Thirty minutes had passed since Rahul gave his order.
âAre they still not here yet?â
âItâs difficult to move five hundred mortals at once. Itâll take some time, sir.â
âI donât care if you have to drag them on their asses or whip them; get them here now!â
âYes, sir!â
âFuck!â Rahul swore. He knew that getting angry wasnât going to solve his current predicament, but he couldnât help himself. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got.
âPlease, calm down. The battle isnât over yet. Thanks to your insight, we still have one lastâŠâ
âWe should have ended this while we were still ahead! At this rate, those insects are going to take over!â Rahul interrupted Shan Diva, annoyed. Rahul didnât like that he was forced to use his last resort.
Furthermore, this last resort would only serve to get a rise out of the enemy. Those half million mortals would be begging for their lives; no doubt the enemy would hesitate to attack, and if using that chance could bring Rahul victory, he would take it.
â
âHuh?â Something was beginning to bother me at the back of my mind even though the battle had turned in our favor. I automatically turned around and saw Muskan smiling at me.
âI told you before; I canât harm you, Mr. Lee.â Muskanâs lips were closed, but I could hear her voice clearly in my head⊠but that wasnât important here. The battle was in our favor, but her words did not fit in with our situation.
âWhat the hell are you talking about now?â I asked. I was too far away for her to hear my voice, but somehow I knew that she would know what I was saying.
âThank you for helping me. I was able to finish up here perfectly. I just hope that my small gift to you will be of great help to you.â
âIâm asking why youâre bringing this up now.â
Her smile was calm and sad. There shouldnât be any reason for her to make an expression like that. It wouldnât be long until her skill awakened, so she should be happy, not sad. Her words didnât make any sense, either.
Muskan turned away from me and turned her attention to the other side of the river. Several thoughts ran through my head. I couldnât grasp what she was trying to tell me. We were winning the battle; it wouldnât make too much of a difference if I stopped fighting, and so I headed for Muskan, to ask her what she meant.
However, at that moment, I felt a disgusting feeling from the other side of the river. I quickly turned back around and noticed the source of that disgusting feeling and the wailings that came with it.
I clenched my teeth in anger. âRahul, you crossed a line!â
After the world changed, many places kept our social laws of the past to make sure at least most could live as proper human beings, but there were still places where power was the law of order.
India was obviously the latter; that was why this war had started in the first place.
Everyone stopped fighting when they appeared. There were just way too many of them. Everyone realized in an instant that they were all mortals, mortals who really would get wounded and die for good from fatal attacks. They also realized that the mortals were all Vaishyas, Shudras, and Dalits.
â
Rahul came forth. âAll forces retreat!â He turned around and gave a signal. A fire mage then fired off a fire spell right at the mortals.
âGahh!â
âSave me!â The humans screamed for their lives, but could do nothing against the fireball that exploded right in their midst. Thousands died in an instant.
Rahul turned back to the battleground and shouted once more, âIâll admit it; you bastards managed to push me into a corner! I have no qualms about killing all of the half million mortals I have brought here. Do you all need more confirmation?â
The entire battlefield had fallen completely silent. Not a single soldier made a peep. All that could be heard was the wind in the trees.
After a moment, people started shouting out at once.
âYou son of a bitch; youâre not even human!â
âPiece of shit!â
âThis is best that the âgreat Rahulâ could come up with?!â
Thousands threw insults at Rahul, but Rahul didnât even blink. Soon, the Sahtashwi and the Behi-Kinant soldiers began to retreat from the battlefield, with their heads hung in shame. The fact that they had to resort using hostages to win the war made them feel as if they were the bad guys. It didnât take long for the devas to clear the river.
â
âTo go to this extent just because it doesnât look good for him isâŠjust too much. This is the worst possible situation,â Han Kyungchul said, as he walked up to me.
Ebonene was close behind him. âNo matter what we decide to do, itâll be difficult to prevent any huge losses.â
The other Sunbin and Myth Guild soldiers took their positions behind us and guarded our rear.
âWhat will you do?â
âLetâs wait and see for now.â
At that moment, Rahul spoke again. âI will trade these half million mortals for Muskan!â
âWhat sort of nonsense are you spewing?!â
âCut the crap, asshole!â
âWhy is it nonsense? Muskan is a deva. She gets to live again, but these mortals donât have that luxury. Whatâs a single death penalty compared to half a million lives?â
I had to say, he was probably the most thick-skinned person Iâd ever encountered.
âSon of a bitch! Donât go flapping that hole you have for a mouth!â Several people starting shouting insults at Rahul again.
âWhat do you say, Muskan?â Rahul, however, ignored the insults and asked Muskan. I followed Rahulâs gaze and turned to Muskan.
She had to turn him down. Sure, half a million lives were nothing to scoff at and I could clearly see them huddling together in fear but there were still millions and millions of Indians who were waiting for the advent of Shivaâs Descendant. Her followers would only grow exponentially after that.
She shouldnât turn back now that she finally had the upper hand. She had to sacrifice them for the greater good. Of course, if I was one of those mortals, I wouldnât like it one bit butâŠthere was no choice here. She had to turn him down, especially with her skill almost awakened.
I could also see the Ravi Guildâs trying to convince her to not do it. They understood more than about what was at stake. They probably even had family among the mortals, but they knew that they would have to make the sacrifice.
â
âWeâve come so far; we canât give in to his threats.â
âHeâs right.â
Muksan gave a small smile and looked around at the people staring at her with pleading eyes. âThank you for everything.â
âYou canât!â
âWe came here believing in you! You canât justâŠ!â
âI must. I have to. If you try to stop me, Iâll delete the skill myself. I can as long it isnât activated yet,â Muskan said, ending the conversation and pushing past the group.
No one tried to stop her.
â
âWhat the hell are you doing?â I noticed her pushing past the soldiers as she headed down to the river and I quickly ran over to her and asked, with Lagus right behind me.
âThank you both for everything that youâve done so far. If it werenât for the two of you, I wouldnât have been able to make this decision.â
âI knew you were an idiot this whole time, but are you seriously to be this irresponsible to the end?â
âHow is saving the lives of 500,000 people irresponsible?â
I couldnât think of anything to say back. Half a million was a lot of lives at stake. A lot. But they still werenât worth the hundreds of millions of lives in India.
âMuskan, please! You donât have to do this. Itâs almost complete. You donât have to sacrifice yourself for this!â Lagus seemed to have shared my thoughts.
âNo, this is the best option we have. Donât try to stop me.â Muskan continued past us to the river and neither of us tried to stop her.
Honestly, I had wanted this to happen in the back of my mind. I was so greedy and jealous that I hadnât wanted to let her skill to ever see the light of day but as I stood there, watching everything unfold, my chest was stuffy with frustration.
Could I do the same if I were in her position?
I started to think many things about Muskan. She was too nice and her will was too weak. She couldnât see the bigger picture. I was still looking down on her, but it just didnât sit well with me.
âStillâŠthis is stupid.â I watched as Muskan crossed the river and walked up to Rahul. Then, at that moment, I remembered what she had told me.
-Gift? And what did she mean about finishing up?-
If she died before her skill awakened, I was going to take on a huge punishment. Thatâs what the message and Muskan told me. There was no way I could get the reward, but she said that she finished.
-I just donât get it. I donât get it at all.-
I couldnât help but shake my head.
â
âItâs good to finally meet you.â
âI feel the same way.â
âI wasnât sure if this method would actually work. Actually, I thought it wouldnât work. But youâre right. Itâs my scathing and ruthless last stand.â
âThatâs good. Iâm glad you know yourself.â
âHmph, of course I should know, that way I wonât ever make the same mistake again.â
âItâs a shame that I had to have you as an enemy.â
âI feel the same way. If only you werenât a DalitâŠif only you were born a Brahmin.â
âI donât know about that. If I was, would I have been able to learn the skill?â
âIs that how that works?â Rahul laughed as if it really were a shame. âYouâve done well all this time. Go peacefully now. Oh, and Iâll spare the mortals for your bravery.â
âYou canât kill them all anyway.â
Rahul didnât say anything and only laughed before turning around. At that moment, a shower of fire, ice and lightning spells rained down on Muskan who just stood there and didnât even try to block the attacks.
â
I felt at a loss as I watched Muskan die. I wondered why I was dragged here. Why was this war even started in the first place if the hero couldnât defeat the villain? I understood why she had to do it; there were half a million lives at stake, but so was the livelihood of her people. It was a war; there were bound to be sacrifices to be made. They had to win the war first, and the time for regret would come later.
âItâs time to leave this place! The Sahtashwi and the Behi-Kinant Guilds are to restrict foreign activities and focus on recovery!â Rahul shouted for all to hear.
At that moment, a message popped up in front of me.
==[The Destruction Godâs Descendant has completely awakened.
The end of destruction means destroying yourself and returning to perfection.
Muskan, the user of Destruction Godâs Descendant, had completed the skill to 99% and, upon her death, has provided the final 1% for skill completion. Her two Comrades will now be rewarded.
The First Comrade may receive 2 out of 7 options.
The Second Comrade may receive 1 out of 5 options.]==
==[Option 1: Absolute Destruction (1% chance to inflict instant death upon enemies.)
Option 2: Source Destruction (10% chance to incur a permanent death penalty.)
Option 3: Normal Destruction (After killing an enemy, there is a 100% chance to randomly decrease one of enemyâs Stats by 1-5 points.)
Option 4: Increase all Stats by 2000 points
Option 5: Obtain double Stat points upon leveling up.
Option 6: Inflict 10x attack-based damage on enemies.
Option 7: All effects, including buffs, debuffs and heals will not work.]==
Lagus and I looked at each other in shock. Neither of us knew about this.
âWhat is this about?â
âI donât know either, Iâm afraid.â
According to the message, it seemed that Muskan could not become the Descendant and the skills effects were to be passed to whoever she chose to be her comrades, and that it could only work upon her destruction.
A shiver ran down my spine. Muskan knew that she would have to die since the beginning. She must have known that she wouldnât be able to resurrect. Lagus seemed to have come to that realization as well.
==[A Roulette Wheel will now spawn for the First Comrade, Lagus Aman, to choose his two of seven rewards.]==
Soon, a huge roulette wheel appeared before us. It seemed that only the two of us could see it. It began to spin on its own before coming to a stop.
==[Congratulations.
You have received Option 4. Your Stats will be increased by 2000 points each.]==
==[The second wheel will now spin.]==
A new wheel appeared with only six of the seven options on it.
==[Congratulations.
You have received Option 2. You now have Source Destruction (10% chance to incur a permanent death penalty.)]==
==[A Roulette Wheel will now spawn for the Second Comrade, Lee Jiwon, to choose his one of five rewards.]==
The messages appeared one right after another. We barely had time to blink before the wheel spun for me.
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==[Congratulations.
You have received Option 1. You now have Absolute Destruction (1% chance to inflict instant death upon enemies.)]==
The messages that didnât seem to care about our reactions disappeared once I received my reward. I remembered what she told me, that she couldnât hurt me and how she thanked me for my help.
I had never met Muskan before in my life. I hadnât even heard of her in my past life. It made sense for her to do this for Lagus, but she had no reason to grant someone she had never met before a reward of this caliber. It was almost as if⊠Muskan knew that this would happen before it all began. It wasnât that she was an idiot; it was that she knew what would happen that her actions seemed stupid.
âJust whatâŠdid she expect from me to go this far?â I asked myself, but there was no way to get the answer now. Muskan was gone for good.