3 bar menu

Chapter 296 – All-Heaven Festival Contest Final Stage “Demon King Castle Bloody Field” (18) / Self-Destruction (Part 1)

296 – All-Heaven Festival Contest Final Stage “Demon King Castle Bloody Field” (18) / Self-Destruction

「…sir.」

My body feels heavy.

No, that’s not it. It feels as if something’s hindering my movements. It’s like being submerged in mud…

「Chief of Staff, sir!」

It was the voice of “Black Explorer” Foras.

Following the nature of his Job, he stayed by my side as instructed from the beginning instead of challenging Master.

We were apart for a moment after I went for Master.

He’s the one lifting me up from the ground now.

『You were thrown.』, says Dark, the black chick-looking Spirit that is currently sitting on my head.

『There must have been some portions of what happened that your eyes couldn’t follow, so let me show you.』

In an instant, several images started flashing through my mind.

Dark has trapped people inside a dream world back in the Original Dungeon.

Can she show others what she’s seen as if it was a dream?

◇

The “Water Hero” Wraith stabs his Holy Sword into the ground.

Then, a series of ripples spread across the ground as if a stone had been thrown into the surface of the lake, which reached Master’s feet.

And in an instant, a sheet of ice envelops Master from his feet to his waist.

「You know. It’s not just ice. It’s the “concept of stillness” in the shape of ice.」

So it was an Esoteric Spirit Art, huh?

It’s true that the Four Great Spirits control the four major attributes, but these attributes are only a part of these Spirits’ power.

In reality, Spirits are the source of something greater.

So if you dig deep into the power of the Esoteric Spirit Arts, you can get closer to their essence.

Just like “Flames of the Gods” is the “concept of destruction” in the form of flames…

Just like “Sky Garden” is the “concept of edition” that affects the continuity of space…

This “Grief’s Hail” is probably the “concept of stillness” in the form of ice.

Water is the mother of life, but ice can imprison life.

Just how a life form that lived in ancient times may be discovered in later generations in a frozen state.

Water belongs to the realm of beginnings, but in its frozen state, it can become a prison.

Perhaps that Esoteric Spirit Art has the power to freeze anything in this world.

Even though Wraith can already manipulate the “concept of creation” with his “Cradle of the Depths”, could it be that he has reached even deeper Esoteric Spirit Arts at the age of ten?

To be able to restrain the world’s strongest Demon King is already a great achievement in itself.

We rushed there.

「Have you guys ever wondered about the definition of “this world” according to the Spirits?」

Cracks begin to appear all over the “Grief’s Hail”.

Master has caught the blow from “Flame Hero” Fenix’s Holy Blade, which was still clad in his “Flames of the Gods”, with just one hand.

「About how, during the Great War, could there be a “Demon King” that not even the “Heroes” who had access to extraordinary Esoteric Spirit Arts could kill?」

The ice shatters, and Fenix’s Holy Sword breaks in half.

Master makes a fist with the hand that broke the Holy Sword, and while hitting Fenix with it, he uses his remaining free hand to block “Storm Hero” Aerial’s “Storm Wrap Extreme” .

Then turns around and drives the same fist he has been using to punch Fenix into Aerial’s stomach.

Right now, Aerial should be like the wind itself thanks to his “Assimilation”, but he hadn’t fused with the air around him.

「That’s because their enemy was not of this world.」

You couldn’t do it, huh?

He may have seen the tremendous amount of Magical Energy that Master had poured into a single fist and realized that if he were to turn into wind, he would probably not be able to return to normal.

It’s just like how the “Unyielding Hero” Altered defeated the “Air-like Demon” Ipos, but Aerial didn’t know how much damage Master would be able to do to the Four Great Spirit Contractors with a single fist.

「But in this age, there is no one who has that nature other than me.」

Master sticks both his hands forward, and each of them catches both my fist and our Demon King’s.

「Those who inherited my blood and those who inherited my horns were, after all, people of this world.」

Even though both I and our Demon King have unleashed all of the Magical Energy of our horns at full throttle, we are unable to take another step forward from here.

It’s like hitting a mountain… No, not even a mountain would be able to stop either me or our Demon King as we are now.

It’s an absolute presence, as if we’re dealing with the stars themselves.

「That has nothing to do with me, you stupid old man! In the end, you probably just ran away because you were feeling alienated! Like a sensitive teenager!! Shame on you, at your age!」, shouts our Demon King.

Master doesn’t answer, and simply throws us aside.

◇

After that, I’m back to the present.

「Chief of Staff, sir?」

「Oh, I’m okay.」

I stand up.

「Here.」

「Ah.」

Foras offered me the wand that I left with him before I launched my attack, so I took it back.

On the battlefield, our Demon King has already gotten back on her feet and seems about to go back to face Master again. Wraith, who was safe except for his ice being broken, also joined the offensive.

Aerial seems like he’s almost back up as well.

As expected of the Four Great Spirit Contractors. It seems not even a direct hit from Master was enough to take him out of this stage.

He may have used Wind Magic to cushion the impact.

Just as I hear the sound of broken pieces of the wall falling down, I see that Fenix is nearby.

「…You’re still with us, huh?」

「I was hit pretty badly. I was able to activate “Assimilate” on the verge of death.」

I see.

If he were to face Master while in an “Assimilated” state, there’s a chance he wouldn’t have been able to return to normal from his wind form after getting attacked by him, so he had no choice but to take the blows as they came.

Then, after he took all those punches – in other words, after taking in Master’s Magical Energy with his body -, he would be able to heal up by activating “Assimilation”.

That would allow him to convert his damaged body into flames, and then rebuild it into a healthy body once more.

It’s certainly not a very efficient way to heal in terms of Magical Energy consumption, but it still does its job whenever there’s no White Sorcerer available.

It’s much better than letting himself get taken out of the Festival.

「It seems that your teacher is not from “this world”, huh?」

「It would seem so, yeah.」

As we are talking, Dark interrupts us.

『It’s something similar to atavism. The first demons that have been found are certainly denizens of the demon world. Among them are the ones who have proliferated in this world… that is, the human world. Some of them were unable to understand the reasoning of this human world. But even they were altered into creatures of the human world simply by living in this world. It’s a result of adaptation.』

Breathing the air of the human world, eating the things of the human world, having offspring with people of the human world, and repeating this process many times across the generations…

In doing so, the denizens of a different world have changed into what could be called a subspecies of their own kind that is already part of this world.

『However, even though they are now part of this world, they have the nature of someone from the demon world. They are monsters who defy logic. …Although they may still be under the influence of the human world.』

「It seems that my “Flames of the Gods” wasn’t effective. And from what I could see, his hand seemed to be only slightly affected by “Destruction”.」

Fenix’s words were perfectly timed right after Dark’s, despite him not being able to hear her.

It’s not like they’re completely alien creatures.

Even that person is also a creature born in the human world.

The “Grief’s Hail” was also able to hinder Master’s movement, albeit for a short time.

Rather than saying that your attack wasn’t effective, we should be thinking that it’d be broken through immediately.

The problem is…

「”Flame Hero.”」

I throw my wand at Fenix.

「Wha…?」

「Take it. The “Flame Hero” doesn’t look very heroic without a weapon in his hand, after all.」

His Holy Sword was broken a few moments ago.

Since the Spirits’ blessings can be moved to a different object, he should be able to use that wand as well.

「…Thank you, Chief of Staff.」

『Wait a minute, partner! How will you have your own blessing from your cute Spirit now? I’ll have nowhere to go!』

Dark sounds flustered, but I pay her no mind.

『Tsk. Jeez, what a tsundere~. Is your blessing that weak? That’s why my partner here has to lend you his wand, you know?』

「…Sara?」

Fenix is ​​looking up with a troubled face… I wonder if the Fire Spirit was offended by Dark’s remarks.

Humans can only see Spirits that have given them their blessing.

There are times when Spirits will intentionally show themselves to the public, just like Dark did in the Original Dungeon, but…

Well, now’s not the time to think about the interaction between our Spirits.

Fenix must have thought the same thing, as he unsheathed the sword wand before disappearing.

He approached Master with a sudden burst of speed that my eyes couldn’t follow.

That’s right, that’s the problem.

My eyes and my brain can’t handle these people’s paranormal battles.

Even though I have the horn of the strongest Demon King, even though I have a vast amount of Magical Energy at my disposal… I can’t make the most of it.

It’s like letting a baby hold a Holy Sword.

Despite holding a very strong weapon, they won’t be able to do anything with it.

The user must also be suitable for it.

–『Those who inherited my blood and those who inherited my horns were, after all, people of this world.』

Master must have known that from the beginning.

He gave me his horn knowing that.

And he came here knowing that.

So what was the point of that statement?

Master would never go out of his way to express his disappointment like a normal human being.

Think. Think… Think… Think, think, think, think!