Omniscient First-Person’s Viewpoint-Chapter 377: The Mediator of Inheritance Distribution

I couldn’t even begin to guess how the Thunder God must have felt, having its lightning stolen right before its eyes. But if I had to imagine, it was probably even worse than what the Thunder Overseer was feeling.

The Thunder Overseer’s reaction to the lightning thief wasn’t anger or betrayal. It was bewilderment. When theft is carried out with such audacity, it leaves you too dumbfounded to be mad. I’ll give you credit for that, Regressor.

The lightning, which had surged back up the cloud waterfall, poured into the Thunder God. Its divine form, sliced apart by the branches of lightning, flickered briefly. For a moment, it looked as though it was retreating.

Watching the Thunder God, the Thunder Overseer spoke.

“Normally, the Thunder God would take back the returned lightning and withdraw. But...”

This time, the Thunder God didn’t vanish. Its form had simply faded, becoming fainter in color. It lingered for a moment, staring in our direction, before sinking below the cloud waterfall and disappearing.

“Thanks to your interference, it’ll be back before long. I’m sure you have an explanation for whatever it is you just did.”

“Not an explanation, exactly.”

The Regressor hopped lightly down from the Thunderwheel and replied.

“To kill the Thunder God, we need to lure it back here first. If we sent it away completely, it wouldn’t come back for a while, and we’d just be wasting time.”

“You’re awfully confident.”

“Because I can do it.”

‘And I already tried it in a previous round.’

The Regressor’s ability to make connections was impressive. He could stake his life in a battle with someone he’d just met that day. Given that he’d just committed robbery right in front of her, it wouldn’t have been strange if they became mortal enemies.

‘He’s so sure of himself. I suppose he must be chosen, like us.’

Surprisingly, though, the Thunder Overseer seemed to take a liking to the Regressor’s boldness. Even after losing half the city’s stored energy, she stood there smiling like a fool.

Who knew there’d be someone in the world who actually gets along with the Regressor? Wonders never cease.

The Thunder Overseer turned to the children who had been guarding the Lightning Tower and spoke gently.

“Jerry. Tibi. Alka. Good work. We need to restore the Lightning Tower, so contact the repair workshop.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

The children bowed deeply to the Thunder Overseer and ran toward the lift at a brisk pace. The Thunder Overseer silently watched them until they were completely out of sight, then said,

“Since we used up so much energy, there isn’t much lightning left in the Thunderwheel. If you don’t kill the Thunder God, Claudia will suffer massive damage. From the moment you stole that lightning, whether we like it or not, we have no choice but to cooperate with you.”

“But if we kill the Thunder God, Claudia will have eternal peace, right? Sounds like a bet worth taking.”

The Regressor’s shameless response made the Thunder Overseer smirk.

“To kill a god, even someone like me has to gamble, is that what you’re saying? Hah... it’s been a while since my blood boiled like this.”

Muttering to herself, the Thunder Overseer stomped on the Lightning Tower. The thunderous power that had surged through her body flowed down through her feet and into the base of the tower. Her long hair, which had been brimming with lightning, settled back into its usual state as she returned to her normal appearance.

With a cold gaze, she pointed at the Regressor.

“I’ll take that bet. After all, there’s no way I’ll lose. But you’ll need to shoulder an equal risk.”

“What kind of risk?”

“Until the Thunder God is dead, we halt all negotiations. That includes truces or anything else.”

Wait, what?

Sure, it’s a relief she’s not running in to kill the lightning thief on the spot, but no matter how many times he’s done this before, killing the Thunder God can’t be that easy. Stopping all discussions until then sounds like a huge problem...

But before I could even voice my concerns, the Regressor answered without hesitation.

“Watch me.”

.

.

.

“You shouldn’t expect that!”

Hilde stomped her feet and shouted after hearing the entire story.

“What’s the meaning of this?! Shay, do you even intend to stop the war?”

The Regressor answered nonchalantly.

“Of course. As long as I stop the Thunder God, Thunder Overseer will support me wholeheartedly with whatever I need. Negotiations will go more smoothly, too.”

“How is that even a negotiation?! Hoping they’ll help out of goodwill isn’t negotiation—it’s flattery! Why are you trying to hand over gifts they didn’t even ask for? Are you dating the Thunder Overseer or something?”

“What? No way!”

“No way, right! Especially when you like men!”

Caught off guard by the sudden remark, the Regressor responded with confusion.

“What does that have to do with anything? I just thought granting the Thunder Overseer’s wish would make it easier to get help later.”

“Shay, do you know absolutely nothing about politics? The Thunder Overseer is still the leader of a city! Just because they owe you a little doesn’t mean they’ll help unconditionally. Why would you offer help first without any guarantees?”

“Then what should I have done?”

“You should’ve set conditions in advance, made them promise even more benefits, and then acted like you were doing them a favor by killing the Thunder God! What if relying on goodwill means you don’t get what you want?”

From a military standpoint, Hilde’s words were correct. Strictly from a military standpoint.

But the Regressor snorted in response.

“The Thunder God isn’t something for the military to handle—it’s mine. You don’t have the right to demand compensation for it. If I want to give, I’ll give.”

Up until now, they had been cooperating for the sake of peace negotiations with the allied nations. However, the Regressor was fundamentally unaffiliated with any nation, and even less so with the Military Nation. If the Military Nation were to go to war with another country, he would readily support the opposing side.

...And Hilde, realizing that, hardened her expression. Whatever sincerity she had shown earlier was quickly hidden behind a mask, and ‘Hilde’ resumed playing her role.

“Hmm~. I suppose the Military Nation is just too detestable to be Shay’s friend~.”

“Obviously. We were enemies to begin with. The Military Nation even locked me up in prison.”

“I know~. I thought there might’ve been a chance because of our time together, but it looks like that was just ‘my’ misunderstanding~.”

Hilde shrugged as if she had lost interest and headed somewhere else.

“Hilde? Where are you going?”

“Since I can’t rely on you, Shay, I’ll do what the Military Nation does best—gather shady intel~.”

Watching Hilde wave dismissively without hesitation as she walked away, the Regressor frowned. Pointing at her, he asked,

“What’s with her? Is she sulking?”

“Yes. Probably.”

This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

“Tch, how petty.”

“And you’re short-sighted.”

“What?”

“That’s not the point right now. Shay, what was that earlier? Was that really the Thunder God?”

The Regressor, who had been staring at me suspiciously, shrugged.

“You’ve mostly figured it out, huh? Yeah. That thing isn’t a demon or the real Thunder God. It looks terrifying and powerful, but it’s just the embodiment of thunderclouds and lightning. It doesn’t go beyond what we know lightning can do.”

“So it’s a scam.”

“Not exactly. At the very least, it’s a false idol born from fear—or faith—in lightning. Lightning is strong enough to inspire fear, so that Thunder God has the power to be feared.”

...A false idol? Wait a second.

Sliding the spade card further into my sleeve, I asked,

“A false idol?”

“You already know about it. Beings shaped by human fear. Unlike demons, their power doesn’t come from knowledge but from ignorance and terror. Think of the Wolf King or vampires.”

“Ah, that.”

I nodded in understanding. Oh, so that’s what he meant.

“Vampires originally only had blood magic, right? But after fighting against the Holy See and becoming symbols of fear, they gained the power to control darkness. Similarly, wolves were just regular beasts, but their brutality turned them into humanity’s natural enemy. That Thunder God is the same—it’s the result of Claudia’s reverence and fear coalescing.”

‘The Holy See told me that directly. They said it when they handed me Tianying and Jizan.’

I had my doubts, but this confirmed it.

So the Holy See outright lied to the Regressor too, huh?

It’s not that the Regressor was wrong. Ever since humanity became the dominant force on Earth, strange phenomena occurred. Animals gained immense power, reshaping the world and turning it into humanity’s playground.

The prime example was the Beast King. An animal, meant to represent its species, took on a human form. That was one of the bizarre events that happened across the world. The Regressor’s words weren’t wrong.

But the Holy See shouldn’t have said that. They’re the main culprits!

Anyway. I let out a sigh of relief.

“That’s a relief. I thought we’d be clashing with another monster like the Golden Mirror.”

“No way. Lightning isn’t a demon. It’s just a phenomenon.”

“Ha. You never know. A demon might pop out from somewhere.”

“You worry too much. There’s no way there are that many demons in the world.”

...Right. There shouldn’t be.

The Regressor spoke confidently.

“Anyway. Don’t worry about this. I’ll handle everything. You can just sit back and enjoy the sightseeing.”

“That’s the most unreliable thing I’ve ever heard....”

I was uneasy, but there wasn’t anything urgent for me to do. It’s not like I could fight clouds.

I guess I’ll take a look around the city and see what the Cloud City looks like.

Claudia had a unique structure, with its buildings clustered tightly under towering Lightning Towers. The First Lightning Tower, where the Thunder Overseer resided, was the largest and monopolized all the thunder power supplied by the Thunderwheel.

As I considered checking out the inside of the Lightning Tower, I spotted Peru. She was surrounded by jackals who had followed her, looking troubled.

“When is the Suppressionist Overseer’s money coming?”

“Are you just stalling so you don’t have to pay?”

“...Well, the Thunder Overseer is busy dealing with the Thunder God—”

“Do you think we’re idiots? We grew up in Claudia too! The Thunder God shows up every year!”

“Saying you can’t hand over anything for now is no different from saying you won’t give it at all!”

Peru tilted her head, clearly puzzled. It was the first time she had heard such a thing. Naturally—since I had just made it up today.

“Y-You’re going to kill us?”

But the jackals, struck by the sudden thunderclap of my words, finally seemed to regain a bit of courtesy and shrank back cautiously.