Thumbs Up, Level Up - Chapter 281

Of course, during Ji-Cheok’s attack, Mu-Cheok and Ha-Na also joined forces to keep the enemy under a constant barrage of artillery. They used everything they had, including Arrows of Light and Mana Bullets.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Cling! Cling! Cling!

The protective barriers were too solid for their attacks to go through. However, on the bright side, Ji-Cheok could sense that the enemy had to put all of the energy into their defense.

‘If that is the case…’

“Cheok-Liang!”

«Yes, Master!»

The fennec leaped off Ji-Cheok’s neck and turned gigantic. Then, he used the most appropriate skill Ji-Cheok had, which was Soul Telekinesis.

A powerful blast of telekinetic power was directed at the oldest of the four.

“Are you letting your summoned beast do all the work?”

As the old man cried out in horror, all of his talismans instantly cracked and Ji-Cheok’s Mind Sword sliced through his throat.

Slash!

‘Alright, one down… Now I need to take care of the rest.’

At least that’s what he thought, but reality turned out to be different.

Roar!

The old man’s body turned to smoke. It quickly began to flow everywhere, obscuring his vision.

«Leave this to me, Master!»

Cheok-Liang quickly used Soul Telekinesis to dispel the smoke, but it failed. The smoke quickly gathered in one place, and at the same time, the other three also turned into smoke and converged at the same point.

‘What the… Are they going to merge together?’

[The young one is reckless.]

[He has exposed us.]

[The power of the young one is not to be trifled with.]

[We must be wary.]

The four faces of the enemy were in one place. The faces were not spread out to left, right, front, and back; instead, they were all on the front! It was a grotesque sight, to the point of being horrifying, and the creature’s body was also equally abnormal.

It was around five meters tall, and it looked like a giant yeti or gorilla with long hair. However, while gorillas usually had long arms and short legs, this creature had four long, thick limbs.

‘I wonder if this was what that thing Xing Xing[1] looked like, the one in Chinese mythology.’

“Wow… That looks horrific…”

“It looks even more disgusting than that God we saw before.”

“Shut up and focus!”

“Dear God…”

As Ji-Cheok’s teammates exclaimed in disgust, Ji-Cheok saw the name of the creature.

[Apostles_that_became_immortal]

‘Wait, that thing is a God?’

Ji-Cheok had no idea that apostles could become Gods in their own right.

«Master! They must be an actual God who descended to Earth by some bizarre means, just like Reable!»

‘So does that mean one God was divided into four? No normal God would do such a dangerous and laborious thing.’

Normally, if a God were to descend upon the Earth, they would assume one single form.

‘Wait a minute. If that’s the case, why the hell were they so eager to ascend?’

“I guess you are a God too… Let me ask you a question. Why did you want to ascend if you are already a God?”

Ji-Cheok’s team members also paused their attacks to look at the creature. They wanted to know the answer to that question as well.

[Young one, do you think ascension is easy?]

[We were four and barely ascended as one.]

[We need to ascend anew to become true immortals, separated from each other.]

[That is why we divided our bodies, just like in the old days.]

‘These crazy bastards were like an assembly-type God that can be put together? This is outrageous! Wait, does that mean they are…’

“Then let me ask you one more question. Did you… sacrifice and eat your Hunters and the people in China?”

Ji-Cheok asked a question that he was sure he knew the answer to, but he just wanted to confirm.

[Huhuhu. Humans are the sweetest tribute]

[You, young God, shall also be a tribute to us!]

‘As expected… This asshole is an evil God!’

With the reply, the four-faced giant ape God slammed their fist toward Ji-Cheok, but he dodged it with his Cloud Steps.

Boom!

The ground crumbled and debris flew everywhere.

Meanwhile, his teammates began to move.

“The Earth embraces all!”

A red glow hovered over Ji-Byeok’s body. Without hesitation, she rushed toward the monster.

With a loud bang, the giant was knocked back. Clearly enraged, the giant ape struck down at Ji-Byeok, but its hands appeared to be at an odd angle relative to the strike.

‘He’s using cultivation techniques!’

Boom!

However, Ji-Byeok’s arms blocked the blow with perfect precision.

‘She can block an attack of a God! That’s amazing!’

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Meanwhile, Mu-Cheok shot at the giant ape with his guns that looked more like cannons. Not only were the rounds very high-caliber, but he was firing hundreds of them a minute.

Boom!

Yet, the bullets just bounced off the monster’s hide.

‘Why is that God so strong?’

«That is the Diamond Body, Master! And it is not a skill, but an effect of the power of the God!»

‘That means we can’t even hurt it with attacks like this. Damn it! In that case, I’m going to join in the fight!’

As Ji-Cheok took a step forward, four of the creature’s eyes turned to look at him.

[You shall not walk!]

Ji-Cheok heard a crack sound, and as he tried to step forward, he found that his feet were stuck to the ground.

‘Wow. It can use something like this?’

Just then, he could hear Seong Kwang shout.

“Lord of Livestock! Thine other name is the Sun! Let thy brilliance shine upon this place, and bless thy humble servants with bountiful grace!”

The God that had chosen Seong Kwang as a saint and apostle was a God revered as the Sun God, the God of Livestock, and also the God of medicine and music.

Their name was Apollo.

As the power of the Sun exploded, the terrible heat struck the four-faced giant ape God, while not harming any of his teammates.

[ARRGH!!]

It screamed, and at the same time, the snare on Ji-Cheok was released.

‘So that skill can attack the opponent while buffing his allies at the same time! That’s great! Now it’s my turn. Heaven and Earth Chaotic Sword Art, Cosmic Fracture!’

His two swords emanated the very essence of cutting as he imbued them with the power of the Mind Sword and Augmented Qi.

‘With this, I can cut through anything!’

Slash!

A deep cut almost separated the God’s arm from their body.

‘Damn it! I didn’t cut it off completely!’

[What?!]

[How can he cut through the power of the Diamond Body?!]

[We cannot let him live!]

[Die!]

The air around Ji-Cheok started to shift. Hundreds of shreds of metal formed around him, and they began to spin at high speeds, grinding up the surroundings like a blender.

Mu-Cheok’s bullets ricocheted off of them, and at the same time, a talisman appeared, blocking Ji-Cheok’s Soul Telekinesis. At the same time, black mist formed and stretched out from beneath the God’s feet.

‘Defending with talismans, attacking with metal shards, debuffing and dealing damage with the mist, and attacking with their Diamond Body… Now that the four of them are merged into one, they can still use all of their skills? It’s like having four turns for free in a turn-based strategy game. What a cheating bastard! But I hate to tell you that I am as overpowered as you!’

Woong~

Cheok-Liang infused even more mana into his Soul Telekinesis. At the same time, he began to unleash an array of skills, from Shadow Stealer to physical attacks using the Shadow skill!

Mu-Cheok’s bullets were aimed at the monster’s wounded arm, and Ji-Byeok was getting closer and closer to it.

“Earth’s Embrace!”

Just like that, she grabbed one of the gigantic ape God’s legs.

‘Uh… That looks like a very primitive skill…’

“Gotcha!”

[Wait… What are you doing?!]

[Let me go!]

The God looked flustered.

‘I had no idea her skill was that powerful!’

“Ha-Na! Now!”

She was very quick. As Ji-Cheok called out to Ha-Na, who had been gathering her strength, he saw the shining stars above her head turn into a giant arrow.

‘Wow… Amazing…’

“The stars are here to condemn the wicked.”

Ji-Cheok’s Divine Intuition told him that this skill was created by the Grand God. It was clear that it was precisely intended to do more damage to Gods!

A meteor of light flew out. The monster seemed to be unable to dodge or defend itself against their combined attacks, and the attack pierced it right through the abdomen.

Boom!

A gaping hole appeared, perhaps a meter in diameter. Blood dripped from the wound, and it looked like the monster’s entrails had been torn to pieces. It was a fatal wound!

At least, it would have been fatal for any normal living being. However, their opponent was a God.

‘I need to finish them off! Charge!’

Roar!

‘Augmented Qi Armor!’

In addition to his swords, Ji-Cheok now also wrapped his own body in Augmented Qi, adding the power of the Mind Sword as well. And he was not finished with that, either.

“I am the sword and the sword is I! From now on, I am the blade of destruction and death!”

Spouting a line that sounded like it was from a cheesy martial arts film, he strode forward.

‘Have a little taste of this blender!’

Boom!

There were no talismans or metal shards left in the air, thanks to Ha-Na’s attack. The ape screamed and threw their fists at Ji-Cheok, despite the gaping hole in their abdomen.

He could feel a strange, grotesque force within the monster.

He instinctively recognized that it was cultivation, so he raised his sword and countered the Qi attack.

His sword and its fist collided in mid-air. In the aftermath of the collision, the surrounding buildings were completely shattered, and the entire mountain peak was blasted into dust.

Boom!

There was an opening.

‘There is no way it is unharmed with that gaping hole and taking the brunt of my team members’ attacks. Good. Let’s see how we can use that opening!’

An instant later, Ji-Cheok aimed the tip of his sword just above the creature’s punctured abdomen. The sword pierced cleanly through their chest.

[ARRRGH!]

The four faces screamed in unison.

[The young one is strong! How can such an unreasonable thing happen to us?!]

Four different voices saying the same thing gave Ji-Cheok goosebumps.

‘Whoa.. that sounds so horrifying…’

Whiz!

Boom!

The God shot out Augmented Qi from its two palms.

Drawing his swords, he stepped back and swung his dual swords to deflect its Augmented Qi.

‘I guess a hole in the abdomen and a stab to the chest won’t kill it after all…’

[Activate the God Investiture Pagoda!]

Just then, Ji-Cheok saw the giant ape use its ultimate skill.

‘There’s phase two? Fuck!!!’

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

The Hunters of Mount Kunlun, inanimate fighting machines, and a race of monsters called Yao Guai were fighting fiercely against the Hunters from Korea.

However, the Korean army had come to join the latter. With military weapons designed exclusively for large monsters now filling the battlefield, the tide of victory was slowly turning in Korea’s favor.

As the battle reached red-hot intensity, something unexpected happened.

Rumble!

A huge earthquake struck, and one of the peaks of Kunlun Mountain split open, revealing a giant pagoda. As everyone watched in amazement, the Terracotta Soldiers and Yao Guai suddenly shattered into particles of light.

“The God Investiture Pagoda is activated!”

“You mean the enemy is strong enough for our Masters to use their last resort?!”

1. The author is talking about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sh%C5%8Dj%C5%8D ☜