Yeon-woo was greeted with gazes of wariness and suspicion the moment he entered the common location. 'I have no idea what we're doing.'
They had been staring at each other for thirty minutes now. They were observing how powerful each other was, whether they were holding weapons, the kinds of skills they had, if they had Blessings, whether they were working with anyone else, what kind of legends they had, their weaknesses, and how to attack their weaknesses if any… They sharply searched each other, prepared to work with each other if one of them showed any weaknesses, so Yeon-woo couldn't become at ease.
If this was going to keep up, it would be better to leave. However, none of them were leaving most likely because they knew they needed each other.
'These annoying paranoid morons.' Yeon-woo knew he wasn't in a position to be thinking that because he was doing the same thing, but he couldn't help being annoyed.
Enough time had passed that the other legends were probably done realizing the situation and had started to make their moves. Perhaps a few of them had allied themselves like the king of gods and the Death King had. And if more than two divine beings had really started working together, there was no chance for those here to be victorious.
Yeon-woo believed the Hoarder and the Shadow King were also well aware of this fact. The reason why they weren't able to take action here was probably that they knew each other too well.
Just then, the Shadow King spoke up first. "Keeping this up is a use of time too."
'He probably thinks he's strongest out of everyone here. And he judged he could take control of this atmosphere.' Yeon-woo thought, knowing that the Shadow King was right.
"Why don't we start with a simple introduction of what we each remember. That'll help in deciding whether or not we should work with each other or not." The Shadow King turned to Yeon-woo. He meant for Yeon-woo, who seemed to be the weakest here, to go first.
Yeon-woo looked back at the Shadow King with a smirk. "A player. Good?"
The Shadow King's eyebrows twitched.
Everyone here had originated from player Cha Yeon-woo. By saying he was a player, Yeon-woo had pretty much just mocked the Shadow King, suggesting the idea was foolish.
"Do it properly if you're trying to sound us out. Do you think anyone will be upfront if you tell us to reveal information you won't?" The Shadow King's eyes darkened, but Yeon-woo snorted in response.
Tak! Just then, the Hoarder, who had been quiet all along, clapped his hands and began to speak. "Let's not waste any more time with this war of nerves or trying to feel each other out. Regardless, our mission is all the same, and we can work together until we accomplish that goal. But the important question is whether or not you're qualified to be here, isn't it?"
'He must've thought the situation was advantageous to him because tensions are high between the Shadow King and I.' Yeon-woo discerned the Hoarder to be the most dangerous here. The Hoarder's strength might have been lacking compared to the Shadow King, but that was when Yeon-woo had been most doubtful and mistrusting in others.
Yeon-woo pulled out one of the two Li's Fragments he had retrieved. "Here."
"I have one too."
"With this, it's become clear that we all each have one. Well, even if someone has two, they wouldn't reveal it. Right?" The Hoarder added words here and there that would make them doubt each other while pretending to take lead as the arbitrator. "To start off sharing some information, the Giant God has one of the remaining pieces."
Yeon-woo and the Shadow King tensed.
"Are you sure?"
"How did you find that out?"
"Business secret. I barely came out of it alive too." The Hoarder shrugged and continued. His eyes flashed under his black mask. "Anyway, I want to suggest working together until we take it from him… But since we're so doubtful of each other, we'll just fight among ourselves. Let's approach this in a different manner."
Ding! The Hoarder moved his hand through the air like he was tapping something.
[A 'Pledge of Mana' has been suggested!]
"An alliance to catch the Giant God. Only those with fragments can participate. And the timeframe is until the Giant God's last breath. The penalty will be the deletion of your legend. How about it?"
Yeon-woo and the Shadow King silently looked sideways at each other. They were calculating whether it would be advantageous or not to accept the offer.
The penalty of having your legend deleted was very severe. It meant you'd immediately be disqualified from this competition. There was no way to counter it either. A pledge on mana was like an absolute restraint that even transcendent beings couldn't avoid.
"Fine."
"I'll do it."
Yeon-woo and the Shadow King nodded. Yeon-woo thought it wouldn't make any difference no matter how bad the conditions were since he was the weakest, and the Shadow King thought he'd be able to take control if he needed to. Both lost in their own thoughts, they agreed.
"Good."
With faint laughter from the Hoarder, the two could feel something tightly restraining his heart.
[A 'Pledge of Mana' has been made.]
[Invisible chains tie your souls together. If the pledge is broken, the penalty will commence.]
[In addition, aside from the penalty, your soul will lose credibility from mana, so take caution.]
Losing credibility with mana meant you would lose your access to the mana stream. The stronger you were, the more fatal it would be, so the pledge had to be upheld.
"Then I'll briefly give an explanation on the Giant God." The Hoarder adjusted his mask and began to speak of the information he had gathered.
* * *
The Giant God asked himself a question as soon as he opened his eyes. 'Who am I?' The reason for him asking was very simple. He had no name. 'Why don't I remember it? Did I even have one?' The Giant God probably did. He could faintly remember it as ###.
However, everything including the Giant God's name was being eliminated, as if what he had was enough to keep his identity. It was like someone was telling him it was enough for him to have the legend of being the god of all giants. It was telling him to live like this for the rest of his life.
The Giant God disliked that. 'Who dares to tell me what to do?!'
A giant's nature was to fight. It was due to this that gods and demons were hesitant to clash directly with giants. They were a crazy race that easily fought among themselves if they got too excited from a battle. However, this fighting wasn't just projected outwards. Sometimes, the arrow pointed inwards at themselves. This was the fight the Giant God was currently experiencing.
The legend of fight the Giant God currently possessed was one of pressure and restraint. This situation where he lacked a name symbolized such pressure and restraint. More importantly…
'The voices of my followers… They're still there.' The Giant God recalled what the Ghost Giants used to say to him. Valdebich, was it? The chief priest giant had pleaded for him to become their savior, and he had said he would. There were so many followers who sought to be saved, so he couldn't pretend to not notice as a god.
So from then on, the Giant God didn't take a step from where he first woke up. He intended on finding what he was missing here. How could he save his followers if he couldn't even find himself? It wouldn't be easy, but something would come up if he kept on searching within himself. He could always start moving after that. It was the reason why he didn't take the fragment although it was right beneath his feet.
'This is a special object. If I take it, I'll be influenced by it. But there's no reason to let others easily take it either.' Just then, something stimulated the Giant God's senses. 'Another annoying fellow has come again.'
There were more than one beings who had come after scenting the fragment. However, of those, there was a guy who had been the most bothersome. It seemed that being had returned with a group in tow this time.
Chak! The Giant God opened his eyes upon hearing loud footsteps. Unmoving from his lotus position, he looked at the Hoarder who stood at the entrance of the empty cave.
"This is a strange object. You don't need it. But you've still returned?"
"I'm sure I told you I'd be the judge of whether I need it or not." The Hoarder pulled out two daggers from behind his belt and took one in each hand. Then, he dashed for the Giant God.
[The raid against the 'Giant God' has begun!]
[Current party members: 3]
"You're still foolhardy."
The Giant God smiled bitterly as he lightly stood up. Next to him was a very long bone sword. Since he didn't have any weapon, he had taken out his own rib to create one. Thanks to this, he currently lacked a rib, but it wasn't that painful. Also, it was best to use some part of his body to make the most of his holy power.
Crash! The Giant God struck down his sword. It was a strength that could tear apart most creatures with just its pressure. The Giant God believed the Hoarder would never be able to win if he faced this head on. However…
pαndα,noνɐ1,сoМ Clang!
"Hm?" The Hoarder crossed his daggers and was pushing the bone sword back. He fell behind in strength, but he was still blocking the Giant God's attack.
The Giant God made consecutive strokes of his sword, wondering what was happening, and the Hoarder moved oddly each time, blocking his attacks, even attempting to counterattack.
"I see! Have you obtained a fragment in that time?" The Giant God realized what the purple energy surrounding the Hoarder was and burst out in laughter. It wasn't strange to display the strength of a divine being with that object. However, being able to control it was another matter. "You'll lose it soon."
The Hoarder's gaze turned cold under the mask. "What do you mean?"
"Precisely what I said. You'll be bewitched by the strange object and soon lose it. And not just the object. You'll also lose your mind, life, and legend."
"Nonsense…!"
"It's not nonsense. Do you think someone who doesn't even know their name would be able to use a strange power properly?" The Giant God laughed at the Hoarder. "Do you think the other legends didn't retrieve the pieces because they're idiots?"
"…!"
"Seeing as how you only seek power, I suppose you don't have anything. No comrades, lovers, friends… nothing. Strength is your only remaining identity, is it?"
"…Shut up!"
Crash! The Hoarder swung the daggers in his hand. As magic power exploded, their sight was blinded, but the Giant God didn't move a step from where he was. Swish. Just then, there was another attack that aimed for the Giant God's blind spot.
"That's futile" The Giant God lifted another bone sword in his left hand and swung it. Claaang! The Shadow King's Vigrid was stopped by the bone sword.
"Tsk." The Shadow King clicked his tongue and released consecutive attacks of the sword. Eight Extreme Swords was activated, and the Hoarder divided the Giant God's attention from the opposite side.
Baam baam baam! Rumble! However, although the Giant God was dealing with two people at the same time, he seemed to be pushing them back with ease.
Yeon-woo spread his Sky Wings, opening space to appear, attempting to attack the Giant God's lower body.
"Why can't you understand flies are just flies no matter how many there are?" The Giant God smirked as he spoke in a teaching tone, striking his bone sword on the ground.
Rumble! Then, like a tsunami, the ground was turned over, blocking Yeon-woo's approach.
"Like I said, I don't have any intentions of fighting around with any of you. I don't know what you're after, but none of you seem worthy, so leave." The Giant God shouted with indifference at the three who stood far away from him. His voice contained so much holy power that the cave quaked as if it was coming down. He acted just and confident, not showing any weakness.
The moment Yeon-woo saw the Giant God, he thought the Giant God was quite different from what he was imagining. '…What is this guy?'
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