Chapter 144
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 144
Chapter Title: 14th Floor - Lv. 2200 Dark Spirit King (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The Girl dreamed.
A dream of being abandoned.
A dream of dying.
A dream of coming back to life.
And then a dream of dying again.
The last one felt strange.
And strangely peaceful.
Her body and mind both sank into the darkness.
Was this what happiness felt like?
No good or bad, no thoughts at all.
The Goddess's whisper finally snapped her back to awareness.
Her vision was blurry.
Her vision swayed.
Someone was carrying her on their back.
It wasn't warm at all. A body temperature as cool as her own.
It was Uncle.
She wiggled her fingers as she listened to the Goddess's divine words.
Instead of her usual puffy jacket, she was wearing a smooth standard combat suit.
Its cold texture only amplified the chill.
But it wasn't the feeling of darkness. Somehow, it felt cozy.
Why was that?
Did she wonder about it?
She just thought she wanted to stay like this a little longer.
Her consciousness faded again.
Dark spirits don't actually exist. They're called dark elements, but that's not a natural phenomenon.
If it were, dark spirits would have been born and existed long ago.
After all, the whole world gets blanketed in darkness every night.
But back then, people didn't see darkness as natural.
In a world where demons and the undead were real, that made sense.
To ordinary folk, darkness was less an element and more a terrifying force.
A symbol of fear filling the void left by light.
With that universal perception, no dark spirits were ever born in the past.
Only mad researcher mages recognized darkness as an element.
But when the space age dawned, things shifted a bit.
The concept of the universe was injected into everyone's minds.
What many had dismissed as just the night sky became a tangible reality.
And in this deeply magical world's superstitions, the universe was seen as filled with darkness.
But magic is just superstition made manifest.
So the universe actually filled with dark elements.
Because everyone believed it made sense.
Only then could dark spirits finally be born from that overflowing darkness.
But as I said, only mages could see darkness as part of nature.
To most people, it still wasn't.
Could a spirit born from that perception be a proper spirit?
No.
They can't even be contracted with. They're born as something utterly eerie, incomprehensible, and frightening.
Exactly like the image people imagined.
The black shadows chasing me now are just that.
Magically speaking, dark elements are everywhere in the universe anyway.
And now they've all turned hostile.
Blood manipulation is a vampire's ability, amplified to the realm of divine powers by Barbaroi's Mantle.
Up until now, any blood was under my control, making it incredibly useful.
But damn, now the enemy's pulling the same trick.
This vacuum-sealed shipwreck is filled with cosmic darkness—meaning we're basically in the belly of those spirits.
The black shadow writhes.
My mana, spread around as a simple detection extension, picks it up.
In an instant, I sense the prelude to an attack and twist my torso.
Can't let it hit the kid, so I have to be extra careful.
The next moment, a chilling aura takes tangible form as a spear surging up.
I barely dodge it, my mind razor-focused and tensed.
It's like walking a tightrope.
And the dark spirit launching these attacks keeps pursuing from behind.
Thank goodness these misbegotten kids of perception and magic have physical forms—they can't freely phase through space.
Damn, if only that puffy jacket had survived.
I could've run less cautiously then.
Endless undead with bad matchups popping out, and non-living spirits as enemies—probably the Labyrinth adjusting difficulty.
This isn't just bad luck.
I've interfered too much in this server already.
Which is the same as high game progression.
Of course tougher, trickier foes flood in during the late game.
But man, I'm pissed.
I spread my mana to push back the surrounding darkness.
Zombies go berserk and charge. Pouring out mana like this must make me look like a blazing sun.
Good. At this rate, I'm dead anyway.
Dodging desperately, but I'll get hit eventually. Game over.
Zombie density is too high. Even throwing and shoving has limits.
No space.
The packed corpses are about to overwhelm me with sheer numbers.
Fine, clear out the zombies first.
I squeezed out every last drop of mana left in me.
Truth be told, I've never actually depleted my mana completely before. At least not this run.
A mage's skill is hugely about causing big effects with minimal mana.
Crucial for a class with poor sustainability.
Though I've been patching it with vampire racial traits.
Anyway, I gathered all my mana and turned around.
Not many gaps to convert to light, but I pushed attribute conversion to max.
Light generates inside my already undead body.
Ow, that stings. An undead wielding light is pretty ridiculous.
Though holy undead show up later.
I swing my fist at the charging black shadow.
Unpleasant sensation. The spirit manifesting in a form close to a living being.
Looks straight out of a cosmic horror flick.
An explosion bursts from my fist tip.
Light flows through the shipwreck medium.
I've already punched so many holes breaking through that the old hull is plenty weakened.
Wood-like creaks mix with metal groaning and twisting.
Kieeeek!
Half-living, half-spirit freak lets out a mana-charged screech, just like the lich said.
Sounds like a banshee's wail. No curse effect, thank goodness.
The hull splits. Debris scatters into space like breaking a bug-eaten baguette in half.
Drifting endlessly in space is dangerous, but the ship's graveyard has plenty of other wrecks.
I adjust direction with mana bursts. Head for another wrecked ship.
I asked the God of Nature.
'Sent a request to the Federation the moment we got here. No good news?'
'To this area, huh. It'll take time.'
'Are they sane?'
'Good, who needs common sense. Go goblins!'
This is beyond what I can handle alone now.
How many goblins will arrive? How to use them?
That's the level we're talking.
15th Floor probably feels the same.
The God of War's words come to mind.
Wait and see on the floor after next?
Where does the 15th Floor drop?
Did they use [Prophecy] or something?
As I thought that, a massive darkness began coalescing far away.
Light getting sucked in.
If a black hole were alive, it'd look like that.
A colossal, majestic shadow.
Probably the Dark Spirit King or somesuch.
It opened its eyes. Laughably, they were red.
Whatever. I've mostly used divine powers, so my mana is full.
Even summoning Sylphid, I overworked the fusion furnace more than my own mana.
Spirits are ultimately magical beings.
I won't lose in magical technique. Not even to a spirit king.
If push comes to shove, an avatar once should be fine?
Space battles already. I wanna go to the kingdom. Even I see it as paradise now.
The old man and the little mage were utterly exhausted but succeeded in protecting their air pocket from the collapse.
In the process, the shipwreck they'd first landed on shattered completely.
Now they were adrift in space with just one room intact.
And that wouldn't last long.
Air was leaking. The whole wreck had twisted, creating gaps.
The Hunter couldn't come up with any solutions in this situation.
It was time for the mage to shine.
All eyes turned to the old man.
"I can trap the air with a thin mana barrier. Might even be more effective than physical isolation. But don't expect much defense otherwise."
Even for an aged orc, space was a first.
Hugging oxygen tanks and cramming the air into a magical barrier to drift—that seemed best for now.
This party had space combat experience? Only the leader.
So that's what they did.
A mana-glowing soap bubble floating in the void.
The Hunter prayed to the Goddess for some revelation.
The little mage caught on first.
"That looks like a wreck, but why's it moving?"
It wasn't huge. Maybe a civilian freighter? Clear Federation markings.
"Goblins?"
No warp aftereffects visible. It'd been here from the start.
Watching the ship close in, the youngest spoke.
"Barely any damage. Functions might be intact. But who's aboard?"
That sparked something in the Hunter's ashen brain.
"Hey, kid, you know how to pilot a spaceship?"
"Labyrinth tech is super similar to my world's... Yeah, I think so. Smuggled with small ships before."
"Knock that bastard out quick!"
"Huh?"
The Hunter looked around. How to KO the sturdy guy.
His eyes met the Girl's. Puzzled expression, but he barked.
"Quick! Knockout! Him!"
Having been through something similar, the Girl got it.
A short [Dash] sent her crashing into the youngest.
She chopped his nape hard, but the over-toughened tank just yelped—no blackout.
The Girl switched tactics fast.
She latched onto his back and choked him.
"Wha—sis, why?! Gack."
Rear naked choke.
Most efficient knockout regardless of size.
Carotids blocked, the superhuman lasted longer than a normie but finally passed out.
The old man caught on late.
"Oh, right on. Only one here who can pilot that."
The small ship was close now.
Outer hatch opened. Airlock.
Airlock sealed, atmosphere filled.
Voice from the speaker.
"Made it in time, luckily. Knock me out a bit... Huh? Did I die here?"
Future him stared in utter bewilderment at his camera-visible, tongue-out, collapsed self.