novelGod of Destruction's Descendant, Part V
| ← Ch.135 | Ch.137 → |
Translator: HunterW
Editor: RED
Thirty minutes had passed since Rahul gave his order.
"Are they still not here yet?"
"It's difficult to move five hundred mortals at once. It'll take some time, sir."
"I don't care if you have to drag them on their asses or whip them; get them here now!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Fuck!" Rahul swore. He knew that getting angry wasn't going to solve his current predicament, but he couldn't help himself. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got.
"Please, calm down. The battle isn't over yet. Thanks to your insight, we still have one last..."
"We should have ended this while we were still ahead! At this rate, those insects are going to take over!" Rahul interrupted Shan Diva, annoyed. Rahul didn't like that he was forced to use his last resort.
Furthermore, this last resort would only serve to get a rise out of the enemy. Those half million mortals would be begging for their lives; no doubt the enemy would hesitate to attack, and if using that chance could bring Rahul victory, he would take it.
—
"Huh?" Something was beginning to bother me at the back of my mind even though the battle had turned in our favor. I automatically turned around and saw Muskan smiling at me.
'I told you before; I can't harm you, Mr. Lee. ' Muskan's lips were closed, but I could hear her voice clearly in my head... but that wasn't important here. The battle was in our favor, but her words did not fit in with our situation.
"What the hell are you talking about now?" I asked. I was too far away for her to hear my voice, but somehow I knew that she would know what I was saying.
'Thank you for helping me. I was able to finish up here perfectly. I just hope that my small gift to you will be of great help to you. '
"I'm asking why you're bringing this up now."
Her smile was calm and sad. There shouldn't be any reason for her to make an expression like that. It wouldn't be long until her skill awakened, so she should be happy, not sad. Her words didn't make any sense, either.
Muskan turned away from me and turned her attention to the other side of the river. Several thoughts ran through my head. I couldn't grasp what she was trying to tell me. We were winning the battle; it wouldn't make too much of a difference if I stopped fighting, and so I headed for Muskan, to ask her what she meant.
However, at that moment, I felt a disgusting feeling from the other side of the river. I quickly turned back around and noticed the source of that disgusting feeling and the wailings that came with it.
I clenched my teeth in anger."Rahul, you crossed a line!"
After the world changed, many places kept our social laws of the past to make sure at least most could live as proper human beings, but there were still places where power was the law of order.
India was obviously the latter; that was why this war had started in the first place.
Everyone stopped fighting when they appeared. There were just way too many of them. Everyone realized in an instant that they were all mortals, mortals who really would get wounded and die for good from fatal attacks. They also realized that the mortals were all Vaishyas, Shudras, and Dalits.
—
Rahul came forth."All forces retreat!" He turned around and gave a signal. A fire mage then fired off a fire spell right at the mortals.
"Gahh!"
"Save me!" The humans screamed for their lives, but could do nothing against the fireball that exploded right in their midst. Thousands died in an instant.
Rahul turned back to the battleground and shouted once more, "I'll admit it; you bastards managed to push me into a corner! I have no qualms about killing all of the half million mortals I have brought here. Do you all need more confirmation?"
The entire battlefield had fallen completely silent. Not a single soldier made a peep. All that could be heard was the wind in the trees.
After a moment, people started shouting out at once.
"You son of a bitch; you're not even human!"
"Piece of shit!"
"This is best that the 'great Rahul' could come up with?!"
Thousands threw insults at Rahul, but Rahul didn't even blink. Soon, the Sahtashwi and the Behi-Kinant soldiers began to retreat from the battlefield, with their heads hung in shame. The fact that they had to resort using hostages to win the war made them feel as if they were the bad guys. It didn't take long for the devas to clear the river.
—
"To go to this extent just because it doesn't look good for him is...just too much. This is the worst possible situation, " Han Kyungchul said, as he walked up to me.
Ebonene was close behind him."No matter what we decide to do, it'll be difficult to prevent any huge losses."
The other Sunbin and Myth Guild soldiers took their positions behind us and guarded our rear.
"What will you do?"
"Let's wait and see for now."
At that moment, Rahul spoke again."I will trade these half million mortals for Muskan!"
"What sort of nonsense are you spewing?!"
"Cut the crap, asshole!"
"Why is it nonsense? Muskan is a deva. She gets to live again, but these mortals don't have that luxury. What's a single death penalty compared to half a million lives?"
I had to say, he was probably the most thick-skinned person I'd ever encountered.
"Son of a bitch! Don't go flapping that hole you have for a mouth!" Several people starting shouting insults at Rahul again.
"What do you say, Muskan?" Rahul, however, ignored the insults and asked Muskan. I followed Rahul's gaze and turned to Muskan.
She had to turn him down. Sure, half a million lives were nothing to scoff at and I could clearly see them huddling together in fear but there were still millions and millions of Indians who were waiting for the advent of Shiva's Descendant. Her followers would only grow exponentially after that.
She shouldn't turn back now that she finally had the upper hand. She had to sacrifice them for the greater good. Of course, if I was one of those mortals, I wouldn't like it one bit but...there was no choice here. She had to turn him down, especially with her skill almost awakened.
I could also see the Ravi Guild's trying to convince her to not do it. They understood more than about what was at stake. They probably even had family among the mortals, but they knew that they would have to make the sacrifice.
—
"We've come so far; we can't give in to his threats."
"He's right."
Muksan gave a small smile and looked around at the people staring at her with pleading eyes."Thank you for everything."
"You can't!"
"We came here believing in you! You can't just...!"
"I must. I have to. If you try to stop me, I'll delete the skill myself. I can as long it isn't activated yet, " Muskan said, ending the conversation and pushing past the group.
No one tried to stop her.
—
"What the hell are you doing?" I noticed her pushing past the soldiers as she headed down to the river and I quickly ran over to her and asked, with Lagus right behind me.
"Thank you both for everything that you've done so far. If it weren't for the two of you, I wouldn't have been able to make this decision."
"I knew you were an idiot this whole time, but are you seriously to be this irresponsible to the end?"
"How is saving the lives of 500, 000 people irresponsible?"
I couldn't think of anything to say back. Half a million was a lot of lives at stake. A lot. But they still weren't worth the hundreds of millions of lives in India.
"Muskan, please! You don't have to do this. It's almost complete. You don't have to sacrifice yourself for this!" Lagus seemed to have shared my thoughts.
"No, this is the best option we have. Don't try to stop me." Muskan continued past us to the river and neither of us tried to stop her.
Honestly, I had wanted this to happen in the back of my mind. I was so greedy and jealous that I hadn't wanted to let her skill to ever see the light of day but as I stood there, watching everything unfold, my chest was stuffy with frustration.
Could I do the same if I were in her position?
I started to think many things about Muskan. She was too nice and her will was too weak. She couldn't see the bigger picture. I was still looking down on her, but it just didn't sit well with me.
"Still...this is stupid." I watched as Muskan crossed the river and walked up to Rahul. Then, at that moment, I remembered what she had told me.
-Gift? And what did she mean about finishing up?-
If she died before her skill awakened, I was going to take on a huge punishment. That's what the message and Muskan told me. There was no way I could get the reward, but she said that she finished.
-I just don't get it. I don't get it at all. -
I couldn't help but shake my head.
—
"It's good to finally meet you."
"I feel the same way."
"I wasn't sure if this method would actually work. Actually, I thought it wouldn't work. But you're right. It's my scathing and ruthless last stand."
"That's good. I'm glad you know yourself."
"Hmph, of course I should know, that way I won't ever make the same mistake again."
"It's a shame that I had to have you as an enemy."
"I feel the same way. If only you weren't a Dalit...if only you were born a Brahmin."
"I don't know about that. If I was, would I have been able to learn the skill?"
"Is that how that works?" Rahul laughed as if it really were a shame."You've done well all this time. Go peacefully now. Oh, and I'll spare the mortals for your bravery."
"You can't kill them all anyway."
Rahul didn't say anything and only laughed before turning around. At that moment, a shower of fire, ice and lightning spells rained down on Muskan who just stood there and didn't even try to block the attacks.
—
I felt at a loss as I watched Muskan die. I wondered why I was dragged here. Why was this war even started in the first place if the hero couldn't defeat the villain? I understood why she had to do it; there were half a million lives at stake, but so was the livelihood of her people. It was a war; there were bound to be sacrifices to be made. They had to win the war first, and the time for regret would come later.
"It's time to leave this place! The Sahtashwi and the Behi-Kinant Guilds are to restrict foreign activities and focus on recovery!" Rahul shouted for all to hear.
At that moment, a message popped up in front of me.
==[The Destruction God's Descendant has completely awakened.
The end of destruction means destroying yourself and returning to perfection.
Muskan, the user of Destruction God's Descendant, had completed the skill to 99% and, upon her death, has provided the final 1% for skill completion. Her two Comrades will now be rewarded.
The First Comrade may receive 2 out of 7 options.
The Second Comrade may receive 1 out of 5 options. ]==
==[Option 1: Absolute Destruction (1% chance to inflict instant death upon enemies. )
Option 2: Source Destruction (10% chance to incur a permanent death penalty. )
Option 3: Normal Destruction (After killing an enemy, there is a 100% chance to randomly decrease one of enemy's Stats by 1-5 points. )
Option 4: Increase all Stats by 2000 points
Option 5: Obtain double Stat points upon leveling up.
Option 6: Inflict 10x attack-based damage on enemies.
Option 7: All effects, including buffs, debuffs and heals will not work. ]==
Lagus and I looked at each other in shock. Neither of us knew about this.
"What is this about?"
"I don't know either, I'm afraid."
According to the message, it seemed that Muskan could not become the Descendant and the skills effects were to be passed to whoever she chose to be her comrades, and that it could only work upon her destruction.
A shiver ran down my spine. Muskan knew that she would have to die since the beginning. She must have known that she wouldn't be able to resurrect. Lagus seemed to have come to that realization as well.
==[A Roulette Wheel will now spawn for the First Comrade, Lagus Aman, to choose his two of seven rewards. ]==
Soon, a huge roulette wheel appeared before us. It seemed that only the two of us could see it. It began to spin on its own before coming to a stop.
==[Congratulations.
You have received Option 4. Your Stats will be increased by 2000 points each. ]==
==[The second wheel will now spin. ]==
A new wheel appeared with only six of the seven options on it.
==[Congratulations.
You have received Option 2. You now have Source Destruction (10% chance to incur a permanent death penalty. )]==
==[A Roulette Wheel will now spawn for the Second Comrade, Lee Jiwon, to choose his one of five rewards. ]==
The messages appeared one right after another. We barely had time to blink before the wheel spun for me.
==[Congratulations.
You have received Option 1. You now have Absolute Destruction (1% chance to inflict instant death upon enemies. )]==
The messages that didn't seem to care about our reactions disappeared once I received my reward. I remembered what she told me, that she couldn't hurt me and how she thanked me for my help.
I had never met Muskan before in my life. I hadn't even heard of her in my past life. It made sense for her to do this for Lagus, but she had no reason to grant someone she had never met before a reward of this caliber. It was almost as if... Muskan knew that this would happen before it all began. It wasn't that she was an idiot; it was that she knew what would happen that her actions seemed stupid.
"Just what...did she expect from me to go this far?" I asked myself, but there was no way to get the answer now. Muskan was gone for good.
| ← Ch. 135 | Ch. 137 → |