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Chapter 205: Duel (1)

“You’re back.”

“Yeah. I had a pleasant conversation. And I got a reward.”

“I see…”

A being from the earth saying that a conversation with a god was pleasant.

Karin felt a slight dissonance but quickly erased that feeling.

“What did you receive?”

Karin didn’t know what Ketal received as a reward for the transaction.

She could only guess.

Ketal smiled brightly and showed what he had received.

“I’m sure… this is how you do it. Call forth. The one who holds the ancient purity. Call forth. The one who burns the dark shadows. Come forth. The one who holds the horn of pure flame. Piego.”

The incantation of summoning was completed.

Simultaneously, flames arose.

A flaming bull appeared.

[Did you call for me?]

“Oh, ohhh…”

Ketal trembled at the sight of Piego.

He had summoned a spirit.

He had achieved the mystery of fantasy directly.

It was an overwhelming feeling.

Karin was astonished.

“A spirit contract? And a high-tier spirit at that?”

She had roughly guessed that Ketal would receive a spirit as a reward, but she never imagined he would make a contract with a highest-ranking spirit.

She thought at best it would be a high-ranking one.

The reason was simple.

“Don’t you lack the mystic energy to handle it?”

“I was worried about that too, but the Spirit God said it would be fine. And indeed, I can summon him without any significant burden.”

“Ah… Well, now that I think about it, that makes sense.”

When summoning a spirit to the earth, mystic energy corresponding to its power is consumed.

A price must be paid to bring an external being to the earth.

But the contract between Ketal and Piego was directly facilitated by the Spirit God.

Since the owner of the world from which the reward came directly connected them, no price was necessary.

However, that was merely a theoretical story.

This was her first time seeing it in practice.

She looked at Piego with a mixture of awe and caution and spoke carefully.

“…As far as I know, the queen of another elven clan is contracted with Piego.”

“That has also been resolved. She will make a contract with another highest-ranking spirit. The follow-up was perfect.”

“I… see.”

To replace a contracted spirit with another.

It was literally an almost tyrannical act.

Neither the consumption of mystic energy nor the contracts made sense.

But if the Spirit God had done it directly, it wasn’t incomprehensible.

After all, the master of the spirit world was the Spirit God.

If she wished it, the common sense they knew was meaningless.

Karin accepted it that way.

[So why did you call me?]

Piego spoke in a disgruntled tone.

Ketal answered with a smile.

“I wanted to show off.”

[…Is that all?]

“Yes.”

Ketal nodded lightly.

For a moment, Piego\'s flames seemed to flicker as if in anger.

But he showed no further action.

With a voice that seemed to calm down, he said,

[…Then can I go back now?]

“Yes. For now, you can return. I’ll call you again later.”

[Damn you.]

Piego spat out his displeasure but obediently returned to the spirit world.

Karin watched the process with a sense of unease.

“…He listens well.”

Highest-ranking spirits had a pride as strong as their power.

Even the contractor couldn’t handle them easily and had to treat them with respect.

If another contractor had summoned him for such a trivial reason, they might have demanded to break the contract.

Moreover, Piego was notorious even among highest-ranking spirits for his bad temper.

Yet he obeyed Ketal so meekly.

It seemed that, as it was a contract personally conducted by the Spirit God, he had no choice but to comply.

“He looks pitiful.”

A highest-ranking spirit with high pride being manipulated like that.

He must have been fuming.

“Still, I have no intention of letting him go.”

This was the first spirit he had obtained.

He intended to stay with him until the end.

Seeing Ketal\'s expression, Karin silently prayed for Piego.

“In any case, you can now summon spirits. And there’s hardly any consumption of mystic energy.”

With this, many things became possible for Ketal.

Spirits themselves possessed mystic energy.

Moreover, the power of a highest-ranking spirit could reach the level of the highest-ranking superhumans.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that he had become able to handle that level of mystic energy.

“You’ll probably have much fewer difficulties due to a lack of mystic energy from now on.”

At those words, Ketal’s eyes lit up.

“Now that you mention it, that’s true.”

Whenever he needed mystic energy in the future, he could summon Piego to solve it.

He could use him as a sort of mystic energy storage.

It would have been an infuriating situation for Piego, who was being treated as storage, but it was of no concern to Ketal.

“Well then.”

Ketal\'s eyes sparkled as he looked at Karin.

“Can I ask you now?”

“…Yes.”

Karin nodded reluctantly, looking like she had no choice.

* * *

Karin and Ketal moved to the training ground within the sanctuary.

There was no one around.

Arkamis whined about wanting to watch, but Karin adamantly refused, citing safety concerns.

Ketal chuckled heartily as he loosened up.

“I never thought you would actually agree.”

Ever since meeting Karin, Ketal had persistently asked her for a duel.

He wanted to experience the strength of a hero firsthand.

Each time, Karin declined, citing danger and lack of interest.

Since he couldn’t force someone who was unwilling, Ketal had half given up.

After the demon invasion ended, Ketal jokingly asked Karin if he could request a duel as a reward.

After much contemplation, Karin had accepted.

Karin spoke calmly.

“You’ve done so much for us, Ketal. I can do at least this much.”

Considering that without him, the World Tree would have been corrupted, a duel was nothing.

‘…I won’t lose.’

Karin thought to herself.

Even if she fought with all her might, she wouldn’t lose.

Because she was a hero.

But.

“It’s just a simple duel. It must end at the level of testing strength. If it gets too heated, we’ll stop immediately.”

She spoke quickly.

If Arkamis had been watching, she would have thought she was making excuses in advance.

Ketal laughed and replied.

“That’s the plan, so don’t worry.”

“Hoo.”

Karin’s eyes settled.

She was more tense than when the demons invaded the sanctuary.

“Well then.”

“Let’s begin.”

As soon as those words left his mouth, Ketal moved.

Incredibly fast.

Even the highest-level warriors would struggle to respond.

But Karin reacted immediately.

She extended her hand, forming a staff out of gathered wind.

Whooosh!

Ketal’s fist collided with Karin’s staff.

The impact reverberated throughout the sanctuary. Elves, startled, instinctively flinched.

“Oh ho!”

Ketal laughed cheerfully.

His attack had been blocked.

Perfectly.

He launched a fierce assault.

Karin’s hands moved deftly.

Crash! Crash! Crash!

Karin blocked all his attacks.

Ketal was impressed.

“You’re quite good at close combat.”

“I wouldn’t be here if I couldn’t handle this much.”

Karin spoke calmly, but inside, she was anything but.

‘How is he so fast?’

It was an onslaught that would be impossible to counter if her reactions were even slightly slower.

Ketal suddenly lunged forward.

He broke through Karin’s defense and grabbed her shoulder.

At that moment, wind burst from Karin’s body.

Ketal’s hands slipped as if he had grabbed oil.

Karin seized her staff and thrust it towards Ketal.

The wind forming the staff exploded, sweeping over Ketal’s body.

Boom!

Ketal’s body was pushed back.

He laughed heartily.

“I’m being pushed back! Amazing!”

“Is that so?”

‘…He’s only being pushed back?’

Karin was inwardly stunned.

The power in that wind could have killed even a top-tier superhuman.

For him to only be pushed back after taking it head-on…

‘Is this even possible, even with the protection of the status?’

It was an incomprehensible level of toughness.

Boom!

The battle continued.

Ketal’s strength and speed gradually increased.

It was becoming burdensome for Karin.

‘At this rate.’

She had to end it.

Making that decision, she launched herself into the air.

She was a hero.

A being strong enough to influence the very concept of the world.

[Fall under my control.]

The wind subsided.

All the wind in the area fell under Karin’s command.

The Spirit King Karin had contracted with was Minerva, the Spirit King of Wind.

Though it was simply referred to as wind, it actually encompassed a much broader range.

The atmosphere of the entire planet.

That was the domain Minerva controlled.

Karin twisted the properties of the air around Ketal, changing his environment.

At the same time, Ketal\'s body floated gently in the air.

Ketal\'s eyes widened as his body did not obey his will.

‘Oh?’

“I have taken control of the atmosphere in the area.”

Ketal had been moving solely with his physical strength.

His limits were clear.

Therefore, Karin, who could intervene in the laws of the world, had a simple way to respond.

Karin created a space around Ketal where no force could work and no resistance occurred.

She had created a vacuum state where even gravity didn’t apply.

No matter how much he tried to move, there was nothing to react to, so he could only flail. Karin felt a bit relieved that the battle was over.

Meanwhile, Ketal found the state fascinating.

‘What is this?’

Would it feel like this if a person were thrown into space without a suit?

It was an incredibly strange sensation.

He marveled at the fact that heroes could do such things.

This was a feeling he hadn’t experienced even in the White Snow Plains.

Ketal couldn’t ignore it.

‘…If it’s at this level.’

Ketal\'s eyes gleamed.

Seriousness reflected in his eyes.

Just as Karin was about to declare the end, Ketal’s body tensed.

Crack.

His muscles swelled momentarily.

Karin realized Ketal was trying to move forcibly.

It was impossible.

If she had been suppressing Ketal using mystical power, he could have broken through with sheer force.

But that wasn’t the case.

She was a hero-level warrior.

She could interfere with the laws and order of the world.

She had literally controlled the atmosphere to change the environment.

Ketal\'s status could only assist and protect his body.

They couldn’t overcome physical limits.

No matter how strong he was, it was impossible to move in space with his strength alone.

Without using mystical power, he couldn’t escape.

That was what she thought.

Crack!

“…Hm?”

As Ketal moved, the space itself began to compress.

The perfectly controlled air slowly started to shift.

“Wait.”

Karin couldn’t believe her eyes.

The air she controlled was defying her will.

Impossible.

Simple force was violating the laws of this world?

‘No.’

That wasn’t it.

Ketal\'s very existence was attempting to defy the laws of the world.

As if he wasn’t of this world.

‘Impossible.’

Such a thing couldn’t be.

At least, with the abilities Ketal had shown so far, it was impossible.

But the impossible was happening before her eyes.

As if he hadn’t been serious until now.

“Damn!”

Karin hastily erected a barrier of wind.

At that moment, power exploded.

Boom!

“Ugh!”

The air exploded.

Condensed force burst in all directions.

The force shattered the barrier and spread beyond the sanctuary into the forest.

“Waaah!”

“What, what is this?”

The elves restoring the forest stumbled as a massive wind suddenly surged.

Trees shook as if about to be uprooted.

“Did Lady Karin do something?”

The backlash was so strong that they thought the Spirit Mage who had contracted with the Spirit King of Wind had done something.

“…What?”

Karin stared wide-eyed.

Ketal, now free, was massaging his shoulders.

“That was a very peculiar feeling. So many things are possible.”

Ketal grinned as if he had just been on a fun ride.

“Can I ask for another round?”

“…….”

Karin could only stare at him in a daze.