Chapter 707 – 707. Savior Of The Academy
707. Savior of the Academy
In the car, I looked out the window, using my Spirit Eyes. Among the winds swirling through the city, I could see a distinct, foreign wind.
A pitch-black wind.
It was a wind moving towards the wind spirit’s corrupted form. They say that wind spirits create wind just by existing, and it seems that a corrupted spirit is no different.
“Turn left there.”
“Yes,”
Sara, who was driving, replied briefly. Han Sohee, sitting in the passenger seat, kept glancing at me through the rearview mirror, seemingly anxious.
“Yujin, wouldn’t you rather turn back now?”
“Sohee, noona, it’s too late no matter how much you say that. If I turn back now, what will happen to the people following behind?”
I gestured towards the back of the car. There was a car following us. It was carrying the heroes who were trying to eliminate the corrupted spirit.
They were wasting their time.
My goal was to raise my ‘Good Karma’ stat by killing the corrupted spirit directly, but their goal was to kill it before it could harm people. The corrupted spirit was self-destructing without fully corrupting, so it would disappear on its own even if the heroes didn’t intervene.
“…Yujin, just tell them the location and come back. Don’t get involved in anything dangerous.”
“I know, I know. Originally, I was only supposed to tell them the location.”
I lied nonchalantly. Mocha had recovered, and I had to at least land one hit on the corrupted spirit.
The car left the city and started driving on flat land. Unlike Korea, there were no mountains in sight. It was a vast plain without even a single hill.
“Um, Yujin-nim, is this the right way?”
Sara asked cautiously.
“Do you think I’m leading you in the wrong direction? Don’t you trust me?”
“Ah, no. It’s not that, it’s just a bit unexpected…”
“This is the right way. The corrupted spirit’s wind is heading this way.”
“…Okay.”
Sara replied, sounding unconvinced.
Seeing her lukewarm reaction, it seemed like there was something ahead.
‘When I looked from afar, there was nothing special. What’s hidden?’
The car drove for 20 minutes and then stopped.
“…Is it here? It’s definitely windier than other places.”
“It’s up ahead. But Sara, noona, you’re surprised by something else, aren’t you?”
“No, it’s…”
“Is it because it’s the dungeon where your mother went in?”
“…Did you notice?”
“I didn’t know when I looked from afar, but I can tell now that I’m closer. I can see the space is distorted.”
“Spirit Eyes are truly amazing.”
To my eyes, the space looked distorted. It wasn’t a proper entrance. That was natural since the dungeon was closed.
‘Normal dungeons don’t have closed entrances. It’s a special dungeon.’
I got out of the car.
A surprised Han Sohee followed me out and grabbed my arm.
“Yujin, this is it, right? Let’s go back now. We’ve done what we needed to do.”
“Sohee, noona, I’m curious about how the heroes fight. Let’s watch. Okay?”
“No. Get back in the car.”
“Just a little bit. Just a little bit.”
While I was struggling with Han Sohee, the car that had been following us stopped, and the heroes got out. There were five heroes in total. I think two of them were A-rank heroes. Maybe it was because it was America, but they were all wearing tight-fitting suits. Two of them even wore masks.
“I don’t see the corrupted spirit. Where is it?”
A man in a black suit asked me. He was the man who had introduced himself as Black Stone when we first met.
“It’s over there.”
I pointed to the top of the dungeon. The corrupted spirit wasn’t moving from there. Perhaps due to the dungeon’s influence, the corrupted spirit was disappearing slower than it had yesterday. It seemed it had come here after finding the most comfortable place for itself.
“This is where the S-rank dungeon was… Did the corrupted spirit sense something?”
Black Stone seemed to have sensed something. When he raised his hand, the heroes each took out their weapons and got into battle stances.
“Yujin! Our job is done! Let’s go back!”
“Just a little bit. Just watch a little bit.”
Sohee grabbed my arm and pulled, but I held my ground.
Mocha was flying in the sky. He was waiting for a chance to strike the corrupted spirit with lightning at my command.
“Even though it’s not visible, I can feel its presence. It’s fortunate that it’s somewhat far from the city. Let’s begin. For the sake of the people, the corrupted spirit must be killed here.”
Black Stone moved first. He created a spear made of black rock from the ground and threw it at the corrupted spirit. It wasn’t an ordinary spear. I could feel a faint aura similar to that of a spirit from the spear.
‘That spear would even harm a spirit in its incorporeal state. As expected of an A-rank hero.’
However, the spear didn’t reach the corrupted spirit. A sudden, powerful whirlwind blew it away.
The corrupted spirit, which had been still, moved. It looked at me and spoke.
-Go back. If you go back now, I will not harm you. I will soon disappear. I just want to enjoy this wind a little more before I do.
I heard the corrupted spirit’s voice. And I wasn’t the only one who heard it.
“We can’t leave a dangerous creature like you near the city. Corrupted spirit… I will eliminate the source of your unease here before you harm people.”
-You don’t know the value of your life.
Wind swirled around the corrupted spirit. Dust rose into the air and spun around. I stepped back, and Han Sohee and Sara stayed close to me.
Han Sohee used a barrier to protect me and Sara. She was one of the top defensive heroes in the Korean Hero Association.
“The corrupted spirit has materialized! This is our chance!”
“Wait. Aren’t spirits unable to materialize?”
“Spirits above a certain level can materialize with their own power. They just don’t do it because it’s inefficient. But corrupted spirits are different. They can materialize with high efficiency. But in return, they can’t return to the spirit realm. Its materialization is our chance.”
The heroes kicked off the ground and jumped into the wind. They seemed to have worked together many times, as their teamwork was seamless.
However, the corrupted spirit was not easy to deal with. It was a corrupted spirit that was exerting its power by burning its own existence. Its power was not something even an A-rank hero could easily handle.
‘But it’s only a matter of time. Mocha, get ready. If you see an opening, strike with lightning immediately.’
I watched their battle with my golden eyes shining. The most noticeable was Black Stone. He was creating black rocks from the ground and blocking all the sharp winds of the corrupted spirit. He was the center of this battle.
‘Good. Right now… Huh?’
One of the five heroes made a sudden move. It was a man in his early to mid-30s with an X-shaped scar on his lip. The man with dark circles under his eyes started running towards us, not the corrupted spirit, and began attacking.
Bang!
His fist struck Han Sohee’s barrier. It was a barrier that had already been weakened by blocking the corrupted spirit’s attacks. His attack cracked it.
“Norden! What are you doing?!”
Sara shouted in shock. Her rapier was pointed directly at Norden’s head.
Norden grinned. He pulled his fist back and struck the barrier again. The cracks in the barrier grew larger. Sweat beaded on Han Sohee’s forehead.
“It’s nothing. I received orders from above, and I’m just following them.”
“Above? Don’t tell me, you’re from the Guirak Clan…!”
Sara was horrified.
“I was told to avenge Wang Shien and get rid of this troublesome brat at the same time. Die for the future of the Guirak Clan.”
Bang!
The barrier was on the verge of breaking.
I frowned. If the Guirak Clan wanted revenge, they wouldn’t have sent people like this, they would have planned it more carefully. The Guirak Clan’s goal was to get rid of Norden.
“Norden! It won’t go your way!”
Sara tensed up. She was planning to attack Norden as soon as the barrier broke.
Norden gritted his teeth and threw a punch.
Kwaaang!
The barrier shattered, and Norden charged at me with a gust of wind. Sara’s rapier pierced Norden’s chest. But Norden’s legs didn’t stop.
“Even if I die, I’ll take you with me. For the Guirak Clan!”
“Y-you’re crazy. What the hell is the Guirak Clan?!”
Sara’s rapier pierced his neck. Again, Norden didn’t stop. His fist pulled back. Woooong. I could feel the flow of mana from his fist.
“The Guirak Clan will bring me back to life in this world! I’m looking forward to that time!”
“Yujin!”
Han Sohee rushed to protect me, pulling me into her arms.
‘A split second.’
Time slowed down. I dodged Han Sohee and jumped upwards.
‘A split second. Heavenly Heart.’
I used Split Second again and strengthened my body with Heavenly Heart. With the effect of Heavenly Heart, my physical abilities would skyrocket for the next minute, and no other power could stop me. That included the strong winds.
I dodged Norden’s fist by a hair’s breadth and punched him in the face.
Paang!
“Kuh?!”
Perhaps it was because I had put too much mana into it. My right fist was blown apart by the impact. Blood splattered from me and him. I grabbed Norden’s forehead with my palm, who was still out of his mind.
‘Thunder.’
Pajijijijijijijijik!
The opponent was a B-rank hero. I wouldn’t let my guard down. Now that I had an opening, I had to kill him with all my strength.
“Krrrrrrrrrrrr!”
The bright blue lightning flashed so intensely that it burned Norden’s entire body.
When I let go, his brain was already burned to a crisp, and his body was on fire.
“Y-Yujin!”
“Yujin-nim!”
Han Sohee and Sara came to me and hugged me. It could be called extreme, but it was an unavoidable sight that was unfolding before my eyes. The corrupted spirit was about to unleash a massive tornado, prepared to self-destruct. If it weren’t for the barrier that Han Sohee had used again, me and the girls would have been blown into the sky.
‘He really has nothing but death on his mind. Mocha! Lightning!’
Lightning struck from the sky, piercing the massive wind and hitting the corrupted spirit. The corrupted spirit staggered and fell downwards.
The direction of the winds that were about to create a tornado changed. They were all being sucked into the corrupted spirit. I had clearly landed the final blow, but it felt even more dangerous.
‘Shit. Did something go wrong?’
It felt like it was about to explode.
-This is the end. A peaceful end was not granted to me.
The wind that was being sucked into the corrupted spirit stopped. The area around it became a vacuum for a moment.
-If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have been able to achieve my revenge. I am grateful. I will give this to you.
Kwaaaaaaaang!
A deafening roar echoed as the wind surged in all directions. The barrier that Han Sohee had created shook and shattered.
I fixed my eyes on the front. Something was flying towards me. Judging by Han Sohee and Sara’s expressions, it seemed like only I could see it.
I grabbed the flying object with my hand. It was a translucent bead. More than half of it was stained black.
‘Is this a spirit?’
A spirit core. The source of a spirit’s power and the origin of its existence.
Even if a spirit’s incorporeal body disappears, it can recover in the spirit realm if the spirit core is safe.
‘But this is an empty shell. It’s like a corpse. I can’t feel any of the spirit’s power.’
Even if I took it to the spirit realm, the wind spirit wouldn’t be able to recover. In the first place, more than half of it was corrupted, so the spirit realm wouldn’t accept it.
‘Let’s think about it later. Right now, I need to think about getting out of here.’
I put the spirit core in my pocket.
The heroes were caught in the wind and blown far away.
“Y-Yujin! This is my limit! Sara-ssi! Hold onto Yujin tightly!”
“Yes!”
Two beautiful women held onto me tightly from both sides. The barrier had broken. We thought we would be blown backwards like the other heroes. But that wasn’t the case. Holding onto the barrier had actually backfired. The wind was pulling us inwards, not outwards.
As I looked with my Spirit Eyes, there was a rift inside.
‘It doesn’t make sense for a spatial rift to suddenly appear!’
Something suddenly flashed through my mind. The place where the corrupted spirit was was where the S-rank dungeon was located. The entrance was clearly closed, but it was certain that the corrupted spirit’s self-destructive attack had created a rift in the dungeon.
‘It’s too late to take out a space-travel scroll… Damn it.’
We were already caught in the wind and being pulled into the dungeon. As I felt like I was falling endlessly, I looked up. Mocha was flapping his white wings, following behind me.
