Chapter 67: Hero(4)

Ruth looked at Luke's back, who was going further away. He was dumbfounded. No one had ever dared to shout in his face or scold him in the past like that. If someone does that, he'll immediately break their bones. But Luke was different because he was chastising him for not caring for his people, not for selfish acts or framing him.

His heart was beating wildly. It was happiness. It's because he finally found a friend that would truly care for him. The way that Luke ran out of breath just to say the things he wanted to say made Ruth deeply moved.

At first, he just calls Luke 'friend' on a whim. He wasn't actually that serious, but now, it seems like Luke is the one who is taking their friendship seriously, which made Ruth feel like shit.

He only called him here because there are no God of Light temples that are willing to help them. There are no kingdoms that want to help him because the Gron kingdom is barbaric, so making friends with them is pointless. They are basically outcasts. Seeing someone caring for him and for his kingdom makes him want to cry.

"U-uh, your majesty?"

The knights looked at their dazed king with worried expressions. Is he mad? Was he enraged at the priest who chastised him? They hoped that their king would not get angry and order Raphael to kill the priest. Even though the priest's speech was crass, his feelings were genuine. He truly cares for the people.

The soldiers then flinched when they saw Ruth turning his head towards them.

"Let's go back to the castle."

Ruth then calmly moved past them with Raphael quietly walking behind him. The soldiers blinked and followed Ruth with shocked faces. He is not mad? Is that even possible? The hot-headed king of theirs is calm?

'A-as expected of the holy priest! His words could even reform the stubborn king!'

The soldiers looked at Ruth's relaxed back with amazement. They are now starting to wonder what religion the holy priest with gold hair is serving in. It is to thank their God for bringing them here and to thank him for bringing such an incredible priest that could be able to tame the cold king of theirs.

While the soldiers and Ruth and Raphael are heading back to the palace. Luke just sighed.

'Haa... That amount of scolding is enough to make him not abandon his soldiers, right? I thought scolding always worked. Especially for stubborn people.'

Luke wanted Ruth to be more considerate of his soldiers so that they could at least last for a while in the future war. If Ruth just kept on disposing his soldiers, then it wasn't even halfway to the battle and they would have already lost due to the lack of soldiers. That was the problem with Ruth when he went to war with the empire. As he said, he was a totally crazy, emotionless bastard in the novel.

"What? What is it? Your stares hurt you know."

The group didn't answer Luke, they just stared at him. They heard what Luke had just said to Ruth earlier. That was the first time they saw Luke being so passionate about something. It's a new sight to see. The usual Luke that they always see is a blank, angry, frowning, annoyed, surprised Luke. Now that they had seen a new side of him, it just felt so weird.

Liam just nodded as if he understood.

'Brother scolded that fight-crazy guy because he couldn't bear seeing people getting hurt.'

Julius clasped his hands together and looked at Luke's back with admiration.

'He is such a kind-hearted person. My mother is correct in requiring me to accompany them and observe his righteous virtues. Mother, I have learned so much.'

Lina just sighed and looked at Luke like she couldn't decide what to do with him.

'Seriously, he is cold often but he has a warm heart inside. He must be too shy to show his true colors just yet.'

Selena noticed their stares and frowned. She then sighed.

'He acts more like a saint than me.'

Selena wanted to laugh but couldn't because of the serious situation. They then saw Luke entering the second house. Luke then entered the house first.

"Okay, who is- ugh!"

Luke tripped, but thankfully, he managed to hold onto something before falling.

"Brother!"

Liam's worried yell made Luke flinch. He then frowned at him. He then also saw his group looking at where his hand is touching with shock.

"What's wrong with you guys?"

Luke looked at where his hand was touching and his eyes widened. It is the arm of a patient. Luke was about to remove his hands but stopped when he noticed something weird going on. Selena then spoke with shock while pointing at Luke's arms.

"Y-you, you are absorbing the withered souls...."

'Wait, what?'

Luke looked at the arm he was holding. He then saw black streams flowing towards his arm at a terrifying speed. It seems like he was absorbing all the withered souls of the patient. His mind went blank, and he had no idea what was going on.

· It's the [Shifting Earth]

Luke flinched when he heard a voice that he hadn't heard for a long time.

· Remember the time when you used [Shifting Earth] to create golems? It absorbed the withered souls, right? It seems like the same thing is happening to you. But this time, you became the golem.

Luke frowned. This was the first time he had heard about this. This is not in the novel. He then heard the voice again.

-The earth is made up of rocks and dirt. And the earth absorbs nearly everything that is a liquid. The soil absorbs water for plants to grow. Making the earth flourish and creating life. But you are now absorbing withered souls. It may not create life, but the earth will unknowingly absorb it anyway. It is what is happening to you right now.

Luke frowned and pulled back his hand after he was done absorbing the withered souls. He then pulled back his sleeves and flinched. His arm has withered souls. It was gathered in one place on top of his arm, like a black ring. He then heard Nash's worried voice.

· Hey! Are you okay?! T-that's withered souls! How did you absorb that?! Put it back! That is dangerous!

"B-brother?"

"H-hey, are you okay?"

"Are you alright?"

"What's wrong with you?"

Luke stopped focusing on his arm when he heard Liam, Lina, Julius, and Selena's worried questions. Luke then looked at Selena.

"Selena, can you purify this?"

"O-of course."

Selena then started to purify the withered soul in his arm. In an instant, the withered souls were gone. Luke moved his hands, and he felt fine; he wasn't in any way hurt. He then heard the voice again.

· Be careful not to consume the withered souls inside you. If a withered soul comes inside you, then your body will immediately absorb it into your flesh and you'll die. Make sure that your flesh is not exposed when absorbing withered souls. You are now protected by the power of nature, so you are safe.

Luke nodded. He then turned to face the other patients, who were still lying on the bed. Some of them are consumed too much withered souls, to the point where their bodies are almost pitch black. Luke slowly approached one of them and touched them.

"Brother Luke! Stop! That is dangerous!"

Luke couldn't hear Liam and instead focused on absorbing. The withered souls were absorbed in an instant like his arms were a vacuum. He pulled his hands out and moved to the next patient.

Patient, after patient, after patient. He absorbed all of the withered souls off of them, causing his arms to be pitch black. The group then looked at this with concern, not knowing what was going on, but Luke appeared to have the ability to absorb withered souls. They then saw Luke approaching Selena.

"Purify."

"O-okay."

Selena purified the withered souls. Because she is only purifying one person, Luke, the process is accelerated. After purifying, Luke looked at his group.

"Hurry up and feed them a potion. Then we will go to the next house."

Liam then asked while frowning. He seemed angry.

"Are you going to keep on doing that?"

"Hmm? Doing what?"

"Absorbing withered souls."

"Ah, yeah. This method appears to be faster-"

"No. Brother, you can't."

Luke frowned at Liam, who was stopping him. They finally found a way to go home early, but he is stopping it? Luke sighed.

"We can't let Selena overuse her powers. Using those powers comes with a price. And besides, I feel fine even after absorbing these withered souls. And this is also the fastest way so-"

Luke flinched when he saw his group glaring at him. Nash, Liam, Lina, Julius, and Selena then scarily spoke to Luke.

· Just listen to us! You idiotic Dad!

"Brother, I could even abandon these sick people once I see you get hurt, so don't make me do that."

"You self-harming knucklehead. What if you absorbed it in the wrong way and you died? Are you an idiot?

"Brother, please listen to us."

"Don't do such reckless and stupid things."

Luke sighed. They must have been worried because they had to take care of him once things went wrong. Look, even the usually gentle and innocent Liam managed to say such scary things. Is taking care of him really that hard?

"Okay, how about this? If I feel like I'm going to get hurt, I'll stop, okay? How about that?"

'Come on, just let me do this so that I can go home early. I am tired.'

The group looked at Luke with suspicion. They then frowned. Selena clicked her tongue and spoke. Although this is wrong, this is undeniably the fastest way to save people.

"....Fine, but if I see you coughing up blood even a little, then it is time to stop."

"Great."

Luke then pulled out some potions and handed the sack to Selena. They just sighed and started to feed the patients some potions. They then moved to the next house and Luke performed what he did earlier again. They did this repeatedly, house after house.