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Chapter 153: Counterattack (2)
“Go on the offensive? You're saying we should attack Olympus?”
[Not Olympus itself. I’m talking about hitting one of the planets under its colonial rule.]
Right.
If he had suggested going straight for Olympus, I would've thought he was insane.
Asgard had its SP drained due to a loan scam, and the other gods had just been released and were busy expanding their territories.
Olympus was obviously the most powerful faction at the moment.
But if we're not going directly for Olympus and instead targeting its colonies, now that’s interesting.
“Which colony are you talking about?”
[A planet you’re familiar with—Kalvine.]
“The one where Drakina was?”
[Yes. The one I ordered the meteor swarm on in the end.]
Kalvine.
The planet Drakia destroyed with a meteor strike, declaring he’d rather obliterate it than let it fall into enemy hands.
“Didn’t it get annihilated from the meteor impact?”
[Yes. Most of the intelligent life that supplied SP was wiped out. Some survivors remained, but I paid them no mind.]
“Then why would there be a colony there?”
[That’s what puzzles me too. Back then, Asgard was in control of the planet. Thor’s lackeys were chasing me around like mad.]
“Right, I remember.”
[But lately, now that my power’s recovered, I took another look at Kalvine—and things have changed.]
Drakia, having recovered significantly on the planet Kevrian, said he checked on Kalvine out of curiosity once things calmed down.
He had intended to claim the planet himself if it was unoccupied.
[A new structure appeared in Rome, the capital of the Holy Empire Roman.]
“You think that’s Olympus’ doing?”
[Yes. The architecture matches their style, and all the humans in Rome were gone—replaced by lightning spirits.]
A land where all intelligent beings, including humans, had vanished, leaving only elemental beings of electricity.
That was the current state of Kalvine as seen by Drakia.
[Zeus has been up to a lot lately, hasn’t he?]
“Yes. Kidnapping gods, raining lightning on Earth.”
[Where do you think he’s getting all that power? I heard his SP income was limited because of you.]
“That’s right.”
[That SP restriction isn’t something that’s easy to shake. Without a stable SP supply, he shouldn’t be able to pull off all those actions.]
“So one of his energy sources is the planet Kalvine?”
[That’s how I see it. Cutting off the enemy’s supply line is basic warfare.]
The humans of Kalvine had already turned into lightning spirits, continuously offering SP to Zeus.
If they were eliminated, it could stop Zeus from running rampant.
That was Drakia’s conclusion.
“But if it’s such a critical supply line, it’s probably heavily guarded.”
[Naturally.]
“How are we supposed to take it out?”
[Heh. Who said we need to take it all out? We hit and run, do what we can.]
Kalvine wasn’t quite as large as Earth, but still a sizable planet.
The lightning spirits were scattered across the land, engaging in mysterious activity.
[The stronger spirits have reached into the sky from various regions, forming pathways between the earth and heavens.]
“Hmm. That’s kind of what Zeus’s lightning felt like.”
I showed Drakia an image of Zeus’s lightning, and he nodded.
[Exactly. It’s a similar phenomenon. That pattern is spread all across Kalvine. They haven’t covered everything yet, but I’d say around 70% of the land is under their control.]
“You’re suggesting we destroy that?”
[Yes. We’ve been on the defensive too long. We need to stop Zeus from getting any stronger. With him being EX rank, his only real weakness right now is his SP supply. If he’s stably feeding off Kalvine, our chances get a lot worse.]
Since Zeus ascended to EX rank, I too had rapidly grown stronger.
I was earning so much SP that my soul energy was at max.
From what I could estimate, I could probably take on an SS-rank god now.
Maybe even survive a fight against a higher-tier one.
But despite all that, anxiety lingered deep inside me.
Zeus.
That bastard Zeus was the problem.
An EX rank—ridiculous.
If I stayed at S rank, eventually, he’d overpower me.
I had to become at least a mid-tier god.
But gaining 1% experience a day—how long would it take to hit SS rank at that rate?
I’d be dead long before that—probably by Zeus’s hand.
In that sense, the Kalvine mission was both an opportunity… and a threat.
If only low-tier gods showed up, I could kill them and gain tons of experience.
It would deal a blow to Zeus and give Earth some breathing room.
But if I died there?
Captured on that colony—essentially Zeus’s home turf?
That’d be game over.
My planetary escape mechanisms were Heimdall’s Return and Avatar Swap.
Would those work there?
“Tempting proposal, but isn’t the risk too high? Can we really hit and run in Zeus’s territory?”
[I’ll open the portal for you personally. I’ve regained enough power as a high-tier god. I can at least extract you if needed. Also… what’s your current escape method again?]
“Heimdall’s Return and Avatar Swap.”
[Don’t know about the first, but with Avatar Swap, I’d say even in a worst-case scenario, you’d be fine. Plus, Kalvine’s forces didn’t detect my reconnaissance. Looks like Zeus hasn’t fully conquered the planet yet. He’s an imperfect creator after all…]
“If we go through with the raid, what’s the plan?”
[Well, that would be—]
CRACKLE!
“Whoa. Flashy.”
The world turned a blinding white.
The sun had set and the moon was out, but the lightning made everything as bright as day.
We were back on Kalvine.
No sign of human life, only a desolate land with towering lightning pillars.
Each bolt stood at a distance from the others, seemingly guarding its own territory.
The scale was similar to the lightning Zeus struck Earth with, but these ones looked visibly weaker.
I felt I could take them down easily myself.
“Summon Drakina.”
I summoned Drakina from the Garden of the Apostles.
The red-haired beauty appeared, looking absolutely miserable.
“Ugh… You really came here? Are you crazy?”
“It was the Dragon God’s idea. You going to defy him?”
“Tch. Of course not… But this is so reckless! You do have a real plan, right? Something more than what you told me?”
Drakina looked at me with gleaming eyes as she asked.
I had no such thing.
Drakia only set up an escape route and told us to improvise as we went.
“Just turn into a dragon already.”
“Damn it.”
Drakina’s body shimmered, and she transformed into a giant dragon.
A massive red dragon with golden highlights shimmering along her scales.
She looked even more powerful than I remembered.
Her red scales now glowed more intensely with a golden hue.
Her mana had grown stronger.
No, it was more than magic now—there was soul energy infused as well.
“Drakia. Are you empowering her?”
At my question, Drakia’s voice echoed softly in my ear.
[I’m now fully injecting my power. I’ll channel it into Drakina so she can eliminate the thunder spirits.]
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“So you’re controlling Drakina then?”
[Not quite. I’m merely granting power through the authority of the Dragon God.]
This guy… In the end, he’s just flexing his powers a bit without really taking on any risk, huh?
Sure, I can swap out my avatar and bail if things go south, but losing an avatar means a part of my soul vanishes, so there’s still a significant risk for me.
Seriously, so sly.
“Drakina. I’ll take the east. You go west and start dismantling the lightning pillars.”
[Understood.]
Maybe it’s because she’s receiving power from the Dragon God.
Earlier, she kept grumbling, but now she perked up immediately, spreading her enormous wings.
Whoooooosh.
Just from the flap of her wings, a massive gust swept through.
The dragon slowly began to lift off the ground.
At first, she was sluggish, but once she gained some height, she shot off west like a bullet.
Crackle-crackle.
The light that had been flaring in the west began to fade.
Drakina didn’t breathe fire or unleash flashy magic.
Just a full-on physical charge.
Using her massive body as a weapon, she rammed into the thunder spirits and smashed them.
Like flipping off a light switch, the west darkened.
Her golden scales glimmered faintly, but they were nothing compared to the intense brightness of the lightning.
She’s working hard.
Guess it’s my turn?
“Enlarge, Yeoui.”
Seeing how Drakina smashed through them, they don’t seem all that durable.
I don’t even need to release soul energy—Yeoui alone should be enough.
“Enlarge. Keep going. More.”
Back when it was a lower grade, it had its limits, but now, not anymore.
I wildly expanded it, cutting through the lightning pillars like chopping down trees.
Crackle. Crackle-crackle.
The massive lightning pillars were easily sliced by Yeoui.
Flying eastward, I slashed them down one after another with my sword.
—During the first strike, we must inflict as much damage as possible. And we’ll retreat after five minutes.
Drakia had said that no matter how stealthily we try to eliminate the thunder spirits, if the enemy is well-prepared, they’ll catch on quickly.
In that case, he suggested we cause as much destruction as possible before they notice.
I agreed and kept cutting down the lightning pillars with Yeoui.
While doing so, I checked my experience points.
Leveling up is one of my major goals too.
“About 5–10%. I’m getting XP from what Drakina defeats too.”
Each lightning pillar I destroyed increased my experience.
It was on a whole different level compared to clearing an A-rank dungeon.
And the best part?
I didn’t even have to spend a whole day, and Drakina was earning XP for me.
If I can destroy just 20 pillars in 5 minutes, that’s a level up.
At this pace, I can probably take down way more.
I kept flying and swinging the enormous Yeoui.
The lightning columns sliced cleanly with each stroke of my blade.
As I demolished the pillars one by one, a long-missed message finally popped up.
[You have leveled up.]
This is a total goldmine.
It’s been about 2 or 3 minutes, and Olympus hasn’t responded yet.
Even though this is supposedly Zeus’s SP supply zone, it’s lightly guarded?
Just as I was about to level up again, Drakia’s voice echoed.
[Five minutes are up. Since this is our first time, let’s retreat for today.]
“Sounds good. Reverse summon Drakina.”
And just like that, Drakina returned to the Apostle’s Garden.
Reverse summoning works from quite a distance, huh.
Guess I should head back too?
[Oh my, look who it is.]
Just as I was about to activate Heimdall’s Return…
A voice echoed from the sky.
A slightly husky, raspy female voice.
[The Soul God, huh? Brother. You’ve gone mad, haven’t you? Coming all the way here.]
Her husky tone turned sultry and sticky.
Especially when she said “brother,” I flinched instinctively.
While preparing to return, I glanced up at the sky.
With the lightning gone, the night sky had darkened.
Only the soft moonlight illuminated the land.
[Brother. Since you’ve already lost it, why don’t we have some fun? Hmm? Let’s have a real good time. Hehe.]
The moonlight gathered.
The once-even moonlight that bathed the entire land now focused on a single point.
Right where I was standing.
As the light converged, my vision turned red.
My danger sense screamed at me.
Right now, it was just harmless moonlight.
But I could instinctively tell—it was about to become a deadly weapon.
[This energy… The Moon Goddess…!]
“Aegis Shield.”
I summoned Aegis Shield.
The small Aegis Shield instantly transformed into a massive shield that covered my entire body.
“Soul Barrier.”
I added a Soul Barrier on top for a complete defense.
I came here after saving up 500 million SP, so I should be able to withstand this.
[Tch. That’s not enough, huh? Brother. Just wait.]
Whiiiiiirrr.
The moonlight that had been focused on me now shifted.
Like a spotlight, it illuminated the ground in front of me.
Seeing that, a panicked voice from Drakia rang out in my ear.
[Are you really going to fight the Moon Goddess now? Our goal was terrorism. Facing off with the Moon Goddess here is tactically unwise. I suggest we fall back.]
“That was my plan. I’m retreating. Open a portal.”
[Understood.]
A red portal opened behind me.
Step. Step.
“Heimdall’s Return.”
I slowly backed into the portal and activated Heimdall’s Return just in case.
My soul form began to dissolve into light.
Right before I completely disappeared, I heard her grumbling.
[Ah. Brother, where are you going? You’re leaving without saying bye to me? Ah, come on... Aphrodite and I bet who could seduce you first. Damn it. That bitch was right. Are you really a eunuch little third-year or something? Seriously?]
Then came a flood of vulgar swearing, like she had a dirty rag stuffed in her mouth.
Filthy curses and shameless innuendo flowed freely from her lips.
But honestly, more than the string of profanity, what really got under my skin was that “eunuch third-year” crack.
What the hell’s a “third-year”?
It feels even worse than being called a eunuch…
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