Chapter 1372

Chapter 1372

Clang!

Clang!

CLANG!

The only reason Hephaestus chose to become one of the Pillars was because of Minhyuk. He walked the path of The Maker so that he could create things that could help Minhyuk. He even wanted to give Minhyuk a sword that went beyond the Greatest Sword.

The first hurdle was the blueprint. Thankfully, he found out that one of the Pillar Evaluators, Arshad, was a genius who could create amazing blueprints. Hephaestus immediately went to find Arshad and cooperated with him to create the blueprint of the sword.

The blueprint creation was now almost finished, with around 15% left. Unfortunately, Hephaestus was unable to complete it. He did not dare to create a treasured sword that surpassed the Greatest Sword with just his knowledge reserve alone.

“Damn it!”

Hephaestus had been locked up in his smithy without any proper sip of water or a shred of sleep for a few days straight. Alas, the level of the sword’s completion was no longer rising. He collapsed.

‘I can’t see any possibility of success.’

The reason why Hephaestus was so desperate to complete this sword was because of his growing desire to be of help to Minhyuk, who was currently at war with Heaven. He wanted to create this sword to help Minhyuk, but even after being a Pillar, he still had no way to help the young man.

‘If I can complete this sword, then I will truly be of help.’

After all, it was the greatest and strongest sword made solely for Minhyuk. Once this sword was completed, it would be more potent than the Greatest Sword. The problem was... he just could not complete it.

At that moment...

[Hephaestus.]

A familiar voice rang in Hephaestus’ ears. When he turned around, he saw Obren standing right next to him.

[Can I help you create this sword?]

Hephaestus’ face lit up when he heard the Evil God’s question. The reason why Hephaestus could not increase the sword’s completion rate was because of his lack of experience. In contrast, the Evil God was a genius who lived for an extremely long time. If he worked with him, then...

“Hi.”

“...?”

At that moment, someone else appeared in his smithy. The man was wearing a black robe with his wavy hair tied into a neat ponytail. He looked completely different from what Hephaestus expected with his neat and groomed appearance.

“...I heard from Minhyuk that people like it if I greet them like this. Or not?”

It was none other than Louis, the Master of Life and Death.

“I don’t know how to create weapons. But I know some among the dead who know how to create one.”

Hephaestus’ heart thumped wildly. These men all knew that they wanted to stay by Minhyuk’s side. Unfortunately, they could not interfere in this war because they were Pillars. Regardless, even if they could not be with him, they could still create a weapon for him.

“Everything’s all set up and ready to go.” Warmth bloomed in Hephaestus’ chest. “Now, all I need to do is to strengthen my will and determination and work hard...”

“Hello...?”

A middle-aged man suddenly entered the smithy. Hephaestus did not recognize the ordinary-looking middle-aged man. His clothes did not help either, as they were very common garb in ordinary villages.

“Hello. Who are you?” Hephaestus asked.

The middle-aged man smiled awkwardly. “I’m The Persistent, Beladon.”

At this moment, the four Pillars gathered together to create a single sword.

***

Gabriel was in both disbelief and confusion.

‘What the hell? These crazy bastards!’

The foreigners suddenly shouted. Even the Absolute Gods and the ordinary gods rushed out with Belson, the former Battle God, taking the lead.

“So handsomeeeee!”

“So coooooool!”

“Our dear Ares is the best!!!”

“Kyaaa! Kyahahahahahahahahahaha! Kyahahahahahahaha!

Ahem!

You trash! Did you just realize that? Come, come! Let me show you what kind of god God of War Ares is!”

Ares’ sword gleamed brightly under the sun.

“UWOOOOOOOOH!”

“Kihyaaaaaaaaa!”

“Ares is really a f*cking cool god!!!”

“Ares hyung! Let’s freaking go!”

When Ares heard their cheers, he unknowingly exerted more force than when he did his best. To be honest, he could not think of a time when he gave his best in his entire life.

Minhyuk looked quite surprised at the people around him. For some reason, they seemed to have fully mastered Ares’ User Guide or something. On top of the surprise, there was also pride, especially for the people of the nation that was good at cheering and praising, the same nation that would not steal laptops from cafes but would steal bicycles outside. They stepped out and created this situation!

‘As expected! Koreans really know how to hype others!’

The louder their cheers, the more the crazy Ares let loose. What was even more surprising was Zeus who was holding Michael tightly. He seemed to be shaking because of the sight in front of him.

[I’m... I’m so jealous...]

Michael stared at the crowd in front of him before turning to Zeus beside him. He thought,

‘What the hell are you jealous of?’

And once again, Gabriel was left confused. She shouted, “You crazy bastards!!! How dare you jump around in front of me...!”

Gabriel’s wrath wrapped the entire world as a bright light shot out from her eyes. It was the telltale sign of her most significant and most powerful debuff ability being triggered. She wanted to weaken everyone here with this power.

Drip, drip, drip...

Suddenly, something dripped down from the sky above her. It slowly dripped upon Gabriel as if trying to soak her from head to toe. Gabriel looked up while stretching her hand out to catch the red liquid that was falling on her.

‘Wine?’

It was wine. The pungent smell of alcohol and the sweet scent distinct to wine were unmistakable. The wine that was falling one drop after another grew in intensity until it turned into torrential rain.

[Scent of Ecstasy.]

[The sweet scent lingering in your head has rendered you incapacitated. You won’t be able to use any skill for ten minutes.]

Gabriel was left shocked and flustered.

‘Ten minutes...?’

She could not use any of her skills for ten minutes? This was a power that even Raphael, who specialized in this kind of skill, did not possess. A skill was considered tremendous if it could restrict the use of other skills for five minutes.

But ten minutes?

‘Who the hell is it?’

“It seems like you’re enjoying it.”

The wine gathered together, forming the shape of a man right in front of Gabriel. The wine slowly transformed until it took on the form of a human. There were also cherubs playing the harp floating around him while he held a glass of wine in his hand.

The man was none other than Dionysius, the God of Wine and Ecstasy.

“I would love to share this lovely glass of wine with you.”

He slowly tilted the glass that he was holding. At the same time, wine began to rain upon Gabriel, and all of the beings who belonged to Heaven gathered in the Land of the Gods.

Shwaaaaaaa!

[Glass of Ecstasy.]

[You are drunk. You have fallen into ecstasy.]

The flying angels swayed as if they were drunk and began to fall to the ground one after another.

[Those who are drunk will not be able to control their bodies for three minutes.]

It was a shocking AOE debuff applied to all of the enemies in the area. Of course, the duration of the debuff would depend on the enemy’s level and their resistance to abnormal statuses as well as their power.

For Gabriel, the duration of the debuff was only thirty seconds. Nevertheless, it left her head feeling as if it was about to split, and her eyes spinning. She was also staggering on her feet, unable to control her body’s movements.

“Oh my. It seems like the almighty archangel is drunk, huh? Would you like to join me in ecstasy?” Dionysius smiled as he poured the contents of his glass of wine over Gabriel’s head.

The wine seeped into every pore of Gabriel’s body. This left her more drunk. Yet for some strange reason, she also felt so good.

“Fufu.”

Unbeknownst to Gabriel, her flesh was melting away, leaving behind only bones that were slowly being burned into ashes. Every single cell in her body was breaking down. Finally, her head began to melt away. Gabriel was just thinking whether she should sleep it off or not.

“Lady Gabriel!”

Gabriel blinked.

[Gabriel’s Immortality.]

[You have five more resurrections left.]

Only then did she realize that she had died.

Dionysius just lay softly on his small cloud and looked at her with a smile.

“No way...”

At this moment, Gabriel realized what Ares meant when he said that she was the perfect sandbag. It meant that they would appear one after another and kill her seven times.

Nonetheless, she still had Raphael, Michael, Anas, and the rest of her troops with her.

Alas, when Gabriel turned around, she saw Zeus had slung his shoulders over both Michael's and Raphael’s shoulders. He was keeping them from making a move with just his aura and momentum alone.

With the two archangels shaking in their booths, the three of them seemed to look similar to a bully and his prey. It looked like Zeus was saying,

‘Hey, hey. Pretend that we’re getting along well.’

Yes. Zeus just looked like a thug who pulled over an innocent angel walking on the street.

Gabriel felt her blood pressure rise.

“So sexy!”

“So cool!”

“You’re so handsoooooome!”

“Hahahahaha. My, oh my~” Dionysius rubbed his thumb and index finger together as he enjoyed the cheers and praises of the players. “Aaaah. So this is how it feels.”

Gabriel’s face twisted hideously at the sight in front of her. She looked so scary that one would wonder if she was truly an archangel.

Gabriel gnashed her teeth. “Me? A sandbag...?”

‘I am an archangel. I am the one who will take over Athenae’s position and become the god of the New World. How dare you treat me like a sandbag?!

“I will kill all of you...”

Gabriel’s wrath enveloped the world once more as an overwhelming amount of holy power erupted from within her.

Rumble!

She would show these bastards what kind of power an archangel has!

[Ho.]

Zeus looked at Gabriel with interest. With the amount of holy power that she was releasing, she could easily fight against any of the gods of Olympus on fair ground. Maybe she could even slaughter and extinguish them.

Shwaaaaaa!

Archangel Gabriel spread her wings as she increased her output of holy power.

“I will be the New World’s...”

She would become the brilliant light that would illuminate the world!

Thud!

Suddenly, the day turned into night. A deep darkness enveloped the entire world, extinguishing Gabriel’s light. In fact, the only thing that illuminated the world was the full moon that hung above the sky. The moon was so big that she felt as if it was standing right next to her.

At that moment, a beautiful woman riding a chariot pulled by deer appeared in front of the moon. The woman had flowing black hair, a pair of captivating black eyes, fair skin, and a height of around 162 centimeters. Her appearance was so stunning that it transcended some of the gods. That was how breathtakingly beautiful she was.

Gabriel was left dazed by her charming and captivating appearance for a brief moment. Then, she saw something fly toward her at high speed.

‘What the hell is...’

Thud!

‘...this?’

It was an arrow. The single arrow shot toward Gabriel and pierced right in the middle of her brows. The blow scattered all of the holy power and force that she released into nothingness. Even the power in her body was completely drained out of her.

BANG!

Gabriel was wrapped in a powerful explosion.

“N-Noona! Take meeeeee!!!”

“Hey, Locke! You’re serious this time, no?”

“This punk! Stop him!”

“NOONAAAAAAA!!!”

“Oh shit! It’s Artemis!!!”

“It’s Artemis!!!”

“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!”

Artemis flicked her hair back. She looked as if she was in a good mood as she listened to their cheers and praises.

[Gabriel’s Immortality.]

[You have four resurrections left.]

Olympus was slightly different from Heaven and the Land of the Gods.

In the Land of the Gods, there were far more Absolute Gods with non-combat classes than Absolute Gods with combat classes. That was not the case for the Gaia Continent. The number of people with combat classes on their continent far exceeded those with non-combat classes.

Even Dionysius, a non-combat class god, possessed at least one power that could kill his enemy with one hit.

So, what kind of place was the Gaia Continent? The answer to that was one that everyone knew well, since the continent had been opened to the world. The Gaia Continent was a land that was far superior to the Western Continents in terms of level and power. Of course, this comparison also applied to the Land of the Gods and Heaven.

Gabriel looked as if she had completely lost her soul. Nonetheless, she was overcome with anger.

‘Even so, how dare they...!’

Then, the night turned back into day. Gabriel, already exhausted with the situation, just stood there in a daze.

“This time, one of the gods of Olympus will show up again and kill me with one blow, right?! Huh?! Do you think I’m dumb?! Do you think I don’t know what you’re doing?!”

She had completely given up. She did not know why they had to appear one by one. Of course, she thought that it was all because of the cheers and praises of those foreigner bastards.

“Alright. Come. Come at me one by one!”

Thud!

This time, the sun shone brighter.

“Is it Apollo this time?! Huh? The God of the Sun? It’s so annoying. Just do it quickly...!”

This time, it was different. A beautiful woman, who could dazzle and mesmerize anyone with her looks alone, appeared in front of her. This beautiful woman, who only had one arm left, was none other than Hera.

Gabriel looked behind her. She saw a gloomy and brooding man, who resembled the God of Death, standing there. It was Hades.

When she looked to her left, she saw a handsome man riding atop a burning golden chariot that glittered underneath the sun. The man was sporting a delighted expression on his face as he showed off his upper body. It was Apollo.

This time, Gabriel turned to her right. She saw a middle-aged, blue-haired man holding a trident standing there.

Gabriel concluded, “You’re not thinking of killing me altogether because you think that killing me one by one is showing a lower impact than you expected, right?”

She was half right.

“Ho. You’re pretty smart, huh?”

Apollo, Hades, Poseidon, and Hera were the main pillars of Olympus. When they saw the people receive Dionysius, Ares, and Artemis with loud cheers and praises, the interest that burned in them slowly started to wane.

Of course, they also had this thought:

‘I think Minhyuk, that bastard, has tricked us again!’

They thought that Minhyuk had incited the people to cheer for them. That was why they were going crazy with their cheers and shouts.

Gabriel smirked. “Why the hell are the gods of Olympus interfering so much? Don’t you know that if you make a wrong move here, you will make enemies of both Heaven and earth?!”

She had a point.

‘The impact that Ares, Artemis, and Dionysius had created is already too strong.’

That was why the four appeared together. Now that the four of them appeared, would they still be able to create an even bigger impact? Would they be able to feel the thrill and pleasure that Ares felt with those repeated cheers and loud praises? The answer to that was... No.

“Hmm.”

When they heard Gabriel’s words, they slowly lowered the weapons that they were holding.

‘Why are we even doing this?’

was the thought that flashed in their heads.

At that moment, the figure of a woman caught their attention. Their hearts trembled when they saw her walk out of the crowd.

‘Athenae?’

‘The Land of the Gods’ greatest god?’

‘The West’s symbol?’

***

Athenae created the world. Her existence itself was holy and noble. After making the world, she could no longer interfere and create significant changes. Not only that, she no longer possessed the same power that she had before, and was even significantly weaker than the other gods.

Athenae looked at those who tried to protect the Land of the Gods. As the mother of the Western Continents, she wanted to protect all of these people whom she loved and cared for deeply. She decided to do everything she could.

When she saw the gods of Olympus lower their weapons, she knew that the cheers and praises were no longer working. So, she stepped forward and stood in front of everyone in the Land of the Gods.

Everyone grew silent.

Athenae’s face grew red. However, she clenched her fists and gathered enough courage to say, “Are you the great gods of Olympus?”

She held her hands together in front of her chest and looked at them with her bright and sparkling eyes.

“What kind of power do you have? Can you please show me?”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“...”

The gods of Olympus instinctively realized that the biggest and greatest cheer and praise in the world was yet to be delivered. They all tightened their holds on their weapons as their will to fight burned even brighter than before.