Chapter 171
Chapter 171
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 171
Chapter Title: The World's Strongest Spirit User (6)
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"B-Brother?"
The flustered Lilia called out to Galen.
She had long since moved beyond relying solely on her eyes for information about her surroundings, but that's precisely why she was so rattled now.
Traces of Galen's mana still lingered, yet Galen himself had vanished. No breath, no heartbeat, no presence at all. She could only sense the foul Nightmare.
Good thing she'd heard in advance that it had an 'interesting' application. If he'd disappeared without a word, she would've bolted from the burrow in a panic.
Fortunately, Galen reappeared moments later. Lilia quickly steadied him as he staggered slightly.
"Be careful."
"Thanks, Lilia. I'm still adjusting to the sensations a bit. Mana consumption is manageable, though..."
Galen squeezed his eyes shut and opened them several times before returning to his normal state. Lilia asked,
"Invisibility? It's perfect if even I can't sense it."
"Huh? Oh, invisibility. Yeah, I suppose it could be used that way."
"What? It's not?"
"If that was all it did, I wouldn't have called it interesting. I'm no assassin, and being good at hiding doesn't mean much anyway."
Fair point. Stealth wasn't a natural fit for a destruction-focused mage like him.
So what was it, then? As Lilia tilted her head in confusion, Galen grinned.
"Think we could do it together...? Wanna try? Mind sticking close for a sec?"
"Sure!"
Just like when they'd infiltrated from the sky earlier, Lilia pressed right up against him and linked arms.
Galen summoned the pitch-black mana once more.
Now that she was part of it, Lilia understood what was happening.
Shhrrk—
A pitch-black veil enveloped them both. It was an impenetrable darkness that cut them off completely from the outside, even to her senses.
But the veil lasted only a moment, fully shrouding them before sliding away like melting wax.
The night sky came into view.
"Huh?!"
"Shh."
Lilia clamped her mouth shut after blurting out in shock. Fortunately, it wasn't too loud.
She even rubbed her eyes, wondering if she was seeing things, but no—the sky was really there. The warehouse, the lights, the shadows of the guards. All visible.
With her mouth tightly shut against the ticklish urge to speak, Lilia shot dozens of questioning looks with her eyes. Galen gently pulled her shoulder closer.
The pitch-black veil draped over them again, then slid away.
They were back in the magic armory warehouse. Lilia immediately asked,
"We just went outside, right?"
"Yep."
"Did you... leap through space?"
"You could put it that way."
Galen gave a simple explanation of his new spell.
It was magic that perceived surrounding darkness with his senses, then materialized and manipulated what was essentially just an absence of light using mana.
True to its name, Dark Assimilation, it made him one with the darkness. In other words, since all darkness was now 'me,' he could exist anywhere there was shadow... something like that.
"But I'm a person. I can't truly merge with darkness, right?"
"Exactly."
"So you wrap your whole body in darkness like full plate armor, treat the whole thing as one mass of shadow, and that lets you do it imperfectly?"
"Yeah. Honestly, it's hard to wrap your head around. But think of it like traveling along the darkness, and you're close enough."
"That works. Oh, you can light up again now. Just a little?"
"Like this?"
"Perfect."
A radiant sword glowed in Lilia's hand at the brightness of a normal oil lamp.
Galen glanced at the Nightmare, still lying dazed under the lingering effects of the Demonic Silence Field.
This time, instead of cloaking himself in darkness, he swung lightly, mimicking the feel of wielding water with Water Flow Manipulation.
Pfufufuk!
The shadow, pushed back slightly by the radiant sword, sharpened into a blade and impaled the Nightmare mercilessly, surging upward.
The demon didn't even scream before turning into a tattered rag. Its trembling body soon went still.
Even as it leaked inky smoke instead of blood, Galen had figured it wasn't a normal lifeform. But in death, it dissolved further.
The forcibly gathered darkness scattered, its entire body warping and melting away.
"Just like they say. Nightmares don't leave corpses."
Lilia swept the radiant sword around, infusing it with light. The purifying miracle erased the black aura like rubber on ink with every pass.
Grotesque from start to finish. Galen wrapped up his thoughts on Nightmares and shifted focus to Dark Assimilation.
"Hm, even this much light is already irritating. No wonder Gold-rank at night drops to less than Silver in daylight."
"That big a difference?"
"Roughly... like the difference between casting water magic with or without water around?"
"Huge."
"Not ideal for offense even at night. It's decent, but nothing special."
Don't forget: Dark Assimilation wasn't a brand-new spell acquired from scratch.
Earth Bind had evolved into the higher concept of Pitch Black, and this was a new subcategory application added under it.
Thanks to that, he could use it at level 69 right away, but no separate mana pool was generated like with a fresh spell.
In simple terms, his total mana hadn't increased—just the ways to spend it.
Waste Pitch Black mana on Dark Assimilation, and he'd lack for Earth Bind.
Since its offensive power wasn't outstanding, better to save Pitch Black for defense or night-only mobility. It was his sole cover for a fragile mage's weakness, after all.
"You weren't short on attack options anyway, Brother. Getting spatial leap—even limited—is huge! Blink east, blink west, bombard with spells—they won't stand a chance."
"Theoretically possible at night?"
The dizziness per leap would fade with adaptation, but the absolute distance wasn't that far, so Lilia's flashy image might not pan out... No need to rain on her parade, though.
Anyway, they'd found the magic armory, dealt with the Nightmare, and milked the spells nicely. Time to head back.
The two exited through the burrow to the surface.
The earth dolls standing guard at the entrance filed back in one by one, sealing the tunnel.
Not perfectly restored to the original state, but from outside, it wouldn't look suspiciously dug up.
Even as the ground appeared convincingly repaired, the guards noticed nothing. Too diligently manning their posts to spot the quiet happenings in their blind spots.
Retracing their path, they returned to the initial landing spot.
[Life : Spirit : Bestow]
[Spirit Creation]
A freshly created wind spirit enveloped them and lifted them into the sky.
No one spotted their takeoff from this dark, empty spot—just like why they'd chosen it to land.
Now, straight back to the church—
"Brother, Brother."
That was when it happened. Lilia urgently shook Galen's arm, which she was clinging to.
"Yeah?"
"See that over there?"
Following her fingertip downward... it was pitch black.
At this height, Galen's eyesight could only make out lights or lack thereof. The near-new moon offered scant illumination; even building outlines were indistinct.
"What's wrong with it?"
"Don't you remember? There's the annex, with the garden."
"The annex."
Now that she mentioned it, yes.
The estate was so vast they'd landscaped a small forest within it. The garden and annex nestled behind it as a fence.
The annex lights had definitely been on earlier.
Of course, searching the warehouse and chatting inside had taken time, so maybe they'd turned in. But...
"Kallia Trading Company said the Speerius gem, Lord Atma, resides in the annex."
"Right. They fenced it with the forest because he hates meeting people."
"But tonight, Sir Michael went to meet Lord Atma."
Already over? If they weren't close, maybe a perfunctory dismissal... But why meet at all then? Like with Anton.
"Shall we check it out real quick?"
"Yeah. Something feels off."
Not a big deal. Galen maneuvered the wind spirit to relocate them.
They soon hovered above the annex. Lilia's face darkened as she peered below.
"It's not just the lights out. It's the same magic you showed me. Veil of darkness. Can't see inside at all."
"Covering the whole annex?"
"Yes."
"That subdued Nightmare mentioned four more on other duties. Guess that's them."
Galen focused his senses. Water Flow Manipulation, Spirit Ring Surge, and now Dark Assimilation's range overlapped, scanning the space.
It wasn't mere night darkness—a pitch-black veil blanketing everything in a dome below.
"The forest is dense enough to block views from outside. No guards visible. Already a closed space, but with a lid on top... no clue what's happening inside. Only reason for demons to order that..."
"...To attack Brother Michael. A gem spirit user and gem warrior clashing won't be quiet."
"How do they plan to handle the fallout? They don't know about us, fine, but Sir Michael's no secret visitor."
Even if they secretly offed Michael here and miraculously assassinated Anton next.
The church's top brass all knew Anton was investigating House Speerius. No brushing that off.
"Maybe they never planned to."
Lilia murmured, smile fading.
"If it's just about combat, tonight's the only shot to take out the gems one by one."
"Limited to combat, sure, but success or failure—the house falls either way."
"If they're diehard devil followers prioritizing demons over the house? Possible. Archbishop Anton never imagined it'd be this bad..."
That's why they let Michael come alone. Never expected this level of recklessness.
"Anyway, we have to help."
"Church first? Or straight there?"
"Straight. Even if it's quick, variables could pop up."
"Agreed. I asked them to watch the mansion. If it gets noisy, they'll come."
"Space leap again? Or should I blast through?"
"Nah, going loud."
Galen grinned.
"They tried sneaking dirty tricks quietly. A commotion should rattle them good."
"Ah."
They both knew the perfect spell for it.
The shadow of Phantom Flame Inferno settled invisibly atop the dark veil below, seen only by Galen.
Soon, flames ignited.
Kwaaaaaaang!
A massive explosion rocked the sky above the annex, blasting the darkness away.