Chapter 345
Chapter 345
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 345
Chapter Title: A Place to Rest
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Lee Soo-hyuk flinched in surprise and asked back.
"The entire family?"
Just because of a little servant's rudeness, they massacred the whole family?
No matter how you looked at it, a family with that name wouldn't have been just one or two people. Moreover, if it was enough for a divine being and a servant to clash, they must have held a fairly high position among the Knights' Order humans.
"Isn't it ridiculous? The price of shame was the lives of hundreds. And that wasn't enough for him—he came looking for me. Do you know what that means?"
"Massacring the family was just him venting his anger while searching for you."
Having realized the reason an entire family was wiped out, Soo-hyuk added angrily.
"These guys are real fucking bastards, huh?"
The look in Lightning's eyes as he stared at Soo-hyuk grew a bit puzzled. It was as if he were asking, Are you any different from them?
Still, thanks to that, Lightning's expression softened a little more than before.
"Anyway, that's how this war started. After that, every god who came looking for me ended up dead, and here I am."
It was a simpler story than expected.
But while listening, a thought occurred to Soo-hyuk.
This can't be the whole story.
No matter how he thought about it, something felt off.
The beginning might have been pride, but as the fight grew, calculations would naturally come into play.
Even if you bump shoulders and get flushed with anger, once you think, Wait, this guy's stronger than I thought? reconciliation follows naturally.
Fights need justification and profit. And the justification fades the moment the fight begins.
After that, the corpses of the dead and sacrificed become the ongoing justification.
What mattered then was profit.
What profit could the gods gain from this war?
It wasn't hard to figure out.
They wanted Lightning's power.
No need to overcomplicate it.
Just look at Hades, who had come here with him. Afterward, he became one of Olympus's three main gods, and after Zeus died, he went mad trying to seize the lightning.
"You must have had it rough."
"Rough? You think one word like that sums this up? Don't even talk about it. Do you know what I've been through because of you all...?"
Maybe because he'd fought alone for so long in isolation? Lightning talked more than expected. He chattered on endlessly, his words never stopping.
The silver lining was that his stories weren't boring. You could hear about all sorts of gods, and Lightning even detailed the battles.
Before they knew it, the two were sitting side by side, talking. When Soo-hyuk first arrived here, he never imagined it would turn out like this.
While listening, Soo-hyuk asked the question that nagged at him most.
"How did you get so strong?"
At Soo-hyuk's question, Lightning's nonstop mouth clamped shut like a clam.
Soon, he shook his head with a hollow expression.
"I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"I just... got stronger on my own. Without any real effort."
He didn't seem to be hiding anything. That was the feeling.
Of course, this could just be because there was no info recorded in the Black Soul Ring.
But somehow, Soo-hyuk felt like Lightning might be telling the truth.
How could the power to wipe out half the gods come from training? It felt far more plausible that he'd suddenly gained it one day.
"Must be nice."
"Nice? This is the hell it's brought me."
"You wanna take a break?"
Lightning nodded.
"Of course. I can't even remember the last time I slept peacefully."
"Want me to help?"
Lightning gave him a puzzled look at the offer.
Soo-hyuk stood up and gestured for him to follow.
He didn't know what trial the Black Soul Ring was putting him through, but for now, he'd play the grateful magpie and repay the favor to Lightning.
The two climbed aboard a carriage pulled by dogs.
Well, precisely, one person and one skeleton. Soo-hyuk's body was as bare-boned as Hades's, without a scrap of flesh.
Lightning sat across from him in the carriage. He gazed at the desert visible outside before dozing off.
Did he sense Soo-hyuk's gaze?
Lightning, who'd been sleeping with his arms crossed, cracked his eyes open narrowly. The moment their eyes met, Soo-hyuk turned away to watch the sunrise again.
Of course. How could he sleep peacefully anywhere?
He probably hadn't followed because he trusted Soo-hyuk.
There was no safe place for him. From the moment he started his war against the gods alone, the whole world had become a battlefield.
Here or there, the anxiety was the same. He couldn't trust someone he'd just met and exchanged a few words with today.
"Where are we going?"
As expected, Lightning asked with his eyes closed.
"No idea."
"No idea?"
"Just wherever. Anywhere the dogs pulling the carriage take us."
Soo-hyuk didn't know the way either. He had no clue where this desert ended, but he figured he'd go and see.
The carriage raced on and on until it reached a village.
Soo-hyuk handed his robe to Lightning. When Lightning gave him a What's this? look, Soo-hyuk explained.
"You gonna go out like that? It'll cause a scene."
"And you?"
"It'll cause a scene for me too. In a different way."
Lightning stared blankly at the robe for a moment before changing into it.
With the loose-fitting robe and hood on, his face was hidden. Satisfied, Soo-hyuk got off the carriage.
Sure enough, as soon as Soo-hyuk appeared in the village, the residents began prostrating one by one.
Soo-hyuk ignored them and headed to what looked like the best inn in the village.
There was nothing particularly special about a village of gods. He'd already learned that from Asgard.
As he entered the inn, the innkeeper prostrated before Soo-hyuk.
"Give me a room."
Soo-hyuk removed one of the rings from his finger and held it out.
"This'll cover the cost."
It wasn't the Black Soul Ring, but another one. It would vanish once he left this place anyway.
But perhaps because its value was too high, the innkeeper looked troubled.
"N-No, it's fine. That's too valuable."
"I don't have anything else on me right now."
"You don't need to pay. Your visit alone is an honor."
"How many times do I have to say it?"
At that, the innkeeper had no choice but to accept the ring.
The room was at the very top. The best room in the village's best inn—how good could it be? Spacious, clean, with top-grade bedding.
Lightning looked awkward upon entering. He seemed unsure how to take this situation.
"What're you doing?"
"Yeah, I don't even know what I'm doing here."
"Stop with the nonsense and come in to rest. That's why we're here."
"Is that really the reason?"
You're not luring me here for some trap? That was the thought behind Lightning's question.
In a way, it was impressive. He'd followed despite that suspicion.
Probably because he had the confidence that no trap could touch him.
"...No one's here, really."
After scouting the surroundings briefly, Lightning confirmed there was no trap.
Soo-hyuk nodded as if to say See? and drank from the water prepared at the inn.
The water didn't go down his throat but flowed along his jaw to the floor. Only then did he remember he was a skeleton now.
Lightning watched the scene with a baffled expression before shaking his head and heading to the bathroom. He wanted to wash off the grime first.
After showering, he shook off the water roughly and flopped straight onto the bed.
This time, he really closed his eyes. He even started snoring.
Soo-hyuk stared quietly at him lying there.
Was he really asleep? Or just pretending?
Either way, if attacked, he'd snap his eyes open like nothing happened. Not that Soo-hyuk planned to.
"Yeah, get some sleep. At least now."
Muttering that, Soo-hyuk gazed at the Black Soul Ring on his finger and asked inwardly.
What exactly do you want from me?
When Lightning woke up, he asked,
"What do you want from me?"
Soo-hyuk thought for a moment. Does this guy read minds too?
Lightning's dark circles had lightened since waking. He must have actually slept.
With some fatigue lifted, questions were arising now.
Soo-hyuk pondered Lightning's question.
Yeah, what did he want from this guy anyway?
He didn't even know what the Black Soul Ring wanted. Not knowing what he needed to do here to satisfy it, he'd just decided to repay Lightning's favor for now.
"Nothing. Really."
And that answer was sincere.
Soo-hyuk truly wanted nothing from him.
Naturally, Lightning was suspicious.
Even parents and children have wants from each other. Goodwill without reason was hard to believe.
"You're up? Let's eat."
"Eat?"
"I had the innkeeper prepare it ahead."
A lavish meal was laid out on the table. The result of the innkeeper being terrified of Soo-hyuk.
After a moment of suspicion, Lightning picked up his utensils. Soup, smoked meats, various fried dishes, vegetables—the food was plentiful in variety and quantity.
Lightning devoured it all in one go. Soo-hyuk wanted to join but knew it'd just fall out through his jaw's gaps.
Lightning let out a chuckle at Soo-hyuk's actions.
"What a ridiculous god."
Soo-hyuk could feel the wariness easing bit by bit.
This was all he could do: give Lightning a brief rest. His fate was sealed anyway.
He wipes out half the gods, and in the end, he dies.
Proof was right in Soo-hyuk's possession.
Lightning, Thunder, and Bolt.
His power had been split and scattered. Though the pieces had gathered back to Soo-hyuk, the dead didn't come back to life.
No, wait.
Soo-hyuk suddenly thought.
I came back to life too.
Maybe that was part of Lightning's power.
Soo-hyuk watched Lightning eat voraciously. For a moment, he wondered if this guy had a second chance too.
"What're you staring at?"
Their eyes met, and Lightning crunched down, chewing the bone in his mouth.
For a split second, Soo-hyuk wondered if the Black Soul Ring had sent him here not to kill Lightning.
For several days, Soo-hyuk spent time with Lightning.
He wasn't aiming to do anything specific. Eat, sleep, rest. Lightning kept repeating that. Naturally, his initial wariness had faded a lot.
Of course, Soo-hyuk hadn't wasted the time either.
He'd been working to unravel the secrets of the Black Soul Ring.
A special energy is infused in the ring.
He could feel energy flowing into the ring from the corpses.
One thing was clear.
To wield the ring, he needed to get used to this energy. Maybe gathering it was the task here.
"Boring."
After days of eating and sleeping, Lightning yawned as he woke.
"Let's go out."
"Where?"
"Anywhere."
Soo-hyuk glanced out the window.
All the bustling figures outside were gods.
"Stay here. Not a single ally for you out there."
"What's different here?"
Lightning's tone suddenly sharpened. He'd seemed to relax, but now he was wild beast again.
What had offended him?
The reason came quickly.
"Stay with me, and you'll die too."