The Nebula’s Civilization

Sairan didn’t seem happy at the words that he was chosen.

Hwee-Jun was merely making a stab in the dark, but he was right. There were five chosen ones in the Black-Scaled Lizardmen Tribe. Lakrak, Zaol, Yur, Owen, and the star catcher. No one knew why, but until now, they had been the only ones receiving God’s special grace. So the fact that Sairan was chosen meant…

“Did someone die?”

Pzzt’s light dimmed instead of flashing while replying to Sairan.

The star catcher.

Sairan closed his eyes for a moment and showed his condolences by mumbling to himself. In the meantime, Hwee-Jun’s soldiers seemed confused and hesitant to approach Pzzt since they had never seen anything like it. Nothing changed even when Hwee-Jun told them to go ahead from behind them.

“You damn cowards. Bring a bow and arrow. Where are the archers?”

Pzzt looked back at Hwee-Jun and the soldiers.

There are annoying things here. And that human woman over there…

…No, nevermind. I can’t do anything about them because I am only here to carry out God’s will.

“I’ll deal with them myself. But Pzzt, why me?” asked Sairan.

God chose you Himself, so I don’t really know the reason. But you probably think you deserve it. Aren’t you the second best warrior of your clan?

At those words, Sairan slowly nodded.

You don’t have to worry about them anymore. You will now act on behalf of God, and when you do so, you can borrow His power.

“Starting when, do you mean?”

Pzzt flashed.

Starting now.

Pzzt glowed as he disappeared just like when he had appeared.

The salt mine then returned to darkness save for a few lit torches.

Hwee-Kyung quietly whispered, “So that strange creature…”

“It is the one who oversees the power of lightning in place of God.”

“And you have just been chosen by God?”

“Yes.”

Sairan looked at Hwee-Jun and said, “I thought there would be a complex ritual and process to follow, and that one would practice and get used to the power during that process, but I guess not.”

“Then what?”

“The power is within me, and I know exactly how to use it.”

Sairan grabbed the spear sticking out of his back with his left hand. Then he pulled on the spear and covered the wound on his back with his right hand.

Pzt!

A spark scorched Sairan’s wound, and it smelled like burning flesh.

“Sairan!”

“I’m okay. I’ve become energized after I got the power. And this kind of pain…”

Sairan then took out the remaining spear piece sticking out in front of him and scorched the wound before blood could gush out.

“...Is nothing.”

Hwee-Kyung knew that the pain wasn’t nothing judging by Sairan’s facial expression, but she decided not to say anything; she wanted to protect the warrior’s pride.

Then Hwee-Jun yelled, “What are you all doing! The monster disappeared! Attack now!”

“I don’t think they understood what just happened,” said Hwee-Kyung.

“Then I’ll have to make them understand.”

Sairan held his sword in his right hand and spread his left palm open. Electric lights began to flash between his fingers. Hwee-Jun was the first to notice.

“Damn, there’s no way…”

Hwee-Jun was quick-witted and also physically fast. While the soldiers charged at Sairan with their spears, oblivious to what was happening, Hwee-Jun escaped Sairan’s field of vision and ran away from the corridor.

Boom!

Those who were closest to Sairan could only see light, while the soldiers who were farther away saw a thunderbolt shoot out from Sairan’s left hand and hit the corner of the salt mine. As for those struck by the lightning, they could no longer see anything.

As the thunder echoed in the cave, several soldiers collapsed onto the ground after getting hit. It was easy to tell what had happened to them by the smell of burning flesh and the white steam rising from their bodies. Intelligible crying and screaming echoed. Only a few words could be discerned.

“I-It’s the chosen one!”

“Run!”

There were soldiers who threw their spears and ran away, and there were even some who fainted on the spot. Sairan didn’t chase after those who had fled and instead looked down at his hand.

Hwee-Kyung came up to him.

“Are you okay?”

“Oh, yes. I’m fine. I just thought I should use this power carefully. It’s too much for an individual to handle. I think I now know why God only gave this power to a few people.”

Hwee-Kyung nodded after glancing down at the bodies burned to death by lightning.

“With this power, why is it that the Black-Scaled Tribe isn’t fighting the Ears Cut Tribe?”

“I don’t really know much about the Ears Cut Tribe since I’d been following Owen around until recently…but I think it’s because the Ears Cut Tribe have something similar. And there's a problem with this power.”

“What kind of problem?”

“This power can’t be used infinitely. I’m feeling a kind of mental exhaustion. I think I should rest and smoke medicinal herbs to recover from it.”

Hwee-Kyung replied, “...What happens if all that mental energy is used up?”

“Don’t worry. I only get tired. And I still have more than enough energy now. I feel a lot better now that I’m not bleeding.”

Sarian’s physical condition didn’t seem so good to Hwee-Kyung, but she nodded anyway. There were a few more clashes in the salt mine.

Hwee-Jun didn’t give up. He reorganized the soldiers that had escaped and blocked the entrance of the mine. Then a sabertooth tiger that seemed to have gotten lost in the mine attacked Sairan. But Sairan defeated all of them with the Power of Lightning.

When Hwee-kyung and Sairan came out of the salt mine, only Hwee-Jun and about fifteen soldiers remained.

“...You got to me in the end.”

Hwee-Jun clenched his fists as if he had been wronged and stared at Hwee-Kyung. Hwee-Kyung thought he was ridiculous.

“You should think about who started all of this in the first place.”

“You’re the one who brought that wicked lizard into our castle. You were the one who eventually involved the smelly Gnolls and Lizardmen in this succession fight, when it should have been a fight between our siblings.”

“I didn’t…no, since when did we have such rules?”

“Don’t be stupid. You can never think far enough. Do you think Automation will be fine if you become the lord with the help of outsiders? Humans would be pushed out and swallowed by another species. Even if you got lucky and that didn’t happen, Automation would become in danger due to the interests of either the Ears Cut Tribe or the Black-Scaled Lizardmen Tribe. Do you really want to see the walls of Automation attacked?”

With Sairan by her side, Hwee-Kyung sighed and walked forward.

“Hwee-Jun. You’re the one that's stupid. Father has given his blood, sweat, and tears to protect Automation, but that also means that we’ve become passive since we can’t easily change and adapt. The world is big and wide. There are many other big tribes like the Ears Cut Tribe and the Black-Scaled Lizardmen Tribe out there along the northern coast and in the continent at large, but Father didn’t want to get involved and trade with any of them because he was afraid that interests of each tribe would clash with one another. And this is the result of that.”

“...But—”

Hwee-Jun tried to interject, but Hwee-Kyung didn’t stop talking.

“To be honest, I don’t even know if this result is bad. Every relationship is a deal. If you gain something, you also lose something. The walls of Automation might get attacked? What would that do? As far as I know, Automation has the tallest ramparts in this area. Tell anyone to attack if they’re confident enough. Father couldn’t put his most valuable trade product on the scale because he loved and cherished it so much. But I’m not a coward like Father. I’ll get something greater in return by giving up Automation.”

Hwee-Kyung noticed Hwee-Jun’s gaze turned to something behind her as she said that.

‘Sairan? No, that’s not it. It’s something further back.’

Hwee-Kyung was about to turn around, but she could sense that it was already too late. Hwee-Jun had already signaled with his finger. Hwee-Kyung realized that Hwee-Jun had prepared one last move.

She got caught up with Sairan and had been attacking using force until now, forgetting the kind of person she was, but finally, she was realizing her true talent.

‘That finger signal was sent to an assassin behind me.’

It was likely to be an arrow as she was too far out for someone to throw a dagger from their hiding place. There were bags of salt stacked on top of the small storage place at the entrance to the salt mine, and they would likely be hiding there. Sairan would probably react as soon as the arrow was shot, but he might be a little late.

‘Then the arrow would shoot into my back.’

For some reason, Hwee-Kyung was able to picture the shape of the arrow and the trajectory the arrow would follow.

‘What is the arrowhead made of?’

It’s an arrowhead made of iron. The hardness of the material probably means it came from the inner continent.

‘What about the feathers?’

Three rooster feathers.

‘Where would it strike?’

In the middle of your heart. By the looks of their shaking hands, they don’t seem like a skilled archer. But that shakiness would luckily cause your heart to get shot.

Hwee-Kyung realized that she wasn’t thinking to herself, but talking to a voice inside of her.

‘You are…’

Are you going to tell me to shut up again?

‘No.’

You will die if you stay like this. And I will too.

‘You too?’

Do you think you can stop the arrow?

‘No. I’m too slow. Sairan will also barely miss it.’

How do you think we can stop this arrow?

‘How would we stop an arrow that has already been shot?’

Use your imagination. Think about the bowstring being pulled, the assassin taking a deep breath, and when they’re aiming at you. You’ve missed a lot of things because your horns aren’t fully grown yet. Think of anything.

‘I don’t know. If the wind were to blow…’

Then the voice inside Hwee-Kyung, who seemed to be angry, became calm.

Wind? Wind, I see. Okay. Wind is always on my side.

Hwee-Kyung could feel it. She felt a gust of wind blowing behind her back.

She then said to the voice inside of her, ‘What are you?’

Are you asking for my name?

‘No.’

Then are you asking about my species? I am a spirit of Demonic Magic. We have survived long enough to lose memory of the Creator and our time of birth, and we live beside old temples of fallen gods, or in old blood like yours.

‘No…I didn’t mean to hear that kind of explanation. What are you? Are you the curse that has bothered me? Or…’

You’re asking about the nature of my existence. I am not the curse that you thought I was until now, and I’m not a misfortune that haunts you, either. But the explanation of luck given by the Lizardman, who just got empowered by my Demonic Magic friend, is lacking.

‘...Friend?’

The voice inside of her continued to talk.

I am…a complicated being. I choose the appropriate path out of all the possibilities that infinitely unfold into the future. I determine the possible and impossible paths, and choose the one that produces benefits.

‘...Can you explain it more simply?’

I manipulate probabilities.

The arrow that flew toward Hwee-Kyung lost its strength after being caught in a sudden gust of wind.

***

The sky, hundreds of meters above Automation.

A system window appeared in front of Sung-Woon.

[Demonic Magic Enchanted Hwee-Kyung has become aware of the enchantment.

The hidden Demonic Magic is now revealed.]

[Demonic Magic: (Unknown) → Demonic Magic: Probability]

Sung-Woon heard Hegemonia shout through the video call.

“No way! It wasn’t a curse?”

“Of course. Did you think I was crazy enough to choose a cursed individual?”

“But when I saw Hwee-Kyung’s character history, she definitely seemed like a cursed…”

Hegemonia fell silent when the answer came to them.

Sung-Woon held in his laughter and said, “Who would have created that history?”