Chapter 156

Chapter 156

- Is that...!?

- It is similar to the skill that Seong Jihan has been using! Did the Thundercloud spear belong to Zeus?

- However, Zeus's technique is much more grand and flashy! Thunder storms are raging in all directions!

Zeus's lightning, Astrape.

It was a skill used by Seong Jihan and was similar to his, but it boasted an even more spectacular impact. While Seong Jihan's Celestial Judgment ended with a downward strike of his spear, Astrape summoned lightning like rain from the space of light, making it appear like a shower.

From the perspective of the public, Celestial Judgment could be seen as an inferior version or a lower-quality product compared to Astrape.

- Will... he survive?

- We can't see his figure on the screen...

- Right before the spear struck, Seong's body glowed white. He must have found some way!

The commentator tried to provide a hopeful comment, but deep down, he was pondering what to say. After all, Seong Jihan was facing off against a god, Zeus.

However...

Shuuuu—

As the lightning surged and struck the ground in front of Astrape, Seong Jihan, his body enveloped in electrical currents, stood there unfazed.

"This is fascinating. It's really similar."

Using the Divine Thunder Decree - Lightning Body, his entire body was seamlessly integrated with the Thunder Power.

Despite the lightning storm raging around Astrape, he suffered no harm, and he even appeared relaxed.

'Doesn't it have the same weaknesses as the Celestial Judgment?'

The Celestial Judgment, which possessed a weakness that made it immune to damage from opponents of the same attribute. Seong Jihan, upon seeing Zeus's Astrape, immediately thought of this and realized that using Lightning Body would easily thwart this attack.

'Wasn't Zeus the Thunder God? But he seems weak...'

Seong Jihan gazed at Zeus beyond Astrape. Zeus, who had previously regenerated only his upper body, had now completely regenerated his entire body. He looked at Seong Jihan with eyes that seemed to express disbelief.

"You... What's the deal with your body? Were you Indra's avatar?"

"What does Indra have to do with this?"

"Pretending not to know, huh! If it's not Indra, who could create such a perfect Lightning Body? Indra! How did you break free from the seal and make an avatar?"

Zeus seemed to have concluded that Seong Jihan was Indra, bombarding him with all sorts of questions.

Furthermore, it appeared that his hostility had lessened since they both belonged to the Thunder God family.

'The lightning contained in the Lightning Body seems to belong to Indra...'

If the Dark Shadow Technique was similar to the power of the Shadow Queen, then it appeared that the Lightning Body is the collection of the skills of the techniques of Thunder Gods from Earth.

"So who does this belong to?"

Nameless Divine Arts, Divine Thunder Decree - Striking Thunderbolt

A bolt of lightning came out from Seong Jihan's Phoenix flag.

Zeus' eyes widened.

"Ah. No. Thor's..."

"I have yours too."

Flash!

When Seong Jihan threw the spear into the sky, a rift appeared in the sky, just like Zeus.

Then, a massive radiant spear of light, the Celestial Judgment, descended next to Astrape. Compared to when Astrape struck the ground, causing a storm of lightning, the effect was simpler, but it was still impressive.

"Ah... Astrape! No, this is...!"

Zeus, awestruck by the power of the Celestial Judgment, had an expression that clearly indicated his disbelief. He seemed even more perturbed than when he was pierced by Crimson Thunder. It was entirely understandable.

"It has evolved further..."

Celestial Judgment and Astrape. From the viewers' perspective, Zeus' Astrape seemed more powerful because it boasted a spectacular effect. However, Zeus, who directly uses this power, had a completely different perspective from ordinary people.

The lightning and thunder that accompanied Astrape weren't fully consolidated into one place, resulting in the scattered power. On the other hand, the technique used by that human had the Thunder power perfectly concentrated within the spear.

This was a level of advancement that required Astrape to evolve two or three more times.

Zeus noted the differences, "Now that I think about it, Indra's Lightning and Thor's Thunderbolts are slightly different from what I know. They've evolved further. Could it be related to that... monster?"

At the mention of the "monster," Zeus's face filled with fear. Seong Jihan suspected that the monster in question might be the Wandering Martial god, but he played dumb and asked, "Who is this monster?"

"Why are you asking when you know? A being beyond death..."

Before Zeus could finish his sentence, his chest started to emit a white and black pattern, which Seong Jihan had seen before. It was the ultimate form of Dongbangsak's Taijitu.

"No... Why is the Golden Restraint activated...?! Weren't you involved with that monster?"

"Well, I was involved."

"Dongbangsak! I really didn't know! I thought you guys were involved! This isn't a violation of the Golden Restraint!"

[No. Golden Restraint content is not to mention the gods in any case. You've clearly violated it.]

"Oh...!"

With those words, Zeus was swiftly absorbed into the Taijitu symbol.

The mighty king of Olympus, who had boasted of his divine dignity, couldn't resist and was easily overwhelmed by Dongbangsak's Taijitu.

[Haha. I unintentionally ended up helping you. Since you've seen my kindness... come as the 6th disciple when you choose your next class.]

"I'll pass."

[Tsk tsk! Youngsters are so full of ambition...Save your class change for later, and if it doesn't work out, you can always change class and you'll be warmly welcomed as my successor.]

Swoosh!

And with that, the Taijitu of Dongbangsak disappeared.

'I was curious about the identity of the god, but it's a shame. The only clue I have is that it is a being beyond death.'

A being beyond death. This alone wasn't much of a lead at the moment.

Now, even if Dongbangsak used the Taijitu, it didn't necessarily mean they were a being beyond death.

'Let's focus on the game for now.'

Seong Jihan began to walk along the path of Thunder Waves that unfolded before him.

Electricity crackled beneath his feet.

Kurururur!

In the sky, massive lightning bolts struck all around.

'In a Lightning Body state, I can sense it.'

Seong jihan skillfully dodged them.

In fact, if he were in a Lightning Body state like Zeus, he might have been able to absorb some of the lightning strikes to a certain extent, just as Zeus could.

'This is different from Astrophe. It's best to be cautious, as there's no guarantee it will be safe.'

Unlike Zeus, who was well aware of his weaknesses, the giant lightning exhibited even greater power.

Seong Jihan did his best to avoid it while continuing along the path.

And then,

[Seal of Thunder increased by 2.]

"Oh..."

As Seong Jihan walked the path of Thunder waves, the residual electricity he automatically absorbed from the lightning caused his stat, 'Seal of Thunder,' to begin growing. This meant he didn't need to invest any remaining points into the rare stat.

Thinking this was quite a sweet deal, Seong Jihan decided to take full advantage of it.

"Summon Lightning Cloud."

With approval from the Thundercloud spear, he gained the Summon Lightning Cloud. When Seong Jihan used it, a yellowish cloud appeared in front of him. Originally meant for riding, he repurposed it for another task.

"Go over there and fill up your thunder energy."

Ziik, zii-ziik!

In an instant, the cloud was hit by the lightning, and its color turned bright yellow. It seemed like a single strike would make the thunder energy overflow and explode, so Seong Jihan quickly retrieved the cloud.

[Seal of Thunder increased by 1.]

'It seems less efficient than absorbing it directly, but it's safer than getting hit by those massive bolts.'

Even though stats were precious, he didn't want to risk his life for a mere rare stat that wasn't unique.

Hours passed like this.

'My stats have increased by 20.'

Seong Jihan continued walking on the path of Thunder waves, steadily gaining power.

Then, a message appeared,

[You can no longer summon Lightning Cloud today.]

After being struck by giant lightning bolts several times, the Lightning Cloud burst and became impossible to summon.

He had gained a lot through this process, but...

'It feels like there's no end in sight.'

Even though he advanced along the path of the Thunder waves quickly, the distance to the Divine throne didn't seem to be closing at all.

'However, straying from the path feels too daunting.'

Beyond the path of the Thunder waves, the dark and obscure space was completely disconnected from this world.

That place is not a path either.

So, where can I go to reach the Throne?

As Seong Jihan contemplated this...

[Three players have died.]

[Seven Players who couldn't find the path remain.]

[Mission 'Reach the Divine Throne' has failed.]

[The remaining survivors are dropped into the temple.]

The system message conveyed the failure.

* * *

- Oh. Seong Jihan survived after all! Unbelievable!

- He became a lightning man and dodged!

- Seong Jihan dropped the same thunder spear next to Zeus! But Zeus seems to value it even more?!

- But, wait, have all the techniques Seong used so far been related to Thunder Gods?

The conversation between Seong Jihan and Zeus, was being broadcasted live to the viewers. However, filtering began in their dialogue after Zeus mentioned the "monster."

- Hey... I can't hear their conversation anymore!

- What's happening? They were definitely talking, but is there a broadcasting issue?

- Oh, suddenly Zeus... disappeared!

- That pattern on his chest... Ah, isn't it the Taijitu mark?

Since viewers couldn't hear their conversation, they assumed Seong Jihan had defeated Zeus using the power of the Taijitu.

-Seong Jihan must be a master of martial arts! He's from the shaman faction!

-Why does having one Taijitu mark make him a shaman? Haven't you seen him unleashing all those lightning strikes?

-Seriously, stop trying to link everything to China and South Korea, it's annoying!

-Done, now give us some rewards, wwww, I want a gift~ wwww

While the heated keyboard battle of Chinese and Korean viewers, who were still fascinated by the Taijitu symbol, was ongoing, a new space materialized.

In a temple built of pristine white marble, Karlein greeted Seongji Han with enthusiasm.

"Head! You're alive! I believed in you! But why are you so unscathed?"

Karlein, who was summoned anew, bore the marks of a significant battle, with his robe torn in various places and smoke emanating from his entire body.

"Did the difficulty level increase by any chance? It doesn't seem like it... But your world must have a higher level of Thunder Gods due to its fragility, right?"

"Yeah, there is something like that."

"Hmm. Your intellect is impressive, huh? You've definitely earned the right to merge with me!"

"But, even if we walk towards the Divine Throne, we can't seem to reach it. Can we even clear it?"

"Well, I'm not sure. There hasn't been a case where a player reached the Divine Throne when Thunder Gods were summoned. Other gods still made an appearance to greet us, though."

Karlein, who had been muttering about Thunder God being extraordinary on its own, pointed to the ground.

"Still, there's a way to clear this mission."

"Does that mean five people need to survive?"

"Yeah. Anyway, survival maps end when you stay alive, right? Soon, the others will come, and we'll hold our ground here."

Swoosh!

Smoke billowed even more intensely from Karlein's torn robe. His body, which had been suppressed by the black robe, began to swell, and from within, numerous royal spirits emerged.

- Kill... the... king...

- Is another sacrifice being added...?

- Pity... the author...

Each of them emitted painful, eerie tones.

"So, we should merge before the game ends, shouldn't we?"

In Karlein's obscured face, hidden by darkness, a faint smoke rose, forming lines.

Karlein had been denied entry to Earth. To merge with Seong Jihan through his mind, he wouldn't have another opportunity like this.

"Now, Head, let's go!"

Ssshhhh!

As the spirits erupted from all directions, Seong Jihan, as if expecting it, raised the Eclipse and Phoenix Flag.

'This actually works out well.'

He had been mumbling nonsense for a while, but he had wanted to take this guy out at some point. This was the chance to eliminate this subordinate character avatar character.

As Seong Jihan gathered his strength, a voice broke the standoff in the temple.

"Mother! I'll protect you!"

Along with that voice...

Thud!

A dagger pierced through Karlein's robe.