Chapter 201

Chapter 201

Chapter 201 – Yes, it couldn’t be better

Leaving Aster behind, Damian stepped forward.

[We are brave.]

[We agree.]

The hellfire filling the space was being contained by the spirits.

A single one would be powerless… but dozens, hundreds, thousands of spirits combining their forces to resist.

In the midst of all that, Damian stood on the front line, amidst the raging flames, and slowly closed his eyes.

“……”

Trembling lips.

A pounding core.

The longer the incantation lasted, the more violently the mana in the core agitated. The flow running through his circuits like an enraged bull was simply destructive.

But Damian managed it like an experienced matador taming the wild mana in his circuits.

Sometimes roughly, sometimes gently, sometimes releasing that destructive power, other times firmly containing and suppressing it.

With each action, the flow of mana became even more intense.

Even fiercer.

Faster and faster.

And when that flow reached its peak…

“……”

Damian’s eyelids slowly opened.

His eyes shone.

The change occurred right after.

It began with a slight cracking sound.

Crack—

Like thin ice breaking in winter.

White frost seemed to rise from Damian’s toes, then spread like fire through a field.

A piercing cold that devoured everything around it!

But… it was weak.

Too weak to contain the hellfire.

That was when the spirits stepped in.

[We help.]

[We help.]

The spirits lent their power to Damian’s magic.

That power was neither mana nor spiritual force; if it had to be named, it would be the life force of the spirits.

The source of power that allowed the spirits to exist not as particles of nature, but as spirits themselves.

That source was nature itself, or in a way, a force infinitely close to mana.

Damian’s magic had been weak before the hellfire, but now it was imbued with the breath of the spirits.

In that instant…

Crack, craaaack!

Pure white ice spreading in all directions.

The glacial cold invaded the place.

The roaring flames fell silent as if they had never existed, replaced solely by the icy breath of the harsh winter.

“Huu……”

Damian exhaled deeply and staggered.

There had been consequences.

Even with the help of the spirits, it was the magic that pushed him to his limit.

Magic based purely on talent, without the imagery perfected over long years as a secret art.

Because of that, Damian faltered.

It was at that moment.

“Leave the rest to me.”

Mysern patted his young disciple on the shoulder and stepped into the world of pure white.

The scene before him was breathtaking.

In the midst of a glacial cold capable of freezing even breath, five Infernals huddled together, completely frozen.

Beings that could never be frozen, now trapped in ice.

But Mysern knew.

Deep within that ice.

The giants of terror were not yet dead.

Once the cold vanished, they would spit hellfire as if nothing had happened and burn the world.

But that wouldn’t happen.

Not here.

Not now.

With the presence of the Spirit Summoner of the Raging Winds.

Aquel que once fought alongside the archmage Muspellun to defend the Empire.

“Friends, thank you. Thanks to you, my children found the courage to do it.”

Mysern expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the spirits of Baharmut, and then summoned his own trembling spirits, still dominated by fear.

The first to appear was Fury, then Aiki, and finally Madrin.

The three spirits were still terrified.

It couldn’t be helped.

Compared to the spirit of Baharmut, they were young and fragile.

Their minds were too immature and delicate to resist the aura of annihilation sleeping in the hellfire.

But.

Even so, the three spirits responded to Mysern’s will.

It all started with Aiki.

Shhh—

Aiki’s spiritual force spread along the ice Damian had created.

The white ice took on a bluish tint from Aiki’s spiritual force, and then a gentle pale green breeze blew from somewhere.

It was Fury.

The wind of Fury swirled gently, seeping among the Infernals, and Aiki’s spiritual force responded in the same way.

Right after…

Grind, grind—!

Golden waves sprouting from the frozen ground.

It was Madrin.

The deep blue of Aiki, the pale green of Fury, and the golden waves of Madrin intertwined…

Crack, snap!

The binds upon the Infernals tightened even further.

No, it wasn’t just that it was tighter.

If Damian had merely bound the Infernals, Mysern’s three spirits were now consuming their own essence to attack them from within.

Of course… it was still weak.

After all, the infernal beings were created to exterminate spirits.

The spirits of Baharmut did not refuse to help Mysern, but even that was not enough to destroy the Infernals.

That was when Gaias stepped forward.

[Contractor, it’s our turn.]

The golden-furred tiger approached Mysern alongside his new contractor.

Chenbi, with his renewed spirit, nodded.

[I, we, help. Contractor, destroy the Infernal.]

The words echoing in his ears were simple… but Gaias’s will sank deep into Chenbi’s mind.

As he reflected on that will, Chenbi entered a state of hyper-concentration once again.

Zap!

A world of pure white where everything else had disappeared.

According to Chenbi’s perception.

The five Infernals radiated presence.

In the midst of all that, a single thought crossed Chenbi’s mind.

‘Can I really… do this?’

When Gaias first proposed the contract, it felt like a dream.

• I am the first and last spirit of the great spirit summoner, the supreme mind revered by all spirits.

Spirits had ranks.

The summoner’s skill was key in the end, but if skills were equal, the spirit’s rank decided everything.

From that perspective, Gaias represented a heavenly opportunity for any spirit summoner.

Contracting with such a being?

It was as if luck had fallen upon a talentless life.

But when Gaias’s will penetrated his mind again, Chenbi thought.

• You must become my contractor, unite the wills of the spirits, and destroy the Infernals.

Could he really face such a grave mission…?

Why not Lord Mysern? Or Damian?

Chenbi knew himself well.

He was an ordinary, average boy, nothing special; his talent and will barely exceeded the average.

So, could he really…?

A sudden wave of self-doubt.

That was when Gaias’s will penetrated his mind.

[Contractor, do not doubt.]

In the imagery, Gaias rebuked Chenbi with a stern voice.

[Only you can do it. Why doubt? What I saw was not your talent or your will. I saw you yourself…]

Why…

[…do you doubt yourself?]

Gaias was saying.

It was fine not to be special.

There was no need for an exceptional affinity with spirits like Mysern’s, nor years of experience.

No need for Damian’s genius or incomprehensible insight.

Just…

[Do your best, as only you can do. That is all.]

Chenbi questioned Gaias’s voice.

‘Why… me?’

Gaias fell silent for an instant, absorbed in the imagery surrounding him. Then, an old memory crossed his mind.

When the great spirit summoner was not yet great.

Their first meeting.

When the great spirit summoner was corrupted by power.

Their last.

Gaias had been the first spirit he had made a pact with, and the last to remain even when he fell and the other spirits left.

Why had he stayed with the great spirit summoner…?

The answer was…

[…]

In Chenbi’s hyper-concentrated world.

Sharing the space as his contracted spirit, Gaias looked up to observe Chenbi.

A small boy reflected in his golden eyes.

Then Gaias spoke.

[Simply… because it is you.]

There is no other reason.

He had stayed with the great spirit summoner simply because it was him.

This time, Gaias had chosen Chenbi over Damian and Mysern simply because it was Chenbi.

If there had to be a reason…

—Alright then, are we friends from now on? So, your name is…

Because Chenbi looked very much like the great spirit summoner from that day.

In a way, it was an illusion of the past.

Nostalgia for the friend he couldn’t save, a lingering regret for an unrecoverable past, or something of the sort.

But it wasn’t solely for that reason.

Simply… because it was Chenbi.

But.

Gaias wondered.

Could those words really comfort his new contractor?

Humans, by nature, were doubting creatures. Could this dispel his self-doubt?

As Gaias thought.

Chenbi’s thoughts came to mind.

‘…Because it’s me.’

[……?]

Gaias tilted his head at the strangely relieved voice.

But before Gaias could express his doubts, the change occurred.

Boom—

Hyper-focused deepening.

In the pure white world, Chenbi’s eyes locked onto the five Infernals.

An incantation poured from his lips, the mana drawn from his heart’s core raced through his body, accelerating.

Etcetera…

“…Earth Spears.”

Chenbi’s low voice resonated.

Rumble!

Five spears sprouted from the ground.

The spears shot into the sky as if they wanted to pierce it, driving precisely into the chests of the five Infernals.

At that moment, Gaias alertly moved.

[……Us too.]

At Gaias’s signal, the power of the spirits converged.

Gaias absorbed it into his body like a conduit, channeling it through Chenbi into the magic.

Right after…

Crack—

The Infernals were pierced through.

Next came the explosion.

Boom!

The bodies of the Infernals shattered, scattering into the air, and Chenbi, emerging from his state of hyper-concentration, let out a soft sigh of “…Ah.”

For a moment.

Then he looked at Gaias and smiled.

“Thank you.”

It was sincere.

…Simply because it’s me.

That phrase.

Without knowing it, it had broken the chains that bound Chenbi.

Chenbi, a first-year student at Jenion Academy, Chenbi, the average Chenbi, Chenbi, Blandoga’s ward, someone’s friend—all the bonds confining him vanished, and finally…

He saw it.

Himself.

In this way, Chenbi crossed a certain wall.

…Of course, that didn’t mean he could catch up to the geniuses.

Chenbi was still an ordinary person, and even after crossing the wall, his steps were infinitely slower than theirs.

But now… he had embarked on a new path.

Just like Dalia of Dinai in her past life, who after countless efforts forged her own path.

A path that no genius could walk. No, the only path in the world that only Chenbi could travel.

Amidst the scattered fragments of the Infernals, Chenbi smiled radiantly.

‘…Good.’

Yes, it couldn’t be better.