Chapter 156
Drip-drip-drip—
Above the gently flowing spring water.
The reflection of Suhyuk standing with his eyes closed could be seen.
Tyr, who was watching alongside, smirked as if he found it amusing.
“Is he without greed? Or is he just perceptive? Either way, he’s a lucky fellow.”
Tyr, standing with one arm behind his back, glanced at Odin.
“What were you thinking, preparing something like that as the final gift? Nine out of ten would’ve lost their sight.”
Mimir’s Well.
It was a mystery known to very few, even among the gods of Asgard.
But Odin and Tyr, who discovered that well together, knew.
Mimir’s wisdom was cruel and capricious, taking the two eyes of those who coveted it.
“If he had coveted the well, he would have lost both eyes. If he had taken a single sip without greed, then he would have lost one eye.”
Mimir granted wisdom to none who desired nothing, yet did not forgive those who sought it with greed, making it a merciless existence.
So, the correct answer was just one drop.
Exactly as Suhyuk had done.
“Thor was a fellow who knew how to temper his greed. He would never have lost both eyes.”
“Of course. He is your son after all. But tell me this: how does it feel to live as a one-eyed man?”
“Don’t one-armed men live as well?”
“You just never concede one word, do you?”
Tsk, Tyr clicked his tongue in irritation and muttered.
“Anyway, that boy took everything.”
Suhyuk opened his eyes in the reflection of the well.
Upon seeing his image, Tyr couldn’t help but be impressed.
“He’s a different one from before he came here. That boy.”
“Considering all that he’s absorbed so far, it’s only natural.”
“That’s true. After all, he’s taken half of what you intended to pass on to Thor.”
In some ways, the human standing before them had received a blessing far greater than a lifetime of good fortune.
“I thought you were heartless and merciless.”
“……”
“The one who felt nothing about his own son becoming one-eyed, who offered the Yggdrasil leaf to save his child, and who would even bow his head to a human.”
Until a while ago, Odin had really seemed that way.
He was the first to suggest that Thor should be killed, and it seemed he would truly go through with it.
But Odin ultimately did not.
He created a new Asgard to imprison Thor, and stayed here.
Leaving the heavily treasured Valhalla Palace vacant.
“No need to justify yourself.”
Tyr respected his whimsical choice.
“I may not understand it as someone without a son, but no one in your realm will cast a stone at you.”
“… Why?”
“Because, before this single mistaken choice, you’ve made thousands, nay, tens of thousands of right ones.”
Asgard existed because of Odin. There likely wasn’t a single inhabitant who didn’t know that.
Therefore, Tyr was confident.
No one would disrespect Odin’s choice.
After a long silence, Odin finally spoke.
“I had no intention to justify myself.”
Slowly, Suhyuk’s image in the well began to open his eyes.
He had taken all the treasures prepared for Thor and shed his human shell, becoming an entirely new being.
“If a day ever comes when this choice proves wrong…”
If he were to.
Once again become a monster who ravages not only Asgard but also the gods of the past.
“Then I’ll take responsibility for it myself.”
* * *
His eyes were clear.
He felt as though his field of vision had expanded more than twice its original size.
The vitality in his body was incomparable to before.
“The effect of the elixir is really good.”
He didn’t know how many times he marveled at it already.
Obtaining so many stats in such a short period was a first for him in this lifetime.
It was like he had become an entirely different person in that brief moment.
Kurr-.
Right after firing a blue spear strike high into the sky, he felt Thor’s aura approaching.
The same aura started to resonate with each other. Thor did not resist and came toward him.
Gulp-.
As he gradually approached, the tension heightened.
But it was alright.
At that moment.
“I don’t need to win the fight.”
Hoo-.
He exhaled deeply, easing the tension appropriately.
“If it were a problem that could be solved by fighting and winning, Odin would have resolved it already. He wouldn’t have sought my help.”
This was a perfectly reasonable thought.
But just being conscious of such an obvious matter helped a lot.
The tension slowly eased. Lee Suhyuk’s eyes widened as the blue monster came into view.
“You’re here?”
His tone had changed.
Until then, he had treated it as if it were Thor.
“-You monster.”
From now on, he had to consider it as an evil spirit to be exorcised.
Crackle-.
Thor’s response to Suhyuk’s words was the hammer in his hand.
The item known as Mjolnir, created from the Heart of Thunder.
That was the very cause of Thor’s downfall.
“I can handle this.”
Thud, thud-.
His heart pounded violently.
Even though he had undergone corporeal changes through Odin’s arrangement, he was still not as strong as Thor.
But he wasn’t entirely without confidence.
“Ferius’s legend wasn’t wrong.”
Thud-.
As if responding to Suhyuk’s thoughts, the Heart of Lightning beat more vigorously.
“The primary purpose is for humans to handle lightning.”
He had said that this heart was created to control lightning.
At the time, Suhyuk, as well as the viewers, had dismissed it as nothing more than an empty legend.
But the truth about lightning and thunder he learned here in Asgard was no different from Ferius’s words.
“This is an object created to fight and win against them.”
Humans had fought against gods.
“I didn’t know I’d be alone.”
That legend existed as history.
But the result was the defeat of humans. The lone human had been defeated by numerous gods.
He wasn’t interested in predetermined victories or defeats.
The past results couldn’t be changed, and he had no intention of fighting gods to avenge unknown humans.
But there was one thing he could clearly understand from that legend.
If someone had done it,
‘I can handle it too.’
Thump-.
By the time his determination had ended, Thor had approached within about ten steps of him.
It felt close, as if he could touch him by stretching out his hand. Suhyuk’s gaze still remained fixated on the Mjolnir held in Thor’s hand.
And Thor was no different.
“Growl-.”
He stared intently at Suhyuk’s hand.
As if he was mesmerized, having met his lost half.
“Do you want this?”
Feeling the greedy gaze on him, Suhyuk waved his hand.
“Then try taking I-.”
Buzz-.
Suddenly, Mjolnir moved.
Boom-!
“……!”
A blue lightning bolt grazed past his eyes. In an instant, the bolt struck the ceiling.
Rumble-!
The impact traveled from the ceiling down to the ground.
The explosion was so immense, it could have leveled a small mountain, and the speed was beyond the visible reaction level.
Of course, it wasn’t something one could dodge.
He missed.
“……What a mess.”
The power was immense, but it was not under control.
That was par for the course.
Even in that state, Thor still existed within.
‘Should I trust it?’
Grrr-.
Watching Thor make increasingly beast-like sounds, Suhyuk took a deep breath.
Simultaneously,
Crackle, crackle-.
Dark blue lightning began to rise from various parts of Suhyuk’s body.
『’Lightning Lord’ imbues your body.』
『’Heart of Lightning’ resists ‘Lightning Lord and Lightning’.』
『’Selfish Sacrifice Lv8′ resists ‘Lightning Lord and Lightning’.』
Boom-!
A bolt of lightning struck from the sky onto Suhyuk’s head. A new and powerful energy canvassed his entire body.
『’Selfish Sacrifice Lv8′ resists ‘Lightning Lord and Lightning’.』
『’Selfish Sacrifice Lv8’…』
『…』
He maximized the output. His accumulated efforts didn’t even seem to matter as the power imbued in his body fought back.
The output rose, and so did the burden.
As the power surged, an unpleasant sensation enveloped his entire being.
‘So this is what it feels like.’
There had to be a process, much like his own, that had led to the current state of Thor.
Someone else’s presence invading, ripping apart both body and mind.
Like a drug. The more intoxicated one became, the stronger they got, but that came at the cost of destruction and, ultimately, ruin.
Thump-.
But even knowing this, he couldn’t let go of this power.
Not now, and not in the future.
He still had things to do, whether it killed or destroyed him.
Crackle-!
The output had reached its maximum.
There was no more time to delay.
Maintaining this state for too long was neither physically nor mentally advisable.
Creak-.
He took a step forward.
He stepped directly toward Thor.
“I will trust you.”
His tone towards Thor had changed.
For a moment, his eyes cleared.
Boom-!
Almost simultaneously, Suhyuk’s foot and Thor’s Mjolnir moved.
Flash-!
A pillar of electricity shot up high into the sky, mixing blue, black, and golden lightning. A fierce storm surged as the lightning reached the heavens.
Whooo-.
Dust clouds rose from the shattered ground. A pillar of electricity formed between the two, acting like a wall that blocked each other.
And within the dust cloud.
Creak-.
A hand reached forward and grabbed Thor’s Mjolnir.
“What the…?”
Thor’s eyes looked at Mjolnir in his own hand.
Suhyuk, whose face had turned black from the burns, was holding Mjolnir with him, staring closely into his eyes.
“You did well.”
In the last moment, there had been a brief hesitation in Thor’s hand that wielded Mjolnir.
Had that hesitation not been there, piercing through the thunder Thor wielded would have been impossible.
Crackle-.
Blue electricity flowed from the hand that grabbed Mjolnir.
The energy from the Gloves of Thunder seeped into Mjolnir, discovering the fragment of thunder within it.
『’Mjolnir’ reacts to the ‘Gloves of Thunder’.』
『’Mjolnir’ rejects the ‘Gloves of Thunder’.』
“Kaak-!”
Crack-.
Thor’s hand grabbed Suhyuk’s neck. His airway constricted and his eyes felt like they would pop out.
Squeeze-.
Despite that, he tightened his grip on Mjolnir even more.
Once he grabbed hold, he couldn’t let go. If he let go now, the opportunity Thor created with much effort would be in vain.
“Aga…in…”
Crackle-!
He gripped Mjolnir as if to crush it.
His hand burned as it discharged thunder, enticing the fragment of thunder within it.
“Become…one…again….”
No matter how he thought about it, this was the only way to restore Thor to his original self.
Combining the Heart of Thunder, which had been split into two, back together.
And that was also what Suhyuk had wanted from the beginning.
For a moment.
The two thunders clashed, sparking wildly.
Buzz-.
“A way to…handle you….”
Crackle-.
Through Mjolnir, a faint voice was heard.
“…but this…”
『’Viewing the Memory of Thunder’.』
TL’s Corner:
Look out it’s a cliff – says the driver driving off the cliff.