Chapter 396: The Lightning Did Not Fall From the Sky - 15
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 396: The Lightning Did Not Fall From the Sky - 15
I relayed the chaos outside to the Lightning Thief and continued.
“Fighting for faith is for faith's sake. Fighting for a Progenitor or a race is, quite literally, for that Progenitor and race. If you use that as a reason to slaughter humans, how can that possibly be for the good of humanity? The sacrifice of a few? Only those who don't die today can enjoy a tomorrow that's the same as yesterday. For those who die today, there is no tomorrow.”
Before the Lightning Thief could say anything more, I quickly added, “Ah, I'm not trying to criticize you, exactly. It's only natural for beasts to kill each other. Whether it's for food, a mate, or territory, killing another for what you need has always happened. There's nothing new about it.”
“Are you saying you condone a massacre like that?”
“Does denying it make it disappear? What changes if you, a dead man, scream at me? The ones stopping that massacre out there aren't the Sanctum or the vampires. It's not you, who's already dead, or me, who's just shooting the breeze in here. Only a beast who loves humans is desperately trying to stop the fight.”
Who is better, who is worse. What ought to be done. Those are thoughts too far removed from a beast's. Even a hermit crab on the tidal flats will foam at the mouth, insisting you can't just stand by and watch what's already happening.
“You want to save humanity? Then prove it. I'm saying you should bet everything you have and exert your power here. You may be dead, but the traces of the Divine are etched upon the world, so you can still use your power, can't you?”
“There's no need. Claudia's defense systems exist for times like this. If they're activated…”
“You mean the power the Thunderarch can wield? I wonder, who will she use that power on? Will it be directed for the sake of the 'humans' you're thinking of?”
Nine times out of ten, the Thunderarch would fire at me and Peru first. An Elder can only die by a murder that's close to suicide, so she'll obviously kill me first, since I'm an easier target.
“If that's your will, I'll accept it. But don't you dare say it's for humanity's sake. Because I won't acknowledge it.”
“I don't need your acknowledgment.”
“Then let me rephrase. If you abandon them, you, as a human, won't be able to acknowledge yourself either.”
Putting Azzy and the Regressor aside, Peru would certainly die if left alone. The power of Wither she wielded would eat away at the body regenerated by the Golden Lord. All humans are on borrowed time, but Peru's end was much closer than others, and now that cruel clock was ticking several times faster.
There wasn't much time left. The choice was now the Lightning Thief's to make. Realizing that he was the one being tested, the Lightning Thief gripped the kite string tightly and spoke.
“Are you testing me?”
“A dead man talks too much. Decide quickly. I want to know what this 'humanity' you keep crying about really is.”
It didn't matter what choice he made. It was what it was. However, the Lightning Thief before me was his spiritual image, etched into the world. A spiritual image read through mind-reading could neither lie nor turn away from its true feelings.
If he was truly going to choose faith, I hoped he would hurry up and join the Sky God.
“…What is your goal, King of Humans? Are you trying to return this world to the age of barbarism? To that horrific era before Year Zero?”
“Am I some kind of time-controller? How could I possibly turn back time?”
“Then what? Why do you seek the Divine, this knowledge that could potentially ruin humanity? What are you trying to do?”
Of course, I couldn't lie in here either. But since I'd always been an honest person, that was no problem at all.
“To remind everyone that humans are beasts.”
I calmly conveyed my true feelings to the Lightning Thief.
“Ideals, justice, truth, causes, morality. They all seem so beautiful and grand, but in reality, they're nothing more than tools humans created to use as they please. They use them to create reasons to kill others, and then use those reasons as a pretext to kill humans. If those things were real, I would have to fight them on humanity's behalf, but sadly, they exist only in the human heart, so they can't be seen or killed. Should I split open their heads and pull them out? Or should I kill every human to get rid of them? I can't do that, can I?”
Or could I? Was that what the King of Sins was doing? Well, it wasn't something I'd done or would do, so it was none of my business. Anyway.
“That we are not such great beings. That we are nothing more than equally insignificant and lowly beasts. We weren't chosen by any god, and we have no right to command all of creation. That what we do is, in essence, no different from a beast rolling in the mud under the midday sun. To make myself, and by extension all of humanity, understand this.”
That is why I am still the Beast King. I murmured calmly, looking at the Lightning Thief. His face was a mess of contempt, disgust, and anxiety.
I didn't feel too bad. That expression on the Lightning Thief's face wasn't directed at me.
“…As I thought, I cannot agree with you.”
“It doesn't matter if you agree or not. I already know what you tried to hide. The moment I came here, all your secrets were laid bare.”
Why was he here in the first place? Even though he had devoted himself to his faith and volunteered to be their underling, even though he had agreed to return the lightning to the sky and make it the Sky God's property. Even though he had agreed to let the legend of the Lightning Thief be twisted into a foolish tale of one who stole the great Sky God's treasure, his spiritual image remained here. What did that mean?
“When the lightning struck you, when it flowed through the kite string and into your body, what happened?”
“…!”
“What did you feel from the lightning that made you so afraid of its power becoming known? Why were you so wary of the Fallen Dominion's homunculi, which didn't even exist back then, that you prevented their creation?”
The truth the Lightning Thief wanted to hide. He, who hadn't feared even the falling lightning, trembled after being struck by it. Because he had glimpsed a secret so terrifying it was dreadful to even recall, a truth that should never have been seen.
“The lightning you stole and bestowed upon humanity was, quite literally, just something that came from the sky. But that's only a tiny fraction of it. Because the real lightning was on the ground to begin with.”
The lightning did not fall from the sky. It was here from the very beginning.
The Lightning Thief, Franc, was struck by lightning. In that shock, like a thunderbolt literally striking inside his head, he realized something.
As the hand and arm holding the kite string trembled uncontrollably, as his knees went weak regardless of his brilliant wisdom and cold reason, as his bladder gave way and a foul liquid trickled down his body. When his body committed this disgraceful act, making a mockery of his name as a sage who had honed both mind and body to their limits.
Franc realized. The Lightning Thief's wretched state was beyond his will, his faith, his resolve. The lightning was touching his body on a level more fundamental than pain.
As if his entire body was being pulled and controlled by strings… he realized the lightning was moving his body.
So that's why you tried to hide it. If a body were created with the Golden Lord's alchemy, the senses and spirit to move that body could have been infused with lightning. Of course, that alone wouldn't be enough, but for a sage who believed in the purity of the mind more than anyone, even suggesting such a possibility would have been repulsive.
“Don't feel wronged. It was a truth that would have been revealed eventually anyway. The idea of zapping one's own body with lightning isn't an idea exclusive to you. Well, you're probably the only one who'd volunteer for it, though.”
“…As I thought, I cannot follow you.”
Franc glared at me as if to kill me, wrapped the kite string around his hand a couple of times, and pulled.
It was as if he had pulled on the lightning hidden in the clouds. A bolt that was still far away was dragged down. The poor kite, having met the wrong master, was sacrificed to the lightning first, and the current that flowed down the string incinerated Franc's entire body. The electricity seeping from his fingertips crushed him bit by bit.
It was a shock that would have killed an ordinary human dozens of times over, but it had no effect on Franc. That this was a Spiritual World was not the only reason.
Because from the beginning, the two were one.
“King of Humans. I don't agree with your ideas, but this time, I'll move as you wish.”
He, now an incarnation of lightning, reached out his hand.
*
What did the Progenitor mean to an Elder? The beginning and the end. The savior who rescued them from the brink of death, and the master of their second life who would one day reclaim it. She was the king they must love and serve with every drop of their blood, the racial deity they must revere and worship.
Therefore, vampires do not believe in gods. No one would be foolish enough to choose heresy when a real, living god moved before their very eyes.
“Don't act rashly. Tyrkanzyaka will be here soon.”
In that sense, Shei was an unbeliever who, for a mere 'livestock', dared to speak the name of their god. Valdamir, who had been debating whether to be enraged that she dared speak the Progenitor's name as if she were a friend, or to wait and see if they might actually be friends, decided to reserve judgment for now. It wouldn't be too late to decide after gathering more information.
Valdamir turned his head and looked into the distance. A structure the size of a small mountain had shot up in the direction of Claudia.
Shei had no way to stop the fight between the Saintess of Steel and Tyrkanzyaka. In the first place, no one could possibly restrain two beings who were nigh invincible.
So, Shei separated them. Using Jizan, she made the ground surge upward, causing both of them to slide in opposite directions. Both Tyrkanzyaka and Feruel were monsters capable of shattering the very earth, but even they couldn't stand on nothing. Following the inescapable laws of nature, the two slid apart.
And that was how Tyrkanzyaka arrived here. As Tyrkanzyaka scanned her surroundings with a sharp gaze, she suddenly spotted a familiar face lying collapsed and hurried over.
“…Hu?”