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Chapter 198: Spirit World (2)

The sacred land of the Elves.

The Schwarzwald Forest where Elfo Sagrado is located.

At its outskirts was the main base of the Cradle of Darkness.

They had annihilated a nearby village and settled there.

The leader was using the village chief\'s house.

The blood and flesh scattered across the walls and floor told the fate of the house’s original owner.

A dark magician quietly approached the leader.

"What is it?"

"We failed in the attack."

"Of course."

The leader muttered calmly.

A few days ago, there had been an attack on the sacred land of the Elves by a dark magician.

That attack was not conducted by the Cradle of Darkness.

It was an action taken independently by a superhuman-level dark magician who disregarded the orders from the main base.

"Did he think such a foolish suicidal act would work against a hero-level opponent? What a fool."

The leader showed disdain for the now-dead dark magician.

"The damage?"

"One superhuman-level dark magician. Three first-class magicians. And many high-level monsters."

The leader clicked his tongue upon hearing the damage report.

It was not a small loss.

Had this been the force that attacked the sacred land of Kalosia, they would have had to retreat immediately.

"Alright. It\'s not something to worry about."

"Yes."

However, the leader showed no particular emotion.

The current world was distorted.

In this broken world, demons were starting to reveal themselves in earnest, and the power of dark magicians grew accordingly.

Above all, the Cradle of Darkness was currently investing a significant portion of its power in the Elves\' sacred land.

They had an objective there that they had to achieve at all costs.

So, the loss of one superhuman-level dark magician was not a significant impact.

"How is the preparation for the sacrifice going?"

"Almost complete. It will be done in a few days."

"Good. Let me know when it\'s ready."

The leader looked up.

The ceiling had been broken during the village\'s annihilation, revealing the moon.

"We will fall to hell upon our deaths."

His voice was full of excitement.

"There we will receive the reward for our sacrifice. Prepare quickly. Everything is for the descent of the Great Demon King."

"For the Great Demon King."

The dark magician echoed.

Even though the moonlight shone on the ground, no light entered the village.

* * *

"Piego!"

Ketal\'s face lit up with joy.

Piego, the highest-ranked fire spirit.

The first spirit Ketal had seen in this world.

It had been a long time, and he was delighted to see him again.

Of course, Piego was not happy at all.

Piego was startled and turned around.

He tried to leave quickly.

But Ketal was faster in catching Piego than Piego was in fleeing.

"Nice to see you!"

Ketal grabbed Piego\'s back.

At that moment, Piego shuddered.

It felt like a lion had sunk its claws into the spine of a bison.

In this deadly feeling, Piego reflexively retaliated.

Boom!

Flames erupted.

These flames, representing the concept of burning away darkness and bringing bright light to the world, engulfed Ketal.

But the flames did not burn a single piece of Ketal\'s flesh.

Piego was horrified.

[Crazy!]

To be perfectly fine after being hit by pure flames!

He hadn\'t been able to harm Ketal in their previous encounter either, but he thought it was because his power was diminished in the middle realm!

Piego was appalled.

Despite being attacked, Ketal seemed unaffected.

He didn\'t even recognize it as an attack.

Instead, he was pleased.

"Oh!"

‘This guy doesn\'t disappear!’

Until now, whenever Ketal grabbed spirits in the spirit realm, they would vanish in a fit.

But Piego didn\'t disappear even when Ketal grabbed him.

‘As expected, the highest-ranked spirit.’

Ketal was satisfied.

[…What are you, barbarian?]

Momentarily abandoning his escape attempt, Piego, realizing it was futile, asked resignedly.

[Why are you in the spirit realm? What the hell did you do?]

How could a human, especially this barbarian, be in the spirit realm?

Piego couldn\'t understand it at all.

Ketal replied with a beaming smile.

"I came with Karin\'s help."

[Karin? …Do you mean the High Elf Queen?]

Piego\'s voice was filled with dubious disbelief.

Ketal nodded.

"Yes. You know her."

[…Wait. She wouldn\'t leave Elfo Sagrado, right?]

"I am currently in Elfo Sagrado."

[What?]

This barbarian was in the sacred land of the Elves?

Piego felt dizzy.

Ketal tilted his head at Piego\'s reaction.

"What? Didn\'t you hear it from Marsilia?"

Ketal was the contractor of Piego.

Marsilia had invited him to the sacred land of the Elves.

Naturally, Ketal thought Piego would know, but it seemed he didn’t.

[…Come to think of it, she did mention it. I dismissed it as nonsense… I never thought it was true.]

"So you did know. How is Marsilia doing? I\'m worried since the world is in chaos."

[If there were any problems, she would have summoned me. She hasn\'t done so recently.]

"That means there are no problems. That\'s a relief."

Ketal looked genuinely relieved.

Meanwhile, Piego still couldn\'t understand.

[I understand you were invited to the sacred land. But how did you become acquainted with the High Elf Queen?]

The High Elf Queen was special and noble.

She was the only contractor with the Spirit King and held influence over all Elves in this world.

Ordinary Elves found it difficult even to see her face.

Even if invited to the sacred land, an outsider wouldn\'t be able to meet her.

Ketal responded simply.

"Oh. I befriended a High Elf outside. She helped me."

Piego paused.

[Befriended a High Elf outside…?]

"We are in a master-disciple relationship. You could say we\'re friends."

[A High Elf and a barbarian in a master-disciple relationship…? And friends on top of that?]

"Why?"

[…Nothing. Never mind.]

The information Piego had was vastly different, leaving him bewildered.

However, he was a being of the spirit realm.

As a highest-ranked spirit, he didn\'t descend to the earthly realm often, so his information was outdated.

Things might have changed since then.

The only one who could send a human to the spirit realm was Karin, the contractor of the Spirit King.

The fact that Ketal was here proved his words were not lies.

\'Have High Elves become more open these days?\'

Did they now roam outside and interact frequently?

High Elves, who are even more old-fashioned and rigid than spirits, possessing such openness?

Piego, amazed, got to the point.

[So why are you here? Did you come to break the spirit realm?]

"I wouldn\'t do something so barbaric. I came to form a spirit contract."

[A spirit contract?]

Piego pondered for a moment before murmuring as if he understood.

[You couldn\'t find a spirit willing to contract with you on Earth, so you came here yourself.]

"Yes. Unfortunately, I\'ve been failing repeatedly."

[Of course. There\'s no spirit willing to contract with you.]

Piego sneered.

[Weak spirits would flee the moment they see you. Even if you forcibly grab one, they won\'t withstand your presence and will dissipate into nature. Only strong spirits like me can endure you.]

"Is that so?"

Ketal confirmed the problem he had anticipated, looking disappointed.

His eyes suddenly lit up.

"In that case, Piego. Would you perhaps…."

[I refuse.]

"I haven\'t even finished speaking."

[You were going to ask to contract with me. I have no intention of doing so, and it\'s impossible.]

"Because you\'re already contracted with Marsilia?"

[That\'s right. Double contracts are impossible. No matter how hard you try, you can\'t contract with me. Moreover, you have too little mystic energy.]

To contract with a strong spirit, one needs a corresponding amount of mystic energy.

To contract with a high-level spirit, one needs mystic energy equivalent to a first-rate expert, and for the highest level, it requires superhuman-level mystic energy.

Even that is just the minimum requirement.

In contrast, Ketal\'s amount of mystic energy was at most second-rate.

He could summon a mid-level spirit, but spirits of that level couldn\'t endure Ketal\'s presence. Ketal muttered with a regretful expression.

"Is that so…."

[If you understand, go back to the middle realm. This place is not for someone like you.]

Piego started to distance himself.

Honestly, being near Ketal was quite burdensome for him.

\'…What kind of presence does he have?\'

Previously, he didn\'t notice because he was reverse summoned so quickly, but now, talking this close, he could tell.

Ketal\'s presence was immense.

He concealed his presence perfectly, but this was the spirit realm.

In this place, which was nature itself, it was palpable.

Even a highest-ranked spirit like Piego felt burdened by his presence.

\'Is he really a barbarian?\'

It felt like looking at a monster in human disguise.

Piego started to think the same as those who had encountered Ketal before.

"Hmm."

Ketal was deep in thought.

According to Piego, forming a contract seemed impossible no matter what.

\'Should I go back and discuss this again?\'

As he was about to say he understood.

[Hmm?]

Piego flinched.

Ketal immediately understood why.

Something enormous was felt from the distance.

A vast presence that crushed everything around it simply by existing, dominating all.

It was incomparable to Piego.

Ketal muttered.

"The Spirit King?"

Piego was a highest-ranked spirit.

The only one above him was the Spirit King.

Naturally, that thought came to mind.

The being with the immense presence was slowly approaching them.

At first, Ketal thought it was the Spirit King, but he soon realized it wasn\'t.

It wasn\'t the Spirit King.

He had seen the Spirit King summoned by Karin.

Though it wasn\'t a proper summoning, he could feel the general magnitude of its presence.

The presence approaching them now was far greater.

Incomparably so.

It was like the difference between an ant and a human.

Ketal had felt such a level of presence before.

[No, no. Why is that one here?]

Piego swallowed hard.

The powerful presence was overwhelming him.

His form began to waver.

Simply approaching was enough to make the highest-ranked spirit unable to endure.

The being arrived before them.

It was a white, human-like figure cloaked in robes.

Its size was comparable to a small hill.

Its form wavered like mist.

As if revealing its true form would cause the world to collapse, its shape was not fixed.

Ketal smiled broadly.

"Nice to meet you. I am the barbarian Ketal. What is your name?"

[…Beatrice.]

A languid voice resounded.

No, it wasn\'t a voice.

The sound was made from overlapping the resonance of water, the rustling of the wind, and the cracking of rocks.

[Spirit God. Beatrice.]

* * *

[…Lady Beatrice!]

Piego swallowed hard and bowed his head.

As Beatrice approached, Piego\'s form was on the verge of collapsing.

Beatrice glanced at Piego and reined in her presence.

Only then did Piego\'s form stabilize.

[Th-thank you.]

Piego spoke in a trembling voice.

Beatrice did not respond.

The Spirit God silently gazed at Ketal.