"How... is that... possible...?"
The bear-man guard stared at Caleb in disbelief. Caleb's boot was grinding the axe lodged in the guard's chest deeper into his still-beating heart. Even at the moment of his death, the guard could not understand how he had ended up being struck down by lightning.
"Now we can say we've thoroughly alerted Volibear."
Caleb let out a silent sigh. The thunderbolt fired from his hand had, in essence, been summoned through Volibear. The lightning that passed through the guard's arm was naturally not as powerful as Caleb's own original skill. Back in the twin cities, using it against the Black Mist had been like taking a single drop of water from a vast ocean. But right now, Caleb was inside the valley where Volibear lived. It was like drawing water directly from the shore. The power had increased tremendously, but it was also far more likely to alert the owner of that ocean.
"You just... used the power of lightning?"
Sejuani and Olaf were also in disbelief. How could anyone obtain the power of the most hot-tempered Valhir without offering themselves up?
"Isn't this the time to find the cauldron?"
Caleb kept his head lowered as he searched through the treasure vault.
"The cauldron matters more."
Olaf also started rummaging around.
"I'm here! I'm here!"
Zev rushed into the cave the very first second the flash faded.
"Relax, everyone's fine. And if you can stomach it, these bears are actually decent food and pelts."
Caleb still had his head lowered, but by now he had climbed onto a small hill made of piled-up trophies.
"Hurry up, Zev. We have to leave as soon as possible. Tell the warriors to get ready to head back!"
The treasure vault was enormous, but they still did not dare let the warriors come inside. If Volibear was already on his way, then the first targets of his wrath would be these insects who had dared to enter his treasure vault.
"Found it! Found it!"
Zev was extremely excited, but what he had found was only a bone-white basin.
"Oh... That looks like the pelvis of some ancient species... Might've been used as a chamber pot..."
Olaf frowned, covered his nose, and kept digging through the mess.
"Found it. Found it!"
Sejuani picked up a thick rope and tied a dead knot around one end of the great cauldron.
"Move, move, move!"
Once they had the item, none of them dared linger. The warriors outside had already broken into a wild sprint, their eyes filled with undisguised excitement. If they made it back alive this time, they would be legends for sure.
By then, forget becoming the Warmother's oathfather. Even the Iceborn women of those tribes would be easy enough to win over. If they had a daughter afterward, their family would flourish even further.
Fortunately, Caleb was not there, and he could not read minds either. Otherwise, he definitely would have condemned this bunch for practically planting death flags all over themselves. Did they not know that sort of thing could drag down the entire team?
The arcane energy in Caleb's body was gathering again, but he knew that was not a good sign. That lightning strike just now had still been called down in Volibear's name. And judging by the enormous shadow behind the clouds, Volibear clearly was not hibernating.
Caleb knew this was bad. Very bad.
That was also why the whole team, along with the Winter's Claw, needed to evacuate quickly.
The great cauldron looked huge. One pot would be enough to stew Bristle whole. Unlike the warriors scouting ahead, Bristle and the three people behind him had to drag the rope as they fled madly back along the way they had come.
"So how exactly do you know how to summon lightning?! You don't look like one of the Vastayashai'rei!"
Before Volibear arrived, Sejuani shouted back at Caleb while they hurried along.
"If I said I had demigod blood in me, would you believe me or what?"
Caleb casually bullshitted a reply to her question. Was he really supposed to explain where the system came from? Even Caleb himself had not figured that out, so how was he supposed to answer?
"Fine. We'll talk once we're back at camp!"
Sejuani now had to focus completely on directing Bristle, in case the boar got so obsessed with speed that he injured the warriors in front.
Boom.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
Heavy footsteps came from the other side of the mountain, accompanied by bursts of breathing and low growls.
"No one is allowed to leave!"
The earth trembled so violently that everyone was lifted into the air.
"Don't panic. Steady yourselves!"
Even while suspended in midair, Sejuani remained calm enough. Bristle also worked hard to twist his body around so he would not hurt his rider when he landed.
Wild lightning struck the ground, chasing their footprints all the way toward them.
"Seriously...?"
This lightning was, of course, nothing like what they had seen before. The lightning summoned by rage alone had already blasted countless cracks into the ground. Even the ice and snow that had not melted from the mountain peaks for years turned into ordinary steam under the extreme heat.
"All right..."
Seeing the lightning getting closer and closer to the team, Caleb, who had already reached the middle of the formation, had no choice but to draw up the flash of lightning inside his body again.
Unlike the bear-men, who used the lightning falling from the sky after it reached the "branches" on their backs, Caleb seemed to be commanding every storm to come to his side.
"You dare steal the authority of a god!"
A furious voice surged down from the mountaintop once again. Since the age when each domain had not yet been clearly divided, there had only been one person who had ever made him this angry.
Only one mortal. After gaining power, that mortal had stolen all of his followers away.
"Whew... All right..."
After taking a deep breath, Caleb steadied his emotions. Nearly draining all of his energy, he raised his palm toward that enormous figure.
Use his lightning against his own body!
The two bolts of lightning collided, spreading wildly outward from the neutral point between them.
"Mortal!"
Volibear's appearance was now clearly visible. Those wrathful eyes filled with lightning were enough to shake even Caleb's mind when he looked at them.
"You guys go. I'll cover the rear."
"Haha, count me in!"
Olaf looked much more excited now. After all, four-legged prey was easy to find. But a demigod who could summon countless bolts of lightning to hunt you down? That was rare!
"Don't make trouble for me. I'm handling this because I want to live."
Caleb looked at the excited man with half-lidded eyes and spoke helplessly.
"Besides, with one less person moving the cauldron, your speed already drops by quite a bit."
"All right, my friend. I respect your wishes."
Olaf looked rather dejected. For the sake of a new friend, he now had no choice but to give up a perfect chance to die.
"Is there anything you want me to tell that girl?"
Watching Caleb's cloak whip in the storm, Zev, the Wildclaw Shaman, could not help feeling a little awed. Although Kai'Sa was not his type, he could still tell a few things, thanks to a wolf's unique sense of smell.
"Hmm..."
Under the threat of falling lightning and the giant bear, Caleb actually considered it seriously.
"Say it fast!"
"Then tell her I'm sorry I can't fight beside her again, assuming I'm definitely dead."
Caleb shouted toward the team, which was already starting to look small in the distance.
Now that he thought about it, maybe running for his life with them would have been better than facing a raging demigod alone.
Caleb had no idea.
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