Chapter 170
Pachutsutsu—
Blue sparks jumped from Eilin's hand. On top of that, multicolored lights rippled across her hand and arm.
"Doesn't it hurt?"
"Not at all. What is this light?"
"I'm not sure."
It was a strange phenomenon.
Unceasing ripples of iridescence rose and fell from Eilin's body. I'd never seen anything like this before.
"It seems like Yuri and you got electrocuted because of me. Because Lightning struck this sword."
"And yet you're okay?"
"My body tingled for a bit, but now I'm fine."
"Yuri, how about you?"
"I don't feel anything."
How should I interpret this?
Could it be because of Osu's seed?
"Do you feel electricity inside your body?"
Eilin nodded her head.
"What exactly does it feel like?"
"It's as if the divinity within me has become very strong. Strangely, it feels as though the divinity of darkness is transforming into the divinity of light."
"And it doesn't change into primordial divinity?"
"I don't think so."
"So, you haven't acquired new power?"
"No. It seems the power of darkness has entered Osu's seed, but rather than becoming a new power, it's changing into the divinity of light."
She's different from us.
Whenever light and darkness divinity entered myself or the team members, it transformed into primordial divinity. In Eilin's case, no primordial power was formed; all of it became divinity of light.
Why does this difference exist?
Is it because she possesses the divine sword?
Or is her divinity of light simply too large?
"Does it seem like the enhanced divinity is imbued with the power of lightning? Or is it loaded into your magic power?"
Eilin closed her eyes and quietly examined her aura. My team and I sensed that lightning was not being absorbed by magic power but by the new primordial divinity.
"It seems that lightning is being contained in the divinity."
"In your original divinity, right?"
"That's right."
"And that divinity has grown much larger than before, with all the divinity of darkness transforming into divinity of light?"
Eilin nodded in agreement.
I had a rough understanding now.
This phenomenon was unique to Eilin.
It seemed that the divinity of darkness entering her body would briefly become primordial divinity, but then it would soon change into divinity of light.
My estimation: when the power of light and darkness is absorbed by Osu's seed, it becomes neutral, forming primordial divinity. But due to the influence of the divine sword, it turns to the attribute of light.
So, instead of gaining primordial divinity, Eilin's divinity of light expanded massively. That very phenomenon was her iridescent aura.
The change also happened in me.
Queen Elin's words that primordial divinity could embrace all power in the world had been correct.
The newly formed primordial divinity, small though it was, absorbed lightning. Surprisingly, it began to absorb Asgard's magic power too. Because that dragon's magic had the lightning attribute.
This magic from Asgard could not be used as my own magic power before—rather, it just hovered outside my body. But now it was merging rapidly with primordial divinity.
My own original magic power, however, still hadn't fused with the primordial power. It looked like it would take time to become one. This might take a considerable while.
"Donnie, you're experiencing a change right now too, aren't you?"
"I was just about to say so. Asgard's magic is merging with the primordial power."
In summary, this was the situation:
Eilin's divinity of light had become vastly empowered. She had no primordial divinity. She could turn darkness into light.
She dispelled darkness.
Myself and my team members gained primordial divinity. We accepted light and darkness, forming divinity, which slowly combined with magic power to become ancient power.
We became resistant to darkness.
Allen was accumulating lightning within his magic power. For Yuri, lightning attributes were added to her flame magic power. The monster's lightning had little effect on Yuri.
My team and Tuji brothers are less resistant to lightning than Donnie and I, due to the lack of Asgard's magic. This would be solved once we returned to the fortress.
Therefore, all of us—
We would gain the lightning attribute on this island.
It didn't seem a coincidence.
I didn't mind even if we were following the will of the gods. I had no intention of being sacrificed while being tossed around by them. We simply used the guidance of gods to our advantage.
"Donnie. Shall we try it together?"
"Absorbing lightning?"
"With Asgard's magic, we should have a certain degree of resistance."
"Alright, let's give it a shot."
Donnie and I crossed over the basin wall.
Inside the ruins, Allen was running around zealously. His face was bright red.
"Allen! Take a break!"
"No way! I'm fine now!"
Allen had already been struck by lightning bolts over ten times. However, perhaps because his resistance was increasing, he took less shock with each assault and continued to attack the monster.
"I'll take the hit and go in!"
"Yes!"
I unfolded a medium-level defense shield. As soon as Donnie and I entered, bolts of lightning flew at us.
Kwachichichik—
Peopoong—
The defense shield vanished at once and Donnie and I were flung backward. The shock was so intense our bodies shuddered.
But we immediately got up, deployed the shield again, and pressed on. This time, an even stronger lightning bolt hit us and struck our bodies. The shield disappeared right away too.
We fell, then stood back up. I could feel the power of lightning accumulating within me. It affected Asgard's magic, creating a synergy effect.
"Lightning's accumulating rapidly!"
"Seems like it! Let's go again!"
Kwachichichik— Peopoong.
This time it was quite strong; we bounced back five or six paces.
"Again!"
My insides were jumbled and my body trembled. Still, we pushed forward and were struck by a stream of lightning head-on, sending us flying once more.
It reminded me of the days I had trained my body in the fortress, dreaming of revenge. Compared to that grueling training, this pain was nothing. It was more bearable than expected.
We were struck by lightning streams countless times.
At some point, we no longer flew back.
Even with just a weak shield.
Pachichichik—
A bolt of lightning pounded my entire body.
Gritting my teeth, I endured.
I didn't collapse. With every bolt, asgard's magic fused exponentially into primordial divinity. My body was proof of this process.
Kwatsutsutsu—
This time I took a burst of lightning with no shield. I only stepped back by a single foot.
"Donnie! Are you alright?"
"Yes! I can handle it!"
Blood ran from Donnie's nose. I detected the taste of blood in my mouth too. Not from this attack, but because internal injuries had accumulated.
Our resistance to lightning had increased considerably.
Sparks jumped from our swords, electricity pulsed through our bodies.
"Hey! Are you guys okay?"
"Worry about yourself!"
"I don't even flinch now when hit by lightning!"
Thump—
Allen leaped up and flew straight at the monster's head. Even though he got hit by lightning again, he didn't get knocked back this time.
"Hahaha!"
Allen landed square on the monster's head and struck hard.
Kwagang—
A deafening explosion rang out and lightning ripples instantly spread. The ripples washed over the group, but the force was weak enough not to be a worry.
"Allen! Keep trying!"
"Is it really safe with whatever's exploding here?"
"It's fine! Wait for the right moment when we lure it in!"
"Got it!"
Donnie and I dashed toward the monster.
The monster was gathering the power of lightning toward us. Meanwhile, Allen quickly circled around.
The monster tried attacking us, but then noticed Allen late and hurriedly turned its head. At that moment Allen's hammer slammed down again on the monster's skull.
Kwakwagang—
A blast went off and light flared. In an instant, a huge wave of lightning washed over us.
Pepepepeong—
Even a back-blast swept us up, sending Donnie and me flying. The others in the rear too.
Kukung—
We hit the ground hard, too stunned to rise immediately, but the pain was less than expected.
Without resistance, that force would have been lethal. The team could have been in real danger, so I looked at them.
At that moment, something amazing happened.
Eilin stood up, sword in hand, surrounded by iridescent aura. Strong sparks erupted from her sword, and powerful lightning radiated from her body.
All team members were safe. None had fainted either. Was Eilin protecting them? Or had she intentionally moved to the front?
"Eilin, are you alright?"
"I'm fine! Just in case, I stood at the front—all the lightning was absorbed by the sword!"
I chose to trust her.
She would not be harmed.
"Come over here!"
Eilin ran toward us.
But the moment she stepped out, a lightning bolt struck her—more precisely, her sword.
She only staggered two steps back, unscathed. She sighed and smiled.
"Big sister! Are you okay?"
"I'm fine!"
Eilin ran up again.
The iridescent aura rippling from her body grew even stronger, to the point of glowing.
"I'll take the front!"
"Alright! Don't get too close, though!"
"Understood!"
Eilin took the front, then me, and behind me Donnie lined up. We placed our left hands on each other's shoulders and advanced towards the monster. Soon lightning struck.
Kwachiichichik—
Despite the powerful lightning, Eilin was unfazed. She only paused in her stride.
"I don't feel a thing anymore!"
Pachutsutsutsu—
Another lightning bolt struck.
Not only Eilin but we, too, endured it easily.
The front absorbs the shock, so those behind feel less. This way, the team could also accumulate some lightning. It'd be rough at first, but—
"Yuri! Stick behind Donnie!"
"Okay!"
Yuri dashed over—dadadada—
Then hid behind Donnie.
"Team, line up behind Yuri! She'll absorb most of the lightning, so you won't take much shock!"
"Yes, sir!"
The team as well as the Tuji brothers hurried over.
Allen, running around, yelled,
"You guys can do that too?"
"Allen! Don't hit too hard and kill it!"
"So, we're just gonna suck up all the monster's lightning until it's gone?"
"Exactly! Till it's dead!"
Pachichichik—
More lightning struck as we spoke.
Eilin took the full brunt of it, and in the middle Donnie, Yuri, and I absorbed the rest.
Thanks to this, those lined up behind only experienced some shock, not much real electric trauma. Even though they didn't have Asgard's magic, if they kept at it, they'd accumulate a fair amount of lightning.
"Ready, everyone?"
"Yes!"
We'd rest often, but I was planning to repeat this intense training for several days. Being in a state of severe hunger was also a great help.
Our bodies craved magic power.
Hunger meant insufficient energy, which magic power would try to supplement.
/ / /
The group sat around the bonfire, grilling skewered fish and bugs. Eilin and Yuri simply grilled fish with their hands at once.
"How are the bugs?"
"Pretty good, actually."
"Yuri?"
"I'll pass. I'd rather have fish."
Everyone ended up eating the big grubs before the fish. At first we all hesitated, but after a few days it was fine. Rich in protein, it kept us full.
We'd been on the island for seven days.
On the first day, I wondered what honor we could possibly expect from all this, but by the third day, the changes drove us on—determined to see the end.
All week, we repeated the same training.
An hour of being struck by bolts of lightning, an hour to recover, then taking more hits. Light and darkness divinity continued to flow into us, transforming into primordial divinity.
The lightning built up within the primordial divinity as well. Donnie and I emitted strong lightning, and so did the team. Yuri showed no real change outwardly.
Meanwhile, white waves began to flow through our bodies. Whether this was the original color of the primordial divinity or it was because it passed through Eilin's divinity, I couldn't say.
Eilin, with her tremendous divinity, saw her iridescence become even more powerful. Getting struck directly by lightning for an entire week, the power of lightning within her became enormous.
"Let's go back for another round of training."
"Hey, Roger. How long are we going to keep this up?"
"Until the monster dies."
We crossed back into the basin.
Maybe because we'd tormented it so much, the monster unleashed a barrage of lightning bolts as soon as it saw us.
We just walked right into it.
No pain at all. A slight tingling, that was all. Eilin entered like she was greeting a fresh breeze.
"Let's see how long we last today!"
Allen sprinted and leapt straight for the monster's head. His leap and speed were three times stronger than before. The monster's strength was much reduced.
"Allen! That's too much power!"
"Why? Feels about the same as yesterday!"
He failed to realize he was stronger than the day before. He dropped straight onto the monster's head again.
Kwa-kwang— jjeojeojeojeong—
Again, light and lightning exploded violently.
This time the sound was different. Like something solid cracking. Sure enough, the monster discharged powerful electricity and collapsed helplessly atop the ruins.
Kukukung—
Allen triumphantly climbed atop the monster's head. But everyone was looking not at him—but at Eilin. Silence fell over us all.
On Eilin's body before us,
Massive wings had grown.
Wings of light.