Chapter 399: Heroes Are Born in Times of Chaos
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 399: Heroes Are Born in Times of Chaos
It is easy to knock over a single block and set it back up. But a tower built from thousands, or even hundreds, of blocks is difficult to topple and even harder to rebuild. The conflict between the vampires and the Sanctum has existed for as long as human history, a lofty bastion built upon the lives of hundreds of millions and across dozens of nations.
This current, flowing from the distant past to the present day, is so vast and natural that it is regarded as a truth. Vampires hate the Sanctum, the Sanctum despises vampires, and each seeks to eliminate the other. In this conflict, considered an immutable fact of life, the powerless humans either conform and obey, or die.
But is that how it must be?
Even without the Divine, humans change the world.
And humans are the world.
Therefore, humans can change other humans. It is hardly surprising. Are not vampires, who were once human, changing humans? From able-bodied people into food to sate their hunger for a single meal.
If vampires can do it, then other humans can too. The only thing that separates the possible from the impossible is the presence or absence of power. Unfortunately, the Thunderarch and the Guardians of Thunder lacked the strength to overcome the calamity that was the Elder. To dismiss this as incompetence would be too harsh. If such power were so common, the Elder would never have earned such a prominent place in the cold, comparative annals of history. The blood of the dying is but a single drop of ink, adding another layer to the Elder's cruelty.
However, for one who possesses sufficient power, the story might be different.
“Yaaaaaaah! This is so irritating, irritating, IRRITATING!”
Amidst the slaughter, Kavila was feeling a profound rage.
Her specialty was black magic that used blood and bone as a sacrifice. The easiest and most efficient way to exert physical force with it was to imbue that power into Kindred. Having received darkness from the Progenitor Tyrkanzyaka, Kavila wove that darkness into her dolls, creating indestructible Kindred. Demons that looked as if they had crawled out of hell itself raised their blades.
But while the darkness itself may not rust, the vessels containing it could break. The power of Wither relentlessly destroyed her toys. The blades they swung chipped, and their bone joints snapped. The Kindred, meeting their collapse the moment they were completed, vanished leaving only debris behind.
It was like having a meticulously crafted doll hideously smashed the moment it was put on display. For a doll master, there could be no greater humiliation.
“This is the first order I've received in three hundred years! And you dare interfere with a task my sister personally gave me?! I swear, I'll kill you! I'll turn you into one of my dolls!”
Humiliated before the Progenitor she so revered, Kavila shouted as she drew a bone saw. But she couldn't immediately act on her words, less because she was all talk and more because Tyr stopped her.
Stopping Kavila with nothing more than a look, Tyr spoke softly to Peru.
“For the sake of our past acquaintance, I do not wish to lay a hand on you. Hide in the shade when my indifference casts its deep shadow. The darkness is merciful enough to conceal a single person.”
You are within my grasp, yet I will not go out of my way to kill you. Feeling both the Progenitor’s arrogance and her goodwill, Peru spoke.
“…Then, take him and go. Don't destroy Claudia any further.”
Without taking her eyes off me, Tyr replied.
“They were the ones who first destroyed everything precious to me. If they destroyed, is it not only fair that they be destroyed in turn?”
“…You're going to kill every human in Claudia? Simply because the Thunderarch believed in that?”
“I am not so monstrous. However.”
Adding a word, Tyr’s red eyes gleamed with a cold light as she declared.
“I will overturn this entire land and rip its traces out by the root. Weeds that spread indiscriminately must be pulled out completely.”
The process would be stained with blood. Many trembled in fear or seethed with hatred at the mere mention of vampires. And besides, vampires needed human blood. Wherever they passed, the stench of blood would follow, one way or another. From corpses or from prey.
Claudia was Peru’s home. She could not let the city of the Fallen Dominion fall under anyone’s rule.
“…We don't care. What vampires are. Who the Sanctum is. What happened between you two. So please, just go. I’m begging you.”
“Now, you will learn. What becomes of those who invoke the name of a god under the very jaws of a vampire. I will write it upon the world, upon history, and in your own blood, so that you may never forget.”
Just as the vampires had always done. And just as they would for all eternity, as long as the Sanctum existed.
The only option left for Peru was to watch, having barely saved her own life. Just like every other human.
“…”
As Peru gritted her teeth in deep helplessness…
Thump.
My heart pounded. Feeling my body jolt, Tyr looked at me.
“Hu?”
Feeling Tyr's expectant gaze upon me, I shot to my feet.
It wasn't that I had awakened upon seeing human death, nor had I defied death and returned. It was simply that I had finally figured out how to use the Divine dwelling within me.
The power to summon lightning? It was nothing so grand. What Franc had sought to hide was never the imposing, clamorous power of lightning in the first place. I was only permitted enough power to use a tiny fraction of the lightning's Arcane contained in this frail body.
Ironically, that was the very secret the Lightning Thief had wanted to hide most.
The tingling sensation flowing along my spine felt sharper than ever today. I clenched my fist. The lightning coursing through my body moved my muscles, curling my fingers. Clenching a fist is an everyday action, but this was the first time I had grasped its underlying principle, twisted it, and made it happen through my will alone. My will now commanded my body.
The Divine of Lightning, Franc. Having glimpsed the meaning he had hidden, I could now control the small sparks flowing through my body as I pleased. Realizing this, I sighed inwardly.
Wow, this is completely useless.
What the hell am I supposed to do with a power like this? The strength to forcibly hold together and move a broken body? That's just abuse. There's a reason I passed out. You should respect the body's declaration of a strike. Is there any point in collecting the Divine if this is what I get?
Still, I had a job to do for now.
“Hu?”
Ignoring the voice calling my name for a moment, I approached Peru. Standing before her, after a series of highly complex and precise calculations, I moved my lungs to produce a voice. Only I could know how difficult it was just to speak.
“Are you still worried you'll break something?”
“…”
“Are you afraid your own power will destroy this country, so much so that you hesitate to use it even on the verge of death?”
She had power in her hands, yet she hesitated. The only power she had ever used was that of Wither. Even now, with the Golden Lord’s power entrusted to her will and the Lightning Thief watching over her, Peru couldn't even think of wielding it. She had no experience, but that was a secondary issue. Peru was worried about whether she was even allowed to use that power.
“Humans worry about useless things all the time. The great principles of nature, the lofty will of the heavens. They make a fuss as if it'll be the end of the world if they touch the wrong thing. But if you think about it, it's a truly meaningless act.”
Humans are the only animals who assign meaning to every single one of their actions. That’s how they invent reasons for living that don't really exist, and start debating things like value. In doing so, they've created a world where it seems like there's a right answer to life, and that one must live a life that fits it.
Such beasts.
“If humans are a part of nature, then everything humans do is also natural. If the will of the heavens is clear, then human will must be a part of it. To decree that something must not be done is to see humans as far too great. Is there really such a thing as something you can or cannot do? That's bullshit. You do it because it can be done, and it can be done because you do it.”
I glanced back at Tyr and said.
“You have living proof right over there. If you stick to one conviction for a thousand years, it becomes common sense, it becomes truth. Even though nothing was decided from the start, it can become an immutable law.”
Animals have no truth. A sheep does not consider the wolf its mortal enemy and try to kill it. If it did, the word 'sheepdog' would never have been created.
There is no truth that was decided from the beginning. Choosing and deciding things is what animals do. And surprisingly, it is neither noble nor special. It’s just life.
“…You're telling me… to fight?”
“How can you move forward without a fight? Well, if you're still scared even with that power, running away is always an option.”
“…Can I do it?”
“As long as you don't abandon it.”
I'm just giving her a push so she can make that ordinary choice with confidence.
Having made her decision, Peru raised the bell. Her arm trembled pitifully, and the quivering bell made a sound as faint as a dying insect. Peru shook the bell with all her might.
“…From now on.”
But there, all who were sensitive to power stopped. Silenced by the shiver running down their spines, they turned their heads.
Towards the sight of a power too immense to belong to a single human being unleashed.
“…No one here will die.”
A small resolve sublimated into power.
Tinkle. A small bell chimed, its sound spreading through the mist. The Golden Lord's power of restoration began to return everything to its original state, making no distinction between friend or foe.
Lacerations were forcibly sealed. Broken limbs were reconnected. It wasn't healing or regeneration, but restoration and reconstruction, as bodies were made anew. The Guardians of Thunder, born as byproducts of alchemy. Those among them who had not yet died were granted a temporary reprieve.
In addition, a slumbering presence awoke at the sound of the bell. A light flashed from the wreckage of the Thunder God, and the colossal mass of iron took shape and rose.
Clouds swirled and were drawn in. Lightning-infused clouds seeped between the gaps in its frame, forming a body. Lightning flashed from its eyes, and a storm raged from its mouth.
The Thunder God, made whole by the power of alchemy, stood behind Peru and roared.
[----!!!!]
Now that she had decided to use this overwhelming power, there was nothing to hold her back. The elimination of the Thunder God had been Claudia's fervent wish. Undoing that very act, Peru, with the descended Thunder God at her back, spoke.
“…I will not permit this to go any further.”