Chapter 1632
Unlike the G.o.ds or half-G.o.ds born out of the intentions of the G.o.ds of the beginning, the purpose of the human G.o.ds was vague and the vast majority of them were born without understanding it. Few of them were pleased with the power and eternal life that they suddenly gained one day. No, they were resentful.
It was because they were targeted and suffered due to the myth predators. The myth predators were persistent. The moment they accidentally discovered the presence of a human G.o.d, they studied the background of the target. They grasped an instinct that even the human G.o.d didn’t know based on the aspirations of the human beings who created the human G.o.d. They threw the bait and lured the human G.o.d into their territory.
For example, the reason Debirion visited a forest near the No Offspring Tomb was because he was fascinated by the rumor that there was prey in the forest that would enrich humans. Fortunately, he didn’t enter the interior of the No Offspring Tomb and this helped him avoid the worst situation of being eaten by the Specter of the No Offspring Tomb. It was just that from then on, his life turned into h.e.l.l. In a situation where he was pursued by the minions of the Gale, the minions of other predators clung to him, so he couldn’t rest for a moment. His life was threatened every day.
Pain and isolation—they were concepts that marked the lives of most human G.o.ds.
“It must be hard to endure.”
Garion, the G.o.d of the earth—she had observed almost all the events that took place on the surface and realized the sufferings of the human G.o.ds. She was worried that they wouldn’t be able to endure life and would become corrupted. On the other hand—
“You don’t have to worry about that.” Debirion was adamant. “The human G.o.ds can’t be corrupted.”
They were human, so they understood human beings and didn’t resent them. They strove to live up to human aspirations.
Grid smiled bitterly. “That is what people are.”
Human beings had maintained their dignity throughout a long history. It wasn’t the result of relying on individual wisdom, but the result of cooperation. Every time a great crisis came and threatened them, human beings cooperated. They formed a relations.h.i.+p that relied on each other against the opponent they were fighting for their lives against. This would repeat when they confronted a new enemy.
Human G.o.ds couldn’t betray human beings. Grid and Debirion right now were the proof.
“Hehe,” Garion laughed softly. It was close to a hum. She glanced at Grid and Debirion with wide eyes and seemed very happy.
“What is it?”
“I’m just happy. It is rea.s.suring to think that those who trust each other will be my family from now on.”
“What type of family...?”
Debirion maintained a serious expression.
He had lived alone in the forest since his human days and he was unfamiliar with the term ‘family.’
“What is family? If you live under one roof, then you are a family,” Grid answered with a smile.
“Indeed... you have several wives, so your thoughts are quite free-spirited.” Debirion sighed.
It wasn’t criticism, but pure admiration. Grid was also dignified.
“I only recently learned this, but the more you share love, the better it is. Being happy is beneficial in many ways. Debirion, I hope you also meet a good person...”
Grid abruptly shut his mouth. It was because Garion’s sparkling eyes gave him a strange pressure. They were eyes full of antic.i.p.ation.
‘What?’
From Grid’s point of view, Garion was an elderly person who had lived for thousands of years. Therefore, he couldn’t easily judge the desire that was s.h.i.+ning in her eyes like a young girl and he felt puzzled.
“Stop.” Debirion gave a signal.
The ground, which stretched out like a wave, stopped moving.
“This is it.”
They were in front of a lake so huge that some people would mistake it as the sea. It was faint, but divinity could be felt. The faint ripples that spread from the depths of the lake caught the senses of the three G.o.ds.
“I think we are a bit late.”
“We have to hurry.”
The cooperation between Debirion, who guessed the places where the human G.o.ds were hiding, and Garion, who moved the entire land, worked very well. They arrived at five destinations in just one day, searched the surroundings thoroughly, and finally found a human G.o.d at this moment. It was much faster and easier than Grid expected.
However, the situation wasn’t very good. The Gale of the Great Forest might’ve had an accident, but the Specter of the No Offspring Tomb was also adept at finding and tracking the human G.o.ds. His minions, who had been chasing the human G.o.ds for a long time, arrived at the scene one step earlier than Grid’s group and were active.
“The two of you, wait here.”
Grid stopped Garion and Debirion, who were about to throw themselves straight into the lake. Garion exerted her full power on the ground, and Debirion his in the forest. There was no reason to weaken them by entering the water.
‘It isn’t necessarily a situation where I need help.’
The lich he had encountered in the forest when finding Debirion was quite strong. Based on the amount of experience that was given, it was at least level 450. Now there were at least 15 energy sources felt in this lake. Of course, this wasn’t a threat to Grid. He could handle them just by sending Randy and the Overgeared Skeletons.
Even so, Grid came forward. Just as Liu Bei personally visited Zhuge Liang and tried to invite him and just as Ash captured the pokemon personally, Grid needed to move directly in order to recruit the human G.o.ds. He had to show sincerity and kindness to open the heart of the other person.
Grid threw himself below the surface of the lake.
‘I heard he is the G.o.d of fis.h.i.+ng.’
He was told this G.o.d was born out of the aspirations of fishermen. He had to be careful not to harm the ecosystem of the lake in order to easily get favorability.
Grid made this judgment and didn’t draw his sword. He swam without even taking off Lee Jeong’s training tools. He was basically only using his core power.
A shockwave coming from the lakebed violently shook the flow of water, but Grid wasn’t affected. This was why it was good to have high stats.
“”Stop... give up...””
A hoa.r.s.e voice rang in Grid’s ear as he reached his destination. The uniquely empty voice of the undead was clearly transmitted even in the water. In the distance, he could see oscillating black demonic energy that was darker than the dark Abyss.
Five liches were surrounding a single boy. The energy they were giving off was terrible. There were two death knights for each lich and their size was unusually large, making them even more threatening.
‘The Frostlight Orcs.’
It was Teruchan’s tribe. There was a large number of liches, so the range of activities of the Specter of the No Offspring Tomb seemed larger than expected.
‘I may have already run into it a few times without knowing it.’
So far, Grid had killed more than one lich and death knight. He felt it wouldn’t be strange if there was a minion of the Specter of the No Offspring Tomb among them.
Lightning hovered around Grid’s feet. It was the moment when the Blue Dragon’s Boots reacted to the speed that had reached the maximum from the very beginning.
The lightning G.o.d had descended.
“”......!””
The red eyes of the liches grew larger. There was a disturbance in the upper water currents and the death knights were torn to pieces. There was no time to respond, so they couldn’t hide their confusion.
“”A new, human G.o.d...””
The liches started to gather magic power on their staffs while staring at Grid. The being that made up the blue current—it was the incarnation of lightning that caused electric shocks in a wide area.
Hands that were restrained were holding the large heads of the death knights who died with their eyes open. This gave a strange feeling of intimidation.
“”Lightning... G.o.d... the aspirations of humans have finally created a monster...””
“Is it, Kyle of Saharan?”
“The rotation of magic power, is twisted. It is by, divinity. This is, a real, G.o.d.””
“”Catch him. Master will be pleased.””
Every time the liches spoke, the waves of magic power grew. The ripples that spread in concentric circles continued one after another. Each one was magic. They constrained Grid, limited the flow of lightning, and prepared for an explosion at the same time.
‘It is the level of a great magician.’
It was natural. In the first place, they had to achieve a high level during their lifetime in order to become a lich. They were the beings acquired by the Specter of the No Offspring Tomb. The level of power collected over the long history by the owner of a tomb that existed before ancient times couldn’t be low.
Still, so what?
Grid took a step forward after placing the G.o.d Hands by the side of the G.o.d of fis.h.i.+ng—Lars, the boy behind Grid. All the magic that restrained Grid unraveled like they were thread. The magic that couldn’t be resisted with the status of a legend was resisted with the status of a G.o.d.
“”.......!!””
The hands of the liches were busy.
Magic performed by bending the joints of the fingers in reverse—they drew magic circles in a shape that humans couldn’t create and fired a bombardment. It had incredible power. It ignored the water pressure of the abyss and struck Grid at high speed.
‘Ahh, I don’t know who he is, but he is going to die.’
After resisting the liches surrounding him, Lars’ consciousness was gradually fading. It was forced transfer magic. The magic that the five liches used in cooperation was dragging Lars’ body to the Specter of the No Offspring Tomb The more a target resisted, the stronger was the pressure of the magic.
Lars felt pain like his mind and body were being torn apart. He didn’t even have time to feel grateful to the benefactor who suddenly appeared to help him. He was limited to recognizing the situation in front of him.
“......!”
Then Lars’ mind returned. It was because the ‘eyes’ transmitted to a dark s.p.a.ce faced the being sitting on a throne.
Were bones connected to bones? Whose bones? Could it be the bones of the G.o.ds he had been preying on?
This... a monster. He couldn’t be resisted. The Specter of the No Offspring Tomb was far beyond Lars’ common sense.
A chill went down his spine. Cold sweat poured down like rain. It felt like the water wrapped around his body was being peeled off with sweat. Lars wanted to take his eyes off the other being. He didn’t want to look at this monster any longer and wanted to forget it forever.
However, the transmitted eyes were out of Lars’ control. Lars was forced to stare at the Specter of the No Offspring Tomb and he was clearly engraved in Lars’ eyes and in his memory. The more he did so, the greater Lars’ fear grew. He started to have seizures.
‘It is painful.’
He would rather die as a human being. He hated this terrible pain. However, he didn’t blame those who wors.h.i.+ped him as a G.o.d. He was the one who helped them when all the fish in the poisoned lake died. He made them depend on him. He knew their earnestness, so how could he blame them?
Tears dripped down from his trembling eyes, but he knew he couldn’t hope for salvation. Even so, Lars didn’t collapse even at the last moment. He suppressed the darkness that was about to rise in the depths of his heart. It was because he was a G.o.d. It was a G.o.d’s duty, regardless of the helplessness against a stronger combat force. No one would understand, whether it was the monster in front of him who laughed like it was insignificant, the heavenly G.o.ds, the demons of h.e.l.l, or even humans.
Lars knew that humans were selfish, but he still felt an infinite amount of loneliness. However, he understood.
It was while imagining the moment when his body would be completely transported in front of the monster to be chewed up.
‘It is scary.’
What part of that monster would the bone that he left behind fill? Arms? Waist? Legs? He wished it was as low as possible. He didn’t want to stand out like the owner of that rib that the monster was wearing like a crown.
A shadow fell over Lars’ eyes that turned bloodshot because he didn’t blink once. It was a shadow created by someone’s hand. The monster’s hand had reached up to here. The arm was so long that it was possible.
A strange smell pierced Lars’ nose as he was thinking this. It was the smell of a s.h.i.+p that he once smelled. To be a bit more precise, it was the smell of steel. It was completely different from the smell of death exuded by the monster.
““You... are...”” The monster opened his mouth for the first time. The voice was as terrible as he looked.
It was the moment when Lars’ body stiffened even more...
“Just wait. Sooner or later, I will come to smash that big head.”
The voice of an unfamiliar man awakened Lars’ consciousness. The fear disappeared like it was a lie. There was the sound of something collapsing and the world that Lars saw changed. It was the abyss of the lake once again. It was bright and wasn’t black. The cold water also felt warm.
It was due to the orange divinity that spread across the lake.