<h4>Chapter 45</h4>


    After Min-Seo suggested her strategy and while the trio was bickering amongst each other about who would be the bait, I simply stared nkly at the sky. The boss of the demonic beasts gazed down at us with hazy eyes.


    A sticky and unpleasant feeling arose within me. What in the world did they want? Baphomet 3 ss demonic beasts often performed entricities that human minds could notprehend. They would do strange things, such as treating humans as toys and ying around with them or carving out the bones of humans to build houses or nests.


    However, even taking that into ount, their behavior was iprehensible.


    The demonic beasts would attack the target that was moving whenever there was a sh. If two or more people moved during the sh, then they would attack the person with the greater movement. That meant that they would not attack two or more people simultaneously.


    It was as if they were trying to imply that ''if one person bes the bait, the other three can survive.'' At the same time, it felt like they were trying to test our morality. If that was the case, then another question would arise.


    What on earth were the demonic beasts doing such a thing for?


    [This is something that not even I understand. It is said that Satan often tests humans... But to think that a mere demonic beast is trying to test humans...]


    “...”


    I just quietly stared at the sky silently. The dark clouds soonpletely covered the skies. The bird-type demonic beasts slowly lowered their altitude and flew around us as if they were threatening us.


    The other kids were talking about something without me, but I couldn’t hear the exact details because I was thinking about something else. It seemed like they were debating who to designate as the bait.


    [In any case, that woman''s n to save three by sacrificing one seems usible. You should be the bait, and after they run away, use your power, and you’re done—]


    [The weather is so nice today!]


    A voice abruptly interrupted Legba. The tone of the voice was so flippant that it felt like their voice would fly away with the wind. It perfectly juxtaposed Legba''s calm and grave tone.


    The dark cloud that covered the skies collided with each other, causing sparks to fly.


    [I can’t help myself in this sort of weather!]


    [We’re in the mountains right now. Be patient, you thoughtless bastard.] Legba scolded him.


    [There is no such thing as patience when ites to lightning!]


    But he just giggled and ignored Legba’s words.


    Sobo.


    Loa of lightning and thunder.


    There was a proverb that said, ‘A saint will be struck by lightning.’ There was also a proverb that said, ‘A vague person will be struck by lightning.’ And finally, there was a proverb that said, ‘If you are next to a bad person, you will be struck by lightning.’


    If one pieced all these proverbs together, it didn’t matter if one was a good person, bad person, or even a normal person. All humans would impartially get struck by lightning. Lightning did not discriminate and was also fickle.


    Since Sobo was the Loa of Lightning, their personality was just as fickle as that of lightning strikes. Especially on days such as today when dark cloudspletely covered the skies, Sobo would appear regardless of my will. He would then summon lightning bolts out of nowhere, and then he would disappear just as quickly as he came.


    [There are countless things to be struck by lightning in the sky.] Sobo muttered. His tone was frivolous, but there was also a slight chilliness to it. Ever since earlier, there was not a single ray of light in the sky covered by dark clouds.


    It seemed like he was nning to call in lightning bolts again.


    “...Don’t,” I hurriedly ordered Sobo.


    If lightning were to strike in the mountains like this, it would definitely start a forest fire. And it wouldn’t just be any old fire, it would be massive enough topletely incinerate Eiden Hill to kingdome. It was like burning down one’s house to catch a snake. In this case, it wasn’t a snake but rather a group of demonic beasts, and instead of a house, it was Eiden Hill. Either way, the context was more or less the same.


    [Don’t? Since you said don’t, then I guess it can’t be helped. I will just go back.]


    Fortunately, Sobo seemed to obediently follow my orders... However...


    [Of course, that’s a lie! 「Divine Retribution」]


    ───!!


    However, as expected, the whims of lightning were unpredictable. When Sobo said ‘Divine Retribution’ as if he was shouting out the name of a skill, there was a sudden sh. A bolt of lightning rained down, split the sky, and was immediately followed by the ringing of thunder.


    [「Lightning Bolt」]


    [「Lightning Arrow」]


    [「Thunder Storm」]


    “What game are you ying right now? This is ridiculous.”


    [It’s because the power of lightning bes stronger when I do a chant!]


    It was utter nonsense. I couldn’t help but let out a sigh. If there was consistency, it would be worth listening to, but sometimes he used English, and other times he used Chinese, so it was difficult to take him seriously. [1]


    The sky was filled with darkness and then filled with light in an alternating fashion. Demonic beasts that were hit by lightningnded on the ground one by one.


    A tree that was struck by lightning was split in half, and a fire broke out. The fire eventually spread in all directions and wrapped around the surrounding area as if besieging us. I took a step forward while listening to Sobo''s ‘nonsensical drivel disguised as chanting.’ I looked around the surrounding area by turning my head.


    It would be toote after the fire spread, so I was trying to secure an escape route in advance.


    [It''s not fun anymore since I’ve been doing this for a while now. I’m going to go now! This time it''s for real...]


    After conjuring a storm by summoning thunder and lightning for a while, Sobo left with a yawn as if he had already be bored. Sobo’s frivolous voice faded from my mind, and Legba''s serious voice returned.


    [Baron Samedi and Sobo. Those two are the ones that I cannot understand the most. I have no idea what goes on in their heads.] Legba murmured lightly as if he wasmenting.


    I nodded. Baron Samedi also had a slightly unique personality, butpared to Sobo’s, it was nothing. Sobo''s personality was beyond unique and could only be described as entric.


    I drove off my stray thoughts by shaking my head and quickly looked around.


    Everyone''s reaction was bizarre. Min-Seo was smiling wryly, Jun-Hyuk was staring at me with a serious expression on his face, and Jin-Seo was gazing nkly at the sky with a bewitched face. It was clear that everyone was not in their right mind. Now was not the time to be standing around. Although the lightning had killed off all of the demonic beasts, there was still a greater threat that was slowly suffocating us.


    "Hey! Wake up. We have to run away,” I screamed into the air. All three students looked at me at the same time with surprised expressions. I pointed to the fire spreading in the distance.


    Jun-Hyuk was the first toe to his senses.


    "What. What! What the fuck happened?”


    He smiled brightly like a child. The tone of his voice was also exceedingly high. It seemed like he couldn''t control his excitement. It looked like Jun-Hyuk loved things like lightning and thunder.


    “Don’t tell me you were the one who did that? Are you for real?”


    "Nah, no way. Let’s get out of here quickly. Once the fire spreads, we won’t be able to get out."


    The fire, which had been far away just a moment ago, was already right in front of us. It was a mountain, so there was a lot to burn. Thus, the speed at which the mes spread was incredibly quick.


    “Oh my god, look at the smoke. It''s kind of scary.”


    Jun-Hyuk stared nkly at the smoke billowing up into the sky. The rising ck smoke was thick enough to cover the sky. Smoke was added to the dark clouds, and as a result, the skies turned even darker. It was like pouring pitch-ck paint on ck paper.


    Jun-Hyuk had been staring at the smoke for a while when he suddenly looked back with aplex expression on his face. It looked like a subtle mixture of shock and anger.


    “Damn it. Min-Seo.”


    Come to think of it, Min-Seo was not there. It appeared that she had fled by herself as soon as the situation had calmed down. It was a bit of a selfish judgment, but it was bad enough to curse at. It was better for at least one person to quickly escape and call for help or secure an escape route than for all four of them to end up getting caught up in the mes.


    “Jin-Seo.”


    More than anything, now was not the time to be thinking about that. I went straight to Jin-Seo. She was staring into the air with a nk face, but as I approached, she came to her senses.


    "Ah, oh. Yes."


    Jin-Seo responded, but then she continued to stand there and stare at me nkly. She had a bewildered face. It seemed like she hadn''te to her senses yet.


    I pulled her by the wrist and quickly got out of there. For a while, we just ran without speaking a word. The mes were fiercely pursuing us. It was to the extent that I could feel the heat on my back.


    [Sobo, that guy is so irresponsible. The nts, the nts! The nts are screaming!]


    [You’re right.]


    [Don''t just say that I’m right all the time!]


    Within my head, I could hear Granbwa talking to Legba. I already had a headache because of the smoke, but the pain seemed to intensify as Granbwa jabbered out a string ofints.


    As Granbwa''s voice faded away, Legba opened their mouth with a click of their tongue.


    [Is this my fault? I have no idea why she’s angry with me. This is ridiculous.]


    I just ran without answering. I couldn''t see well because of the darkness, but it was easy to find my way because I had nned out an escape route beforehand.


    Jin-Seo seemed to havee to her senses, as she was running faster than me. At first, it was as if I was pulling her along, but now it was as if I was getting pulled along by her. I didn’t particrly see a need to continue holding her wrist, so I released my grip. However, after doing so, she grabbed my wrist instead.


    "Just because."


    The exnation ended with that.


    <i>''Just because.''</i>


    I didn''t know what ‘just because’ meant, but I didn''t really have time to ask, so I decided to just continue running like this. I didn''t have the strength to shake off her grip in the first ce unless I borrowed Bossou''s powers.


    I nced at her wrist, which was gripping mine. Aside from her pale skin, her wrists were surprisingly thin.


    [I don''t think you''ll be able to catch up with that kid even if you exercise all your life. Her physical ability seems to be innate.]


    “...”


    I was surprised that such a thin wrist could produce such a grip, but I also needlessly started to feel depressed. It was because I couldn''t think of any words to refute Legba. It looked like I needed to exercise harder in the future. With a newfound determination, I ran hard.


    At that moment, Jun-Hyuk, who was running ahead, suddenly stopped.


    “We’re fucked,” Jun-Hyuk muttered as he looked at the scene in front of him. The front was blocked by fire, and the fire was still spreading from behind and catching up to us. We were in a quandary. I felt dizzy.


    “There’s no way there’s a blessing array that blocks fire... Actually,e to think of it... Hey, you guys—"


    Jun-Hyuk swiftly rotated his head and looked at me. Then, he stopped talking. His gaze slowly shifted from me to Jin-Seo''s hand, which was holding onto my hand, and then onto Jin-Seo.


    "Oh, my, god."


    It was a mixture of resignation and disbelief. Only then did Jin-Seo finally let go of my wrist. Judging by the expression on her face, it seemed that she had been holding on to my wrist without realizing it.


    "Well, you didn’t really have to let it go, but anyway, what should we do about this?" Jun-Hyuk said while looking at the mes blocking our path. No matter how one looked at it, it wasn’t possible to pass through without any protection.


    I thought about throwing Jun-Hyuk and Jin-Seo over the mes with Bossou''s power, but that was too much of a gamble. While I was contemting a solution to this dilemma, the mes spread all the way to our current location. The heat could be felt in all directions. There was nowhere to go and nowhere to retreat.


    "Ah."


    At that moment, Jin-Seo gave a low sigh. No, it wasn''t a sigh but an exmation. She gazed in amazement at the figure appearing through the mes. Something had prated through the wall of fire and wasing our way.


    It was a bear.


    To be precise, it was a man that was the size of a bear, but it was impossible to tell who it was because his whole body was zing with fire.


    Jun-Hyuk looked at the sight with vacant eyes as if he had no energy to think anymore.


    “Is it a brown bear?” [2]


    It was a bear that had been charred brown by the fire, so a brown bear.... It was a usible statement. Soon, heavy rain began to fall as if water were pouring from the sky. The fire on the bear''s body was gradually extinguished, revealing their face.


    1. 「Lightning Bolt」and「Thunder Storm」were in English. ?


    2. Brown bear is a synonym for fire bear in Korean. ?