Chapter 384: Interlude – After Killing the Thunder God

The thunder subsided.

The deafening roar that had once filled the world dwindled to the sound of a distant drum and the mighty Thunder God, who had once split Claudia apart as it cascaded down the Cloud Waterfall, was now reduced to mere remnants of lightning, letting out desperate wail.

[-!]

As the Thunder God’s roar gradually faded, the people of Claudia responded in the opposite manner, their cheers growing ever louder.

“Waaahhh—!”

The voices of countless humans surged like a powerful wave as if they were sending the Thunder God back to the sky.

In contrast, the once-arrogant being that had looked down upon humanity now thrashed pitifully within the clouds. It was hard to tell who was god and who was human anymore.

Shei ran her fingers through her damp hair, muttering discontentedly.

“Something feels weird. I’m supposed to be slaying a false idol, but it just looks as if I’m bullying the weak.”

If the Thunder God was a god, then what did that make Shei, who walked upon the clouds and devoured its power?

Lightning was swallowed by Jizan.

Thunder was cut down by Chun-aeng.

None of the Thunder God’s powers could harm Shei, who wielded the sky and the earth in both of her hands.

Instead, its very existence was being absorbed into her strength.

The Thunder God stretched out its hand, as if resentful, and let out a final cry.

[—!]

“You keep yelling something, but I can’t understand you. Just give up already.”

Shei turned both Jizan and Chun-aeng inward, making their handles face each other.

Lightning was a single line, connecting heaven and earth.

All lightning beneath the sky would be drawn into that space.

The Thunder God, who had ruled from its foreign throne within the Cloud Waterfall, was now forced to yield its own essence.

Aerith Blade Supreme, Lightning’s Bane.

The Thunder God’s entire form seeped into Chun-aeng and Jizan.

Though weakened, its form was still that of lightning incarnate, immense, and overwhelming—but the two Divine’s relics were more than vast enough to contain it all.

The countless streams of lightning that composed its fingers and toes, the vast currents of power flowing through its being—all of it became a single great flow, surging into Shei’s twin swords.

Its existence melted away.

[…]

The Thunder God’s once-earthshaking roar had shrunk to a whimper.

The being that had once cried out in agony now lay small and frail, reaching out desperately as if searching for something precious it had left behind.

But its hand fell short.

The City of Clouds, surrounded by Lightning Towers, only took from the storm—it rejected everything else.

A single bolt of lightning strayed from the Thunder God’s body, but it struck a Lightning Tower and was instantly extinguished.

“Come in.”

Shei twisted Chun-aeng.

Without any conscious effort, lightning naturally sparked between it and Jizan.

At the same time, every last remnant of the Thunder God was drawn into the space between them.

From now on, Chun-aeng and Jizan would be bound by an invisible cord of lightning.

Even with just one in hand, Shei would be able to command the other.

She let out a deep sigh.

A job well done.

A sense of accomplishment.

The satisfaction of helping a troubled city.

And on top of all that, she had earned the full support of the Thunderarch.

The road ahead was set.

Below, the cheers of the people echoed on.

Feeling lighter than ever, Shei descended with a bright smile.

“Whew. It’s over! The Thunder God is gone!”

Waiting by the Lightning Tower was Tyrkanzyaka.

She had watched the entire battle with her fists clenched. When the Thunder God was finally vanquished, she was the first to cheer for Shei.

“Incredible. To tame a servant of the Sky God with your own power! This is a feat beyond reckoning, a stain upon the very face of the Sky God!”

“Uh… I wasn’t exactly aiming for that…”

The reasoning was a little different, but the result was the same.

Finding it difficult to explain, Shei glanced around awkwardly.

“Anyway, where’s the Thunderarch?”

“She vanished suddenly, claiming she had some urgent business. What could be more pressing than the sight before us though, I cannot fathom.”

“What kind of business? Did a thief break into her house or something?”

“Would that truly be a greater concern than the God of Thunder invading the city?”

Shei had to agree.

What kind of thief could be more dangerous than the Thunder God?

That was precisely the problem.

If the Thunderarch had left, she must have had a reason—but Shei couldn’t even begin to guess what it was.

More than anything, something like this had never happened in any of the previous timelines.

She murmured to herself, puzzled.

“This is strange. This has never happened before.”

“This has never happened?”

Shei had spent so long traveling alone that she wasn’t used to people listening to her words.

By the time she realized Tyrkanzyaka was paying attention, the vampire had already caught onto her slip.

“A-Ah, no, I just meant it’s unusual. If she’s the ruler of the city, she should be here to witness the defeat of the Thunder God, right?”

“…Indeed, it is peculiar.”

Whew. That was close. I need to be more careful. I may not be a Saintess, but if people start thinking I can see the future, they’ll start treating me like one.

Tyrkanzyaka’s gaze remained suspicious, but Shei didn’t concern herself with it too much.

They had grown close now, but in past timelines, she had been an unstoppable calamity, an adversary, or even a companion at the end of the world.

To Shei, people were multifaceted beings, existing as both their past and present selves.

Once, she had been an insurmountable wall.

Once, she had been the enemy of humankind.

And now, they were comrades.

How should someone treat a person who had been all those things at once?

The answer was simple.

Don’t dwell on it.

Or rather, don’t let it weigh on you too much.

People’s emotions were ever-changing and Shei didn’t have Mind Reading powers.

With that kind of mindset, she wouldn’t have been able to gather comrades at all—yet somehow, this time around, things had gone well.

Honestly, it’s all thanks to Hughes. Dealing with people is so much easier when he’s around. I’ve had to threaten way fewer people with my swords this time. I used to have to cut something down every time I wanted to convince someone… Maybe I should be nicer to him next time.

As Shei reflected on her unusual gratitude, the pulley system atop the lightning tower began to spin.

The lift shot upward at an alarming speed, nearly crashing into the tower’s peak before coming to a sudden halt.

A familiar figure staggered out.

Shei recognized him and tilted her head.

“Huh? Hughes?”

Blood dripped from a wound on his forehead.

A red streak ran down his jaw, forming droplets at his chin before falling to the floor.

He swayed on his feet, clearly injured as he kept glancing behind as if something was chasing him. The moment he saw them, he rushed forward urgently.

Tyrkanzyaka moved to meet him and asked.

“Hu? What happened? Did someone attack you?”

“Yeah… More importantly, I have a message for Mr. Shei!”

“For Shei? And none for me?”

Tyrkanzyaka sounded a little annoyed, but her irritation vanished when she heard his next words.

“It’s about the Thunderarch! She’s not just any Primarch!”

This was something Shei had never heard before—not in any of her timelines.

As she sprinted down the lightning tower, a possibility dawned on her.

“Earlier, she jumped down to the ground… Hughes, what did you do this time?”

“Ugh… Well… It’s complicated.”

“So it was you! I was wondering why she suddenly ran off!”

Shei scolded him as she closed the distance, not feeling the need to be on guard.

They saw each other every day.

There was no reason to be wary.

Familiarity dulled caution—just as it had for Claudia and the Thunder God.

“So? What’s the Thunderarch’s secret?”

“Well… It’s a bit difficult to say in front of Tyr…”

“Are you excluding me now?”

Tyrkanzyaka, clearly displeased, did not try to hide her irritation.

Glancing at her expression, Hughes sighed in resignation.

“This is too important to keep secret. I’ll be honest with you. The Thunderarch… She’s actually part of the Crusaders.”

“The… Crusaders…”

It was a secret Shei had never encountered before.

Faced with the sudden bombshell, both Shei and Tyrkanzyaka couldn’t help but react.

The Crusaders.

A direct force under the Sanctum.

To Tyrkanzyaka, they were vermin who would never stop crawling no matter how many she exterminated.

To Shei, they were irreplaceable comrades.

At one point, Shei had been a member of the Crusaders. It was a title given by the Sanctum in name only, but during that time, she had learned many things—the secrets of the world, the existence of the Divines, and much more.

Even though she had never known all the members scattered across the world, she had frequent exchanges with the direct forces.

But the fact that the Thunderarch was a part of the Crusaders—that was unexpected.

Unaware of the displeasure clouding Tyrkanzyaka’s expression, Shei showed a hint of familiarity in her tone.

“The Crusaders? Even if that’s true, how did you find out?”

“That’s because I…”

Blood dripped into his eyes mid-sentence.

His vision blurred and he stumbled.

Losing his balance, his body tilted towards Shei.

He was taller. If he fell, it was natural for him to collapse onto her.

They had spent a long time together, growing familiar.

Without a hint of suspicion, Shei reached out to catch him…

At that moment, her Heavenly Counter Domain reacted.

A silver gleam flashed.

Shei bent backward in an instant, unleashing a burst of Qi as she kicked off the ground, widening the distance between the two of them.

Two long scratches stretched across the floor of the Lightning Tower.

The once-warm, peaceful battlefield of the Thunder God’s execution suddenly turned stifling as suffocating tensions filled the air.

Shei gripped her torn sleeve, staring sharply at ‘him.’

“…You.”

“My, my~ I only meant to hurt you a little, but you reacted too quickly~”

He wasn’t Hughes.

One swipe of his forehead erased the bloodstain.

His skeletal structure shrank, his body grew smaller, and his hair unfurled, spreading wide like a loosened ribbon.

As she unraveled her disguise, Hilde grinned mischievously, fox-like eyes tracing Shei’s expression.

“Was that experience you got from battle? Or just foresight?”

“I developed it just to deal with people like you.”

“Oh my. Is that the technique of those who try to reach the sky through Qi Arts?”

Shei’s expression twisted.

Of all the people she had encountered—both allies and enemies—none had ever dug this deep before.

She should have been more cautious.

Zigrund of the Military State’s Intelligence Division, the Camarilla.

Now calling herself Hilde, she had taken on the role of a mischievous traveling companion.

But she was still one of the Six Star Generals and the most dangerous force in the Military State.

Seeing Shei’s expression crease, Hilde widened her eyes in amusement.

“I’d heard rumors, but to think it was actually true. Hmm, fascinating~ Anyway!”

With a sharp clap of her hands, she turned to face Tyrkanzyaka.

“Tyrkanzyaka! There’s something else you need to know!”

“I had a feeling something was off… so it was you. Your tricks have gone too far.”

“Well, ‘I’ take after my dear Father after all! But tell me, do you really think that I’m the biggest trickster here?”

With a cheerful laugh, she extended the silver knife that had just grazed Shei’s chest.

The knife had barely managed to cut a single layer of cloth.

There was no blood.

But its purpose had been achieved.

From the start, it was meant to cut Shei’s clothes.

“Look! Take a good look! I personally revealed it just for you!”

A sudden chill ran down Shei’s spine.

The fabric that bound her had been severed.

Her clothes, designed to be flexible and allow the free flow of Qi, had been cut with minimal resistance.

Normally, it wouldn’t have mattered—her reflexes had already reacted, and only her chest area was torn.

It was a failed assassination attempt.

A pitiful outcome for an ambush.

But—of all places—it had to be her chest.

“Ladies and gentlemen! Behold! The person we all knew as a graceful young boy…”

It was the worst possible timing.

The tear in her clothes was nothing in itself—but what was hidden underneath had now been exposed.

Through the gap in the fabric, a fine silk wrap was visible, binding her chest.

A band of Sky Silk wrapped around her torso.

And a clear, unmistakable outline beneath it.

Sky Silk—a strong, non-stretchable, rare fabric.

Shei had always bound her chest tightly to prevent movement in battle.

With just a slightly firm wrap, she could easily pass for a man.

And when that wrap was used in such a way, it could only mean one thing.

Especially when the curves beneath it were impossible to ignore.

“She’s a woman!”

Hilde dramatically spread her arms, as if unveiling the climax of a play.

…In the grand scheme of things, this wasn’t an unsalvageable disaster.

She had only hidden her gender.

But Shei and Tyrkanzyaka both knew—this wasn’t the end of Hilde’s trap.

“She knows things she shouldn’t. She remembers things she couldn’t have experienced. She’s knowledgeable about all sorts of secrets. And on top of that—she infiltrated Tantalus while hiding her gender. Now quiz time! Why do you think that is? I wonder?”

This.

This is why she worked alone.

Being with others… was too dangerous.

If they betrayed her, if they turned against her, or if their trust was broken—

Even if she regressed, the scars on her heart would remain.

Everyone understood the answer.

And Hilde gave it form.

“We all know the truth, right? The answer is simple—she was hiding the fact that she’s a Saintess! That’s right! He—no, she is a Saintess!”

It didn’t matter how she had been found out.

Right now, the most important thing was that one person here harbored an unparalleled hatred for Saintesses.

Shei steadied herself, preparing for the inevitable.

And then—

She turned to face Tyrkanzyaka.

At some point, Tyrkanzyaka had stopped questioning.

She had simply watched—her parasol resting on her shoulder.

And now, she gazed at Shei…

With a cold, expressionless stare.