Chapter 31. Demigod (4)

Compensation.

It was truly a beautiful word, one that could not fail to make one's heart race whenever heard.

"What is it, this compensation?"

In response to Yurie's question, brimming with anticipation, Johann answered with a rather arrogant air, his hands behind his back.

"Do you want to know?"

"Yes!"

"Do you really want to know?"

"Sure!"

"Alright. If you really want to know, I'll tell you. Hehehe."

No sooner had Johann burst into a willing laugh than a white aura erupted from beneath his feet.

'What is this?'

Yurie had seen this before.

The white cloud that appeared when Johann blew up the cliff.

It was Johann's avatar.

Rumble.

Johann's avatar, which had instantly enveloped his feet, lifted Yurie up.

Caught off guard, Yurie found herself standing on Johann's avatar.

Curiosity outweighed her bewilderment.

'Oh? What is this? It's so strange...'

At first glance, it looked like a white cloud.

But the sensation transmitted through her soles felt more like sticky mud, didn't it?

'It feels like some kind of adhesive. My feet are really sticking... Wait, they really are sticking?'

The feeling of being stuck was not a mistake.

Yurie's feet were adhered to the white cloud.

Or rather, the white cloud had firmly grasped Yurie's feet.

No matter how hard Yurie tried, she couldn't pull away.

"Old man, what is this? Why is it like this?"

In response to Yurie's question, Johann gave an unexpected answer.

"Those who have reached the realm of forming an avatar are now called 'Mingren.' However, before the current classification was used, they were called this. Because they possessed the potential to become gods as humans, they were called the realm of 'Lishen.'"

"...What kind of nonsense is that?"

"And those who reached the realm of Lishen were called demigods."

"Ah, forget it. Can you just let me off this thing?"

"Watch carefully. If you manage to solve that homework, you too can become a demigod, even if only half. That's the compensation you can obtain."

Johann, who only spouted incomprehensible words, was very calm.

Just as Yurie was about to let out an irritated sound.

Crack.

"Huh?"

A strange sound accompanied a yellow lightning bolt that flashed from the white cloud.

The lightning that flashed with a yellow light did not harm Yurie.

Crackle.

However, the lightning, once it appeared, branched out and instantly enveloped the entire white cloud.

And then.

Boom.

The cloud carrying Johann and Yurie ascended at an astonishing speed.

"......?!"

The sudden situation.

Yurie's heart pounded with surprise, but the immense pressure pressing down on her made it impossible for her to even scream.

The ascent only stopped when the long, winding river below looked like a thick tree branch.

"What is this?!"

No matter how strong Yurie's composure, the view from such an incredible height made her legs tremble.

Especially considering that the cloud supporting her could disappear at any moment, it was fortunate that she didn't wet herself right there.

But Johann, who had caused this commotion, was completely at ease.

He walked calmly on the cloud with his hands behind his back.

Johann smiled at Yurie.

"Try to hold on."

"...Huh?"

Crack.

Just as Yurie let out a dazed sound, the cloud shot forward with a flash of lightning.

"Ahh!"

Johann, with his hands behind his back, remained perfectly calm, but Yurie's upper body was thrown violently backward.

If Johann's cloud hadn't held onto her feet, she would have fallen.

"Ughhh!"

Struggling to keep her upper body up against the incredible speed, Yurie couldn't even open her eyes or breathe due to the intense wind pressure.

'Stream... I need to control the air flow!'

If she didn't, she would suffocate and die.

Yurie desperately tried to control the air flow around her.

Only then could she finally breathe and open her eyes.

The first thing Yurie saw was Johann's back, standing with his hands behind his back.

And as she gained a bit of composure, the scenery rushing beneath her came into full view.

It was only natural for Yurie's eyes to widen.

'People... flying in the sky?'

It was said that when one's gait reached a certain realm, they could walk in the air, but this was far beyond walking.

Only then did she understand what Johann had said earlier.

'If you form an avatar, you can become a demigod, even if only half?'

The ability to blow up a cliff with ease and fly freely through the sky.

Could someone with such power really be called a god?

But that was Yurie's hasty judgment.

Swish.

Johann, who had his hands behind his back, turned his head slightly.

Grin.

He was smiling.

A mocking smile, as if to say, "Is this enough to call you a demigod?"

Yurie felt an inexplicable sense of unease.

At the same time, Johann spoke, but the intense wind in her ears made it impossible to hear him clearly.

She could only guess the meaning from his mouth movements.

'So... you want to... fly... happily...?'

When the interpretation was complete, Yurie's face turned pale.

"Wait, just a minute!"

She stretched out her hand urgently, but it didn't reach Johann.

Johann was already looking forward.

And the white cloud carrying Johann and Yurie accelerated sharply.

Whoosh.

It instantly broke the sound barrier.

Boom!

The white cloud, now called Bungbung, left a disc-shaped shockwave in its wake as it shot straight ahead.

Yurie, who was inside, was terrified despite controlling the air flow, fearing her skin would peel off.

She had to desperately control the air flow while screaming.

"Ah, don't... attach... Bungbung... to anything... crazy old man! Ahhh!"

This damn Bungbung!

Whether due to the wind pressure or her anger, Yurie's cheeks trembled violently.

* * *

Yurie, who had lost her mind, stood on the street, staring blankly at the harbor.

Her hair was disheveled like a lion's mane.

Her eyes were bloodshot from burst blood vessels.

Her cheeks were sunken, and her eyes were dark with shadows.

Even the traces of saliva on the corners of her mouth were white.

She truly looked bizarre and pitiful.

Despite the many people passing by, they all avoided Yurie, making the area around her seem like it was sealed off.

In stark contrast, Johann looked refreshingly clean and tidy.

He nodded with a satisfied expression.

"We arrived on time."

A voice that was incredibly refreshing echoed in Yurie's ears.

At the same time, the hellish experience of the day flashed through her mind.

'How long... did it take?'

She couldn't remember the exact time.

She only remembered that the sun had set and risen again while she was struggling to survive.

She estimated that it felt like at least a day of flying at that terrifying speed.

'It was... terrifying...'

Yurie had to desperately circulate mana to survive, her strength drained from rowing the boat.

It was the first time in her life that she felt so close to heaven.

Especially since the sky was already so high, she thought that if she closed her eyes, she would open them in heaven.

'...I think I saw the entrance to heaven for a moment.'

Still, it wasn't her time to die, as Yurie managed to safely set foot on the ground.

Near Lake Montparnasse, where the dragon's cradle was located.

The fact made Yurie feel like she was dreaming.

'She is indeed worthy of being called a demigod.'

The ability to cover a distance that would take three months on horseback in just one day.

To an ordinary person, it was certainly a power worthy of a demigod.

'If I form an avatar... can I do it too?'

If she could solve the homework Johann gave her and form a complete avatar.

Could she possess such power too?

Yurie clenched her fist tightly.

'Absolutely, I must solve this homework.'

Today's experience was undoubtedly a grueling one.

But thanks to it, she would never forget the reward waiting behind the homework or why she had to solve it.

'Of course, that's one thing.'

Today's experience was something she never wanted to repeat.

Shiver.

As the terrifying memory resurfaced, Yurie shuddered.

'Huh?'

A thought crossed her mind.

'Wait?!'

Yurie turned her head and a low voice escaped her lips.

"Old man?"

"Why are you calling me?"

"If you could come like this... why didn't you tell me earlier?"

Johann, who could cover a three-month journey in a day, could have flown them for just a few hours each day.

They could have arrived a month earlier and been resting by now.

To this question, Johann wiped his nose and casually replied.

"You never asked, did you?"

As if asking something obvious, his voice was nonchalant.

Yurie was now certain.

'This guy... deliberately didn't tell me.'

He deliberately mentioned it on the last day.

'Why did he do that?'

Why did he deliberately not tell her?

The reason was simple.

'Of course, he did it to torment me!'

That old man with a terrible personality!

Thanks to this, Yurie's last thread of sanity snapped.

"...Old man."

"Sure."

"When in your life did you most want to kill someone?"

"Why are you asking that all of a sudden?"

"I think... that moment is... now."

Rumble.

Yurie's eyes, which had drawn her sword, were filled with anger and madness, overflowing with rage.

"Our little Bungbung's first taste of blood will be you... hehe."

A strange laugh escaped Yurie's lips, her eyes rolling back.

She charged forward, swinging her beloved sword, which she named Bungbung.

"Die, old man!"

* * *

A bold attack, disregarding her life.

However, Yurie's attack on the old man failed to achieve its purpose.

Because the old man was incredibly strong.

Yurie, who couldn't even touch Johann's clothes, had to pay the price for her momentary loss of control.

"Ahh..."

Her cheeks were swollen, her lips stung like they were bitten by bees.

One of her eyes was bruised blue.

Yurie, who had been beaten so badly that her eyes were black and blue, fainted for a moment and woke up next to a trash can in an alley.

The stench of the garbage and the terrible pain from her entire body helped her regain her senses, and her eyes shone brightly.

'Just wait, old man... do you think you'll stay spry until you die? There will come a day when you'll need a cane! When that day comes, I'll definitely break that cane of yours!'

...Or maybe her sanity was only partially restored.

Yurie, etching her hatred deep into her bones, got up.

'Ah... I might die.'

She was bruised and battered from head to toe, with no part of her body left unscathed.

'But how long was I out? Surely the ceremony to enter the cradle isn't over yet, right?'

Thinking that if she couldn't enter the cradle after all that suffering, she might die of frustration, Yurie left the alley.

As soon as she emerged from the alley, she was greeted by the bustling scene of the harbor and the strong smell of fish.

And a magnificent sight that made her forget her hatred.

The horizon stretching out straight.

The endless blue waves and the sunlight sparkling like jewels.

Yurie's lips parted in awe at the beautiful scenery she had never seen before.

"Wow..."

When she first arrived, she was so disoriented and lost in anger that she didn't have the chance to observe her surroundings.

The view of the lake, once she regained her composure, was truly magnificent.

'Is this... Lake Montparnasse?'

The world's largest lake, Montparnasse, which was almost the size of an administrative district.

It was said that it would take dozens of days to cross the lake in a straight line by boat, making it truly enormous.

This was common knowledge, but seeing the actual size of Lake Montparnasse, she understood why it was called the world's greatest lake.

'Is this really a lake? Not the sea?'

As Yurie stood there, staring blankly at the endless blue waves.

Horn.

A heavy horn sound echoed from somewhere.