Leveling with the Gods

Chapter 136

When Lancelot had just escaped from the palace…

Merlin disappeared from his seat at nearly the exact same time.

There was no way to catch up to them due to how fast they were. Lancelot was a High-Ranker, so it was expected, and Merlin had also used his magic, so he had quickly disappeared from sight.

“It would’ve been nice if you took me with you,” YuWon said.

Merlin was probably in quite a hurry.

Well. As much as he was in sorrow over Arthur’s death, an equal amount of anger would’ve been piling up as well.

“Because anyway…”

[?’s Egg complains about its hunger.]

This kid was crying inside his inventory.

“I need to wake this guy as well.”

* * *

Step—

Lancelot watched YuWon walk closer to him.

Seeing that he was approaching without hesitation, he suspected that YuWon thought he was too focused on breaking the wall.

‘Although he’s decently good at fighting…’

The image of YuWon fighting the two knights popped into his head.

YuWon’s skills were definitely legit. Perhaps, even if it wasn’t just Thal and Lollit and another knight, he would’ve still won against them. However…

Even if he was that impressive of a player, there was no need to pay him any mind right now.

‘I’ll ignore him for now.’

Since he would definitely come back sometime to cut off YuWon’s head, breaking the wall was the highest priority right now.

“Looks like you’re quite busy at the moment…”

Shwaaack—

YuWon unsheathed his sword, and Arcane Power started to flow from him.

“How about looking this way for a second?”

Bzzt, bzzzzzt—

An unusual level of Arcane Power that was too much to ignore right now.

So…

[‘Shield of the Round Table’ protects your target.]

Vwooong—

Lancelot’s body was covered by a sturdy skill, a similar type of skill to what Lollit had.

Although his proficiency with the skill wasn’t as high as Lollit’s, the level of the user was vastly different. It was natural for a higher Arcane Power stat to produce a stronger skill effect. On top of that, Lancelot’s physical prowess was much stronger than most Rankers and was at a height that not many could catch up to.

Even if this skill were to get breached, it didn’t matter that much.

‘Small scratches can be ignored.’

If it was this much, he could block something like YuWon’s sword.

At least, that was what Lancelot thought.

Cra-ka-kak—

The cracks on the invisible wall grew immensely, and it looked as if it would break at any moment.

‘Just one more time…’

But then…

[Your body has been imbued with the strength of a giant.]

[Summoning ‘Hell.’]

Bzzzzt—!

Detecting an unnatural flow of mana, Lancelot lifted his head.

In that moment…

Shwack—

“…!’

Blood started to flow out of the arm Lancelot was swinging his sword with. A cut had been made at his elbow. It was natural that his swing stopped as well.

“This stupid…!”

Drip—

Looking at the blood dripping onto the ground, Lancelot blurted profanities.

On the other hand, YuWon muttered as if regretful, “It didn’t get cut off.”

Bzzzt—

The Arcane Power exploding out of 「Kyneē,」 the monstrous strength imbued by the full-body [Gigantification,] and Demonic Energy on top of that. Using all his powers in one move, YuWon attempted to cut off Lancelot’s arm in one slash. But the result was unfortunately a failure.

“You bastard—!”

However…

“Shouldn’t you be paying attention?”

Flick—

Lancelot’s body turned.

The one person, no, the Undead he had forgotten about.

Shwaaaack—

Clang—!

As the two swords clashed, Lancelot’s arm quivered from the impact.

It was a sturdy sword too difficult to block with a half-cut-off arm. Although Arthur was a funny-looking Undead with the head of an Orc, he couldn’t be underestimated.

“Arthur…!”

“I’ve waited long for this day.”

Cr-Craaack—

Frosty mana flowed from his sword and froze Lancelot’s arm.

“The day I kill you.”

* * *

Translator - Jreaming

Proofreader - BringTheRayn

* * *

“Foolish.”

Crack—

He swung his sword at Arthur’s, and the impact wasn’t bad.

“You aren’t the Arthur I knew…”

Boom—!

The Arcane Power being emitted from Lancelot’s body pushed Arthur back.

“And I’m nothing like the man you used to know.”

Clang, clang—!

The swords continued to clash, and Arthur’s arm started to shake. Although Lancelot’s arm was in a half-broken state, his sword was still much stronger than Arthur’s.

Crack—

Half of Arthur’s head cracked, and the skull plate fell to the ground in fragments.

And at that moment…

“Stalling for this much time is enough.”

Fwooosh—

The temperature rose in all directions.

Lancelot thought for a moment that this was Merlin’s magic. However, he was wrong. The type of magic power, its attributes, everything was different.

Familiar but fearsome, two clashing emotions were felt by Lancelot at once.

‘I’ll be eaten.’

Fwooosh—

The enormous flames consumed Lancelot’s body.

“Kuaaaak!”

ᐷ I need to get away.

And something like a voice was heard from deep inside his mind.

Fwooosh—

The flames became fiercer. But why?

Looking at the flames, a deep fear rose from his heart.

ᐷ Run away.

“Run away…?”

His instincts and reason both made different decisions. It was as if two people with different personalities were in an argument.

“Run away… from a mere flame of this scale? That which isn’t even from Merlin?”

His opponent was a player who hadn’t even become a Ranker. To feel fear from someone like him, who wasn’t even Merlin…

He couldn’t accept it.

“Shut up!”

Crack—

His arm twisted, and his sword was screaming.

He will cut it.

His eyes had gone white with rage and Lancelot put all his strength into this single slash.

At that moment…

Crash—!

Craaaaack—!

With the flames surrounding his body, the wall of the magic circle made by Merlin was cut.

‘It’s done.’

The wall was finally gone.

Now, he didn’t even need to look behind him. If he could just get away from this place, it wasn’t impossible for him to return to Britain at a later time.

Lancelot moved towards the city gates.

Or rather, he tried to. But then…

Fwooosh—!

From outside the flames that Lancelot’s sword had cut through, YuWon appeared.

Clang—!

Crash—

The two swords clashed, and Lancelot’s body shook.

“Kugh…!”

He was pushed back from the unexpected attack for a moment.

But as that happened, Arthur rushed in from behind him.

Fwip—

Vwoop—

Lancelot grabbed the sword that was aimed at his back with his bare hand. Thanks to the major stat difference, Arthur’s sword only made a small cut in Lancelot’s palm.

“You are…”

Vwoong—

Along with his sword, Arthur’s body was lifted into the air.

“You dare!”

Bang—!

As he smashed Arthur into the ground, Lancelot also plunged his sword in as well.

At that moment…

[Forest of Swords]

Bang, ba-ba-ba-bang—

Thousands of sharp blades erupted from the ground. The city turned into a forest made of sharp swords. And inside that forest…

Fwip, fwip-wip-wip—

Thousands of scratches formed on YuWon’s body.

“You dodged it…?”

YuWon twisted his body and stepped on thin air.

Just how did he dodge that many swords?

Lancelot’s eyes went wide with surprise.

[Activating Sky Steps.]

[Your movement speed increases by 100% for 5 seconds.]

[You can step on the sky for 5 seconds.]

[Activating Sensory Field.]

[Cinder Eyes reads the path.]

Dodging had been a specialty for YuWon for a long time. On top of that, he was also using both [Cinder Eyes] and [Sky Steps] right now. No matter how large the affected area of the attack was, if even a small gap existed, he could dodge sufficiently.

“You brat…!”

Lancelot moved his sword in a diagonal line along his vision. Although he was quite far away, it was still close enough to slash YuWon.

He held the sword with both hands, but its cut felt different than usual.

Chweeek—

It felt much heavier than ever before.

The sword’s power and speed was naturally reduced, and his vision started to cloud over.

Something was interfering with the sword’s trajectory.

‘…Water?’

Splash—!

Slap—!

Following the water, Lancelot’s sword slash hit the buildings.

However, YuWon, who was the designated target, had already disappeared from his previous spot.

This was the outcome of his weak and slow attack.

Tap—

Lancelot glared at YuWon as he landed on the flat plains after the effects of the skill [Forest of Swords] ended, which Lancelot had planned to use to deal with him and run away.

Although he called him brat, YuWon seemed different.

‘Just what is it?’

YuWon was much weaker than him and didn’t even compare in terms of Arcane Power either. Although the power he wielded was special, there was of course a gap in stats and levels between them that couldn’t be closed with just skills alone.

But YuWon’s total combat strength told a different story.

Lancelot felt as if he was fighting the strongest being in the Tower.

“Just what are you?!”

This guy had ruined everything he had planned. If it wasn’t for this guy… If…

Grip—

Strength naturally flowed into the hand that was holding the sword.

YuWon’s form took up all of Lancelot’s vision.

Along with anger at facing him, a sense of fear crept up on Lancelot. Although the distance between them was quite wide, he felt as if he was within arm's reach.

No. It was the opposite. He felt that he was within YuWon’s reach.

It was a creepy sensation.

It was then that YuWon opened his mouth and said, “Now, it’s your turn.”

Who was he speaking to?

Only Arthur and Merlin were here. Arthur was practically out of commission, and Merlin was over there with his arms crossed, just observing the situation as if he had nothing to do with it.

ᐷ Run away.

That annoying voice echoed again. This was the source of his fear.

“Shut up!” Lancelot shouted.

Fear? How could he feel fear against an opponent who wasn’t even a Ranker yet!

Bang—!

He kicked off the ground and launched himself at YuWon in a straight line.

Run away? It had already been a long time since he’d given up doing something like that. He wouldn’t be able to stand not ripping this bastard of a player to pieces.

But then…

ᐷ So in the end, you chose death.

Crack—

Lancelot’s fast-flying body stopped, and his body faltered in moving forward.

“What…?”

Did Merlin cast a spell?

Lancelot looked at his feet which were tightly bound.

And at that moment…

Crack, crshh—

“What is…”

A deep darkness covered the area under his feet.

Inside the darkness, he saw a few closed eyes and a few opened eyes. And…

Rip—

Clack, crick—

The rows of teeth that were eating his feet.

[?’s Egg shows its form.]

“There was a saying in the world I lived in.”

Before he came here, YuWon had given a threat-like suggestion to the egg.

“If you don’t help me, you won’t have anything to eat either.”

“He who does not work, shall not eat.”

The egg only responded then, that one threat seemingly more effective than the many appeasements before.

“I don’t know whether you were scared or if you’re just late, but this timing is quite good.”

Crack—

“AAAAAAAAAAACK!”

The teeth climbed past his ankles and they were already eating away at Lancelot’s hips.

Being eaten alive wasn’t just a problem that caused pain.

Fear.

The attachment to life and the fear of death was greater than the pain, and this made him throw away both his dignity and ego, which were everything to Lancelot.

“Save—me!”

There was a chance. If he pleaded, he would be saved. It was a possibility. No, if there was even a single better outcome, he needed to cling to that.

“Uwaaaack! Please! I’ll do anything…!”

“Thal, Lollit.”

Behind Lancelot the prickly and chilling voice of an Undead was heard.

“And Mordred Pendragon.”

His son’s name.

When Lancelot heard that name, he had no choice but to let go of that tiny, foolish hope.

“This is why you must die.”

Crack—!

[?’s egg is consuming ‘Lancelot of Betrayal and Greed.’]