He looked at the man behind the bars.
Just now, there had been a small commotion as he sent Yong So-han out. Even if he was currently in a worn out state, there was no way someone as talented as Lee Jong-hak wouldn’t have noticed it.
Lee Jong-hak weakly opened his eyes and looked at Yang In-hyun before his gaze finally drifted over to Lukas. Then an expression of indescribable surprise appeared on his previously expressionless face.
“You, how…”
Spak!
In that same moment, Yang In-hyun swung his sword in front of him.
The bars of Lee Jong-hak’s cell were sliced through, together with his waist.
“…!”
Lee Jong-hak stared at Yang In-hyun with wide eyes. Then, like a chopped apple, his torso began to slide off of his waist-
Crackle!
-But at that moment, lightning erupted from the cross section.
Chak. The torso suddenly stopped sliding. It was quite a bizarre sight. It was like a photograph that had been cut in half then misaligned.
[Hahaha! Kuhaha!]
Then, a booming laugh rang out in the underground prison.
As if time reversed, the cut torso slid back onto the waist before connecting once again. He had regenerated the wound. The cross sections had simply been joined together by an electromagnetic force.
“Do you know each other?”
He wasn’t asking about the Lightning God.
Just before Lee Jong-hak had been cut in half by Yang In-hyun, he’d reacted as if he knew Lukas.
But Lukas couldn’t help but feel speechless for a moment. This was because he hadn’t expected him to immediately ask this question given the current situation.
Yang In-hyun didn’t even blink in front of the lightning* storm. Feeling like he had to give an answer, he nodded.
“Right.”
“I see.”
Yang In-hyun didn’t ask any more questions.
Was it because he didn’t have much interest in the relationship between Lee Jong-hak and Lukas? Or was it because he judged that there was no longer time for idle chatter?
Before he could come to a conclusion, Lukas took a few steps backward. Yang In-hyun glanced at the tip of his sword. It was the sword that had just sliced through Lee Jong-hak’s waist, but there wasn’t even a single drop of blood on it.
‘Was my attack shallow?’
Yang In-hyun asked himself inwardly before denying it. That wasn’t the case. His sword had definitely cut Lee Jong-hak in half. He had felt it clearly. Therefore, the problem wasn’t his sword, but the being in front of him.
“Thunderous Lightning God.”
A being that he only knew about.
Facing off against one of the strongest beings in the multiverse, he began to feel the fighting spirit that he’d long forgotten.
‘I want to face him.’
He wanted to test his sword against this being.
Huk.
The lightning storm which caused the entire underground prison to tremble quickly dissipated. Or at least that was the way it seemed. Instead, all of the tremendous forces had been densely condensed into the Lightning God’s body.
[So you know about me. Nice to meet you, one of the Lords of this Garbage Dump.]
Crackle, a wriggling current flowed across his pupils.
[The swordsmanship you just displayed is certainly at an amazing level. I too am a swordsman on the same level-]
Naturally, Lukas and Yang In-hyun’s goal wasn’t to talk.
The Lightning God didn’t get the chance to finish his sentence. This was because a spell that was suddenly sent out, struck his body. Following the sound of an explosion, the Lightning God’s figure was obscured by a cloud of dust.
Of course, Lukas was the one who had sent the spell out. Looking at Yang In-hyun, he said.
“That wouldn’t have even scratched him.”
“That’s true.”
“What is our battle formation?”
“I’ll take the front. You behind.”
Lukas nodded. That was reasonable.
[Lukas Trowman!]
With a thunderous roar, the Lightning God flew out of the dust cloud. There seemed to be a mixture of delight in this cry.
Lukas’ skin tingled.
For some reason, he was reminded of his first time subjugating a Demigod. He could feel Yang In-hyun looking at him with a strange gaze.
‘The first subjugation, how was it?’
Of course, it was a success.
Lukas grinned.
Then, the short Lightning God Battle began.
* * *
‘There is a limit to the void I can use in the minimal time zone.’
In the first place, it was barely possible to use. Void was the energy that formed the foundation of the World of Void. Naturally, this meant there were no restrictions on its supply.
But in the ‘minimal time zone’, where time moved extremely slowly, even the act of rousing void became slow. Of course, it was possible that there were other reasons for this. After all, although he had defined that world as the minimal time zone, there was a possibility that Lukas’ interpretation was incorrect. After all, Lukas had only just entered that world.
‘In order to receive void at the original rate, I’d need to leave the minimal time zone at least once.’
From Lukas’ perspective, the act was like diving in water. Naturally, void took the role of oxygen, and there was a limit to the distance he could reach while diving on his own.
Regardless of whether it was a long or short time, he would have to stick his head out of the water and take a deep breath. Replenishing his oxygen supply was a need, not a choice.
This was clearly a huge limitation, and it could even be considered a weakness.
That was why Lukas’ fight would be several times easier if there was someone he trusted that could hold the front.
Yang In-hyun flowed through the electric current to close the distance with the Lightning God. The method he was using was mainly the Plum Blossom Sword Method. His body movements were great, but what was even more amazing was the fact that he was using the tip of his sword like a lightning rod.
If he didn’t have meticulous control, unclouded concentration, and above all, tremendous boldness*, he wouldn’t have even been able to attempt it. (*: Really wanted to use the word ‘temerity’ here)
‘Then what is my role?’
Backline support?
Usually, the swordsman took the front and the Wizard stayed back. But this wasn’t a situation that could be handled with such a standardised tactic.
Lukas cast dozens of spells simultaneously. Classification according to attributes and level were pointless. In any case, as long as it was a spell that used void as its source, the power would be the same. At least, that was the case if he didn’t use amplification or put it all into one spell.
So it was the quantity, not quality, that needed to be taken into consideration.
Dozens of spells shot out in branches like water from a fountain. The several branches then scattered into even more spells before shooting towards the Lightning God from different directions.
[Haha! Is this magic?]
The Lightning God let out a laugh and swung a sword*. The lightning released from the sword clashed violently with the scattered spells. It had nothing to do with attributes or power. Most of the spells shattered like ice as soon as they came into contact with the lightning, and the broken fragments were sent flying in every direction.
Yang In-hyun was also in their path, but he didn’t swing his sword or dodge. The spell fragments simply disappeared just before they touched his body. They were destroyed by the intangible aura that was secretly exuded from his body.
Then, the Lightning God and Yang In-hyun’s swords collided.
Boom!
It was as if there was a huge explosion in a world where time was blurred. It was an explosion that smashed space. The two absolute beings exchanged dozens of strikes with their two swords. As a result of this, the screams that came from Flower Mountain were gradually increasing.
‘This can’t be dragged on for too long.’
They had to finish this battle before the aftermath damaged the territory. Those were in the terms of their deal in the first place. He wasn’t sure how Yang In-hyun would react if he were to go against it.
He calculated.
Absolute coordinates and relative coordinates flowed through his mind simultaneously. Yang In-hyun and the Lightning God were constantly locked in battle. Countless skirmishes, that even those on the level of Absolutes would be unable to read, raged on.
Lukas needed to read it.
If it had been only a while ago, he would have burst out laughing at the thought.
Read this fight?
A fight between one of the Twelve Void Lords, Yang In-hyun, and one of the Rulers, the Lightning God?
That would be impossible even if he had a hundred brains.
…However, the current Lukas had more than a hundred brains.
So he could read it. He could calculate it.
How would they move their swords, where they would look, where they would step, whether their movements were real or diversions, and what they were thinking.
Because he had gotten stronger.
And because of the computational assistance of the ‘Lukases’.
The moment the Lightning God took a step forward.
Shuk!
His right foot suddenly sank. It wasn’t that the ground disappeared. Instead, Lukas had placed the entrance of a space he created there.
Rather than him being able to read his movements, the Lightning God was more surprised that he was able to secretly create the space. He rushed to escape, but it was already too late. The space instantly closed its jaws, preventing the Lightning God from escaping.
And Yang In-hyun would naturally not miss such an opening. Puk! His sword penetrated the Lightning God’s danjeon. This caused his body to lose its strength for a moment, but the Lightning God forcibly ignored his weakness and pain and swung his sword towards Yang In-hyun.
This attack missed.
This wasn’t because Yang In-hyun avoided it, but because a space that appeared in the air swallowed his right hand and sword.
[Mm…]
As the Lightning God let out this sound, spaces also appeared on his other arm and leg. He tried to avoid it with the parts of his body that could still move, but he was practically half paralysed already. In an instant, his power was reduced to less than half.
Kwak.
The spaces engulfed his limbs in the blink of an eye, and the Lightning God was restrained.
‘They weren’t cut.’
Yang In-hyun narrowed his eyes. The spaces were simply holding the Lightning God’s limbs. On the surface, it looked as though all of the Lightning God’s limbs had been amputated, but they were simply existing in another space.
In other words, Lukas’ goal wasn’t to kill the Lightning God.
“Capture complete.”
With a murmur, Lukas appeared beside the Lightning God. Yang In-hyun glanced at him. The match had already been decided. It seemed surprisingly easy, but Yang In-hyun was greatly impressed by Lukas.
With his first move, when he captured the Lightning God’s right foot, the outcome had already been decided. The first move had been the most important, and also the trickiest.
The Lightning God and Yang In-hyun had been locked in a fierce battle. Naturally, they wouldn’t have remained in one place as they fought. In order to predict the Lightning God’s next move in this situation where their coordinates changed at every moment, he would have needed to closely examine not only the Lightning God’s movements but also Yang In-hyun’s.
He also needed to succeed on the first try. There wouldn’t be a second. If he’d failed, the Lightning God’s attention would have also been directed towards Lukas.
It was so absurd that it made him want to laugh.
This man had perfectly read the flow of the fight from a third party perspective.
[Hmm.]
The Lightning God looked at Yang In-hyun and Lukas with a deep gaze.
[My limbs have been restrained, and I can’t put strength in my body because my danjeon has been pierced with a sword… I can’t use ‘Thunder’ in this state.]
Then he nodded his head.
[This fight is my loss.]
It seemed that he was graciously accepting it, at least on the surface.
Lukas looked at the Lightning God.
He had been thinking. About how to get the Lightning God out of Lee Jong-hak’s body.
What he was going to do would probably be labelled as definite madness. Nevertheless, it was usually the craziest things that were the most successful.
There was no other way.
Making up his mind, Lukas opened his mouth.
“Can you let Lee Jong-hak go?”
[…]
“I know a bit about your plans. You want to be able to influence the World of Void. However, Lee Jong-hak is too weak to do that.”
“That’s right.”
The Lightning God grinned. Blood stains were clearly visible on his teeth.
[However, I refuse.]
“Why?”
[There isn’t a special reason… I simply thought that doing this would make you the most desperate. Should I say I want to see your face become distorted because of Lee Jong-hak’s death? And Lukas Trowman… don’t you think it’s still too early?]
“Early?”
[It is clear that you’ve grown stronger, but I am the Lightning God. The Thunderous Lightning God.]
The Lightning God’s smile stretched wider.
[You are not yet qualified to negotiate with me.]
He was smiling, but he was clearly angry.
It was only then that Lukas realised that his proposal in itself could be considered a great insult to the Lightning God. Of course, from a normal perspective, this might be considered an incomprehensible response, but that was the truth.
In fact, in a way, Yang In-hyun was similar. If Lukas had proposed to cooperate despite not being powerful enough, he might have had a similar reaction.
[Now, the only thing you can do is kill Lee Jong-hak with me. Otherwise, I will never give up this body. Why? Because that is more interesting. Kukuku.]
“…”
[Just kill me, Lukas Trowman. You and this man don’t have anything to do with each other anyway, right? As far as I know, there seems to be some kind of conflict between you.]
Those words were right. It could be said that Lee Jong-hak couldn’t tolerate Lukas’ existence. In a sense, he hated him. And in the past, Lukas understood his hatred. The same was true even now.
Lee Jong-hak… was a great man. Although he hated him, Lukas didn’t hold any bad feelings towards him. In fact, he even had some form of respect for him.
“That’s foolish, Lightning God.”
[Hmm, in what way?]
“Even though you could get a host better than Lee Jong-hak, you’re choosing to give up your life because of your wounded pride.”
[Are you talking about Yang In-hyun? While he certainly is stronger than Lee Jong-hak, it wouldn’t work. He doesn’t meet the requirements. He is also from the outside, but his body has already become too tainted by the World of Void. If I were to try to forcibly occupy his body, it would collapse…]
“I wouldn’t let that happen.”
Yang In-hyun quietly added.
But the Lightning God had misunderstood Lukas’ intentions.
“I’m not talking about Yang In-hyun. Isn’t there a being right in front of you? A being that recently arrived from the outside that you Rulers have always been coveting.”
[…you don’t mean…]
The Demon God had coveted Lukas’ body.
In other words, there weren’t any problems with the Rulers entering Lukas’ body.
So this proposal was possible.
“Come into my body, Lightning God.”
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