Chapter 1436: Side Story 45
Chapter 1436 - Side Story 45
“Kid,” Immortal Seong-Woo called out.
He had approached the girls from behind, while she seemed to be looking for something in the vast plains.
“Did you know? I hate kids. They’re useless and noisy beings who only know how to whine, complain, and cry. They’re even more useless than old people! Brats like you often rely on your parents’ power and influence and act without any manners or courtesy.”
Swoosh!
Seong-Woo drew his sword. There were some words that he did not have to say. That was usually the case.
There was once when he was walking through a kingdom. A child selling cakes had suddenly bumped into him and smeared his clothes with the dirty, sticky, and disgusting cream. That was the first time he drew his sword on a kid.
‘Guess what? It wasn’t that bad.’
Those punks were far more honest and more terrified of him. Of course, that did not mean that he only treated those kids like insects and always singled them out. No, not at all. This time was special. This kid just happened to appear when he was annoyed, so he wanted to scare the kid.
“That’s why… that’s why…” Seong-Woo pulled back his sword. “Your blood will dye this land today.” At that moment, the girl, who was also looking for the Land God, turned to look back at him with her sword held up high. The tip of the child’s sword was blunt. Seong-Woo wanted to laugh loudly and poke fun at the girl when he saw that.
‘Is this child a swordsman-wannabe? What can a little child carrying a blunt little sword do?’
“Animal Farm.”
“...?”
‘Is that the name of a skill? What kind of ability has a name like that?’
Seong-Woo grinned.
Blood spurted out and splashed on the ground. Was it the girls’ blood? No. Not at all. A deep wound appeared on Seong-Woo’s chest as a claw that seemed to belong to a chicken scratched at him.
Seong-Woo panicked at the ridiculous turn of events.
‘It hurts… a lot…?’
Then, a gigantic piglet descended from the sky.
BANG!
“I hate adults who justify killing with strange and meaningless reasons, too.”
Seong-Woo lay flat on the ground. He could feel all of his bones creak from the weight that landed upon him.
“Zeus told me that he wished that I could live a moral life. Do you know what morality is? They said that you will be able to learn manners and morality if you attend kindergarten. Mister, you didn’t learn that?”
The pain of his broken bones regenerating was accompanied by shame and disgrace.
“Eeeeeek! You f*cking brat…”
Before Seong-Woo could jump to his feet, his body was forced to bend and fall forward by some kind of rope tied to his ankles. Then, an irresistible and powerful force tugged him back and dragged Seong-Woo, who was lying flat on his stomach, around the vast plains.
“Keuhaaack!” Seong-Woo vomited a mouthful of blood, his face filled with incredulity.
‘How can it be this painful?’
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Children often hid behind the protection of adults. Alas, this child in front of him was stronger than an adult, with a voice that was much more piercing and colder than any adult.
“Hera was sitting beside me at that time. She listened to Zeus’ words and said, ‘I agree. When an adult who lacks morals and is very rude to you appears, you don’t have to keep it in. Why? They’re adults. They should be responsible for their own words and actions.’ That’s what she told me.”
Seong-Woo, who already recovered from his injuries, looked at the approaching Philos with confusion.
“Mister.”
Philos knew full well that this man in front of her wanted to kill her for no reason at all.
“You have to take responsibility, right?”
He had to take responsibility for the people who had died at his hands so far.
“How dare you, you little brat…!”
Rumble!
[Greatest God’s Lightning.]
Rumbleeeee!!!
It was like judgment day had arrived. Seong-Woo looked up at the sky as a pristine white thunderbolt fell upon him. His lightning attribute resistance had already gone beyond the limits of what a human could have. What would this lightning bolt that this mere human being had invoked do to him? Electrify him?
Bang!
To his horror, it completely paralyzed him. The electric current that coursed through his veins as the lightning struck him left him with a pain he had never felt before.
“Keuhaaaaack!”
His heart throbbed in pain as cold sweat dripped down his back. He could not move even if he wanted to.
The Greatest God’s Lightning was a control skill and could tie up one’s movements for four straight seconds. While Seong-Woo was unable to move, Philos switched her weapon. This time, she held a spear with a blunt tip.
Although the spear’s tip was blunt, the power that gathered around it belonged to Spear God Ben.
Vwoooooong!
“In my world, there is a law called the Juvenile Act. It was a law that forgives children and exempts them from the consequences of their criminal actions because they are said to know nothing. To be honest, I find it ridiculous. Many kids take advantage of this law, and they are really, really bad kids. I think it’s best if the law is gone. Anyway…”
Power swirled at the tip of her spear as a spearlight slowly came to be.
“Mister. You’re old. You’re old enough to know what you need to know, right?”
Thud!
The Kiddie God’s Pinnacle Spear pierced through Seong-Woo’s chest.
“Mister, if you get reincarnated, then…”
Seong-Woo found it completely incomprehensible. He was reduced to a handful of ashes at the hands of a mere child? Nevertheless, the fact that he died remained the same. As his consciousness grew hazy, he heard Philos’ cold and scathing words.
“No. Trash like you should never get the chance to reincarnate.”
Those were the last words that Seong-Woo heard.
***
After turning Seong-Woo into nothing but a handful of ashes, Philos resumed her search for the Land God.
‘Oppa will definitely like it if I give him the saw-edged perch.’
Philos had researched everything she could about the saw-edged perch. From what she had seen, the fish had a lot of fat in its flesh, and it was tough to catch. In short, it was a very rare and very delicious fish sold at a very high price!
The thought of her brother running around happily after he received this gift was enough to make her feel happy, too. Alas, it was tough to find that guy called the Land God.
“Hihihihihihing!”
At that moment, he caught sight of a horse running majestically with its golden mane fluttering with the wind over the horizon.
[You have seen the Land God.]
[Your EXP Acquisition Rate will double for a week.]
[One of the Three Sacred Beasts, the Land God, is afraid of humans. He would immediately run away if he encountered one.]
[The Land God is currently in a sealed state.]
[The only way to awaken the Land God is to climb on his back successfully.]
Philos looked at the running Land God in a stunned and fascinated daze. She wanted to touch the horse, but she could not run to him.
‘He’s scared of humans? Then, he will run away if I try to approach him, right?’
At that moment, the running Land God felt her admiring gaze. He looked at her with hesitation. The horse, who seemed to have already raised his hooves to run away, stopped in his tracks and stared at Philos.
“Hihihihing?”
The Sacred Beast, who forgot to run away, looked at Philos curiously. He felt that this girl was different. She was different from the humans who looked at him with apparent greed in their eyes as they coveted his speed and mobility. Interestingly, the human in front of him right now was very small, and her smile was not tainted by greed.
Horses were gentle animals in the first place. Although the Land God was afraid of humans, he was, first and foremost, a horse. Generally, horses were very friendly and familiar with humans.
‘No way…?’
Philos seemed to realize the reason why the Land God did not run away right away, even though he had seen her. She understood that it was because she was a child.
“Hihihing?”
This was a loophole that Joy Co. Ltd. had missed entirely. The thought of Philos, a child, crossing paths with the Land God had never crossed their mind at all. Of course, even if they missed this loophole, they were sure that no ordinary child could ever get close to the Land God. Unfortunately for them, the child who crossed paths with the Land God was the same child who possessed Heart Thief.
Philos took out the World’s Sweetest Carrot and offered it to the horse. The Land God approached the carrot carefully. He sniffed it first before gobbling everything up.
“Hihihihihihihihing!”
The World’s Sweetest Carrot had a description that said, ‘the most delicious carrot in the world.’ With such a description, it was no wonder that the Land God felt as if it was the most delicious meal that it had eaten in its life.
“Hihihihihihihing!”
The happy Land God lowered his head and gently bumped it to Philos’ own. Philos smiled and laughed happily as she gently caressed his mane.
“You know… can I get on top of you?”
It was impossible to catch the Land God, and it was even more impossible to ride on its back, mainly because it was afraid of humans. That was what Joy Co. Ltd. was aiming for. But the Land God liked Philos, who had given him the most delicious meal in the world.
After ten minutes, Philos sat on the back of the fastest horse in the world. As she rode on the back of the Land God and ran through the plains, the notifications rang.
[The Land God’s seal has been broken.]
The Land God, who had only been able to neigh earlier, began to speak human words.
[Philos. I see, so that’s your name.]
The two talked a lot. And as if on cue, the Heart Thief was activated, effectively winning over the heart of the Land God.
[There’s a gift that I really want to give you, my dear friend.]
Something covered with bright light descended from the sky. It was none other than the saw-edged perch that was almost as big as a shark.
“Can you come with me to see my oppa?”
The Land God readily agreed to her request.
***
Minhyuk moved with Leviathan to a deserted place. He needed to find a way to somehow break through the barrier that sealed off the Grania Continent and take the dolphin with him to the Western Continents.
Then, he saw hundreds of clouds appear in the sky above them. Following that, more than five hundred Immortals fell from those clouds, like rain falling on the ground. Minhyuk could not handle that many enemies, whose average level was at Level 800.
“Supreme Overlord’s Technique.”
A blazing firestorm came to life and devoured the falling Immortals. However, considering the monstrous regenerative abilities that they had, Minhyuk knew that this move would not cause much damage.
“Leviathan, run! Run as quickly as you can!”
Leviathan, with two legs sticking out of her dolphin body, ran as fast as she could. Alas, the Immortals were relentless. They charged out of the blazing flames and ran after her and Minhyuk.
Ten Immortals appeared in front of Minhyuk, blocking his path before he could even move further with Leviathan. The reason he was able to win against nine Immortals the other day was because he crushed their morale and left them completely terrified.
“I’m going to break through.”
Ten sword lights flew toward Minhyuk and Leviathan, who were moving closely together, at the same time. At that moment, the Pillar’s Frying Pan appeared in Minhyuk’s hands. The frying pan grew large enough to cover Minhyuk and Leviathan and blocked all the sword lights coming their way.
Clang, clang, clang!
“What the hell? What kind of frying pan is that…?”
“Keuhaaack!”
The Immortals were left flustered and confused. At the same time, around 70% of their numbers screamed after they were hit by the sword lights that had been reflected.
Minhyuk took this opportunity to take Leviathan away from them and run to the mountains.
***
“Ji-Hoon! Are you alright?”’
Ji-Hoon stared at Minhyuk and Leviathan, who had already entered the mountains, with a deep smile on his face. Ji-Hoon was one of the Immortals’ Five Skies.
“They have been caught in our formation.”
‘Morons.’
The Immortals had already predicted the enemies’ path and thus cast their formation inside the mountains. This formation was like a spider web, pushing them to the edge of the cliff. The Immortals were also very familiar and skilled at navigating forests.
The moment they entered the mountains, Ji-Hoon climbed up the tree and began to jump from branch to branch to chase after the two. It was not just him. Hundreds of Immortals climbed atop trees and began to chase.
The man would be able to break through the Immortals whenever they descended from the trees and blocked his path; regardless, he was heading to where they wanted him to go.
Shwaaa!
‘What an amazing guy.’
Ji-Hoon was impressed by Minhyuk, who had just cut down another Immortal. He was pretty amazed that Minhyuk was still able to cut down the Immortals while protecting Leviathan behind him.
‘In the end, you still went where we wanted you to go.’
[You have been caught in the Immortals’ Tactical Formation.]
[Ropes have appeared all over the place. These ropes will bind you.]
Swoosh!
Swoosh, swoosh!
Fwoosh!
Hundreds of ropes that Minhyuk could not evade or resist extended toward Minhyuk and Leviathan. Minhyuk tried to cut them down and split the ropes apart, but there were just too many of them.
[Kghhhhhk!]
Leviathan had been tied up by the ropes and forced to fall on the ground. Even Minhyuk, who had been struggling like crazy, ended up with ropes tying him down from his ankles to his waist to his chest to his neck and down to his wrists. The thick ropes tied him up tightly.
Clang!
In the end, he was forced to drop the sword in his hands.
The Immortals who had been running atop the trees and those who had been chasing after them on the ground surrounded Minhyuk.
“It’s quite admirable for you to have run this far.”
Ji-Hoon was genuinely impressed. Nonetheless, that was all.
Minhyuk’s eyes grew bloodshot when he saw Leviathan get dragged around by the Immortals. Then, he stared at Ji-Hoon.
“Kghhhhhk!”
The way he gritted his teeth showed how desperate he was and how much he had been struggling to get out of the ropes that bound him.
“It’s useless. You cannot use any physical force to release these ropes. You can only get out of those if you cut me or the other Immortals down.” Ji-Hoon glanced at the sword that fell out of Minhyuk’s hands. “Fufu!”
A sinister chuckle filled with madness escaped from his mouth.
“What can a swordsman do without his sword?”
Ji-Hoon glanced around him. The other Skies have already arrived.
“Now, all that’s waiting for you is your death…”
Sword light slowly formed at the tip of the blade of the Immortals. Just then, the expression on Minhyuk’s face changed. Gone were the desperate and bloodshot gaze that seemed to want to kill them and tear them into pieces.
“Ah, the cooldown has ended.”
‘What is a cooldown?’
Ping!
Minhyuk grinned as the mysterious cry of a sword echoed in the otherwise silent mountain.
“Question!” Minhyuk stared coldly at the Immortals around him. “Did you lure me here or did I lure you here?”
At that moment, Ji-Hoon saw blood spurt out of his chest. It was not just him. The Immortals standing atop the trees, the Immortals on the ground, and even the newly arrived Immortals all had blood gushing out of their chests.
Swoosh!
The ropes binding Minhyuk tightly loosened. Now free, Minhyuk stood up and grabbed his sword. Then, he chuckled and said, “Are you all ready to die?”