Chapter 224: Eternal Spire[R-18] (49)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 224: Eternal Spire[R-18] (49)
“Your wife is Aphrodite, wasn’t it? I heard your tiny dick can't satisfy her, so she spreads her legs for man after man. Should I give her a taste, too?”
Jin Seo-yun’s voice, broadcast through the screen, filled the golden hall. For a moment, the gazes of the gods filled with utter shock, and a heavy silence descended.
Suddenly, Loki broke the silence, bursting into a roar of laughter.
“Puhahahaha!”
Unable to stop laughing, Loki bent over, clutching his stomach and stumbling. At the sight, the other gods around him began to let out the laughter they had been holding back.
Small chuckles began to bloom throughout the hall, soon swelling into a chorus of loud and soft laughter echoing from every corner.
“Hey, Ares! Are you just going to stand there after being insulted like that by a human?”
“Hehehe, let’s be honest, we all knew Ares was nothing special in that department, didn’t we? We were all just pretending not to know, but that human just exposed him for all to see.”
A few gods nodded, snickering. Even the goddesses nearby covered their mouths, trying to hide their amusement.
Ares’s entire body flushed crimson as he gripped the armrests of his seat. A fierce storm of rage and humiliation swirled in his eyes.
“How dare he… How dare a lowly human insult me?”
Veins popped on his forehead, and an aura thick with killing intent began to spread around him.
While the gods in the hall reveled in laughter and mockery, Aphrodite remained frozen in her seat, her expression cold and icy, as if she were completely detached from the commotion. Her beautiful face was flushed red.
Aphrodite’s sharp gaze glared fiercely at the screen.
“That vulgar human… How dare he mock me as well.”
She clenched her teeth, unconsciously tightening her grip on the golden goblet in her hand. A sharp crack appeared on its surface.
The surrounding gods noticed her reaction, stopped laughing, and subtly averted their gazes. Knowing Aphrodite’s temperament, they could easily guess how dangerous she was at that moment.
Even Loki, seeing her expression, wiped the mischievous grin from his face.
“It seems Lady Aphrodite is quite displeased.”
She ignored Loki’s comment and turned her icy gaze on Ares. Her eyes were filled with disgust and contempt, as if everything was his fault.
“Your incompetence has made me a laughingstock too, Ares.”
Aphrodite’s cold voice shot toward Ares like a dagger.
Ares looked back at her, his face a mixture of fury and shame, but Aphrodite had already turned away dismissively to watch the screen again.
A few of the nearby gods watched the conflict between the two with interest, whispering amongst themselves.
“The goddess of beauty is furious.”
“Could this be the end for Ares and Aphrodite?”
Aphrodite seemed to have blocked out all surrounding noise, her eyes fixed solely on Jin Seo-yun on the screen. Her blue eyes blazed with fiery rage and a thirst for vengeance.
“To think he would provoke me like this… I’ll make him pay the price. I swear it…”
Glancing at Aphrodite, who was trembling with rage, Athena watched Jin Seo-yun on the screen with great interest.
So he thinks I’m better than Ares… Heh, I might be starting to like this human.
A meaningful smile spread across her lips. It was certainly arrogant for a mere human to provoke a god, but the fact that her name had been placed above Ares’s gave her a strange sense of satisfaction.
She then discreetly checked the bet she had placed.
Lord Zeus said the Guild Alliance would win, but my gut tells me otherwise.
Athena, who had bet on Jin Seo-yun behind Zeus’s back, turned her attention back to the screen.
She watched the avatar of Ares, his face red as he shrieked and charged at Jin Seo-yun, and shook her head lightly.
Though, comparing me to an idiot like that is an insult in itself.
“My, my! What an incredible situation! The avatar of Ares has completely lost its composure!”
On the screen, the avatar of Ares seemed to have lost all reason to its rage. Red flames erupted from its body, setting the entire boss room ablaze. The image of it swinging its spear and attacking indiscriminately was vividly broadcast to the gods’ hall.
ROOOOAR!
With Ares’s roar, the floor cracked and chunks of stone began to fall from the ceiling.
Watching the scene, the real Ares gripped his armrests even tighter.
“Hurry up and crush that arrogant human.”
All the gods were fixated on the battle between Ares and Jin Seo-yun. At first, it seemed Jin Seo-yun was being overwhelmed by the enraged Ares’s merciless assault. But soon, expressions of surprise began to appear on the gods’ faces.
At some point, the blue, shimmering sword aura emanating from Jin Seo-yun’s blade grew more intense, and a heat haze began to rise from it.
His entire demeanor suddenly changed, and the tide of the battle began to shift in a strange direction.
The gods couldn’t hide their astonishment.
“Wait… what is that?”
“The power of the weapon…? Or is that human creating it himself?”
Most of the gods, bewildered by a phenomenon they had never seen before, began to murmur amongst themselves.
As Ares’s avatar on the screen began to be pushed back, one god muttered.
“Ares’s avatar might actually lose.”
Hearing this, Ares’s face turned blotchy with rage.
—CRASH!
The moment Ares’s spear and my sword clashed, a tremendous shockwave rocked the battlefield.
Hot flames scattered, and it felt as if space itself was warping.
I immediately drew upon the internal energy gathered in my dantian and pushed my sword forward. But in that instant, I felt something was off.
What is this?
It felt like Ares’s attacks had slowed down. It wasn’t just that my reaction speed had increased.
The path his spearhead aimed for, the direction his shoulder moved, even the flow of divine power he was gathering—
I could see everything.
I instinctively twisted my body to dodge.
—Swoosh!
The tip of his spear passed right by where I had been standing.
My body feels lighter, and it feels like my internal energy has increased…
When I swung my sword, my energy moved along with it.
And in that moment—
—Shhhhh…
A sharp blade of blue sword force, shimmering with an intense haze, slowly bloomed from the tip of my sword.
I knew it instinctively.
I have now reached a new realm.
It was different from when I absorbed the Black Dragon’s heart in the After School World. Back then, I had forcibly broken through to a higher realm by absorbing immense power. This time, I had purely overcome the wall myself.
Without even a moment of enlightenment… I’ve suddenly ascended to the Transformation Realm.
I smiled and swung my sword. It was a light swing, but as it moved, I felt the air itself tear.
—SHWAAAAA!!
The sword force that belatedly erupted cut through space like an invisible blade.
Just as Ares wore an expression that said he had dodged it, a shallow line of blood was drawn across his shoulder.
“……!”
He looked down at his shoulder in disbelief.
Ares narrowed his eyes, glaring at my sword.
“…You. What did you just do?”
I ignored him and looked down at my own blade.
Now I understand.
Until now, I had only thought of imbuing my sword with internal energy and swinging it. But just a moment ago, I felt the energy flowing with the sword even before I swung.
The sword accepts my power without me even thinking about it… No, the sword and I become one.
I finally realized it.
I hadn’t simply increased my power; I had reached a state of unity with my sword.
Now, my sword was no longer a simple weapon.
It was a part of my body, a form that could express my will with the utmost precision.
In that instant, everything became crystal clear.
Ares’s subtle movements, the tension in his muscles, the slight changes in the fingers gripping his spear, the minute difference in the angle of his feet. I could read his every intention.
I swung my sword lightly once more.
—Swish.
Where the sword had passed, a thin mark appeared in the air as if it had been sliced.
Ares’s brow furrowed slightly.
I slowly took my stance and smiled.
“I told you a moment ago, didn’t I?”
I raised the tip of my sword and pointed it at Ares.
“You’re not as good as Athena.”
“You son of a—!”
Before he could finish, I kicked off the ground and shot forward. At the same time, a distinct sword force bloomed from the tip of my blade.
It felt as if my body was moving on its own. It wasn’t my consciousness following the sword, but the sword reading my intent and moving accordingly.
—Shing!
My sword perfectly cut into the trajectory of Ares’s attack. Grazing past his spear, the sword force sliced through his armor.
“Kugh!”
Ares groaned in pain. A crack formed on his red armor, and a golden, liquid-like substance seeped out from within.
The blood of a god?
The thought was fleeting as I focused completely on the battle. At this moment, whether my opponent was a god or a demon, they were just another enemy before me.
Ares’s eyes turned red with fury as he let out a great roar.
“How dare you… How dare you wound a god!”
With his rage, the surrounding space grew intensely hot. A crimson energy erupted explosively, seeming to incinerate the entire room.
I remained calm. In fact, thanks to my newly sharpened senses, his attack patterns were completely transparent to me.
“The moment you lost your reason to anger, you lost.”
I saw him raise his spear high, preparing for a single, powerful strike. Red energy condensed at the tip of his spear, gathering explosive power.
“Die, human!”
Ares, consumed by rage, swung his spear.
In that instant, I moved.
The tip of the spear grazed past my eyes, sending red sparks flying. But as if I had calculated the movement in advance, I smoothly twisted my body and evaded the attack.
Ares’s expression contorted.
“You—”
My sword swung, and before he could finish his sentence, he rolled on the floor to dodge the attack.
I smirked, seeing the empty space below his shoulder where his arm had been severed.
“…Don’t make me laugh! There’s no way I’d lose to a mere human!”
“Pathetic.”
I let out a small laugh and swung my sword. Following the blue arc drawn by the blade, a powerful stream of sword force cut through the air and flew toward Ares.