Chapter 541: Chapter 541

Before their discussion could continue, they changed the location first.

Su-hyeun didnt head to the next floor. Instead, he entered a city not too far from the battle location.

Hey, did you hear all that commotion coming from afar?

Yeah. It sounded like some big things were going kaboom!

Probably a bunch of archmages fighting each other or something.

A crowd inside a tavern was whispering among themselves regarding Su-hyeuns epic battle against s.h.i.+va.

It seemed that the noises of their battle had reached this far. Su-hyeun ordered some drinks while thinking that this city was lucky enough to escape getting swept up in the battle.

One cup of booze with any side dishes with meat in them. And a cup of water.

The waiter took the order and quickly left the table.

s.h.i.+va scanned the surroundings in sheer curiosity, and when the booze and food showed up, he took a long gulp of the pungent liquid to start his meal.

Is this your first time being in a place like this?

Well, not really, but this kind of experience doesnt come by for me that often.

s.h.i.+va then earnestly dug into the food.

Seeing him up close like this, Su-hyeun began picking up an unexpectedly different vibe coming off s.h.i.+va.

That chill-inducing aura s.h.i.+va emitted until not too long ago was nowhere to be felt now. Just coming in contact alone with that aura wouldve been enough to decompose your limbs and flesh. Yet, right now, s.h.i.+va outwardly looked like any other ordinary person, just like Su-hyeun.

Even our faces are the same, he thought.

That was why Su-hyeun had to change his looks using magic. People thinking of them as twins wasnt a problem, but that didnt mean people seeing them in the first place was a good idea.

Okay, so? You are saying yes to joining forces with me, right?

Correct.

No hesitation was present in Su-hyeuns reply.

A creature that he always thought of as an enemy offered to become an ally. On the one hand, Su-hyeun wondered if s.h.i.+va had another ulterior motive. On the other hand, he felt somewhat rea.s.sured by this development.

No, hang on, hes not exactly my real ally, is he? he thought.

Regardless of what, s.h.i.+vas goal was still to destroy the current universe.

He wanted to get rid of Vishnu because there was no next for the father of the Primordial G.o.ds. It meant that, in the end, s.h.i.+va remained a deadly threat to this universe.

Still, I think I can understand him a bit.

A couple of parts of s.h.i.+vas actions still puzzled Su-hyeun until now.

For one thing, why didnt s.h.i.+va make a move much earlier, and why did he even bother to provoke the Bull Demon King?

The latter wished not to get involved in the upcoming battle, but s.h.i.+va still went ahead and threatened Lang Mei, the Bull Demon Kings beloved spouse. Predictably, that enraged the Yogoe enough to make him change his mind.

I wonder how my First Brother will react if he learns about this development.

You mean, the Great Sage Who Pacifies Heavens? Is he still swearing to kill me even now?

Basically, yes.

Thats good. If we play our cards right, we might even get his a.s.sistance, too.

As Su-hyeun suspecteds.h.i.+vas goal was to provoke the Bull Demon King and make him join the battlefield.

Without a doubt, the Bull Demon King and Su-hyeun were the only two existences in this universe strong enough to oppose s.h.i.+va.

He started setting this stage up a long time ago, huh? Su-hyeun realized.

s.h.i.+va might have gotten Master Subhutis help. Even so, the Primordial G.o.d turned out to be quite a sharp thinker himself.

Su-hyeun began thinking that maybe s.h.i.+va had prepared several other unexpected machinations just in case, too.

Hold up, as Su-hyeun thought that something popped up in his mind all of a sudden.

Hey, could it be?

Mm? s.h.i.+va looked up with a puzzled face while pouring more booze into his cup.

Su-hyeun asked in a low growl, Was it you who interfered with my mother Yun Hui-yeons dream?

Well, Brahma is a caring guy, after all. You see, all the good aspects of humanity were based on Brahma, while humanitys worst aspects come from me. I figured that Brahma would make the decision I want if I used that woman called your mother.

Ooh

Squeeze

Su-hyeun clenched his fist. Is that so?

Smaaaash!

His fist slammed straight into s.h.i.+vas face.

The impact force threatened to spill out to the surroundings. The air rippled viciously enough for the tavern building to come cras.h.i.+ng down, but Su-hyeun had already made sure to prevent the force from leaking out. No one in the surroundings noticed what was going on.

s.h.i.+vas head turned to the side from the strike. He then began rubbing his cheek as if it hurt.

Well, shoot. This might be a problem because that one punch wasnt enough to cool my anger.

You sound p.i.s.sed off.

That I am.

Su-hyeun swore that if he ever found out who made her go through those dreams, he would make the culprit pay a fair price.

It was pretty surprising to learn that s.h.i.+va knew about Kim Sung-in, but right now, Su-hyeun was far too angry to care.

I will definitely kill you.

Su-hyeuns eyes were filled with potent killing intent.

If he could, he wouldnt have minded continuing their fight from earlier right now. The only thing holding him back was the prospect of becoming the strongest pair to defeat Vishnu. That was it.

Its nice to know that we share a broadly similar goal. Ive been thinking of doing that to you, too.

s.h.i.+vas expression was not good after getting hit without any warning.

He probably couldnt understand what Su-hyeun was feeling at the moment. He was a Primordial G.o.d, so no such concept as mother existed for him, which in turn made it impossible for him to understand the depth of Su-hyeuns anger.

Su-hyeun seriously debated whether to hit s.h.i.+va once more or not before finally choosing not to. It was pointless to hit him again for the time being, after all.

Venting my anger can come later, Su-hyeun thought and withdrew his fist. He then sat back down and calmly asked, Did Master Subhuti also know?

Obviously, and thats why Im sitting in front of you like this.

Rub

s.h.i.+va rubbed his cheek that Su-hyeuns punch had bruised. He then grabbed another piece of meat.

As for Su-hyeun, he wanted to use Insight and see how genuine s.h.i.+va was. However, no one in this universe would be able to do that, including himself.

He thought, Although I cant trust him

Whatever the case might be, s.h.i.+va waiting for Su-hyeuns arrival in this place indicated that Master Subhuti was involved in the matter.

I guess its worth trusting him for now.

Master Subhuti was a trustworthy being. At least, that was what Su-hyeun thought.

Therefore, to think that he would join forces with s.h.i.+va to lead this universe to its destruction? Such a thing was improbable. That was why Su-hyeun initially got puzzled by s.h.i.+va waiting for his arrival inside a trial Subhuti had crafted.

Still, if the things s.h.i.+va said were genuine, then it wasnt as difficult as before to understand this part of Master Subhutis plan.

How much did you hear from uncle?

Uncle?

Master Subhuti.

Oh! Pretty much everything important. But honestly? That man makes me uncomfortable.

Uncomfortable? How?

Its like hes not even good at fighting. Do you know what I mean? Sure, its enough to get him into the ranks of the Five G.o.dly Sages, but thats about it. Odin was a better fighter. Even Zeus is slightly better.

Okay, then why?

That man was incredibly sharp. No, rather than being scarily sharp, should I say hes better than anyone else in predicting the future, even though his Foresight isnt even that great?

s.h.i.+va continued to explain while eating, but that only made Su-hyeun stare back in confusion.

Somewhat unexpectedly, s.h.i.+va seemed to have evaluated Master Subhuti quite highly, which was in line with Su-hyeuns impressions, too.

And it sounds like s.h.i.+va knows a lot about the other Five G.o.dly Sages, too, Su-hyeun contemplated.

Judging from the names he mouthed off just now, s.h.i.+va seemed to be well aware of other Five G.o.dly Sages, not just Master Subhuti. He brought up Odin and Zeus, after all.

If you want me to cooperate with you, you better tell me everything you know.

Everything I know, huh?

Tell me all the things related to Vishnu, like, where he is right now and what kind of powers he has.

s.h.i.+va stopped biting into the meat and picked up the cup of booze when he heard Su-hyeuns question. He took several large gulps of the alcoholic beverage and then fell into a bit of contemplation.

He finally spoke up, I also dont know what kind of powers he has. However, we should a.s.sume that he possesses the powers of both me and Brahma.

What about his whereabouts?

Its not too far from my home. As for how much time we have left, between 10 days and two months, maybe?

Although the margin of error was significant, both ends of the time estimate being too soon remained indisputable. Between 10 days and two months, it would be wiser to a.s.sume that they only had 10 days left.

Even so, there is a variable at play. Depending on that, two months can stretch to a few years instead.

A variable?

The one who knows Subhuti better than anyone else isnt me, you see.

When he heard s.h.i.+va, Su-hyeun began recalling the faces of several people.

The one who knows Master Subhuti the best?

Sun Wukong, the Bull Demon King, the Roc Demon King, and then

Buddha?

So, you finally came, I see.

Buddha opened his eyes.

A humongous thing was dominating his view. This objects size was practically impossible to estimate.

Not even Ura.n.u.s was this large. This object was approaching closer while casting its shadow over the darkness of the universe.

I heard that youd show up in this place, but well

Is it that man again?

Buddhas ears began ringing. It sounded like the universe itself was talking to him.

Was his name Subhuti? Indeed, a notable being like that is uncommon.

And he was my humble disciple.

Oh, you were his teacher?

This kind of conversation isnt important, hm?

Clap!

Buddha clapped his hands, causing all of his wrinkles to disappear suddenly. His smooth skin soon began expanding as his size grew larger and larger.

His ma.s.sive hands clapped again. A small planet entered his palm while his gigantic torso and head finally revealed themselves.

Youve been waiting for me, it seems.

Indeed, and we have prepared appropriate measures for you, too.

Countless letters suddenly began floating all around Buddha.

Every single one of these letters contained mystical power. The letters scattered and danced around before some of them engraved themselves on Buddhas figure, while the rest spread all over the universe to hinder Vishnus movement.

The s.p.a.ce distorted as a ma.s.sive hand approached. However, Vishnus extending hand couldnt go forward as if an invisible wall was blocking him.

You wish to hold me back, is that it?

That is precisely my role.

It seems that youve been preparing yourself for a very long time.

Granting power to all those letters would have been incredibly difficult even for a deity like Buddha. Such a task couldnt have been accomplished in one or two days eithermaybe, not even in a few years.

Just how much time was needed to prepare this scene?

It was my disciples requestand his last wish, too.

Master Subhutis final request was

Its to stop you in this place.

To humor that request, Buddha had been waiting for a very long time in this spot for Vishnus arrival.

His life was focused solely on stopping Vishnu here. Buddha was determined to block Vishnus advance in this place no matter what.

While extending his hands forward, Buddhas stiff expression turned toward Vishnu.

I was born a human and lived for far too long while indulging in my desires.

Buddha was now speaking to himself.

And thus, I shall think of this place as my grave.

Su-hyeun picked up a cup of booze for himself.

He always found alcohol bitter and unappetizing, and that was why he didnt want to drink it if he could help himself. However, after listening to s.h.i.+va, he felt like drinking some today.

So, something like that happened?

He began thinking that Master Subhutis request was cruel for both the one humoring the request and the one making it.

And they should have run into each other by now. s.h.i.+va washed down the meat he had been chewing with another gulp of booze. Buddha will die.

Tap

Driiiibble

He refilled his empty cup with new booze from a jar.

But no one knows how long he can hold out for.

The preparations had been made a very long time ago.

And this was coming from s.h.i.+va, who had lived for basically an eternity by now. That made it nearly impossible to guess just how long ago a long time ago was.

I see.

Su-hyeun reached out and grabbed that jar of booze. s.h.i.+va stared at him silently with an expression that seemed to ask what Su-hyeun was doing right now.

Gulp, gulp

Su-hyeun drank straight out of the jar itself.

The booze was still bitter and didnt taste good at all.

He didnt even get drunk, either. Probably, no alcohol in existence could make him drunk, anyway.

Fuu-woo, Su-hyeun sighed at length to exhale the stench of alcohol out of his mouth. He then stood up right away, Looks like I need to go now.

You sure look like youre in a hurry.

You and me both. Arent we both in a hurry?

True that. Even as we speak, Buddha should be bitterly struggling against Vishnu, after all. s.h.i.+va stared at the empty bottle and muttered, Just so that he can give you some extra time.

No one knew how many floors remained in the Tower.

Even so, he needed to hurry.

If I climb to the top, I will find Vishnu, Su-hyeun thought.

Su-hyeun got up and prepared to head straight to the next floor, but then

Let me finish this grub first, then we can go, s.h.i.+va suddenly said while biting into the last piece of meat.

What do you mean, we?

Youre headed to the 211th floor, right? I hear theres also a party system in place. Besides, I also need to say h.e.l.lo to Vishnu, dont I?

A party system?

That system didnt hold much relevance to Su-hyeun until now. Whether it was before his regression or now, Su-hyeun always climbed the Tower at such high difficulties that no one could form parties with him.

As such, he believed that such a thing would never happen in this lifetime. However, with s.h.i.+va, the story would change rather drastically.

Although Im not entirely happy about it

Its true that every second counted.

Su-hyeun stared at s.h.i.+va chewing on the last piece of meat and thought to himself, He might be the strongest party member one could ask for..