CH 213

El and Lou quickly appeared before Gi-Gyu and concentrated their energy on creating two circles. These two circles overlapped and clashed with Kim Dong-Hae’s power.

Kaboom!

It was unbelievable how loud a sound these three energies clashing could create. One after another, multiple explosions occurred, and the resulting gales ravaged the surroundings.

“Ackkk!” the Blue Dragon Guild members, who weren’t prepared, were helplessly swept away.

“Dammit! Tankers, you idiots!” Choi Chang-Yong was the first one to recover and scream. Eventually, he formed a barrier around them.

Choi Chang-Yong looked ahead in disbelief. The magic quality and quantity around him could be described by only one word: Unreal.

“Kim Dong-Hae?” Choi Chang-Yong’s eyes widened. Kim Dong-Hae now looked blurry like he was underwater, but there was no doubt that it was him. Choi Chang-Yong remembered Kim Dong-Hae being at a lower level than him, yet he was giving off such powerful energy.

And…

“Kim Gi-Gyu,” Choi Chang-Hong muttered in awe and frustration. Kim Gi-Gyu was standing behind Lou and El, looking different from what Choi Chang-Yong remembered. Choi Chang-Yong almost forgot where he was because of Gi-Gyu’s overwhelming power.

“Dammit,” Choi Chang-Yong swore, realizing that he had to create an even stronger barrier. Else, he and his players would all die here.

“This is a battle between beasts.” Choi Chang-Yong whispered as he plunged his sword into the ground. An icy blue arc materialized from it and strengthened the surrounding barrier. He knew he wasn’t even worthy of joining this war; this was the best he could do. Right now, his only job was to keep his guild members alive.

Suddenly, Choi Chang-Yong realized the giant wall was gone, so he looked around. He saw the Morningstar-Child Guild members in a nearby corner trembling in fear.

Choi Chang-Yong shouted, “I don’t know what’s going on, but if you want to live, come behind me.”

Despite Choi Chang-Yong’s order, it took the Morningstar-Child Guild members a long time to start moving.

***

“Are you okay?” Lou quickly turned around to ask Gi-Gyu.

Gi-Gyu nodded.

Lou grinned and added, “Guess I wasn’t too late then.”

Kim Dong-Hae was floating in the air; his form was still blurry like a submerged object.

Lou muttered in irritation, “Of all things… Just why here? Why now?”

“Master.” El also turned to give Gi-Gyu a worried look.

Gi-Gyu smiled and reassured her, “It’s all right.”

Gi-Gyu wasn’t lying to his Egos. Seconds before he had started fighting Kim Dong-Hae, the walls had gone down, allowing Lou and El to return on time.

Kim Dong-Hae, exuding vicious energy, whispered, “Lucifer…?”

At the same time, his magic wavered. Confirming who was standing before him, Kim Dong-Hae screamed, “Lucifer!”

Kim Dong-Hae laughed, “Hahaha! So we finally meet! Lucifer! Lucifer! Haha! Hahaha!!!” He had to grab his stomach because he was laughing so hard.

“Dammit. I guess all the crazies have gathered here today,” Lou muttered

Gi-Gyu whispered, “Lou.”

Gi-Gyu and Lou’s eyes met for a moment. Lou and El’s twin circle barrier should keep them safe for now, so they decided to discuss Kim Dong-Hae—Leviathan, to be precise—who was still laughing hysterically.

Gi-Gyu asked, “So it’s him?”

The moment he heard Leviathan’s name, part of Lou’s data was awakened. Gi-Gyu had immediately realized that Leviathan, aka the King of Envy, was one of the original Seven Kings of Hell. Gi-Gyu had also quickly learned everything Lou knew about this hell king.

“That’s right,” Lou replied in displeasure.

El interrupted their conversation and said, “We can talk about the details later.”

Gi-Gyu and Lou nodded in agreement, as they could sense something was about to happen with Kim Dong-Hae.

Kim Dong-Hae screamed, “Lucifer! Finally! Finally! We meet! Andras was right! I love it! This is perfect!”

Kim Dong-Hae’s voice kept going from high to low. The bizarre show made everyone cringe.

“Finally!” Kim Dong-Hae slowly reached out with his hand, alerting Gi-Gyu, Lou, and El. Powerful was only one word they could think of to describe Kim Dong-Hae, now Leviathan.

Leviathan yelled, “Now, I can have you! I won’t let you get away, Lucifer!”

Long water rivulets gushed out from Leviathan’s hand.

***

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Short explosions occurred one after the other due to Leviathan’s water bombs. These attacks were aimed at Gi-Gyu, El, and Lou.

Lou slapped away one of the water bombs. Although it was made of water, it bounced away from him. When it hit the ground, it exploded, leaving a long gauge.

Kaboom!

“Lucifer! Lucifer!” Leviathan refused to stop calling Lou’s old name.

“Fucking idiot! Stop calling my name!” Lou screamed back.

Meanwhile, El’s feathers destroyed Leviathan’s water bombs, giving Lou a chance to attack.

Lou kicked the ground like a bull and sprung toward Leviathan. By now, the horns on his forehead had turned jet black.

“Embrace me, Lucifer!” Leviathan yelled in his usual high and low voice. It sounded so bizarre that everyone who heard it shivered.

“Die already!” Lou’s black horns crashed into Leviathan, who fell to the ground.

In a bid to deliver the finishing blow, Gi-Gyu was about to sprint forward.

But suddenly, El shouted, “Master!”

Even before Gi-Gyu could turn toward El, she had transformed into her sword form and appeared in his hand. El had gained a physical form not too long ago, so Gi-Gyu had been using a replacement sword. Although it was very powerful, it wasn’t the real deal.

Feeling El’s incredible power, Gi-Gyu silently rushed forward. Leviathan was on the ground, twitching. From high up in the air, Gi-Gyu began dropping with El aimed at Leviathan.

“Hahaha!” Leviathan's explosive laugh rang in the air as El plunged into him.

Gi-Gyu assumed this was Leviathan’s last scream.

As El sank deeper into its flesh, the hell king began wiggling underneath it.

“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you for letting me reunite with Lucifer! I made the right decision by following Andras and coming here!” Leviathan roared in ecstasy.

Suddenly, Lou screamed, “Run!”

Gi-Gyu tried to use Super Rush to escape, but it was too late.

Blurp.

Leviathan continued to wiggle; before anyone could react, it had enlarged and swallowed Gi-Gyu. Leviathan’s body, made of water, had transformed into a giant circle, engulfing everything around it.

-Botis!

Gi-Gyu quickly shouted. Botis had been trembling in fear since Leviathan’s arrival, unable to do anything. But understanding what Gi-Gyu wanted, Botis promptly stood in front of the Morningstar-Child Guild and Choi Chang-Yong. Magic filled the air as Botis used everything he had to create a barrier.

Drowning, Gi-Gyu looked ahead. He couldn’t see Leviathan because he was already inside the hell king’s stomach.

-Fucking idiot!

Gi-Gyu heard Lou using his usual nickname. Before he knew it, Lou had materialized in his hand.

Lou shouted,

-Use Death!

The giant water circle that had engulfed Gi-Gyu turned black.

***

“Khoff…” Gi-Gyu coughed up a large amount of blood and water.

-Are you okay?

-Master!

Lou asked while El used Life to heal Gi-Gyu. But…

“Khoff!” Gi-Gyu coughed again because Life wasn’t enough to heal him. He seemed to have suffered internal damage because he continued to cough up blood.

-You’ve been affected by Leviathan’s power. It won’t be easy to treat it. Step back for a while and rest.

Listening to Lou, Gi-Gyu looked ahead while wiping his mouth. The water circle before him was changing continuously.

Lou explained in irritation,

-You can’t attack it now. In that state, Leviathan is…

Lou didn’t have to finish his thought for Gi-Gyu to realize that Leviathan was like an immortal in this state. Currently, there was no way to kill it. Gi-Gyu had escaped Leviathan’s stomach using Death; consequently, Leviathan went berserk.

“Botis!” Gi-Gyu shouted.

Botis replied quickly, “Yes, Grandmaster!”

Immediately, Botis contacted Old Man Hwang, who answered,

-I got it!

They needed to evacuate all the humans around. They were nothing more than a hindrance to Gi-Gyu, and he couldn’t just leave them to die like this.

-Grandmaster! We’re here to help!

Hart, Hal, and the other creatures contacted Gi-Gyu. They knew they weren’t strong enough to help Gi-Gyu with this battle. All they could do was make it easier for Gi-Gyu to fight. In short, their job was to lessen Gi-Gyu’s worry.

While Leviathan continued to transform, the evacuation quickly occurred.

“H-Hyung!” Kim Sun-Pil, who seemed to have regained his courage, yelled.

Gi-Gyu replied, “It’s fine, so just run! We’ll talk later! Get outta here!”

“Hyung! We’ll help!” Kim Sun-Pil’s face was filled with guilt.

Gi-Gyu sighed and answered, “I forgive you, okay? I need to finish him off; we’ll talk afterward.”

Gi-Gyu had offered his forgiveness, but Kim Sun-Pil became confused. Did Gi-Gyu really mean this?

Just then, Kim Ha-Neul slapped the back of Kim Sun-Pil’s head.

Whack!

Ha-Neul scolded, “If you want to help Gi-Gyu oppa, just do as he says, you idiot!”

Looking at Ha-Neul’s pale face, Kim Sun-Pil seemed to have finally realized his situation.

Thanks to his creatures’ help and Old Man Hwang’s ability to control the gate, the evacuation was completed quickly. Leviathan was also almost ready to battle again.

-How did Leviathan take a human body?

Lou asked before the fight began.

-There is no human body that can handle Leviathan. So how…?

Both Lou and El seemed confused. This was very unexpected. Sure, something like the body of one of the strongest players could accommodate a hell king, but Kim Dong-Hae wasn’t that.

This wasn’t a chimeric situation—he had never even imagined such a future. So, how could he have prepared for this? After all, no ordinary human shell could hold a hell king.

Lou asked quickly,

-Any chance Rohan betrayed us?

Gi-Gyu didn’t answer.

Lou continued,

-I know it’s not possible. I know how your sync works better than anyone. Dammit. Sorry, I asked a stupid question. I just can’t think clearly right now.

This was very unlike Lou.

El chimed in worriedly,

-Master… In your current state, you might not be able to defeat Leviathan.

El was still in her sword form in Gi-Gyu’s hand. Gi-Gyu could feel her determination when she whispered,

-But we’ll do our best…

“That’s right.” Gi-Gyu grasped both of his swords firmly.

-...

-...

Lou’s confusion and El’s worry slowly disappeared thanks to Gi-Gyu’s determination and calmness.

Gi-Gyu declared, “Let’s do this.”

Gi-Gyu placed one foot forward while keeping the other behind. After countless battles, this had become his starting position. Lou took the front offense while El stayed behind to take care of the defense.

-Kerrrk!

Leviathan roared after completing its transformation. He could no longer talk and used his magic to communicate.

-I will kill you! I’ll kill you and make Lucifer mine!

Leviathan spoke like a stalker.

Gi-Gyu’s shoes glowed brightly as he whispered, “Super Rush.”