Chapter 122

I was moving swiftly towards the scene where the incident had occurred, my voice breaking out in a near-scream.

“두령….,”

Though his rage was fierce, one of his subordinates tried to advise him to regain his coolness quickly, but the words died on his lips before they could be spoken.

“Can’t you yell when you’re angry?! Don’t stop me! And don’t call me 두령! What are we, a band of thieves? Call me Elder!”

The subordinate knew better than to push further; this was not the first time he’d seen his leader’s fury. The elder had been enraged ever since he heard that the very sacrifice he needed for welcoming the great god who would establish a new order on this land was causing a commotion.

The elder’s rage had built up to its peak when he heard that news. He hadn’t felt such intense anger in ages. Even he, who usually brushed off serious matters with a smile, found it hard to endure this time.

He wanted nothing more than to unleash his anger immediately on whoever caused this situation.

Even if some damage might occur to the sacrifice in the process…

“It won’t matter as long as I don’t kill…”

Muttering these words, the elder set off with a loud noise, blue lightning surging like a storm toward the spot. He thought carefully about how to subdue his opponent.

Despite being barely past his prime, he was a leading swordsman of the Caladborg Dukedom, someone capable of handling a peak of rage without issues. But realizing that he might inadvertently harm the opponent if he unleashed his power without restraint, he recalled the need to control his strength.

Even though he was on the brink of losing his sanity to rage, he planned to approach the situation with surprising clarity. This showed that the elder wasn’t just an old assassin, but someone with both fiery and cold attributes.

But even this elder, who skillfully balanced his hot and cold traits, couldn’t have predicted what awaited him at the site.

—

How much time had passed since the elder took his steps toward where the ‘sacrifice’ was causing a commotion?

The scene he stepped into was indescribably chaotic. The makeshift campsite, hastily constructed in a remote corner, was now a mess with all the facilities vanished without a trace.

People were in shambles too, not just the structures. Scattered around were barbarians, their bodies charred, lying between screams and moans.

“두령….”

The subordinates who had served the elder so faithfully were sprawled out in similar disarray.

Thankfully, while everyone looked awful, they were still alive. But the continuous lightning strikes falling from the sky onto human bodies suggested their lives wouldn’t last long.

“Cough… Haha, unbelievable. Cough!”

The elder, whose body bore signs of burns, managed to rise despite coughing up blood. He turned his head toward the source of the lightning.

A woman stood there. She was the one referred to as the ‘sacrifice.’

Her calm demeanor belied the terrifying attack she had unleashed. Even her expression remained composed despite the sheer force of the lightning gathering at her fingertips.

As she raised her right index finger to the sky, thunderbolts descended from the dark clouds that had covered the winter night, accompanied by a loud sound.

No matter how composed her face was, the lightning in her hand couldn’t be seen as anything but formidable.

“Ah… I think I understand why Dominus calls her a little Thunder Deity.”

The elder’s voice conveyed more than just surprise at her ability to summon lightning.

The thunderbolt came down slowly, almost lazily. It moved faster than the blink of an eye, with the sound following behind.

Just watching it made the elder’s earlier anger disappear, replaced only by awe.

“Of course, she’s perfect as a sacrifice…”

As soon as he said it, he screamed and frantically dodged the incoming lightning.

“Don’t call someone by name and then a sacrifice! You’re thinking like a mouse!”

The woman, Asulin, laughed mockingly and gathered the lightning back into her hand.

“I thought you’d behave nicely as my sacrifice! What a big mistake that was!!”

With a short, compressed cry, she released the lightning toward the elder.

The elder, barely managing to dodge the previous lightning, realized it was impossible to avoid this one. Instead, he aimed to block it with his arms.

To his surprise, instead of the expected tingling sensation of lightning, he felt a harsh remark.

“You’re getting slow with age!”

Asulin launched two powerful kicks, her body weight and hostility behind them, before the lightning’s tingling sensation hit him.

Asulin, despite being less skilled in combat compared to swordplay, exploited the elder’s momentary blindness to deliver a precise strike.

“Gasp!!”

Though he avoided a direct hit to his vital points, he was pushed away by Asulin’s force, letting out a soft groan.

“Move aside, don’t block my way back.”

Asulin hurriedly moved, trying to escape the area.

She wanted to leave quickly, before she was dragged back here after losing consciousness from an unexpected blow from Dominus.

Her movements were surprisingly agile, considering her weakened state from the injuries Dominus had inflicted.

Indeed, given her condition, such agility seemed miraculous.

But the determination to return to those dear to her, whom she had caused trouble, fueled her incredible strength.

Certainly, her body was weakened, but her hostility, which allowed her to skillfully control vast lightning, had grown sharper.

“Don’t worry, I’ll hold you accountable later for kidnapping a married woman.”

Her voice, filled with hostility, made even the elder swallow nervously.

“…Huh.”

The elder couldn’t help but watch anxiously, waiting for her to act.

Clearly, he wished Dominus would wake up and stop her.

“Don’t send pursuit. We’ve subdued these here. From now on, controlling this lightning without a sword will be incredibly difficult.”

“Huuu!!”

Asulin’s cold voice, chilling enough to turn any wind into a winter gale, left no room for his desperation.

Confirming that Asulin had subdued her opponents, she turned her head away and started moving towards the barbarians’ encampment where she had been held captive.

“Hmm, what a mess she made in just a moment. Truly a spirited woman.”

“Wha…?!”

—

Suddenly, an amused voice echoed, startling him into turning around.

“Whoosh-! Bam!”

“Ugh!!”

A fist, compressed with immense hostility, struck her abdomen, ending her escape attempt.

It was a simple, brutal blow that immobilized her instantly.

Despite her resolve to flee, she collapsed to her knees, her escape thwarted.

“Ah!”

The shock of the impact, as if her shoulders were breaking, forced a scream from Asulin.

Pain overwhelmed her consciousness, making it fade.

“Be grateful I’m not touching your face, little Thunder Deity.”

Dominus’s expression was grim as he spoke softly to her, as if reluctantly performing a task he didn’t want to do.

“…What?”

The elder, shocked, saw the man who had previously fallen collapse, turning into ashes that the wind carried away.

“Elder, you’re not the only one with tricks.”

Mockingly, Dominus gestured to bind Asulin again.

Thus, Asulin’s escape in the dead of night ended in failure.