Chapter 344
Chapter 344
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 344
Chapter Title: Just a Coincidence in Name?
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Is it possible it's just the same name by coincidence?
No, that couldn't be. There was no way the God of Death from Olympus shared a name with this skeleton by mere chance.
Lee Soo-hyuk wondered if he might be witnessing a distant fragment of Hades's past.
Since it wasn't real anyway, he decided to go for it.
"You're from Olympus."
He half-wondered if it might not work, but Hades, still bowing his head, replied.
"Yes. It's an honor that you remember."
Something felt off.
Just recently, the guy had looked down on him with arrogance, but now he was bowing respectfully.
How impressive must this God of Death be for Hades to act so intimidated?
For now, he needed to learn about the ring's trial through this version of Hades.
"Time's running out?"
"Yes. It's almost upon us."
Soo-hyuk nearly asked who, but changed his mind.
"Lead the way."
Soo-hyuk stood up.
In that instant, he caught a glimpse of Hades's expression as he lifted his head. No muscles or flesh on that skull, yet it was clearly pleased.
"Yes, understood!"
With permission granted, Hades rose and took the lead.
Soo-hyuk followed him out of the fortress. Outside, it was nothing but desert.
Not a soul in sight.
Skeletons wandered beyond the fortress walls. They lived in tents, clad in armor and carrying weapons.
Where the hell was this place? And what were they all doing?
As Soo-hyuk passed, the skeletons halted their tasks and prostrated themselves.
"They look like defeated remnants."
Armored and armed, yet they radiated no will to fight.
Neither living nor fully dead. A thick stench of death emanated from these soldiers devoid of battle spirit.
"After Olympus's great defeat, the gods' morale has plummeted."
Apparently, Hades had been on that lost battlefield too.
"Everyone awaits the God of Death to end this war."
"Why did Olympus lose?"
"Our power... fell short."
Fear laced Hades's voice.
What kind of foe could inspire such terror? And what hopes did they pin on this God of Death?
"Show me."
Hades helped Soo-hyuk into a carriage.
Pulled by gaunt black hounds, it raced across the desert at breakneck speed.
During the journey, Soo-hyuk gazed outside.
Dawn was breaking in the sky. The sun illuminated the sands, revealing vivid bloodstains scattered across the yellow dunes.
Countless corpses littered the desert.
The bodies grew thicker.
Scattered at first, they soon formed lines and mounds.
As Soo-hyuk stared at them, Hades, riding beside him, spoke.
"At least the God of Death has made his decision. Now, the end is truly in sight."
He seemed worried Soo-hyuk might change his mind.
Soo-hyuk didn't respond. There was no need.
The scenes outside the carriage alone revealed the brutality and horror of this war.
The carriage halted after hours of travel.
Amid a mountain of corpses, a single presence lingered.
Upon arrival, Soo-hyuk ordered Hades.
"Wait elsewhere. I want to be alone here."
"Alone, my lord?"
"Don't make me repeat myself."
Whatever he thought, Hades obeyed promptly.
He left the carriage behind and vanished into the shadows.
The black hounds sat on the ground. Soo-hyuk stopped them and walked into the pile of bodies.
Among all this death, one living breath stood out.
It was an odd sensation.
Not just the living one's breath—he could feel the dead ones' too. They were as distinct as black and white.
If he willed it, every corpse here could rise and serve him.
Then—
Shoooo—
Energy from the surrounding corpses flowed toward Soo-hyuk.
More precisely, toward the Ring of Black Souls on his finger.
The ring absorbed the aura of the dead.
Having devoured their energy, it pulsed with intense light before flickering black and falling dormant again.
"What did it absorb?"
What could be worth taking from the dead?
Soo-hyuk glanced at the ring before looking up.
Atop the corpse mound's peak, someone was calling to him.
That presence had drawn him here all along—a faceless, nameless figure.
What if that was the one?
Separate from the ring's trial, this was someone he had to meet.
Crunch.
He trudged slowly through the bodies.
Reaching the summit, he saw a man.
Emaciated frame, disheveled black hair. Deep, dark circles reaching his jawline.
From afar, he blended with the surrounding corpses.
He looked utterly exhausted.
Until Soo-hyuk saw his eyes.
"You're back."
The man's gaze met his.
Standing atop the mound of bodies, their eyes locked.
Those eyes, hidden in shadows, gleamed clear. His body was spent, but his spirit unyielding.
"Don't you gods ever tire? I kill and kill, but they never end."
In that moment, Soo-hyuk saw the man overlap with another.
'Lightning.'
Lightning incarnate—or a human who wielded it.
A strange kinship stirred within him. Perhaps this was the Lightning he'd encountered before.
"I'm not here to fight."
The man startled mid-rise at Soo-hyuk's words.
Soo-hyuk leaped lightly to his side. He braced for an attack, but none came.
"Did you do all this yourself?"
Gesturing to the bodies strewn everywhere, he asked. The man countered.
"Didn't you come knowing that?"
"I just came. Someone asked for help."
"Then why not help?"
"Sadly, it's not my fight."
If anything, Soo-hyuk wasn't on the gods' side. Whatever war raged here, he belonged to another world.
He sensed the man's identity. Drawn by the Ring of Black Souls to this realm, he'd met someone deeply connected to him.
'A human who wielded lightning.'
The gods had said half fell in war against such a human.
This might be the first—the one whose defeat prompted Olympus to seek the Ring's creator, the God of Death.
Soo-hyuk grew intrigued. Meeting him in the ring's trial felt fated.
"Your name?"
The man tensed at the question.
"Why do you ask?"
"Curious."
It was true. Soo-hyuk felt a strange affinity.
No hostility, perhaps?
The man eyed him warily before sitting back down with a chuckle.
"First time."
"For what?"
"A god asking my name."
"No one's ever asked? Really?"
"You gods don't care about humans."
Even after all these deaths, not bothering with a name?
'That's messed up.'
Soo-hyuk suddenly found gods utterly repulsive.
Thinking back, Viola and Thor were the exceptions. Even Asgard had Loki and Heimdall, and Olympus was full of them.
"I do."
"You're weird. Not here to fight?"
"Maybe."
Soo-hyuk glanced at the corpses as he replied.
"I have no desire to end up like one of them."
"Wise."
The man brimmed with confidence. He was certain he could kill any challenger.
Yet, separately, exhaustion weighed on him.
Fatigue from endless battle, not recoverable by rest or stamina potions.
His soul was frayed from a solitary, protracted war.
"Lightning."
"What?"
"It's Lightning."
He repeated it twice, but it was a baffling name. If this were live-streamed, the chat would be flooded with "How's your name Lightning?!"
'Is that his real name?'
This wasn't reality—just a memory conjured by the ring.
Perhaps the ring simply perceived him as the Master of Lightning.
"Unique, right?"
Soo-hyuk didn't deny it.
"Seems so."
"Heard that a lot. Long ago."
"Guess you never had reason to share it."
"Yeah. You're the first in ages."
Lightning stared intently at Soo-hyuk.
"You really a god?"
Soo-hyuk nodded.
For now, he was playing the God of Death here.
"Yes."
"Then why aren't you fighting me?"
Even without trying to kill him outright, it was clear. Lightning wasn't a mindless slayer of all gods.
"Are all gods your enemies?"
"Not all, but every one I've met so far."
"How did it start?"
Soo-hyuk was curious about the war's origin.
What sparked conflict between this human and the gods? Why did they want him dead, igniting all this?
Gazing at the corpse mountain, he thought no cause could justify such sacrifice.
"At first... it was a petty squabble."
"Squabble?"
Lightning's answer defied Soo-hyuk's expectations.
"A young knight clashed with a god mingling among humans. Bumped shoulders? Over a woman? Can't recall."
How trivial that even memory failed.
That minor spat birthed a butterfly effect—a flap escalating to typhoon, then catastrophe.
"I sided with the knight at first. He seemed wronged."
"Who died in that fight?"
"No one. The loser slunk off fuming. 'You'll regret this!' or something."
Recalling it, Lightning chuckled to himself.
"Funny as hell, tail between his legs."
"Small stuff."
"Yeah. It would've stayed that way between human and human, god and god."
Lightning's amused eyes turned icy.
"Know what happened next day?"
His gaze pierced Soo-hyuk, murderous—as if to say, You're one of them too.
"The knight's entire family was massacred."