Level Up Legacy

Chapter 1378 Old Friends

As the mythical core disintegrated into nothingness, the rune faded from the world alongside Draven's dreams of power. The king fell back into his chair, recognizing that Arthur was telling the truth.

"But you promised me power, knowing that I cannot receive it," Draven said as he raised his head toward Arthur. "How could you be this shrewd and twisted?"

"I promised you power before understanding a lot of things," Arthur said before he sat back down and unfurled his palm toward Draven. "And I have no desire to use this against you. I warned you of the consequences, but the decision will be yours." Draven was silent, mulling over his decision and aching. Arthur made it seem akin to suicide, but he believed that there was a way to receive this power.

"How can I increase my spiritual energy?" asked Draven at last. Arthur was silent before he turned to Julia and nodded. She strode forward toward the king and placed down a stack of papers on the table.

"This is my research regarding spiritual energy. The main takeaways are that spiritual energy grows through battle and defeating monsters. It explains the evolution of abilities through battle."

"Then, hunting monsters gives us spiritual energy?"

"Not exactly," Arthur interrupted them. "Battles make the soul more prone to absorbing spiritual energy, because it tests a person's limits. That means that killing monsters would not yield any benefits unless you push against your limits while doing so."

"Is this some sort of joke?" Draven asked as he pushed the papers forward. "You want me to risk my life to hunt monsters? How long would that take?"

"It depends on no one other than yourself," Arthur said with a smile as he leaned back in his chair. "And my doors will always be open to give you the rune."

Draven was speechless, and he stormed out of the meeting. Of course, he took the research with him. It seems that although Arthur angered him, he had no choice but to stomach it in order to receive the rune.

"Are you sure about giving such a power to someone this thirsty?" Julia asked once they left. She sat in a chair beside Arthur and leaned back with a smile. "You might have told him the truth, but you hid something about spiritual energy."

"I cannot reveal everything to them, but I told him the bare truth. The world is united because of Sier now, but I know that his words aren't enough to convince all kingdoms."

"Something is happening, right?" Julia asked with a frown. "The monsters have finally evolved beyond our understanding."

"Monsters and the Nameless are the first soldiers of Devaheim. If I want to leave this world to live in peace, I have to take care of them first-or give humans enough power to fight them off.

"You call us humans as if you are not one of us," Julia said with a grin as she tilted her head. "How is Aunty doing?"Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"...getting to meet Diana for the first time. It might be a little too much for her to accept that her son is getting married-and to a demi-human. But she'll come around to like her."

"Diana seems a little tired from the last battle," Julia said with a frown. "The calamities almost succeeded in summoning the god to Kera. If they were, I don't think we would have been safe."

"Devaheim invested two artifacts to open the portal," Arthur said with a frown. "I think that they planned on ending the fight early."

"What is preventing them?"

"Mostly distance," Arthur said with a little chuckle. "Our world is so far below theirs that the teleportation here must cost quite a bit of mana."

"It would cost enough to prevent the gods from reaching us?"

"They would reach us, but not without some vessels," Arthur said with a grin. "In the next Divine Selection, they will choose their vessel and be able to affect our world." "For what purpose? I thought they wanted to destroy it," Julia asked with a frown. "What is their plan?"

"In order to prevent me from participating in the Game of Worlds, the gods need the world to hate me instead of worship me," Arthur explained. "Their vessels would be chosen based on their loyalty to Devaheim. Of course, humans would do anything to obtain power!"

"Then, we need to stop them from becoming vessels."

"That would be impossible, but I have a different idea in mind," Arthur said with a grin. "We need an agent inside the kingdom of gods."

"You want to turn gods against gods?" Julia asked with a gaping mouth. "How would you achieve such a feat?"

"I will use their own tactics: promises of power. If we can have one of the gods act as our agent inside the kingdom of gods, I can participate in the Game of Worlds without being chased down by them."

Julia was silent, since the idea was daring but looked flawed. If Devaheim used that agent to hurt Arthur, it would be a catastrophe.

"I disapprove of this plan. You cannot trust the gods to do that."

"I have one friend who can help me with that plan, but I will have to enter the Divine Selection to reach the gods," Arthur explained with a smile. "It will be the first counterattack against the kingdom of gods."

"I know that you are excited about taking them down, but we need to lay down a defensive plan at the moment. Nameless is tearing our world apart, right? How could we even think about attacking the gods at the moment?"

"Calm down, Julia," Arthur shook his head. "We are not alone, remember? We have an army waiting for us in the Yalveran Union, and a lot more allies that can help us."

"...Is that friend you mentioned one of them?"

"Hm, I would not say he is a part of this world," Arthur said as he rose from his chair. "I

met him once in the Spirit Realm."

"What is he doing there?"

"Acting as its sovereign."