Chapter 396: Lightning Didn’t Fall From the Sky (15)

I relayed the chaos unfolding outside to the Lightning Thief and continued speaking.

“Fighting for faith is admirable just as fighting for the Progenitor or for one’s race, but if that becomes an excuse to kill humans, how can that be called an act for humanity? A necessary sacrifice? Only those who survive today get to enjoy a tomorrow identical to yesterday. For those who die today, there is no tomorrow.”

Before the Lightning Thief could respond, I quickly added,

“Oh, I’m not blaming anyone. Beasts killing each other is natural. Whether it’s for food, mates, or territory, killing for one’s needs has always been a part of existence. There’s nothing new about it.”

“Are you saying you condone that slaughter?”

“Would condemning it make it disappear? Would you ranting at me from the afterlife change anything? Right now, the ones trying to stop that massacre aren’t the Sanctum or the vampires. Neither you, who are already dead, nor I, sitting here talking nonsense, are making a difference out there. The only one desperately fighting to stop it is a beast that loves humanity.”

To declare who is right, who is wrong, or what should be done—such thoughts are far too detached from the instincts of a beast.

Even the hermit crabs in the mudflats would foam at the mouth, saying we shouldn’t just stand by and watch.

“You want to save humanity? Then prove it. Put everything on the line and wield your power here. You may be dead, but the traces of the Divines remain in the world, meaning you can still use your power.”

“There’s no need. That’s why Claudia’s defense mechanisms exist. Once they activate—“

“You mean the power that the Thunderarch can use? And who do you think she will wield that power against? Will its direction truly be for the ‘humans’ you speak of?”

The Thunderarch would, without a doubt, strike at me and Peru first.

Elders cannot die unless it’s through near-suicidal force, so naturally, I—the easiest to kill—would be the first target.

“If that is your will, then I’ll accept it, but don’t you dare call it an act for humanity because I won’t acknowledge it.”

“I don’t need your acknowledgement.”

“Then let me rephrase. If you abandon them, even you, as a human, won’t be able to acknowledge yourself.”

Azzy and the Regressor might be able to endure, but Peru would surely die if left alone.

The power of Wither she wielded would eat away at her own body, a body resurrected by the Golden Lord.

All humans were bound to perish, but her end was far closer than most.

Now, that cruel clock was ticking at an accelerated pace.

There wasn’t much time left.

The choice was now in the Lightning Thief’s hands.

He gripped his kite string tightly and spoke.

“Are you testing me?”

“The dead sure do talk a lot. Just hurry up and decide. I want to know what kind of ‘human’ it is that you speak of.”

It didn’t matter what he chose.

It was just another event in the grand scheme of things.

But the Lightning Thief before me—his very essence was inscribed into the world.

When I read someone’s mind, I saw their truth.

His Spiritual World could not lie, nor could it ignore his true feelings.

If his faith was truly genuine, then he would choose to return to the Sky God’s side.

“…What is your goal, King of Humans? Do you wish to return the world to an age of barbarism? To that dreadful time before the First Era?”

“What, do you think I have the power to rewind time? How would I even do that?”

“Then what? Why are you seeking out the Divines and forbidden knowledge that might destroy humanity? What are you trying to accomplish?”

Of course, I couldn’t lie either.

But that wasn’t a problem—I’ve always been an honest person.

“I want to remind humanity that despite everything, we are still beasts.”

I spoke my truth to the Lightning Thief calmly without hesitation.

“Ideals, justice, truth, grand causes, and morality. No matter how grand and beautiful they may seem, they are nothing more than tools humans have created for their own convenience. They use these concepts to justify killing, crafting reasons to take the lives of others. If that’s truly the case, then I should be fighting against them on behalf of humanity, but the problem is, those things exist within human minds—I can’t see them, and I can’t kill them. Should I crack open their skulls to drag them out? Or should I just wipe out all of humanity to erase them? That’s not possible, is it?”

Or is it?

Maybe that’s what the King of Sin was trying to do.

Well, it’s none of my concern.

It wasn’t my doing, nor was it my burden to carry.

“We are not great beings. We are the same insignificant, lowly beasts as ever. We were not chosen by the gods and we hold no divine right to govern all creation. Everything we do is no different, in essence, from a pig rolling in the mud under the scorching sun. That’s what I want to prove—to myself, and to all of humanity.”

That is why I remain the King of Beasts.

I murmured those words to myself as I looked at the Lightning Thief.

His face twisted in disgust, hatred, and unease.

And yet, I didn’t find it unpleasant.

Because that expression wasn’t directed at me.

“…As expected, I cannot agree with you.”

“It doesn’t matter if you agree or not. I’ve already figured out what you were trying to hide. The moment I came here, all of your secrets were bound to be exposed.”

Why was he even here?

He had surrendered himself to faith, willingly becoming their pawn.

He had agreed to return the lightning to the sky, making it a tool of the Sky God.

He had accepted that his legend as the Lightning Thief would be rewritten into the foolish tale of a thief who dared to steal from the gods.

And yet, his mind still lingered in this place.

What did that mean?

“When the lightning struck you, when it flowed through your body along the kite string—what happened?”

“…!”

“What did you feel in that lightning that made you so afraid of its power being known? Why did you try to prevent the birth of homunculi, even though they didn’t even exist back then?”

The truth the Lightning Thief had wanted to bury.

He, who had never feared the falling lightning, had trembled when it struck him.

Because in that moment, he glimpsed a terrifying secret—an unbearable truth.

“The lightning you stole and granted to humans was merely something that came from the sky. But that was only a fraction of the truth. Because real lightning… was on the ground from the beginning.”

Lightning had never fallen from the sky.

It had always been here.

The Lightning Thief, Franc, was struck by lightning.

In that literal, earth-shattering impact, he realized something.

His hands and arms trembled as they gripped the string.

Despite his unparalleled wisdom and cold logic, his knees buckled, his bladder gave way, and his body disgraced itself in a pathetic display unbefitting of a Sage.

But in that moment, Franc understood.

The Lightning Thief’s wretched state was not just due to pain or fear.

The lightning had touched something far more fundamental within him.

It was as if invisible strings had been embedded in every inch of his body, pulling and controlling him.

He realized, with absolute certainty, that the lightning was moving his body.

So that was why he had hidden the truth.

If the Golden Lord’s alchemy could create bodies, then the sensation and will that moved those bodies could be infused with lightning.

Of course, that alone wouldn’t be enough, but for a sage who believed in the purity of the mind, even the suggestion of such a possibility would have been repulsive.

“Don’t feel too wronged. The truth was bound to come out eventually. The idea of branding lightning directly onto the body was never something that only you could conceive. Though, I doubt anyone else would be foolish enough to attempt it willingly.”

“…As expected, I cannot follow you.”

Fran glared at me with murderous intent and pulled the string of his kite.

It was as if he had yanked down a hidden bolt of lightning from within the clouds.

The distant lightning, once high above, was now descending.

The ill-fated kite, bound to the wrong master, was the first to be sacrificed.

As the current traveled down the string, it engulfed Franc’s entire body, burning him with merciless precision.

The electricity seeping into his fingertips gnawed at his very being.

For an ordinary human, this would have been a death sentence a hundred times over.

But for Franc, it did nothing.

Not just because this was a Spiritual World.

But because he and the lightning had been one from the very beginning.

“King of Humans. I do not agree with you, but… just this once, I will move as you wish.”

The embodiment of lightning extended his hand.

What does the Progenitor mean to an Elder?

She was the beginning and the end.

The savior who granted them life in the moment of their death, and the master who will one day reclaim it.

The queen to whom they owe their blood, whom they must love and serve with absolute devotion.

The god of their race, whom they must revere and worship.

That is why vampires do not believe in gods.

When a true god moves before your very eyes, only a fool would turn to heresy.

“Do not act recklessly. Tyrkanzyaka will be here soon.”

By that logic, Shei was a heretic—an insolent wretch who dared to speak the Progenitor’s name as if they were equals.

Valdamir hesitated.

Should he be furious at her audacity?

Or should he wait and observe if she might truly be a friend of the Progenitor?

He chose to withhold judgment for now.

There was still time to gather more information.

Valdamir turned his gaze toward Claudia.

A structure, as large as a hill, loomed over the city.

Shei had no means of stopping the battle between the Saintess of Steel and Tyrkanzyaka.

No one did.

As the closest thing to invincible beings, neither of them could be restrained.

So Shei had separated them instead.

Using Jizan, she raised the ground, causing them both to slide in opposite directions. Tyrkanzyaka and Feruel could destroy the very earth beneath them, but they still needed something to stand on.

Bound by the inescapable laws of nature, they slid apart.

And so, Tyrkanzyaka arrived.

Her sharp gaze swept across the battlefield until she spotted a familiar face, collapsed on the ground.

“…Hu?”