Chapter 254

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Translator: Ryuma

Chapter: 254

Chapter Title: The Heretics' Proposal

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Heretics. These guys had tried to reach out to me through Isna before.

Even as they were locked in fierce battle with the Lunar Watchers, their objective was clearer than expected.

To collect and secure the hidden great powers existing in this world.

I had no idea what their ultimate goal was, but it was clear they were obsessive collectors of deadly weapons.

The lich sealed in the dungeon.

The kraken, known as an object of terror. And there was that incident at the academy too.

Whatever the case, they were undoubtedly harmful, yet for some reason, these guys—who saw me as their greatest obstacle and enemy—had come with a proposal.

"Those things have no sense of proportion to begin with. We're not hoping for some world-ending catastrophe."

"So? What are they?"

"We call them 'existences we shouldn't know.' They're impossible to control, and the moment you become aware of them, blood pours from your eyes, you go mad, and you die."

The Red Moon?

I already knew from Isna that the Red Moon was planting seeds in humans to turn them into its puppets.

"If those things get their way, even we won't be safe. They're the kind that try to tear the world itself apart."

He tossed a vial toward me, his body tense with caution.

"Take it. It's a potion that can weaken that monstrous weapon. Just sprinkle it when you see the thing."

He withdrew without lingering.

"Our goal this time isn't to set traps—it's to prove our trustworthiness for dialogue. If things go well, we'll come back then."

The details could wait until later.

Afterward, he handed over a thick bundle of documents.

It was none other than strategic maps of the Coral Kingdom and detailed intelligence reports on their movements.

"These guys... their intelligence network is better than I thought."

"Use them while you can. The heretics are undoubtedly insane, but even they would spit at the existence of the outer gods—it's that dangerous."

Madmen chased across the continent publicly, yet even they were cutting ties.

At that point, I couldn't help but let out a hollow laugh.

Luna and I had already ravaged Coral from end to end, causing their war-making capacity to plummet absurdly.

"Looks like only this is left."

Even they couldn't have infinite supplies.

After boldly breaking through their traps and raiding several rear supply convoys, the frontline had reversed—Coral was now the one being invaded, their forces ridiculously weakened.

Bata Kingdom's troops at the front had formed a detachment to burn Coral's supply depots, starving them out completely. Fighting was no longer feasible.

No weapons supplied, no food either.

At this stage, they had shifted to a mindset of abandoning what they had to, sending transports along multiple routes simultaneously...

"D-Damn it... It's him!! Retreat!! Fall back!!"

Teleport gates weren't common, so land routes were inevitably slow.

Even if they slipped past my surveillance, the amounts were negligible.

The only way to transport in bulk was waterways, but I'd capsized every one in sight with massive waves of water, turning the war into a one-sided beatdown long ago.

By now, suspicion was creeping in.

With the situation like this, they should redirect their main force from the frontline to capturing me.

Why hadn't the Eastern Continent's primary forces moved yet?

What strategy were these bastards ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hiding and preparing?

I'd checked with Melissa, who consulted Bata's intelligence division, but they came up empty.

Whatever it was, it seemed clear they would move soon.

Time was on our side, not theirs to begin with.

And since Luna and I weren't hiding our tracks, boldly rampaging through Coral, they found us easily.

Innumerable presences dotted the dark forest.

It felt like until now, they'd been probing my strength in various ways to gauge me.

So, now that they had it all figured out, it was time to end it.

The scale was entirely different from before.

Whether they'd marked me as a greater threat than the frontline or not, just skimming the presences in the forest revealed tens of thousands of troops encircling it completely.

In truth, Coral's real main force had gathered not for the frontline, but to capture Luna and me.

When I reported this to Melissa, she said it was enough and to come back, but I ignored her.

As if I'd ever listened before—what was she on about?

"Pure force-wise, it's enough to wipe out a whole nation."

Over six Masters, including those who'd fled after clashing with me before.

Plus, at least ten upper Experts moving with eerie stealth, even if not Masters.

And above all, the disturbing thing.

Amid the encirclement closing in on our position, something grotesquely bizarre and horrific stirred.

Coral's final secret strategic weapon, modeled after the parasite the heretics had handed over.

It had begun to move.

"Once we clean up everything converging here, Coral and the Eastern Continent will lose their forces completely."

Coral knew that too, so they'd prepared thoroughly this time to eliminate us for sure.

At the same time.

A thick, eerie barrier unfurled across the entire vast forest.

As if to trap me inside.

Simultaneously, countless fire arrows lit up the night sky beyond the forest, raining down on the whole area.

This wasn't aimed at killing me.

They intended to burn every inch of forest in this magic prison.

Luna and I had raided a supply unit nearby.

Having predicted our movements, they'd turned the entire forest into a massive trap.

I blasted wind pressure to scatter the indiscriminate fire arrows pouring from the sky before they could target us directly.

But the forest inside the massive barrier had long since become an inferno.

The flames spread in an instant, reducing the whole woods to ashes.

This wasn't ordinary fire—magically conjured, it turned even a single tree to cinders in mere seconds.

And then.

From the smoke-blackened blaze, the assault began.

"Alright. Let's see what the Eastern Continent's got."

At my taunt, attacks from all four directions targeted my vitals at tremendous speed.

They seemed aware of my danger, coming prepared. Aura, magic, necromancy. Even Utopia.

These bastards had confusing intel: for a mere human, I wielded an excessive amount of power, and it was strong.

But reality being reality, they'd found a way through.

A massive magic circle had already blanketed the forest, activating to suppress my aura and mana usage.

I'd known they'd lure us here and set traps.

Even so, we'd walked right in.

Because we had a plan.

With my hand in my pocket, surveying the surroundings, I slowly lifted one foot.

And.

KABOOM!!!!!!!

I stomped down, gathering immense shock energy at my toe and spreading it across the ground.

RUMBLE!!!

The earth quaked violently with a roar, causing the incoming presences to halt their assault momentarily and pull back from me.

Cautious, huh. If they'd come a bit closer, something fun would've happened.

Of course, real experts wouldn't falter from mere shockwaves or quakes.

But that wasn't my target. That stomp had been crafted to soften the hard ground.

The entire area churned, mixed, and circulated as it shook. The specific energy from my foot dispersed evenly throughout the zone.

This should do it.

"Let's make a contract."

Before coming here, I'd chosen the cleanest, easiest way to catch them off guard.

Downloading a memory from Labyrinthos.

I didn't know the standard spirit contract method. The spirits I knew were different from the usual ones, so my contracts broke the mold from the start.

I bestowed a name, an attribute, and its essence.

The only memory I could reclaim from Labyrinthos's halls right now was one.

The Spirit Hall.

Truth be told, when I first downloaded it, I had no clue what level my contracted spirit was at.

I just thought, "Huh, pretty impressive—strong enough to beat ancient god-like monsters."

But when I checked my hand, I realized. The spirit I'd contracted wasn't your typical one people knew.

Piles of dirt wriggled before me, soon taking the form of a small child.

A pretty girl with long hair and a blank expression. Her unkempt locks shook as her dull eyes met mine.

Normally, a first-summoned earth spirit gnome took a form quite different from an elderly human.

But this girl was far larger than a gnome, resembling a grubby human child instead.

"What should we do? Father?"

While lower spirits like gnomes communicated through actions rather than words, this one addressed me clearly.

"Wanna play in the dirt?"

"Yeah. Sounds good."

A spirit molded from earth into human shape. Grivi clearly took human form. Utterly alien compared to normal spirits, carrying an otherworldly aura.

"A peculiar spirit. Completely different from existing ones."

"Yeah, it is."

What I'd wanted was something I could talk to. Probably. That's what I'd sought in the Spirit Hall.

Soon, Grivi raised one hand high. She wasn't a naturally occurring spirit but a twisted one born from my will and spirit mana.

She had no spirit rank.

Instead, her power scaled with the strength of my spirit mana.

Grivi patted the ground with her small, cute palm...

But the result was anything but light.