Chapter 299
Chapter 299
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 299
Chapter Title: Signs of Revival
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Si-woo and Ye-ryeong were searching for the Hydra.
The valley on the 8th floor. Above the Hydra's corpse.
Si-woo looked around before slumping down in exhaustion for a moment.
"It's not here."
The two of them were searching for the Hydra.
If it had somehow revived, they had to find it before it fully regenerated all nine heads.
No one knew what would happen if it completed its resurrection. In the worst case, it might start moving around like the monsters from other floors instead of staying as a guardian.
How many people would die then?
Just imagining it felt ominous.
"Should we check somewhere else?"
"......"
"Hey, Ye-ryeong?"
No response even after calling her. Si-woo checked on her, wondering if something was wrong.
Ye-ryeong had her back turned. He thought maybe she was tired too, but then he saw a bright light.
Suspecting something, Si-woo approached cautiously.
"What are you doing?"
"Wah!"
She must have been completely focused, because Ye-ryeong hadn't even noticed Si-woo coming close.
Even though he moved quietly. And it was Ye-ryeong, of all people.
Wondering what she was up to, he saw she was watching Soo-hyuk's stream.
"Slacking off here?"
"Ugh, you scared me."
"You said we had to find the Hydra. You said you were worried."
She had insisted they go out, and now she was slacking off by herself. Si-woo glared at Ye-ryeong with fire in his eyes.
What could be so funny? Ye-ryeong turned the screen she was watching toward him.
"Take a look at this."
"What is it?"
On the screen, Soo-hyuk was standing with Thor.
This trial of Soo-hyuk's was a journey to obtain lightning. After the Hydra, he had to enter the heart of Olympus, the massive enemy stronghold, to claim it—something that seemed nearly impossible.
Still, he figured Soo-hyuk would manage somehow.
"Why is he still messing around like that?"
It seemed like during the few days they had been wandering in search of the Hydra, he hadn't even gone off to find the lightning.
"Looks like he ate the Hydra's inner core."
"The inner core? Wasn't that some kind of elixir?"
Si-woo asked with a bewildered expression.
"Even if it is an elixir, could he even eat that?"
"He got Immunity to All Poisons."
"So he ate it because of that?"
"It was given to him to eat."
"That guy's got no fear."
Soo-hyuk had already been hit by the Hydra's poison once before. No, counting this trial fight, it was twice.
The Hydra's inner core was a concentrated source of the energy that produced its poison. No matter how immune to poisons he was, it wasn't something you'd just eat on a whim.
"We... might get caught up sooner than we thought."
Ye-ryeong recalled the fight with Soo-hyuk the day before the trial began.
Soo-hyuk's body, having achieved body reconstruction, was already approaching its prime condition.
With lightning, thunder, and various other factors added, it would be safe to say he'd caught up to prime Lee Soo-hyuk.
And if he got even stronger by eating the Hydra's inner core on top of that?
Si-woo snickered at the thought.
"Il-su's gonna be sweating bullets."
"That bastard's probably watching the stream too, right?"
"Definitely. No way he wouldn't."
The two knew Kim Il-su's personality well. The cautious and meticulous man wouldn't fail to monitor the stream of Lee Soo-hyuk, who could become his greatest enemy down the line.
The steeper Soo-hyuk's growth, the more it would eat at Kim Il-su.
He'd realize that lightning could one day pierce his heart.
'Our reunion won't be far off.'
What would he say when they met again?
Apologize? Or try to kill them like that day?
It probably wouldn't end well. Though they were once friends, Si-woo and Ye-ryeong were fully prepared to gouge out Kim Il-su's eyes and drive a blade into his throat.
Then.
"But that thing there."
Ye-ryeong, who had been watching the stream, asked with a puzzled look.
"Doesn't it seem a bit weird?"
"Weird how?"
"In that gap between the valleys. Something's sparkling......"
Si-woo turned to where Ye-ryeong pointed. Sure enough, there was a narrow crevice between the valleys, barely wide enough for one person to squeeze through.
Si-woo and Ye-ryeong exchanged glances before rushing to the crevice.
Ye-ryeong, with her slimmer build, barely managed to slip inside. Si-woo waited outside.
A moment later, he asked Ye-ryeong as she emerged.
"What was it?"
"......I think we found it."
She held out a thin scale she had brought back.
A thin, sharp, high-strength scale.
Si-woo's eyes trembled as he confirmed it.
"This is......"
It was small, but unmistakably a Hydra scale.
And that meant.
"That bastard-."
Si-woo's eyes turned blue, and the surrounding air began to freeze.
"It really revived."
Night had deepened.
Under the sky where the sun had vanished, the temple's flames burned brighter than during the day.
Hera was gazing at the temple's fire again today. Since Zeus's death, she hadn't stepped foot outside this temple.
How much time had passed?
"You're still here."
An uninvited guest had come to see her.
Hera asked without turning around.
"Isn't visiting at this hour rude? Thor."
The visitor was Thor.
Stealthily, late at night, avoiding the eyes of the other gods. Thor had come to Hera's temple.
And Thor wasn't alone.
"Pardon the intrusion."
Soo-hyuk entered the temple with Thor.
In that instant, the temple's air shifted dramatically.
Whoosh-.
The gentle breeze in the temple stopped.
The sensation of not even a single wisp of air was utterly alien. The space felt completely sealed, as if time itself had frozen, without the slightest gap.
Soo-hyuk could clearly feel it.
This space now belonged to Hera. If she willed it, even breathing would require her permission.
"What are you thinking?"
Killing intent gradually spread in her eyes as she slowly turned.
"Did you come to steal the lightning under cover of night?"
"Do you think something like that can be stolen just because you want to?"
"......"
Hera's aura subsided slightly at Soo-hyuk's response.
He wasn't wrong. As he said, lightning wasn't something you could steal on a whim.
A divine artifact that only the chosen could draw and wield.
The two didn't seem foolish enough to sneak into the temple late at night just to steal it.
As Hera's magic calmed, Thor breathed a sigh of relief. They had passed what he considered the biggest hurdle.
"Please calm down first and hear us out."
"If you wanted to talk, you chose the wrong time, Thor."
"No. It had to be now."
Hera gave Thor a puzzled look at his words.
It had to be now?
There was only one thing that could mean.
"To avoid the eyes of the other gods?"
"Yes."
"No need to avoid mine, then. Why?"
"Because you saved Heracles."
Hera's eyes wavered for the first time at Thor's answer.
How do you know? That question was in her gaze.
But soon, she guessed the reason herself.
"You met him."
"Yes."
"Was he alive?"
Thor shook his head.
"He was dead."
"......I see."
She seemed regretful, yet not quite. Soo-hyuk asked such a Hera.
"You hate humans so much, so why save him?"
Hera, who had compared humans to pigs and dogs. By her logic, there was no need to save dying livestock.
And sure enough, it wasn't Heracles whom Hera had saved.
"Heracles may be human... but he's Zeus's son."
What she saved was Zeus's son, after all.
From that answer, Soo-hyuk and Thor sensed Hera's feelings toward Zeus.
Love and hate.
No word captured Hera's heart toward Zeus better. She truly loved him and hated him at the same time.
But Zeus was dead. His death had burned away all the hateful feelings in her heart, leaving only the love she once had for him.
"That'll do."
With this, Soo-hyuk and Thor were certain.
Though she seemed to reject Soo-hyuk on the surface for being human, Hera at least wouldn't betray Zeus's will or covet the throne.
To Hera, who missed Zeus, Thor placed his last hope.
"Will you hear our story?"
Dawn broke.
At the highest point of Olympus, in the Sky Temple, numerous gods gathered.
"Took him long enough."
"How many days have we been waiting?"
"He's just a human."
"What an arrogant prick."
"Heard he's friends with Asgard's prince."
The gods in the temple chatted about today's protagonist.
The one undergoing the lightning trial. The human standing on the trial stage to claim Olympus's throne.
"If he gets chosen by the lightning, does he ascend to Olympus's throne?"
"No way. That's ridiculous."
"Lightning is just a divine artifact. Not a crown."
"Then what about Lord Zeus's will?"
"That only applies to Olympus's gods. He's not one of us, not even a god."
The scoffing god spoke loudly for all to hear.
"Everyone knows who the rightful next lord of Olympus is anyway."
Glance-.
At his words, the gods' gazes turned to one side.
It was flattery, but not wrong. As he said, the next lord of Olympus was already decided.
Hades.
Amid the crowd of gods, he exuded an especially overwhelming presence.
He wasn't flaunting his aura or dominating the mood. He hadn't even swayed the assembly with words.
Yet his presence stood out like black ink on a white canvas.
Hades stood aloof to the side, as if detached from the situation. His gaze, from start to finish, was fixed on Hera.
A while later.
Creeeak-.
The temple doors opened, and two figures entered from outside.
It was Soo-hyuk and Thor.
Soo-hyuk scanned the gods upon entering. His eyes met Hera in the center, familiar Hermes, the other gods, and finally settled on Hades.
From gods whose names he didn't know to the Twelve Olympians minus Zeus.
As he took in their faces, the corner of Soo-hyuk's mouth curved up.
"Clementine."
Turning on his mic, Soo-hyuk spoke in a voice he couldn't hide his excitement from.
"Bundles of cash are gathered here."
Clementine's mission. Meet Olympus's Twelve Gods. The moment he cleared it all at once in this place.
Soo-hyuk was half-convinced inwardly.
Clementine.
She really was a safe bet.