Chapter 132: Chapter 131: God of Destruction’s Descendant, Part I
Translator: HunterW
Editor: RED
“Shit!”
“Are you sure he used Equality?”
“I’m sure. My STR just dropped to 2,000 and my WIL and INT went up to 2,000!”
“Then why is he so strong?! All of his Stats should be at 1.”
“How the fuck should I know? You saw the red smoke too!”
“All of you cut the chatter! Lee Jiwon isn’t supposed to be using Equality in the first place. Something’s…not right here!”
The Sahtawshi Guild was furious. They were losing the battle that had been in their favor this whole time. That Lee Jiwon bastard killed Madadu of the allied guild and robbed Kiran of his exclusive skill. It also didn’t seem that he had taken on any penalties from using Equality.
They could only watch in anger as Lee Jiwon cut down their fellow soldiers with ease, laughing the whole way.
Rahul ground his teeth in anger as he watched the battle before him. “How is this even possible…?”
Kiran didn’t reply to Rahul’s question. He couldn’t.
Kiran was the angriest and most confused person here. He was the real victim. His exclusive skill granted by the gods was gone. It didn’t just disappear, either; he was robbed of it by Lee Jiwon!
-This doesn’t make any sense. What the hell does Shaman Ko’s Greed mean? Why did it steal away my skill?!-
Kiran was seething on the inside.
“Master Rahul! We just received a report that Lee Jiwon used Equality.”
“…Are you sure?”
“Yes sir, I’m sure! Our men witnessed a red smoke rise from Lee Jiwon and engulf one of our soldiers. That soldier confirmed that all of his Stats had been set to 2,000.”
“Ha…” Rahul sighed in disbelief. He never heard of anybody being able to steal someone else’s skill. If there was a skill like that, he would have done everything in his power to acquire it to steal away Muskan’s Random Skill.
“Um… there is another thing.”
“What is it?” asked Rahul’s chief of staff.
“Well, Lee Jiwon did use Equality, but…”
“Spit it out, man!”
“Uh, yes, sir! He used Equality but unlike Master Kiran, he’s still fighting,” the scout said, pointing his finger at the battlefield, where Lee Jiwon was swinging his spear like a madman, cutting down his enemies before him. “Just like that.”
Rahul and Kiran stared in shock. They were so busy worrying about what just happened that they completely forgot about what sort of skill Equality was, even though it was Kiran’s.
Equality was an efficient skill. It had the potential to cut down a powerful boss monster’s abilities to a quarter normal. That potential came with its own restrictions for balance purposes; it lowered its user’s Stats to 1. However, this stolen skill didn’t seem to have those restrictions.
“We’ve been cheated! How…how…why is this even possible!?” Kiran cried out, but no one could answer him.
“Sound the retreat.”
Both sides were fighting neck and neck now. Lee Jiwon and Lagus Aman were strong, but the alliance between the Sahtaswhi and the Behi-Kinant Guilds was still much more powerful than the rest of the Labi Guild. The alliance didn’t just have Kiran and Madadu; they had four of their own Unrivaled devas and numerous elite veteran soldiers in their ranks.
In other words, with Kiran and Madadu now out of the battle, the fact that the Labi Guild was now fighting toe to toe against the alliance with the help of Lee Jiwon and Lagus Aman did not sit well with Rahul. It was one of the reasons he gave the order to retreat.
-If….if there’s a chance he can pass on skills he stole…-
Rahul knew there wasn’t a good chance of that happening, but if there was even a sliver of hope, he had to see for himself. The Descendant of the God of Destruction was worth that much, even if it meant giving Lee Jiwon everything he had.
-But if Lee Jiwon does manage to take away the skill, everything we’ve planned so far will go down the drain.-
But that was still better than letting Muskan keep the Descendant of the God of Destruction skill. Lee Jiwon wasn’t an Indian like Muskan, he wouldn’t have a reason to help the lower castes and there was no way he would be called Shiva’s Descendant. If Rahul couldn’t have the skill, no one could!
“Yeaaah!”
“We won!”
“They’re turning back!”
The Labi Guild roared out a hurrah as the upper caste alliance began its retreat. I was damn happy about it, too. I just got a powerful skill for free!
At that moment, Lagus and the Labi Guild’s chief of staff quickly came up to me.
“Thank you, Mr. Lee. There is no way we could ever repay you for what you showed all of us today,” Lagus said, as he vigorously shook my hand.
“It was nothing. It was the least I could do after joining the battle,” I replied sheepishly.
“But…” the officer carefully cut in, “I heard that you somehow stole Kiran’s exclusive Equality skill…”
“That’s right.” There was no point in hiding it. Plenty of people saw what happened today, and I doubted that the Sahtashwi Guild would be quiet about this.
“But how?” asked the officer.
“That’s… a secret,” I replied with a small smile. I wasn’t about to tell anyone what happened, but honestly, I wasn’t sure how I managed to steal it either.
All I knew was that Shaman Ko’s Selfish Prick skill was one hell of a skill, and there was a chance something like this could happen again.
I knew that they were afraid and nervous about what happened; they were right to be. They wondered if I would steal Muskan’s skill away from them, and if I knew I could, I would. It didn’t matter if I made Lagus, the Labi Guild, and all of India my enemy. That skill was that valuable.
I wouldn’t, however, as much as I wanted to. While I didn’t care what they would think of me if I did, that unknown punishment hung over my head menacingly and I didn’t want to needlessly take it, in case it was something really annoying. The crying Muskan, who begged at my feet to help her, also got to me, and I had vowed to myself over and over not to interfere.
“Watch your tongue! Mr. Lee aided us at our request and defeated our enemies for us. Mind your manners.”
“Oh! My apologies.”
“It’s all right.”
The air tensed for a second when Lagus reprimanded his subordinate ,but the Labi Guild’s soldiers were too happy to care. It was something for the higher-ups to deal with, anyway.
“Please, follow me.”
“Okay.” I followed Lagus.
“Lee Jiwon! Lee Jiwon!”
“Lagus! Aman! Lagus! Aman!”
The soldiers chanted our names as we passed through them.
The Labi Guild’s soldiers were ordered to rest, but the officers were busy. They had to find out who died and make sure they knew to return here while avoiding the Sahtashwi and the Behi-Kinant Guilds on the way. At that moment, Sandip and Muskan walked over to me, beaming.
“You put on quite a show for us today.”
“Thank you, but it wasn’t much.”
“It wasn’t much? I finally learned today why the rest of the world holds you in such high regard. In my opinion, the rest of the world has much to learn about you.”
“I feel the same way,” said Muskan.
It was weird. It would be more normal for them to be wary after witnessing how I stole another person’s skill, especially since Muskan was the person who brought the lower castes and the Dinats together as Shiva’s Descendant.
I would have expected Muskan to not think that far ahead, and I was sure the guild’s officers had to have been a little worried but I saw no sign of that.
-I was going to leave right away, but I guess I’ll have to stay a little while longer.-
“Mr. Lee, is it safe to assume that we don’t have to worry about Kiran and his Equality skill now?” one officer asked as innocently as possible, but I could tell what he really meant.
“Yes, it is.” I didn’t copy the skill, I stole it completely. That was what Kiran’s expression told me.
“Hah! That’s one thorn out of our side! Things are looking up for us!”
After that, we talked about a few more things, but no one brought up how I managed to steal Kiran’s skill. They must have already discussed among themselves beforehand, but that was perfectly fine with me. We quickly finished our preparations for the next day and went our separate ways to rest. The battle wasn’t over yet.
As I stood to leave for my private tent, I noticed Muskan, who was sitting off to the side, and our eyes met. She smiled widely, flashing her bright, white teeth that contrasted against her dark skin.
From all of her actions today, I was still looking down on her. I knew that I shouldn’t, but the thought was still there in the back of my mind, bugging me, that there was a chance she could stab me in the back. But for some reason, I smiled back. I didn’t know why she felt so trustworthy.
When I got to my tent, I plopped down on a chair with a heavy sigh. I tilted my head towards the ceiling of the tent and quietly called out, “Come out. I don’t think you’re on our side.”
At that moment, a small form showed itself from a corner on the right side of the tent. It had on a mask that only showed its eyes.