Chapter 1134 – 1134. Savior Of The Academy
Thunder Owl Mocha, now a high-level lightning spirit, flew across the clear sky. Mocha’s vision was shared with me through my spirit eyes.
‘Found the fourth one. They gathered stones and made an altar.’
They’re trying to amplify the curse of the artifacts by using the altar. Not bad. If I didn’t have spirit eyes, it might have been quite troublesome.
‘Mocha. Let’s show that bastard the taste of lightning.’
-Kkuuk!
Mocha’s intention, saying to leave it to him, is conveyed.
Kwa kwa kwa kwang!
A huge lightning bolt fell to the ground. The guy who was trying to cast a curse by making an altar is retired and disappears.
‘Three left. I haven’t found Shin Nari… and two others are hiding well, avoiding my eyes. They must have used magic, or hid in a cave or something.’
There were a few places I could guess.
The moment I took a step without hesitation.
Kiiiiiiing.
A sharp sound rings in my ear. Something unpleasant pierces through my body. It was a curse.
‘Shit. Was the fourth one not the culprit either?’
『Sapling of the Divine Tree
Rank: S
Immune to curses.
Durability 27/50』
The durability decreased by 2.
My face was severely distorted.
A curse was flying from somewhere every 10 minutes. And because of this damn curse, a total of 10 durability points were reduced.
‘If the durability of the Sapling of the Divine Tree is reduced by 2 at a time… how powerful of a curse are they using? Damn it. If I didn’t have the Sapling of the Divine Tree, I would have been in big trouble.’
What’s more annoying is that I can’t even find the trace of the curse with my eyes.
I tried to hide my impatience and took a step.
•••
“Kueok!”
The fifth one fell off the hill.
Only Shin Nari and one other remained.
『Sapling of the Divine Tree
Rank: S
Immune to curses.
Durability 22/50』
I checked the durability and turned my head to the side.
Pale white hair, a small physique, bandages covering the white skin under her school uniform, dead red eyes like a dead fish.
Shin Nari revealed herself. She wore claws on both hands. A weapon with three blades extending like fingernails on the back of her black gloves. More powerful than anything was the evil spirit attached to her. The head of a female ghost with long hair and hollow eyes was facing me. The non-existent eyes of the evil spirit seemed to be glaring at me.
“Senior. You were nearby, right? Why are you only showing up now?”
“The teacher told me to.”
She answered my question in a voice that contained no emotion.
Kim Jeo.
It’s that bastard’s plan. To finish me off with Shin Nari, the trump card, when I’m exhausted.
‘But what to do. I’m not tired. Stamina, mana. All perfectly managed.’
Thanks to the Sapling of the Divine Tree, the annoying curse casters couldn’t do anything to me.
“Senior. I have a proposal.”
“……?”
“Give up the Artifact Department and come to the Spirit Department.”
“No.”
“I know why you’re in the Artifact Department. It’s because of that evil spirit, right? I’ll tell you the identity of the evil spirit and how to handle it.”
The identity of the evil spirit.
Shin Nari reacted to that word. Her eyes widened a little more.
“…Still, I can’t. I have to repay the favor I received from the teacher.”
“You can just give up here. Then I’ll help you, I’m telling you?”
“No.”
“…Do you know? If you miss this opportunity, I won’t help you. I’ll definitely get a price. And that price will be quite high.”
“Still no.”
Shin Nari said firmly. She raised her hand as if she wouldn’t talk to me anymore. The steel claws shone sharply.
“I gave you a chance, Senior.”
I called Mocha in my mind.
Mocha, the spirit contracted with me, answered my will. Thunder filled the surroundings, and Mocha, who had become lightning, rushed towards Shin Nari.
Shin Nari’s body shook strangely. It was similar to the movement of a puppet handled by an amateur puppeteer. Lightning struck. Shin Nari barely avoided Mocha.
Mocha unleashed lightning in all directions as if throwing a tantrum. The current spread through the ground. Shin Nari ignored the current touching her body. Her sense of touch and pain are fainter than others. Perhaps the pain from the current is only a tingling sensation. She can move because she uses the power of curses.
I threw a spear at her as she approached.
Three spears flew towards her in succession. Shin Nari gracefully dodged the spears like a ballerina dancing on stage.
‘Unpredictable movements.’
There was no time to let out a hollow laugh. Because she had already appeared in front of me. I drew my sword from my waist and blocked her claws.
Clang! Clang!
Shin Nari’s attacks continued naturally like flowing water.
Left, right, left, left, right.
The feast of attacks, where order could not be found, was instinct itself.
‘It’s like fighting a monster, not a person.’
I stepped back, taking her attacks. It was to disperse her power as much as possible.
‘It’s worth raising the Yeongcheon Style level to the end. My feet don’t get tangled at all when moving quickly backward.’
Shin Nari followed persistently when I fell back. I moved behind a tree, using it as cover. A red curse formed like a sword aura on Shin Nari’s claws. The tree was cut into four pieces and fell. I also created a blue sword aura to block her attack.
As the attacks continued, Shin Nari’s concentration on me increased.
‘Mocha, you can do Thunder Bolt, right?’
The Thunder Bolt I used in Dark Moon. Mocha, a high-level spirit, should be able to use it.
-Kkuk!
Mocha’s confident intention was conveyed. My mana drained quickly. It seemed like Mocha was going to do it properly.
Through my spirit eyes, I could see Mocha’s vision. Lightning gathered and compressed around Mocha, who was floating in the sky.
‘I need a little more time.’
It wouldn’t be bad to show off my skills a little more here.
I gathered mana in my right foot and stepped on the ground. Whoosh. The wooden barrels scattered on the ground rose up all at once. They were the trees that Shin Nari had cut down.
‘Acceleration, Moment.’
Yeongcheon Style Lightning Step.
Pajik.
My legs moved like lightning, emitting a thunderous sound. I stepped on the rising logs. Shin Nari’s red eyes followed my afterimages. I aimed for the moment when she completely missed my movements and rushed in with my sword. It was a perfect surprise attack that couldn’t be avoided.
But Shin Nari avoided it.
Her body moved strangely to the side, as if someone was pulling her, avoiding my attack. The reason was obvious.
‘…Damn evil spirit.’
Shin Nari’s bewildered eyes turned to me. But that was only for a moment, and soon her claws counterattacked. I forcibly twisted my shoulder and raised my sword to defend.
Clang!
My body flew backward. I maintained my balance even in the air and landed stably on the ground.
“Thunder Bolt.”
I said it once.
Shin Nari tilted her head as if puzzled. Her senses were faint. That’s why she didn’t notice the attack prepared in the sky until the end.
A lightning bolt as thick as a centuries-old tree fell on her. The light of destruction was short. But it burned the surroundings and left a crater on the ground.
In the center of it, Shin Nari stood blankly, looking at the sky. There were no injuries. Her clothes were fine. But the bandages that had been wrapped around her body were stained black. The bandages slowly turned to dust and disappeared.
The bandages of Jema.
The bandages that Kim Jeo gave to Shin Nari as a gift.
It was the reason why Shin Nari, who didn’t like Kim Jeo very much, didn’t refuse Kim Jeo’s words.
“……I guess it doesn’t matter since this is a dungeon.”
She muttered. The bandages that had turned to dust scattered like flower petals in the wind. The corners of the evil spirit’s mouth tore. The evil spirit’s hand tightly embraced Shin Nari’s pale skin. The evil spirit permeated her body. It was possession.
Shin Nari’s white hair turned black, and her skin turned blood red. Her red eyes shone eerily. The curses that had accumulated in her due to Jema’s bandages spread in all directions.
‘It’s breathtaking. It’s more than I thought….’
At this level, there would be few among the academy teachers who could handle her.
Shin Nari’s mouth opened.
An indescribable voice echoed in the space.
Immediately after, her feet kicked the ground. That alone caused a shockwave.
‘Moment.’
I was watching, so I wasn’t late. I grabbed her shoulder as she approached me. The rope around my wrist shone intensely.
Shin Nari’s possession was released. The evil spirit couldn’t withstand the sacredness of the rope and was repelled. Shin Nari, who had returned to her original form, blinked her eyes and looked at me.
“Ah….”
“Mocha, lightning.”
Kwarurururung!
Lightning fell on me and Shin Nari. Shin Nari’s face contorted. She, who had been retired, disappeared in front of me. The evil spirit that had fallen off was the same.
‘It’s natural since it was only temporarily separated….’
Ignoring my tingling body due to the electric shock, I looked at the rope. The white rope was stained black.
『Sapling of the Divine Tree
Rank: S
Immune to curses.
Durability 0/50』
The contents of the notification window wriggled and then transformed.
『Cursed Sapling of the Divine Tree
Rank: S
Absorbs curses.
Absorbed curses 0/100』
‘It’s as planned.’
Kiiiiiiing.
A curse flew towards me. Instead of harming my body, the curse was sucked into the rope.
『Cursed Sapling of the Divine Tree
Rank: S
Absorbs curses.
Absorbed curses 7/100』
‘7 curses were absorbed. This is not an ordinary curse after all.’
I clicked my tongue.
The cursed Sapling of the Divine Tree absorbs the owner’s curses instead. It’s not just good. If the curse is full, it becomes a disaster and overwhelms the owner. This item is useless unless it is someone who can handle curses.
‘It’s a top-tier artifact. But I don’t need it.’
The one who can handle this properly is Shin Nari. And if I give this to Shin Nari as a gift, her favorability will skyrocket.
•••
『Cursed Sapling of the Divine Tree
Rank: S
Absorbs curses.
Absorbed curses 21/100』
“Found it.”
I found the last one hiding in the cave.
I frowned deeply as I entered the cave. The cave floor was submerged in blood. The pool of blood was ankle-deep. The source of the blood was the ceiling. Blood was constantly flowing from the mouth of a small skull hanging from the ceiling.
And below it, a man was kneeling, being hit by the blood. The bowed man kept muttering meaningless words.
‘What is this guy. He has more than 10 artifacts decorated on his body right now.’
The commonality of those artifacts was that they were all corpses of something. A human hand, a monster’s tooth, an animal’s intestines…. They were all disgusting things.
『Cursed Sapling of the Divine Tree
Rank: S
Absorbs curses.
Absorbed curses 24/100』
Just being here was absorbing curses. I clicked my tongue and drew my sword.
‘Well, whatever. Let’s finish this quickly.’
Splash splash.
It was when I was getting closer to see the end. Pududududuk. The guy’s neck turned 180 degrees and he looked at me. Bloody tears streamed from his empty eye sockets, and the corners of his mouth were grotesquely torn, smiling.
“You are….”
A first-year from the Artifact Department. The first-year who was very intimidated by me when I applied for a bet with Kim Jeo.
“Kihi, kihhihihihihi!”
The guy laughed. His neck stretched like rubber and reached the ceiling of the cave. The guy’s empty eyes were looking directly at me.
Clang!!
The space shattered like a mirror. What came out of the cracks in the shattered space was Kang Ji-young. Behind her, academy teachers and students who were embarrassed were peeking.
Kang Ji-young’s face was distorted with anger. Paddeuk. Blood flowed from her tightly clenched lips.
“Catch Kim Jeo right now!!”
Her angry shout shook even the space.
