Chapter 82
Chapter 82
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 82
Chapter Title: Summoning a Demon in Front of a Shaman? (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Sitting atop a spirit doesn't leave you breathless, even when flying.
As expected of a wind spirit—the pressure simply vanishes.
Serena and I were soaring across the sky.
Kaboom!
An explosion erupted from below.
It had to be magic cast by old man Closel.
Flash!
Dazzling holy power burst forth as well.
Uncle the Pope was locked in battle.
The priests were putting on an incredible show.
To my eyes, they shone like stars, crystal clear.
Scattered everywhere, they fought fiercely in desperate struggles.
Aluerd looked up, spotting me mid-flight.
"Chris, is that the spot?"
Dark energies spewed out in thick streams.
It was resentment so dense I didn't even want to look at it.
This was the vibe you'd get if one of the worst evil spirits showed up.
"That's no ordinary one."
And it hadn't even fully revealed itself yet.
Something was crouched, trying to crawl out.
"Can you land us there?"
Serena nodded as if it were obvious.
"I'm a high elf, after all."
She muttered something, and a gale whipped up right below us.
Rumble rumble rumble—
It was a powerful blast of wind.
And through it, a welcome face appeared.
"Irene!"
Whoosh!
The spirit carrying me touched down on the ground.
Irene rushed toward me like lightning.
"Are you hurt anywhere?"
I wanted to exchange greetings, but that would have to wait.
Undead were closing in around us.
"Irene! Pull that thing a bit closer for me!"
This skeleton was different from the ones we'd seen in the castle.
It was under the direct control of a necromancer.
Before Irene could respond, another elf moved first.
Swish!
Her movements were as free as falling leaves.
Crack!
Slice!
The skeleton, stripped of its limbs by the elf's hand, rolled toward me as a limbless torso.
"Benefactor of the elves!"
My arm sliced through the air, rattle in hand.
Thwack!
Ting-a-ling!
The rattle smashed the skeleton's skull.
The surrounding skeletons crumbled to the ground like dominoes.
All of them were under direct control.
"Where are the old folks?"
The moment I asked, old man Parmon appeared out of nowhere.
"They're all fine, no injuries. Don't worry."
"Old man!"
"The demon summoning is underway. They're breaching that spot."
The impure energies had grown thicker than before.
"Kill the summoner, and it'll vanish."
"No."
I didn't know much about magic, but that didn't seem right.
The source of the summoning's power wasn't the necromancer—it was that blue flame.
Up close, I could see what it really was.
A fire that burned souls to generate power.
Refining them, you might say.
It filtered out the impurities, leaving only the pure resentment of the souls.
"We need to cancel it ourselves."
It was the kind of line that begged for an explanation.
But the old man didn't ask a single question.
He just smiled faintly.
"Do whatever you want."
"...?"
"That's the way."
What kind of ridiculous reaction was that?
"Thanks to you, a lot of people survived. We'll clear the path."
It was exactly the help we needed.
I wanted to sweep all the undead away myself, but I lacked the strength.
I'd poured too much into the rain ritual.
"The elves have already opened the path."
Serena and Irene exchanged glances.
And in response, a bell tolled through the air.
Dong!
"Aluerd?"
"Isn't he performing a ritual?"
"I raised him as a papal candidate, and now he's become the young master's bell-ringer."
"Y-Your... Holiness!"
Old man Parmon charged ahead first.
Boom!
He cleaved through incoming magic, his aura blade gleaming sharply.
"Young master, there are many necromancers. I may not be much help, but..."
Flash!
Holy power erupted, enveloping his body.
I felt a bit of my fatigue lift.
"Rather than joining the fight, I'll go save the soldiers."
It was a choice befitting Uncle the Pope.
Kaboom!
The closer we got to the magic circle, the fiercer the battle became.
A horde of necromancers, or so it seemed.
But we had the advantage.
Slash!
Roll roll!
Every time they swung, heads tumbled across the ground.
And from the center came a shout.
"You pathetic insects swarm in droves!"
A being spewing thick black energy.
Serena and Aluerd stepped in front of me.
"What a powerhouse."
But wasn't it funny, when you thought about it?
We had even more heavy hitters on our side.
Flash!
Kaboom!
A bolt of lightning tore through the sky and struck there.
"Shouldn't mages handle mages?"
"Rosel, I can't yield this one. Klein fell to those bastards."
Even to me, our side looked overwhelmingly superior.
The flailing necromancer almost seemed pitiful.
Luna squirmed on my back.
"Ppa!"
"Huh?"
"Ppu!"
Her tiny hand pointed to the magic circle where the summoning was happening.
A decent number of necromancers guarded it, but they were all under attack.
They had no attention to spare for me.
"Should I stick it in there?"
I'd imagined fighting the demon with the holy sword once it appeared, but...
Stopping the summoning beforehand was obviously better.
"This isn't some minor ghost—it's an evil spirit."
The aura was this intense before it even emerged.
My nose and eyes felt like they were rotting.
The closer I got to the magic circle, the stronger the disgust grew.
Drip drip!
Patter patter!
The intensifying rain drummed against my body.
The forest fire had died down, but that blue flame still blazed fiercely.
It wasn't even that big.
About the size of a campfire.
Utterly eerie.
Ting-a-ling!
A whirlwind of scenes flooded my mind.
Countless orcs standing before the blue flame.
It seemed they used it for their own rituals.
"They've twisted it into something weird."
How else could this flame be burning souls?
"You rotten bastards..."
I thrust the holy sword into the flame blazing at the center of the magic circle.
It barely sank in at the tip, but still.
Stab!
Holy power gushed out in an instant.
Flash!
I felt the energies crawling out through the magic circle shrink back.
But it wasn't enough yet.
Probably because I wasn't the true master of the holy sword.
Ting-a-ling!
And it wasn't even fully summoned yet.
Muism, as I knew it, had no concept of exorcism.
We disciplined, drove out, and comforted.
In other words, this situation was perfect for me to go wild.
Since it was being repelled before it could even come out.
Swish!
I kicked off my shoes and stepped right onto the holy sword.
The hilt jutted straight up toward the sky.
My foot touched its blade.
Ting-a-ling!
Whoosh!
It felt like I was being sucked into the ground.
My foot stuck fast to the sword, refusing to budge.
As if something had grabbed my leg and wouldn't let go.
"So vicious, so vicious."
I wrenched my foot free and leaped up from the sword.
Stab!
Flash!
As my body slammed down onto the holy sword, the resentful energies rising from the magic circle recoiled.
Flinch.
At the same time, the pull on my ankle intensified.
The resistance had begun.
I swung my arm with all my might, letting out a shout.
Ting-a-ling!
Ting-a-ling!
It felt like the rattle and the demonic energies were locked in combat.
The more I shook it, the weaker the energy grew, and the lighter my foot felt.
The resistance was still fierce, but in times like these, you couldn't let your momentum falter.
Facing an evil spirit in ritual was a battle of wills, after all.
I deliberately timed it to mimic a diving attack and bellowed.
Ting-a-ling!
Ting-a-ling!
I launched my body high and stomped down on the holy sword.
Squelch!
The sword had sunk in halfway now.
Below it, the energies lay powerless, frozen.
On cue, bells and flute sounds rang out.
Ting-a-ling!
My ankle still felt heavy, but I could just drive it out again.
I spat a roar-like shout from my mouth and leaped up once more.
Ting-a-ling!
Ting-a-ling!
The holy sword, which had been plunging into the earth, suddenly stood rigid and refused to move.
This thing was squeezing out one last burst of power.
"The Earth God descends, and the Holy Emperor is enraged." The name of a god holds power in itself. The final god on my lips was... "The Three Pure Ones... ugh...!"
⟨ Samsin ⟩
Hurk!
Drip drip!
Blood surged from my mouth, streaming down my chin.
And in that instant.
The holy sword plunged all the way to the hilt.
Squelch!
The blue flame blazing from the ground had gone out.
The creeping resentments and churning energies had vanished cleanly.
"Hah... hah..."
Strangely, the surroundings had gone quiet.
There should have been a fierce battle raging.
Aluerd and Serena approached first.
They looked exhausted too, faces gaunt.
"...Is it over?"
I nodded.
Looking around, something felt off.
No undead in sight—just people.
The old folks weren't fighting either; they stood watching me.
"Where'd all the undead go?"
"They fled a while ago."
"Fled? A while ago?"
This was weird.
I hadn't tried to drive them off.
And a while ago?
Serena cleared up my confusion.
"Like back at the church—a lot of time passed. Not quite as much, though."
Had I lost track of time performing the ritual again?
Separate from that, why had the undead fled?
This time, Aluerd spoke with a puzzled expression.
"Even I'd run."
"...?"
"Dancing on a holy sword? Yeah, that's terrifying."