Chapter 274 – Tutorial 59th floor (9)
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[The God of Light is excited!]
[The God of Light is excited!]
[The God of Light cheers!]
[The God of Light is on someone’s head…]
[Voting begins]
[Yes: 61 votes No: 1 vote]
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“It’s the best.” As I said a little while ago, I mumbled once more because this was really the best.
The explanation of the Spirit King, who mentioned that the source could raise the level, was on spot. It really was.
From below, a dull thud resounded. It was the sound of the native god falling down. No matter what kind of god he was, he wouldn’t be able to handle the explosion within his body. The native god fell without even screaming.
Now, there was only one native god left, who seemed to have lost his fighting spirit. The battle did not seem to carry on. Meanwhile, I thought it was good that he didn’t run away.
[I can’t run away. I might lose something more precious than my life.]
“What do you mean by that?”
[There’s a lot of people watching from down there. If I show defeat, their respect for me as a god will plunge. The supply of faith will get blocked, and as a result, we may lose our dignity.]
You had no qualms about slaughtering tens of thousands of believers, but you can’t run away in front of them? All for reputation?
It didn’t make sense.
[That’s how it works. Even if there was a massacre, in a hundred years or so, it will be glorified and recorded for the victor. No, maybe even in just ten years.]
I didn’t know that. But, I didn’t really care. I cared more about my condition than whatever that might happen to the native god.
My body had become a burning flame itself. I raised my hand and looked at the slowly swaying flame. It turned into a blade, and then a flame. On the 57th floor, the source had tentacles as opposed to a blade.
Then, of course, other forms other than fire would be possible. I felt like I shouldn’t do anything right now.
[Because you’re not familiar with it.]
For example, if you wanted to use other attributes, you needed more skill. It was more comfortable to understand it through the example of a game.
The next thing that bothered me was my left arm, which was attached to my body when it was on fire.
[I’ll let you know about that. There won’t be anyone to tell you.]
Originally I was going to ask Kirikiri, but I kept my mouth shut. I wanted answers, after all.
[This is because the spirit body, when apart from the body, is in that form.]
Spirit body?
[It’s a container for the soul. Since you have shed away the shell of your body, getting control of the spirit body would be the next step.]
Spirit body… Should I instinctively think of this form as my body and my own consciousness? I didn’t know yet.
It was reasonable to say that I had taken off my human shell. I had turned into a fire and no longer had a human body.
[For a human being, it wouldn’t have been easy. In your case, there was no trigger, but I think you were ready to throw it away. Amazing, amazing. This is new.] the God of the Sky muttered.
What are you talking about?
Hell difficulty was a level where you can’t proceed if you’re attached to your body in the first place. It was beneficial in many ways to think of it as a properly stocked consumable product.
Come to think of it, that native god was still in shape.
He had a monster-like appearance similar to that of the Eastern Dragon in its ferocious evolution. He remained in the same form when he fired at me with numerous powers and when he was hit back by me. Obviously it was a huge, powerful, and dignified form, but that form was their frame and limit.
That was what I’d been thinking about when I felt the remaining native god moving again. It seemed to me that he had enough defenses, and now he was looking for a means to attack me again.
Was it a barrier? It was similar to the power I had experienced earlier. I’d been thinking for a while, so I was sure I had plenty of time to prepare.
I decided to put aside my worries for the moment and subdue the god first. What would it be like if I let my guard down and let him turn the tables on me?
I walked slowly toward the native god. With every step, the fire spread around with a roar.
As I approached him, I gradually picked up speed, from walking to running. When I was close enough, I jumped, moving my body forward at the same time. Then, I leaned down slightly and curled myself into a ball, and with all my might, I flung myself towards him. My body, which flew like a bullet, broke through the numerous defenses set up by the native god and even penetrated his body.
Quaaaaaang!
I penetrated his body and stopped. Looking back, fragments of the shield, flesh, and blood of that god were spread out where I was. It was as if a firecracker of blood and flesh had burst before my eyes. It wasn’t a very good sight.
The body of the native god had a huge hole in it, and it wasn’t just a bullet hole. I wondered if he would die like that. Fortunately, he didn’t.
As expected, he was strong enough, but this was the best when I was still testing things out. A simple headbutt had done this. It was tantamount to suicide for normal people, but if they had the perfect combo, they would not lose anytime, anywhere. Just like how I used to use Talaria’s wings and Blink combo all the time.
The native god began to shiver like the other god who had fallen to the fire earlier. I laughed to myself at the sight.
[Are you having fun? Unexpectedly, I thought you’d be sad that you stopped your fight too soon.] said the God of the Sky.
Come to think of it, the gods thought my biggest feature was struggling, which was not really the case.
“There are two subjects that are not actually dead, so I’m not disappointed.”
There was nothing fixed. Just checking each and every thing that popped into my head would give me enough results.
Damn, I’m so happy.
[I’m very sorry about this.]
“What?” When I asked back, a strange thing happened to the world. The empty air above cracked, and someone walked out: a divine figure.
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[The Tutorial intervenes]
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It had also happened on the 57th floor. The gods dispatched a divine figure and the stage was terminated.
I had defeated the native gods just some moments before, yet it was a colorless victory. My power shrank. The divine figure, who walked through the crack, exuded an incomparable presence compared to the two native gods.
But the problem was not that. With the entry of a new character, the stage would end.
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[You’ve cleared floor 59th of the Tutorial’s Hell Difficulty.]
[The 98 gods of the Temple are watching over you.]
[God of Light pouts his lips.]
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No, you wicked b*stards. You’re gonna end it here? Are you out of your mind?
I didn’t even want much. I admitted that I was greedy, and wanted a week’s time. If not, then one day. No, even half a day.
A portal appeared under my feet and began to emit white light. What bullsh*t! Just another hour. Hey, just one hour!!
There were native gods over there, and humans were connected to me. I wanted to see the archbishop again and test my powers more.
I’d never know whether my desperation was heard or not as the portal began to spin slowly.
Wow, isn’t this too much? You son of a b*tch!
I can’t go! No, I’m not going! I managed to hold out so as to not be teleported, somehow using my powers. The portal can fail if the user operates the mana. No matter what god it was, it should be enough for me to hold on with the power of the God the Sky and the source.
* * * * * *
I couldn’t stand it. Damn it.
The place where I was teleported to was full of darkness. It was a strange place.
It was a place where there was not even a handful of light. Nothing was visible, and most probably, nothing was there. It was similar to the temple of the God of Slowness, full of emptiness, but there was something else. A part of the darkness was moving. Darkness, which at first glance seemed like a speck, was trying to penetrate my body. It was trying to draw my powers.
[Give up.]
[Give up!]
Don’t f*ck with me. I won’t give up anything! This is my power! You can’t take this away from me!
“It’s my power!” I urged.
I couldn’t figure out the situation, but I understood well that someone was trying to take away my power.
I held on desperately. But soon, I felt something rip off.
“God of the Sky! Help! Help!”
[Sorry, Contractor, I can’t help you, or my power would be crushed.]
I heard the words of the God of the Sky and felt something slipping out of my body. The next moment, I was moved from a dark space to a bright place.
A cool breeze blew in the sunny weather. There were small hills and half-hidden in the grass, and rabbit ears were seen poking out.
It was Kirikiri’s field.
“Long!”
“…Long?”
“Long time no see!” Kirikiri welcomed me with a naive smile.
Certainly, it’d been a long time.
“…yes.”
* * * * * *
“Hehe.” Kirikiri was laughing cheerfully, hopping around, but I was too distracted by my mixed feelings.
The fact that I was upset by the opportunity I had missed to experiment wasn’t the main problem. Rather, I felt a sense of exhaustion due to the power of the God of the Sky and the power of the source. And the inconvenience of having my left arm missing from my recovered body. It wasn’t just my left arm though.
Every little movement and each breath was uncomfortable.
“C’mon!”
Even so, the power of the source from the 59th floor was clearly my strength. Damn it. A fit of anger overtook me. In a rage, I kicked the dirt floor. A hollow hole appeared where I had kicked it.
Kirikiri approached with a surprised look. Then she grumbled and began to fill out the hole with her hands. I felt sorry for no reason and squatted down with Kirikiri.
* * * * * *
“Have you calmed down now?”
“A little.”
Lying on the floor and looking at the sky, I seemed to have calmed down a little. I thought I’d be calmer if Kirikiri hadn’t been sitting on my stomach with her legs crossed.
“You said there was a difference between the gods.”
“Yes, I did.”
I could feel it this time. The two native gods on the 59th floor really felt like gods to me. However, I realized that they were much weaker than the God of the Sky or the divine being that had appeared at the last minute.
“It may all look the same to people, but the gods have their own complicated relationships. There are lower gods, upper gods, mixed hostilities and friendships. There are times when the hierarchy is too much.”
It was over a wall that looked the same to all from the bottom, but it wasn’t the same. There was a long way to go. I liked that.
“Heh.”
Well, I was still growing. I wouldn’t stop, and my hardships would continue, but I was confident that I could somehow endure and move on.
“About the gods.” Kirikiri was talking to me. It was unusual for Kirikiri to start talking about information first. Even more so, since it was expensive information about the gods.
“There’s a lot of information left. Anyway, getting help directly from the gods isn’t very good in the long run.”
I suppose so.
This time, I went a little too far because I thought I would have a chance to fight against the native gods.
Enough to bear with the loss of giving my left arm to Ahbooboo.
“Especially the God of the Sky.” Kirikiri poked at the sky god. “He’s a god who looks down at everything.”
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[God of the Sky expresses discontent.]
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“I know.”
