Ranker Who Lives Twice

[You have successfully designated the hidden stage 'Erebus' as your holy territory.]

"He really…"

"He really took Erebus as his holy territory."

"How…is that possible? For a mortal?"

The message that popped up in front of the gods staying in Erebus meant the cause of their suffering disappeared in a flash. By the time the message faded away, the pressure on their bodies was lifted away.

['Erebus' accepts your existence.]

['Erebus' accepts your existence.]

…

['Erebus' entirely accepts the subordinates of player ###!]

When their lost divinity returned, they felt the almost-forgotten sensation of holy power entering their bodies again, as if they were back in the heavenly world. The gods of Olympus couldn't help but look at Yeon-woo with fearful eyes. The only reason holy power had returned to them was that the owner of this place, Yeon-woo, allowed their presence here.

But if he revoked that permission, they wouldn't have any chance of victory. They would end up even weaker than when they had been trapped within Erebus. It was clear they were now leashed and chained. The word "subordinate" was already evidence of that.

After Yeon-woo gave the order to take control of the temple, Hermes and the others moved rapidly to try to convince or suppress the gods of Olympus. Many of the other Olympian gods had followed them to Erebus, so Yeon-woo's subordinates were busy. The suppressed gods were surprised that Hermes and the others had incited a rebellion, but they were even more shocked to learn their master was a mortal.

The majority thought that it was absurd for divine beings to work under him, even if Yeon-woo was Hades' successor. However, when they learned from Ares and Athena that Yeon-woo had not only defeated Typhon and Persephone but sealed Mother Earth as well, they were completely shocked.

However, they had no doubts since Athena and Ares had witnessed it. Demeter and Hera were especially silent after hearing the news, and their confused emotions were evident to those around them. For some time, Poseidon just looked at Yeon-woo wordlessly. He didn't shout or become angry; he only watched silently. It was impossible to know what he was thinking, but Yeon-woo wasn't particularly interested anyway, so he didn't return the look. As long as Poseidon didn't bother him, he didn't care what he thought of him, although Kronos was filled with regret over this relationship.

Click! When Vigrid reassembled into Kronos, another heavy silence descended on the gods of Olympus.

『It's been a while. And there are some new faces too.』

Those who remembered Kronos' tyranny grimaced, but those who only knew of his glory brightened. Of course, none of them could react too obviously. Poseidon, the very god who had pulled down Kronos from his throne, was still among them. Although he had lost a significant amount of his divinity, he still had a substantial influence over Olympus.

Demeter and Hera stood stiffly without being able to speak as Kronos looked at Poseidon's cold gaze, and knelt in front of him, lowering his head. Thud.

『I apologize for the past.』

Yeon-woo didn't have the courage to watch the rest and left. The other gods all followed him to give Kronos and Poseidon some space to speak.

* * *

Quite some time had passed when Kronos returned.

"Are you alright?"

『Do I look alright?』

"No."

『If they could let of their long-held resentment so easily, then it wouldn't be resentment in the first place.』 Kronos muttered sadly. Although the Demonism's invasion of his mind was the cause of the sins of his past, in the end, he was still the one who made those mistakes. There were no excuses. 『If possible, I plan on seeing them many more times. And I'll apologize each time.』

"What if they still don't forgive you?"

『I still have to go. It's my duty.』 Kronos' faint smile deepened. 『And this way, at the very least, I'll be able to see my children's faces. I'm just sorry to you.』

Yeon-woo shook his head at the man who adored the children who despised him. But since Yeon-woo also once treated his father like he didn't exist, he wasn't in a position to say anything.

Just then, Athena quietly approached him. "The gate to Tartarus has been opened."

Yeon-woo nodded in understanding and stood. Realizing Athena was staring at him, he cocked his head. "Yes? Do you have something to say?"

"No, sir. It's fine." Athena hesitated, then shook her head. Although she looked fine, just as she'd said, Yeon-woo didn't miss her slightly sulking expression. She was clearly upset.

'It's because I took Hermes as my Apostle too.' When Yeon-woo healed Hermes, he had taken him as his Apostle since gods had all authority over their Apostle, including life or death, an Apostleship was necessary to heal Hermes.

Since this meant that Hermes would have to give up everything he had to someone else, he had initially refused. However, Yeon-woo had pleaded for Hermes to trust him, and Hermes accepted the offer even though he wasn't fully conscious and allowed Yeon-woo to treat him.

Moreover, gods could share some of their powers with their Apostles, so Yeon-woo bestowed some magic power through their Channel so that Hermes could quickly regain his health. Hermes was now stronger than Ares or Hercules in terms of pure holy power. Of course, when Ares and Hercules learned of this, they continually complained about it.

They had grumbled about their Apostleship before, saying that it confined them as though they were cattle, but it seemed like hierarchy still mattered to them. Athena was probably a bit upset that he hadn't offered her an Apostleship as well. Yeon-woo didn't think becoming an Apostle was that great, but if Athena felt that way, that was his error in judgement.

Yeon-woo could barely contain his laughter, and he pretended not to notice Athena's gaze as he headed for the gate. 'She's going to drill a hole in my back at this rate with all that staring.'

Athena glared at Yeon-woo for a while then followed him quietly.

* * *

Yeon-woo returned to Tartarus with the gods of Olympus in tow.

"Ah…!"

"I never imagined I'd be this glad to see the skies of Tartarus."

"It must be true that Mother Earth has been defeated. I cannot feel any of that bitch's holy power."

"But why are there so many transcendents here?"

"That's Chan Sect's Prince Nezha and Erlang Shen!"

"The demonic wolf of Niflheim and L'Infernal's Grand Duke of the East…! Just what happened here?"

Each god of Olympus had a look of disbelief when they sensed the energies in Tartarus. Who wouldn't be surprised to find familiar faces—and renowned ones at that—staring blankly at you?

Poseidon looked quite surprised this time. The divine beings among the five most powerful beings in their respective societies, and their pride stopped them from acknowledging just any person. Seeing them treat Yeon-woo as an equal underscored the fact that Yeon-woo had brought Mother Earth down. In fact, this probably meant that the divine beings considered Yeon-woo superior to Olympus since they were allied with Yeon-woo. It was rare for an individual to ally with a society, even within the heavenly world.

When Poseidon learned that Dis Pluto, dragons, and the giants they'd believed had gone extinct were among Yeon-woo's subordinates, he was speechless. He was lost for words at the shocks that came one after the other.

The gods of Olympus began to feel brighter after experiencing reality.

"Perhaps…"

"He didn't just claim Olympus, but he might have created a new throne of the king of gods."

"If he can do that with a mortal's body, he might be able to become an emperor once he's a transcendent."

Those casually spoken words caused a flurry of discussion among the gods of Olympus. After Kronos' fall, the gods of Olympus had fallen into the path of ruin and suffered the humiliation of losing Olympus to the Titans and Gigantes. Zeus, who should have been ruling them, was still asleep, so he couldn't lead them at all.

It didn't seem like a bad idea for Yeon-woo to be the new leader in this kind of situation. Although he was a mortal, the beings of the heavenly world acknowledged him, and he was the child of Kronos and Rhea. There was no problem with his pedigree. Eventually, opinions started to sway towards Yeon-woo.

Whoosh!

[The stairs to the 'Heavenly World', the ninety-eight floor, have been unlocked!]

A massive column of light dropped from the ashy sky to the Temple of the King of the Underworld, connecting the skies and the earth. The gods of Olympus were excited. The moment they had been waiting for had finally come. The path to their motherland was open.

"Athena." Yeon-woo silently regarded the heavenly world, then turned to Athena.

Athena was looking at the column of light with eyes brimming with tears like the other gods, but she bowed when Yeon-woo called for her. "Yes, Uncle."

"Catch."

Athena's eyes widened when she caught the object Yeon-woo tossed to her indifferently. It was a sword made of obsidian, the great holy artifact that, like Kynee, that represented Hades. "Why are you giving this to me…?"

"Starting from today, you are Dis Pluto's commander."

"Since you're also a god of war, you'll be able to use these soldiers more efficiently. They are armed with better weapons than they had under Hades, and they're more disciplined now, so they'll be useful in the heavenly world as well."

It was only then that Athena understood Yeon-woo's intent. There were still many Gigantes in Olympus. A great war was needed to purge them all. However, Yeon-woo still couldn't ascend to the ninety-eight floor due to the limitations of the system. He was sending Dis Pluto to the heavenly world in his stead, and he'd given Athena command over them.

Athena would be the temporary master of Dis Pluto, which would allow her to move somewhat easily from and to the heavenly world. Yeon-woo was taking advantage of the system. Moreover, this would give Athena strength and authority. Even though Yeon-woo would be the one to sit on Olympus' throne as king of gods, he was showing that Athena would be a supreme god.

As she was a war god with the domains of wisdom and civilization, there was no one more suited to uniting the divided Olympus and leading them than her.

[Player ### offers an Apostleship to the unaffiliated god 'Athena'!]

[Player ### offers 'Athena' the position of 'Chief Apostle.' ]

[The chief Apostle will be the head of the Apostles who lead the followers, and she will closely serve her god by becoming her god's eyes and voice.]

[Will you accept this offer?]

"Will you accept?"

Athena's eyes widened at the message, then looked determined when Yeon-woo asked again. Even with her head bowed, her holy power grew as sharp and firm as a spear and a shield, as it used to be. "I will obey the words of my god."

"Death to the enemies, and fight for the allies!" With Valdebich's bellow, all of Yeon-woo's subordinates stomped and raised their weapons high into the air as they began to cheer.

Thump!

Death to the enemies!

Thump!

Fight for the allies!