Leveling with the Gods

Surt, sitting at the top of the mountain, leaned on his chin and observed the landscape.

The enormous mountain felt like a small chair to him. When he sat down, the mountain transformed into an erupting volcano. As he lifted his head, he saw a red dragon at the end of his sight.

"Vritra... (Brythra/Britra...)"

Surt frowned.

Why is that guy here?

Dragons had no reason to help him. However, it wasn't difficult to imagine a reason.

-Let's halt Odin's movements for a moment, but all that remains is the fall of Muspelheim.

Foolish Chaos.

It was his doing.

"Is this what it's supposed to mean to delay time?"

Vritra was the highest of the dragons.

Not even Odin would be able to kill him so easily.

Moreover, hundreds of Leviathans would be enough to stop Odin's army.

Thud~

Feeling footsteps behind him, Surt turned his head from his position at the top of the mountain.

He could sense a strange presence, and he knew it as soon as he saw it.

"It's you."

A man so large that he looked like a young giant.

He wore a lion's skin over his head and walked with heavy steps towards Surt.

"The one shamelessly calling himself Giant Slayer."

Hercules stood in front of Surt.

"I've never called myself that."

Hercules' eyes gleamed beneath the lion's skin.

"It was you who called me that."

Indeed, the title of "Giant Slayer" had been coined by the giants themselves, and no one else. And for good reason, as Hercules had killed many of them.

Although it was a title created out of a misunderstanding, at this moment, he had to accept that name.

"That's what he said."

Hercules' faith in YuWon was deep.

"If you live, many more people will die than in the Gigantomachy."

Kwaack-.

The mace in Hercules' hand tightened. Ominous magic began to flow through the ground. The ground sank beneath his feet, and Hercules' body became heavy.

"So I have to capture you."

Thud, thud, thud-.

[Gigantification]

Hercules' body swelled.

His body took the form of a giant, and a supernatural amount of magic flowed through him.

And at that moment...

Fear, fear-.

Surt felt a fear he had never felt before. But still, Surtur smiled.

"So the System has this function too."

It wasn't his own fear.

It was the fear imprinted deep in his genes, clinging to the System.

The name "Giant Slayer" had an effect that even made Surt tremble.

Of course...

"Amusing, simply amusing..."

That level of fear was nothing more than a mere precaution for Surtur.

"A guy who just entered the top 20..."

Thump-.

Thud- Thump, thump-.

As Surt stood up, mountains crumbled, and the earth shook.

"How dare you challenge me?"

Surt believed that, apart from Odin, there was no one who could be his enemy.

Hercules was said to be the enemy of the Giants, and looking at him right now, he was indeed a formidable enemy. But that was just a story that held some weight in fights between equals. In the face of the difference in power, the advantage was meaningless.

"You've been too caught up in your hero games."

"It's not a game."

"...!"

Surt turned his head at the voice he heard from behind.

How the hell did he move back there?

Wham!

Hercules' club struck Sur's head.

Crack!

A strong impact resounded in his head.

Surt's head was driven into the ground. Hercules, who had obtained a new weapon, slung his club over his shoulder and spoke.

"It's justice."

***

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***

Kwaang!

Surt's fist and Hercules' club collided.

Ziing!

Through his fist, he felt the solidity of the club and Hercules' strength.

Thud!

Hercules stepped on Sur's fist and moved. As Surt's gaze turned toward Hercules, Hercules' club swung.

Twack!

Thud!

Surt's body, larger and stronger than a mountain, staggered as he took the blow to the chest. From Surt's perspective, how the small body of Hercules could emit such force was a mystery and impressive.

"Ugh..."

Surt groaned in pain in his chest. It had been a long time since he had felt such pain. Not even during the fight against the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal, and Diablo.

Bwoooong!

Hercules' club flew back toward Sur's head.

That's dangerous.

The impact of the first strike still resonated in his head.

However, fortunately, Hercules' fighting style was extremely simple and primitive.

Surt's fist reached out for the club flying toward his head.

Kwaang!

The collision of the two forces drowned out the sound. Both Hercules and Surt were knocked backward simultaneously, struggling to maintain their balance.

Surt looked at the club in Hercules' hand.

"It's not an ordinary weapon."

This time, he swung his fist to shatter the club, which was the offensive weapon in the first place. But the club, which appeared to be made of wood, did not shatter. Even if it was enchanted to strengthen it, there was no way an ordinary wooden stick would not break.

"A branch of Yggdrasil."

After a moment of doubt, Surt was convinced.

He wondered how the hell he managed to turn something like that into an item, but there were two people he could think of.

Odin, the bearer of the branch of Yggdrasil.

And Hephaestus, Hercules' brother.

It was not impossible for the two of them to create such an item.

"So, this is the reason for your confidence."

Hercules' strength was astonishing.

In terms of sheer strength, Hercules was not inferior to Surt.

It was not for nothing that he was said to have the strongest body in the Tower.

He had no special abilities or items apart from Gigantification, but now the branch of Yggdrasil was in his hand.

It was like giving wings to a tiger.

Moreover, with the title of "Giant Slayer," he achieved superiority in terms of affinity, even against Surt, making him a threat.

"At this moment, the branch of Yggdrasil is in Hercules' hands, and he has come to this place."

It was strange...

"It can't be a coincidence."

There was a famous saying among the people of the Murim World that had now spread throughout the Tower.

In this Tower, there are no coincidences.

Everything was inevitability disguised as coincidence, the result of someone pulling the strings.

Furthermore, Foolish Chaos was such a person.

-Someone is betting more than me. I never thought that someone other than you could take the Fire.

It was a statement he didn't fully understand due to the excitement of the moment. But after some time had passed, he slowly began to comprehend the meaning of those words.

Surt's gaze turned towards Odin and the Leviathans of Vritra fighting in the distance.

In his own way, Foolish Chaos seemed to have prepared to buy time, but it was nothing more than a temporary tactic. Additionally, Hercules, who had appeared here, was not an easy opponent.

"I have to admit it."

Fwoosh-.

Flames erupted from Surt's body.

"Whoever it is, they have played a good game."

The flames gathered in Surt's hand.

The flames rising towards the sky formed the figure of a giant sword. It was a representative ability that symbolized Surt, the fiery sword that shattered the dense clouds of the sky.

"I will kill you before Odin arrives. That guy and you joining forces is what the person who prepared the game wants."

From now on, Surt would speak in earnest. He had also realized that this place was the end of Ragnarok.

Hiss-.

The fiery sword twisted the air.

Hercules didn't know how to avoid it.

First of all, he had never fought in such a battle.

The fiery sword clashed against Hercules' club.

Pwung-!

Hercules was enveloped in flames.

Hercules, who had leaped towards Surt in a single bound, was charred and fell to the ground.

Crack-!

The ground sank deeply, and Surt flew down there. Surt stomped on Hercules forcefully to make sure he was dead.

"Did you really think you could make a difference just with that new weapon...?"

Bang, bang, bang-!

The ground shook like an earthquake with each kick from Surt.

While trampling on Hercules' lifeless body, Surt yelled furiously.

"What do you think will change...?"

Thud-.

Surt's foot stopped.

Surt, who was exerting pressure on his foot, realized that something was holding onto his foot.

Crack!

The muscles of Hercules, which were beneath Surt's foot, contracted.

He held the club in one hand and lifted Surt's foot with the other.

"What kind of strength is this...?"

He knew Hercules was strong, but he didn't know he was brutally strong.

Hercules, whose body was charred by Surt's flames, opened his mouth and murmured weakly.

"I'm not smart enough to understand what he's thinking."

He was not only strong. The moment he held the club made from the branches of Yggdrasil in his hands, Hercules' body turned into something completely different.

That was the power of the item, the power of Yggdrasil.

"However, one thing is certain."

Hercules's eyes, which rose from under Surt's foot, gleamed.

"In the end, all of you will lose."

"What arrogance..."

Hiss-!

Dropping his foot, Surt wielded the Sword of Fire once again.

The burning flames grew redder and redder. As if they had swallowed all the fire in the world, the temperature became too high to approach.

"First, I'll kill you, and then I'll slit that ridiculous guy's throat."

He couldn't kill Hercules with physical attacks. Sur, who realized that, tried to swing his sword of fire again.

[The 'Heart of Fire' controls the flames]

[The 'Golden Cinder Eyes' control the flames]

[The 'Holy Fire' threatens the flames]

The messages appeared in Surt's mind.

The flames in his hand trembled.

"What...?"

It wouldn't have been a great threat to Hercules even if Surt's sword of fire had been swung. Moreover, not even Surt, who wielded the sword, could properly give his strength, so his attack was useless.

Surt turned his head to search for the opponent who stirred his flames.

Hercules did the same.

"I see you've arrived."

His mouth curved into a smile.

And at that moment...

"You came close."

Thud~.

Above the collapsed rock mountain, YuWon approached Hercules and greeted him.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm still fine."

Hercules stood up from the ground and shook off the dust and ashes from his body.

But Surt, who was in front of him, hadn't moved since he had seen YuWon...

Tadak, tadak, tadak-.

The purple flame clung to YuWon's body.

The familiar sensation of Magic Power flowing within his body.

"Yes..."

At that moment, Surt realized.

"Son of a b*tch!"

The thief who had stolen his Fire was indeed that guy, YuWon.