Book 2: Chapter 424
Kwadang.
Jacob’s body collapsed as Lukas regained control of his body. He was only a step away from Lee Jong-hak.
He reached out and grabbed a cup of water from the nearby table. The cup was filled with tepid water. Splash! He threw it towards Lee Jong-hak. Droplets of water scattered in the air before quickly growing in size.
Pik.
Letting out a laugh, Lee Jong-hak grabbed his sword. Crackle. This time it was undoubtable. A clear current flowed along his sword.
Bang!
The water droplets exploded. Lee Jong-hak’s eyes narrowed slightly as if this situation wasn’t as he’d imagined. His body was caught in the explosion and was sent flying backwards, through the walls of the house.
This building, the Cloud Pavilion, had been built precariously on the edge of a cliff. And for reference, the direction Lee Jong-hak had flown towards was that of the cliff. Drenched in water, he fell down the cliff thousands of metres in the air.
“Kuk…”
“What is the…”
Lukas confirmed the situation.
Two of the Seven Flowers, the Third Flower Cheon Jong-woo and the Fifth Flower Man Seol-gun, were dead. Their heads rolled across the ground like garbage. Looking at their expressions, they hadn’t even realised they’d died.
Sama Ryeong and Jo Sang-ak’s arms had been severed. In particular, Jo Sang-ak seemed unable to accept the devastation that had unfolded before his eyes and had lost his mind.
The two elders… were nowhere in sight. At least that was the case at first glance.
Lukas noticed that the ground where they had been standing was charred. He could only make a guess. The lightning, which had spread out from the swinging sword, had destroyed their entire bodies without leaving a trace.
And the last person.
Jacob was dying.
“…”
His body twitches occasionally, and although his wounds seemed fatal at first glance, it wasn’t much of a problem. His spine had been severed and was bleeding heavily, but it was possible to save him even if he had worse wounds.
As long as they were still alive, Lukas could save anyone.
At least that should have been the case.
As he placed his hand on Jacob’s back, Lukas’ expression hardened.
“Why?”
He couldn’t save him. He wasn’t regenerating.
The power of void wasn’t working.
Was Jacob’s body rejecting the regression?
…No. It wasn’t his body.
It was the lightning power that remained in his body that was pushing the void away.
“…”
There was nothing he could do. He couldn’t heal him. Lukas had no idea how to solve this problem. He didn’t have much time to contemplate it either. Jacob’s life was coming to an end.
“…__”
Jacob’s lips were moving.
It was only after a moment that Lukas realised this. The first thing he noticed was his eyes.
Lukas was curious about what Jacob was thinking and what emotions were in his eyes.
And he was surprised.
Jacob’s eyes did not show any despair over his current situation, fear of death, or above all, resentment towards him.
“Why?”
He repeated the same question.
No. In the first place, Jacob had chosen to take the attack in Lukas’ place. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that he didn’t resent him.
However… Why did this man save him? Even to the extent of giving up his own life? Lukas didn’t have any special relationship with Jacob. Instead, he had actually considered him annoying to the extent of wanting to kill him.
Jacob must have felt his killing intent.
And yet, Jacob still chose to save Lukas.
…He stopped his racing thoughts.
One thing was the clearest at this point.
Lukas could not save Jacob.
So the least he could do was listen to his last words.
“…”
But Jacob’s lips were just twitching, and he didn’t seem able to actually form any words. Instead, only his bloody breath roughly rasped from his lips.
The light in his eyes gradually faded. Cough, he vomited a mouthful of blood.
Then Jacob’s movements came to a complete stop.
[Shouldn’t you eat him before he completely disappears?]
Clang!
Lukas struck out with void to the source of the voice. Of course, there was nothing there. The power smashed the walls of the house and continued into the sky behind it.
“The hell is this…”
Sama Ryeong bit her lip.
She could not keep up with the events that had happened in an instant, causing a gap to form between her processing of information and reality.
Of course, Sama Ryeong knew who the culprit behind this tragedy was.
Lee Jong-hak.
Someone who had recently appeared in the World of Void and a criminal who had massacred the disciples of Flower Mountain. The most dangerous of the prisoners in the prison.
Of course, Sama Ryeong hadn’t witnessed his murders personally. She had been away at that time.
But she had spoken to him face to face before.
And she’d been dazzled by the spirit of integrity that seemed to exude from him.
…In all honesty, Sama Ryeong had wondered if that man was really such a butcher.
And if his massacre was true, then why hadn’t they executed him right away? The Yang In-hyun that Sama Ryeong knew was not such a benevolent man.
“Kuk.”
No.
That wasn’t the problem right now.
“What is your relationship with that man?”
Sama Ryeong looked at Lukas as she asked this. Because this man was the person who had brought Lee Jong-hak to this place.
Lukas didn’t respond. He continued to look at Jacob with an indescribable expression.
Sama Ryeong felt intense anger at this sight which seemed like he’d lost his mind.
“I’m asking you a question!”
It was then that Lukas responded. He finally turned his gaze towards her.
“Move.”
It was a short word. It wasn’t a request, nor was it an order.
It was closer to a prediction of what was going to happen. Sama Ryeong’s body was pushed to the side and slammed into the wall.
“Ugh…”
Even though she was alive, her arms had been cut off and she suffered fatal internal injuries. Unable to withstand the shock of the blow, Sama Ryeong’s eyes rolled back into her head as she fainted.
“Ma-, Martial Sister!”
Jo Sang-ak rang over to Sama Ryeong.
Lukas ignored everything and approached Yang In-hyun.
His body was covered in wounds… Right. Lukas had just given him some emergency treatment. Even then, it hadn’t been very effective. He’d tried to treat him to the point where he would be able to communicate, but Yang In-hyun was barely conscious and could only speak in a faint voice.
Now he understood.
Who made Yang In-hyun like this?
“Lee Jong-hak.”
“…”
“No, that’s not right.”
Lukas.
When he thought about how Lee Jong-hak had destroyed Flower Mountain and driven Yang In-hyun to the brink of death, another being came to mind.
One of the greatest beings in the multiverse.
God’s strongest fangs.
A being who ruled over all creation from the highest height.
“Thunderous Lightning God.”
Rumble.
The sound of lightning and thunder.
Dark clouds began to gather in the sky.
Tuduk, tuk, shwaa. In an instant, rain began to pour down.
Lukas knew that this weather did not belong to the territory.
This thunderstorm was not a natural occurrence, it had been caused by someone.
“Is the Lightning God stronger than you?”
It was something that Lukas had trouble understanding. Yang In-hyun gave him a strange look for a while before closing his eyes as if he’d run out of energy.
In the end, did he have to find out for himself?
[It’s really nice to meet you again.]
At that moment, he heard a soft voice.
[Especially since we could meet in a place like this.]
It was strange.
He was clearly speaking softly, but his voice resounded in his ears. The voice wasn’t just ringing in his head like the ‘Lukases’.
In fact, the eardrums of Jo Sang-ak, who was near him had burst and blood flowed from his ears. If he had his arms, he probably would have covered his ears.
[I thought you’d been completely destroyed. Everyone thought so, Lukas Trowman.]
“…”
[You’ve become more reticent than before. You also obtained a pretty interesting power… Now, what is it going to be?]
The Lightning God continued.
[Should I go to you? Or will you come to me?]
Lukas chose the latter. He threw himself through the hole the Lightning God had made and fell down the steep cliff. At times like this, he felt the desire to commit suicide begin to resurface. He just wanted to relax the power in his body and fall onto his head.
Taht.
Instead of giving in to the impulse, Lukas landed lightly on his toes.
This was a place that wasn’t very damaged. The fire hadn’t spread here, so it still had the appearance of a forest.
Tududuk… The falling rain soaked his hair. Lukas glared at someone through his hanging wet bangs.
The Lightning God was crouched in front of a blooming peony.
“That friend was pretty strong… Was he called Yang In-hyun?”
“…”
“A Swordsman like that is rare in the entire multiverse. If I’d made a single mistake, I would’ve lost.”
“It wouldn’t have affected you even if Lee Jong-hak died.”
“There would be some damage.”
The Lightning God straightened his knees and stood up. Then he cut the peony.
“Wouldn’t it make me miss the best opportunity? I’d have to retune the synchronisation rate in a new possessed body from the beginning, and that would be really annoying.”
He sniffed the peony he’d cut and frowned.
“…this world is like an empty rice cake. I can’t feel the taste of domination in this place. What I can feel, is that the beings here can’t mix with us. Kuku. No matter how I look at it, [The Dragon] made the wrong choice.”
“How did you come to this place?”
Lukas asked straightforwardly.
“You didn’t abandon your position as an Absolute. You’re also not someone who has been forgotten. So you couldn’t have met the basic requirement to enter the World of Void, right?”
The Lightning God responded indifferently.
“That’s because the boundaries have weakened. Shall we say that ‘God’ touched the lid of this garbage dump and left it open? That left an opening.”
“What does that mean?”
“Do you have a hard time understanding what I said?”
“…what is your goal?”
The Lightning God simply smiled.
Shwaa!
For a moment, only the sound of the rain could be heard.
Crackle!
Suddenly, the crown of the Lightning God’s head seemed to flash, and a sharp bolt of lightning hurtled towards Lukas. Lukas didn’t move. Crunch, instead, the ground in front of him rose up and blocked the lightning.
“Hoh…”
Lukas felt like the lightning fired by the Lightning God was more like a check than a real attack. This was then proven by the fact that he didn’t continue to attack.
“You’ve grown stronger. Haha. Can you answer my question? What did you give up in this place, and what did you get?”
“You ignore my questions and only ask about things you’re curious about. Your selfish way of speaking hasn’t changed.”
“Unchangeability is one of the most important qualities for a Ruler. We do not need to change. Because we were born perfect… unlike changeable beings.”
Lukas’ gaze became cold at those words.
“In any case, I owe you one. Since you healed this body.”
“Can you say that even after you tried to kill me?”
“You aren’t dead now, are you?”
“Someone else died instead.”
“Right. That guy who was with you… Who was that? Was he your disciple?”
“…”
Why?
Why did he really want to kill the Lightning God at that moment?
That wasn’t all. The conversation with him was gradually becoming unpleasant. He couldn’t stand the smirk that remained on his face.
But the catalyst that burst his fraying patience was the Lightning God’s next words.
“Then I’ll offer an apology for him. Lukas Trowman, don’t you want to be a perfect being?”
“A perfect being?”
“A Ruler.”
The Lightning God smiled.
“If it’s the current you, I think I could make it happen.
-He smiled.
While casually mentioning Lukas’ lifelong wish as if it was nothing important. He spoke about the purpose that he’d risked everything for… in a light, frivolous voice.
Lukas slowly lowered his head. Rainwater rolled down his jawline. It was cold. But there was something more annoying than that.
What answer should he give?
How could he get rid of this dirty feeling he had, even if only slightly?
After enough time had passed for three lightning bolts to strike in the thunderstorm, the Lightning God asked.
“What’s your answer?”
It was around this time that [some Lukas] gave him a cool answer.
Lukas shook his head.
“…suck.”
“Huh? What was that?”
And with a bright smile, he said.
“Suck my nuts, you bastard.”* (*: This was censored, I had to improvise)
“…”
The Lightning God’s expression hardened.