Chapter 205
Before Yeon-woo met Agares, he had contemplated how to fight against him.
Agares was definitely going to want Sesha and himself. Yeon-woo couldn't let himself be played by him.
But Yeon-woo didn't have any power. How could he defeat Agares, who was strong enough to crush the god Brahma?
So Yeon-woo changed his tactics.
'If I can't stop him, I have to call someone who can.'
Thankfully, he still had a way out.
The summoning circle that Agares had gone through. Agares had definitely destroyed it, but the magic circle made with Brahm's holiness couldn't be broken so easily. There was still a little bit of it left.
So Yeon-woo had concentrated his consciousness there and made contact with it.
Information flooded out from the circle like a waterfall. They were formulas that Brahm had put down in the Book of Mercury. They were so complex that they were hard to approach.
[Time Difference]
However, Yeon-woo quickly fixed the areas that were broken. His brain hurt like it was burning, but he continued to collect the knowledge.
And when the function of the summoning circle was somewhat recovered—
The magic power that was always in his Magic Circuit evaporated. He felt empty, but he didn't lose his grip and lifted his head.
The red sky began to split. As the blue sky opened, a column of light from above pushed the darkness away. Even Agares couldn't invade this area.
And soon enough, a large iron door slowly appeared, piercing through the clouds.
[Who.....calls.....?]
It was a voice that rang in his head. It was a heavy voice.
Yeon-woo spoke to the being that was somewhere behind the door. To the god that could fight against Agares.
[And the price.....?]
'Aegis.'
It was the godly artifact that had been a great help to him, but to defeat Agares, he had to give an item that was worth as much.
[Deal done.]
Kookookoo!
The iron door started to creak open.
And under that, something strange descended below, stretching its neck out.
A colossal five-headed boa snake that could probably easily sweep away an entire mountain slithered and hissed.
And above it, there was a familiar face.
Agares's face crumpled seeing it.
[Hermes.....!]
The sky that Hermes came down from was colored with blue, and brought with it a refreshing air.
On the other hand, the ground where Agares was was filled with darkness. As light and darkness clashed, a boundary line was made.
Hermes made a pleasant smile above the boa's head.
"Long time no see, Agares. Has it been 800 or 900 years? This is the first time we've seen each other after the sealing of Luciel, right?"
[Why is someone who should just be watching.....!]
"What do you think?"
Hermes shrugged his shoulders like it was obvious.
"I received an offer, and I'm here to pay for what I got."
His smile deepened.
"Unlike you, who scammed through half of it, I'm planning on giving more than what I owe."
A god could adjust however they wanted to give something in return for what they got. And sometimes, they would be at a disadvantage.
The blessing or miracle of a god was included in this. For priests, this was important to maintain their religion.
On the other hand, if a demon wanted to give something in return for someone's sacrifice, it was a 'deal.' They had to return as much as they received, but some tricks were involved in it. They would never do something that was disadvatageous to them.
So Hermes was threatening that he would do something that was disadvantageous to himself for the first time in a long while.
It meant that he would match whatever Agares did to block him.
Hermes giggled, like this situation was too amusing.
And this was obvious, but gods and demons definitely didn't have a good relationship with each other.
Uedeudeuk!
Agares ground his teeth.
He was stronger than most gods, but Hermes was different. Even for demons with some level of power, Hermes was too much.
And the bigger problem was that Hermes wasn't the only god here.
Under the sky, where the boa snake was coming out, there was something else looking in this direction. They had a godly level that Hermes couldn't match. No, in the small 'category' of fighting, it was a being that was much more annoying than Hermes.
To deal with two gods at once was hard even for Agares.
"Alright. So decide now."
Hermes smiled even wider seeing Agares.
"Are you going to fight with me like this, or step back?"
The boa slithered around Agares, ready to attack when it received the command.
For a small moment, Agares was deep in thought.
And—
[It wouldn't be bad. For a god and demon to play on the lower floors.]
Agares smiled violently. Then, tens of black wings spread out. As Agares disappeared in the darkness, thousands of tentacles soared up into the air.
At the same time, 5 more boa snakes came down.
Kurrrng!
The stage began to ring.
***
Hwaaa—
In myths, the battle of gods and demons were often portrayed with the heavens and the earth shaking. The seas would dry up, and rain would pour down from the sky.
But that might've only been in the myths, or maybe the fight of the two was just different.
Hermes and Agares's fight was simpler than expected.
Light and darkness. It only looked like white and black were mixed together.
Like black ink spread in water to taint it, the darkness from the ground tried to taint the light.
On the other hand, the light split to purify the darkness. The ground reflected the light, and darkness repetitively shot up and fell back.
It was something that became one, and tried to influence each other, as they tried to gain the upper hand.
To Yeon-woo, with his Draconic Eyes, it was clear as day.
Something gigantic that was impossible to tell from the earth was slowly moving. It was big enough to make the boa look tiny, so it was hard to tell exactly how it looked like.
Every time the form that was probably Agares's actual body moved, ice, wind, fire, and light continued to blink in and out of existence.
On the other hand, Hermes called for more boas while still on top of his original. Ice, wind, fire, and light caused explosions.
The recovery and destruction of the stage changed according to the movement of the two.
The Demons' Forest was already heavily damaged, but the ground cracked so deeply that you couldn't even see the bottom, and trees continued to grow, making a lush forest again.
They were shaking the laws of nature.
It was something that no being could ever interrupt.
'That's.....a god and a demon.'
Yeon-woo clenched his fist. Looking at the fight that he couldn't dare approach, his mouth dried.
Vigrid, which was in Yeon-woo's hand, was lightly shaking.
Although his Cold Blooded trait was applied, he was panting for breath just by looking at it. Even now, he felt like his lungs would explode.
And for Hermes's case back to when Yeon-woo had met him in the Olympus Treasury, Yeon-woo was surprised again.
It was clear he had been hiding his presence out of kindness. Even the goddess Urd looked weak in front of them. If he had to compare her to something, she was similar to the shedding from the Monkey King's dungeon.
Since there were two of them like that.
The battle between them was greater than Yeon-woo had imagined. Even the function of the stage had paused.
How it was on the outside, and what had happened to the players clearing through the stage. He couldn't even imagine it.
They might've thought that the warm column of light was here to protect them.
It was an energy that was warm and familiar.
He looked at where the column of light was coming from. There was no way he saw anything, but he felt like a pair of eyes were looking at him warmly.
'Athena.'
This was how he felt when he received Athena's blessing with the Aegis.
He had definitely only called for Hermes with Aegis as the sacrifice. But it was not so unexpected that Athena was here as well. However, she wasn't able to come here herself because the cost had not been enough. It seemed like she was protecting him through the portal that Hermes had left open.
He didn't know why Athena was protecting him.
However, one thing he was sure of was that Athena and Hermes seemed to have positive feelings towards him and that she was saving Phante, Edora, and Brahm, who were probably still somewhere on the stage.
And Yeon-woo accepted her gaze to mean that she was cheering him on.
Although she didn't say it explicitly, she was trying to help Yeon-woo so he didn't feel pressed down by Agares.
"Huu.....!"
Under Athena's blessing, Yeon-woo caught his breath. As his nervousness faded away, he woke up his dulled senses, and pulled up his fighting spirit.
'I have to get a demon to help Sesha.'
The Philosopher's Stone was important, but helping his sick niece was more important to Yeon-woo.
Agares was too much to be considered a material for that.....but there was nothing to replace him. It would take a long time for Brahm to reconstruct the Illusionary World.
He might not be much help, but he still needed to do something.
['Athena' looks at you with calm eyes. She is satisfied with your firm resolve.]
['Athena' sends you her blessing!]
An intense strength came from within his soul. He felt like his body would float up into the sky.
Yeon-woo pushed down the feeling of fainting and controlled the power that Athena gave him into his cells. It activated his cells along with the Demon's Blessing.
Kwadedeuk, kwadeuk—
Holy power didn't fit well with the Dragon's Blessing. However, if it was changed a bit, it could stimulate and grow the Demon's Blessing.
This was what Yeon-woo was aiming for, and he amplified the Demon's Blessing he absorbed with Bathory's Vampiric Sword.
And even that wasn't enough, so he opened Intrenian and absorbed the Ceratopsian Dinosaur's 5 hearts, the Kraken's inner core, and the purple Demon Flowers with Bathory's Vampiric Sword.
Normally, he would've readjusted their amounts and refined them, but he didn't have time to do that.
The pain of his bones being crushed and his body being shaken up followed, but Yeon-woo didn't blink.
On top of that, he forced the energy of the Monkey King that he had synchronized and tried to make it into one.
Kwang!
And with an explosion, his body expanded, and shrank again.
His scales that shined blue were tinted with black, and his blackish blue scales sparkled beautifully.
It was a sign that with the Demon's Blessing, his 2nd step awakening was almost at its end.
[The Demon's Blessing is being awakened.]
[The Demon's Blessing is being awakened.]
.....
[The Demon's Blessing had successfully settled.]
[Demon Blood is added to your dragon's blood.]
[The demonic nature is being soldily engraved into your dragon bones.]
.....
[The combination of the Demon's Blessing and the Dragon's Blessing have been successful.]
[The change of your foundations has been successful. The trait 'Dragon Body' has changed to 'Demonic Dragon Body.']
[You have accomplished an outstanding feat. Additional Karma is being rewarded.]
[You have received 10,000 Karma.]
[You have received an additional 15,000 Karma.]
.....
Demonic Dragon Body.
Gaining the power that his brother had only theorized about, Yeon-woo gripped Vigrid with his new power.
Kashing!
An enormous amount of magic power entered Vigrid. The black blade shined so much white light it was like it was going to break.
[Sword Purification]
[Life of a Fighter]
With Draconic Eyes, Yeon-woo targeted the large monster that was beyond the wall of darkness.
As he did, a power that was almost too much for Yeon-woo to handle poured out.
The Sword Purification was an option that was stronger the stronger the target was, so with Agares as the target, the energy was incredible.
With additional fighting spirit on top of that, his attacking power multiplied.
As his body was injured in different places again, veins popped out above his skin.
Even though Yeon-woo's body was stronger with his new trait, a strength that surpassed his limits could destroy his body.
However.
It was also true that if he overcame those limits, he would become even stronger.
[You have reached the limits of the Dragon's Blessing. A new change is occurring.]
[You have reached the limits of the Demon's Blessing. A new change is occurring, looking for new possibilities.]
[The 3rd Step Authority is being released.]
[Authority: Element Contact]
It was the 3rd awakening.
Kwadeuk—
Gigantic dragon wings spread out from Yeon-woo's back. As his wings of fire and his dragon wings combined, they became bigger, and his dragon scales reached up to his eyes. Sharp canines popped out from his lips.
Yeon-woo focused his boiling power on Vigrid, along with the holy power from Athena.
'Nike. Nemesis.'
He woke up the two Mythical Beasts that had been waiting in the Philosopher's Stone.
[Master, fighting!]
[Dreams.....fade away.]
Fire property was added to the sword, and it expanded by several times.
And.
He swung his sword powerfully.
[Holy Fire]
[Wave of Fire - Hwarye]
[72 Bian - Jul, Pok, Dan]
Kwaaang!
The fire from Vigrid extended all the way up to the edges of the stage and split right through the darkness to pierce the monster in the middle of the stage.