Chapter 101
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 101
Chapter Title: 10th Floor - Lv. 1050 Ancient Heroes (1)
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Things run smoothly when the scale is small. The design holds up with hardly any glitches.
Everything unfolds exactly as I want.
I've built up that much experience.
But starting around the 8th floor, it's all improvisation.
Even knowing future intel, it's just another ingredient for winging it.
The future me didn't send flawless info in the first place.
Couldn't, even if he tried.
He just picked out the unchanging elements and passed those along.
That held up until the first Greenskin encounter in the ruins. After that? Nothing from future me.
My plan only went as far as turning this into an inferno to buy time.
So everything going off without a hitch so far? Pure luck.
Even having two active spiritists already awake.
[Hero Units], no less.
They could share mana instantly, no prep needed.
That massive magic circle from the 8th floor? Not just for the contract ritual.
It filters out individual colors from the mana provided by other spiritists, reverting it to its natural state.
Mana carries a unique hue for each user, like a fingerprint. Not just visual color.
These two spiritists sent over mana stripped of their colors with expert precision.
Attribute conversion was flawless. Only pure wind elemental mana to summon the Wind Spirit King.
It prickled fiercely through my body. Output like this dwarfs dozens of average spiritists.
But even amid that, they pull pranks.
Instead of glaring at the puppy-eared pair, I flexed my skills.
A single thread of mana, slyly slipping through unfiltered.
Aiming to coat the contract with their own mana the moment the Spirit King manifests. Also testing if I could stop it.
The fairies' blue and red mana threads flowed into me.
Spirit contracts are stored as mana inscriptions inside the body.
If they reach it, they could hijack the link to the Spirit King somehow.
Cute, but I can't let them look down on me.
I block the thread's path.
It curves sharply to bypass, but I raise another wall.
Mana is just willpower shaping mana flow.
In this fight, total mana or levels don't matter much.
Most of my life was half-mage anyway. Dual or triple classing? Runs without a magic job are rare.
Whatever these fairies throw at me, I've seen it before.
Cornered, the two threads start cooperating.
One slips back against the flow for a detour.
One even plays bait to open a path for the other.
I sigh and cut them off.
Then raise an even bigger wall.
A massive one causing instant backlash.
The two puppy-eared fairies flinch and tremble.
"Eeeeek! That stings! My chest hurts!"
"Sorry! I'll stop! My bad!"
Tails drooping now too.
To an outsider, it'd look weird. The whole exchange lasted a split second.
"You're really serious about spirits, huh."
"Mana control's insane!"
"Just cooperate properly. I'll introduce you to the Spirit King later."
Instantly, their faces soften like nothing else in the world.
Like the look the Girl gives me sometimes.
Smitten eyes, maybe. Leaf fairies have that pure streak, especially spiritists.
Different from stump fairies' naive innocence. This is purity that ignores all for their desires.
But not aimed at me. At the Sylphid I've contracted with.
The shamans pooled their power.
Ancient shamans at hero level had long outgrown titles like Great Shaman.
Their interference feels like a painter layering new colors on canvas.
Specializing in meddling with others' mana.
Coordinating with allies? Piece of cake.
The God of War fine-tunes details. Their berserk troll god.
But now, he growls low like a silent predator, fury leashed.
"Disrupt the Spirit King's summon. If it happens, interfere with control."
A new spirit with faint ego? Even a Spirit King has openings.
The God of War remembers its emergence.
Like a newborn babe.
No master's touch yet. An unclaimed weapon ripe for seizure.
Has that Exile fully tamed it?
No way.
Spirits need long nurturing. Sudden mastery doesn't stick.
Contract just grants summon rights upon contact.
This battlefield's turning point.
Even if the Fairy King returns, the war won't flip instantly. Fairy King couple are powerhouse mages, but Greenskins won originally.
Frozen time just delayed that victory.
Time to reclaim it.
"All warriors, hear me! You've endured long ages in this cursed ruin, watching loathsome fairies. Hardships aplenty!"
All Greenskins fell silent.
Silent Greenskins on a battlefield? Alien even to fairies, stirring faint unrest.
Divine speech is that rare.
A god exhorting directly? Mythic scene.
In the Greenskins' hush, the God of War continued.
"A millennium ago, we left it unfinished. Time to end it! We will triumph and rule this world! Greenskins! Pride in your green skin! We are the rightful lords of this land!"
Hero orc Arak thrilled at the voice.
Even in past ruin wars, their god said nothing.
Just observed, bestowed boons.
Such passionate trust and urging? Unheard of.
A millennium is long. Even for gods.
Thrill burst as stifled roar.
"Raaaaagh!"
It spreads like wildfire through other Greenskins.
The god watches!
The god fights with us!
The God of War savored it.
Use sparingly, normally.
But last time, Nature God intervened directly for humans.
Had to match it.
Gods' war now.
"Charge! Sweep away those frail weaklings!"
"Waaaaagh!"
The two spiritists scowled first at the interference.
Fairy mana condensing for the Spirit King kept blurring.
New threads—over a dozen different mana lines—wriggled inside me.
Fainter, but numerous.
"Shamans!"
"They know nothing of spirits' beauty!"
Shamans make great spiritist subs. Their mana pools can't handle spirits alone, but they borrow from surroundings.
Just summon environment-matched spirits.
Hero-level shamans aplenty, despite distance. Advancing slowly behind charging warriors.
Staves brim with mana.
Fire mana.
Fire element filling this space.
But hot air makes it wind too.
Elements bend to perception.
Not science.
Fire-wind hybrid mana invades under shaman control.
Useless for pure wind spirit summon.
That's their aim.
Block it.
Two spiritists burst mana probes.
Pure mana shock to shake interference.
Hero-level concentric waves terrify in density. At the center, my vision warped.
But shamans seize some, counterattack.
Their job's simple: Prevent clean mana aggregation for summon.
Easier said. But hero shamans coordinate flawlessly.
Cryogen grasps it, scowls, joins in. Minimal help.
His mana pure water. Single-element mage converts to wind poorly.
Other fairies lick lips but lack spare focus.
Cryogen sighs, halts, eyes elsewhere.
Battlefield heart.
"For the Greenskins!"
"We'll be buried here!"
"Death! Destruction! Fury!"
Vocab cascades.
Emotions uniform: fervor, frenzy, madness.
Greenskins obey gods fanatically.
Archers activating skills, unleashing varied barrages.
A few more awakened mages cast bizarre spells.
Greenskins counter with anti-magic means.
Some trolls shatter spells with brute force.
Lives expendable now.
God of War's exhortation, surely. Ultimate zealots here.
Fairies deal lethal damage to charges.
Can't halt momentum.
Falling orcs, ogres visible.
Trolls crumple to barrages, no regard for rear.
Hero trolls same—no rising.
But fallen foes close distance.
Fairies blast charging Greenskins; more advance behind.
Not all [Hero Units].
Even modern emperor's guards throw themselves in.
Nothing halts disregard for life.
Physical gap shrinks steadily.
Old man stuck to Fairy King sweats rivers. Mana limits fraying shield, flesh scorching.
Or shaman interference?
One leaf fairy dual-wielder, idle from failed charges, eyes old man's waist.
Mutters clearly.
"Perfect."
I knew his resolve.
Couldn't stop him.
He grabs [Mjölnir].
No mastery in blunt weapons. Stacks boost physique too.
Wielding unused type? Suicide.
He did.
Full mana infused. Meager for a swordsman, but four-digit level.
Lightning erupts from [Mjölnir], arcing everywhere.
Dual-wielder had no return plans.
His lightning barrier blocks all sides like it did me on 9th—effective line.
Trolls grilling whole slows charge.
Satisfied end, probably.
Meanwhile, fairy threads rampage inside, severing shaman lines.
Futile.
Repelled easily, reintruding just as fast.
One sheds tears.
"Sorry! My fault for meddling!"
Brown-eared fairy. Blaming initial greed?
Negligible blockage, really.
"No helping it."
Unusual they'd disrupt this close.
Contract draws them. My mana pales vs. theirs or shamans'.
No amount of skill beats total volume limits; control falters on laundered mana.
Summoning Spirit King with others' mana? Team play.
Fix: Make it mine.
"See the vial at my waist?"
Fairy eyes shift.
"Miracle spring water. It'll save you. Die for a sec."
Blunt, but they get it.
Both shed defensive gear, bare chests.
"You can handle it, right?"
"Better to transfer contract!"
"No time."
True. None kill "just right" like me.
Precise strikes edge both to death's door.
Full death dissipates mana. Ego gone.
Coma state? Can't muster internal mana.
I've shaman'd too. Twisted body for precision.
Cryogen glances at fallen fairies, glares at me, then chills shields.
I nod thanks, claim spiritists' mana.
Near-dead, their vast stores heed my will.
During that blink, shamans press hard.
Almost touching contract. Can't lose it.
Wall rises.
Repelling easy so far.
Sealing permanently? Different.
Massive mana swirls. Internal clashes tax body.
[Blood Spring] overflows. Real-time repairs build fortress.
Shamans hammer door. Fell short.
Mana citadel complete. No disruptions.
Smooth sailing.
Spirit King summons.
Familiar tiny silver dragon.
Space warps. Sylphid appears.
Vaster mana than before.
Silver-flamed dragon roars.
God of War clicked tongue.
Done for here.
Can't win. Retreat.
Fine. Other forces advancing.
Extract valuables. Lost [Hero Units] sting, but this server's Greenskins mighty.
Plenty margin.
Fine. You win ruins, chaos minion.
But surface? No.
Know stair position. Occupied already.
Wall slammed down. Invisible air barrier.
Charging Greenskins pause, then push.
Instinct screamed next instant.
No further.
Cooled but still hundreds-degree air fills underground maze.
It became wind.
Monstrous speed gale.
Whole maze-lifting force rushes in.
Absurdly, not at Greenskins.
All air sucked to sudden radiant silver dragon.
Hot air gone, vacuum follows.
Pressure drop crumbles maze corners again.
Greenskin heroes decide.
Their god clear.
"Charge rearward! Annihilate outside!"
Quick choice: rear guard.
Arak smiles at distant juniors—two shamans.
Fierce to humans, refreshing orc grin.
Charges. Final roar, but airless maze silences it.
Silver dragon blazes blinding.
Warrior eyes pierce.
Dragon opens maw.
Gathered air, pre-heated wind.
Compressed, ignited air mass launches.
Warrior Arak deflects full-force. Greatsword shatters, melts. Falls.
Eyes open to end.