Max Level Newbie: Chapter 198

Chapter 198.  The Proof

Powell was looking at Vulcan with a pleasant smile on his face.

Although he teased Vulcan when he saw him in such a wrecked condition, he was certainly enjoying the moment.

It wasn’t just Vulcan who had no special social interactions with the other gods after he came up into Act 3.

Powell, too, was unhappy with other eccentric gods, and frustrated as they were only interested in enhancing their deity powers.

As a result, as much as Vulcan was showing interest in Powell, he, too was thinking that Vulcan was the closest being among all the gods in Act 3.

Under such circumstances, he couldn’t feel unhappy about seeing Vulcan not lose his faith, and swearing revenge on behalf of him.

After breaking out in a high pitched laughter, he transformed himself with a flash of light.

Powell, having transformed into a beautiful woman with well toned, slender physique, unlike a woman with the usual sturdy body, smiled as he spoke.

 “I was so moved.  As a reward, I’ll stay in the shape which you prefer, for one year.  You can even call me, elder sister, hoho.”

Covering his mouth with his hand, Powell smiled cautiously.

Dumbfounded by that scene, Vulcan yelled loudly.

 “What the heck are you saying!  What is going on?”

 “What do you mean what the heck…Your words are hurtful.  Besides, is this not what you prefer?  I thought I saw you meeting a woman that looked just like this, in the lower world.”

 “I did briefly when I was taking a break…But that’s not the issue!  What is going on?  I clearly saw it!  Clearly, that….Rock Seeger had….”

 “Did I not die?  The fact that I did not even realize the back of my head was dreadfully getting chewed up?”

 “…..”

Unable to say ‘Yeah’, Vulcan kept his silence.

However, it wasn’t that Powell did not know that that meant something positive.

He briefly thought about pulling Vulcan’s leg some more as he was bewildered, but then he decided to stop at that point, and share his secret.

 “A wish.”

 “Pardon?”

 “I mean the wish!  I came back to life, thanks to the wish in Act 1.  As I was clearing the Act 1, I had wished for a spare life.”

 “…..Ah!”

As if to say he finally understood, Vulcan looked at Powell, once again.

Seeing Vulcan like that, Powell spoke nonchalantly.

 “Originally, I wished for unlimited number of lives!  But then was told that that wasn’t allowed.  So, I was trying to negotiate for about 100 lives, but then that was also denied.  Anyway, that stingy newbie god… But since I was told that it would be OK to be given one more life, I just said fine.”

After he said that, chilling energy seemed to fall down from around Powell’s eyes.

Then he added.

 “That would be the only way I can find the bastard who killed me, and pay him back.  With my own hands, that is.”

Seeing Powell instantly shedding his playful demeanor and letting out murderous, fighting spirit, Vulcan let out a sigh of relief.

The fact that he was teased was not important.

He was just appreciative of the fact that the precious relationship which he had forged in Act 3 did not vanish.

Feeling more relaxed, Vulcan put on a serious face and earnestly said to Powell.

 “It is very fortunate in every aspect.  That you’re alive.”

 “….Heuung.   You say such an embarrassing thing so easily.”

Although he sneakered, his spirit seemed to have been uplifted as he distanced himself from Vulcan a bit.

And then by terminating the transformation magic, he returned to being the huge dragon which was his true appearance.

Seeing that, Vulcan made a joke.

 “Didn’t you say that you were going to stay in the form which I preferred?”

 “After thinking for a while, I realized that I won’t be able to train in that form.  So, sadly, I take it back.”

 “Well, I won’t miss it, too much.”

 “More importantly…  Tell me, what happened?”

 “What are you talking about?”

Vulcan asked Powell as the subject of the conversation was changed so quickly.

Powell looked as if he was about to explode with frustration, but then thinking that Vulcan did all he could for him, he changed his mind.

 ‘I got very soft, well.  I suppose it happens sometimes.’

 “That, what happened to me….and what was the name?  That bastard with thousands of faces on him…..”

 “Rock Seeger.”

 “Right, you must have seen me fighting him.  How did I get killed?  I mean, I did use a lot of the flame layers, and restraint magic which might have weakened my defense, but I did not let down my guard, too much.  I can’t even think how I was killed by that bastard, you know.”

 “I’m not certain either since I only witnessed the very end of it, but if I can take a guess based on the fight…. Ah, if I was to explain the situation, first…..”

Vulcan described the disturbing scene in which Powell was killed, as detailed as possible.

And he added his own interpretation of what he saw, only after he explained everything that had happened, including how the bastard had disappeared without a trace after devouring the space to create a crack as he fought the bastard.

 “….So, he seemed to have teleported to somewhere, but it didn’t appear to be a simple special teleportation.  If it was within the demon world, I would have been able to detect it, but he had disappeared as if he had never existed in this world.  It seems that he has some kind of teleportation tool that allows him to move to other dimensions….like the ones we use.”

 “….I see.  It wasn’t magic?”

 “No.  I don’t even know what the basis of it was.”

Having heard the explanation, Powell kept letting out deep sighs.

And he spoke with anger.

 “I was way overconfident.  I thought I could automatically close special teleportation tool by restricting demon energy or magic power, but I’m surprised to learn that he had high level of capability related to dimensional teleportation…. Phew, I lived in Act 3 for too long.  I have only enhanced capabilities, but strategic determination during battles is worse than Act 2, even…. I’m ashamed to be called the god of war.”

He looked as if he could not forgive himself.

This was a little different than not admitting defeat.

He said those things because he felt so ashamed that he didn’t maintain a sharp focus without losing his nervousness when he was holding the flag of victory. 

Knowing it very well, Vulcan kept silent instead of trying to console Powell.

It was because if he was to say something inappropriate without considering Powell’s high level of pride, he could have gotten into trouble with him.

“…….”

“…..”

Some time has passed in silence like that.

Powell looked to be thinking carefully about the first death experience, and Vulcan, too, was hashing his head for what the future itinerary might look like.

 ‘The bastard grows in power by absorbing demons…. And irrespective of becoming powerful, the bastard cannot control the greedy for his basic instinct for appetite.  The demon world to which he went must be full of demons as his prey.  First, I’ll go search around the demon worlds which I haven’t been regularly visiting.’

Of course, even if that was done, the probability of finding the bastard was near zero, so Vulcan didn’t give much weight in leaning to that direction.

In fact, he was just thinking to search him as a way to raise his level by hunting the demon kings until he could complete the quest called the ‘final test’, so to be honest, he did not expect anything.

In some ways, it was as if he has made up his mind to not take the revenge.

However, Vulcan had no such intention.

He continued to think in a calm manner.

 ‘Thinking about the bastard’s expression when he was eating the corpse…. And thinking about the bastard’s obsession with me, the bastard must also have much interest in gods as well as the devils.  Ultimately, even if I don’t personally go after him, there will come a day when I’ll encounter him!  Perhaps… as a stronger being.’

With a definitive assumption, Vulcan tried to figure out Rock Seeger’s next moves.

With a resolute expression, he thought about the Nurhark Dimension’s demon king’s castle which was his next destination.

The final test which was delivered with the message that one can be a ‘true god’.

Thinking about the quest behind the veil, Vulcan has decided to be reborn as a more powerful being in a shorter amount of time.

It wasn’t that there wasn’t a big pressure from the grandiose title of the ‘final test’, but Vulcan felt even more shocking stimulus. 

And it was the same for Powell.

Powell spoke first when their eyes met in the air after a prolonged silence.

 “Not bad?  My boring life just got a new stimulation.”

 “Is that so?  Something definitely seemed to have changed.”

 “Right, the first ever death…. It feels funny to say it the first time?  At any rate, I learned a lot of things from my death.  As much as wanting to test it, right at this moment, you know.”

His words weren’t just empty words.

It wasn’t just that the spirit has become stronger, or the circumstances have changed in some imaginary fashion.

As Vulcan was able to ascertain objective analysis on the opponent’s battle power, by using the scan ability, he could definitely sense that he has become more powerful than prior to his death.

 [Powell, the god of war]

 [1,659 Lv]

 [Physical Level:  1,535 Lv]

 [Deity Level:  124 Lv]

 [Characteristics:  Neutral, Conceited, Violent]

 [Potential Power:  Ultimate]

* God of Agameth Dimension.  Boasts the highest physical level among all the gods.  Has deep understanding of fire.  Enjoys battles, and unexpectedly, also enjoys research activities.

* Ascertained a small understanding through special experience called death.

* He is demonstrating friendliness to you.

 ‘He has gone up by 15 levels from before his death.’

Powell had already been improved by studying the magic tools and Rock Seeger’s hand given by Vulcan, and other dimensions’ demon kings, but he has become even stronger from that point.

Of course, at level 1,500, he, himself, has reached a level which was not too far behind from Powell, but Powell has never benefitted from the system’s help, at all.

Naturally, he could not help, but make a comparison.

 “I, too, will start training again.  It is going to be difficult for us to locate the bastard…. but, I still feel that his eyes weren’t ordinary when he looked at me.  He will be back.”

 “Yeah?  Then I, too, will have to be right next to you?”

Transforming back into a beautiful woman, Powell approached closer to Vulcan.

Vulcan laughed out loud as Powell jokingly locked his arm in Vulcan’s, and Powell, too, smiled by shedding the most recent appearance which had been filled with fighting spirit.

Of course, they were just happy under the circumstances.

Their hostility toward Rock Seeger was continuing to burn in their respective hearts.

                                                                      *****

At the time of Vulcan and Powell were sharpening the swords of revenge.

Rock Seeger, having hurriedly escaped to an unknown demon world, was cringing with the animosity towards Vulcan, as well.

The bastard had severed one of his arms in the past, hence it had given him so much pain.

As if that wasn’t enough, the bastard made a mess out of his upper body, and made him lose his right leg, too.

His hatred for Vulcan filled his emotions such that he immediately wanted to go back to where the bastard was, so that he could devour his head.

Rock Seeger would have tried everything to overcome that emotion during the ordinary times.

However, as the injuries weren’t fully healed, and they bothered him so much, it wouldn’t be strange for him to repeatedly scream one hundred, one thousand times.

However, unlike it was in the past, he gritted his teeth and did all he could to not make any sound.

It was because he recognized the fact that he could get into big trouble should a demon king level demon was to appear while in his current condition, so he was showing different demeanor than the usual times.

Prior to facing Powell and Vulcan, Rock Seeger was a beast like being, lacking any kind of reason, no matter how hard one was to look for such character in him.

That was similar to having received a reward for absorbing a countless number of demon energy, but….

After preying on the very first deity being Powell, his brain was beginning to awake thanks to the fact that he had accepted ‘deity power’ into his body, for the first time.

It was after a day, two days, and a month of time has passed.

After finally recovering some level of reasoning capability, the first thing that he thought of was.

It wasn’t the wrath towards Vulcan and Powell who gave him so much pain.

 ‘…..Delicious.’

It was the driving appetite for the newly discovered prey that was even more delicious than the demons.