Piercing Spiritia's Black Veil
Spiritia's dimensional gate yawned open.
Beyond it lay pitch-black darkness.
"Darkness? That's just water to vampires! Not scary at all!"
"Hehe, compared to the pitch-black hearts of demons, this level of gloom is nothing."
They sounded so confident.
So why were they clinging to both my arms like glue?
They were trembling.
Carmina was shaking.
Yulia was pretending to be calm but couldn't hide her tension.
Sigh, these scaredy-cats.
Guess I'll have to take the lead.
But.
"……."
I felt it every time, but it was a little scary.
Endless, dense blackness.
Rustling sounds echoed from all directions.
While we paused, the two allies bickered away.
"Lady Yulia! Here's an Acceleration Orb! Hurry and go in at double speed! Light, please!"
"Hehe, I'll yield to you, Lady Carmina. But don't vampires have night vision by default?"
Carmina pulled out garlic and a cross from who-knows-where.
Yulia clutched a bottle of makgeolli—holy water—ready to splash if a ghost appeared.
And then they switched targets.
"Master! People said the Hitchhiker is the light!"
"It's just light. Won't the darkness naturally recede if we follow His Holiness's steps?"
These shameless folks.
Just slapping it on me.
"Let's take a moment to steel ourselves."
Right then.
—Something's coming to mind.
Hati took the first step forward.
Ah, behold.
That valiant advance.
"Hati! So brave!"
"Truly the sacred beast of the Dopamine Church."
After banking one free pass, the two bipedal animals solemnly followed the quadruped.
Cautiously, one step into the gate's interior.
Yulia immediately floated a orb of light.
A one-meter radius of illuminated vision.
Sssshhhh!
"Weird noises!"
"Same as last time, Your Holiness."
I had a skill to counter it.
Sun Summon Lv.40
I'd tested it during the 40th-floor clear.
When summoned at max power, a bowling-ball-sized orb appeared right in front of me.
A yellow-and-red flaming sphere.
Slowly orbiting.
I instinctively knew.
It looked similar, but it was a vastly different concept from the real sun.
And there were no burns.
Just an indescribable warmth and surge of energy.
But against monsters, the opposite happened.
Paasssh—!
The sun hovering in the sky.
Monsters touched by its light withered, twisted, and scattered into black particles.
Not a single exception.
And soon after, the message rang out.
Lizardmen slain: 55,000
The vast plain was left only with armor, weapons, and other armaments.
According to the skill description:
Installs an artificial sun that eradicates the Tower's black energy and promotes regeneration of all life.
Tip: Further divine authorities can be acquired later to forge a real sun.
Monsters all carried a black hue, varying only in shade.
That must be the Tower's black energy.
They vanished in the artificial sun's light.
Anyway, to sum up.
Sun Summon was an AoE skill.
Combining attack and buff capabilities.
I still didn't fully grasp what "life regeneration promotion" meant exactly.
But the skill could emit tremendous light on its own.
Sssshhhh!
Skill use: Sun Summon.
Fwoosh!
Light and flame coalesced in an instant, forming a red orb on my palm.
The next moment, we witnessed the surrounding darkness being torn apart.
Even the black vines approaching then sluggishly retreating.
"Running away?! I was gonna slice them all with blood magic!"
"Hmph, if they'd come a bit closer, I'd have smashed them all with my hammer."
They'd suddenly grown some guts.
Wanna see me snuff it out again?
Surveying the surroundings, I said,
"Looks like a forest, as expected."
"All the trees are withered!"
"The cracked ground... desertification, maybe?"
The real peculiarity was elsewhere.
Everything visible—trees, rocks, soil—was pitch black.
Like a world splashed with black paint.
And moreover.
"There's fog!"
"Black energy blanketing everywhere?"
Just as they said.
Black fog and vines densely packed beyond the artificial sun's light radius.
On a hunch, I tossed a coin.
Snap!
A vine caught it.
Fog swarmed, and soon a blackened "something that was once a coin" dropped.
"Got the gist. We know who's to blame for turning the planet into this mess."
I scooped up Hati, who was frantically looking around in confusion.
"Memories surfacing?"
—Memories are coming back! Not all, but some!
To summarize what followed:
Spiritia, blessed with abundant mana, home to spirits.
A natural environment mana-fied, where matter and antimatter coexisted.
Then the Towers appeared, bringing disaster.
—The Towers spewed black energy.
Cloudy, like Earth's factories.
The mysterious energy blackened everything, corroding the planet.
—Lots of friends died. The black energy even mimicked our forms.
As if proving it.
Sssshhh!
Black mist coalesced here and there into animal shapes.
Then they began circling us like predators eyeing prey.
Man, it's brutal.
"No Awakenings or climbing here?"
—No Awakenings like on Earth.
Some spirits suddenly grew stronger, but no Tower entries or climbs.
"Tower rampages?"
—Had to eliminate the mimics fast.
Or the Towers spewed energy even faster.
Maybe recalling the past fueled its anger.
Hati gnawed at my finger.
"Grr! Grr! Grrr!"
Snorting fiercely.
Too bad it's adorably serious.
I scratched its chin vigorously to comfort it.
'Awakening, climbing, rampage.'
Similar but different.
Planet characteristics, probably.
But the key point was the same.
The Towers were vile vectors invading planets.
Nosferatu and Lumentia reclaimed via monster subjugation.
'No monsters here.'
Something similar existed, though.
Animals made of black energy.
Okay. Got a feel for it.
"They're kinda annoying in large numbers, so let's wipe them out."
"Not cute like Hati, just swarming wildly!"
"Vicious energy, so best to eradicate entirely, Your Holiness."
No physical form, so meteors don't count as kills.
What about Black Hole...?
'It works, but.'
Hm? Then I spotted it.
Black particles flaking off tree bark like ash.
Like peeling paint.
Revealing original colors beneath.
The prowling animals were also dissipating, forms scattering.
Oh ho, so that's it?
Almost got stuck.
"Let's go."
I urged the carpet skyward.
Weaving through trees at bullet speed.
Artificial sun cradled in my arms.
Darkness rippled along our skyrocketing trail like fireworks.
Like a sub's beam surging from the deep sea.
"Master! There! Over there!"
"Light's Grace activated!"
Black energy blanketing the sky morphed into countless birds and swarmed.
Fiercely from all sides.
Pecking beaks clacking.
They reached the sun's light radius, retreated, charged again, repeating.
How many? Tens of thousands? Hundreds? Millions?
Too dense to gauge.
"Your Holiness? Shouldn't we summon another sun? They're closing in!"
Yulia's urgent cry.
"Still fine."
Counter? Not yet.
I kept max accelerated thoughts, heading higher.
And.
At an altitude overlooking all of Spiritia.
I beheld it.
Far in the sky, a monstrous bird hundreds of meters wide, beak agape, diving in.
Yeah, now we're talking.
This is skill-worthy.
"Lady Yulia."
"Yes, Your Holiness!"
Ally Yulia uses Celestial Blessing.
Target: Galaxy Traveler
INT and WIS amplified 3x for 30 minutes.
Yulia's Celestial Blessing.
Now usable once per day.
Thanks to stacking relic oil and Acceleration Orb buffs.
And.
Skill use: Sun Summon.
Fused two suns for max volume and output.
Think it's just human-sized? Wait till you see performance.
Palmed it, aimed at the gaping beak filling my view.
Open wide, flame shot incoming.
Just before launch.
—Dopamine! Dopamine is the best!
Hati, what're you saying?
Lumentia—or rather, all of Spiritia—exploded with light.
Achievement unlocked.
Planet Restoration initiated—Method 2
Exclusive reward for Galaxy Traveler granted.
Time until Alliance Confirmation: 14 minutes 59 seconds
The Korean Awakener Management Agency was on edge.
Fear of solo outings?
Worried about losing next round's top spot?
No.
Faith in the Hitchhiker—now Korea's divine being—was absolute.
The tense air stemmed from one thing.
Alliance formations would completely reshape global competition.
"Any updates on the directives?"
"Intel on Islamic nations holding an emergency summit!"
"Hurry! No time to rest!"
Bureaucrats dashed about till the last moment, grasping trends and analyzing.
Predictions existed, of course.
Acquire bonus score amplification proportional to number of adjacent nations in alliance.
Day before alliance lock-in.
System's surprise condition.
Most alliances likely divided by 'geography.'
Transcending politics, economy, religion, culture, etc.
But exceptions exist everywhere.
Unimaginable combos from national interests possible.
'Less than 5 minutes left.'
Cha Minhyuk's palms were slick with sweat.
Amid burning tension, pleasant shivers and anticipation mixed in.
Hope for the future.
Hours ago, a new S-rank Awakener visited the agency.
22-year-old male, Nam Do-hyuk.
He was a Hitchhiker follower.
Admiration, respect, adoration plain.
Even expressed desire to join as agency Awakener.
Director Yoo Suho marveled.
Awakener-poor Korea.
S-ranks stuck at 3 for years.
A new S-rank!
Reason? Obvious.
Rank 1 nation's secret perk: high-rank Awakening rate buff.
No other variables.
And moreover.
"Jeju survivors' identities confirmed!"
Rescuees from Jeju: all Awakeners.
Unlucky climbers who died early on.
Shocking: one S-rank among them.
Korea's S-ranks jumped from 3 to 5.
Tremendous power boost.
With Hitchhiker's national feats paving highways.
Latecomers could quickly mine meaningful scores.
Two new S-ranks, no less.
'Hitchhiker will be shocked too.'
Cha Minhyuk couldn't hide his excitement at sharing the news.
And.
Time until Alliance Confirmation: 2 seconds
Time until Alliance Confirmation: 1 second
Time until Alliance Confirmation: 0 seconds
Alliances confirmed as of now.
Three days of national scores aggregated under alliance names.
Starting values: -20 million points.
All aggregates still negative.
But.
Cha Minhyuk switches ranking view to absolute score gains.
2. Western Europe Alliance (9) +8,350,500 pts
3. US-China-Japan Alliance (3) +7,450,195 pts
4. Central Asia Alliance (15) +6,850,020 pts
(...)
Fierce score battles underway.
The curtain rose on the second war.