NOVEL NEXT Chapter 43
“Here we are.”
After parting ways with Mea and walking for an hour, the high-ranking fire spirit suddenly came to a halt. He pointed ahead, where a thick fog obscured the view.
“Beyond here is where the Spirit Kings reside. This fog is a type of barrier that only allows Spirit Kings and their contract holders to enter. But since you’re the contract holder of the Dark Spirit King, Jin, there shouldn’t be any problem.”
The words of the high-ranking fire spirit reminded me of the game, where only the protagonist, Eugene, and Aria were allowed into the sanctuary.
I see… So, only those who were contract holders of the spirit kings could enter. In the game, it only stated “Entry Requirement: Protagonist Eugene and Aria,” so the exact reasons were unclear.
With one mystery solved, I felt a bit better, but as I remembered what lay ahead, my mood plummeted. However, there was no turning back. After all, I had come this far with what little energy I had left, and there was no point in making a U-turn when I was already at the doorstep.
“Let’s go, Shade.”
“Yeah! It’s been a while since I’ve been home!”
With Shade, who was getting excited, I disappeared into the fog.
The surroundings were filled with nothing but mist, and I couldn’t see a thing. That was the first thing that crossed my mind as I entered the barrier.
The fog was so thick that even the ground just one meter in front of me was blurry and indistinct. I couldn’t even see the ground right beneath my feet clearly due to the mist. Furthermore, using any form of magic, let alone detection spells, had become challenging in this place.
This was undoubtedly the worst possible environment for me.
“…Maybe I shouldn’t have come here after all?”
I couldn’t help but feel a slight regret about coming here, but I continued forward with Shade as my guide. It seemed that Shade wasn’t affected by the mist and could see as usual.
After about ten minutes of walking, the thick fog suddenly lifted.
“Jin-sama! This is our home— the sanctuary!”
Shade joyfully flew around, but then he quickly furrowed his brow and landed on my shoulder.
“…There’s something off about this place.”
It seemed that Shade had already sensed the miasma. Well, spirits were like concentrated magic, so they were far more sensitive to magical energies than we living beings were.
“Shade, that’s the miasma responsible for the massive monster outbreak this time.”
“Miasma… I hate miasma!! Let’s get rid of it right away!”
“Of course, that’s the plan—”
I immediately activated [Body Enhancement] and moved away from the spot. Just as I did, what appeared to be high-level fire and water balls fell in the area we had just left. When I looked up, I saw the figures of the other Spirit Kings, except for Shade, whom I had seen countless times in the game.
We stared at each other for a few seconds, hoping that nothing would happen, but unfortunately, it didn’t end with just that.
Feeling even more danger, I stepped back, and the ground split open, with a tornado of wind attacking me from both the front and back.
“Shade!”
“Yeah!… [Shadow Sprint]!”
Shade and I tried to evade the attack.
My words left Shade in a daze as his magic activated, and I was pulled into the shadows just in the nick of time, narrowly avoiding the magic attack. Thanks to that, we remained unscathed and found ourselves sitting on the shadows, even though there was no actual base.
“Huff… huff… that was close.”
“J-Jin, why… why are they all attacking me…?”
“It’s because you’re the source of the miasma’s power. There should be a device causing this. Destroy it, and they should regain their sanity.”
I instructed Shade on how to stop the Spirit Kings, based on my knowledge from the game. The reason was simple.
“Shade—your job is to stop that device. I’ll buy us some time.”
“But… Jin-sama, you might get killed…”
In response to Shade’s concern, I grinned with a confident look.
“Don’t worry. I won’t lose even in a 4-on-1 fight, not if it’s only for about 10 minutes.”
When I said that, Shade hesitated for a moment but then steeled his expression, swimming through the shadows as if he had made up his mind.
“Now, it’s time for me to get out of here… Shadow Sprint.”
I activated the same spell as Shade and emerged from the shadows.
Outside, the Four Great Spirit Kings had cast their magic and were ready for me.
“Fire Spirit King Ifrit.”
“Water Spirit King Undine.”
“Earth Spirit King Gnome.”
“Wind Spirit King Sylph.”
Each of them was using their ultimate magic. From the Fire Spirit King came a giant flame resembling a titan, attacking me.
The Water Spirit King summoned a roaring water dragon along with a woman, who was surrounded by water.
The Earth Spirit King controlled the ground, attempting to restrain and pursue me.
The Wind Spirit King gathered small fairies to create a black tempest that threatened to engulf everything in its path.
From a bystander’s perspective, it seemed like a truly hopeless situation. They were the Four Great Spirit Kings, the most powerful beings in the world, while I was just a 15-year-old novice.
However, I possessed knowledge of a power from another world, a force that could not be contained within a single world.
“…That which swallows even light, a symbol of destruction that shatters stars shining at the pinnacle of the sky. Its name is [Black Hole – Enhanced].”
In that moment, a tiny, almost insignificant distortion in space—a black void—appeared in front of me, far smaller than the magic of the Spirit Kings.
It was a magic I had used once before in this forest, but I had further improved and evolved it.
*Zzzzz…*
The black distortion began to draw in everything within a radius of 100 meters, including the magic of the Spirit Kings. In just about 10 seconds, their magic had completely disappeared.
With an eerie smile befitting a villainous noble, I enhanced my magic power while facing the Spirit Kings, who had been hostile towards me.
“Two can play this game.”
At that moment, our magics clashed.
—–