The Player Who Can't Level Up

El told him about the day she carried out the holy sword ritual with Gabriel, which was exactly what Gi-Gyu wanted to hear about.

-As I said before, my mission was to suppress Chaos. After careful consideration, I decided to go ahead with the holy sword ritual.

Gi-Gyu had already heard about this part.

El continued,

-I knew making physical contact with Chaos through the holy sword ritual would seal it away from the world. It wouldn’t be as effective as if God did it himself, but it would be good enough.

Lou questioned,

-Hmm… I still don’t get it.

After a short pause, Lou continued,

-I get that you had Life, one of God’s abilities, and you were the being closest to him, but that still shouldn’t have been enough to suppress Chaos. Chaos is an underground monster and was in fact God’s nemesis.

El interrupted Lou and replied,

-Yes, you’re right, Lou. Just as you said, it would have been impossible for me to do this alone. That is why…

-Ah, I see. I get it now.

It appeared Lou had guessed what El was about to say.

El added,

-Alongside me, countless other angels had also volunteered to become holy swords. As their empress and the one who transformed them, I became the center, connecting and accumulating all their power to suppress Chaos.

“What?” Gi-Gyu’s eyes widened. El had claimed that she was the conduit for countless angels’ strength. This sounded like…

“Isn’t that what sync is?” asked Gi-Gyu, realizing what El had said sounded similar to his unique ability.

Lou muttered,

-Haven’t you been paying any attention to what I said?

Lou sounded frustrated as he explained,

-The ability to sync has always existed. It’s just that there has never been a player who could use it. Other powerful creatures could use this power long before you were born. They used it as a method to aggregate different powers.

With a sigh, Lou continued,

-Of course, sync is a very mysterious and complicated skill. There aren’t many who can use this. It’s a secret weapon that belongs to a few special or incredibly powerful beings.

Gi-Gyu now remembered Lou had told his something similar way back when. When they first met, Lou had explained that there were different types of syncing abilities, including a forced one. So why did he think this ability only belonged to him?

‘Because it’s a unique ability,’ Gi-Gyu thought. Indeed, sync was Gi-Gyu’s unique ability. Since unique abilities were unique to players, Gi-Gyu had believed only he could use sync.

Lou replied,

-Well, you aren’t wrong.

Gi-Gyu seemed confused, so Lou explained,

-Apart from your sync ability, every other sync ability has a great flaw. Moreover, their sync abilities put great risks on the involved subjects.

Gi-Gyu could hear Lou laugh a little as he continued,

-Just holding such forbidden power in one’s shell is a risk enough.

“So are you saying me and my sync ability are a little more special than the others?” Gi-Gyu asked.

Lou answered,

-Sure, you could say that.

El said,

-It’s true, Master.

Lou added,

-Your power is definitely ridiculously incredible.

Both Gi-Gyu and El became quiet. They silently reviewed Gi-Gyu’s skill and the meaning of their existence. When no one spoke for a long time, Lou finally ordered in frustration,

-Anyway, let’s keep going. I need to hear the rest of the story.

El agreed,

-Of course.

***

-Everything was going according to plan. The ritual progressed perfectly, and as the subject of the ceremony, I…

“You were stabbed with the swords.” Gi-Gyu’s voice was a little sad as he finished El’s sentence.

-Yes, Master.

After the brief interruption, El continued to tell him the details of what had happened.

-the other angels and I completed the holy sword rituals. When I became the very first holy sword, the other angels also began to feel the changes. But a problem arose soon after.

El was describing what had happened after the ritual, which Gi-Gyu didn’t see in the simulation.

-He…

El’s voice shook as she continued,

-Gabriel betrayed us.

This was exactly what Gi-Gyu had guessed. He clenched his fists in anger. As if trying to control her emotions, El kept her voice quiet.

-From the very beginning, Gabriel had a plan of his own. He and the other archangels…

El’s voice became even quieter as she added,

-Opposed the connection.

“Huh?” Gi-Gyu couldn’t understand what El was saying. As usual, Lou figured it out before Gi-Gyu.

Lou replied,

-Are you saying they reversed the direction of the power?

El answered,

-Yes. Instead of getting all the angels’ power, my power was dispersed to the other angels.

Gi-Gyu didn’t make any guesses and listened quietly.

El explained,

-The unexpected occurred because my power was scattered to the other angels. As the very first holy sword and the empress of them all, I should have been the most powerful holy sword. But instead, holy swords stronger than me were created.

Gi-Gyu remembered the holy sword Lee Sun-Ho possessed.

El continued,

-That wasn’t the end of Gabriel’s scheme. He redirected a large portion of my power…

Lou finished her thoughts.

-Toward himself, didn’t he?

-Yes, Lou. That’s correct.

-Do you get it now, you moron?!

Gi-Gyu nodded slowly. He summarized what he had just heard, “So the power of those countless angels should have given El the ability to suppress Chaos. But instead, El, the most powerful angel of them all, lost her power to the other angels, including Gabriel. Did I get it right?”

-Clap, clap, clap.

Lou made the clapping noise and asked El,

-How much are we talking? What amount of your power did Gabriel absorb? Was it a small one?

-No. Gabriel absorbed most of it. Not just mine but also of those other angels.

That day, that place had a seemingly infinite number of angels and the queen of them all. And Gabriel took all of their power.

Gi-Gyu wondered how strong Gabriel must have become.

“What about Chaos?” The whole point of the ritual was to imprison Chaos, who was about to be freed due to God’s death. But since El, the one supposed to stop this from happening, had lost her power…

Did this mean Chaos was released to the world?

No, this didn’t make sense. And Gi-Gyu still didn’t know what creature El’s seal was keeping away from the world.

El explained,

-I didn’t obtain the power I was supposed to get. Imprisoning Chaos would have been impossible with what I had left. Ultimately, my plan failed, and Gabriel, who had become powerful, began ruling our world. The other archangels, except Raphael, accepted Gabriel’s new reign. Raphael, on the other hand, left with me, who by then had become a holy sword.

Gi-Gyu didn’t know what to say.

El continued,

-Raphael tried to suppress Chaos with his power and whatever was left of me.

Raphael appeared to be the hero in this story, but Gi-Gyu wasn’t happy to hear about it.

El added,

-The underground monsters were detained in prison, locked by a seal. The seal had already been undone. Chaos was in the process of being freed. Raphael did everything he could to lock the place again. I poured everything I had left into this mission, and Raphael did the same.

Gi-Gyu felt like he was listening to a fairy tale about a brave knight who defeated the scary dragon. It was a little odd that the princess in this story was a sword, but it was still an impressive tale. Lou and Gi-Gyu became engrossed in El’s story. The two didn’t make any comments and allowed El to continue.

-Surprisingly, Chaos still hadn’t woken up fully. The seal was still partially intact, so Raphael and I thrust the sword into the crack within the seal we found.

Lou seemed very impressed as he spoke softly.

-That’s impressive.

A story about the knight who defeated the dragon: it appeared that the story had a happy ending. But Lou and Gi-Gyu were shocked to hear El’s following words.

-Actually, the result was a total failure.

Gi-Gyu and Lou gasped.

“What?”

-What?

Lou and Gi-Gyu were expecting a story of success, but the reality wasn’t as impressive as a fairy tale.

El’s voice shook as she continued,

-Just when we were about to recreate the seal, he appeared.

El no longer tried to hide her emotions. Genuine fury could be felt from El, making Gi-Gyu redden. Because their connection was stronger, Gi-Gyu could feel her feelings more clearly.

-When we were about to imprison Chaos… Gabriel appeared!

El screamed in despair.

***

(In this scene, El will be referred to as her old name: Michael.)

Raphael couldn’t hide his shock as he stammered, “G-Gabriel! Why are you here?!”

Didn’t Gabriel betray them because he wanted to rule the angels? If this were true, why was he here?

“Kwaaaaaa!” Even as they stared at each other, Chaos roared. This was their only chance to suppress Chaos. If they missed this opportunity, it would be all over.

Raphael screamed desperately, “Gabriel! Do you truly want this world to end?!”

Gabriel looked down at Raphael and Michael. At this point, he didn’t even try to hide his wings which were stained black and red.

Raphael boiled in rage as he accused Gabriel, “Wasn’t your goal to rule the angels?! If Chaos escapes, you will no longer be able to reign! It will be the end of us all!”

When Gabriel remained quiet, Raphael swore, “You fucking bastard!”

“Raphael.” Gabriel finally opened his mouth. “Why are you making such an unnecessary sacrifice? You too, Michael.”

Gabriel looked at Michael, the sword in Raphael’s hand, as he continued, “Is it because our father ordered us to protect the world when he created us? Because that’s what he wanted? Is that why you’re giving away your lives like they mean nothing?”

“Crazy bastard!” Raphael yelled, “Why is that so important? All we want is to protect the world!”

Raphael turned toward Chaos again as he muttered, “I want to save the world! I want to do what Michael wishes!”

“What a foolish creature you are.” Gabriel smiled, but Raphael ignored him. With all of his wings open, Raphael headed toward Chaos. He didn’t know how he got the chance, but he knew that if he could plunge the sword into the right spot, everything would be just fine. The seal would be restored, and Chaos would remain imprisoned.

Gabriel suddenly moved as he whispered, “Not a chance.”

“What?!” Before Raphael knew what was happening, Gabriel rushed forward. Gabriel’s sword and Michael in Raphael’s hands crashed into each other.

Clank!

It appeared that Gabriel had effectively stopped Raphael.

“Kwaaaah!” Chaos continued to shriek in excitement. Its scream reached beyond one’s ears. It was enough to shake the souls of everyone nearby. Raphael knew that Chaos would suck him in if he didn't concentrate.

“Move, you bastard!” Raphael’s wings began to burn as he used every ounce of strength. He was weak from dealing with Chaos until now, but he still summoned all of his power to fight back.

Clankkk!

Raphael managed to push Gabriel away a little, but…

“Is that all you have?” Gabriel’s face remained blank as he announced, “Chaos must be freed.”

“What?” Raphael almost dropped Michael when he heard Gabriel’s shocking claim.

“Everything I did was to free Chaos.”

Raphael stammered, “W-what are you saying?!”

“Chaos could be freed only if God was killed. And God could be killed only if the Tower was built. I gave up everything for this,” Gabriel explained with a bitter smile. “There are many things you don’t know. You and Michael both. You two…”

Raphael couldn’t say anything as he felt a sudden pain in his chest.

Stab.

“Know nothing,” Gabriel whispered as blood dripped from his sword, which was no longer pure white. It was plunged into Raphael’s chest, who looked down in surprise.

“Wh-what?” Raphael gasped, unable to form a coherent sentence because something was invading his body.

Gabriel replied, “It’s the hell’s ruler.”

“...?”

“This will be my last show of respect to you and Michael. Goodbye,” Gabriel whispered.

Fwooosh!

Gabriel pulled out his sword along with Raphael’s heart. In her sword form, Michael fell into Chaos’ mouth as Raphael collapsed helplessly against Gabriel. Gabriel threw his sword with Raphael’s heart into Chaos’ mouth as well.

“Perhaps death will bring you peace,” Gabriel mumbled. He was about to throw Raphael into Chaos’ maw when…

“B…a…s…t…a…r…d!!!” Raphael, who had lost his heart, revealed his blood-soaked teeth and roared.