69. Disrespect (2)
The only thing that was as interesting as the paramedics was the fight.
Upon hearing the news that the Northern World and the Western World were finally reaching their war’s climax, Jin-woo immediately conjured a portal and went straight to their designated battlefield.
By the time he arrived in the desert, both camps had already gathered in the middle of it.
Jin-woo took out a chair and parasol on a high dune. He also set up a small table, on which he placed cold cola and popcorn.
“Alright.”
Eating and drinking leisurely, he watched their battle unfold.
Thor and the Sphinx faced off before the full-scale war could occur. Much to the God of Evil’s delight, he hadn’t seen the Sphinx’s power in quite a long time.
During their fight against the Olympian deities, he didn’t have a chance to showcase his strength properly because both Uranus and the New World players were the ones in the frontlines for most of the battle.
What most didn’t know was that he possessed a powerful ability. It could easily deceive anyone who knew nothing about it or had never experienced it before.
Not even Thor, whose rank was as high as Odin, could resist his attacks, as evidenced by the blood flowing from his head. The sight bewildered Odin and the gods of Asgard and made Horus, Nitocris, and the Western World warriors cheer.
The Sphinx raised his head and looked down at Thor arrogantly. Staring right back at him, he placed his palm on his forehead to check if he had a concussion.
It certainly seemed like he suffered a critical hit.
“My turn!”
Thor shook his head, choosing to remain ignorant of his enemy. With the power of Mjölnir and control over lightning, he had no need for wisdom. Quite the contrary, he often struck his opponents alone with no need for any form of strategy, wiping them out before they could even attempt to establish a negotiation.
While Odin willingly gave up an eye to gain wisdom from Mimir’s well, Thor never studied anything seriously.
He didn’t feel the need to, after all.
Now, however, he was forced to use his brain!
According to one of the stories his father had told him, one could never catch the time that had already passed, which was why he should study hard.
‘Thank you, father.’
Odin’s deep grace moved him.
Glaring at the Sphinx, he spread his arms with a look of confidence that seemed to say he was perfectly fine.
“What flows forever but never returns?”
Thor presented a riddle!
After revealing his question, he turned to Odin and the gods of Asgard. Looking right back at him, his father nodded proudly while the gods clenched their fists. From their point of view, it was a riddle with a very deep meaning.
The Sphinx stared at him, seemingly unmoving. In the past, he would have answered without hesitation, but he no longer could.
He remained silent for quite a while, which made the god of thunder think he didn’t know the correct answer.
“Hahahaha! I, Thor, the god of lightning, have mastered the art of wisdom!”
He and the other deities laughed hysterically. Odin found his behavior quite strange. Right now, he was fighting using wisdom, not strength.
His development was quite beneficial for them, though.
This moment would be passed down to generations as legends, leading to all creatures praising Thor’s wisdom. In return, he, too, would be praised for being his teacher!
Odin agreed with his thoughts.
“Time is up, Sphinx! Tell me the answer!” Thor shouted, pressuring his enemy.
Loki, who appeared next to Jin-woo, couldn’t help but feel surprised to see his brother in such a state. This was the first time in his entire life that he had seen him look so intelligent.
His eyes reddened with emotion. However, he immediately made fun of him as he fixed his expression upon realizing that the God of Evil was right next to him.
“Ah, perhaps Thor…”
“He can’t win.”
He stared at him in disbelief, having just heard the god of lightning would lose.
The Sphinx soon spoke.
“You thought ‘time’ would be the answer, didn’t you?”
Thor, Odin, and the other Asgardian deities flinched upon hearing his words, unable to stop themselves from marveling at his wisdom.
“Woah. You’re amazing.” Thor gasped, admitting his defeat on this round. However, the Sphinx soon twisted his back and folded his arms, assuming a pose he thought was strangely cool.
“But that’s the wrong answer!”
“W-what?!”
“In the end, you, too, are nothing but a fool filled to the brim with such flimsy and misleading knowledge.”
He faltered, great embarrassment welling up within him. To say the answer to his question was wrong was to deny Odin, the all-father, himself! He was the one who gave that information to him, after all!
“As per the rules of this game, asking a question to where your answer is incorrect doubles the damage you’ll sustain!”
“That’s a ridiculous rule… How is it even wrong?”
“As I expected, you truly are stupid.”
Fwoosh!
The Sphinx’s wings spread out.
“Time is not unstoppable! The God of Evil rules all of it! For him, it is not a difficult feat to reverse its flow.”
“Wait, what?!”
“Hence, your answer is obviously wrong!”
He was correct.
The God of Evil had the Scythe of Time, which he had usurped from Cronus.
With it, he could easily reverse the flow of time.
“No! No! That’s ridiculous! This should be based on common sense…”
“Common sense? Even that concept is decided by the God of Evil!”
“But that’s…!”
Thor resisted desperately, but restraints had already clasped onto his body once more. The more desperate he became, the louder he became, but none of it mattered to the Sphinx.
He reached out for the hammer and lifted it, the sight of which made the god of lightning tremble. Despite having the strongest hammer to ever exist, he unexpectedly felt fear upon witnessing one far inferior to Mjölnir.
Boom!
The Sphinx struck him in the head, causing an explosion.
“Oh, no…”
“My god…”
Odin and his fellow deities looked at the scene with terrible expressions. Horus and Nitocris reacted the same way despite Thor being their enemy. It was simply that pitiful.
But his hell had just begun!
“My turn! I now activate my hidden power! By offering a sacrifice to the God of Evil, I’ll be able to double the damage I’ve dealt!”
“That can’t be!”
The Sphinx opened up his subspace and brought out sacrifices. When Jin-woo approved of it, they all appeared in front of him.
The Sphinx smiled in satisfaction. On the other hand, Thor’s expression hardened.
Boom!
Every time he gave a nonsensical question, Thor was hit with a hammer. It didn’t matter how sturdy he was. It was still driving him crazy since it exceeded the power level of the Emperors, which meant he sustained damage from each hit. Not only that, the damage was doubled.
“Ah, my answer’s wrong.”
“Finally! Haha! The Sphinx made a mistake!”
Thor had at last presented a question that his opponent couldn’t accurately guess. His thoughts quickened as if he just gained wisdom. Humans and gods alike always showed their fullest potential when put under extremely stressful situations.
With his brain working at full capacity, he came up with a question revolving around his own father. More importantly, he realized he could present a nonsensical problem just like his opponent constantly did!
Hence, he asked, “What did Odin eat this morning?”
It was far too shabby and shallow for a deity like him, but he didn’t care. He swiftly let go of his pride.
“Hahahahaha! Finally…”
Thor grabbed the hammer.
“Hold up! I’d like to claim my win streak points now!”
“Win streak points? What?”
“Converting all of the win streak points I have accumulated through seven consecutive victories into sacrifice points!”
Thor could no longer keep up with what the Sphinx was spouting. He didn’t know anything about the rules of this game in the first place.
Only Jin-woo and the Sphinx were fully aware of how it worked.
“I have accumulated 20,000 sacrifice points, which is enough for me to steal my opponent’s belongings and offer them to the God of Evil!”
“That doesn’t make any sense!”
“You fool. You simply have no idea how the laws of this area work!”
“You’re insane!”
Thor rejected each notion he presented, but his efforts were all in vain. The Sphinx pointed to Mjölnir, which had fallen on the floor.
“I use all of my 20,000 sacrifice points to offer Mjölnir to the God of Evil in exchange for receiving a shield from him! God of Evil’s Shield, activate!”
The god of lightning’s prized hammer appeared before Jin-woo, who then picked it up.
Ji-ing!
He threw it lightly, sending it soaring into the sky. After a while, it returned on its own. Its design wasn’t to his liking, but it was a fairly decent weapon.
“It has its uses.”
Witnessing his brother’s weapon obeying Jin-woo shocked Loki so much he almost collapsed and lost consciousness. He stole such a powerful weapon with ease through an extremely malevolent technique.
In turn, Jin-woo instilled his power into the Sphinx, forming a durable shield around him.
Ting!
Thor struck his opponent with the hammer, but the barrier easily blocked his attack.
The Sphinx laughed.
“My turn!”
“No, wait! I would also like to make a sacrifice!”
“Ah, then by all means!”
He followed his enemy’s actions, knowing full well if this kept up, he would really die because of this truly demented game. To make matters worse, not even death would allow him to escape this hell for as long as the God of Evil wasn’t satisfied.
Thor had to live. He knew his head would soon explode if he didn’t do anything to stop this.
He felt hesitant for a moment but soon unbuckled his belt, which was known as Megingjörð. When worn, it would double the user’s strength.
In return, he gained 10,000 sacrifice points.
Since then, a similar pattern continued.
His belt, gloves known as Járngreipr, and his clothes piled up in front of Jin-woo, leaving him in his underwear.
Loki lowered his head, unable to look at him.
Thor now had nothing left to offer. On the other hand, the Sphinx’s subspace still seemed quite full of items.
Grinning, he pounded on his head with the hammer over and over again until his face turned blue.
Unable to bear watching the scene any longer, Odin raised Gungnir.
“Stop!”
He threw his weapon towards his son’s assailant, but it couldn’t break through the barrier, which was only natural. In this space, only the God of Evil had enough power to destroy it.
Rather, his actions put Thor in an even direr situation.
The Sphinx chuckled, almost as if he had been waiting for this situation.
“Odin has broken the sanctity of our duel, inflicting a penalty on Thor! I am hereby awarded 300 million sacrifice points!”
The god of lightning turned around, his gaze landing on his father, who couldn’t stop himself from flinching.
“I will use all of it to sacrifice my opponent himself to the God of Evil!”
“No! How dare you use such underhanded tactics against me!”
“Come forth, Chains of Pain!”
Black chains rose from the ground and wrapped around Thor. They blocked even his mouth, preventing him from screaming, then dragged him into the earth until he disappeared.
Silence permeated the area.
“Behold! The power of darkness strengthened by the God of Evil’s infinite power!”
A voice echoed through the desert.
“The Sphinx… The Sphinx has defeated Thor!”
“His power is simply incredible!”
The Western World’s warriors admired him. They weren’t wrong. After all, he truly did possess an amazing ability.
Anyone could fight him on equal footing if they knew the rules behind his game, but they were far too complicated to understand.
Flop!
Jin-woo looked down at Thor, who had just appeared before him. Tied in chains, the Asgardian raised his head.
“Mmffphh!”
With a snap of his finger, he removed the chains wrapped around his captive’s mouth.
“G-God of Evil!”
“You seem to be in a lot of trouble.”
“Is that you, L-Loki? How could you betray us?!”
Noticing his brother standing next to Jin-woo, Thor bared his fangs. Loki wanted to clear up the misunderstanding, but he couldn’t bring himself to do so. After all, he also played a big part in bringing about this current situation.
The parasol’s shadow didn’t reach Thor, leaving him lying on the hot desert sand, still bound by black chains that could efficiently absorb heat. As a result, his complexion slowly turned red. He tried to use lightning bolts to free himself, but that only increased the temperature around him even more.
Jin-woo took a big gulp of his cold cola.
“What to do…”
He pondered about it for a while. He didn’t really need him. He was indeed a strong god, but the modified Hercules was far stronger. Moreover, he looked so ignorant and stupid he thought it would be impossible to communicate with him.
However, right before he could send him to Tartarus, Loki hastily spoke up.
“If you educate and train him properly, he might just prove himself to be quite useful!”
“Training, huh… I don’t think it’ll make him any better.”
“I’ll take responsibility for his development.”
As Jin-woo thought about his proposition, Yoo-na arrived and stood next to him, having finished her work. She served as his secretary and Loki as his advisor. If she were taking full care of him, the god of mischief would have to assume leadership over policies and plans.
In that sense, he often helped her with her job.
Loki gave Yoo-na a desperate look, who then turned her gaze at Thor then back at him.
“You want to train him? Are you sure you can handle it? You’re already busy with your workload…”
“I’ll do it during my free time…”
“I don’t think you’ll have enough of that to give him any substantial education.”
Her reply only frustrated him further, but she was right. He didn’t even have enough time to sleep due to the amount of work he had to do.
Yoo-na smiled faintly.
“But I think it’ll still work. There are others who can watch over him.”
“T-That’s right! As expected of miss Yoo-na.”
‘Loki has already made many contributions to our cause, too.’ Jin-woo thought, finally deciding it wouldn’t be wrong to grant him this request.
When the God of Evil nodded in agreement, Yoo-na immediately took out her tablet PC and showed it to Loki.
“There are the ones currently available to train him.”
“I see.”
Several were on the list, including the General Manager, Arcana, Vanity, and Maze. All of them were great options.
Desperately looking for a worthy trainer, he flipped through the pages until he stumbled upon a hidden file. Upon opening it, the profile of a woman popped up.
‘This woman should be fine.’
She was beautiful and seemed quite friendly despite the bewitching aura she exuded.
According to the document, her name was Zhuge Mi-xian.
Her file was hidden, but it should still be possible to choose her since she was still on the list.
“I’d like to pick Zhuge Mi-xian, please.”
The two looked at him simultaneously, and Yoo-na immediately complimented him.
“You are indeed worthy of being the God of Evil’s advisor.”
“That’s an amazing choice, Loki.”
Jin-woo acknowledged him as well. When it came to work-related matters, he was ruthless and cold-hearted.
They sent Thor to a strange world, still tied up by chains. He seemed to have already understood his fate.
Yoo-na calmed her slightly stifling breathing.
“Zhuge Mi-xian is currently in a state of dissatisfaction. This should help her relieve her stress.”
“She’s in charge of running a publishing company, after all. It’s understandable for her to feel that way.”
“I haven’t even thought of that. You’re without a doubt great at handling people, Advisor Loki. You make me want to reflect on myself.”
The god of mischief’s evaluation score went up again. He picked her despite the risk of being punished, which only surprised him more when Jin-woo expressed his admiration over his decision.
Thor was delivered to her while still in chains, which Loki thought was better than being sent to Tartarus.
The god of thunder’s electrifying power became a source of inspiration for Zhuge Mi-xian. Having gained a minion that could produce lightning, various ways of using and harnessing that power later appeared and spread across multiple dimensions.
“Destroy them all!” Odin roared, his voice echoing across the desert. Despite his son’s defeat breaking their army’s morale, he didn’t retreat. Seemingly feeling the same way, the gods of Asgard and the Earthlings stayed with him as well.
Ah-young stared at the Sphinx with a blank expression, bewildered by how much the history she learned had changed. However, the God of Evil’s words soon brought her back to her senses.
“It has begun.”
The full-scale war between the Northern and Western Worlds had finally started.
Jin-woo praised Nitocris, but that was all he gave her. They only had a contractual relationship, after all. More importantly, he didn’t like Horus. While the pharaoh and her warriors worked hard for their people, he simply watched on the sidelines.
If he had come to Olympus and said hello, he would’ve let his insolence slide.
‘I’m going to make them fight for now.’
It didn’t matter who won anyway.
He enjoyed the battle leisurely, almost as if watching a movie.
Its director, of course, was himself.
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