.

What Brahma had said made sense.

Anyway, once they became one again, that guy would be insignificant.

"Well, then..."

Ssssch-.

Shiva stood up from his seat.

In that moment when the eyes of the three met.

"Let's become one again."

Swish-.

The magic of the three, which had been separated for a while, began to fill the meeting room.

'It has begun.'

The magic began to naturally blend as if they had always been one from the beginning.

YuWon stood up from his seat and walked slowly towards them.

Clearly, the meeting room was not so large. However, YuWon had already taken dozens of steps.

It was in a space created by Vishnu, Shiva, and Brahma.

'What is this?'

It was a place shrouded in thick fog, so dense that you couldn't see beyond a step. Perhaps he couldn't see anything because he wasn't allowed to, probably a landscape he wasn't allowed to see himself.

'If that's the case...'

Fireee-.

YuWon's eyes turned red.

By now, YuWon had become quite skilled at using the Golden Cinder Eyes.

His eyes illuminated the fog.

[Golden Cinder Eyes illuminate the unknown space]

The fog that had been in front of him dissipated. Although it didn't change completely to a blinding brightness, he could see what was hidden within.

'Vishnu?'

Beyond the dispersed fog.

In a dark cave where all sides, including the ceiling, were sealed, there was a relatively flat, upright rock that Vishnu used as a chair.

No.

It wasn't Vishnu.

He had Vishnu's face, but his gaze, hair, and atmosphere were completely different from what YuWon knew as Vishnu.

It wasn't Vishnu.

This was a story from a long time ago.

Ten thousand years.

No, much further in the past.

"...Boring."

Vishnu.

No.

The ancient God, whose name was now forgotten, muttered.

"This is boring and monotonous."

Words repeated countless times.

Among the smoke surrounding him.

Vishnu's thoughts were reflected under the tranquil moon.

"Should I just die?"

He didn't know how long he had been pondering the same thing.

Whenever he wanted, he could vanish. He had the power to destroy anything, and taking his own life wouldn't be an issue.

But...

'...Then it would be even more boring.'

No.

He wasn't bored.

"I was alone."

That was the story Vishnu told YuWon.

"I was alone for a long time. I was trapped under the roof for a long time, but I never thought of leaving during that long period."

"Why didn't you?"

"Because, to me, that place was the whole world. I didn't know there was a place outside of that narrow cave."

He said it as if it were pathetic.

Vishnu shook his head as he spoke.

It was a comical situation.

The one who was considered the greatest existence in this Tower didn't know anything about how vast the world was.

Curiously, this story came up as an answer to the question, "Why did you become three?"

"So I decided to become three. It was my way of dealing with the loneliness a little."

"It doesn't seem like a very grand reason."

"Everyone has different important values. At that time, loneliness was my greatest pain."

YuWon remembered the conversation from that time as he looked at Vishnu in front of him.

One who became three because of loneliness.

But the process of becoming one again after becoming three was not as simple.

"I thought that when I became one again, it would be like before. But the result was very different from what I thought."

"Even if it's stupid."

Despite aging, he was still a child in many ways.

Vishnu, Brahma, and Shiva, the three divided into one, had different ideals and powers.

And Vishnu was the center of all of them.

For a long time, he lived without control over himself.

An outstretched hand in front of him wiped away the cave landscape along with Vishnu who appeared before his eyes.

Anyway, everything that was hidden in this fog was false. The other party had hidden more lies within lies to prevent YuWon from interfering.

And beyond that divided space...

Huuaaah...

YuWon saw the truth that was hidden.

Vishnu and Brahma fallen on the ground.

And Shiva, who watched them from above.

He sent a warning look to YuWon.

"You've finally come."

It was as if he knew he would come.

"What are you doing?"

"Haven't you seen it too?"

There was greed in Shiva's eyes as he looked at the two who had fallen.

"I'm taking back what originally belonged to me."

Vishnu, Brahma, Shiva.

The names of the three people who were divided into one.

Although they didn't say it out loud, it was the common thought that the three shared.

And that was precisely why Vishnu had yearned so much to become one again.

"I am the real one."

Under the sky where the battle against Shub-Niggurath began...

Boom!

Grrrrr...

As the ground began to sink, the surrounding Rankers began to move away one by one to avoid it.

"Don't get close."

"Take cover from a distance."

"Covering, my ass. Come on, quickly, over here!"

There were only a few combinations.

Odin's fist caused the sturdy ground that held the castle to collapse and changed the shape of the battlefield.

Up to now, Odin had been fighting while ensuring the safety of his close companions.

Shub-Niggurath was not an opponent he could afford to fight in a relaxed manner.

Rumble, rumble, rumble...

Dozens of intricate magic circles condensed into Odin's fist.

Boom...

Puuuuuf!

Odin's fist struck Shub-Niggurath in the chest.

Not only was he skilled with the spear and magic, but Odin had also been known as the best fighter in the Tower before learning magic from Mimir.

Shub-Niggurath's body was thrown backward.

And finally, the surrounding Rankers regained hope.

"We did it!"

"Odin the King, as expected..."

Asmodeus, the High-Ranker among the Demon Kings, couldn't even touch Shub-Niggurath.

But Odin was different.

His fist not only reached Shub-Niggurath but also threw her several tens of meters away.

In terms of strength, Odin seemed to be a step above.

Thump...

Odin took a step closer to Shub-Niggurath.

"Do you see me as one of your sheep/goat?"

Toc, toc...

Shub-Niggurath shook the chest that had been hit by Odin's fist.

Her body was covered in dust.

Despite receiving a punch reinforced by dozens of magic circles, it seemed she hadn't suffered significant damage.

"I'm thinking about it."

"What do you mean?"

"I want to make you a little more special."

Shub-Niggurath looked at Odin with an interested gaze. In the face of this unpleasant look, Odin frowned and clenched his fist once more.

"Why have you come here?"

"Don't ask about something you can't handle. Now, even I alone am enough to completely despair you."

"If that were at that time, you would be right. But you, in your current state, don't seem so terrifying. Why are you in that form?"

The Shub-Niggurath they had seen on the first floor had the appearance of a massive billy goat.

Due to that appearance, YuWon had named her: The "Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young."

"Why don't you throw that spear, then?" Shub-Niggurath asked.

Shub-Niggurath remembered the spear Odin had thrown at that time, the spear that had caused her injuries to her original form.

The reason Shub-Niggurath remembered Odin so clearly was the Gungnir spear.

"It's not the right time to use it. Be patient. You don't know when my spear will pierce through your head."

Odin had not yet thrown Gungnir. The reason was that he had not yet determined if the Shub-Niggurath in front of him was the real one or not.

The situation was favorable for Shub-Niggurath anyway.

"Well, in any case."

She smiled as if she were enjoying the situation and looked around, beyond Odin, where numerous Rankers filled the sky.

Diablo and Susanoo, Agni and Kubera, Brunhilde...

Each of them was a Ranker who had reached the pinnacle.

"Fortunately, it seems there are enough useful ingredients here."

It didn't matter if she lost her sheep here. With so many ingredients to create new sheep, what was there to fear?

Under Shub-Niggurath's feet, strands of purple hair wriggled restlessly.

Tangled, tangled~

Beeeeh...

The herds of sheep rose from the hair-covered ground.

Odin looked at the sheep.

The first sheep that Asmodeus had transformed into blended with the more than a thousand sheep, making it difficult to identify which one it was.

"It shouldn't be such a difficult problem."

As soon as he heard those words...

Wooong...

Odin did not hesitate to cast a spell on his fists and leaped into the midst of the sheep.

Kwaaang...

The neck of a sheep twisted and broke. Another punch exploded in the body of another sheep, while another sheep bit Odin's shoulder from behind.

Crack...

Odin grabbed the neck of the sheep biting his shoulder with his fist.

Shriek...

The sheep's neck snapped. Holding the sheep, Odin shook it to get rid of the other approaching sheep.

It was as if there were a fierce predator within the flock of sheep.

And following that predator...

"Help King Odin!"

"Eliminate the sheep!"

"Anyone with healing abilities..."

The Rankers who had been watching the battle began to move frantically.

And amid that intense battle...

"Come on, push their limits."

Shub-Niggurath crossed her arms and watched their antics.