From Today, I'm a Player

Chapter 137: The Desert’s Sun Pt. 2

[<The Desert’s Sun> has sponsored you.]

Lee Jun-Kyeong repeated the voice he heard in his head.

He had already been sponsored by <The Sky of the Apocalypse>, but had just received a second sponsorship from <The Desert’s Sun>.

Multiple Sponsorships.

However.

[<The Desert’s Sun> has sponsored two Hunters.]

[Two Hunters can use the enhanced skill.]

[Two Hunters have been blessed by <The Desert’s Sun>.]

In fact, he wasn’t the only one sponsored by <The Desert’s Sun>.

After all, there was also Horus.

Flapping the wings of light, he became a falcon striking the black beast-wielding Set.

He and the Hunter were being sponsored simultaneously by <The Desert’s Sun>.

‘<The Desert’s Sun> is probably…’

It most likely was a Sponsor similar to <The Sky of the Apocalypse>.

Seeing as <The Sky of the Apocalypse> didn’t throw a big fuss, Lee Jun-Kyeong thought that <The Desert’s Sun> was someone ranked even higher than it was or at the same level.

[<The Desert’s Sun> has exceeded the available number of sponsorships.]

[The sponsorship will be revoked after a certain period of time.]

As expected, he heard the following notification after that.

He didn’t understand the situation or anything of the matter, but the nature of this Sponsor seemed to be the same.

<The Desert’s Sun> was someone who sponsored only one Hunter.

It was a similar kind of Sponsor to <The Sky of the Apocalypse>.

Therefore, its sponsorship of the two now was only temporary.

This was most likely a strength that could temporarily grant them rapid growth only under special conditions.

“There are two with the Glory of Ra…”

The Hunters muttered as they looked at Lee Jun-Kyeong and Horus.

Although the Temple of Ra had broken, Ra’s revelation had been revealed.

The Great Ra had granted glory to two men.

One to the candidate who would be their Pharaoh, and the other to a stranger.

They stood there, slightly confused.

Clang!

An explosion occurred, and Lee Jun-Kyeong opened his eyes.

He was filled with a great deal of power.

Although it was a temporary form of multiple sponsorships, it was appropriate for the current situation.

From the power that boiled throughout his entire body, the Madness that he couldn’t control was stabilizing. In addition, his heartbeat intensified like the sound of a drum.

[The weak dragon heart grows temporarily under the influence of Divine Fire.]

Squelch.

There was an eerie sound from behind Lee Jun-Kyeong's back.

He didn’t form wings of light like Horus had.

Red.

Black.

Even blue.

A bone covered in garish colors pierced forth from Lee Jun-Kyeong’s shoulder blades.

There was no pain, and on the wings that appeared through his shoulder joints, a brilliant light burst forth.

“...!”

Lee Jun-Kyeong looked at the sky.

‘Look at this,’ he thought to <The Sky of the Apocalypse> as if saying this is what real sponsorship was.

“I’m telling you to do at least this much!”

Lee Jun-Kyeong kicked the ground, and he flew forward.

His mana helped his body fly through the air and quickly advance toward Set.

Bo–Boom!

There were two explosions this time, and the beast on the left and right of Set exploded one after another..

In the air, Horus and Lee Jun-Kyeong looked at each other and nodded.

At this moment, their two minds were connected.

‘We will defeat Set.’

'Let us defeat Set.’

***

Shhhh.

He was slicing through the wind.

He was cutting through the mana.

Lee Jun-Kyeong could feel it while he was attacking Set using the wings he had been gifted by <The Desert's Sun>.

‘This is the real mana stream.’

Lee Jun-Kyeong had originally thought that the mana stream was limited to his own body.

In fact, he knew that mana existed in the atmosphere and that the concentration of mana was increasing over time, but he had never thought of it as a flow.

‘The mana stream is…’

He just naively thought that meant the flow of mana flowing through a Hunter’s body.

But it was different now.

Now that he was slicing through the air quickly and cutting through the mana, Lee Jun-Kyeong felt it clearly.

There was also a flow of mana that filled the atmosphere, and it was surprisingly similar to the mana stream that he had used so far.

Even though this was a fast-paced battle, Lee Jun-Kyeong had almost mistaken it for time slowing down.

Now that he was connected to Horus because they were both sponsored by the Desert’s Sun, he wondered if Horus also felt what he felt.

Lee Jun-Kyeong looked over at the other man, but it didn’t seem like it.

The Hunter was filled with wrath.

He was so full of rage that it was to the point where it was incredulous to think that he had endured it so well so far.

He was connected to Lee Jun-Kyeong through <The Desert's Sun>.

‘Did he consume my anger too?’

It almost seemed as though Horus had been swept away by the combination of their anger. On the opposing hand, Lee Jun-Kyeong was influenced by the patience and calmness the Hunter had maintained.

His perception had risen, and time had slowed down.

‘The mana stream.’

He couldn’t uncover the limits of this seemingly endless and mysterious power that the Demon King had created.

Consider the state he was in currently, it might be possible for him to use another skill.

The First Flame: Maelstrom was a skill that could be used as long as one had enough power stored while using the First Flame. The foundations of the two skills were the same, and it was just that the usage of power was different.

However, the skill he was thinking about at this time was something completely different.

This was that far surpassed the First Flame, and it was another skill that had served as the foundation for the Demon King’s title.

It had been such a difficult skill to compose that it had taken the Demon King ages to create and make use of it.

Chomp!

The black beast on the left rushed toward Lee Jun-Kyeong again, who had been moving quickly and stabbing at Set.

Set’s left arm moved as if it had its own sentience, opening its mouth and trying to tear Lee Jun-Kyeong into pieces.

"Burn it up," Lee Jun-Kyeong said while thrusting Muspel's Spear.

Muspel's Spear instantly consumed Lee Jun-Kyeong's mana and blasted a stream of fire.

Although the flames shot in a straight line and penetrated through the black beast formed from Set’s arm, it was reforming quickly.

The black beast simply turned into a mist and reformed itself as if it wasn’t a solid creature.

Lee Jun-Kyeong had no choice but to retreat because the jaws of the black beast were rushing toward him once more.

‘Let’s try it.’

He and Horus had been powered by the Desert’s Sun, but Set was just countering their attacks while covered in an even stronger aura.

There would be no end to this battle at this rate, and their chances had just been balanced by the Desert’s Sun’s influence. Nothing had actually improved.

So.

‘This is my winning move.’

Lee Jun-Kyeong was attempting to use that move, another skill of the Demon King.

It was something he could use now that he felt the mana stream that existed in the atmosphere as well.

Swish!

Lee Jun-Kyeong broke away from Set and went up to the sky.

‘I’ll leave it to you.’

He had asked Horus, whom he was still connected to, to hold Set back for a while. While he didn’t know if Horus had understood it, the Hunter seemed to go even crazier and ran forward while keeping Set in place.

The flaming wings and the red jewel burst with light as if aflame were amplifying Horus' power.

The two black beasts were stopped by a shining falcon.

Lee Jun-Kyeong rose to a point in the sky and stopped there.

‘Mana Stream.’

[The mana stream is being circulated quickly.]

[The weak dragon heart absorbs the magic of the atmosphere.]

[Galdr has been activated.]

[Internal Qigong has been activated.]

This was different from when he had activated his skills when the battle had begun.

He had to actually focus on these skills this time, even though they were skills he generally had activated without thought most of the time.

He had to concentrate on their flow, strengthening them and activating them to an even higher degree.

‘With the mana in the atmosphere…’

He would combine their mana flow with his own, forming one continuous river.

[<The Desert’s Sun> casts its gaze upon you.]

<The Desert's Sun> looked down upon him as if it had realized what he was planning on doing.

[<The Sky of the Apocalypse> smiles.]

Whereas <The Sky of the Apocalypse> seemed to be completely certain of his actions.

‘Let’s try it.’

Lee Jun-Kyeong concentrated even further as the notifications rang behind him.

The flow.

Everything was about the flow.

Everything would connect to the next, flowing in harmony.

The atmosphere and his self would become one.

Flicker.

Flames burst into existence in the air where there had been nothing but space, and the burning flames began to spread gradually.

The flames spread, eventually obscuring the sun, and began to become one with Lee Jun-Kyeong’s body.

Lee Jun-Kyeong’s clothes were consumed by the flames.

Lee Jun-Kyeong’s spear was consumed by the flames.

Lee Jun-Kyeong had become a flame.

Somewhere along the line, he himself had become the sun that he had overtaken.

“...!”

Only then did Set look up at the sky.

Even Set didn’t have full control of his reasoning. Although the power he had was obviously powerful and he had some amount of control over it, it had become too much for him. He had also lost part of his reasoning in the Madness, so he hadn’t noticed what Lee Jun-Kyeong had done until now.

However, it was too late now.

[The Skill…]

Lee Jun-Kyeong was already hearing the notifications rain down.

“King Yan, the King of Hell.”

[You have learned King Yan, the King of Hell!]

[You have completed an unbelievable achievement!]

[You have completed ‘The One Who Pioneers’ achievement.]

[You have completed ‘The One Who Undergoes Growth without a Sponsor’ achievement.]

[All of your stats have…]

Flicker.

Lee Jun-Kyeong’s whole body had turned into a flame and become the sun.

Lee Jun-Kyeong had become a sun that shone down more than the sun that had been overtaken.

[...risen incalculably.]

He started to fall.

Horus had already gone out of the way.

Drip.

What Lee Jun-Kyeong had made while starting to barrel down wasn’t an explosion.

Lava.

The sand in the desert was turning into a crimson lava.

"ARGH!!!!"

The screams that pierced the air all came from Set.

The black beasts on both his arms struggled, but they no longer regenerated, constantly consumed by the lava created by Lee Jun-Kyeong.

The lava, also seeming as if it was sentient like the black beasts on Set’s arms, slowly began to move toward Set, as if to consume the Hunter.

Hot molten lava engulfed Set.

"KEUGAHHHHHH!!!!!!"

Set’s screams could be heard though they were muffled within the crimson lava.

Lee Jun-Kyeong tried to become one with the lava himself and devour Set.

Whistle!

Then, at that moment, a whistle came from nowhere.

At the same time, Lee Jun-Kyeong heard consecutive notifications.

[<The Desert's Sun> expresses its anger.]

[<The Dark Side of the Sun> has appeared on the battlefield.]

<The Dark Side of the Sun>.

Lee Jun-Kyeong pushed past the indecipherable notification.

He had already trapped Set.

He refused to let him go.

Zzt.

There was a small tremor.

That was the start, and the lava that swallowed Set was getting eaten.

“...!”

Before he would end up losing control of his body, Lee Jun-Kyeong separated from the lava and retreated.

Before his very eyes, the place where Set had used to be, something had appeared on that very spot.

“The Dark…side…of the Sun…”

A round dark sphere was sucking up the surrounding light by eating Lee Jun-Kyeong's lava.

"Horus!" Lee Jun-Kyeong shouted urgently.

Before Lee Jun-Kyeong could finish, Horus threw himself into the black sun.

Crash!

Horus didn’t listen. In the end, Lee Jun-Kyeong had to run forth and tackle Horus’ body, throwing him away from the black sun.

Horus' face distorted with anger as he looked at Lee Jun-Kyeong.

Lee Jun-Kyeong's power was escaping like an ebb—everything was being devoured by that black sun.

Set was nowhere in sight, nor could his screams be heard.

Still, Lee Jun-Kyeong looked forward.

Before anyone knew it.

“...”

Nothing existed.

No sun in the sky, no heat, no light, no people.

Just a bare, empty pit.

Lee Jun-Kyeong felt as though his spirit had also disappeared just as the dark sun had erased all existence, and he could feel the enormous power he had earlier disappearing.

His authority had all been lost, almost immediately.

"Wake up!"

At that time, someone hugged Lee Jun-Kyeong and threw them both toward the side.

Lee Jun-Kyeong’s body quickly fell toward the side, and light suddenly appeared.

The bright light pushed back the black sun a little.

“Baldur…?” Lee Jun-Kyeong called out, saying the name of a person who hadn’t been seen in the battle so far.

Baldur was the one who had thrown himself to the wayside with him in his arms.

The Hunter rose quickly and looked forward.

Lee Jun-Kyeong also saw what happened too.

The black sun was disappearing.

He had thought that he had escaped its grasp, but he hadn’t been able to just then.

Everyone stepped back and looked at the black sun, while someone spoke to it in a quiet voice.

“Aapep…”

As if it was a signal.

Poof!

The black sun disappeared as if it had never existed.

Alongside the black sun that had disappeared, Set, who had been in its epicenter, had disappeared as well.

The only thing that was left in its wake was the land burning crimson and the small amounts of lava that were still left.

A little further away were the remains of the broken pyramid.

“Horus!”

And off to the side, was the fallen Horus.

The Nile.

‘We lost.’

In the midst of a hectic situation, a voice came to Lee Jun-Kyeong.

"Use the Bifrost!"

Baldur was shouting at Lee Jun-Kyeong.

"It's going to explode!"

Lee Jun-Kyeong quickly used the Bifrost in a panic.

1. Raws say eagle, but Horus is the Falcon-Headed God.