Battery-Fueled Betrayal and the Silent Thunder's Hunger
“…Is there any way you could just let me go peacefully?”
How pitiful.
A crackling sound echoed, and an overwhelming pressure that felt like it could pulverize bones slammed down on my shoulders.
Whoa.
This was heavy.
My body screamed in protest, but thanks to the overload I’d survived earlier, I managed to endure it. On the contrary, the aura pressing down on me mixed with electrical charge, making me feel a tingly, almost pleasurable jolt.
[Erkion’s residual charge detected… Power +2%]
Insane. Even a god’s aura counts as electricity to them…? Nice. But why just charge when a god’s energy spectrum should naturally align with affinity? Maybe it’s just how it works here.
My thoughts were short-lived. What’s the point? Fill my battery and I’ll be grateful.
I stood there without even blinking an eye (and internally chomping on the electricity like it was spicy food) when the god’s voice suddenly sounded strangely displeased.
“…You refuse to bow your head. But if you prove your usefulness, I’ll consider sparing you.”
“Are you perhaps in some kind of dilemma, sir?”
“There is some impurity somewhere in my garden. An ancient building built by those who dare oppose a god. Tear it down.”
A conversation I’d overheard between the elf and the lizard shaman flashed through my mind.
Ruins… It was perfect timing anyway—I needed to find a way out of this forest or pick up something useful along the way.
But why would a “god” like this ask me to destroy the ruins? Well, since my collaborators were right here, I could do it for them… but apparently they couldn’t destroy it themselves?
It felt odd, but I had no need to voice that thought out loud and rub salt in the wound.
I flashed a shameless smile and glanced sideways at the elves, who were still quivering under the pressure.
“…I won’t have to exert myself at all. Those tall-eared elves could easily resolve the great god’s troubles so cleanly.”
“You’re selling us out right now?!”
Heibrin’s eyes bulged wide, but I shrugged lightly and kept talking.
“You heard it just now, right? These elves came all this way because they had business in the ruins. They got caught in the lizardmen’s traps and ended up like this, but looking for something in the forest? Elves are the perfect experts for that.”
The pressure that had been crushing me eased off slightly.
A brief silence fell.
“…How intriguing.”
Only then did the elves realize I hadn’t sold them out—I’d simply spared them the divine punishment of becoming ash.
Quick-witted Ibrin was the first to bow deeply.
“…Yes. Erkion, my lord. If you grant us this opportunity, we will find the ruins and exterminate the ones who angered you.”
Heibrin, her elder sister, bit her lip in grievance, but after a complicated glance toward me, she lowered her head as well.
“We will purify your garden with our strength.”
“Good. I accept. And you, human, will accompany these elves as their assistant. Success will earn you passage rights.”
Erkion’s gaze locked back on me.
[Quest Activated: Cleaning the Garden of the (?) God]
Locate and destroy the ancient ruins.
Reward: God’s Favor, Garden Passage Rights.
Failure: Erkion’s Wrath.
Even calling it a “god’s request” and the reward was this pathetic. Instead of suffering alone, with the elves’ guidance and protection, riding the elf bus to the ruins boss would be worth it?
The overwhelming aura that had overshadowed the sky suddenly vanished, and the rain came down even more fiercely.
With the god gone, Heibrin’s limbs finally relaxed. All arrogance had disappeared; gratitude shone in her eyes as she walked toward me.
“Human.”
Heibrin called out to me.
Her gaze from moments ago had been different.
“…As for what happened just now.”
She paused, then turned her eyes to the side.
“…I’ll repay this debt.”
A debt?
“Don’t misunderstand.”
Her voice was firm.
“I am merely cooperating to fulfill the god’s command.”
“…I see?”
“However.”
She let out a tiny sigh.
“…This matter is deeply appreciated.”
Hehe.
“Gimme and take.”
“…”
When I shrugged, Heibrin sighed again.
But soon her gaze lingered on my fingertips—the spot where blue sparks had once danced. It wasn’t just her. The other elves, including her younger sister Ibrin, had the same strange look in their eyes. Not mere caution, but something closer to a profound, monumental doubt.
“…Human. What exactly is that power you wielded earlier?”
Heibrin asked in a heavy voice.
“You can’t tell by looking? Electricity, of course.”
“That can’t be. Even the highest spiritists must pacify and tame the spirits to wield lightning. Moreover, the spirits in our homeland…”
Heibrin trailed off, and Ibrin, who had risen while shaking off her cloak, continued with a wry smile.
“The spirits have all fallen silent. Our World Tree, the heart of the forest, has lost all contact with us, and the forest is withering. That’s why we came here chasing rumors of ancient ruins—to find the cause of the spirits’ silence.”
At Ibrin’s words, I inwardly smacked my knee. Aha. No wonder they’d fallen for the lizard shaman’s lies and wandered all this way. Their homeland must have been in serious trouble.
“Yet how can a mere human without the blessing of the spirits wield such unrestrained lightning at the very peak of spirit magic? With such immense power.”
Heibrin’s sharp question made me grin. If I explained that my abilities ran on systemic electricity independent of spirits, would they even believe me?
“Well, I’m not really sure about the principle either. I just eat batteries, that’s all.”
“Batteries? What’s that?”
I pulled a battery from my pocket and opened my palm wide for all to see.
“This. It’s delicious.”
Crunch!
Crack! Crackle!
Sparks danced from the munching battery, electric charge flashing between my fingers.
“What in the—? Are you insane? Swallowing electricity raw?!”
Heibrin recoiled in horror. Ibrin and the other elves stared at my mouth with faces of utter bewilderment mixed with awe.
No, why were they reacting so strongly? Did my battery-eating look that strange?
“Without even the mediation of a spirit… absorbing and purifying raw electricity into the body…?”
“Could the tales of the ancient high spiritists be true after all? Those who became one with nature, achieving unity with the world… Human, no, you…”
As the other elf spoke, everyone around me bowed their heads in unison.
“Eh? No, suddenly—what…”
I was bewildered by the sudden attitude shift.
Had they actually listened to what I said? I’d chewed a battery for god’s sake—why were they getting emotional among themselves?
“Our World Tree, the one who guided us here, wishes for our continued presence together. You, honored one, are the hope of all our elves.”
Sweat beaded on my forehead.
“Hope of the elves? I’m none of that—I’m just a plain human barely surviving here. And right now we have an important task.”
At my words, the elf sisters exchanged glances, their eyes suddenly sharp. With a great high spiritist (whom they now misidentified me as) reminding them of the god’s mission, profound resolve gleamed in their gazes.
“We have made a fool of ourselves in our joy. We apologize.”
“I humbly request your assistance. Please save our struggling elves. I beg of you.”
“Please, honored one.”
…They were clearly refusing to take my words at face value. Should I just leave them be? Clearing up the misunderstanding might even be to my detriment.
The ancient ruins I’d come to solve the spirits’ silence and the mission to destroy both the ruins and their invaders.
“…Call me Shin Ara. It’s a burden, so…”
This was the first contract forged between humans and elves in a whirlwind.
Above, through the scattering storm clouds, a single massive gaze pierced the backs of our group. More precisely, it hungered for the occasional blue sparks flashing from Shin Ara’s body.
***
“Shin Ara, please take your seat over here. Though this is only a temporary shelter, I’ve prepared an elixir befitting a great spiritist.”
The moment the god vanished and order was restored, what began was a completely absurd offering ritual.
Ibrin’s carefully prepared white porcelain cup held elf elixir distilled from morning dew, and a white-haired elf with an unknown name wrapped my tingling palm in leaves that emitted strange light, claiming it would aid in wound healing.
Honestly, being waited on wasn’t bad, but the problem was that their “devotion” did nothing for my palate.
“… ”
I took a sip of the fresh, full-of-life dew tea. It was tasteless. Like cold tap water mixed with an entire lawn—bitterly refreshing yet bland.
…Even carbonated soda would taste a hundred times better.
In the end, I couldn’t hold back and slipped another battery from my pocket.
Crunch.
Blue sparks flashed between my lips, sending electric jolts to the tip of my tongue. Yeah, that was the kind of disgusting spiciness I could actually taste. Once the lithium’s heavy flavor washed the blandness away, a long sigh of relief escaped me.
The elves, watching this, whispered in ecstasy.
“Indeed… the noisy food of the secular world does not even touch your lips.”
“Only the most sublime stance of one who partakes pure, refined lightning power.”
This is just a convenience store battery sold anywhere.
I might as well have said it aloud; they wouldn’t believe it anyway. So I kept my mouth shut. In the same vein, my eyes drifted to the corroded totem remnants the lizard shaman had tossed aside earlier.
Even though the magic was broken, sparks still trickled intermittently because Erkion’s aura had touched them.
“That is… the remains of divine punishment! It is dangerous—do not get close to it…”
Heibrin tried to stop me, but I had already reached out. What danger?
[Power absorption in progress…]
[Power: 6% → 46%]
“Ugh.”
Blue smoke-like sparks burst from my mouth. Impure electricity flowed through my body, and an involuntary burp escaped me. The burn had crossed into mara-level stimulation, but thanks to it, the power I’d been crawling on the ground with felt wonderfully revived.
Heibrin’s hand, which had been about to stop me, froze in mid-air.
“To absorb even the traces left by the god as if it were nothing…”
The moment the spark of doubt in her eyes vanished completely, the elves saw it: this human was truly the real thing. Blind faith settled firmly in their gazes.
Once everything was tidied up, we headed straight for the deep interior of the garden Erkion had mentioned.
After walking for dozens of minutes through an eerie sight of towering trees parting like they were creating a path, we finally reached it—the thing hidden in the forest’s deepest shade.
The ancient building built by those who had defied the god. The very ruins Erkion had spoken of.
The massive stone structure, covered in moss and vines, itself radiated overwhelming grandeur, but what truly caught my eye were the traces scattered around the ruins’ entrance. Not the language of this world.
“…What is this?”
It wasn’t the language of this world. Angular, jagged strokes—Korean characters, the ones I saw every day—were roughly peeled away in the moss cracks, sharply carved on the steel partition.
[Energy Power Plant]
I hadn’t expected this.
---
[Energy Power Plant Detected]