Chapter 40
Chapter 40
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: Spirit Body (2)
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[As the enchanted soul entity within the ‘Soul Linker’ awakens, some functions are unlocked.]
[Confirming fusion with the ‘Hero’s Fragment.’]
[The level of the unlocked skill is enhanced.]
[Skill: Imaginary World is unlocked.]
The moment the spirit body revealed itself, a white veil unfurled around me with a swish.
It was as if the entire background around me had been swept away and painted pure white.
Similar to the ‘erosion’ phenomenon that occurred when I previously summoned the Gray Devil’s fragment. In the sense that it was an ability to blanket the surrounding area with its influence.
Not as powerful as an erosion that could halt time itself, but by no means could it be called weak.
[ Soul Linker ] [ Exclusive Equipment ]
[ Enchant: Epic ] [ Fused with ‘Hero’s Fragment’ ]
◎ Embedded Skills ◎
■ [ Imaginary World ] [ Skill Rank: A ]
[ Summons a spirit body to form a unique domain over the surrounding area. Within the domain, some of the spirit body’s abilities can be used. As the consciousness unlock level increases, the domain’s range expands, and the number of usable abilities grows. ]
Currently Usable Abilities
[ Trait: Comradeship ]
[ To a knight, comrades are family. Buffs applied to the user can be partially propagated to surrounding individuals. ]
“...”
Buff sharing... seriously?
Of course, the ‘partial’ limitation meant it wouldn’t transfer the full performance, but there were no limits on the number of people or the rank of shareable buffs.
Though it was restricted to within the domain’s range.
‘For now, about a few meters around me.’
At the very least, it was a sufficient range for close-quarters combat.
And considering I was someone who mostly resolved situations by piling absurd buff skills onto my all-stats F trash self.
‘...Good thing I got it quickly.’
Yeah. Really.
No wonder it was an Epic item. To think such a crazy effect unlocked right from the start.
As I was thinking that, the spirit body, now fully revealed within the pure white Imaginary World, began to take form before me.
A visor covering its face. Full-body plate armor. And among that gear, the lion-head embossed breastplate stood out especially.
Standard equipment of the Imperial Guard.
A group evaluated as the strongest single unit on the continent.
The difference between a commoner and a regular knight was often likened to that between a newborn babe and an adult man.
And the gap between a regular knight and the Imperial Guard was said to be on a similar level.
Furthermore, among the Imperial Guard, those wearing the ‘Lion Breastplate’...
Were the pinnacle even among those monsters.
‘Guardians.’
A group assembled from only the strongest knights of the era.
A group teeming with members who possessed skills nearly on par with Gideon, currently hailed as the Empire’s strongest.
Why were they ‘treated specially’? Because they’d all been wiped out.
They’d been deployed during the ‘Black Night Incident’ that swept up Eliya’s family, and it was they who’d severed the neck of the vessel that caused the incident.
“...”
An absurd feat, indeed.
Just looking at the Purifier boss fight from before made it clear—demonic energy itself summoned Pandemonium’s creatures into the material world. Especially so for one converged from several fragments.
Against a foe that had summoned thousands of magic beasts single-handedly, a mere few dozen urgently deployed personnel had successfully quelled the incident.
Thus, every one of them deserved to be called a great hero.
But.
I think I know who this is.
“...Hello, Guardian.”
At my words, the knight’s eyes slowly turned toward me.
[Who are you? Where is this?]
The spirit body’s voice echoed within the Imaginary World.
As expected, a young man’s voice. Matching the vibe of the guy I knew.
For a human to become a soul entity, mere greatness wasn’t enough.
They needed an obsession bordering on madness—a lingering regret.
Something like being unable to close their eyes because of an unachieved goal before death.
And among the annihilated Guardians, only one harbored such a thing.
“I’ve heard about you, so I know.”
[...What?]
Yeah. Really.
Not just from game knowledge—I’d even heard about him from someone else once.
“Nice to meet you, Caliban.”
The spirit body’s movements came to an abrupt halt.
Caliban Chrisanax.
Bestowed title: Knight of Dawn. The strongest and final Guardian. A top-tier powerhouse who, at the very least, matched Gideon in combat prowess.
A key figure in Chapter 4.
And.
“Your sister said I reminded her of you last time.”
The brother of the hero Eliya.
●
[Checking current conditions of target ‘Eliya.’]
[ Current favorability below ‘Trust.’ Contact with target ‘Caliban’ confirmed.]
[ Exclusive quest unlocks upon raising favorability to ‘Trust.’]
[ The ‘Heretic Inquisition’ begins taking interest in you! ]
I read the messages floating before my eyes.
Caliban Chrisanax played a massively pivotal role in Eliya’s growth in the main story.
He was the object of her constant admiration and pursuit, and as her sole remaining blood kin, the one she desperately sought.
‘...Though his survival status is as you can see.’
No way he’d become a soul entity if he were alive.
Eliya eventually learns of her brother’s death, suffers immense mental shock, overcomes it, and truly becomes the hero—that’s the related episode.
As evident from that progression, the player’s info on Caliban is extremely fragmentary. Unlike the still-living Gideon at the scenario’s start, he’d been dead for ages.
So, a few details even I didn’t know.
[Man, full of memories. Hasn’t changed a bit compared to when I was going here.]
“...”
[Oh, when did I enroll...]
This guy’s a massive chatterbox, more than I thought.
“...You’ve revived as a spirit body—aren’t you shocked by the current situation?”
Whispering that to the amulet, a chuckling voice echoed in my head.
[I already have memories of dying. No point denying reality. Better to adapt to the situation quickly, right?]
Yeah. As you can see, his adaptability is insane.
He’d instantly accepted my ‘request for cooperation’ without any room to refuse in my position.
Not even an hour after awakening his consciousness, he’d promised to cooperate with anything as long as I wasn’t outright doing evil.
[Well, I don’t have much choice anyway? Gotta do whatever you say now, right?]
He’d even said that.
Like casually signing a slave contract over whether dinner should have meat.
“...”
Not sure if this can just be packaged as ‘good adaptability.’
As expected of the strongest among the Guardians. His mentality was extraordinarily exceptional.
[Well, there was a condition.]
The voice from the amulet quieted for a moment.
As if suppressing a surge of emotion.
Thanks to that, the following voice, while still cheerful, carried a different tone.
[Don’t tell Eliya about me. Until I say it’s okay. You promised that too, right?]
“...Yes, I promise.”
I know the reason.
Eliya learning his fate right now would put her in... ‘danger.’
With Caliban’s soul awakening, Eliya’s event and the ‘Heretic Inquisition’ event unlocked. The Empire’s most notoriously ruthless group.
And it wasn’t unlocked for no reason.
‘...Not until he allows it.’
I stroke my chin, recalling that line.
I have a rough idea of when that’ll be.
Since his and Eliya’s storyline ties into Chapter 4’s main quest. Finding the holy sword’s owner.
After that, Eliya’s combat power skyrockets to a level where she can properly contend with demons.
‘...But I’ll have to tangle with the Heretic Inquisition too.’
Just looking at the message from earlier.
Better to assume I’ll meet them face-to-face soon. Really don’t want to get involved with those guys.
Sighing inwardly with those thoughts, up front, Dormitory Supervisor Ophelia Knight was clapping to draw the attention of the freshmen gathered in the auditorium.
“So, you all know why we’re gathered, right~? Midterms are coming up soon~”
Groans like screams erupted from various spots at Ophelia Knight’s drawn-out announcement.
Well, who in the world likes exams?
Especially Elpante’s notoriously strict regular exams.
“Many of you freshmen haven’t fully settled on your major yet, but midterms have to be fair for everyone~”
Regular exams for freshmen without assigned military academies always followed a similar format.
Great Plains Survival.
They threw students into a massive stage and had them fight in teams.
The Empire’s officially designated main enemies were magic beasts and demon worshippers, and Elpante itself was founded to counter them. So they prioritized combat ability above all.
That’s why the Knight Faculty was by far the most popular.
“Teams of up to four for the survival~ You’ll be moving together for two days, so choose carefully~”
They were gathered in this auditorium to form teams all at once, probably.
Of course, going solo was fine too. Difficulty increased, but so did the bonus points.
But I had no intention of doing that right now.
This midterm was a hugely important event.
Not just because it was an exam—the event happening in the middle was critically important.
‘Saintess Lucienne. Boy King. Pontiff.’
An incident involving all three at once.
Impossible for it not to be important.
So, I needed to assemble a party optimized to steer that incident my way.
‘Team composition...’
First, Elnor’s out.
No matter what, the Student Council President joining freshmen exams is absurd.
She had a separate ‘role’ to handle anyway.
So, the first one to recruit...
“Hey.”
Approaching Eliya, who was chattering noisily with her friends, I said that, and the surroundings went quiet in an instant.
All familiar faces.
Luca. Falco. Grid. Trisha. The hero’s party members.
“...”
Normally, I’d have left Eliya with them, but right now, she was essential for me too.
“...Sorry, but can I borrow her just for the midterm?”
At my words, they all fell silent at once.
Just exchanging wide-eyed glances, all looking flustered.
‘...Was it too sudden?’
From their perspective, it must look like some random guy barging in on friends having fun to poach one.
Their fluster was natural—
“Perfect timing, Eliya!”
“This is what we expected! You’ve been talking about it nonstop!”
“Ah, yes! Take her! Please do!”
Luca, Grid, and Falco chimed in with thrilled voices, then patted the dazed Eliya’s back in unison.
Like sincerely celebrating a friend’s good fortune.
“...”
What’s with this atmosphere?
“...I-Is this something to celebrate?”
Asking cautiously, the mage Falco rubbed his nose and replied.
“No, Eliya’s been singing praises about wanting to take the midterm with you. Seeing you always stuck to the Student Council President must’ve made her anxious—said she had to make a move this time too—”
A merciless fist slammed into Falco’s face.
He crumpled like a doll with its strings cut mid-sentence—probably knocked out in one hit.
“Ah, th-the teacher recommended it? What an honor! Yes!”
“...”
And Eliya, who’d thrown the punch, said that in slightly overexcited tones.
Her face was a bit red. Breathing ragged.
“...You okay?”
Not pushing yourself too hard, are you?
Doesn’t look normal.
Voicing my suspicion, Eliya’s eyes darted around as she scratched the back of her head.
“I-I’m fine! Totally! H-Haha!”
“...No, you got an invite to team up from a guy you’re super into, and you’re ‘fine’—”
Eliya’s short hook nailed Grid’s face mid-sentence too. Clean form that even the watching warrior Luca slightly admired.
This one dropped cleanly knocked out as well. Straight to the floor.
“I’m really, truly fine! Yes!”
“...”
“Let’s, let’s get out of here first! Before more nonsense!”
Yeah. Glad she’s fine.
Perfect timing to leave too.
[...You, what exactly are you to my little sister?]
Caliban muttered in disbelief from the amulet, but I ignored him for now and turned back to Eliya.
“Yeah. Good. There’s one more place to go.”
“Huh? Another place?”
“It’s for forming a team. Need at least one more.”
Precisely, someone connected to Saintess Lucienne.
“...”
Worst possible lineup for joining such an event, really.
But no choice.
“Eliya.”
“Yes?”
“You ever heard of the storage room?”
So.
It was time for the sword-crazed fanatic’s monumental external debut.
●
“...Thus, this regular envoy dispatch includes Saintess Lucienne Grayhauncher and her escort knight. We thank the Chancellor for graciously permitting it.”
“No need to mention it, Your Holiness.”
It would look like a warm, amicable exchange.
Atalante’s face, facing the man beyond the long-distance communication magitech orb, wore a polite expression, after all.
However, inwardly, she was viciously cursing him out.
To a level that would get her beaten and chased out of a civilized intellectuals’ conversation.
‘Acting all gracious after threatening to shove swords into Elpante if I didn’t allow it.’
Disgusting man.
That one sentence summed up Atalante’s assessment of the Pontiff.
Saint Credo Baor II. The Pontiff of the current era.
Disgusting for smiling while casually backstabbing people.
Disgusting that, as head of the continent’s greatest and largest religious order, he treated human lives like less than bugs—plain as day.
And yet, his divine power was discussed not just as the strongest of the present generation, but of all time.
All disgustingly so.
‘No idea what his intentions are for handing over the saintess so readily.’
Most of the talents gathering at Elpante now were under her influence. Especially those suspected as demon vessel candidates.
Saintess Lucienne had been one, but even she hadn’t truly expected her to be accepted.
A saintess. A religious symbol of the Empire and Holy Kingdom alike.
Handing such a figure over to the Empire so casually was already a shocking decision.
But this man had insisted on doing it ‘as quickly as possible,’ even threatening her to ensure the saintess was brought inside the academy by then.
Clearly with some ulterior motive.
“Empty thanks seem insufficient, so I wish to offer the Chancellor a small aid.”
And the words that followed surely fit that context.
“Elpante is in midterm period now, correct?”
Atalante’s expression twisted slightly.
‘...Midterms?’
Why would someone of the Pontiff’s stature care about student matters?
Let alone mere regular exams.
The scale was so mismatched she couldn’t even guess his intent.
“...That is so, Your Holiness. But it’s purely an internal academy affair. No need for you to—”
“No.”
The Pontiff cut her off with a bright voice.
“Give Lucienne some work to do, Chancellor.”
Unlike his tone, however.
“She will surely be of help.”
Poison like a serpent’s gleamed in his eyes.
●