Book 2: Chapter 526
He felt something heavy on his stomach. It was also slightly warm.
“…”
It was only as Lukas slowly regained consciousness that he realised that he had been unconscious in the first place.
It was probably the aftereffect of exhaustion. It seemed he was quite tired. Having a changed body didn’t mean he didn’t need rest.
“…hehe.”
He heard a small laugh. It was pretty close too. When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Pale’s face. Why was this guy’s face here? It took some time for him to understand and accept the situation.
…So,
As he lay on the floor, Pale was… laying on his stomach?
“Hehehe.”
What’s more, Pale kept laugh in that bizarre way. The happiness on her face was as if she was holding all the happiness in the world in her hands. He thought she was making those sounds while having a sweet dream, but when he took a closer look, he realised that wasn’t the case.
“Ah! Lukas! You’re awake?”
“…”
“Are you okay? You were asleep for a long time! Your body was restored but, uh, you were probably still mentally fatigued!”
“…um.”
“Aren’t you hungry? Thirsty? Right. You said you could control that. Still, do you want to eat something to cleanse your mouth?”
Did she just… ask if he wanted to eat something?
“Here?”
As he asked that, he looked around at the unchanged bloody scene unique to the Dump Site. At that, Pale chuckled.
“That wouldn’t so bad, but I know a nicer place!”
“A nicer place?…No. Wait a minute, before that, what are you doing?”
“Huh? Ah. Supplying.”
“…supplying?”
Letting out a hehe, she looked at him with spotless clear eyes.
The more he looked, the more he felt he was asking something that shouldn’t be asked.
“…right. Aside from that, could you please get off now?”
“Yeppp.”
Pale jumped up first and reached out to Lukas. Lukas looked at her face for a moment before accepting the hand. A silly laugh trickled out.
Patting the dust off of his body, he looked at Pale. As he looked at the figure who was smiling at him with her hands behind her back, he could no longer sense any vigilance from the other.
There was no longer any strange hostility between him and Pale. Lukas understood her perfectly, and Pale accepted that.
Without needing to think about it, this was a good thing.
…A good thing.
“Lukas, you are…”
Suddenly, Pale spoke.
“Taller than I thought, huh?”
“…is that so?”
This wasn’t a fact he was particularly conscious of. He wasn’t really interested in it. After all, the body was no more than a vessel.
But Pale seemed to have a different thought, and suddenly narrowed the distance.
“Yeah! Look at this!”
Then she tried to tiptoe to compare their heights.
The top of her head could barely reach Lukas’ chin. To begin with, Pale could never be considered as tall. If she were standing normally, she would only reach around Lukas’ chest.
“But I think it would be better if you had some more meat. You’re too hard.”
“…”
“Ah. But I’m also pretty thin, so it might be better like this.”
“What do you mean ‘better’?”
“And when you were sleeping, you had worry lines on your face! It didn’t seem like you were having a strange dream, is it just a habit?”
“…well.”
Maybe it was because you were laying on top of me.
Lukas swallowed those words.
“So, what I’m trying to say is, aren’t we a group sharing a common destiny now?”
“Huh?”
He couldn’t keep up with the flow of the conversation, so he ended up asking back.
Smiling brightly, Pale continued.
“We are the only ones who can understand each other, so don’t humans usually call a relationship like this…”
“Wait a minute. I’m not sure what you’re trying to say, but can we talk about it later?”
He was controlling the flow of time in the Dump Site, but there was no room for delay.
Pale nodded.
“Fine! Then shall we find the exit first?”
* * *
Lukas was in a quandary.
“Hehe.”
Of course, when it came to the major battle in the Dump Site, he could be considered the winner.
“Hehehe.”
As for whether the benefit he gained was short term or long term.
At that point, it was difficult to accurately calculate it.
“Hehe, uhehe.”
No. It would be too cold-hearted to make a judgement only from a rational perspective.
While he might have had a different goal when he first came to the Dump Site, afterward, he started doing what he wanted. What he thought was the right thing to do.
That thought hadn’t changed even now, but…
“Lukas.”
Lukas slowly stopped escaping from reality.
Now that his biggest concern had been resolved, there was no longer anything for him to think so deeply about that he would forget reality.
Lowering his gaze slightly, who was moving close beside him.
Her face was like that of a kitten melting in the sunlight.
“…what is it?”
“Just that.”
“…”
“Lukas. Lukas.”
“Why are you calling me?”
“I just want to call you. Hehehe.”
What was this… strange feeling?
With an indescribable feeling, Lukas looked at Pale’s smiling face. Pale used to smile often, but her smile now was different from before. It was a genuine smile that seemed to contain 1 million percent of her happiness.
‘…’
Judging from that strange analogy, it could be seen that he was not yet fully back to normal. Although he had acted conceited before, the hunger Pale experienced was not something to take lightly. It was tremendous. If it hadn’t been Lukas, no one else would have been able to survive.
“Hey, Lukas.”
“What is it?”
“Lukas’ palms are unexpectedly big.”
Placing her palm on Lukas’ palm, she smiled again.
What was the meaning of this action? It was clear that Pale trusted him. However, her subsequent behaviour, the aim of which he was unable to fully guess, confused him.
Lukas looked at Pale’s changed appearance and wondered what changes were occurring inside her.
[What it means.]
He heard a gruff voice.
Ah.
Now that he thought about it, he had forgotten about the Lightning God’s existence for a while.
‘Lightning God.’
[Do you not know? That woman is head over heels for you.]
Head over heels?
It took Lukas a moment to understand what he meant.
‘…indeed. Are you saying she completely opened her heart after being understood for the first time in her life?’
Although this situation was common, it wasn’t ideal.
[Not that, you dim-witted, stupid, idiotic bastard.]
The Lightning God’s voice was strangely sharp.
[Do you seriously not know? How the Blue Knight feels about you now… She will do anything you tell her to. If you tell her to fight for her life, she will fight until she cannot move a finger. If you ask her to rip her heart out, she will do so in a heartbeat. She has reached a state where no matter how absurd or unreasonable the request is, she will accept them all. In other words─]
‘That’s not good.’
[…]
‘It’s good that the relationship progressed, but excessive dependence is not good for either of us. I should probably say something so that we can have a healthier relationship.’ (TL:…)
[…do whatever you want, dumbass.]
The Lightning God’s curses were becoming more and more diverse. Was it like this before?
[By the way, there’s something I want to say to you.]
‘What is it?’
[You bastard.]
‘…’
A moment later, Lukas asked back.
‘Huh?’
What did he just say?
The Lightning God kindly repeated himself.
[I said, ‘You bastard’.]
‘…why all of a sudden.’
[I’m currently staying inside your head. And my current state can be described as being parasitic to you. In other words, I have no right to tell you what to do.]
The Lightning God said this first.
[But did you know? You forgot something. You and I don’t only share feelings, we also share senses.]
‘…ah.’
He had completely forgotten.
Lukas didn’t know what to say.
[Once again, I have no right to tell you what to do. I don’t deserve to. So I can only enjoy the freedoms granted to me. Whatever this body says is right. Isn’t that so? You bastard.]
…Indeed.
The Lightning God was talking to him like this because suddenly started starving as if he wanted to die without discussing it first.
From his perspective, it was probably a bolt from the blue.
While watching how the situation was unfolding, he was suddenly subjected to pain he had never experienced before. If not for the Lightning God’s mental strength, he would have certainly gone crazy. Even though he was just a remnant thought, a Ruler was still a Ruler.
Hiding his admiration, Lukas briefly apologised.
‘Sorry. I’ll notify you next time.’
[Do whatever you want, dumbass.]
Since it didn’t seem like he’d accept any further apologies, Lukas didn’t say anything more.
…Now that he thought about it, there was something he certainly needed to tell Pale.
“Listen up, Pale.”
“Yep.”
At that, Pale stopped walking and sat down on the spot. Then, she looked up at Lukas with her uniquely clear eyes. He could feel that not only her ears and attention, but every fibre of her being were focused on him.
…He felt pressured.
“As I said before, a remnant thought of the Lightning God remains within my body.”
“Yep.”
“Do you not have anything you want to ask about that?”
“Yep.”
“…”
“…”
…Something about this development was weird.
Lukas asked again.
“Do you not have any questions? At all?”
“Don’t have.”
“Why? Don’t you hate the Rulers?”
“Yes. I really hate them. If I could, I’d rip those bastards limbs off and grind them into powder.”
“…”
[…]
Although she said it in a refreshing voice, this statement was real. In other words, her blind hatred of the Rulers had not disappeared.
“Nevertheless. Lukas ended up accepting one of their remnant thoughts.”
With a bright smile on her face, Pale continued.
“So there must be some reason for that. That I don’t know.”
It seems.
Pale had not let go of her hatred towards the Rulers. She had just come to trust Lukas enough that it had become less important.
“Ah. Or maybe it’s a situation where the remnant thought is forcibly staying by coercion or restraint!”
“Huh?”
“Then that’s a different story. I know someone who can get rid of remnant thoughts in a professional manner! It might be a little hard to convince him, but if it’s for Lukas…”
“No, no. There’s no need for that.”
When Lukas hurriedly dissuaded her, Pale shrugged.
“Sure. Tell me later if you change your mind. Hehe.”
* * *
The Corpse Ghost was one of the Twelve Void Lords that Lukas had a fairly accurate grasp of. Not only had he observed him, but they had also fought, even though neither side had used their full strength at that time.
That’s why he knew. He was not something to be taken lightly. This was only natural considering that he had the title of Twelve Void Lord in the first place.
“I was wondering who had recklessly trespassed into my territory.”
Looking at it again, the being sitting across the round table had a bizarre appearance.
The only thing that could be called its body was a spine, and the head at the top of it was that of an old and ugly man. At first glance, it could be mistaken as a decapitated head hung on a long spear, or a human faced insect.
“That’s an interesting expression.”
Lukas first bowed slightly to the smiling Corpse Ghost.
“I hope you will forgive my discourtesy.”
The Dump Site was the Corpse Ghost’s territory.
So it was clearly his fault for trespassing into this place, and manipulating and using the space as he pleased.
That’s why he apologised in a polite manner. In this life, he wanted to avoid increasing his enemies as much as possible. Especially when that individual was one of the Twelve Void Lords.
“I think the order is a little wrong. Isn’t it basic courtesy to ask for permission before breaking in? The Dump Site does not refuse anyone. As long as you follow the proper procedures.”
“There was no time for that.”
“If there wasn’t, you should have made it.”
“…”
Indeed.
Although he was smiling quietly, the Corpse Ghost was quite angry. This was a natural response considering that his territory had been arbitrarily invaded, and the set values of the space changed.
‘It wasn’t like this when I broke into Flower Mountain.’
…Now that he thought about it, Yang In-hyun’s attitude at that time might have been too peaceful.
In any case, he really didn’t have the time now.
“How can I get you to accept my apology?”
“Hmm. Well…”
The Corpse Ghost’s voice softened a bit.
“If you do me a small favour, I might feel a bit better.”
“A small favour?”
Generally, in situations like this, the favour had a history of not being small.
“I need you to go to Eden and retrieve something for me.”
“…Eden?”
It was an unfamiliar toponym.
“You don’t know it? It’s the Territory of the Divine One(神事者).”
“…”
The Divine One was one of the Twelve Void Lords.
Like the Corpse Ghost, they were one of the Twelve Void Lords of the north.
Lukas frowned. This was a request that went past the realm of inconvenience. If he were to cause relations with another of the Twelve Void Lords to break down in order to be forgiven by the Corpse Ghost, it would be putting the cart before the horse.
‘I heard a bit about the Divine One from Kasajin, but…’
He didn’t know any detailed abilities. In fact, it wouldn’t be surprising if they were harder to deal with than the Corpse Ghost.
In other words, it was not a request he could accept… So, how should he refuse?
“Hey.”
Suddenly, he heard a voice.
Turning around, he found Pale standing right beside him with a smile on her face.
The Corpse Ghost’s gaze turned to Pale.
“Now that I think about it, my greetings are late. Wel─”
“Why are you talking so much?”
The Corpse Ghost’s voice cut off.
“My King was a bit beholden to you, he apologised, and now we’re going to leave. Do you not understand the role you have here yet?”
“…”
“You’re just supposed to shut up, and nod your head. Before I completely smash this mangy place altogether.”
“…”
“Are you not gonna answer?”
“That─”
“You understand? How kind of you. Lukas, he said we can go.”
Pale grabbed Lukas’ arm. Then, while holding the arm of the still dazed Lukas, she waved.
“Then thanks for your hard work!”
And just left.
“…”
Now alone in that space, the Corpse Ghost was silent.