Chapter 2046 – 2046. Savior Of The Academy
Operating four spirits simultaneously drains mana like crazy.
Even with my current mana rank at S-, I could barely last a minute.
‘For times like this, I prepared Mana Potions…!’
I pull out mana potions from my inventory and gulp them down. They’re rarer and more expensive than recovery potions. I chug them down to replenish my mana.
Still, it’s not enough.
It’s like pouring water into a bottomless pit. Even if my mana recovers, it’s drained instantly.
“Ahahahahahahaha!”
Inferna laughs like a madwoman as she uses her power. Every time she swings her arm, pillars of fire erupt. Seeing her like that, naked, she really looks like a madwoman. But even looking like that, she’s not enjoying the fight. She just likes using her power unilaterally.
‘But she can’t break the barrier, right? Is the barrier that strong? Or is Inferna weak?’
I turn my gaze to the side. Arrest is quiet. He’s quietly manipulating the wind. The wind he controls is free in form. The wind formed as points pierces everything at high speed, the wind formed as lines cuts through the ground, trees, and humans alike, and the wind formed as a surface presses down on the ground.
Beta, facing the natural disaster that is the wind, is bloody but doesn’t fall. His guardian spirit is supporting his body. He blocks or deflects the wind with the stakes in his hands, and attacks Arrest with invisible stakes.
Yet, he can’t kill or defeat Arrest. Arrest’s body is made of wind. Normal physical attacks don’t work at all.
The direction of the invisible stake attacks changes. They’re flying towards me, who’s drinking mana potions. Since it’s hard to deal with the summons, they’re trying to kill the summoner. It’s a logical move.
Kwaaaaaaa!
If the wind barrier hadn’t been protecting me, I might have been hit by the invisible stakes.
“Annoying.”
Arrest says in a nonchalant voice. The mana draining towards Arrest increases instantly. I’m startled and gulp down two mana potions at the same time.
“Ugh.”
I almost threw up.
It’s not just the lack of mana that’s the problem. As mana flows in through the potions, it’s also flowing out, putting a strain on my body.
Instead of holding back, I drink more mana potions. It doesn’t matter if my blood vessels twist and my heart breaks. I have full recovery left.
The killer whale swims through the air and rises into the sky. Its size grows larger and larger, and when it reaches the clouds, it looks like it’s about 300 meters.
The whale jumps above the clouds. The shockwave scatters and dissipates the dark clouds. Mocha, who was hiding in the dark clouds, is forcibly unsummoned by the shock. Arrest, who is connected to me, should know this, but he doesn’t care at all and falls to the ground.
Beta, who is below, mutters with a hollow expression.
“Ha… Is this the power of a top-tier spirit? I see why Guirakgok is so interested in spirits. How are you supposed to deal with that….”
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!
The giant wind whale falls to the ground. The entire Sakurajima Island shakes, and the nearby sea surges due to the wind.
[Kyaaaaaaaak!]
Makina, who was swept away, screams and is forcibly unsummoned. Beta disappears without a trace.
I’m safe. Another wind protected me.
Thud.
My legs give out, and I vomit blood. My insides are a mess. My heart hurts like it’s about to break.
‘I can endure it.’
I take out a mana potion and swallow it. The barrier protecting Sanada Kenshi is intact, so the battle isn’t over.
“If I rampage more, you’ll be in more danger. Let’s meet next time.”
Arrest disappears. Now that the guy who was sucking up massive amounts of mana is gone, I have some breathing room.
‘If possible, let’s not summon that bastard.’
Arrest uses his power without any regard for the surrounding situation. He did protect me, his contractor, but… if I summoned him at the academy, the entire academy could be destroyed. Unless I can control him with spirit magic. I don’t know how to use spirit magic. I have no talent for it.
“Hey, can you hold on?”
Inferna asks me. I force myself to stand up. I pretend to stagger and fall into her arms.
I feel her smooth skin. As a fire spirit, her body is hot. I subtly grab her chest and squeeze it. Inferna doesn’t care at all. She has no sense of shame that a human would feel.
“You’re moving, so you’re fine. I can’t let that whale have all the fun.”
Inferna starts taking a large amount of my mana.
“…Don’t overdo it? It’s starting to get hard for me too.”
“If you survive, I’ll officially contract with you.”
Inferna grins and turns her body. Heat spreads out from her. Lava bursts through the ground and spreads out in streams. I look at the volcano. The lava flowing on the surface of the volcano looks like blood vessels.
Kwaaaaaaaaaang!
The volcano explodes.
Red lava seems to shoot up from the crater, but then it sinks back down. The black volcanic ash also gradually disappears.
“What is this?”
Inferna mutters as if she can’t understand. It wasn’t Inferna’s doing?
Sanada Kenshi, who was kneeling and concentrating on prayer, stands up. I’m shocked to see Sanada Kenshi. Instead of an old man, there’s a young man. He’s wearing a black-gray kimono.
“Thank you.”
He says, looking at me and Inferna.
“……Sanada Kenshi?”
“Is it unfamiliar because I’m young? Thanks to you, I’ve regained my youth. You were going to interfere with me, but as a result, you helped me. I thank you.”
“What happened? You completed the ritual? So suddenly?”
“Thanks to you triggering the volcano, the speed of the ritual increased. The one who was asleep was able to wake up quickly.”
I glare at Inferna. His words mean that Inferna’s power accelerated the ritual and completed it. Inferna stands proudly despite my glare. It’s not that she doesn’t know what she did wrong. She’s connected to me, so she probably understands the situation at least roughly.
“Don’t glare at me. You didn’t know, and I didn’t know either. It was an accident.”
As she says, I can’t blame her. I didn’t know things would turn out like this.
“Inferna. Can’t you kill that guy?”
“I can’t. You can’t set the sun on fire. And look at him closely. See what’s behind him.”
I focus on Sanada Kenshi. Behind Kenshi, there’s the sun. A blazing sun. If I keep looking at it, my eyes will burn, so I turn my gaze away.
“My power doesn’t work on that being. All I can do now is control the fire and heat so you don’t burn. Well, do you have any hidden powers?”
“……”
I didn’t realize it because it wasn’t hot, but this entire area was on fire.
‘I was fine thanks to Inferna’s protection.’
I suppress a sigh and grab the Hwaryeon Blade, forcing myself to stand up. My whole body creaks and screams. Blood keeps flowing from my mouth and nose. It’s hard enough to die, but I have enough strength to swing my sword a few times.
“Shall we run?”
Inferna suggests, glaring at Sanada Kenshi.
“I’ll help you escape. If I use my power, that much is possible.”
“Is that using your real power? Like using up your lifespan as a human would?”
“It’s not lifespan, but I’ll get a little weaker. I can build up power again. I have plenty of time.”
She might be downgraded from top-tier to high-tier.
The time perspective of Inferna, a spirit, and me, a human, is different. The time she’s talking about is probably decades or even centuries. I can’t downgrade a top-tier spirit I just obtained to a high-tier spirit.
And.
“I have no intention of running.”
If I had intended to run, I wouldn’t have come here in the first place.
“Hidden power? I have a lot.”
“If that was a bluff, you would have just run away.”
Inferna and I are connected. I can naturally distinguish lies.
Crackling.
Red lightning wriggles along the blade of the Hwaryeon Blade.
‘Shall I squeeze out all my remaining power and stab him once? I might be able to copy his power with the Hwaryeon Blade’s probe. I don’t know if I’ll be able to use it properly, though.’
I walk past Inferna and move forward. Her power is still protecting me.
The wind blows.
A faint storm envelops my body. Then I see the sun behind Sanada Kenshi. And the black-haired woman inside it. Her face is shadowed, so I can’t see her well. She’s definitely a beauty, but I don’t have the confidence to subdue and take her.
‘It’s a real shame, but even if she’s a beauty, I have to kill her when I have to.’
If I leave her alone, the whole of Japan could burn. That can’t happen. I couldn’t take Reika or Mieko either. Or any of the other female students at the academy.
“Susanoo, is it?”
Just as I saw Amaterasu, Sanada Kenshi saw Susanoo through me.
“His power is weak for a god of storms. It can’t be helped since it’s not a descent through a ritual.”
Sanada Kenshi creates a flame in one hand. The blazing flame becomes a sword.
I wrap the Hwaryeon Blade in lightning and storm.
The world darkens.
“……?”
Surprised by the sudden situation, Sanada Kenshi looks up at the sky.
‘Is it not his doing?’
I follow him and look up. Darkness is gathering and covering the sky. Even though the sun is up, the world doesn’t brighten. But it’s not completely plunged into darkness either. The moon rises on the opposite side of the sun.
“The Tsukuyomi ritual was also successful.”
“What? That can’t be. Hyodo Yuuki should have gone there!”
“I don’t know if that guy is that great, but do you think I would have performed the rituals simultaneously without any thought?”
Suddenly, I think of Beta.
A completely unexpected S-class villain from Guirakgok.
“…Is there an Alpha on that side?”
“You know well.”
Even the protagonist party, whose potential was temporarily unleashed, couldn’t defeat an S-class villain? It’s probably the difference in combat experience.
“Even so, it doesn’t make sense for the Tsukuyomi ritual to end so quickly.”
“There must have been a variable. Like your fire spirit. If it’s a variable that can positively affect the ritual… the Tsukuyomi priestess, perhaps.”
“……”
Things have gone wrong.
I have to kill Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi too.
“It seems like our victory. What are you going to do now? Are you going to give up? Even if you give up, I’ll kill you. Even if you run away, I’ll chase you to the end and burn you to death. Too much blood has been spilled to make it like it never happened.”
“I have no intention of running away. I’ll kill you here.”
Lightning Heaven Style (雷天流) Ultimate Technique (極技) Heavenly Light (天光).
I squeeze out everything I have left. I charge forward, enveloping my body in storm and lightning.
The moment I break the sound barrier, I know. I’ve surpassed my limits.
When I pass through Sanada Kenshi, I collapse to the ground. Both my legs have turned to dust, and I can’t feel any strength in my arms. An unquenchable flame is burning me in my chest. This flame will burn me to dust without leaving a trace.
“With your current strength, you can’t beat me even if you die and come back to life.”
The Hwaryeon Blade cuts through Sanada Kenshi’s body. But the wound heals instantly as flames rise.
That is Amaterasu, the incarnation of the sun. Low-level attacks don’t work.
‘That guy is no longer a demon, so the Demon Hunter (S) isn’t reacting at all… If I had used the Domain, it might have worked… Damn it, I should have saved it instead of using Sun Palace.’
[Death Resistance has been activated. You will not die for the next 15 seconds.]
Inferna, with a desperate expression, tries to run towards me but disappears. She was forcibly unsummoned because I, the summoner and contractor, died.
Sanada Kenshi turns away from me and walks away. If I let him go, Japan will fall into his hands. Cooperation from other countries? There’s no way. This is an internal matter for Japan. Would any country bother to help Japan at a loss?
[Full Recovery is used.]
The flames burning my body disappear, and my legs, which had turned to dust, return to normal. I feel vitality and stand up on my two feet. I grip the Hwaryeon Blade tightly in my right hand.
Thud.
Sanada Kenshi, who was walking away, stops and turns to look at me.
“…How did you put out that flame? No, how did you revive?”
I feel the heat because Inferna’s protection is gone. I protect my body by surrounding it with mana.
“Did you say I couldn’t beat you even if I died and came back to life? I think differently.”
“……No matter how you got the chance, your power hasn’t gotten stronger. The result is the same.”
Flames blaze and cling to my body.
Instinctively, I know. This isn’t ordinary fire. It’s a status ailment close to a curse.
[Heavenly Heart (天心) is activated. It lasts for 1 minute.]
The flames clinging to my body fall off. Sanada Kenshi clicks his tongue and raises a sword made of flames.
I quietly mutter to myself.
“Yuria, Elena.”
[Summoning character. Target: Yuria Grace]
[Remaining summon duration for Yuria Grace: 30 days]
[‘Plum Blossom Sword Master Reincarnated in a Noble Family’ game world is deactivated.]
[Summoning character. Target: Elena Valdert]
[Remaining summon duration for Elena Valdert: 30 days]
[‘God’s Atlantis’ game world is deactivated.]
