The workshop that Hephaestus had been using collapsed. Made by having done some adjustments to a small building in the slums, it was in a shabby state where it could have collapsed at any moment.

YuWon took a punch from Chryses, which sent him flying into the workshop. And from within the rubble, he found the Dark Divine Crystal, no, the now properly refined Pure Dark Divine Crystal and grasped it within his hand.

What do you mean dangerous, sir? Agamemnon asked Chryses, confused by his words.

There was a hidden veil of annoyance on Agamemnons face as he looked at Chryses. He wanted to capture Hephaestus as soon as possible and finish his mission, but things continued to get delayed.

Hes almost dead. Theres no reason to be afraid of him.

Dark attribute mana is a special case. And to consider him almost dead, though his mana is

Its fine.

His patience finally hitting its limit, Agamemnon interrupted Chryses.

No matter how talented he might be, hes still a new player. You look very tired, sir. Please have some rest.

Agamemnon set his sights back on YuWon.

Well take care of him

It was the strangest thing. YuWon, who was standing in the pile of rubble just a moment ago, had disappeared.

Where did he go?

Boom!

The sound of a loud explosion. It was from the direction where Hephaestus was laying on the ground.

Surprised, Agamemnon quickly turned his head.

Kugh!

Ahhhh!

Wham, crash

The subordinates that were sent to carry Hephaestus back were sent flying like bowling pins. It all happened in an instant, the battlefield erupting into absolute chaos once more.

YuWon was once again standing next to Hephaestus.

Agamemnon grit his teeth.

What are you doing, you idiots? Agamemnon shouted in fury. Are you just going to watch him? Go kill him! I said Ill give a management position to whoever kills him! Now jump him all at once!

Hephaestuss petrified body continued to slowly twitch. The Petrification status effect only stopped ones movement. It didnt stop ones mind. That meant that even now, Hephaestus was struggling with everything he had to break out of the Petrification.

L-Lets go all in together!

Ahhh!

Though their individual skills werent all that impressive, one couldnt ignore the strength in numbers.

YuWon tightly gripped his sword, watching the wave of people charge at him. With a sword in one hand and the Pure Dark Divine Crystal in the other, he unleashed his mana with all his strength.

Flash!

An instantaneous mana ripple.

Shwoo, fwoosh

Where the dark mana passed by, players heads were cut off, and their arms and torsos withered away.

Their wailing cries could be heard from the horde of players.

YuWon continued to fight against the ones that rushed at him, bringing out the power of the Pure Dark Divine Crystal.

Vzzt!

Crash!

With the fragment in YuWons hand, his mana continuously changed attributes and was amplified.

The only ones to notice the item were Chryses and Agamemnon.

He had an unbelievable item. Was that a reward from the Tutorial? Chryses remarked in amazement, watching YuWon fighting against dozens of players from floors above him. He then looked over at Agamemnon whose face had turned white. What did I tell you? Tsk, tsk.

Chrysess response ticked off Agamemnon. He grit his teeth. He didnt know what was going on. Until just a moment ago, he didnt seem like he had that kind of item at all.

The Tower called forth a monster.

This is no time to be impressed, sir!

Agamemnon looked at Chryses with fire in his eyes, giving him a death glare.

Whats wrong? Didnt you say earlier that you guys could take care of him yourselves?

So are you saying you wont do anything about this?

From the beginning, my role was to stop Hephaestus in his tracks. Against a new player, according to the rules of the Tower, you guys need to resolve this on your own.

Are you serious?!

Chryses smirked at Agamemnons reaction. It wasnt that Chryses didnt understand how he was feeling. After losing the Jackals, if he failed to capture Hephaestus, who was incredibly difficult to find, hed completely lose ground in Olympus.

Dont worry, Chryses said, standing up with a grunt. He clapped Agamemnons shoulder. I intend on seeing things through.

Drip

A big drop of sweat fell down Chrysess forehead as he continued to walk. He had already reached his limits from suffering the penalty. He looked like he might fall over at any moment from how poor condition he was in.

YuWon spotted the weakened Chryses. And at the same time, he flicked the finger of the hand that was holding the Pure Dark Divine Crystal and waved his hand in the air.

Crackle!

Fwoosh

The fire mixed with the dark mana, creating a black flame that enveloped YuWon.

Seeing this made the players that were charging in take a step back.

Step

The only one who passed through the fire was Chryses. Seeming unphased by them, he reached out his hand and held some of YuWons flames in his palm.

Amazing.

Fwoosh Flicker

Chryses remarked, while closely observing YuWons fire in his hand.

Fire and dark. It was already impressive that he was able to manipulate a single attribute, but YuWon was in fact able to control two attributes. Even most Rankers were incapable of this kind of mana control.

Do you have any thoughts of joining Olympus? If equipment is what youre after, I promise to give you something far better than what you commissioned Hephaestus.

YuWon shook his head.

Theres no way thats my objective.

Thats true. You have a point.

And Ive already given him my answer to that question before.

YuWon referred to Agamemnon, who was standing and watching from the sidelines.

And of course you said no, right?

Of course.

What a shame.

He knew that it was highly unlikely, but Chryses still asked for the slim chance of being able to recruit YuWon. Because YuWon was that desirable of a gem.

Chrysess fire swallowed up YuWons fire, and the black flames near him changed to red.

The flames in the area were split in twohalf YuWons dark flames and half Chrysess red flames. The two fought each other, crashing head on.

While that was going on, Chryses body continued to be overloaded by the penalty.

Are you sure you can keep fighting?

Chryses responded with a baffled laughter, I never thought Id hear that from a new player.

This was an embarrassing occasion hed never be able to tell another soul. However, that was only because other people didnt know about YuWons existence.

In about a hundred years, I might be able to share todays events with pride, Chryses thought.

A scenario came to Chrysess mind.

You know, Ive fought Kim YuWon before.

No, really. When? you say? Well, it was right when he had just arrived on the 1st Floor

Chryses smirked as he shook his head. He found it funny that he was already thinking about sharing this tale with his friends in the distant future.

Who could have ever imagined that a new player would be able to go toe-to-toe against a Ranker?

Of course

Fwoosh

Chrysess flames swallowed up YuWons flames.

Thats only possible if I manage to survive this first.

Whoosh!

All the nearby flames gathered around Chryses. The fire quickly swirled together until it formed the shape of a sun.

Watching this attack, YuWon mumbled to himself, So hes prepared to perish.

YuWon got a sense of how truly important this mission was to them. Of course, that was why they were able to send down a Ranker to the 1st Floor equipped with Aegis, even if it was a replica.

If Ahjussi doesnt rejoin Olympus here

Fshhhhh

YuWon started putting more power into the Pure Dark Divine Crystal in his grasp. Reacting to YuWons mana, the Crystal wailed loudly. The resonating mana started to grow so much that YuWons body couldnt handle it anymore.

The next Gigantomachy might not happen.

To ensure that it didnt, YuWon had to protect Hephaestus right here, right now.

The second Gigantomachy, that tragedy, could not be allowed to happen.

Fwoosh

Fshhh, shh

The two massive energies were hostile to each other. The two different types of mana almost seemed like they were growling as they collided and created a windstorm.

Step

YuWon and Chryses simultaneously walked towards each other.

The small sun that Chryses created started descending after he gave the signal with his hand.

Vzzzt, vzzt

Not accepting Chrysess action, the Tower forced a powerful penalty onto him.

The small sun started to lose its form as it wobbled.

Grit

Having clenched his jaw as hard as he could, chipped teeth and blood sloshed around Chrysess mouth. Still, he gathered the remaining focus he had and recollected his mana into one point.

Fwooo

The flames came back together, and the small sun regained its shape.

With the last of his mental fortitude, Chryses managed to endure the penalty of the Tower.

And like that, two beings, one from the highest point in the Tower and the other from the lowest, collided.

I knew it. You really are amazing.

In the midst of the giant collision of mana, Chryses was able to faintly hear YuWons voice.

He knew it? Chryses wondered.

Rumble!

A hot and violent windstorm brewed. Some of the nearby players even lost consciousness from the storm.

What kind of a ridiculous situation is this? Agamemnon thought.

The entire world of the 1st Floor felt like it was howling due to the collision of mana against mana. And due to the aftershock of the penalty applied to Chryses, the surrounding area was already devastated.

The windstorm continued for a while.

Agamemnons nerves were on edge.

How did their battle go?

Chryses could no longer fight. Itd be a miracle if he didnt perish from this attack, let alone continue fighting. A Ranker exerting this much power on the 1st Floor was probably unprecedented in the Towers history. Even if he didnt die, Chrysess body was probably worn out to the point where hed no longer be able to use any powers for some time.

Fshhh

The area looked distorted due to the heat. The haze created by the collision of the two flames slowly started to fade away.

Both of them are alive.

From within the haze, YuWon and Chryses could both be seen.

Barely, but alive.

It was as Agamemnon said. They were technically alive.

YuWon and Chryses were passed out on the ground. One could see that Chryses was alive from the subtle trembling of his body. Compared to Chryses, YuWon didnt look as bad, but he was in a state where he could only slightly twitch his fingers.

Their battle was a draw.

Seeing the results, Agamemnon smiled.

We won

Though it took a lot, YuWon had been taken down. Regardless of how strong he might have been, there was no way YuWon could do something while his body was completely torn up like this.

As Agamemnon was confirming his victory

You won?

Klang!

He heard an ominous sound.

Hoping it wasnt what he thought it was, he turned his head. And what he saw was

Only

Its not over yet, kiddo.

A crippled man tightly gripping his hammer, his face contorted in fury.

Hephaestus had finally been released from his Petrification.

___