Chapter 386: The Lightning Did Not Fall From the Sky - 5
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 386: The Lightning Did Not Fall From the Sky - 5
Eight of Spades, Elixir. I drew the Golden Lord's card across the wall. Through the profound principles of alchemy, the coated steel wall of the Lightning Tower transformed entirely into cards. Hundreds of butterflies with steel wings fluttered and scattered. I slipped out through the magical sight.
“Haaah!”
A storm of iron fists from the pursuing Thunderarch rained down. Fists wreathed in lightning tore through the fluttering cards, trying to reach me….
But unfortunately for her, even cards aren't so light when they're made of steel. The steel butterflies, which had been spinning and scattering, startled and clung together.
Any other Qi Practitioner would have been unstoppable. But because she was the Thunderarch, her attack was blocked by the steel butterflies.
‘This is all Alchemic Steel! The moment it touches, it disperses my thunder…! It’s as if he knows all my weaknesses!’
The Thunderarch moves by grabbing onto something and pulling. She extends a line of lightning, connects it to metal, and uses the attractive force to move as fast as a thunderbolt.
In other words, all I had to do was deal with that lightning. The Alchemic Steel cards stole the attractive force, clinging to her. They might be called cards, but it must have felt like steel blocks sticking to her.
“In that case!”
The Thunderarch changed her strategy. This time, she didn't pull, she fired. Lightning gathered in her fist and shot out, cracking the floor as it rushed toward me.
It felt like a feather tickling my skin as it passed. A faint, tingling sensation washed over me.
‘The lightning has no effect?! He’s not deflecting it, either. It’s like it’s being eaten!’
The idol of Mother Earth is quite useful. After all, lightning is always swallowed by the earth.
I placed a hand on the wall of the Lightning Tower and spoke.
“What do you think? Do you believe me now when I say it’s a fifty-fifty chance?”
“…You’re awfully confident for someone who relies on petty tricks.”
“Give me a break. If my techniques are petty tricks, are yours some kind of professional skill? Anyone can make static sparks just by rubbing their hands together.”
Hers was just on a larger scale. In the end, how was it any different from static electricity?
With her successive attacks failing, the Thunderarch took a moment to breathe and think. I was surely more out of breath than she was, but composure comes from a psychological advantage.
This was my chance.
“By the way, I thought you were a practical person like me. I didn't realize you were such an innocent maiden, believing every little voice that pops into your head.”
“That mouth of yours never stops running.”
“No, I’m serious. You’re the Thunderarch, aren’t you? Why are you suddenly listening to some random voice in your heart and treating me as an enemy?”
In her entire life—born, raised, and chosen in this city to become the Thunderarch—there wasn't a single memory of the Sanctum ever appearing. Yet, after receiving a revelation just a moment ago, she was attacking me like the most devout believer.
It’s unnatural, no matter how you look at it. You should realize that, too….
“That is not important. Who you are, and what I am.”
The Thunderarch spoke firmly, clenching her fists even tighter. The power of the lightning that had been radiating outward condensed further, beginning to heat her body at an incredible rate.
“What’s important is what you are about to do. And that I must stop it.”
“And what do you think I’m going to do?”
“You plan to dig up all of Claudia’s secrets and uncover the truth, don’t you? Regardless of what those secrets are… or how they might destroy this city.”
I couldn’t… deny it. It was the truth, and even if I tried, she would clearly believe the ‘revelation’ in her head over my words.
Tch. So it’s no use.
The Crusaders. They are chosen by fate.
The Thunderarch had been lucky. Among the countless tragedies of the Fallen Dominion, she was fortunate enough to be born with a perfect physique. Then, by chance, she was struck by lightning and survived unscathed; in fact, it awakened her to her own talent. Able to access the source of Claudia’s power, she caught the eye of the previous Thunderarch and was appointed as the guardian of this generation.
A series of fortuitous events led her to believe she was special, and after learning a part of the secret, she accepted her duty….
Honestly, even reading her mind, I hadn't found anything particularly strange. Like most people with her level of ability, she was just a ridiculously lucky person. That’s why I hadn’t been on guard.
But now that I knew she was one of the Crusaders, things were different.
A chosen body. Miraculous strokes of luck. And the ability to handle all that power.
She truly was chosen. The Sanctum had breathed fate into her, and she, in turn, had accepted the destiny she was given. She decided to hold lightning within her body, hide the secret in the depths, and protect this city.
There was no reason not to. She loved this city and had gained the power to protect it. From her personal perspective, it was a rational, noble, and incredibly precious conviction.
And that in itself served the Sanctum.
They are the seeds the Saintess carefully selected from the future and scattered across the world.
That is what the Crusaders are.
Which means I can't persuade her. As someone who reigns within the order observed by the Saintess, the Thunderarch would not welcome the change I would bring.
“I have no intention of destroying the city. I just want to satisfy some personal curiosity.”
“‘Personal’ curiosity? Can the King of Humans truly use a word like ‘personal’?”
“When you put it like that, I don’t really have a comeback.”
Dammit. This is why I hate dealing with Crusaders. You can’t persuade them, and you can’t change them. They’re already complete as they are.
I have no choice.
“I dislike violence…. How about we solve this with a conversation?”
“It would have been better if you’d had that thought before you started stealing things.”
“Then you should have created a situation where I didn’t have to steal.”
“If you wish. I’ll make it so you can never steal again.”
The Thunderarch, brimming with thunder, approached me. I pressed the Eight of Spades card against the wall and slammed it like a stamp.
My hand throbbed, but it was effective. When I pulled the card away, a flood of steel cards poured out as if a dam had burst. With a flick of my wrist, I threw the instantly replicated cards at the Thunderarch. Dozens of cards flew toward her.
“That again.”
Humans are creatures of learning. Remembering what happened last time, she didn't scatter her lightning as before. Instead, the Thunderarch calmly blocked each card as she advanced.
Ugh, this is tricky. I threw them with considerable force, but she doesn't seem to be in any pain.
My strength is about that of an average human. In other words, I can drag out a fight to a fifty-fifty stalemate against almost anyone. I can steal their Unique Magic, read their moves with mind-reading to counter them, and use their weaknesses to create a standoff.
But I have no finishing move.
Her body wasn't metal, but it was made of the Golden Lord's alchemical substance, which was just as good. Her durability surpassed that of most Qi Practitioners. She took a full-body barrage of steel cards without a single scratch. She was only approaching slowly out of caution; if she had just rushed me, I would have had no way to stop her.
“These are just powerless scraps of steel. Why do you keep throwing them so pointlessly?”
“I call myself a magician, so I’m trying to stay in character.”
That was a lie. It had been an all-out attack. It was just that to the Thunderarch, it was nothing more than child’s play.
Tch. I can’t win like this. I’m sick of this pattern, but… I have no choice but to stall for time.
‘He doesn’t look that strong on the surface… but I won’t let my guard down. My opponent is the King of Humans. He could be hiding an ability I don’t know about. One step at a time, be certain. I must press him as if I’m facing a true powerhouse.’
Still, I’m grateful for her caution.
Not underestimating your opponent. It’s a very proper attitude, but against me, it’s actually a disadvantage. The more strongly my opponent is aware of me, the more they calculate their own actions, which in turn gives me more thoughts to read.
Her waist, legs, arms, and fists moved like precision machinery. An iron fist flew toward my head. A chilling sensation, preceded by the intent to attack that I read with my mind-reading. I reflexively threw my arm into the path of the rapidly approaching fist.
A blow that’s impossible to block even if you see it coming… or so it should have been. Thud. The Thunderarch’s fist was stopped anticlimactically.
‘Something’s wrong…!’
Her strike was like lightning, but just before it reached my hand, a light flashed. A current flowed from her to me, and at the same time, the force that could have shattered steel gradually weakened.
‘He’s not strong. It’s the opposite…! I’m getting weaker…! What did he…!’
It’s simple. I discharged her power.
The Thunderarch’s Unique Magic, Thunder Catch. It’s a technique for grabbing lightning to move. The reason she could use lightning like a Qi Art was that she had imbued her body with it using that technique.
Having stolen that Unique Magic, I caught her lightning and made it discharge into my cards. Once she got within range of the lightning, the very power that made her ‘special’ vanished.
I whispered to the horrified woman.
“How does it feel to be ordinary?”
“My power! You coward…!”
“Let’s call it fair, shall we? We’re equals now, aren’t we?”
It had become a mud-slinging brawl using what little energy we had left. It wouldn’t be strange whoever won or lost. Right?
Taking advantage of her confusion, I pulled her arm and slammed my fist into her jaw. The Thunderarch seemed to try and resist with strength, but her discharged body was powerless. All she had left was the pure strength of her physique….
‘It doesn’t hurt. His own strength is nothing special.’
Oh? She’s still stronger than me?
Well, that makes sense. Frequent use of Qi Art strengthens the body to withstand the strain. Why else would someone who has mastered even the Gam Qi Art be treated as a superhuman? It meant that even without the energy to use her arts, there was a pure difference in strength.
‘In that case, I won’t be hasty. I’ll fight him with pure physical strength, without the power of thunder.’
Immediately, the Thunderarch’s fists began to fly.
Each blow was heavy. She wasn’t even using Qi, but my arms ached. A missed punch easily shattered the furniture. Overwhelming durability is a power in itself. A punch thrown without fear of self-injury is far stronger than an ordinary one.
Thump, thump, thump. The fists I barely dodged battered the walls and furniture indiscriminately. If I had done that, my bones would have fractured, but the Thunderarch prepared her next strike without a second thought. It felt like a war of attrition against a boulder.
‘He really is ridiculously good at just one thing: running away. Has he lost his power but retained his beastly instincts?’
If it weren’t for my mind-reading, I would have been knocked out several hits ago. At least I was lucky enough to know where the punches were headed. This time, it was for my chest. I have to dodge….
Huh. My breath.
I hadn’t managed my stamina while dodging. In the brief moment I gasped for air, a fist slammed into my chest. I crossed my arms to block, but the shock pierced through them and my chest, spreading throughout my body. I was sent sliding back.
The Thunderarch closed in, speaking as she advanced.
“This should be over soon.”
“Haha. You’re pretty confident after landing just one hit.”
“Because it won’t end with just one.”
She was right. In a war of attrition, I had no chance of winning. No matter how many times I hit her, she was fine, while she pressed me with seemingly infinite stamina. It was like fighting an undying.
Weapons… would be useless. Stabbing her with an awl would probably just poke a hole in her skin. Worse, if she took it from me, my own life would be in danger, so it was better not to show it at all.
In that case.
“Hey. You know how I’ve been fighting with my back to the wall this whole time?”
“There goes that mouth again. Do you only fight with words and cheap tricks?”
“How did you know…? Anyway, while I had my back to the wall, I was preparing something to show you.”
She’s already figured me out. Scary. This is why I hate fighting.
“Anyway, I’ll show you what I’ve been preparing while getting hit and dodging all this time.”
“You’d better show me before you die.”
As if there was no more need for words, the Thunderarch launched a kick. Timing it perfectly, I slid my body along the wall, moving out of the way.
As her missed kick struck the wall, the thin partition shattered like glass, and thousands of cards poured out like a bursting dam.
The countless cards I had created by rubbing against the wall. In an instant, they cascaded down on top of the Thunderarch. Even with a body that strong, being crushed by hundreds of kilograms of steel cards was enough to make anyone lose their balance. The waterfall of cards engulfed the Thunderarch, knocking her down.
“Petty tricks…!”
…Even so, the Thunderarch with her ridiculously powerful body was unharmed, but that single moment’s opening was enough.
I seized the chance while she was struggling in the waterfall of cards, grabbing her arm from behind, locking it with my leg, and twisting.