Chapter 65: Chapter 65

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Chapter 65: Returning to the Battlefield (1)

Having completed the contracts, I returned to Kevrian.

In the sky, angels and the undead army were still locked in a standoff.

It felt like I had spent a few days in Olympus, but judging by the situation, not much time had passed here.

Before my body could fall, I cast Fly and summoned the Flame Chariot.

Now, six horses were pulling it.

Wow, they’re really huge.

Climbing onto the chariot, I stretched my hand toward the Death Knight directly ahead.

“Thunder God.”

I blasted the Death Knight with lightning, taking it out.

Could it be because my rank has increased?

It felt like the power was noticeably stronger.

Suddenly, an angel from our faction teleported to my side.

The light covering his face flickered uncontrollably.

[Did they fail, so you’ve come?]

“Yeah, you idiot. Ugh, what kind of ‘order’? You scam artists.”

I felt embarrassed for having used formal speech with them before.

Angels, huh?

Ugh.

The angel was momentarily speechless at my casual tone.

[…I sense the energy of Lord Hermes instead of Lord Pollux. What in the world happened? For now, I will provide support.]

“Fine. Protect me, angel.”

The holy spirits summoned by the angel hovered around me, guarding me while fighting the flying Death Knights.

The Death Knights, who had been charging madly earlier, were now slowing down.

One of them cut down the holy spirits in a single slash and approached me, then stopped in its tracks.

[I’ve exhausted too much power today, visiting Olympus and protecting you. I’ll let you off for today. Play with my minions for now.]

With that, the Lord of Death vanished.

Oh, is that so?

Well then, I might as well gain some experience points.

“Phoenix, can you come out?”

[Not yet, master. Even though you’ve reached legendary rank, overexerting myself last time left me too weak.]

“That’s disappointing. Oh well, I’ll handle it myself.”

Time to burn through mana.

“Focus Enhancement. Thunder God!”

Stretching out both hands, I channeled all my mana.

Could it be because of my rank increase?

The maximum amount of mana I could invest in Thunder God had increased.

With Focus Enhancement amplifying it further, an incredible force erupted.

Kwarurururu.

The sky was covered with golden lightning bolts.

It was on a scale I had never seen before.

The Death Knights and Liches caught in the lightning storm were instantly turned to ash and disappeared.

Some of the white spirits summoned by the angel were wiped out as collateral, but I didn’t care.

They all seemed about the same to me now, those guys and the angels.

[What tremendous… power.]

“Thanks to your help, I managed to rank up.”

After clearing the monsters in the sky, I steered the Flame Chariot down to the ground.

Earthlings were slowly being resurrected, only to be immediately subdued by black skeletons upon revival.

Ugh… so weak.

Way too weak.

What’s going to happen to Earth?

“Yeoui.”

Yeoui had grown much larger than before.

Even without Focus Enhancement, it was as big as it used to be when I used Focus Enhancement at C-rank.

A light swing at the black skeletons sent them scattering like leaves in the wind.

After dealing with SSS-rank beings, fighting these guys felt like a fun massacre.

Shall I try acceleration now?

Can the Flame Chariot accelerate?

“Accelerate.”

When I used acceleration, both my body and the Flame Chariot felt lighter.

Driving it at normal speed, it moved at least three times faster than usual.

Pouring more mana into it made it dash around like crazy.

Wow.

It’s insanely fast.

This is great for running.

The downside, though, was that the Flame Chariot weakened when using acceleration.

The horses shrank, and the flames dimmed.

But even in its weakened state, black skeletons were no match.

I dashed across the battlefield, setting everything ablaze with my accelerated Flame Chariot.

[Level Up!]

After stagnating since reaching B-rank, the level-up notification finally appeared.

Sigh.

What’s the level cap for A-rank, anyway?

200?

There’s no need to slow down my leveling speed anymore, so I’ll push straight to a higher rank.

[Hermes is sending a message: ‘The reward package from Olympus is ready.’]

Reward package?

It’s ready already?

[Hermes: ‘We’ve prepared the upgraded versions of the Hephaestus Armor (A-rank), Artemis Bow (A-rank), 1 million SP, and the World Tree’s Golden Fruit that you used before.’]

Oh.

So they’re sending upgraded versions of the equipment I lost to the dragon’s breath?

1 million SP and a golden fruit, too.

They’re dazzling rewards from my current perspective.

And I’ll probably get more from the soul mediation, right?

Considering soul trades, if I close a 1 billion deal, I get 0.1%, right?

0.1% of 1 billion is 100,000.

Just 10 deals like that would make 1 million.

Looking at it that way, it doesn’t seem like much after all.

[Hermes: ‘If you’re dissatisfied, feel free to contact me. Just say ‘Communicate with Hermes,’ and you can speak to me directly.’]

So he can’t read my thoughts like Pollux anymore?

Good.

“Communicate with Hermes.”

A small hologram of Hermes appeared in front of me.

“Oh! That’s neat. Anyway, isn’t it just 10 soul trades worth 1 billion to make 1 million SP?”

Hermes bowed and rubbed his hands together like a true lackey. Hardly divine behavior.

[Oh, come on, how many 1-billion trades do you think exist? We’ll give you an extra 0.9% commission on top of our usual rate. I’ll make sure you get paid for each trade.]

Seriously.

So that’s 1%?

That’s decent, but maybe I can push for more.

After all, 3% from the SP shop goes to the opposing faction, right?

“Why not raise it a bit more? How about a total of 2%? Even if it’s 3%, it’s better than letting Chaos get it.”

[Sigh, 2%... At this rate, it’d be better to pay you in a lump sum, but we’re short on SP right now… Alright, fine. Will you accept the reward package under those terms?]

Short on SP?

How?

It seemed suspicious, but I agreed.

Judging by how quickly he accepted, I might’ve been able to get a better deal by dragging it out...

Hermes is an SSS-ranked deity.

It’s best to apply just the right amount of pressure.

“Alright, let’s do it.”

[Huh? Suddenly being polite?]

“Well, you’ll be my client for SP transactions now. Can’t keep addressing a deity informally.”

Though I agreed to the negotiation for now, it wouldn’t be wise to come across as too hostile…

Even if I’m cursing in my head, there’s no need to let it show on the surface anymore.

[Hahaha. I appreciate the attitude of mutual respect. Then, I’ll send you up to your guardian deity’s limit right now. I’ll give you the items as well.]

[You received 100,000 SP from Hermes, the Deity of Order.]

[You obtained ‘Hephaestus’s Armor’ from Hermes.]

[You obtained ‘Artemis’s Bow’ from Hermes.]

[You equipped 3 pieces of A-rank gear from the Order faction. You can equip 3 more pieces.]

Oh-ho.

If it’s 3 pieces of A-rank gear from the Order faction, does that mean Neutrals might have six slots available too?

An A-rank set from Yeouido, and it’s top-notch.

What rank are the other gears, then?

The bracelets automatically attached to both wrists.

The jewels are navy.

It seems like the ranks are indeed organized by colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, navy, and violet.

I’ll test the weapon’s performance later.

[Translator - Night]

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And 100,000 SP…

It feels like just yesterday I was haggling with Pollux over paying in installments for that amount.

Turns out he could’ve just sent it like this all along.

Guardian deity’s limit, huh.

He wouldn’t withhold what he promised, would he?

If he does, that’s grounds for terminating the mediation contract.

[Then, if there are any updates later, I’ll send you a message. Take care.]

With a flicker, Hermes disappeared.

With 100,000 SP in hand, my status window must be looking pretty abundant now.

But first, let’s deal with the undead in front of me and get things sorted.

Hades said he wouldn’t intervene today, so I need to level up while I can.

Accelerating the Flame Chariot, I charged toward the enemy lines.

As I did, I equipped the newly received gear.

When I put on Hephaestus’s Armor, a black suit of armor enveloped my body, similar to before.

It didn’t seem all that different.

It’s a bit more comfortable to move in, and there’s a faint navy sheen, I suppose?

In addition, the armor on both arms had four navy gems embedded in it.

I suddenly heard a magical incantation as I tried to figure out what was different.

[Death Ray.]

Huh?

Why didn’t my danger detection activate?

I’ve seen this before when I went to save those elves.

It’s pretty strong.

A beam of death light stretched toward me.

I was already aware of it, so dodging was no issue.

As I turned the chariot to dodge, the navy light shimmering from the armor suddenly spread out with a whoosh.

It transformed into a giant mouth and devoured the Death Ray whole.

Wow.

It reacted before I even dodged and consumed the death beam.

So that’s why my danger detection didn’t go off?

[The spirit of Hephaestus’s Armor has absorbed the Death Ray. You can cast the absorbed spell within ten minutes. The Death Ray will be permanently absorbed if not used within ten minutes.]

What the—?

My wrist started to sting, and I noticed one of the four gems had turned green.

Looking at it, I suddenly understood how to cast the spell.

It felt like the armor was teaching me.

I extended my left arm, the one with the gem, and pointed a finger at the lich who had cast the spell at me.

Then, with a light press on the green gem, the absorbed Death Ray shot out from my fingertips.

[What… what is this?! Anti-Magic Shield…!]

The lich hastily cast a defensive spell, but the Death Ray pierced through it without mercy.

The lich disintegrated into ash on the spot.

Wow!

This is incredible.

If my danger detection doesn’t activate, I can just assume it’ll block everything and fight recklessly.

The armor’s performance was so impressive that I eagerly summoned the bow as well.

It looked similar to the bow I had used before.

As I pulled the string, my mana flowed out naturally, creating an arrow of light.

But this arrow wasn’t a single entity like before; it was composed of numerous smaller overlapping layers.

Diana used to fire multiple arrows at once—does this bow have a similar function?

I’m not that skilled at archery…

[Please designate a target. If none is designated, the arrows will fly automatically.]

Hmm?

Target designation?

Looking around, I saw a Death Knight in the sky wiping out the souls of light.

That one looks tougher than the average Death Knight.

It’s the target.

[Target has been designated.]

As I released the string, the clusters of light arrows flew out.

The arrows of light dispersed mid-flight.

Though smaller in size compared to before, their speed and power were far greater.

Counting them, there were about 40 arrows.

The light arrows that scattered in the sky all zeroed in on the designated Death Knight.

Like guided missiles.

The Death Knight swung its sword to block the arrows, but only managed to deflect a couple.

Its sword shattered, and its body was riddled with arrows, bursting into flames.

As the Death Knight burned and disappeared, the homing arrows, now without a target, automatically sought out and struck other undead around them.

The homing arrows continued to eliminate enemies until they finally vanished.

Wow.

This is so convenient.

It barely consumed any mana and still performed this well?

It’s more like a guided missile system than a bow.

I hadn’t used a bow in a while, but now I’ll definitely be using it frequently.

As I traversed the battlefield, I ran various tests.

With maximum magic infusion, Artemis’s Bow could fire up to 100 arrows, and using focus enhancement, it could unleash 600 arrows.

However, after using focus enhancement, the bow would enter an overload state and be unusable for three minutes.

It seemed the homing arrows’ limit was 200 per minute.

Hephaestus’s Armor could absorb physical attacks as well, though it couldn’t retaliate with those—only absorbed magic could be counterattacked.

Once all the gems were filled with magic, the first gem’s magic would vanish to make room for new absorption.

Even with just two pieces of gear, combat had become significantly easier.

A-rank… truly impressive.

[You have leveled up.]

After raining down arrows and hurling lightning bolts, I descended to the ground.

I think I’ve already gained three levels.

Firing arrows into the sky, sweeping enemies with my gear, and launching lightning bolts—it kept me busy, but the joy of gaining experience points made time fly.

I need to level up quickly and raise my rank.

“The captain’s gotten even stronger, hasn’t he…?”

“Could he be at B-rank?”

“No way…”

As I continued mowing down enemies, survivors began rejoining the fight.

They weren’t participating in combat, just standing by and watching.

Of course, getting massacred by black skeletons meant fighting would be pointless, but…

This situation is dire.

Some strong individuals need to emerge among Earthlings, or this gap in power will become insurmountable.

I can’t keep doing a one-man show forever.

Without proper backup from Earthlings, things will get tough.

Hades talks like destroying Earth is the end of it, but why aren’t the deities of Order or Neutrality offering more help?

They should be providing as much support to Earthlings as possible.

I’ll have to ask about this later.

[Kim Jiho… Awakened one…]

Suddenly, the roots of the World Tree wrapped around my feet where I stood.

I could faintly hear Elprian’s voice.

[Olympus… Hermes has completely destroyed me… This is my final thought… My last legacy is with Diana, so please find her… When you do, check the seal once again.]

And with that, the World Tree’s roots dissipated as if drained of energy.

What the…

Olympus doesn’t hesitate to strike back immediately, huh?

Hermes… even though he smiles and bows on the surface, he’s not one to leave loose ends.

He’s someone to be wary of.

That aside, Diana is the Apostle of the Sun God, Apollo…

Last time, she completely changed and went berserk.

Can I even retrieve Elprian’s legacy?

Can the seal do something? seaʀᴄh thё NôvelFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

With these thoughts weighing on my mind, I continued slaughtering enemies.

While I annihilated thousands of enemies, Earthlings merely watched.

“Sigh…”

“Why are we so weak…”

Exactly.

This is bad.

Really bad…

[Translator - Night]

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