Chapter 41: Chapter 41

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Translator: Vine

Chapter Title: The Lightning Caller

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Inside the darkened classroom.

The Lightning Caller.

To summon him, Granton was busy preparing for necromancy in the classroom.

He drew a massive magic circle with goat's blood, then sprinkled it with bone ash of an unknown kind. After preparing various things for a long time, Granton finally showed a look of satisfaction.

"This really sets the mood."

"Granton, this is pretty pointless, isn't it?"

What Granton was trying to do was, after all, necromancy. He had never heard of such restrictions being necessary for it.

"Heheheh, for things like this, atmosphere is key."

Just like the eccentric he was. He was just doing it because he wanted to.

"So, who are we calling?"

Had he forgotten in the meantime?

"The Lightning Caller."

"No, not the nickname. The name."

Ah, right. Calling him "Lightning Caller" through necromancy wouldn't make him appear.

"Barkavaran."

A name from the barbarians of the northern Empire, from the world's highest mountain range.

"Heheheh, got it."

Granton clacked his teeth together and stood in the center of the magic circle he had drawn. Then he pulled up a classroom chair and sat on it backward, with the backrest against his chest.

"I'm going to call him now. Just a moment, be quiet."

Granton was a soul-caller. And among them, he possessed the greatest talent.

A being more intimate with the dead than the living. A walking ossuary.

He wasn't called by such a chilling nickname for nothing.

The eerie light in Granton's skull-like eyes faded, and the atmosphere around them slowly began to change.

This classroom was transforming into a place that beckoned death.

Before I knew it, my steel skin slowly trembled, reacting to death. A strange and chilling energy gradually swept through my entire body.

The colors of the scenery shifted. Colors drained away, and the surroundings turned into a grey light.

This meant that the space had now entered the Otherworld, where spirits resided.

This was why Granton was regarded as a soul-caller of supreme talent.

Granton's unique trait:

Otherworlder.

He was the only living person in the world who could freely traverse the Otherworld.

And he knew it himself. That if he stayed in this Otherworld for too long, he might never return.

Yet, he kept venturing into the Otherworld. It must be because he was searching for someone.

'And that's...'

He would give up at a certain point.

The Mad Mage. The final battle with Vinesha in Act 4.

Granton would be given two choices.

To remain in the Otherworld.

Or to remain in the real world.

'If he remains in the Otherworld.'

Granton would blossom into another calamity. In the Otherworld, Granton would experience his happiest moments.

However, because of that, the world would head straight for one of the 38 bad endings: 'The Otherworld.'

Conversely, for Granton who chose reality, only eternal separation and despair awaited.

The happiest time and eternal despair. The choice was Granton's.

'And I...'

Even knowing all of Granton's circumstances, I had to ensure he remained in reality.

'Is that still a distant future?'

A bitter smile formed as I looked around the Otherworld.

This grey world, utterly devoid of life. To think it was the place where Granton would spend his happiest moments.

It must mean that reality appeared even greyer to him than the Otherworld.

"Barkavaran."

As Granton began the incantation, the window flew open, and the blackout curtains billowed. With them, the harsh northern wind surged in.

The biting cold almost made me cry out inadvertently. While I was accustomed to heat from my past experiences, cold was unfamiliar.

Moreover, my skin was steel skin. It was sharply affected by temperature.

My body recoiled from the cold, and my teeth chattered.

'I should get some cold resistance.'

Coincidentally, considering what was to come, cold resistance was essential. I needed to acquire it quickly.

As I instantly gave myself feedback, Granton stretched his hand towards the ceiling.

"Barkavaran."

He called out once more.

CRACK!

Amidst the fiercely blowing wind, the sound of thunder reverberated.

He's coming. The moment that thought spread throughout my body.

"BARKAVARAN!"

CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!

The surroundings ignited with light as lightning struck the sky.

My eyes, momentarily blinded, blinked rapidly. As my vision slowly returned, I saw a figure in the smoke.

The figure, whose legs were indistinct, had dreadful lightning-shaped scars all over his body.

He slowly looked around with an uneasy expression. As if searching for something. He turned his head, and his eyes met mine.

After a brief silence, he furrowed his brows. Soon, he snorted, his face having lost interest.

[ Impossible. ]

I think I just heard some incredible nonsense.

"Hello, friend!"

At that moment, Granton's skull-head popped out from behind the man. The man flinched upon seeing the skull-head and swung his fist.

But his fist passed right through Granton's head.

That was only natural; he was already dead.

The one who had been struck by lightning 108 times even after death, and lived. Barkavaran.

That man was the Lightning Caller.

"Heheheh, that's quite a punch! This friend here called you because he has some business with you."

[ Annoying. Send me back. ]

"Don't be like that, just talk to him. He's an interesting fellow."

Granton diligently persuaded Barkavaran. He was certainly earning his pendant.

Despite his eccentric personality, he was a good guy who delivered on his promises.

[ Ugh, how tiresome. ]

Barkavaran, who was annoyed throughout, sat down on the floor.

[ Speak quickly. ]

I smiled faintly. He was the one who told me to speak.

"How did you come to 'violate' the lightning?"

Barkavaran's mouth shut.

* * *

The Lightning Caller, Barkavaran.

How did he become the Lightning Caller?

To explain the process would be a rather sordid tale. Because the reason was that he had violated the statue of the Lightning Goddess, revered by the village.

How does one violate a god's statue?

I don't know either. But he did it.

And as punishment, he was struck by lightning one hundred and eight times.

[ ...Violation, I don't understand what you mean. ]

Barkavaran feigned ignorance.

CRACK!

Then, the sound of thunder echoed once more in the Otherworld. Barkavaran flinched, his shoulders trembling, and he hunched his body.

Lightning he had been struck by 108 times. It must have been ingrained in his body.

"I came here knowing everything. Why hide it? Let's not do this. See? Even your 'wife' is angry when you deny it."

[ *Cough*. ]

Barkavaran repeatedly cleared his throat.

As mentioned earlier, he had violated the lightning statue. And he was struck by lightning. However, it wasn't necessarily because the Lightning Goddess hated him.

To be precise.

It was jealousy he received from the Lightning Goddess.

'A rake of epic proportions.'

A philanderer disguised as a barbarian, who, if he found it possible, would 'stand it up' first.

After this mad philanderer violated the Lightning Goddess's statue, for some unknown reason, the Lightning Goddess came to like him.

It might sound absurd. But every time he was struck by lightning 108 times, it was always after he had been intimate.

And every single time, it was with a different partner.

"Wow, what virility!"

Granton clapped his hands and laughed upon learning this fact.

"But didn't you say the 108th lightning strike happened after you were buried in the grave?"

A question arose in Granton's mind as he thought.

I didn't answer.

Barkavaran didn't answer either.

Only the sound of lightning striking outside the window was heard once more.

[ ...You're digging too much into my personal life. ]

"Personal life or not, it's information anyone with a bit of interest can find. It's recorded in history."

[ I must be recorded as quite a figure, then. ]

In many ways, he certainly was.

"So, to the main point."

I didn't call Barkavaran just to talk about this. What I wanted to discuss was something completely different.

"The divine artifact that came with you when you violated the Lightning Goddess's statue."

Divine Artifact.

Special equipment imbued directly with divine power.

However, most divine artifacts, with a few exceptions, were treated as unusable equipment, often sealed away.

Some divine artifacts spewed infinite seawater.

Some divine artifacts continuously poured forth diseases.

Most divine artifacts could actually be considered calamities to humans.

So, divine artifacts were divine artifacts only in name. They were instead treated as tools that needed to be sealed.

Among them, Barkavaran's divine artifact.

"The Lightning Caller."

The Lightning Caller wasn't just his nickname. It was the actual name of the divine artifact he had taken from the lightning statue.

"Please, give that to me."

And I came here to receive the Lightning Caller from Barkavaran.

A divine artifact, unless directly handed over by its wielder, remained bound to the deceased's soul until that soul vanished. Knowing this fact well, I had deliberately summoned Barkavaran.

[ ...There's nothing good to gain from receiving the Lightning Caller. ]

Barkavaran looked at me as if I were a madman.

The Lightning Caller, as its name suggested, summoned lightning. A divine artifact that meant being struck by lightning violently, anywhere, anytime.

Anyone who claimed they wanted to receive it was practically saying they wanted to die.

But I needed it.

The Lightning Caller would be my strongest trump card.

"Everything has its use."

[ Do you want to be struck by lightning? You must be planning to die young. ]

"Unfortunately, I'm doing this because I don't want to die."

I wasn't doing this because I wanted to be struck by lightning either. Barkavaran, sensing my sincerity, briefly stroked his chin.

[ If I give you the divine artifact, what will you give me? ]

For a dead man, he was quite greedy. Left with no choice, I pulled out a book I had brought.

"Granton, can you offer this as tribute?"

"Yep, put it here."

Granton pointed to the space under the chair he was sitting on, as if it were no trouble. I carefully placed the book there.

A moment later, the book appeared in Barkavaran's hand. He looked at it curiously, then flipped through a few pages. Soon, Barkavaran's eyes widened.

"It's called Gravure."

Such things existed wherever people lived. It was an item unobtainable in the Otherworld, where only the dead resided.

"By the way, I have a few more volumes."

I lightly lifted the bag I was carrying to show him.

At that moment, my body twitched as if static electricity had passed through it. Immediately after, something was clenched in my hand. It was a small ring worn on the finger.

A ring with a golden gem engraved with a lightning pattern.

The divine artifact, the Lightning Caller.

[ The deal is done. ]

Barkavaran had a very satisfied expression. I offered him all the remaining books as tribute.

'Honestly.'

A divine artifact that could be exchanged for a few gravure books. It was still mind-boggling to think about.

I carefully slipped the ring onto my index finger.

The gem of the Lightning Caller sparkled briefly along my finger.

[ One piece of advice. ]

Then, Barkavaran spoke without taking his eyes off the book.

[ The Lightning Caller leaves indelible scars on the user's body. ]

He pointed to the lightning scars on his own body as he spoke.

[ And when those scars cover your entire body, your heart will completely stop. ]

It was practically a curse effect attached to the Lightning Caller.

A divine artifact held the power of a god. The curse was attached because the human body could not withstand continuously using divine power.

[ I don't know why you intend to use lightning. ]

He gathered all the books and walked out the window.

[ Once a divine artifact is used, you enter the grand wheel of destiny. Eventually, your heart stopping due to the Lightning Caller will become your fate. ]

"That's fine."

My calm tone made Barkavaran look at me with a strange expression.

"Isn't it true that fate often gets twisted by a greater fate?"

I quoted Sharin's words. Hearing my next words, he was silent for a moment.

[ I hope we don't meet again in the Otherworld. ]

And with that, he climbed out the window.

CRACK!

Another clap of thunder echoed outside. The Otherworld, which Granton had activated, vanished, and the original world slowly began to return.

In the meantime, Granton quietly gazed out the window, as if waiting for something.

Looking at Granton's back, I tightly gripped the Lightning Caller on my hand.

'Fate or not.'

I was heading straight for a bad ending anyway, so I wasn't in a position to be picky.

With this, I was ready.

'Team battle.'

Let's sweep them away.