The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 219

"Ugh…"

A low groan escaped Gaudi's mouth.

Gaudi's body twitched slightly, and then he came to his senses and slowly opened his eyes.

He had summoned Leviathan with his body that had been forced to open a gate.

In a state where his body was weakened by the side effects, Gaudi had fought with the guys who called themselves guild members, and he had been unconscious until now because he had collapsed from exhaustion while running away.

The first things that struck Gaudi's mind were a sense of unease and emptiness.

At that, Gaudi, in order to find the cause of those feelings, unconsciously moved his dangling hand and touched his opposite shoulder.

But there was nothing to grab.

Thanks to that, Gaudi recalled the face of the human who had rushed at him like a flash of lightning at the last moment and swung a dagger.

Bbudeuk-

"I'll kill you when we meet next time."

Gaudi, while trembling with anger, somehow managed to raise his body.

He had lost one arm, but funnily enough, his physical condition was not that bad.

The artifact he had brought from his family had healed Gaudi's body, which had been in a state of suspended animation.

'Damn it, Crowley and that guy named Eun Yeonwoo! How is it that this planet is full of guys I don't like!'

Gaudi gritted his teeth, chewing on those thoughts.

Gaudi's eyes were flickering with deep anger, but he barely suppressed that anger by biting his lip so hard that it was about to tear.

Because it wouldn't be too late to take out his anger after grasping the situation.

Gaudi, who had vowed revenge, came out of the hole he had been in.

And the first thing that came into Gaudi's eyes was the sight of eight people fighting a fierce battle against the three divine beasts, Ziz, Behemoth, and Leviathan.

At that sight, Gaudi's heart instantly grew cold.

The reason Gaudi had summoned Leviathan, even taking such a big gamble, was because he thought Leviathan could win against all ten of the Ten Kings.

But the potential of the Ten Kings revealed in front of Gaudi now far surpassed his expectations.

'…Should I intervene now?'

That thought came to his mind for a moment, but Gaudi shook his head, brushed off the thought, and chose to quietly hide his body.

If he intervened now, he might be able to change the situation to some extent.

But as a result, his life would be in danger, and what he would get would be at most the heads of one or two of the Ten Kings.

The risk and reward didn't match.

Therefore, Gaudi quietly held his breath and hid like a snake hiding in the bushes.

'In the first place, with the power of the three divine beasts, they should be able to clean up this situation soon.'

But contrary to Gaudi's expectations, the situation began to change abruptly with the appearance of a single person.

Lee Shin, who had suddenly appeared in the sky, took Ziz's heart and instantly cut off Leviathan's neck.

At that moment, the emotion that consumed Gaudi's heart was despair.

At the same time, the image of himself having lost everything came to Gaudi's mind.

On top of that, he had now lost one arm, a situation where he might have to live as a one-armed man for the rest of his life without the power of his family.

Therefore, Gaudi racked his brain to somehow reverse the current situation.

'There is, but it's a gamble, just one! A way to achieve results and restore my position!'

What came to Gaudi's mind was the second mission they had received.

To find the hero chosen by Gaia and send them to their world.

Gaudi, who had made up his mind, first thought of Lee Shin, who was fighting a one-on-one battle with Behemoth.

Because the strength Lee Shin was showing now was clearly beyond his limits, and that power seemed to be more than enough to be called a hero.

But seeing Lee Shin, who was dripping with a killing intent that made one's liver cool just by looking at him from afar, it seemed unreasonable to think of him as the hero chosen by Gaia.

And so, the offering Gaudi chose was Cheon Yuhwa.

Because her shining wings on her back and her overwhelming skill compared to the other Ten Kings seemed to be enough to be called a hero.

'It won't matter even if it's not her. I can say I've done my part just by buying time.'

Gaudi, who had made up his mind, moved quickly.

Although the difference in skill was extreme, Cheon Yuhwa and Gaudi were both aura users.

Therefore, Gaudi looked at Cheon Yuhwa's appearance and was able to move by taking advantage of the moment when she was completely powerless.

Tang- Tang-

An aura user can exert more than their usual skill by elevating their mind, and after raising their skill like that, they become weaker than usual due to the backlash.

Gaudi, who knew that, aimed for the moment when Cheon Yuhwa had caught Behemoth and was relieved, and threw the bead.

Chareureuk--

The bead hit the floor where Cheon Yuhwa was standing and broke.

From the spot where the bead broke, numerous chains of light shot out and wrapped around Cheon Yuhwa's body.

"What…!"

At that, Cheon Yuhwa, whose whole body was drained of strength, was bound without any resistance and knelt on the floor.

Simultaneously with Cheon Yuhwa kneeling on the floor, a circular magic circle appeared on the floor.

"Damn it!"

Cheon Yuhwa somehow struggled and tried to move her aura, but no aura was created at all.

In her current state, with no aura and unable to even lift a finger, it was impossible to escape the chains.

Therefore, Cheon Yuhwa could only bite her lip and helplessly watch the magic circle being drawn below her.

Even if she tried to find the culprit who had done this to her, the culprit had already run away, and she couldn't feel any presence.

The emotion of resignation began to fill Cheon Yuhwa's eyes as she looked at the magic circle being drawn below her.

Therefore, she had not expected what happened next at all.

"Hah, I'm so tired I could die, but there's no time to be sentimental."

The moment Cheon Yuhwa thought of giving up in her heart, Lee Shin appeared as if mocking her.

"Why are you here…"

"There's something."

Lee Shin had intended to give Cheon Yuhwa, who had presumptuously interfered in his fight, a triumphant smile that said, 'See?'

While he was moving his eyes to find Cheon Yuhwa, he had noticed that something was wrong with her and had unfolded the Lightning Wood Immortal Step to its extreme and had run here.

"Hmm… I see what's going on."

Lee Shin, who had grasped the situation by looking at Cheon Yuhwa for a moment, put down the magic stones of Ziz and Leviathan that were in his inventory on the floor, then lifted [Yagong] and said.

"Hey."

"What, why are you calling me all of a sudden?"

"Grit your teeth."

"What?"

As if there was no time to answer Cheon Yuhwa's words, Lee Shin moved.

Chajajang-!!

Lee Shin swung [Yagong] with all his might, cutting the chains.

Lee Shin, who had confirmed that the chains were cut, quickly moved his legs.

Peok-

He kicked Cheon Yuhwa's body without hesitation.

"Cough! Cough!"

Thanks to that, Cheon Yuhwa rolled on the floor grandly until her body hit a nearby rock.

"Hey! What is this all of a sudden…!"

Cheon Yuhwa, who had rolled on the ground from Lee Shin's sudden attack, shouted something and was excited as if she were about to argue at any moment, but the moment she saw Lee Shin's appearance with her eyes, she couldn't say anything.

"Sigh, as expected, this is the best I can do in my current physical state."

Lee Shin, who had kicked her out, was caught in the chains in her place and was dragged into the center of the magic circle.

"What, what! Why aren't you coming out!"

"It's not that I'm not coming out, it's that I can't. Did you think I'd be fine after fighting Behemoth?"

Lee Shin's whole body was stained with blood.

Although most of it was Behemoth's blood, it wasn't that there was no blood of Lee Shin's at all.

On top of that, his body was now grotesquely twisted from being subjected to too much pressure, and his condition was not good because he had unfolded the Lightning Ray Immortal Step to its extreme or swung his spear without any proper rest.

Lee Shin grumbled and looked at Cheon Yuhwa.

Cheon Yuhwa's pupils, which were the only thing moving, were trembling at the unexpected situation.

"Hey, the time you caught me when I was falling from the sky and the two elixirs you gave me this time…"

Pfft-

"I've paid it all back this time. So now we're even."

And so, Lee Shin, through the tattoo that Irin had engraved on his body in the past, conveyed his final request to her.

Although there was not enough time to say it in words, it was more than enough time to convey his thoughts in his mind.

-Yes, don't worry. I'll do well while you're gone, oppa.

-Alright, I'll be counting on you while I'm gone, Rin-ah.

-…Call my name one more time.

-Rin-ah, I'm counting on you to do a good job.

-Yes! Just trust me.

And so, Lee Shin, after raising Irin's motivation to the fullest, glanced at Cheon Yuhwa and then said as if spitting it out.

"World peace, try to do well even when I'm not there."

"Wait, wait!"

Cheon Yuhwa hastily opened her mouth to say something.

But before Cheon Yuhwa could say anything, a strong light burst from the magic circle below Lee Shin and swallowed him.

"Hey…"

And with that, Lee Shin disappeared from that spot.

◎ ◎ ◎

'What's going to happen now?'

At the last moment, just before the light enveloped his body.

Lee Shin had completely shaken the coordinates of the magic circle by lightly unfolding the Flame Lightning Flame Step with the tip of his foot.

Thanks to that, the possibility of being dragged into the middle of the enemy's camp had disappeared, but a situation had arisen where even Lee Shin, who had shaken the coordinates, did not know where he would fall.

It was an absurd gamble, but for Lee Shin, who was not a mage, the best he could do in that short time was to shake the coordinates of the magic circle.

-You, what on earth were you thinking, doing such a thing?

'Well, since the gate was opened anyway, it would be a waste to send someone else, right? And if that one wasn't there, the future events would probably get annoying.'

-You did that for such a reason?

At that, Irehgue snorted at Lee Shin as if he were pathetic for asking why he had saved Cheon Yuhwa.

Lee Shin, who had no words for Irehgue's words, just laughed it off.

'When I came to my senses, my body was already in the center of the magic circle.

-Hah, are you reflecting on it?

'It's not like I've moved without thinking once or twice, right?'

It was a statement that he was not reflecting at all.

"Right, thanks to you, I was always worried about your personality."

At that moment, someone's voice rang in Lee Shin's ear.

So when he turned his head, a girl with short blue hair was looking at him with a bright smile.

"But this time, thanks to your personality, something like this happened. Is this what they call a happy miscalculation?"

Lee Shin looked around.

At that, the girl smiled and waved her hand.

"Ah, don't worry. This isn't Carnia. To explain, I caught you in the middle of being transported to Carnia and brought you here."

The girl said that, smiled a little mischievously, and then snapped her fingers.

Then, the space that had been enveloping the two changed into outer space.

"What do you think, can you believe it a little now."

"It doesn't seem like I have a choice to believe or not."

Lee Shin looked at the girl in front of him with intrigued eyes, smiling widely.

Just by her appearance, she looked to be about middle school age, but Lee Shin, through his experience of being connected to something unknown a little while ago, could tell.

That the power of the girl in front of him was stronger than the combined power of all the beings he had seen so far.

And that, to the point of being meaningless, like comparing a human to dust.

"Who are you?"

"Hmm, don't you have a rough idea?"

She said, looking at Lee Shin with profound eyes that did not match her young appearance.

At that, Lee Shin quietly said the one word that came to his mind.

"Gaia."

At Lee Shin's words, Gaia smiled gently.

"That's right, the guardian deity who protects the Earth. That's me."

And so, she winked slightly at Lee Shin.

"And I'm also your fan."

(End of Chapter)