Chapter 136: Chapter 135: God of Destruction’s Descendant, Part V (2/2)
”Thank you both for everything that you've done so far. If it weren't for the two of you, I wouldn't have been able to make this decision.”
”I knew you were an idiot this whole time, but are you seriously to be this irresponsible to the end?”
”How is saving the lives of 500,000 people irresponsible?”
I couldn't think of anything to say back. Half a million was a lot of lives at stake. A lot. But they still weren't worth the hundreds of millions of lives in India.
”Muskan, please! You don't have to do this. It's almost complete. You don't have to sacrifice yourself for this!” Lagus seemed to have shared my thoughts.
”No, this is the best option we have. Don't try to stop me.” Muskan continued past us to the river and neither of us tried to stop her.
Honestly, I had wanted this to happen in the back of my mind. I was so greedy and jealous that I hadn't wanted to let her skill to ever see the light of day but as I stood there, watching everything unfold, my chest was stuffy with frustration.
Could I do the same if I were in her position?
I started to think many things about Muskan. She was too nice and her will was too weak. She couldn't see the bigger picture. I was still looking down on her, but it just didn't sit well with me.
”Still…this is stupid.” I watched as Muskan crossed the river and walked up to Rahul. Then, at that moment, I remembered what she had told me.
-Gift? And what did she mean about finishing up?-
If she died before her skill awakened, I was going to take on a huge punishment. That's what the message and Muskan told me. There was no way I could get the reward, but she said that she finished.
-I just don't get it. I don't get it at all.-
I couldn't help but shake my head.
---
”It's good to finally meet you.”
”I feel the same way.”
”I wasn't sure if this method would actually work. Actually, I thought it wouldn't work. But you're right. It's my scathing and ruthless last stand.”
”That's good. I'm glad you know yourself.”
”Hmph, of course I should know, that way I won't ever make the same mistake again.”
”It's a shame that I had to have you as an enemy.”
”I feel the same way. If only you weren't a Dalit…if only you were born a Brahmin.”
”I don't know about that. If I was, would I have been able to learn the skill?”
”Is that how that works?” Rahul laughed as if it really were a shame. ”You've done well all this time. Go peacefully now. Oh, and I'll spare the mortals for your bravery.”
”You can't kill them all anyway.”
Rahul didn't say anything and only laughed before turning around. At that moment, a shower of fire, ice and lightning spells rained down on Muskan who just stood there and didn't even try to block the attacks.
---
I felt at a loss as I watched Muskan die. I wondered why I was dragged here. Why was this war even started in the first place if the hero couldn't defeat the villain? I understood why she had to do it; there were half a million lives at stake, but so was the livelihood of her people. It was a war; there were bound to be sacrifices to be made. They had to win the war first, and the time for regret would come later.
”It's time to leave this place! The Sahtashwi and the Behi-Kinant Guilds are to restrict foreign activities and focus on recovery!” Rahul shouted for all to hear.
At that moment, a message popped up in front of me.
==[The Destruction God's Descendant has completely awakened.
The end of destruction means destroying yourself and returning to perfection.
Muskan, the user of Destruction God's Descendant, had completed the skill to 99% and, upon her death, has provided the final 1% for skill completion. Her two Comrades will now be rewarded.
The First Comrade may receive 2 out of 7 options.
The Second Comrade may receive 1 out of 5 options.]==
==[Option 1: Absolute Destruction (1% chance to inflict instant death upon enemies.)
Option 2: Source Destruction (10% chance to incur a permanent death penalty.)
Option 3: Normal Destruction (After killing an enemy, there is a 100% chance to randomly decrease one of enemy's Stats by 1-5 points.)
Option 4: Increase all Stats by 2000 points
Option 5: Obtain double Stat points upon leveling up.
Option 6: Inflict 10x attack-based damage on enemies.
Option 7: All effects, including buffs, debuffs and heals will not work.]==
Lagus and I looked at each other in shock. Neither of us knew about this.
”What is this about?”
”I don't know either, I'm afraid.”
According to the message, it seemed that Muskan could not become the Descendant and the skills effects were to be passed to whoever she chose to be her comrades, and that it could only work upon her destruction.
A shiver ran down my spine. Muskan knew that she would have to die since the beginning. She must have known that she wouldn't be able to resurrect. Lagus seemed to have come to that realization as well.
==[A Roulette Wheel will now spawn for the First Comrade, Lagus Aman, to choose his two of seven rewards.]==
Soon, a huge roulette wheel appeared before us. It seemed that only the two of us could see it. It began to spin on its own before coming to a stop.
==[Congratulations.
You have received Option 4. Your Stats will be increased by 2000 points each.]==
==[The second wheel will now spin.]==
A new wheel appeared with only six of the seven options on it.
==[Congratulations.
You have received Option 2. You now have Source Destruction (10% chance to incur a permanent death penalty.)]==
==[A Roulette Wheel will now spawn for the Second Comrade, Lee Jiwon, to choose his one of five rewards.]==
The messages appeared one right after another. We barely had time to blink before the wheel spun for me.
==[Congratulations.
You have received Option 1. You now have Absolute Destruction (1% chance to inflict instant death upon enemies.)]==
The messages that didn't seem to care about our reactions disappeared once I received my reward. I remembered what she told me, that she couldn't hurt me and how she thanked me for my help.
I had never met Muskan before in my life. I hadn't even heard of her in my past life. It made sense for her to do this for Lagus, but she had no reason to grant someone she had never met before a reward of this caliber. It was almost as if… Muskan knew that this would happen before it all began. It wasn't that she was an idiot; it was that she knew what would happen that her actions seemed stupid.
”Just what…did she expect from me to go this far?” I asked myself, but there was no way to get the answer now. Muskan was gone for good.