Sobo's Thunderous Prank
After Yeo Min-seo proposed her plan, while the kids argued heatedly over who would be the "bait," I just stared blankly up at the sky.
The lead beast's pale, milky eyes were still glaring down at us. A sticky, unpleasant sense of wrongness clung to the air. What the hell do they want?
"Baphomet Set"-level beasts often pulled off bizarre antics that no human mind could comprehend. Treating people like toys to play with, stripping bones from bodies to build nests or houses. But even accounting for that, their behavior here made no sense.
The beasts attacked whatever moved when the flash went off. If two or more moved at once, they'd target the one with the bigger motion. They never struck two at the same time. It was almost like they were hinting, "One becomes bait, the other three live."
It even felt like a test of our morality. Which raised another question: Why the hell would beasts bother with something like that?
[Even I can't make sense of this. Satan tests humans sometimes, but... a mere beast testing us?]
"……."
I said nothing, just gazed blankly at the sky. Dark clouds had completely blanketed it by now. The new flock of beasts circled us slowly, descending in altitude, as if to threaten.
The others were discussing something without me, but I'd been lost in thought and missed the details. They were debating who should be the bait.
[Anyway, her plan to sacrifice one to save three sounds solid. You play bait, they escape, then you use your powers—]
[What a nice day for weather!]
A sudden voice cut Legba off. So frivolous it felt like it might blow away in the wind. The complete opposite of Legba's calm, weighty tone.
Dark clouds crashed into each other overhead, sparks flying.
[On a day like this, I just can't help myself!]
[This is a mountain. Control yourself, you thoughtless fool.] Legba scolded him.
[Lightning's never had much patience by nature!]
But he just cackled it off, brushing Legba aside.
Sobo. The Loa of lightning and thunder.
There are proverbs like "Even saints get struck by lightning," "The indecisive get zapped," and "Hang with villains, catch their bolt." Put together, it means lightning strikes saints, sinners, and average folks alike without discrimination. It's capricious, just like Sobo.
Especially on days like this, when thunderheads blanketed the sky, he'd pop up against my will, summon bolts out of nowhere, and vanish.
[So many things up there begging for a strike.]
Sobo muttered. His tone was flippant, but a chill edged it.
The overcast sky held no light. Looked like he planned to call down lightning again.
"……No."
I hurriedly commanded him. Dropping bolts in these mountains would spark a wildfire for sure. Not just any fire—this would engulf all of Eden Hill in a massive blaze. Catching bedbugs and burning the whole house down. Sure, these weren't bedbugs but beasts, but the principle held.
[No? If you say no, nothing I can do. Guess I'll head out.]
Thankfully, Sobo seemed ready to obey... or not.
[Of course that's a lie! 「Divine Retribution」.]
───!!
But lightning's whims were unpredictable, as always. As Sobo shouted the skill name, flash. A bolt split the sky, thunder crashing right after.
[「Lightning Bolt」]
[「Thunder Arrow」]
[「Thunder Storm」]
"What the hell kind of game is this? Ridiculous."
[Chanting amps up the lightning power!]
Utter nonsense. I sighed. If it had some consistency, maybe I'd humor him, but switching between English and hanja made it impossible.
The sky flipped between darkness and blinding light. Beasts struck by bolts plummeted one by one. Trees split in half, flames erupting from the cracks. The fire spread everywhere, soon encircling us.
I stepped forward amid Sobo's ridiculous "chants," scanning for an escape route before the flames fully spread.
[This gets boring after a while too. I'm out! For real this time...]
Sobo whipped up a storm of thunder for ages, then yawned like he'd lost interest and left. His flippant voice faded from my head, Legba's steady tone returning.
[Baron Samedi and Sobo. Those two baffle me most. Who knows what's rattling around in their skulls.]
Legba sighed lightly. I nodded. Baron Samedi was quirky, sure, but mild compared to Sobo. Sobo's personality was straight-up bizarre.
I shook off the distraction and looked around. Everyone's reactions were weird. Yeo Min-seo smiled awkwardly, Gu Jun-hyeok stared at me stone-faced, Kim Jin-seo gawked at the sky like she was entranced. None of them seemed in their right minds.
But this wasn't the time. Lightning had taken out the beasts, but a bigger threat loomed—the encroaching fire.
"Hey! Snap out of it. We gotta run."
I yelled at the air. The three jumped, turning to me. I pointed to the distant flames.
Gu Jun-hyeok recovered first.
"What the—? What happened, shit!"
He grinned like a kid, voice pitched high with excitement. He couldn't contain himself.
Gu Jun-hyeok seemed to love lightning and thunder.
"You do this? For real?"
"No. Hurry up and go. Fire'll trap us if it spreads."
The flames, once distant, were now nearly upon us. The mountain's fuel made it spread insanely fast.
"Whoa, look at that smoke. Kinda scary."
Gu Jun-hyeok stared dumbly at the smoke billowing skyward. Thick black clouds choked the air, darkening the already overcast sky. Like pitch on ebony.
He watched the smoke a while, then whipped around, mouth agape. Shock, anger—complicated expression.
"Fuckin' hell. Yeo Min-seo."
Come to think of it, she was gone. She'd bolted the second things calmed. Selfish, maybe, but better than all four trapped. At least one could call for help or secure an exit.
"Kim Jin-seo."
But no time for that now. I rushed to Kim Jin-seo. She stared vacantly into space, snapping to when I approached.
"Ah, uh. Yeah."
She answered vaguely, standing there blinking at me. Still out of it.
I grabbed her wrist and yanked her out of there.
We ran in silence for a while. Flames chased us fiercely, heat on our backs.
[Sobo's so irresponsible. The plants, the plants! They're screaming!]
[She's right.]
[Stop just agreeing and do something!]
I heard Granbwa chatting with Legba in my head. Smoke already gave me a headache; her nagging made it worse.
As Granbwa's voice faded, Legba clicked his tongue.
[My fault? Why chew me out? Absurd.]
I didn't reply, just ran. Darkness obscured the path, but my earlier scouting helped.
Kim Jin-seo had snapped out of it, outpacing me now. I'd dragged her at first; now she dragged me.
No need to hold her wrist anymore, so I let go—then she grabbed mine.
"Just."
That was her explanation. "Just." No idea what that meant, but no time to ask. We kept running.
I couldn't shake her grip anyway, not without Bosu's strength.
I glanced at her pale, surprisingly slender wrist clamped on mine.
[You could train your whole life and never catch up. Her physical prowess is innate.]
"……."
Amazed at the strength from that wrist, but it bummed me out. No comeback for Legba.
Gotta train harder. Renewed resolve as I pushed on.
Suddenly, Gu Jun-hyeok ahead halted.
"We're screwed."
He muttered at the sight. Flames blocked the front. Rear ones still pursued. Trapped.
Dizziness hit.
"No blessing circle to block fire... duh. Hey, you two—"
Gu Jun-hyeok spun to me, words dying. His gaze slid from me to Kim Jin-seo's hand on my wrist, then to her.
"Holy shit."
Resigned, hollow tone.
Kim Jin-seo finally let go. Her face said she hadn't realized she'd held on.
"No need to let go or whatever, but how do we handle this?"
Gu Jun-hyeok eyed the wall of fire. No way through barehanded. Tossing them with Bosu's power? Too risky.
While I pondered, flames closed in. Heat everywhere. No advance, no retreat.
"Ah."
Kim Jin-seo murmured softly. Not a sigh—an exclamation. She stared past the flames in surprise.
Something approached through the fire. A bear. Or bear-sized person, whole body ablaze—identity unclear.
Gu Jun-hyeok gawked blankly, out of energy to think.
"Fire bear, huh."
Burning bear = fire bear. Made sense.
Then, like a heavenly pour, torrential rain bucketed down. Flames on the bear hissed out, revealing his face.
(To be continued next episode)