Chapter 304
Chapter 304
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 304
Chapter Title: Clash with Poseidon
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The goal of the fight was no different for Thor.
He threw everything he had into this battle. No warm-up, no analysis—none of it was necessary.
Kwang-!
Thor's Mjolnir slammed down through empty air. Space cracked like a spiderweb, and the bodies of the charging Olympian soldiers shattered, scattering like flies.
"Is that all you've got-?!"
His roar at full volume slammed into the clouds and echoed back, reverberating endlessly.
That momentum made a few gods hesitate mid-charge.
Any who dared approach had their heads burst by Mjolnir, sent flying by the shockwave. Even without thunder, he was Odin’s rightful heir.
"Cowards!"
Thor snorted derisively with exaggerated flair.
His brutish, intimidating antics seemed simple-minded. But every action was calculated, and they served a real purpose.
It bought a little time while the enemies faltered. Thor swung his hammer menacingly but never charged first.
'At this rate, it's possible.'
Thor glanced back briefly.
The sky still showed nothing.
But time was steadily ticking away.
'Just a bit longer...'
"Thor-!"
Soo-hyuk's shout rang out at that moment.
Thor snapped back to attention, having let his guard down for a split second. As he turned, pitch-black darkness engulfed his body.
In that instant.
Flash-!
Kwaaaang-!
Brilliant blue lightning sliced through the darkness, crashing into Thor. He crossed his arms to block, but the searing, numbing shock hit him full force.
Soo-hyuk had unleashed that bolt. Fearing Thor would be swallowed by Hades' darkness, he'd poured everything into a single strike aimed at his ally.
Thor took a massive hit because of it.
"...You survived."
Thor harbored no resentment toward Soo-hyuk.
The moment he'd faced the darkness, he'd understood why it targeted him.
It wasn't about raw power.
The key was the attribute.
'The power closest to death.'
Thor's gaze shifted to Hades, who approached with arms folded.
His power dragged the living straight to death. If Soo-hyuk hadn't made that call, Thor might have dropped dead on the spot.
"The triad's different, huh."
Thor grinned in exhilaration.
He knew it wasn't the time to smile. But how could he not, facing an adversary like this?
He understood why Hades had targeted him.
'Couldn't kill me outright.'
Hades' power was far from subduing foes. He could only kill or spare—no middle ground.
That was why.
Soo-hyuk, bearer of lightning, had to be spared. Only then could it be seized.
Eliminate Thor first, then use the other gods to take Soo-hyuk down.
But Hades wasn't the only problem.
One more forgotten figure.
Shwaaaaa-.
The sea surged sky-high, writhing like a colossal beast.
Atop it stood a young man with wild blue hair and flashing green eyes.
The triad.
"Poseidon."
Thor glanced at Soo-hyuk, who had sidled up beside him.
"You okay?"
"That's what I should be asking."
"That earlier hit was lukewarm."
"Should've hit harder next time."
The banter didn't last.
With Poseidon riding in on the sea and Hades joining, two of Olympus's triad entered the fray. The tide turned in an instant.
No—there was no "turning" to it.
Even without them, this fight was never winnable for Soo-hyuk and Thor.
"This must be the peak."
Soo-hyuk sensed it instinctively.
This moment before him was the true trial laid upon him. Overcome it, and he could finally advance to the next floor.
"I'll take Poseidon."
"You?"
Thor's eyes widened.
Soo-hyuk meant he'd handle one of them himself.
No matter how strong Soo-hyuk was, facing a triad member like Poseidon was suicide.
But Soo-hyuk's judgment was spot-on, even in that fleeting instant.
"Hades will target you no matter what. If you take Poseidon, Hades kills you."
Soo-hyuk aimed to avoid Thor facing a pincer from both Hades and Poseidon.
"You sure?"
Thor's concern was natural.
For Soo-hyuk, Hades would've been the easier pick. The lord of the underworld didn't know restraint.
That was precisely why Soo-hyuk refused Hades. Hades would dodge him to target Thor fighting Poseidon.
"Let's both make it back alive."
Soo-hyuk clapped Thor's shoulder and moved out.
He wanted to say more to the touched Thor, but time for talk was gone.
Shwaaaaa-.
The waves came.
A massive swell that could drown Olympus. It was as if the ocean had flipped upside down and risen to the heavens.
'Terrifying.'
What would happen if crushed by that wave? Could the abyss be brighter than Hades' darkness?
Soo-hyuk felt it in his gut.
'Can't dodge.'
There was no evading that colossal wave. Poseidon's strength lay not in single blows, but in dominating the vast sea.
Flinch at the spectacle and try to flee, and you'd lose from the start.
Monsters lurking in the depths would snatch you in an instant.
Kurung, kurrr-.
Output maxed out—no higher to go. His body felt like it might burst, but that made it all the sturdier.
No need to wait longer.
Strike first.
Crackle-.
Kwang-!
He leaped onto lightning, charging the wave. In Poseidon's green eyes gripping his trident, Soo-hyuk's face reflected.
Shwaaa-.
From the wave emerged tentacles of a giant octopus.
Monsters hiding in the ocean's abyss.
Their numbers stretched to hundreds, thousands—infinity.
Pew-.
Soo-hyuk's blade danced toward the wave. He stretched lightning into a sword, slashing the extending tentacles like falling leaves.
Kwak-.
A tentacle the size of a small mountain wrapped around Soo-hyuk.
It yanked him into the wave in a flash.
Thick enough to cover his entire body.
As it squeezed to crush him, brilliant blue light erupted.
Puhwaak-!
Soo-hyuk slashed from within, severing the kraken's tentacle, then opened his eyes and scanned around.
As expected, countless monsters stared at him inside the wave.
Shwaaaak-.
Slash, slash again.
As he cleaved every charging tentacle without pause, Soo-hyuk's eyes flashed.
There—far off, no, close now.
Cheeeeng-!
"...!"
Soo-hyuk blocked the incoming trident with his blade's flat, body hurled back.
Pung-.
He burst out of the wave. The hand blocking the trident throbbed like it was broken.
But no time to adjust. The surrounding wave formed a spherical barrier.
Korororok-.
Small, but the pressure was like the ocean floor. Skin crushed, bones ground.
He had to break free. Soo-hyuk ramped up output.
Thump-.
Flash-!
Blue lightning burst outside the barrier. Its surface shattered, compressed water losing power and cascading like a waterfall.
Shwaaaaa-.
"Hah, heuk-."
Breath caught in his throat. Heart pounded like it would explode, sweat and water soaking him.
In that brief span, he'd burned through so much stamina and mana that his body felt utterly drained.
Shwaaaaa-.
The waves surged high again. Poseidon reclaimed his trident, raising it to command the abyss monsters once more.
The deep-sea beasts under Poseidon fixed their eyes on Soo-hyuk.
With a gesture, he commanded legions of monsters and the seas themselves. Before Soo-hyuk could catch his breath, he faced them again.
Yet the watching gods gazed in awe.
A human battling a triad god. Though he merely endured against the crushing waves, it was miraculous in itself.
And that sight stirred ancient memories in the gods.
'Has he revived again?'
'That human from back then?'
'...'
Gods from the triad's era—Hera, Hestia, Demeter—all recalled the same thing.
A moment they'd thought gone forever. The primal symbol of terror etched in every god.
But it didn't last.
Peok-!
"...!!!"
The flying trident pierced Soo-hyuk's leg. His lower body buckled, body swaying wildly as a kraken tentacle whipped around him.
Kwaaak-.
"Keok!"
The squeezing force dragged his arms down. The lightning blazing on his body flickered out, starved of power.
Soo-hyuk snapped to his senses belatedly. Lost in a trance of battle, he hadn't even checked his condition.
But the message made it clear.
'Pushed too hard.'
Better to stop here. Rampaging further might've drained him dry before Poseidon could finish him.
His trident-pierced leg wouldn't respond, the kraken tentacle kept crushing him, and waves loomed ahead.
Shwaaaaa-.
Poseidon's green eyes atop the wave pierced Soo-hyuk.
Thick killing intent filled them.
What grudge could he hold against this stranger? Soo-hyuk knew Poseidon saw someone else through him.
Poseidon spoke for the first time.
"You failed. Unlike him."
Drip-.
Black, dead blood trickled from Soo-hyuk's mouth. The tentacle pulverized ribs, punctured organs.
Amid the agony, Soo-hyuk smiled.
"No idea what you're talking about, but at least our plan didn't fail."
One obvious reason to smile.
They'd done it.
Poseidon's brow furrowed at Soo-hyuk's inexplicable leisure.
"It didn't?"
That instant.
Whiiiish-.
Puuk-!
A spear from somewhere exploded the kraken tentacle holding Soo-hyuk.
Poseidon instantly raised his trident. Whatever was happening, secure Soo-hyuk first.
But he couldn't follow through.
Kihihihihng-!
Higher than Poseidon's waves, above the clouds. A heavenly steed's cry echoed from the sky.
Poseidon looked up. His green eyes caught the heavenly steed army blotting out the sun in place of clouds.
Soo-hyuk, plummeting weakly, saw the same.
"Took you... long enough."
Among those heavenly steeds.
Curiously, one figure stood clearest in Soo-hyuk's eyes.
"...Odin."