Once he decided to enter Revival, he immediately held his hair by the middle. In an instant, he cut his hair.
His hair that was once too long to bother to measure was now slightly above his waist. I still thought his hair was too long for a man, but he seemed satisfied with himself as he picked up the hair he cut off and imbued mana into it.
âToday, I will only use Gungnir. Show me your and your guildâs power. Prove to me the potential of your offer.â
â⊠Fine.â
It didnât take long for his several hundred year of hair to come together in the form of a spear. As it continued to take in Kainâs mana, the spear became metallic, and I was honestly impressed.
âWow.â
He swung it around a few times then nodded.
âIt should have enough power for a one-time use.â
âItâs more than enough. What a monstrous amount of mana.â
âFor several hundred years, leftover mana stockpiled on part of my body I didnât need. Alright, letâs go to Earth.â
He slowly walked forward and stepped out of his room. Even though he was just wearing a single layer of clothes, he was giving off an imposing aura akin to an dominating emperor.
Still, he was an ally of an equal standing. No matter how pressured I felt inwardly, I acted fine on the outside as I returned to Earth. Obviously, we came out at the spot I entered the dungeon. In other words, we were right in front of the gate.
âAh, Shin!â
âSorry, Ye-Eun. We might not have enough time left, so we should hurry.â
While Ye-Eun and other Revival members looked at the good-looking man accompanying me in shock, I forced them to stand back. It seemed Kain didnât plan on dragging things out either. As soon as he located the gateâs entrance, he narrowed his eyes and nodded.
âItâs more powerful than I thought. Using the dungeonâs power? A lot has changed since hundreds of years ago.â
âOr maybe, nothing changed at all.â
My comment made him pause for a moment. Soon, he snickered and nodded.
âRight, I was mistaken. So, about entering that thing⊠Simply put, itâs impossible.â
âWhat!?â
Didnât Loretta say Gungnir would be able to break through the gate? Did I trust her too much!? Seeing me shocked, Kain shook his head.
âI meant itâs impossible with just Gungnir. Iâll need to add Sleipnirâs power.â
ââŠâ
I knew he was helping me, but I wasnât particularly happy with him purposely messing with me in such an important situation. When I eyed him sharply, he quickly continued.
âIâll open it with Gungnir and send one in with Sleipnir. Only one person can go in.â
âIâll go.â
If only one could go, it obviously had to be me. I couldnât leave it to anyone else. I might have asked Father if he had a godâs true name, but he didnât. There were many that tried to convince me and Daisy was surprisingly the most adamant.
âIâll go. Kang Shin, you already fought. Too tired.â
âDonât worry, I got an upgrade to make up for it. You should be feeling it too, right?â
âYou used godâs power.â
âYou used it too. I should go. Plus, we need your ability to fight the King of the Dead.â
âWhat if Kang Shin gets hurt?â
âIâm worried about Mommy, but also Daddy. I want to go too.â
âIâll be fine. Ina too, stay here with the others.â
While I convinced everyone, Kain activated Odinâs power. When Odinâs power descended on the spear he made with his hair, the hair became larger and longer, and materialized aura rose up from it.
âSleipnir moves in an instant. The moment I shoot Gungnir, Iâll summon Sleipnir, so hold onto it immediately.â
âI donât plan on losing to anyone in speed, so donât worry.â
He nodded. I looked back at the others one last time and shouted.
âKeep your eyes on St. Peterâs Basilica. We donât know whatâs going to happen. Daisy, if they attack us first, we might not be able to open our inventory, so have your Laki out. Everyone else, donât forget about what I told you!â
âDonât worry, Son. Your fatherâs here.â
Father grinned and smacked my shoulder.
âSo relax and go save my daughter.â
âGungnir!â
The moment Father finished his sentence, Kain shot his Gungnir. The spear, told by myths to always hit its target, left Kainâs hand and was sucked into the gate. Soon, the gate swirled and a huge hole appeared. Immediately afterwards, the eight-legged horse Kain summoned charged towards the hole. I use Divine Speed and quickly jumped on top of it.
It seemed there was an unseen connection between Gungnir and Sleipnir, as the hole which was closing itself after Gungnir entered suddenly enlarged itself when Sleipnir neared. Along with a feeling of being devoured by the gate, I was sucked in. Sleipnir didnât stop and continued to run.
The gateâs inside was completely dark. The sky was full of black storm clouds, and black monsters that seemed to be minions of the gateâs king filled up the sky. Compared to the Beast Kingâs simple jungle environment, the current scene was far more pressuring.
[Kuhuk!]
The first thing I heard was a scream. Seemingly flying at the speed of light above Sleipnir, I surveyed the area. In front of me⊠was something gigantic.
âWhatâs that?â
First, I jumped off of Sleipnir. It didnât slow down in the slightest and continued to charge before piercing through something giant. Again, a thunderous scream rang out.
[How did you get in!?]
Clearly, that giant was the one who screamed. I thought about what he was, but I couldnât ascertain his shape. How was that possible? He was in front of my eyes, but I couldnât capture his form?
âShin!â
Thankfully, I could capture Hwayaâs voice. As I summoned Sharana, I used Talaria and flew towards the direction of her voice.
âHwaya!â
It was thanks to Gungnir and Sleipnir buying us time. Currently, that giant was busy screaming out in pain and didnât seem to care about attacking us. Relieved that Hwaya was fine, I immediately flew towards her.
Upon closer inspection, however, she wasnât âfine.â Her battle dress was torn up and she was full of wounds. Still, she still had all her limbs.
When Hwaya saw me, she widened her eyes. I stopped next to her and asked.
âAre you safe?â
She shouted back.
âThatâs what I want to ask! You were alone with a king! What happened!?â
âI killed him.â
âI see⊠Thank goodness.â
Hwaya drooped her body. Her teary eyes told me what she was currently feeling, but I didnât say anything.
She continued.
âI knew you must have entered by yourself too⊠I was so worried.â
âYou were alone with a king too!â
âI can die, but if you dieâŠ!â
âHwaya, there isnât anyone that âcanâ die.â
I spoke firmly as I took out my Chaotic Spear. That giant existence with an indeterminate form had finished writhing and was turning its head towards us. I had no clue where to attack him, but Gungnir and Sleipnir had caused him to scream. If he had an immortal body, he wouldnât have done so. I knew there had to be a way to injure him.
Moreover, in the end, he was one of the Five Kings. Just like the Beast King said, if one of them were vastly superior to the others, they wouldnât have been called the Five Kings. There may have been an hierarchy amongst them, but the difference wasnât huge. I had already defeated the Beast King. Now, Hwaya was with me too.
I reaffirmed my resolve and spoke for both Hwaya and myself to hear.
âWeâre going to survive until the end, Hwaya. Stay with me until the end.â
âUntil the end? Iâll be with your until the end?â
I looked back at her. For some reason, her eyes were strangely out of strength.
âShin, you arenât interested in me anyways. That elf is the only one⊠You wonât accept me anyways.â
âNo.â
â⊠Eh?â
âIâll accept you.â
With that, I turned around and prepared myself for battle. The large flock of monsters in the air glared at us and shot towards us like rain. Seeing how each of them surpassed SS rank, I released my Evil Eyes.
Half of the monsters turned to stone, but more than half remained unpetrified. Next to me, Hwaya raised her hands and burned up the monsters with flames at a terrifying temperature.
âY-Youâll accept me⊠But in the past, youâŠ!â
âThe way I think has changed since then⊠And what you mean to me changed tooâŠâ
Countless number of worlds and countless number of enemies. I undoubtedly had a long journey ahead of me with my current comrades. Some of them may quit when Earth became safe, but I felt that most wouldnât.
Coincidentally, there wasnât just camaraderie between us. For a long time, I was ignorant of their feelings or I had pretended to be ignorant. But now, it was hard to gloss over them. Seeing Loretta and Kain, I realized something.
I was no longer just an ordinary Korean person. I wasnât even an ordinary Earthling. Considering all the things I had to do I couldnât restrain myself under the name of Earth. If I had to pick a name, it would be explorer. Or maybe, savior was better. So I didnât need to restrict myself to Earthâs common sense. I couldnât.
Accepting only Loretta, but still brining other female members around to other worlds. I couldnât do something like that. I had finally decided, and now that I have, I didnât plan on hesitating. Imagining Linâs grinning face irked me, but I had no other choice.
[You killed the other king! And you came to find me! Kahahaha, that lion died! Interesting, yes, very interesting!]
The king roared. In an instant, I somewhat found out what his ability was. He didnât control high-temperature lava, he didnât have the ability to conceal himself from the world, he didnât have mountainous power or control toxic acid, nor did he control corpses. He controlled emotions of all creations.
His voice caused ripples in peopleâs hearts. Even the most powerful warriors or the most powerful magicians were mere humans when their mentalities broke down. This king had the ability to break down even the most strong-minded individual and bring him to ruin.
I was surprised that Hwaya was alive after facing off against someone like him for dozens of minutes. At the same time, I understood why Hwaya would say something she never would normally. When I realized it, a chill went down my back.
Hwaya was reaching her limit. If I came just a bit laterâŠ
âHwaya, are you okay?â
I resisted the effect of the kingâs voice with Absolute Soulâs power and asked Hwaya. I was thinking it might be better to make her faint. But for some reason, Hwayaâs answer was a bit strange.
âYeah⊠Iâm fine, Iâm extremely fine.â
I turned around. Hwayaâs cheeks were bright red like she was a volcano about to erupt.
âAre you really fine!?â
âIâm so fine I donât know what to do!â
Hwaya shouted. She certainly didnât sound fine!
âI feel like I can kill him on my own!â
âHwaya, calm down!â
âI wonât die, Shin! I donât want to die!â
Hwayaâs eyes shone with a fearsome light. In that instant, a fiery blaze shot up above the incoming minions. They were flames of a truly colossal scale. Thinking about how Hwaya still had such firepower, a feeling of respect rose up within me.
Hwaya spread her arms out and shouted.
âIâm so happy right now and Iâm sure more happy things will come in the future! How can I die now!?â
âHwaya, youâŠâ
âLetâs survive until the end, Shin! Until the end, crushing through all these bastards!â
Perhaps unhappy that Hwaya got her spirit back, the king led his formless body towards us. Just this made my heart drop a beat. Great despair that I had overcome until now with hope for the future suddenly rose up in my head.
A great fear laid its gaze on us.
[Come, Hero. Your body defeated the Beast King. Letâs see if you can withstand in front of my fear!]
The battle between us and the fear-ruling king had now begun.