The Thunder Collector
The white lightning tore mercilessly through Mukesh’s right arm.
A fountain of blood evaporated before it could even spray. Instead, a pitch-black burn remained seared into the stump.
One of India’s proudest rankers had been crippled in an instant.
It was only natural. Every single one of the wide-area great curses had been focused solely on him.
Lee Hyun immediately reached toward the man’s head. Now that the trap had sprung, he intended to finish him off.
Myth: Warrior Reborn from the Lotus
⚡ A pillar of flame erupts!
But a pillar of fire surged up between Lee Hyun and Mukesh by a hair’s breadth. It was Qing Xiao’s arrival.
‘This idiot!’
Qing Xiao spat a curse at Mukesh for ruining the plan and grabbed him with her left hand. She felt the urge to simply let him die, but that would escalate into an international incident. She had to keep him alive at all costs.
Of course, she had no intention of clashing head-on with the monster who had casually ripped off a high-ranker’s arm.
‘At least a high-ranker…! Maybe even beyond that!’
Where on earth had this monster come from?
‘A secret weapon Korea has been raising in secret? A scavenger hiding his identity? Or an organization targeting Sun Wukong like us? Could he be a fiend from the giants or the demons?’
She couldn’t be sure.
But one thing was certain.
Nothing good would come from fighting this monster.
The right move was to retreat for now, gather reinforcements, and return.
‘I’ll pour every single sacred relic I have into this!’
Sacred Relic: Flame Spear — All firepower unleashed!
Sacred Relic: Mixed Heaven Bell — Restraining enemy approach!
Sacred Relic: Golden Coin — Striking the ground to maximize distance!
……
Sacred Relic: Wind and Fire Wheel — Maximum output, attempting emergency escape!
BOOM!
Kiririric—
All magic power has been exhausted.
Excessive magic power output has caused Status Abnormality: Dizziness.
Unless one was a god, handling this many sacred relics at once would inevitably overheat the magic circuits.
Qing Xiao staggered as if she might faint. A hollow emptiness washed over her. The Wind and Fire Wheel was making such ominous grinding noises that she feared it might break.
Still, thanks to that, she had managed to put a considerable distance between herself and Lee Hyun.
“Kuaaagh! My arm! My aaaarm!”
……The giant thrashing in her arms was an incredibly unpleasant sight.
‘Damn it! I’m definitely billing the Indian government for this debt……!’
“……!?”
Qing Xiao’s thoughts were cut off mid-sentence.
From far away, Lee Hyun’s voice thundered like a storm.
‘Even the old man knows about him? I only found out recently. How does he know the name so casually—’
Thump. Thump!
Qing Xiao’s pounding heart froze in even greater shock.
Because at that moment, she witnessed something utterly impossible.
Myth: One Clad in Lightning and Storm’s lightning has been absorbed!
Mukesh’s right arm seemed to scatter into dark-brown lightning before being completely sucked toward Lee Hyun.
‘N-no way!! How can he handle another god’s power so easily!?’
Nezha widens his eyes at the impossible sight.
Even if the attribute and divine power were of the same type, the myths contained within them were all different. That was why, despite the existence of countless thunder gods across the world, hierarchies and characteristics still differed between them.
Yet the one presumed to be Zeus’s apostle was not only freely taking Indra’s lightning but commanding it as well.
Goooooo—!
A whirlwind spun around Lee Hyun. The dark-brown lightning swirled within it, instantly expanding its range.
Lightning Storm has been created!
Lee Hyun stretched his hand toward them.
KURURURUNG!!
The lightning storm unleashed a massive dark-brown bolt.
Myth: One Clad in Lightning and Storm’s tempest strikes!
The target was Qing Xiao.
“……!!”
Qing Xiao squeezed out every last drop of the magic power she no longer had. She felt a real threat of death.
Fwoosh!
All her sacred relics rushed toward the lightning once more.
KUKUKUKUNG!
Kurururur……!
“Kyaaak!”
Qing Xiao was flung back by the shock that assaulted her entire body and rolled across the ground.
Sacred Relic: Flame Spear — Some functions damaged.
Sacred Relic: Mixed Heaven Bell — Surface has deteriorated.
……
Fortunately, the relics had done their job. Although she had suffered internal injuries, her life didn’t seem to be in danger.
Nezha frowns, foreseeing the impending political fallout.
When Qing Xiao saw Nezha’s reaction, she forced herself to stand. Only then did she belatedly realize why he had been worried.
“……Mukesh.”
The head of Mukesh, who had rolled across the floor with her, was half-shattered. His face was frozen in agony.
Indra spits out curses, calling his apostle a pathetic fool.
Indra gazes at the murderer who killed his apostle by reversing his own myth with intrigued eyes.
‘What now?’
For a moment, Qing Xiao’s mind went blank.
Illegal entry into another country’s dungeon and carrying out a secret operation was already a huge international dispute. Now an S-rank ranker had died on top of that.
And not just any ranker.
He was the apostle of one of India’s most prominent substitute gods.
Even that alone was enough to cause a massive headache, yet the god’s attitude toward his apostle’s death made no sense.
‘……Well, I suppose that’s what makes him a god. Human common sense doesn’t apply.’
Qing Xiao swallowed the disgust rising in her throat and spun the Wind and Fire Wheel once more. Even though her magic power was depleted, the only thought in her head was to escape this place somehow.
Kiririk. Kirik.
The wheel kept making ominous, broken-sounding noises.
And deep in her heart, the shadow of the newly appeared absolute powerhouse loomed large.
* * *
“……They’re gone.”
Only after confirming through his combat senses that Qing Xiao had hurriedly escaped through a temporary gate did Lee Hyun finally slump to the ground.
Sudden overuse of magic circuits beyond their limit has caused severe overheating.
The Snow Sapphire Heart is slowly cooling the overheating.
Fatigue has risen sharply.
Fatigue: 81
“If they had charged again from there, it would’ve been dangerous… Hoo.”
Lee Hyun let out a long breath and removed his mask. His face was drenched in sweat.
Drip. Drip.
“As expected, Qing Xiao… she’s no pushover. Good thing I dropped Feng Chairman’s name. She still holds real power in China, huh?”
He recalled the face of the kindly old man who had once offered to scout him with a warm smile.
Lee Hyun ran a hand through his hair and turned his gaze to the messages.
“Still, I learned the nature of Indra’s lightning. So it wasn’t a bad trade.”
He spread his right hand wide open.
Crackle. Crackle.
Beside Zeus’s white sparks, dark-brown sparks symbolizing Indra danced.
Congratulations! You have successfully comprehended and understood Myth: One Clad in Lightning and Storm.
You have realized Indra’s lightning attribute.
The variety of Wrath that can be deployed with Dokebi’s Deep Breath (A) has increased.
Currently held Wrath (3/??)
— Dokebi (Specter)
— Zeus (Diovis)
— Indra (???)
In truth, Lee Hyun had been very interested in absorbing Indra’s lightning ever since Mukesh appeared.
It was because one of Sa Oh-jeong’s curse incantations had been quite useful.
Curse Incantation: Bloodsucking Magic Power
‘My guess that applying the basic principle of Energy Drain from the bloodsucking curse to lightning form would work turned out to be correct.’
Of course, it wasn’t something one could do casually. If it were that easy, every random person would have become a god.
‘Stealing it, analyzing it quickly, and discarding it is fine.’
Sacred Relic: Fiery Golden Eyes has successfully analyzed Indra’s lightning. Skill proficiency has risen dramatically.
The Fiery Golden Eyes is pleased with your growth.
Lee Hyun discarded the analyzed lightning without hesitation, infusing it heavily with the Threefold Divine Wind. That was what had created the lightning storm and allowed him to successfully kill its original owner, Mukesh.
‘Qing Xiao won’t be able to bring reinforcements right away either. Her magic exhaustion is severe, and she’ll have to deal with Mukesh’s aftermath somehow.’
For Lee Hyun, that meant he had bought himself more time.
It was then.
Event: Thunder Collector
From ancient times, thunder and lightning have been attributes only the king of gods who rules the heavens or the greatest warrior gods could wield.
As a dokkaebi, you have begun to collect, understand, and master such lightning.
Collect 99 bolts of lightning. Once you complete the collection book, a new path will await you.
Success: ???
Failure: Divine Punishment
Lightning Collected: (3/99)
‘A total of 99 lightning bolts, huh.’
Lee Hyun stroked his chin as he read the event message. It was a shame the success reward wasn’t clearly stated, but—
‘The reward from an event this big can’t possibly be small. It’ll probably be beyond what I can imagine.’
Since Lee Hyun had already planned to comprehend as many lightning attributes as possible, this was actually welcome news.
The recovery function of Sacred Relic: Ruyi Jingu Bang is rapidly decreasing your fatigue level.
Once he recovered enough to move again, Lee Hyun stood up.
‘It’s still too early to relax. If it’s Qing Xiao, she definitely has reinforcements on standby.’
Qing Xiao was a strategist even China found difficult to handle. She definitely wouldn’t stop after just this attempt.
No, with Mukesh dead, she would try to resolve this matter by any means necessary.
‘I need to close the dungeon before they return.’
1. Defeat the Piper. (CLEAR!)
2. Find the missing children. (CLEAR!)
3. Ensure the safety of Hamelin’s citizens.
4. Prevent the plague. (NEW!)
Fortunately, only two conditions remained. Since the third and fourth were essentially the same, they should be resolved quickly.
His body creaked a lot, but he could still move.
‘But before that…’
Lee Hyun swept his hair back and glanced upward.
“I’m heading back up. Want to come with me?”
『…….』
He was speaking to the curse casters.
But there was no reply.
“You all know it now too, right? That the resurrection ritual was never going to succeed from the beginning.”
『…….』
“And even if they were revived, it wouldn’t be the person you remember.”
Unless one was a god, life could never truly be brought back.
It was a fact Lee Hyun understood better than anyone.
“Accept reality and wake up. Stop throwing tantrums. You’re not children anymore.”
『…….』
“Don’t make the mistake of losing even the family you have left.”
Why had the curse casters hated the citizens who killed the piper, turned them into zombies, yet never harmed them further?
Lee Hyun believed it was because of a mixture of love and hate.
He didn’t know what kind of story existed between the children and the adults, but perhaps they simply couldn’t bring themselves to hate the grown-ups too much.
‘That might be why they couldn’t leave this city.’
Without waiting for an answer, Lee Hyun silently walked toward the exit.
And then…….
Srrrrk!
The curse casters appeared where he had been standing.
“……Hyung.”
The hidden boss looked at the children staring at him. Beneath his robe, complicated emotions swirled.
He let out a sigh.
He had known for a while now.
That the children’s hearts had begun to waver.
They had tried to ignore the guilt they felt seeing the injured adults, but this incident had shaken their resolve once again.
‘I kept the city from collapsing by maintaining the underground water. I was the same.’
“Yeah. Let’s go.”
In the end, the curse casters followed behind Lee Hyun just the same.
The hidden boss stared at the shadow Lee Hyun left behind and thought.
It really does feel like looking at someone.