Chapter 492: The Great Shaman Of The Borderlands [Part 2]

Wars were meaningless to me. As long as I could live in peace with my wife and my Master, my in-law, nothing else mattered.

Unfortunately, no one could escape the ravages of time.

In his old age, my Master had become bedridden. My wife and I took care of him, but I had been the one by his side in his last moments.

It was then that he told me his lifelong secret.

A secret only I would know.

A secret I was forced to learn.

A secret I must bear on my shoulders.

Within my Master dwelled many lives. No. More accurately, he had the memories of all the previous shamans of the Grimhowl Tribe.

Their experiences, their skills, and their strengths. All of it had been passed on to their successor, bound to be the next-generation great shaman who defied the laws of the world.

My Master never used this power. At least not in front of anyone. Even when we made our escape, he fought only to defend, but never to attack.

At first, I wondered why. It didn’t take me long to figure out the answer. He had chosen to live as a pacifist, fearing that if he lost control of himself... he might destroy not only his enemies, but also everything precious to him.

I inherited those experiences and memories.

And thus, I became a being that was Half-Spirit and Half-Human.

I became the Astral Thunderlord.

A being that could destroy an entire kingdom in exchange for my humanity and sanity.

Another realization struck me that day. I was the monster whom I tried to escape on that fateful day the bandit camp was destroyed.

Years passed as I pushed through the hardships of life.

The feeling of my heart breaking when my wife passed away.

The feeling of euphoria when I finally unleashed my true nature, killing the armies that tried to invade the Borderlands, using them to vent my frustrations in life.

I knew that every time I used my powers, my lifespan would be shaved away.

But I didn’t care.

Why cling to life when everything I cared for was no longer around?

My Master.

My wife.

And the chieftain who led us to the Borderlands.

They all returned to the embrace of the Earth Mother. Before me. And one day, I hoped I would also be welcomed into her home.

I wasn’t born a barbarian.

I didn’t even know where I came from.

However, one thing was clear.

I was simply letting the days pass, hoping this long life of mine would finally reach its peaceful end.

Even so, it wasn’t meant to be.

The peaceful days I looked forward to ended when I met a certain young man.

A silly young man who shamelessly called me Great Uncle to form a connection with me.

Curiosity got the best of me before I knew it.

When I first met him, I thought he was a little Demon Lord who had come to destroy the Borderlands.

I was wrong.

Even though he was shameless and mischievous, he was like a breath of fresh air in the mundane days I had spent in my later years.

Leone Frontera.

The young man who had barged into my life and disturbed the peace I had desperately tried to preserve for so many years.

Armed with wit, outrageous confidence, and a kingdom-building power that defied logic, Leone began to turn Grimjaw Mountain into his domain.

I knew then and there that this young man’s name would be written in the history books. But only if he could survive the next decade or two.

Who could’ve expected that I would feel the strong urge to watch someone grow so badly in my twilight years?

I wanted to see what kind of King he would become.

Would he remain the mischievous and shameless young man I knew?

Or would he grow jaded and become a tyrant?

Would he become the Barbarian King and rule over the Borderlands?

Or would the Borderlands be too small to contain such a great and ambitious little lion cub?

Still, I made a decision.

I decided to watch over him for as long as I could.

As long as my lifespan would allow me.

But my already short lifespan drained away like the sand inside an hourglass.

Still, I had no regrets.

Everyone finally acknowledged Leone as the future Barbarian King of the Borderlands. The least this old man could do was pave the way for his reign.

And for that, I would kill the Guardian of the Aurelion Empire and leave the rest to him.

This would be my final mission.

A mission I would complete without fail.

I was so close to accomplishing that goal. But an unforeseen variable blocked my intended feat.

"You sure took your sweet time, Samuel," Zepharion said in a triumphant voice.

"He was moving around so much. It was a bit difficult to time it right," Samuel replied. "A surprise attack only works once. I thought it was best to wait for the perfect moment to strike."

I had been so focused on trying to kill Zepharion that I failed to notice the ambush waiting for me.

To make matters worse, the one who attacked me from behind was none other than the Guardian of the Kingdom of Britannia.

"Goodbye, Gundar," Samuel whispered. "I’ll send you to your beloved Earth Mother now."

After hearing those words, I watched as Samuel crushed my heart. He made sure I would witness this moment as if to instill terror in me.

"Don’t worry," Zepharion said arrogantly. "I’ll make sure to enslave the barbarians and make them all spit at your lifeless corpse to prove their loyalty toward the Aurelion Empire!"

"Hahaha!" Samuel laughed. "Farewell, Gund—arghhh!"

I grabbed the hand that pierced my chest, making sure he wouldn’t be able to pull it out no matter what.

"You’ve made a mistake," I said as blood trickled from my lips. "You should have aimed for my head instead."

Had he crushed the heart of an ordinary person, they would have instantly died without a doubt. But I was no ordinary person.

I was already a Half-Spirit.

Even if someone were to destroy my heart, I would be able to live for a few more minutes without any problems.

Zepharion, who sensed the danger, immediately thought of escaping. But why would I let him go?

They could only blame themselves for being complacent. I wasn’t the one who prioritized ridiculing my enemy instead of finishing them off.

It was their greatest mistake.

"D-Damn it!" Zepharion, unable to escape because of the electrical currents binding his entire body, cried out in desperation. "Let me go!"

Samuel also tried to get away, but he couldn’t escape my vice grip around his hand.

Truth be told, this was perfect. Originally, I worried at the thought of Leone returning to the Kingdom of Britannia one day for revenge. If he had gone there without me, how would he deal with Samuel, who might scheme to eliminate him?

Fortunately, the threat came to me of his own accord.

How could I possibly miss this opportunity to get rid of the two fools who looked down on those weaker than them?

As the overwhelming power in my body built up, I knew that my time in this world had finally reached its end.

But during this last moment, I remembered one of the silly conversations I had with Leone back then.

—————-

"Leone, what do you think is the best way to die?" I asked.

"If possible, Great Uncle, I don’t think you should talk about dying," Leone replied. "You look very healthy in my eyes. I’m sure you can easily live for three hundred more years."

"Do I look like an elf to you?" I couldn’t help but laugh due to how silly his answer was.

"No, but I don’t want you to die, Great Uncle."

"Everyone dies, Leone. It just so happens that my days are already numbered."

I watched as this young man that I met not long ago quieted down for a bit. It seemed that he was thinking about something, so I waited until he organized the thoughts inside his head.

When he finally spoke, his answer made me wonder what was going on inside that head of his.

"Great Uncle, if you were to die, then you should go out with a bang!" Leone replied.

"A bang?" I asked back, not understanding what he meant back then.

"You know, like those fireworks during festivals?" Leone stated. "They rise in the sky and illuminate the darkness with dazzling colors. Although short-lived, that sight alone makes others look at it with wonder and smiles on their faces."

—————

"Let’s go," I said as I rose up to the sky, carrying the two men who were trying their best to escape from my grasp.

Unfortunately, I made sure that they couldn’t get away no matter what.

The storm clouds above my head gathered, and soon, countless lightning bolts merged at its center, creating a golden light that made Zepharion and Samuel’s faces turn pale.

The thunderclouds rumbled, sounding like thousands of lions roaring at the same time. All three of them instinctively knew that something deadly was about to descend from the sky.

"Stop!" Zepharion roared in anger. "Damn you! Let me go!"

"Damn it!" Samuel also began to curse. But no matter what he did, he couldn’t get away.

I ignored the two bastards that were desperately cursing at me from the side and shifted my attention toward the place where the light of the young man that I admired flickered in the darkness.

"Great Uncleeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

Even from afar, I could hear him desperately calling out to me, which put a smile on my face.

Leone, you once said that I should go out with a bang. So, watch carefully. I will now show you the biggest firework that you will ever see in your life.

"Time to go out with a bang," I said with a smile.

A moment later, the heavens erupted in golden light.

The heavenly lightning descended like the wrath of the gods, tearing through the darkness as it transformed the night sky into a brilliant sea of gold.

For one fleeting instant, the world seemed to stand still, as though even the heavens themselves had paused to witness my final moments.

Then, the sky exploded.

A deafening roar swallowed the world as an enormous pillar of lightning engulfed me and the two Guardians.

Its blinding radiance illuminated the land for miles, while the earth trembled beneath the sheer magnitude of my final attack.

Yet, amidst that earth-shattering explosion, one voice continued to reach my ears.

"GREAT UNCLEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Ah, Leone.

You really are a silly young man.

I could hear the desperation in his voice. And for a brief moment, I wished I could see his face one last time.

But perhaps this was for the best.

After all, I had already lived far longer than I ever expected. I had lost the people dearest to me, and nearly forgotten what it felt like to look forward to tomorrow.

Then you came along, you shameless little lion cub.

For the first time in a long while, I found myself looking forward to the future again.

What a shame that I wouldn’t be there to see it.

Still, I suppose there was nothing wrong with an old man leaving this world with a smile.

You said that fireworks make people smile, right? Then, I hope that you would also smile, knowing that I went out with a big bang.

Well, I hope this is big enough for you.

The last thing I heard was Leone’s desperate cry.

The last thing I felt was the warmth of a future I would never get to witness.

The last thing I saw was a golden light brighter than the sun.

A light beckoning me to come home.