Chapter 45
After Min-Seo suggested her strategy and while the trio was bickering amongst each other about who would become the bait, I simply stared blankly at the sky. The boss of the demonic beasts gazed down at us with hazy eyes.
A sticky and unpleasant feeling arose within me. What in the world did they want? Baphomet 3 class demonic beasts often performed eccentricities that human minds could not comprehend. They would do strange things, such as treating humans as toys and playing around with them or carving out the bones of humans to build houses or nests.
However, even taking that into account, their behavior was incomprehensible.
The demonic beasts would attack the target that was moving whenever there was a flash. If two or more people moved during the flash, then they would attack the person with the greater movement. That meant that they would not attack two or more people simultaneously.
It was as if they were trying to imply that 'if one person becomes the bait, the other three can survive.' At the same time, it felt like they were trying to test our morality. If that was the case, then another question would arise.
What on earth were the demonic beasts doing such a thing for?
[This is something that not even I understand. It is said that Satan often tests humans... But to think that a mere demonic beast is trying to test humans...]
“...”
I just quietly stared at the sky silently. The dark clouds soon completely covered the skies. The bird-type demonic beasts slowly lowered their altitude and flew around us as if they were threatening us.
The other kids were talking about something without me, but I couldn’t hear the exact details because I was thinking about something else. It seemed like they were debating who to designate as the bait.
[In any case, that woman's plan to save three by sacrificing one seems plausible. You should become the bait, and after they run away, use your power, and you’re done—]
[The weather is so nice today!]
A voice abruptly interrupted Legba. The tone of the voice was so flippant that it felt like their voice would fly away with the wind. It perfectly juxtaposed Legba's calm and grave tone.
The dark cloud that covered the skies collided with each other, causing sparks to fly.
[I can’t help myself in this sort of weather!]
[We’re in the mountains right now. Be patient, you thoughtless bastard.] Legba scolded him.
[There is no such thing as patience when it comes to lightning!]
But he just giggled and ignored Legba’s words.
Sobo.
Loa of lightning and thunder.
There was a proverb that said, ‘A saint will be struck by lightning.’ There was also a proverb that said, ‘A vague person will be struck by lightning.’ And finally, there was a proverb that said, ‘If you are next to a bad person, you will be struck by lightning.’
If one pieced all these proverbs together, it didn’t matter if one was a good person, bad person, or even a normal person. All humans would impartially get struck by lightning. Lightning did not discriminate and was also fickle.
Since Sobo was the Loa of Lightning, their personality was just as fickle as that of lightning strikes. Especially on days such as today when dark clouds completely covered the skies, Sobo would appear regardless of my will. He would then summon lightning bolts out of nowhere, and then he would disappear just as quickly as he came.
[There are countless things to be struck by lightning in the sky.] Sobo muttered. His tone was frivolous, but there was also a slight chilliness to it. Ever since earlier, there was not a single ray of light in the sky covered by dark clouds.
It seemed like he was planning to call in lightning bolts again.
“...Don’t,” I hurriedly ordered Sobo.
If lightning were to strike in the mountains like this, it would definitely start a forest fire. And it wouldn’t just be any old fire, it would become massive enough to completely incinerate Eiden Hill to kingdom come. It was like burning down one’s house to catch a snake. In this case, it wasn’t a snake but rather a group of demonic beasts, and instead of a house, it was Eiden Hill. Either way, the context was more or less the same.
[Don’t? Since you said don’t, then I guess it can’t be helped. I will just go back.]
Fortunately, Sobo seemed to obediently follow my orders... However... The initial instance of this chapter being available happened at N0v3l.Bin.
[Of course, that’s a lie! 「Divine Retribution」]
───!!
[Sobo, that guy is so irresponsible. The plants, the plants! The plants are screaming!]
[You’re right.]
[Don't just say that I’m right all the time!]
Within my head, I could hear Granbwa talking to Legba. I already had a headache because of the smoke, but the pain seemed to intensify as Granbwa jabbered out a string of complaints.
As Granbwa's voice faded away, Legba opened their mouth with a click of their tongue.
[Is this my fault? I have no idea why she’s angry with me. This is ridiculous.]
I just ran without answering. I couldn't see well because of the darkness, but it was easy to find my way because I had planned out an escape route beforehand.
Jin-Seo seemed to have come to her senses, as she was running faster than me. At first, it was as if I was pulling her along, but now it was as if I was getting pulled along by her. I didn’t particularly see a need to continue holding her wrist, so I released my grip. However, after doing so, she grabbed my wrist instead.
"Just because."
The explanation ended with that.
'Just because.'
I didn't know what ‘just because’ meant, but I didn't really have time to ask, so I decided to just continue running like this. I didn't have the strength to shake off her grip in the first place unless I borrowed Bossou's powers.
I glanced at her wrist, which was gripping mine. Aside from her pale skin, her wrists were surprisingly thin.
[I don't think you'll be able to catch up with that kid even if you exercise all your life. Her physical ability seems to be innate.]
“...”
I was surprised that such a thin wrist could produce such a grip, but I also needlessly started to feel depressed. It was because I couldn't think of any words to refute Legba. It looked like I needed to exercise harder in the future. With a newfound determination, I ran hard.
At that moment, Jun-Hyuk, who was running ahead, suddenly stopped.
“We’re fucked,” Jun-Hyuk muttered as he looked at the scene in front of him. The front was blocked by fire, and the fire was still spreading from behind and catching up to us. We were in a quandary. I felt dizzy.
“There’s no way there’s a blessing array that blocks fire... Actually, come to think of it... Hey, you guys—"
Jun-Hyuk swiftly rotated his head and looked at me. Then, he stopped talking. His gaze slowly shifted from me to Jin-Seo's hand, which was holding onto my hand, and then onto Jin-Seo.
"Oh, my, god."
It was a mixture of resignation and disbelief. Only then did Jin-Seo finally let go of my wrist. Judging by the expression on her face, it seemed that she had been holding on to my wrist without realizing it.
"Well, you didn’t really have to let it go, but anyway, what should we do about this?" Jun-Hyuk said while looking at the flames blocking our path. No matter how one looked at it, it wasn’t possible to pass through without any protection.
I thought about throwing Jun-Hyuk and Jin-Seo over the flames with Bossou's power, but that was too much of a gamble. While I was contemplating a solution to this dilemma, the flames spread all the way to our current location. The heat could be felt in all directions. There was nowhere to go and nowhere to retreat.
"Ah."
At that moment, Jin-Seo gave a low sigh. No, it wasn't a sigh but an exclamation. She gazed in amazement at the figure appearing through the flames. Something had penetrated through the wall of fire and was coming our way.
It was a bear.
To be precise, it was a man that was the size of a bear, but it was impossible to tell who it was because his whole body was blazing with fire.
Jun-Hyuk looked at the sight with vacant eyes as if he had no energy to think anymore.
“Is it a brown bear?” [2]
It was a bear that had been charred brown by the fire, so a brown bear.... It was a plausible statement. Soon, heavy rain began to fall as if water were pouring from the sky. The fire on the bear's body was gradually extinguished, revealing their face.
1. 「Lightning Bolt」and「Thunder Storm」were in English. ?
2. Brown bear is a synonym for fire bear in Korean. ?