Chapter 142: No Reaction
[Mental load increased by 1%]
"Just surround the ’God’, sir! We can’t attack from the outside! My power will be out of range if we do it!"
Cillian warned him while letting out a maniacal chuckle, finding their situation amusing. To avoid the thunder strikes from both the Hidden One hitting them while keeping him in place, they had to keep moving constantly, all while hoping that Oliver wouldn’t run out of steam.
Heck, Oliver might suddenly lose control of his power, which would make everything such a waste, especially since they had already come this close to finishing everything if the plan they were executing was working.
’Old man, hold on!’
Bang—!
[2:39]
Oliver didn’t disappoint Cillian as he continued to work, taking a few thunder strikes while narrowly avoiding the rest and protecting Cillian at the same time.
He ’slid’ his hand through the air as a ’window’ appeared to ’drag’ Cillian inside. They then transferred to a nearby area, where Oliver repeated the same action over and over again.
Cillian put this matter aside, knowing that Oliver was taking all the risks of getting hit. The only thing that mattered to him now was keeping the Hidden One in the stationary position.
Then, Cillian looked over the broken piece of shard clenched in his one available hand.
There was no reaction.
Cillian looked over at Oliver’s hand, where the broken piece of the shard was also visible, and, the same as his own shard, it appeared completely normal, contrary to what he had expected it to react.
And for it to appear just as normal wasn’t a good sign. It was supposed to give them some sort of signs they can work with!
’God Killer my ass!’
Cillian’s heart wavered when no apparent changes were happening.
[Mental load increased by 1%]
He was already doing his best to hold the Hidden One down.
Bang—!
"More!"
Rumble—!
Cillian raised one hand, calling forth the thunderstorm in the skies where his own thunderstorm mixed with the Hidden One’s.
Then, he brought his hand down again and directed it all towards the Hidden One.
[Mental load increased by 1%]
Baaang—!
More thunder strikes fell toward the Hidden One, holding him down even further. Then, Cillian found himself dragged through Oliver’s ’window’ and transferred to a nearby location, this time slightly closer than before.
Cillian was able to see the situation more clearly since he had only tried to mimic the Hidden One’s ability earlier.
There, the Hidden One’s eyes had become completely hollow while Arthur’s hanging body remained motionless.
[2:29]
[Mental load increased by 1%]
Just as he and Oliver were moving around, Cillian could hear the God’s voice, probably because he was using the same nature of power as the Hidden One amidst the thunder strikes all around them.
"This can’t be real..."
The Hidden One found his situation unbelievable.
"This World hasn’t started the middle stages of the plague? How am I supposed to escape now?"
Right before Cillian was dragged away by Oliver, he heard the Hidden One continue talking to himself.
"The Shepherds of Creation found a way to move through the stages?"
Bang—!
[Mental load increased by 1%]
Cillian appeared in another location, this time facing the other side, where he heard that the Hidden One’s sudden rampage stemmed from three things.
The middle stages of the plague, the Shepherds of Creation, and the futile situation the Hidden One found himself in after realizing that his grand escape plan would never work because the world Cillian had transmigrated into had not yet reached the stage when he was supposed to escape.
[2:09]
That was the only thing Cillian could hear for the past twenty seconds as he kept trying, hoping to receive a reaction from his broken shard while keeping the ’God’ from moving.
And it fucking gnawed at his ears every time he heard the Hidden One’s sad voice, to the point that Cillian would rather kill himself than listen to any more of it.
"Shiver me timbers! I never wanted to hear his fucking voice while I’m trying to hold him down! Just... shut up and die!"
Cillian raised his hand once more and shouted.
[Mental load increased by 1%]
"Eat shit, you annoying fucker!"
Rumble—!
[1:59]
Time was becoming more pressing as Cillian wished for something to happen instead of the same thunder strikes, moving around the air, and repeating. It was almost as if they were trapped in a never-ending cycle of actions, even though almost a minute had already passed.
’Fuck! Did we miss something?!’
Cillian tried to maintain his positive outlook on things, hoping they would somehow work out, but even he was starting to feel that the situation was becoming hopeless.
’Please... please... work for fuck’s sake. I might not be able to kill the God myself, but at the very least, this Artifact, which the Shepherds are putting all their cards on, should!’
Work.
[1:49]
It was supposed to work.
[1:39]
Yet any response that was supposed to happen any time now that Hidden One has been put in his place for a minute still wasn’t appearing.
"Why... why?!"
Cillian was starting to feel depressed.
He was considering ditching the plan if the mimicked ability ran out of time before a result showed up.
[Mental load increased by 1%]
...
Standing atop a building was Sylvia, the White Shepherd from before, gazing into the thunderstorm in the distance. Visible exhaustion showed on her face, with blood scattered across her body as the two other Shepherds stood right beside her.
"Cillian Sparrow. Oliver Gasparo."
She had been watching from the start as Oliver continued dragging people from elsewhere before both Cillian and Oliver disappeared, probably having entered the thunderstorm filled with thunder strikes as they continued to hold the Hidden One down.
"Did that kid already figure out that the Hidden One had to be put in place for the Artifact to work?"
Sylvia looked at the largest chunk of the broken Artifact shard in her hand, the same type of shard that Cillian had managed to procure from the Ancient Ruin where the Hidden One’s shrine resided.
And unlike Cillian, Oliver, and the rest of the people who had already surrounded the area where the Hidden One was rampaging and destroying everything, Sylvia’s large chunk of the shard was reacting.
It was asking to be broken apart.
If this continued, Sylvia would achieve the total destruction she had envisioned, destroying the Viola territory as part of her revenge.
However, because the plan had been moved forward as Arthur became impatient, which also forced the Shepherds to act impatiently, the risks of her plan had become more apparent than they should have been.
Sylvia still had to worry about the Brown Shepherd.
"Okay."
That’s why she had to take some countermeasures.
A small, crazed smile appeared on her lips.
"This is my thanks for doing all the things I’ve wanted someone to do for a long time."
Sylvia clenched the broken shard in her hand before it shattered. Right after, a huge pillar appeared as chains extended toward the thunderstorm.
Then, she turned toward the other two White Shepherds waiting for her and said.
"Let’s go."
After joining the fray, Sylvia, who had achieved one of her acts of revenge, was leaving the stage.