185. Let Us Try Fighting First
“Woah!”
The moment that I stepped into the darkness, I was sucked in without being able to resist at all, almost as if being picked up by a strong gust of wind.
As if a toilet had been flushed, I was helpless as I was pulled in.
Despite struggling with all my might, it wasn’t possible.
Letting the currents take me, I could only try to make sense of my current situation.
It felt longer than 5 minutes, but probably only 10 seconds had passed?
From the moment of entering the tunnel to being carried away by a whirlpool, all this had taken place before the 1 minute effect of the King’s Marble had worn off.
The swirling blurry scenery cleared from view, and ironically enough, a clear sky came to view, while both my feet were on dry ground.
Despite being positive that I was sucked downwards, I had ended up on the highest point in the celestial plane, where the waterfall began.
I couldn’t make sense of this current situation.
“What is this….. It’s almost as if I died…..”
“It won’t take long before that becomes the case, so don’t rush to conclusions.”
“Hm?”
“Welcome to my palace and your to be grave, human.”
“Are you the so called Garuma or Galima?”
“I am the God of Water, Galima. You, who started as a human, actually managed to come this far. I commend you for that.”
“When I heard that I was going to face the God of Water, I expected a mermaid or a kraken, but you look far more normal than I thought you’d be? It doesn’t suit your title. I’m complimenting you. Be thankful.”
“Pfft! As I thought, you are extremely insolent.”
Galima’s form was that of a human, similar to the other gods.
They had a flawless appearance and a solid muscular body.
On top of that, their hair that went down to their waist was smooth like silk, and the half transparent armor made of glass they wore displayed the peak of magnificence.
Emerald light came from their eyes, and their exposed skin reflected light as if they were made with pearls, letting out a soft glow.
My admiration for their outward appearance didn’t last long.
Galima spoke up once more.
“I shall show you my thanks.”
“Hm? Is it because I was frugal with how I used water usually?”
“Ahahaha!”
“Looks like you have a similar sense of humor with Jong Ho-hyung.”
“I am thanking you for killing the other gods. As you know, gods cannot kill other gods. That was why I could not get rid of them, despite being far stronger than any of them.”
“…..”
“Obviously, you have already risen halfway to godhood at this point, but you still aren’t fully a god yet. The reason why you were able to kill them was that you are a demigod, right?”
“I guess you could say that.”
“That would also mean that I…. could kill you, who isn’t fully a god. Kuhuhu.”
“Hm…. So you plan to steal everything I worked hard for in one go?”
“There is no other way, is there? You have to kill me. If you don’t, you will obtain the wrath of the Unrivaled Goddess. I will kill you and rule over the celestial plane. This is a fight we both want to happen, right?”
“That’s true. But Karupedan is a goddess as well. Even if you kill me and obtain the power of the other five gods, you still can’t kill her. After all, it’ll be the fight between gods.”
“Aren’t you dim witted. There is a huge flaw in your statement.”
“What?”
“Water exists everywhere. Do you think that I wouldn’t know of the contract you made with Karupedan? Think about it carefully. The Unrivaled Goddess that will meet her end at by your hand. How will you kill her?”
“It’s obvious that I’ll be using my Awakened powers and the demon king’s Authority…..”
“Now do you understand? Think about how you obtained the power of the demon king. You obtained it by killing your opponent. The Awakened power that Gera created wouldn’t transfer over to me, but it is different from the demon king’s power. With your death, I will be able to obtain a method to face off against the Unrivaled Goddess.”
“This also means that Karupedan would obtain the condition to kill you. Even though you’re smart, you only see one way and not consider the other. Think about it carefully, okay? Don’t make this harder than it needs to be and die peacefully by my hands. The sins you have committed until now are already more than enough, but how much further are you planning to push?”
“Pfft! Do you really think that Karupedan is trying to just hand her life over to you?”
“……”
“If she really did want to die… she wouldn’t have cared who would have taken her life. She would only be searching for anyone capable of doing so. That is why such a thing as her putting her throat to your knife won’t happen. As you said, if she really wanted to die that is. Do you understand?”
At Galima’s words, my mind went blank for a brief moment.
It made me think that I had failed to consider a very important truth all this time.
Karupedan hated humans without a reason all this time.
To be precise, it wasn’t that she didn’t have a reason, but didn’t know what the reason was.
But her giving up her life to the subject of her hatred didn’t add up.
After defeating Galima in front of me, the worst case that could happen after this was as follows.
Karupedan didn’t want to lose her life to me from the start.
It was just that she saw the other gods with disgust and wanted them gone.
Since she couldn’t do it herself, she had used me to do so.
Then, if Galima also dies, and all the gods have been butchered?
It was true that her knife could come for me.
However, that wouldn’t happen to me.
It was just a guess, but a near guarantee.
I didn’t know why, but I saw emptiness and loneliness in her, and I could sense that she wasn’t lying. And it was very clear to boot.
On top of that, even if Karupedan had other plans, what could I do about it?
Right now, I couldn’t help but follow her words.
It was true that she was a peerless existence that I could not overcome.
The most surefire way to change the situation even a little bit was to defeat Galima and increase my power.
I wanted to know the truth even a moment sooner.
Swallowing a King’s Marble and staring at them at the same time, I spoke.
“Let’s drop the nitpicking conversation here. Shouldn’t we get this started?”
“Pfft. Of course. I wonder who will obtain the condition required to face off against the Unrivaled Goddess….. Most curious.”
“We’ll find out very quickly.”
“Heh. An expression that shows you’ve already confirmed your victory. Good. Kuahh!”
With a fighting roar, a water spear and shield formed in their hands, wiggling like jelly.
Despite being 2m in size, the weapons that formed were even larger than that by far.
They didn’t resemble sturdy metal, but the dangerous aura I could sense from these weapons were incredible.
The emerald light that they glowed with changed to a deep brown as they began their attack.
With the spear they held, they began to swing in an x pattern in thin air.
Due to the insane speed at which they cut through the air, the after image stayed there for quite awhile.
Finishing this odd movement that I could not figure out why they did so, they charged me.
Arriving close to me, they took cover behind their shield while thrusting the spear towards me.
Their attack easily ignored my Mana Shield and struck my body that had changed greatly in appearance thanks to the King’s Marbles.
An incredibly loud sound of friction filled the air round me, and as if something far stronger than my body had scratched past me, there was a dent.
I didn’t take any damage, but I could see that the destructive force behind that attack was incredibly strong.
As if the primer had been peeled off of a wall, I could see that the spot that the spear struck had returned back to its normal color.
It was obvious that if I was struck again on that same spot, I would receive a massive amount of damage.
I had more than enough of King’s Marbles leftover.
And since it was my final opponent, I didn’t hold back on the consumption.
After receiving their round of attack, I readied my stance to return a counter attack.
However, they noticed my intentions and bashed me with their shield to make distance.
Their movements were that of someone skilled with the spear and shield.
However, it wasn’t as if I was limited to melee attacks. Just because they made distance doesn’t mean that I become powerless.
Putting away my sword, I used all my power combined to create Meteor.
Nine giant orbs towered above in the celestial plane’s sky, consuming all the air nearby to fuel its flames.
At my command, the Meteors rained down towards Galima.
“Hm?”
“Did all the gods before me melt down before such a pathetic attack like this?”
“Guess you’re pretty tough?”
“I have greater surprises in store, so you should look forward to it.”
I acted as if it wasn’t anything worth being surprised over, but in reality, I was surprised by their defensive capabilities.
In an instant, the shield that Galima raised had grown massively in both size and thickness.
Meeting the Meteors that fell down at the same time, it released steam, and the Meteors lost their power and dissipated just like that.
So far, other than the Goddess of Death, Gera, no other god had been able to withstand the damage of Meteor with their bodies.
Considering that Gera’s body was immune to all attack skills, just what kind of a monster was this god.
‘Was it because of the contrasting element of my attack?’
It was true that the flame elemental type Meteor was the polar opposite with that god’s ability.
Still, I never expected that they would be able to block my attack so easily.
However, I had already considered situations like this countless times.
My decision was simple.
It didn’t matter what happened.
One hit. I just needed to connect one hit.
Like that, it happened while I was thinking of follow up attacks.
“Ugh!”
“I told you that there are more tricks up my sleeve that you would be surprised by.”
“Argh…. Is this why you swung through thin air before?”
“Kuhahah. Props to you for finding it out even now.”
After blocking my Meteor, they did not move at all.
However, countless attacks came down from above.
An attack pattern similar to a net rained down for a long while, leaving no room to escape.
I came to the conclusion that they had swung around their spear through thin air for this outcome.
I continued to swallow marble after marble, but I couldn’t come out completely unscathed.
‘Invincibility. It said invincibility. Piece of trash! Damn it……’
I genuinely cursed at the marble’s ability.
Invincibility meant that it did not allow any attacks to get through.
I felt like I somewhat finally understood customers who fell for fake exaggerated advertisements.
Despite using mana, magical energy, and all variations of powers I held to the max in order to put up a defense, fresh blood flowed out on my arms and back.
However, as if to say that even being flustered was a waste of time, I quickly recovered from my wounds from using Status Denial and prepared to attack.
Putting my hand deep into the pouch filled with King’s Marbles, I grabbed a fistful and shoved them into my mouth.
I couldn’t even begin to fathom just how many more marbles I had to swallow going forward.
Their attacks ignored my defences and came in with ferocity.
I couldn’t avoid it or block it.
“This has become distasteful.”
“Kuha. It seems that I’ll be the one to take rights to fight against the Unrivaled Goddess.”
“……”
“If it’s your attacks, I’ll take as many as needed. But know that even a single hit means you’re finished! Oraa!”
185. Let Us Try Fighting First
“Woah!”
The moment that I stepped into the darkness, I was sucked in without being able to resist at all, almost as if being picked up by a strong gust of wind.
As if a toilet had been flushed, I was helpless as I was pulled in.
Despite struggling with all my might, it wasn’t possible.
Letting the currents take me, I could only try to make sense of my current situation.
It felt longer than 5 minutes, but probably only 10 seconds had passed?
From the moment of entering the tunnel to being carried away by a whirlpool, all this had taken place before the 1 minute effect of the King’s Marble had worn off.
The swirling blurry scenery cleared from view, and ironically enough, a clear sky came to view, while both my feet were on dry ground.
Despite being positive that I was sucked downwards, I had ended up on the highest point in the celestial plane, where the waterfall began.
I couldn’t make sense of this current situation.
“What is this….. It’s almost as if I died…..”
“It won’t take long before that becomes the case, so don’t rush to conclusions.”
“Hm?”
“Welcome to my palace and your to be grave, human.”
“Are you the so called Garuma or Galima?”
“I am the God of Water, Galima. You, who started as a human, actually managed to come this far. I commend you for that.”
“When I heard that I was going to face the God of Water, I expected a mermaid or a kraken, but you look far more normal than I thought you’d be? It doesn’t suit your title. I’m complimenting you. Be thankful.”
“Pfft! As I thought, you are extremely insolent.”
Galima’s form was that of a human, similar to the other gods.
They had a flawless appearance and a solid muscular body.
On top of that, their hair that went down to their waist was smooth like silk, and the half transparent armor made of glass they wore displayed the peak of magnificence.
Emerald light came from their eyes, and their exposed skin reflected light as if they were made with pearls, letting out a soft glow.
My admiration for their outward appearance didn’t last long.
Galima spoke up once more.
“I shall show you my thanks.”
“Hm? Is it because I was frugal with how I used water usually?”
“Ahahaha!”
“Looks like you have a similar sense of humor with Jong Ho-hyung.”
“I am thanking you for killing the other gods. As you know, gods cannot kill other gods. That was why I could not get rid of them, despite being far stronger than any of them.”
“…..”
“Obviously, you have already risen halfway to godhood at this point, but you still aren’t fully a god yet. The reason why you were able to kill them was that you are a demigod, right?”
“I guess you could say that.”
“That would also mean that I…. could kill you, who isn’t fully a god. Kuhuhu.”
“Hm…. So you plan to steal everything I worked hard for in one go?”
“There is no other way, is there? You have to kill me. If you don’t, you will obtain the wrath of the Unrivaled Goddess. I will kill you and rule over the celestial plane. This is a fight we both want to happen, right?”
“That’s true. But Karupedan is a goddess as well. Even if you kill me and obtain the power of the other five gods, you still can’t kill her. After all, it’ll be the fight between gods.”
“Aren’t you dim witted. There is a huge flaw in your statement.”
“What?”
“Water exists everywhere. Do you think that I wouldn’t know of the contract you made with Karupedan? Think about it carefully. The Unrivaled Goddess that will meet her end at by your hand. How will you kill her?”
“It’s obvious that I’ll be using my Awakened powers and the demon king’s Authority…..”
“Now do you understand? Think about how you obtained the power of the demon king. You obtained it by killing your opponent. The Awakened power that Gera created wouldn’t transfer over to me, but it is different from the demon king’s power. With your death, I will be able to obtain a method to face off against the Unrivaled Goddess.”
“This also means that Karupedan would obtain the condition to kill you. Even though you’re smart, you only see one way and not consider the other. Think about it carefully, okay? Don’t make this harder than it needs to be and die peacefully by my hands. The sins you have committed until now are already more than enough, but how much further are you planning to push?”
“Pfft! Do you really think that Karupedan is trying to just hand her life over to you?”
“……”
“If she really did want to die… she wouldn’t have cared who would have taken her life. She would only be searching for anyone capable of doing so. That is why such a thing as her putting her throat to your knife won’t happen. As you said, if she really wanted to die that is. Do you understand?”
At Galima’s words, my mind went blank for a brief moment.
It made me think that I had failed to consider a very important truth all this time.
Karupedan hated humans without a reason all this time.
To be precise, it wasn’t that she didn’t have a reason, but didn’t know what the reason was.
But her giving up her life to the subject of her hatred didn’t add up.
After defeating Galima in front of me, the worst case that could happen after this was as follows.
Karupedan didn’t want to lose her life to me from the start.
It was just that she saw the other gods with disgust and wanted them gone.
Since she couldn’t do it herself, she had used me to do so.
Then, if Galima also dies, and all the gods have been butchered?
It was true that her knife could come for me.
However, that wouldn’t happen to me.
It was just a guess, but a near guarantee.
I didn’t know why, but I saw emptiness and loneliness in her, and I could sense that she wasn’t lying. And it was very clear to boot.
On top of that, even if Karupedan had other plans, what could I do about it?
Right now, I couldn’t help but follow her words.
It was true that she was a peerless existence that I could not overcome.
The most surefire way to change the situation even a little bit was to defeat Galima and increase my power.
I wanted to know the truth even a moment sooner.
Swallowing a King’s Marble and staring at them at the same time, I spoke.
“Let’s drop the nitpicking conversation here. Shouldn’t we get this started?”
“Pfft. Of course. I wonder who will obtain the condition required to face off against the Unrivaled Goddess….. Most curious.”
“We’ll find out very quickly.”
“Heh. An expression that shows you’ve already confirmed your victory. Good. Kuahh!”
With a fighting roar, a water spear and shield formed in their hands, wiggling like jelly.
Despite being 2m in size, the weapons that formed were even larger than that by far.
They didn’t resemble sturdy metal, but the dangerous aura I could sense from these weapons were incredible.
The emerald light that they glowed with changed to a deep brown as they began their attack.
With the spear they held, they began to swing in an x pattern in thin air.
Due to the insane speed at which they cut through the air, the after image stayed there for quite awhile.
Finishing this odd movement that I could not figure out why they did so, they charged me.
Arriving close to me, they took cover behind their shield while thrusting the spear towards me.
Their attack easily ignored my Mana Shield and struck my body that had changed greatly in appearance thanks to the King’s Marbles.
An incredibly loud sound of friction filled the air round me, and as if something far stronger than my body had scratched past me, there was a dent.
I didn’t take any damage, but I could see that the destructive force behind that attack was incredibly strong.
As if the primer had been peeled off of a wall, I could see that the spot that the spear struck had returned back to its normal color.
It was obvious that if I was struck again on that same spot, I would receive a massive amount of damage.
I had more than enough of King’s Marbles leftover.
And since it was my final opponent, I didn’t hold back on the consumption.
After receiving their round of attack, I readied my stance to return a counter attack.
However, they noticed my intentions and bashed me with their shield to make distance.
Their movements were that of someone skilled with the spear and shield.
However, it wasn’t as if I was limited to melee attacks. Just because they made distance doesn’t mean that I become powerless.
Putting away my sword, I used all my power combined to create Meteor.
Nine giant orbs towered above in the celestial plane’s sky, consuming all the air nearby to fuel its flames.
At my command, the Meteors rained down towards Galima.
“Hm?”
“Did all the gods before me melt down before such a pathetic attack like this?”
“Guess you’re pretty tough?”
“I have greater surprises in store, so you should look forward to it.”
I acted as if it wasn’t anything worth being surprised over, but in reality, I was surprised by their defensive capabilities.
In an instant, the shield that Galima raised had grown massively in both size and thickness.
Meeting the Meteors that fell down at the same time, it released steam, and the Meteors lost their power and dissipated just like that.
So far, other than the Goddess of Death, Gera, no other god had been able to withstand the damage of Meteor with their bodies.
Considering that Gera’s body was immune to all attack skills, just what kind of a monster was this god.
‘Was it because of the contrasting element of my attack?’
It was true that the flame elemental type Meteor was the polar opposite with that god’s ability.
Still, I never expected that they would be able to block my attack so easily.
However, I had already considered situations like this countless times.
My decision was simple.
It didn’t matter what happened.
One hit. I just needed to connect one hit.
Like that, it happened while I was thinking of follow up attacks.
“Ugh!”
“I told you that there are more tricks up my sleeve that you would be surprised by.”
“Argh…. Is this why you swung through thin air before?”
“Kuhahah. Props to you for finding it out even now.”
After blocking my Meteor, they did not move at all.
However, countless attacks came down from above.
An attack pattern similar to a net rained down for a long while, leaving no room to escape.
I came to the conclusion that they had swung around their spear through thin air for this outcome.
I continued to swallow marble after marble, but I couldn’t come out completely unscathed.
‘Invincibility. It said invincibility. Piece of trash! Damn it……’
I genuinely cursed at the marble’s ability.
Invincibility meant that it did not allow any attacks to get through.
I felt like I somewhat finally understood customers who fell for fake exaggerated advertisements.
Despite using mana, magical energy, and all variations of powers I held to the max in order to put up a defense, fresh blood flowed out on my arms and back.
However, as if to say that even being flustered was a waste of time, I quickly recovered from my wounds from using Status Denial and prepared to attack.
Putting my hand deep into the pouch filled with King’s Marbles, I grabbed a fistful and shoved them into my mouth.
I couldn’t even begin to fathom just how many more marbles I had to swallow going forward.
Their attacks ignored my defences and came in with ferocity.
I couldn’t avoid it or block it.
“This has become distasteful.”
“Kuha. It seems that I’ll be the one to take rights to fight against the Unrivaled Goddess.”
“……”
“If it’s your attacks, I’ll take as many as needed. But know that even a single hit means you’re finished! Oraa!”
