From Today, I'm a Player

Chapter 251. The Last Barrier

“Gasp… gasp…”

Finally, Lee Jun-Kyeong had come to his senses. Even as he struggled for each breath, his eyes were clear as he looked over at Zeus.

“Where are…”

“You don’t remember?” Zeus asked.

Lee Jun-Kyeong quickly rose from his collapsed state.

“...!”

However, he stumbled even though he had come to his senses. The pain had not completely subsided, and he shook.

“Rest for a moment,” Zeus said, grabbing a hold of him before he fell.

“I have to go!” Lee Jun-Kyeong shouted.

Although his thoughts had been momentarily interrupted by the excruciating pain that had hit him, he had realized it now.

“Seong-Gu Hyung…!”

That he had met with Heimdall, that his hyung had declared him an enemy, and…

“The others, they…”

The fact that Zeus was the only one by his side now.

Zeus looked at Lee Jun-Kyeong with disapproval.

“It’s probably already over,” he said, bitterness seeping into his tone. “It’s too late to go back.”

Zeus had moved forward quickly, trying to move Lee Jun-Kyeong, who was unable to fight, to somewhere safe.

“We also had told the others we’d go first…”

Even though he had moved out of the area as fast as he could, their battle would already have ended.

“He even called himself our enemy. In a situation like this, we can’t be swayed by pity or fate.”

Although his tone was a bit cold, Zeus spoke with a sour feeling in his mouth. It wasn’t that he didn’t understand Lee Jun-Kyeong’s feelings. However, Heimdall had called himself their enemy, and they had no choice but to take him down.

“Let’s hurry. Our companions will join us soon…”

As Zeus tried to move forward while supporting Lee Jun-Kyeong, Lee Jun-Kyeong shouted in a loud voice, “That’s not it!”

This time, it was Zeus who was surprised. “What are you talking about?”

“It’s not Seong-Gu Hyung who’s in danger!”

“What?”

For a moment, Zeus almost burst out laughing without realizing it. At the very least, the four of their companions were Athena, Merlin, Arthur, and Horu. The Apex of the world had gathered to deal with the Demon King.

“Are you saying that our companions are in danger?”

Lee Jun-Kyeong tried to escape Zeus’ hold and return to where they had come from before stumbling once more. With an impatient expression, Lee Jun-Kyeong paused, grasping at his temples.

“Seong-Gu Hyung…”

It was difficult to determine whether his bluish complexion was due to pain or something else.

“He would never fight a battle he would lose.”

“But, the difference in power…”

Zeus wasn’t stupid.

In order to understand Heimdall’s abilities, by the time they had gotten face to face, he had already finished inspecting him. The mana inside the Hunter was threatening enough, but it wasn’t to the point where he would worry about his comrades losing. Thus, Zeus looked confused.

“There must be something he’s hiding. Moreover, that pain that I felt at the end…”

Thrum.

Before Lee Jun-Kyeong could finish his sentence, mana strong enough to make them shiver passed through them in an instant. All of the mana that was spread throughout space was beginning to gather into a single place.

“A rainbow…”

At the epicenter of the mana, a rainbow began to form from where they had just left.

BOOOM!

Then, the rainbow shining brilliantly exploded.

“...!”

Zeus looked flustered as Lee Jun-Kyeong pushed him forward and spoke.

“Go.”

“But…!”

“If things continue in this manner, they’re all going to die! You felt it just now! Hurry!”

In the end, he nodded at Lee Jun-Kyeong’s pleas. Even if he hadn’t said so, Zeus had also realized that what he had just felt was definitely dangerous.

The rainbow was Heimdall's symbol.

“Can you do it on your own?” Zeus asked.

“That’s why I need you to handle it quickly and come back,” Lee Jun-Kyeong responded.

Just as he saw Zeus nod, the Hunter had already disappeared.

Thump.

Lee Jun-Kyeong fell to the ground, looking over in the direction that Zeus had disappeared. Just now, he had pretended to be okay, but there was no way that he would have been fine.

Sssss.

Mana of all colors began to seep out of him, circulating in and seeping out over and over again. It was a mana that even he couldn’t handle. In fact, he couldn’t even stand properly from the sheer amount of mana that had been suddenly injected into him.

Sitting, he began to circulate the mana stream in order to wrestle control over the relentless flow. The best he could do right now was spit out swears, unable to take a single step.

“Damn it.”

***

“It looks like you’ve been keeping a move hidden.”

Arthur's cold voice penetrated the battlefield as he glared at Heimdall with his right arm barely dangling from his shoulder.

Shine!!

Soon after, the magic circle drawn by Merlin wrapped around his arm, healing the wound. Soon after, a second magic circle began to heal Horus’ wounds as well.

‘How amazing.’

Merlin was just filled with pure amazement. It turned out that Heimdall’s confidence hadn’t been false.

“Ugh…” Horus was moaning in pain.

That man was single-handedly holding them back. Not long after Zeus and the Underdog had left, he had already wounded Arthur’s arm and plunged his fist through Horus’ abdomen.

“Arthur,” Merlin called out.

“I know,” he responded nervously, drawing his sword.

Shing!

It was the battle between two wills, one side trying to stop them as the other tried to pass through.

However, if there was one thing that continued to bother them, it was Athena. Even after the fight had begun, she didn’t even move.

Even when Arthur ran forward, and Horus was beaten, all she did was flinch with each blow. She just didn’t take a move.

‘Is she betraying us?’

No, they already knew why.

“Athena. We already know about your relationship with Heimdall.”

It was already widely known among the secret organizations that Athena and Heimdall had been lovers. But now was not the time for her to be thinking about it so much.

“Ah….”

Athena then came to her senses and looked ahead. With a bitter gaze, Heimdall also looked back at her.

“If you don’t insist on passing through, there won’t be any reason to fight.”

There was a sincerity in his voice.

“So…” he said, trying to say something more.

“What bullshit,” Arthur interjected, cutting him off.

“So what, you're telling us to just run away from here with our tails between our legs?”

“...”

“You’re telling us to send the Underdog, whom you had such a good relationship with, to go and die like a dog alone?” Arthur continued with his thorny remarks. “If you’re going to ask us for something, make it reasonable. Don’t try to convince us with such bullshit.”

“Will it help if you go?” Heimdall asked.

“What?”

Heimdall smiled self-deprecatingly. “It’s already out of our hands. No, from the beginning, everything was out of our hands.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Jun-Kyeong’s and my positions had been decided from the very beginning. All of this, it…”

He looked up at the sky, his eyes looking bitter with resentment. “It was all planned.”

“That’s why I’m asking, what the hell kind of bullshit are you spouting right now?!” Arthur shouted.

Horus’s aura began to grow, possibly due to embarrassment from the senseless beating he had received earlier.

“Ha…”

The mana swirling around Horus was creating a storm.

“We are all just side characters. Even if you all go with him, there’s nothing you can do there. Jun-Kyeong has to carry this burden all on his own…”

“Heimdall.” Finally, Athena, who had been silent, opened her mouth. “That’s not like you.”

“...”

She slowly lifted a foot, taking a step forward. “Wasn’t the Underdog dear to you? Do you…”

She swallowed the words she wanted to say. ‘Are you planning on throwing him away like you threw me away?’

Although Athena had kept silent, Heimdall seemed to have read her thoughts. Guilt—no, a deluge of complex emotions was revealed on his face.

However, a lot of time had already passed, and Zeus should have been moving forward. Now that they were getting closer and closer to the Demon King, they couldn’t afford to be stranded here. That was why Athena had finally steeled herself.

“I had a lot of things that I wanted to say,” Athena said, with a friendly tone that no one had ever heard before.

Shing!!

However, before anyone knew it, a sharp spear was held in her hands.

“Whew…” Heimdall exhaled.

Arthur and Horus looked for an opening, but there was none to be found in sight. Heimdall slowly raised his sword, a rainbow-colored sword, and then he shouted out the name of his divine item, “Bifrost!”

WOOSH!

Mana began to rise like a storm, and it was only then that Arthur and Horus realized it for sure—that Heimdall truly intended to keep them at bay.

‘And, he has the power to do so.’

Although they may have been late to judge, their reaction was quick.

Slash!

Moon Cleaving, which had been taught to Lee Jun-Kyeong, suddenly flew toward Heimdall.

Glimmer!

As the illusion of space being torn apart caught in everyone’s vision, a brilliant rainbow erupted in the sky.

BOOM!

***

A little while after Zeus had returned to where they had come from and after Lee Jun-Kyeong had begun circulating his mana stream, Lee Jun-Kyeong finally came to his senses. He stood up from the sitting position he had been in on the ground and opened and clenched his fists. His mana, which had been fluctuating earlier, suddenly settled.

Throb, throb.

Still, even after he had gotten in control of the mana, the forces that he couldn’t fully absorb wracked him with pain.

“Fenrir…”

It was only then that he realized what had happened in the time that he had been processing the mana stream.

“So you really did it.”

Fenrir had succeeded in defeating Odin. Moreover, he had even absorbed part of the power that Odin had tried to use, passing it onto Lee Jun-Kyeong. Because Fenrir was one of his Familiars, all of the power that the wolf hadn’t been able to absorb was transferred to him. Although the pain felt as if it was tearing his whole body apart, his mind was completely clear.

“Whew…”

Despite that, he wished he was still dizzy and dreaming. Even though he had affirmed himself that it would never happen countless times, Heimdall, in the end, had stood against him.

‘Seong-Gu Hyung.’

No, from the beginning, his hyung had been standing against him. Lee Jun-Kyeong knew that he wasn’t the only one who had brought the memories of the past timeline to this era.That was why it was even more incomprehensible.

Just why?

That question came to his mind countless times. He also wanted to accompany Zeus and go back to meet Seong-Gu Hyung.

“I have to go on,” Lee Jun-Kyeong said while clenching his open hand.

He had to keep going. Whether it was because of the look that Seong-Gu Hyung had given him or because of his companions who believed in him, he had to move on. Moreover, there was one other reason as well.

“Because the answer will be there in front of me anyway.”

Far away, the Association building was visible.