A Battle Against a God

Seeing the person disappear before him, Zeus's instincts jumped, and fear for Leonard's safety crept up inside him.

"Shit!" he cursed under his breath, immediately returning to Leonard's location. However, by the time he arrived, he was already too late. The rest of the party was down, and Leonard was gone. "Where is he?"

Zeus expanded the range of his senses, pushing the limits of his restricted power. Not far from his location, he spotted a man carrying Leonard on his shoulder, flying above the woods where they had been.

Instantly, Zeus exploded with anger, turning into a beam of light and shooting straight toward the man who had kidnapped Leonard.

***

"This motherfucker. You're just a kid with no powers, yet you managed to fool that idiot," the hooded man muttered, his jaw tightening and muscles bulging as he struggled to contain his fury.

With the party members down, as well as Leonard, the man lifted him. Activating a <Skill >, he started floating and then soared into the sky, mindful of Zeus, who had dashed toward him earlier.

'Peka, Morta, and Kulma,' the man thought, summoning three different serpent monsters—blue, gold, and crimson—that stretched long and gracefully flew through the sky.

"Defend me against that man," he ordered, pointing at Zeus, who was flying straight at him in fury. The man could feel Zeus's anger from a distance, which worried him slightly. "Take care of him while I search for the Black Box."

'There are three ways to get it from his <Inventory >: make him take it out, control him, or just kill him.'

Lost in thought, the man smiled and dropped Leonard's body, watching as it plummeted at great speed. He prepared to summon another beast, but before he could, his eyes widened in surprise. Zeus had just caught Leonard in time, preventing him from hitting the ground.

"What?"

His eyebrows shot up, but he quickly calmed down, glancing back at where he had summoned his three serpents. They were nowhere to be seen, possibly already dead.

'You dare to, old man?'

The man's eyes narrowed as he processed the unexpected turn of events. Zeus, with Leonard safely in his arms, placed him in a safe spot before hovering in the air, his eyes burning with a mixture of fury and disdain.

Seeing this, the man, who was the summoner of the earlier golems, clenched his fist in rage.

"This isn't going to be easy," he muttered under his breath.

Zeus didn't waste any time. With a roar that echoed across the sky, he unleashed a torrent of lightning from his outstretched hand. The bolts crackled with raw power, streaking toward the summoner with terrifying speed.

Reacting swiftly, the summoner threw up his hands and chanted under his breath. An invisible protective barrier formed around him, but it was clear that it wouldn't hold for long. The lightning struck the barrier, sending shockwaves through the air, and the force of the impact pushed the summoner back, hovering a few meters.

Zeus's eyes glinted with satisfaction. "Is that all you've got, fucker? Your tricks won't save you!"

"Mind your words, old man. Cursing won't save you and that thief."

The summoner gritted his teeth, his mind racing. He couldn't afford to engage Zeus in direct combat; the difference in power was too great. He needed to be smart, to outmaneuver the skilled mage. As the barrier began to crack, he reached into his cloak, pulling out a small, glowing crystal.

"Try this, then!" the summoner shouted, hurling the crystal toward Zeus. It exploded mid-air, releasing a thick, black smoke that rapidly spread, obscuring Zeus's vision.

Taking advantage of the distraction, the summoner disappeared from his position, reappearing near the party members who had been downed earlier.

His eyes scanned the area, and a moment of silence enveloped the woods as his gaze fell on a specific young lady. He couldn't help but be mesmerized by Yuna's calm face. Furthermore, she seemed familiar to him.

'Where have I seen this face?' he mumbled as he stared intently at her. 'Ah. Never mind. I'll just take her. She seems useful… Wait! I have to take her.'

A fleeting memory of seeing Yuna flickered in the back of his mind. A smile crept up as he lifted Yuna.

"You are more valuable than that Black Box," he said with a wide grin. "I thought my luck was bad this month, but it turns out I was wrong."

As the man lifted Yuna, his hood was suddenly pulled down by someone behind him. His eyes darted with furrowed brows, locking onto Leonard's face, calm and betraying no hint of emotion.

"Where do you think you're going with her?" Leonard asked, clenching his fist and delivering a punch to the man's side.

"Aw? Do I need to feel the pain? Or what?" The man's innocent face was clear to Leonard, but what was more palpable was the demonic smile painted on his lips. "What? Were you starstruck?"

The summoner raised his leg and kicked Leonard, sending him flying a few meters with clenched jaws. He crashed into a tree, groaning as he hit the ground, his eyes never leaving Yuna.

"No… Help me, Zeus." His voice was low, his face drained of color, a pale shadow of his usual self.

The summoner reveled in the thought of what reward his father might bestow upon him. Yuna had been a captive of his family who had escaped. He remembered her from his time at their manor before he ventured out.

The summoner was a native of the tower, hailing from the higher floors. His family was a well-known clan of summoners, which was where he inherited his potential. But his love for being a Scout Class Player drove him to explore the world with Scout <Skills >.

"Hey, fucker. I'm not done with you." Zeus appeared before him in a flash of lightning, causing the summoner to drop Yuna in surprise.

The next thing he knew, he was flying through the sky, reeling from the strong impact of Zeus's attack that he couldn't counter. If not for his protective skin, granted by a <Skill > taken from one of his summons, he would surely be dead.

Clicking his tongue, he realized how difficult it was to face Zeus at this moment.

Even after being flung several kilometers into the sky, his expression remained disinterested as he pondered his next move.

Irritated, he scratched his head and abandoned the idea of taking the Black Box.

'Argh… I'll kidnap that Dhampir blood,' he resolved in his mind. 'But not now.'

As the summoner regained his balance, he summoned a creature with the body of a lion and the head of an eagle.

"Fly me away from here, Crow," he commanded the griffon.