Chapter 323
Chapter 323
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 323
Chapter Title: First Spirit Summoning
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“…….”
Sua stared at the man with a dumbfounded expression.
Yeah.
He was impressive, no doubt about it.
Forget holding his own against two Sylestins bare-handed.
He was someone the Spirit King Sylphid had acknowledged as an honored guest!
Even if you scoured the entire universe, there’d probably be only a handful of living beings who could earn a Spirit King’s recognition.
Maybe none at all?
‘But.’
Contracting with spirits was a whole different matter.
Just listen to the voices of the sylphs around them, and the answer was clear.
“Look at that guy. What did he just say?”
“Thinks he can contract with a spirit just like that? Heh heh heh.”
“With that affinity? What a joke. Hey~ anyone wanna contract with him?”
“Eek? Are you nuts?! Ugh, just imagining it is gross! Horrifying!”
To get that kind of reaction from lower spirits meant zero affinity.
Jea and Sua might be wind-attuned, but they still had enough spirit affinity to summon top-tier spirits.
That level of affinity let them summon spirits of other elements too……
But this guy, no matter what he tried……
Whoooosh!
“……Huh?”
A refreshing warm breeze suddenly swirled around the man.
At the same time.
Brown patterns etched into the ground, while red and blue ones appeared in the air.
The exact same kind as what her older sister Jea had shown her.
“Eh?”
Jea’s eyes went wide.
That was the exact same summoning ritual she’d performed!
“For real?”
“……?”
Sua was genuinely shocked.
How was that even possible?
The aura and patterns enveloping the man were a bit clumsy, but there was no mistaking it—this was a spirit-summoning spell.
“……Crazy.”
Sua let a curse slip out.
Calling a spirit with no affinity?
Rumble rumble rumble……!
The ground shook.
The first to complete was the earth spirit summoning circle on the floor.
“What kind of bastard is it this time!”
A grumpy gnome popped up and shouted.
Was it because the summoning method was similar?
It looked like the same guy from before.
The copper-skinned dwarf.
“What crazy fuck keeps summoning in the wind zone? Huh?”
“Me, you little shit.”
Crunch!
That’s when the man grabbed the gnome by the throat and slammed him into the ground.
‘Wh-what……!’
Sua was stunned.
In what world did a spirit mage treat a spirit like that……!
Spirit mages didn’t command spirits.
They requested help from them and communed with them.
More like the underling than the boss.
‘……Maybe because he’s not a real spirit mage?’
No, forget that.
Wasn’t he in the middle of a summoning ritual?
How could he perform the ritual while moving like that?
And unlike her sister.
This guy wasn’t even breaking a sweat—his breathing perfectly steady.
“Who the hell do you think you are, acting all high and mighty on first meeting?”
“Grahk, graaahk! You bastard! Let go! I said let go!”
“And if I do? You gonna hurl rocks and vanish again?”
Crunch!
The man pressed down on the gnome’s throat even harder with his grip.
He muttered.
“Pick one.”
“Graaaahk?”
“Get beat? Or contract?”
“……!”
The gnome’s mouth gaped open.
A look that said, what kind of lunatic is this?
A guy with zero spirit affinity threatening a contract!
‘The world…….’
‘……Is this for real?’
The two spirit mage sisters watching this couldn’t find words anymore.
* * *
Even as he pinned the gnome.
The spirit summoning ritual continued.
‘This is easier than I thought?’
By my standards.
This was way more comfortable than deploying the complex spells Arin had twisted up.
Copying Jea’s summoning ritual perfectly via the Azure Heart Method.
“Grahk, graaahk!”
The dwarf thrashed under my grip.
I was binding him with my energy to keep him from returning to his realm.
“Shut up.”
Gnomes are weak.
The strong ones aside, if the weak ones are nasty-tempered, it’s because they haven’t been beaten enough.
Where would a gnome in the spirit realm get beaten? Any summoners who called it probably groveled nonstop.
Forget contracts.
Guys like this needed some mental re-education.
‘Anyway.’
Contracts won’t be easy, huh?
If even lower spirits are like this, what about the Spirit Kings?
Whatever. Just confirming I can summon them is enough.
If contracts fail, I’ll hang out in the central zone glued to the Heart of Infinity crystal or something.
‘For now, gnome’s a given, but.’
I hadn’t summoned the fire or water spirits yet.
For one simple reason.
‘When I use Fireball, it’s way more powerful and hotter than anyone else’s, right?’
Thanks to my Godslayer-grade weapon.
So?
Maybe the same applied to spirits?
Fwoosh, fwoooosh!
Just like when casting spells.
I layered my weapon’s power onto the energy I was emitting.
First, fire in my left hand.
[‘Sealed Seven Essences of Spirits (4/7)’ activates.]
[Essence of Fire: Effect acquired.]
[Fire energy intensifies.]
“……!”
Roooar!
The fire pattern blazed even more fiercely.
Next, water in my right hand.
[‘Sealed Seven Essences of Spirits (4/7)’ activates.]
[Essence of Water: Effect acquired.]
[Water energy intensifies.]
Splash, splaaaash!
The blue pattern swelled much larger than before.
Rumble rumble, ruuuumble!
[Essence of Fire watches the situation with interest.]
[Essence of Water looks on disapprovingly.]
This power was different from borrowing the essences’ strength.
Just borrowing the weapon’s power.
In other words, pure gear carry.
“Huh?”
“Th-the patterns are growing! That only happens when a higher-grade spirit is coming!”
Oh, really?
Then let’s amp it up more.
I closed my eyes completely and focused on gathering energy.
Fwoooosh! Fwooooosh!
The already enlarged patterns now formed full arrays.
Etching intricate designs onto the ground.
Splash! Splaaaash!
The water energy didn’t lag behind.
The patterns, dense with immense power, embedded themselves in the air, forming a single ‘gate’.
“S-sis!”
“Th-this is…….”
The sisters frowned.
“No way…… mid-tier spirits into high-tier? How can someone with no affinity…… and two elements at once……!”
“Sis, not high-tier. Look, it’s still growing.”
“Huh, h-huh?”
“Th-then top-tier spirits?”
Rumble rumble rumble!
Rooooar……!
The green wind zone was dyed red and blue.
Half burst into flames, the other half drenched in downpour.
“Th-this……!”
“……!”
It was a spectacle.
Just from the ritual, an overwhelming aura crushed everything around, breathtaking enough to choke.
Even the noisy gnome clamped his mouth shut in fear.
“…….”
And.
My body started trembling too.
The essences’ energies were always like this.
So ridiculously potent.
Even compressed and recompressed, the energy kept surging endlessly.
[Infinite] suited them perfectly.
Crack, craaack!
Soon, my body filled with the two elements’ energies.
My back soaked in cold sweat.
‘But.’
Let’s push further……!
As much as I can handle.
Pump in as much energy as my body can take.
“W-wait a sec!”
“It’s still growing……! This is unreal…… Sis, you’re right! Even when Sylestin was summoned, it wasn’t this big!”
“Wh-what does that mean?”
That’s when it happened.
Boom rumble rumble!
A massive energy storm raged.
The fire energy spreading left converged into a summoning circle.
The water energy spreading right gathered to complete the gate—in that majestic scene!
“…….”
“…….”
The sisters’ eyes bulged.
Staring intently, as if they couldn’t miss a second of it.
And in that moment.
“……What?”
Rumble rumble……!
A red-haired man rose tall from the crimson summoning circle.
“How many thousands of years since I was last called?”
His bare upper body rippled with sleek muscle, back covered in wings of flame.
Just meeting his gaze sent chills racing across my skin from his savage aura……
“……What the fuck.”
The gnome pinned to the ground muttered.
“Who the hell calls me out…… and summons a Spirit King?”
That’s right.
The human-shaped muscle man was none other than.
[You encounter the Fire Spirit King ‘Sallion’.]
One of the four lords of the spirit realm.
[You achieve a great feat.]
[Congratulations!]
[Vitality increases by 1,000.]
But Sallion wasn’t the only one who appeared.
“Did you call for me?”
An entity forming from the gate, all fluffy and cute.
If Sylphid had that transparent, ethereal, fairy-like innocence.
This one was mermaid-curves with long hair—pure sexy vibe?
[You encounter the Water Spirit King ‘Elraim’.]
She too.
One of the four lords of the spirit realm.
[You achieve a great feat.]
[Congratulations!]
[Vitality increases by 1,000.]
The arrival of two Spirit Kings.
* * *
“…….”
“…….”
Jea and Sua were struck dumb.
Thump thump!
Their heartbeats raced several times faster than normal.
Heads spinning, barely holding off fainting.
‘Summoning a Spirit King?’
A Spirit King?
Two of them?
Unprecedented in spirit realm history!
Even the legendary spirit mage Yuisah had no such record.
‘What the hell is this guy……?’
‘We tried to kill a monster like that…… He’s a miracle for being alive.’
But the problem was.
The sisters weren’t the only ones confused.
“What? Did you call me?”
Sallion tilted his head.
“……Something mystical drew me. Hmm, something I want to feel again…… Just pulled by an essential energy…….”
Elraim licked her lips.
The two Spirit Kings stared at the man, clearly puzzled about why they were here.
* * *
‘Hmm.’
Spirit Kings, huh……
I was surprised too.
I just went with my hunch, and the spirit realm’s top bosses popped out.
[Essence of Water says don’t play dumb. Weren’t you expecting it?]
No, seriously.
I was shocked……
But what I’m curious about.
‘Why don’t they know?’
The two Spirit Kings seemed clueless about the essences’ power itself.
Totally different from the ‘Ancient Magic’ (SSS Grade) I met before.
Back then.
The day I tore the scroll in Delaila’s trial.
- Dare to use power before a great being……
Ancient Magic’s first reaction to the essences.
Even a constellation-grade like Ancient Magic knew them, so why couldn’t these higher-tier ones even sense them?
What’s going on?
[Essence of Fire chuckles softly.]
[Ancient Magic? That guy’s a special case.]
[Essence of Water nods. Old bastard, sure, but from the era before we were forgotten.]
Era before they were forgotten?
As my eyes lit with curiosity.
[Essence of Wood intervenes. Too soon. No stimulating.]
[Essence of Metal agrees.]
[At least Spirit King level, then we can talk.]
[Essence of Water snorts. That guy?]
Yeah.
Laugh it up, Water boy.
Someday.
I’ll climb so high you can’t laugh.
[Essence of Water guffaws. Bullshit.]
Anyway.
The essences always hoard info as usual.
“Hey, I asked you. Did you summon me?”
“Right, how did you…… summon us? And two at once?”
Time to deal with these Spirit Kings I called out?
That’s when.
Whoooosh!
A familiar scented breeze tickled my nose.
“What?”
A green fairy appeared simultaneously.
“What brings Sallion and Elraim to my zone?”
Oh boy.
The Wind Spirit King Sylphid had joined the party too.