This Lich Requests More Remuneration
Chapter 420 - 392: Son of Talos

Chapter 420: Chapter 392: Son of Talos

Many people have severe stereotypes about Talos.

Everyone thinks that as the chief deity of the Furious Gods, Talos must be a madman who flies into a rage at anything. Even Talos’s own followers know that if one day they cannot muster their courage, they will be banished to the desolate universe, or directly taken to his Divine Realm—Tower of Ruins.

The former is to be banished, left to fend for oneself, while the latter often signifies that Talos is venting his wrath on this coward.

This sort of abandonment of faith and being sent to the Divine Realm is extremely rare, so Talos is often treated by other deities as a madman, a whimsical destroyer who is nothing but mad.

But in fact, Talos has the temperament of a naughty child.

He is irascible and prone to anger, yet in some aspects, he appears very naive. His power manifests as disasters devastating the world, but it’s more like a childish prank of pouring boiling water into an anthill.

Therefore, even though Talos is a powerful deity of the Chaotic Evil Faction, he has a clear distinction from demons, those pure beasts. That is, Talos has things he appreciates, unlike demons, whose sole hobby is to destroy and trample everything.

Recently, Talos has taken quite a liking to Airel.

In a group of brutish men with relatively low intellect, the sudden emergence of a somewhat smarter "witted one" is like finding a white ant in a swarm of black ants—a little large at that.

What an interesting little thing.

With the temperament of a naughty child, Talos immediately grew fond of Airel. It’s such an interesting toy. How amusing would it be if a chaotic storm could be controlled by reason, striking the enemy with precision?

So, Airel received extra blessings from Talos, a hammer imbued with the divine power of storms, summoning devastating lightning with a single strike.

But that didn’t seem to be enough. Airel became cautious—a cautious person always likes to plan before acting, and in Talos’s view, Airel was a bit too cautious.

Her pressure was not enough. Talos wanted to see the courage and wisdom she would burst forth with in a desperate situation.

He wanted to see an Airel like a legendary hero. Perhaps, he could create a hero.

This idea had been around for a long time, but Talos is not known for his wisdom. He really couldn’t think of any interesting ways to give Airel a push.

Until just now, when He heard the prayer of the King of the Fury Tide.

In that ruin-like Divine Realm, the hundred-meter-tall gigantic deity smiled. He crazily slashed his own arm, using his blood to mold a man.

The man’s body seemed to be meticulously carved by the most perfect sculptor, with a steadfast countenance and eyes bright as Masstars, and blue-white long hair to boot. Only, his face was covered with scars shaped like lightning, looking ferociously terrifying.

With one hand, Talos grabbed the ugly man and pronounced with the voice of thunder, "I bestow upon thee the true name, Aeolus, my blood, my son. I bless you with ceaseless waves, your body undying!"

Vivid expressions started to appear on the indifferent face of Aeolus. As this man took his first breath, images of tsunamis appeared behind him. As his heart began to beat, immense magic power flowed through his veins. In that instant, Aeolus broke through to the Legendary realm, gaining his own blessed powers.

But Aeolus didn’t have time to explore his powers, as he hurriedly knelt in Talos’s vast palm, saying respectfully, "Father, thank you for granting me life, my will, my life, all will be for your battle."

Talos shook his head and said, "My child, I am not sending you to wage war for me; I task you with pursuing an interesting mortal."

With a flick of Talos’s fingers, Thunder transformed into a reflective surface, upon which Airel’s visage appeared.

"Aeolus, your mission is to take this mortal as your wife. However, do not act in my name, as that would be far too dull."

If Aeolus sought Airel’s hand in marriage bearing an oracle from Talos, Airel would surely not resist; that would be a rather commonplace Deity-bestowed marriage, which to Talos would become exceedingly boring.

Would an ugly, powerful, but enigmatic man be able to make Airel fall in love with him?

In order not to lead Airel to associate him with his own Divine Power, Talos did not grant Aeolus the mightiest force of Lightning but instead endowed him with the power of the sea.

The Ocean Deities were no friends of Talos, and Aeolus would likely face many troubles after entering the Mortal World. To ensure that Airel would take an immediate dislike to Aeolus, He fashioned his son’s countenance to be extremely fierce.

Good, this was the scenario He wished to witness.

Even his own flesh and blood should endure the baptism of the storm; only then would he be worthy of standing by Talos’s side.

"Go forth, Aeolus, fulfill your mission, and make Airel your wife. But, remember this, this is a test I have set for you, so no matter what trouble you encounter, you must not act in my name."

Aeolus respectfully said, "I swear by my Soul, I shall fulfill my father’s command."

"Very well, then go and make this Plane a bit livelier."

Talos grasped Aeolus’s body, a fierce Lightning bolt surged from the palm of his hand, and then he threw it downward.

The Lightning pierced through space, traveling across numerous times and dimensions, finally reaching the Prime Material Plane.

Suddenly, a tornado spiraled upwards from the calm sea surface, the sky became covered with dark clouds, and a small boat rocked violently in the gale, almost capsizing.

On the boat, a young Orc gripped tightly to the vessel’s side, striving to keep his balance.

As the tornado drew closer, the young Orc couldn’t help but say, "Am I really this unlucky? Ever since I left the mountains, I haven’t encountered anything good. Oh gods, I am no longer a slave, the punishment should not befall me!"

Kalgore Cruman, this was the name he had just reclaimed for himself.

An Orc Slave, who, upon gaining his freedom, had left the Orc Kingdom, only to discover that deserts, those damned places, exist in the world, where one can travel for days on end without seeing a single source of water. Fortunate not to die, he managed to locate information on his foe and was about to set sail.

Kalgore Cruman had never seen the sea; he only knew it to be a very, very large lake.

Thus, he prepared several days’ worth of provisions and then set off in a boat.

He had good luck, for several days at sea, he encountered no significant storms, and the sunny days led him to believe the sea was no big deal.

It was just a bit larger; surely drifting slowly would eventually lead him to land.

And now, the tornado had come, and with it, the thunderclouds, giving Kalgore Cruman a sensation of returning to the Orc Mountains, his homeland forever shrouded in thunder, where daylight was scarce year-round.

Just as the small boat was about to be sucked into the tornado, a blinding flash of lightning lit up the sky above.

Kalgore Cruman had seen countless lightning bolts in his lifetime, but he had never seen one as thick as this.

The lightning shattered the tornado as if a sword had split a straw.

In Kalgore Cruman’s eyes, this lightning could cleave a mountain, and he feared that his end had come.

Never would he have imagined that, far from his thunderous homeland, he would still perish under the wrath of thunder.

Kalgore Cruman closed his eyes; he wasn’t ready to face death head-on yet.

But after only a short wait, Kalgore Cruman felt only his body soaking in seawater, without the sensation of being ripped apart by lightning.

When he opened his eyes, both the tornado and the thunderclouds had vanished. The ocean once again became calm, as if everything he had witnessed just moments before had been an illusion.

But no, it wasn’t an illusion; right before him lay an unfortunate soul struck dead by lightning.

Kalgore Cruman looked at the naked corpse floating on the sea and thought that today he might have a change in taste.

Rowing the oar toward it, Kalgore Cruman reached for the "corpse."

Just as he grabbed the person’s arm, the supposed corpse came back to life, bouncing up on the sea as if playing possum.

The naked man stood on the surface of the sea, standing before Kalgore Cruman.

Kalgore Cruman refrained from asking, "What the hell are you?"

He had never seen the sea; was this a special ability possessed by humans of the ocean? To run atop water? This couldn’t be a normal human, right? He was even uglier than a goblin.

Aeolus shook his dizzy head; his father, Talos, was far from gentle. A bolt of lightning had pierced through the planar barrier, sending him to the mortal realm—a shock not light, causing his head to spin disorientingly.

Hearing Kalgore Cruman’s question, Aeolus rebuked loudly, "Ignorant, disrespectful mortal, I am Aeolus, son of the Lord of Storm, Talos..." Aeolus, feeling tipsy, almost let slip the truth and hastily corrected himself, "I am the most faithful follower of the Lord of the Storm, Talos! Mortal, who are you?"

Kalgore Cruman frowned and said, "Are you out of your mind?"

Kalgore Cruman decided not to eat this person anymore. Eating someone with a diseased mind could infect himself and drive him mad.

With a stroke of the paddle, Kalgore Cruman’s small boat slowly moved away from Aeolus. No use wasting effort on inedible things.

Seeing this, Aeolus quickly ran to the front of the small boat and blocked Kalgore Cruman, "Wait, don’t go yet. Tell me, where is this place?"

Having been born only minutes ago, though Aeolus had basic knowledge crammed into him, his understanding of this mortal world was minimal. He didn’t even know where he was, so how could he find Airel, the one he was to marry?

Though the mortal before him was hideous, at least he was someone Aeolus could communicate with. He could simply punish him for his earlier disrespect after getting an answer.

Hearing this, Kalgore Cruman said with a frown, "You’re asking me? Can’t you see with your own eyes? This is the ocean!"

Aeolus quickly replied, "I obviously know it’s the ocean, but where in the ocean? Do you know where Airel is?"

"Airel? Who’s that?" asked Kalgore Cruman, puzzled.

"My wife."

"You really are sick in the head, asking me for your wife’s whereabouts?"

Kalgore Cruman reaffirmed that the ocean human before him had a hole in his brain, and he paddled further away once more.

But this time, Aeolus caught hold of the small boat and again demanded, "Mortal, I’ll give you one chance to tell me where Airel is!"

Kalgore Cruman narrowed his eyes and reached for the curved knife at his waist.

Just as tensions between the two escalated, a shadowy figure became faintly visible on the sea’s surface.

Kalgore Cruman reacted the quickest, pointing excitedly at the distance, "Land! An island!"

Aeolus also turned his head; an island meant people, and with people, he could find Airel.

But no sooner had he turned his head than Kalgore Cruman’s curved knife transformed into a dark light, severing Aeolus’s head.

Aeolus’s headless body collapsed with a thud and sank into the sea along with his head.

Kalgore Cruman didn’t even spare a glance at the ocean human’s corpse, immediately transforming into a shadow and diving into the water, heading for that small island.

Shadow Escape couldn’t be maintained indefinitely, but for this distance, it was enough.

Seconds after Kalgore Cruman vanished, Aeolus emerged from the sea, his severed head already regrown.

The waves rolled on endlessly, and Aeolus was immortal. As incessant as the vast ocean never had a moment of calm, Aeolus was akin to everlasting life, unless a deity intervened to strip him of his immortality.

Aeolus looked at the empty small boat, unable to find the orc’s figure, and roared in fury.

The sea waves transformed into a giant hand, crushing the small boat into splinters.

Aeolus decided then and there: marrying Airel was only his first mission, the second would be to find this mortal and let him understand the wrath of the storm!