Leveling with the Gods

-Weren't we supposed to be working together?

YuWon realized he was holding back too much.

He didn't know how, but he must have found out about the situation here.

Of course, it was only a matter of time before Amaterasu found out, but it was much quicker than he thought.

"I can't leave them alone when they're following me."

- These are the guys I sent.

"I know."

-You knew and you did it? You want to fight me now.......

"I don't want anything to do with them. Murderers, thieves, lowlife bastards. I don't care what you do with them, but don't get me involved with them."

-W-What?

"I'm hanging up. Goodbye."

YuWon immediately put the gambler's kit in his inventory.

There was no point in arguing. It had already pissed him off, but he held onto the sword anyway.

Until he got his hands on the Mirror of Yata.

Amaterasu would never, ever kill YuWon.

'Still, there's not much time.

Half a year at most.

Maybe a year.

Maybe until then, Amaterasu will wait and see YuWon.

Whether or not he will definitely help find Yata's mirror.

And if he takes too long, or deems it unnecessary, he will draw his sword.

'Then....'

"To fight the Three Precious Children, you must first collect two of the Three Sacred Treasures. Especially if it's on the 44th floor."

There was only one Sacred Treasure left.

'Let's go get it.

* * *

Thud!

A marble table shattered. The jars on the table fell to the floor, shattering and spilling clear liquor all over the floor.

A fiery glow emanated from Amaterasu's eyes as he struck out with his fist.

"That son of a p*ta......."

The call ended abruptly.

It meant there was nothing more to say. He hadn't expected it to come out like this, even ending the call so blatantly.

'Once I find the Three Sacred Treasures, I will definitely kill you.'

It didn't matter if his background was Asgard, the Celestial Demon Cult, and so on.

After gathering the Three Sacred Treasures anyway, there was no reason to fear the giant guilds.

Kirik-.

Leaning back in her chair, Amaterasu looked up at the ceiling.

'I've finally made it this far.'

One of the Three Sacred Treasures was in his hand.

The other, Kusanagi's sword, had been taken by Susanoo, and with Kim YuWon's appearance, she had one last clue.

A face emerged above Amaterasu's black pupils.

'That guy has Kusanagi's sword.'

Susanoo.

The strongest of the Three Precious Children, who was like his brother.

As a High Rank player ranked 57th, he had a similar ranking to him, and had defeated him once even with his Sacred Treasure, while Susanoo had yet to find the Sword of Kusanagi.

What if he had wielded Kusanagi before he was killed by Yamata no Orochi's poison?

What his rank would have been, I wasn't sure.

'If he, and not me, gathered the Three Sacred Treasures....'

He wondered what kind of monster would be created.

Closing his eyes, he remembered Susanoo swinging his sword as he strode across the battlefield.

He felt very safe knowing that he had his back. With a sword in front of him, he couldn't be so afraid.

He was a sword demon.

He wielded the sword like a demon, and everyone feared him like a demon.

That's how he got his nickname, and he thought it was very appropriate.

When they first found one of the Three Treasures, the Magatama Jewel (Note: Formerly called Yasakani no Magatama).

Tsukuyomi, Susanoo and Amaterasu met to discuss who should have it.

No.

They tried to discuss it.

"You two take care of it."

Susanoo said in a rough voice as she wiped the blood off her sword with a cloth.

"I don't care. It's not like you can slice someone with a jewel like that."

The power of the Magatama Jewel was not worthy of such words. And Susanoo knew that all too well.

Still, Susanoo paid no attention to the Three Sacred Treasures.

He had always been like that.

He wasn't interested in articles or anything. Being strong was not a concern.

He only wanted one thing.

To rush into battle, dance his sword, slash and slash.

"Cheeky."

Pudeuk-.

A thousand years ago.

Amaterasu, who obtained the Jewel of Magatama, rose to 60th place in the Rankings.

That was all.

When he checked his rank, Amaterasu felt more helpless than he had ever felt in his life.

Why?

What had prevented him from surpassing Susanoo's rank?

Even after obtaining one of the Three Sacred Treasures, he could not surpass Susanoo.

He couldn't admit it.

He was stronger. He was better.

The Ranking Office must have made a mistake.

But Amaterasu knew that.

The fact that the Classification Bureau could not make a mistake.

And it was from then on... that Amaterasu's goal became Susanoo.

"Now I'm over it.

Susanoo is now dead and gone.

A remnant of the past whose name is no longer visible in the rankings.

At this moment, he was superior to him in terms of rank, strength, power and everything else.

"If I collect the Three Sacred Treasures..."

Susanoo, who had abandoned the Magatama Jewel.

Remembering the Sword of Kusanagi she had last obtained, Amaterasu gritted her teeth.

"I will be Susanoo."

* * *

- Hahaha, that's funny, very funny!

A voice boomed in her ears.

Perhaps thanks to the relaxation of his spirit, Susanoo, who had been quiet since he climbed up to the 44th floor, became more talkative.

-Silence.

- How do you make things fun? You're hotter than you look. This is the first time I've ever liked you.

After abruptly ending the call with Amaterasu, Susanoo laughed nonstop.

As if he hadn't laughed in a thousand years, he relived the incident over and over again.

Even when Arthur, who couldn't stand that laughter, said a word, it was the same.

YuWon frowned at the clash between the two.

"Cut it out. You're making too much noise."

- I got it, I got it. Seriously, can't I even laugh at will?

Still, the laughter continued for a while. YuWon ignored the fading laughter and kept walking.

-What are we going to do now?

"What?"

-We're going to look for Yata's Mirror from now on, do you know where it is?

"I have a rough clue.

There were no paths in this dense forest filled with trees.

YuWon swung his sword in its scabbard and moved, slashing at the leaves of the trees that covered his eyes.

"A cave."

-A cave?

"We have to find a cave."

-That's the only clue?

"There's one more."

YuWon replied, waving the sword in his hand.

"This."

-Yes, this is...

Susanoo suddenly realized that the sword YuWon was holding was not the usual one.

-The Sword of Kusanagi?

The sword sheath that had been swept away by the blades.

Even without looking, YuWon knew the expression on Susanoo's face.

-Did you just use this to prune tree branches?

"A hundred times better than cutting people."

-A sword is made for cutting living things. Kusanagi's sword is the pinnacle of such swords.

"All these trees are alive. In that sense, it fits perfectly."

-This madman...

Susanoo lost his life before he could properly use the Sword of Kusanagi.

Perhaps, just before he died, his last wish was to perform a sword dance with the Sword of Kusanagi.

However, YuWon, who had first held the Sword of Kusanagi, was cutting tree branches and it took his breath away.

'Well, it sure sounds good.'

YuWon looked at the sheathed Kusanagi Sword.

Although the sword was sheathed in a solid scabbard, he felt the edge cut into his fingertips. He had never touched such a sharp sword.

The sword qi could pierce through the scabbard.

It was called the Demonic Sword for a reason.

'In the short term, it will increase your fighting ability by leaps and bounds. But that's all.'

Kusanagi's expectations did not match YuWon's way of fighting. Relying on the power of the sword would change the way he fought.

As for the sharpness of the sword, the Dusk Edge was enough.

-But what do you mean the Sword of Kusanagi is a clue?

"The Three Sacred Treasures were originally one. But now, they all have different forms."

-Huh?

"That's why Amaterasu wants to bring them together, because only together can they be used to unleash their full power."

- Really?

This was information that not even Susanoo, one of the Three Precious Children, knew.

No wonder.

All they knew was the information about the Three Sacred Treasures, but what kind of object it was would only be known after the Three Sacred Treasures were gathered.

That is, when the Three Treasures unite.

The apogee of the Three Precious Children then began.

-"How do you know all these things?

"Let's say I do."

-Ok, ok...

It was a question Susanoo had asked him several times, but since he received no answer, Susanoo had given up trying to understand YuWon.

However...

For someone who doesn't know about the existence of the Clockwork Mechanism, YuWon's existence must seem like a mystery to him.

-So you're saying you can find Yata's mirror with Kusanagi's sword? By what means?

"There's one more clue."

-What?

"A cave."

-A cave?

"The Mirror of Yata is in a cave."

The Mirror of Yata, so long sought after, was in a cave, closer than I thought.

The Mirror of Yata, which I had been looking for for so long, was in a cave closer than I thought.

Tak-.

Kusanagi's sheath cut another blade.

How long had it been since they had gone through the forest?

The corner of YuWon's mouth lifted as he walked.

"I found one."

Using his Ash Eyes, YuWon could see a cave in the distance, beyond the bushes.

A cave in a high, long mountain range.

There were several entrances, but in the end, the cave led to only one.

"We just have to find the entrance. It shouldn't be too hard."

The 44th floor wasn't very big.

A huge mountain range running through the world. And a huge forest centered on that mountain range, with a few scattered cities around it.

Finding the entrance to the cave wasn't too difficult once you found the mountain range.

Kak-.

YuWon walked into the entrance of the spacious cave.

The entrance itself was not very wide.

It was about four meters wide from side to side. It looked like an entrance for wild beasts to enter and exit.

"The problem is in there."

A quiet cave without even the sound of water droplets.

As YuWon stepped into it, his eyes saw the depths of the cave.

'It's much wider than it looks.'

An intricate tangle of paths.

It was as if the mountain range itself was a gigantic labyrinth.

As long as he had his vision, it wouldn't be difficult to find his way, however complicated the maze was. With the Sensory Field and the Ash Eyes, he could see the maze up and down and find his way.

However, the purpose of this maze was not to find the exit.

It was to find a single object within this complex mountain range hundreds of miles long.

You never know how long it might take.

That's why no one has found it in all these years.

If I had been empty-handed, it probably wouldn't have been any different.

Ung-.

The hilt of Kusanagi's Sword trembled slightly.

One of the Three Sacred Treasures.

The object, later dubbed the "Compass" among the high-ranking members, began to function.