CH 228

68. Exciting illusion (2)

Amusement parks were safe.

Thinking so, people enjoyed the thrill of their rides without worry. They did guarantee their safety, after all.

Of course, accidents did happen from time to time, but they were extremely rare. If they happened frequently, all amusement parks would’ve been ruined by now.

However, that didn’t apply to Jin-woo’s business.

In fact, the recently opened Egyptian mythology-themed sector of it would’ve been more appropriately named if it were called the death penalty.

Its control tower was constantly in a state of emergency since, while the previous rides stayed within the limits of what humans could endure, this one begged to differ.

It was created based on the idea that they needed to cause stronger stimulation if they wanted to extract the necessary amount of sales.

“A fatality occurred at the Pyramid Express! Cause of death is cardiac arrest!”

“We’ve only been in operation for four hours, yet we already have forty-four casualties… That’s a new record. Bring their soul back as per the rules we’ve set.”

To the control tower employees, that was a normal conversation.

Nitocris sold one of the Western World’s pyramids, which were commonly known as the pharaohs’ tombs.

They were used for a slightly different purpose in the World of Gods. In this dimension, they were treated as palaces where the pharaohs would reside upon retirement in this realm.

Nitocris sold hers! And at a very low price of ten thousand dimensional gold coins at that!

She could revive ten warriors for a week per dimensional gold coin. Known as heroes when they were still alive, they had skills equal to a hundred people.

Needing to escape the dire situation she was in, she had no choice but to sell her pyramid with tears in her eyes. She then used her earnings to defend against the Northern World’s invasion.

Prof. Kim Dae-jin personally went to the Western World and disassembled it, then reassembled it in the underworld, completely changing its interior.

He installed several rides inside, the most notable ones being the Pharaoh’s Flume Ride, which fell from the top of the pyramid, Nicotris Fury that ran around its premises at great speed, and the Final Pyramid Express, which caused the most deaths.

The pyramid rides were so dangerous they caused an average of a hundred deaths per day.

It didn’t matter if they did, though. Jin-woo’s amusement park was built in the underworld, after all. There wouldn’t be a problem for as long as they could return the deceased’s soul to their body within the first minute of their death.

Their customers always came out of the pyramid barely conscious.

“I fainted halfway through. I really thought I was going to die.”

“Ah, I should change my diapers…”

“The rides made my life flash before my eyes. The experience enlightened me to work harder from now on.”

They didn’t faint. They really did die.

They recalled their entire history right before, but they just viewed it as their minds reflecting on their past and telling them to work harder.

It had a positive effect on them, at least.

Nitocris sold several goods and sculptures, which her people made, directly inside the pyramid. Unable to stop herself from drooling whenever she witnessed shiny dimensional gold coins dropping into her subspace pocket, she earnestly asked Prof. Kim Dae-jin to let her work 40 hours five days a week instead of just twice a week. She also actively worked as an on-call employee.

“Nitocris, are you going home?”

“I plan to visit Olympus for a bit then return.”

“I see.”

“Work hard during your night shift.”

Wearing a T-shirt and sweatpants, she drank beer and ate chicken, the leftover food from what the amusement park staff sold.

“Chicken~ Chicken~ Chicken! Chi-chicken! Chicken and beer~ Beer and chicken~ Bring the two of you together, and I gain happiness! Such a great combo~”

Nitocris sang amid the hot desert, making up lyrics on the spot while eating a lot of steaming chicken and drinking beer so cold it made her teeth ache!

Those who had never experienced it would never know how she felt. Moreover, since she ate alone and secretly, its taste became twice as good!

Horus and the Western World’s inhabitants still believed the God of Evil was torturing her. For that reason, he bestowed his blessing upon her, and her people shed tears and even held a period of fasting for her.

The situation had grown beyond repair.

They tried to tell them the truth, but the atmosphere prevented them. In the end, Nitocris and her warriors decided to keep it a secret. Currently, they viewed her as the martyr pharaoh who selflessly endured the God of Evil’s torment for her citizens!

She put the chicken and beer in her subspace pocket and went to Olympus to receive Earth’s goods from Bread Jam. When she arrived, Bread Jam was already waiting for her.

“Oh! I’m sorry for making you wait.”

“Don’t worry. I just got here.”

“This is the product you requested.” He handed over the box he had been carrying to her.

“Finally!”

She grabbed the heavy-duty portable air conditioner with trembling hands. It was made by G&P, ensuring its quality to be no less than top-of-the-line.

Nitocris handed a scarab to her as payment.

“Is that enough?”

“Yes!”

“You truly are a greedy goddess.”

She just gave her a spirit from the Western World that helped achieve a person’s dream. It was smart, followed its master loyally, and provided a lot of help.

Bread Jam kept her secret in return for it.

Nitocris rubbed the box against her cheeks ecstatically.

‘Everything’s perfect now!’

A hot desert scenery, yummy chicken and cold beer, and cool breeze!

It couldn’t get any better than this.

Noticing someone exiting the God of Evil’s Temple, she hastily shoved the air-conditioner into her subspace.

“Loki…”

“Oh, uh… Are you okay?”

Loki’s gaze landed on her, his eyes filled with sorrow and regret. He couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. If it weren’t for him sacrificing her for the sake of Asgard, she wouldn’t have been subjected to the terrors of torment.

“I don’t need your sympathy,” Nitocris replied, hiding her innermost feelings. She walked towards the portal.

He could only tilt his head at the sight. Her steps seemed quite light for someone being tortured.

“Hahahaha… Hehehehe…” She hummed and giggled as she left, making him think she went through enough horrors to drive even pharaohs beyond the brink of insanity!

Loki couldn’t even imagine the pain she was going through.

He made eye contact with Bread Jam, whom he had talked to quite a bit since she gave him ice cream. She was definitely a beautiful and kind goddess.

She, too, was being harassed by the God of Evil.

‘God of Evil…’

She often told him heartbreaking stories, briefly recounting what she had been through. Every tale she uttered broke his heart.

‘They forcibly remodeled me… and left me among the dead…’

Whenever he came across her purity, his heart ached. He liked her a bit, after all. She, too, was a famous god and, unlike the myths portrayed her, she was quite kind.

‘I need to drive that bastard away and save her.’

Solidifying his heart, he went to the Western World.

To be precise, he went to the border of the Western World and the Northern World. It was the closest place to Svartalfheim, but not even the gods frequented it since it was nothing but a desert overflowing with energy.

A reply came from Saturn through the mark Loki left. Crossing the wasteland using the path Saturn indicated, he soon stumbled upon a temple hidden behind a mirage.

When he entered it, he found Saturn sitting on a chair. Next to him stood Hera, also known as the queen of the gods, and Set, an Egyptian deity.

Saturn looked down at him and smiled.

“Welcome to my palace, Loki, Asgardian god of mischief.”

“Saturn, no… I should call you Cronus.”

The primordial stood up.

By his side were the Western World and Midgard warriors. They were all strong enough to be mistaken for gods, and, more importantly, they were all loyal to him since they had made a contract with him, which included selling their souls to him. The same was true of the chaotic god that stood with the Olympians.

Set was the younger brother of Osiris, known as one of the most powerful Egyptian deities. However, unlike him, Set wasn’t particularly strong.

He only became stronger when Cronus sent him back in time. Set killed Osiris then, making him worthy of being called a god. Horus drove him out right after, though.

The last piece of this invincible army was Kim Ah-young.

“What do you want, Loki? Do you want me to send you back in time?”

“That won’t work against me.”

Once a deity had accumulated enough power, they would be able to free themselves from the flow of time, much like Odin and Thor. Rather, they were more concerned about awakening other divine beings related to Loki by turning back time.

“I came here because of the God of Evil. We need to get rid of him for this dimension’s sake! He tortures even Nitocris, the pharaoh of the Western World, every day and has driven her to insanity. Soon enough, all gods will suffer the same fate.”

“Nitocris… The sun god Ra’s favorite pharaoh… Odin called her a desert ghost. Did he really manage to bring her down to such a state?”

“… She hummed as she was broken apart.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

Cronus’ smile disappeared.

He knew how terrifying the God of Evil was. Confronting him head-on would be nothing short of suicide.

Loki continued.

“He also promised Uranus he’ll give him the chance to get his vengeance against you. Sooner or later, they’ll find this hidden base of yours.”

“I’ll just go to a different dimension…”

“If he gets a hold of Odin and Horus’ eyes, it won’t matter where you run. There won’t be anything or anyone he can’t find.”

Loki told him what he saw at Olympus.

“Don’t you want to return to your home, Cronus?”

He did. The only reason he hadn’t tried was because of Zeus and Poseidon’s Astrafe and Triana, which Olympus’ new ruler now owned. Much to his dismay, both of those armaments had the ability to neutralize his scythe.

Once the Western and Northern Worlds’ war had weakened their nations, Cronus intended to conquer them with the army he had built and developed. Naturally, this was all to prepare for his main objective: retaking Olympus.

However, he could no longer boldly proceed with his plans due to the God of Evil’s emergence driving him into hiding.

“Why should I trust you? Didn’t you swear allegiance to the God of Evil yourself?”

Cronus was a prudent god.

Loki was able to enter this temple because he had come alone. However, he felt as if a sickle’s blade was wrapped around his neck from the moment he did.

“I swear by my existence that I was never loyal to the God of Evil. On the contrary, I want to get rid of him.”

Loki swore with everything he had.

Gods’ oaths had powerful effects since they only ever used them to prove a point.

Cronus hesitated.

No one could come here without his invitation since this was a transcendent space beyond the flow of time.

He looked at the tree in the center of the temple, which looked like Yggdrasil. Through its giant branches, one could see the past, present, and future.

By collecting a multitude of souls, he gained this power. However, at some point in it, the future no longer continued.

“The weapons he stole… Astrafe and Triana. If you can seal them, we’ll have a fighting chance.”

Loki nodded in response to his answer.

“The God of Evil is arrogant. He always puts his weapons in his subspace. If we can lock it down, we’ll be able to prevent him from taking it out and using it against us.”

“We need to conduct some research.”

Cronus accepted his offer.

From that moment on, the two gods studied their mutual opponent all night. The god of mischief did so while drinking an expensive energy drink, which he bought from Prof. Kim Dae-jin.

By the time they had finally completed the final version of their trap for the God of Evil, their eyes already had dark circles around them.

* * *

Jin-Woo decided to live with Ah-young in order to look for Cronus. Since her soul belonged to him, she had no choice but to follow the primordial’s orders.

It was quite annoying, considering he wanted to keep his promise to Uranus. Moreover, he thought he should first take Cronus out of the picture before beginning to invade the Northern and Western Worlds in earnest.

Jin-woo roamed the entire Northern World except Asgard.

“You really don’t know?”

“Huh? Oh, yes! All I know is he might be in Asgard…”

“Is that so…”

Jin-woo went to Muspelheim to ask Surtr since he might be aware of any valuable information. He was the Flame of the Beginning, after all.

The fire giant stood politely with his hands clasped together. He was supposed to be gigantic, but Jin-woo had reduced his size, making it the same as his, by half-killing Surtr for charging at him as soon as he arrived in his territory.

“I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s alright. There’s always been the possibility that you know nothing.” Jin-woo shook his head, his eyes staring down at his captive, who was crouching in front of him.

“I heard the flames here are extraordinary. Can I bring some with me?”

“Of course! Feel free to take whatever you desire.”

“Thank you.”

He created a portal to Muspelheim and connected it to the Sanctuary. When he opened it, Surtr lowered his head and didn’t raise it again until he had completely disappeared.

After a while, Prof. Kim Dae-jin and his team arrived to collect large quantities of the Muspelheim flames.

At that moment, the fire giants’ land began to shrink in size.

‘He’s hard to find.’

Jin-woo had been lost in thought since he arrived at Olympus.

He also visited the Western World, but he couldn’t find Cronus’ location there either. Of course, since he couldn’t get any clues himself, it would be too much to order his subordinates to find him. After all, Most of the Northern World and Western World’s environments were vicious and chaotic.

As he pondered around, Loki approached him, who looked quite tired and even had dark circles around his eyes.

‘Now that I thought about it, he’s been quite busy lately.’

He worked too hard.

He was great at his job and never spared any efforts to do what had to be done, making him quite reliable. The longer he stayed with them, the more he liked him as a professional.

If he asked, he would’ve allowed him to rule Asgard.

“You look tired.”

“God of Evil! I have brought intel that you might be interested in.”

“Oh? And what would that be?”

Jin-woo looked at Loki, who nervously glanced around the room filled with the God of Evil’s subordinates.

“About that… This intel’s a bit classified..”

“Is that so?”

Jin-woo made all of his underlings exit the temple, leaving him alone with Loki, who was licking his dry lips. He seemed incredibly anxious, which only made him worry about him even more.

“Do you know of that myth about Saturn being kicked out of Olympus?”

“Hmm?”

He looked at him in surprise. At that moment, the Asgardian collapsed, plopping down to the ground, upon witnessing his master’s reaction. Jin-woo lifted him back to his feet as he barely managed to control his breathing.

“I-I found where he was hiding. It looks like he’s plotting some kind of conspiracy… If we don’t act quickly, he’s going to disrupt our plans soon.”

He looked at Loki quietly, his stare seemingly making his complexion turn pale blue. The moment a smile appeared on his lips, his subordinate tightly closed his eyes.

‘Did he catch onto me?’ Loki thought.

After a few moments, Jin-woo placed a hand on his shoulder.

“That’s great to hear! Did you really find Cronus?”

“Huh? Oh, uh… Yes, yes! He goes by the name of Saturn now. I discovered where he’s been staying all this time.”

“How?”

“Well, there’s this mark he uses… We just need to follow it.”

Loki didn’t make any sense, but Jin-woo didn’t care. He was grateful for his efforts.

Loki was a great man. He had many subordinates, but not one of them could offer what he desired as if they could read his mind.

Not even Yoo-na was on his level yet.

“But… It’s such a dangerous place I doubt your servants will be able to survive in it.”

“Is that so?” Jin-woo replied.

Considering even he couldn’t find it, it was only natural for it to be so treacherous that not even his subordinates would be able to survive in it.

It would be best if he went alone.

“I’ll visit him myself. Where is it?”

“Allow me to guide you!”

“Didn’t you just say it’s dangerous?”

Loki just made an awkward expression, unable to answer.

His loyalty moved him. Considering he was willing to go this far even though he didn’t sincerely pledge allegiance to him, Jin-woo couldn’t help but wonder how great Loki would be once he had.

‘I have to do better.’

He followed him to the Western World.

As they crossed the desert, their surroundings soon changed, revealing an infrastructure in the distance.

“There it is.”

Loki pointed to the temple.

Cronus’ temple was now right within Jin-woo’s sights.