Chapter 233

Posted by Kuze, ? Views, Released on March 1, 2025

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“This is…”

Somewhere in the forest where a blue light shines.

Arne, who had been quietly closing her eyes and contemplating the numerous ‘eyes’ spread throughout the world, suddenly opened her eyes and got up.

The spirits, the spirits are in danger.

“Naphras!”

“…I’m watching, Contractor.”

Naphras, the Spirit King of the wind, who had sensed the anomaly before Arne, soared high into the sky.

Arne’s brow furrowed as she shared his view.

“…Finally causing trouble, huh.”

“I sense magic. A familiar energy at that…”

Naphras quickly flew toward the vicinity, filled with anger.

Since she was deeply connected with him, Arne felt a considerable anger as well, but she had already been enraged from the beginning.

‘The one who betrayed a friend and disregarded reason.’

Arne had loved and cherished the spirits even before contracting with Naphras, yet Karia used Arne’s spirits as mere test subjects.

Despite this, Karia boldly cursed Arne instead.

‘You’ll never know. You were lucky to be born with everything; you likely don’t understand how the underbelly operates.’

“…Nonsense.”

Isn’t it Karia who was born with privileges?

Karia Matchelpid had been a count’s daughter long before the Empire was established.

The story of her family’s military exploits and their rise to become one of the pillars of the Empire was already widely known.

In contrast, Arne…

“…Enough.”

Karia had crossed a line, giving Arne ample justification to intervene.

Now, even if Duke Huangyeol stepped in, there would be no stopping their fight.

As Arne flew behind Naphras, a thought suddenly crossed her mind.

‘…But why did she suddenly cause trouble?’

It surely wasn’t the right timing.

■

Kugugugugu…!

“Ugh?!”

“Ahhh!”

“What the heck is that…?”

Inside the crumbling Utra Castle of the Angel Guild.

The archangels, with bodies full of wounds, turned their gazes to the suddenly rising black pillar of light.

Even from a considerable distance, the pillar rose high enough to be seen at a glance.

The moment they laid eyes on that pillar, a wave of evil energy washed over the archangels, making them tremble.

“That is… damn it!”

Even for Blood Fight Lord Kazar, who was wounded and breathing faintly, it was no different.

Whether he knew the true nature of the black pillar, he prepared to spring toward it but soon glanced back.

Among the group of Outsiders, the ‘angels’ were considered the strongest.

Dismissed as mere Outsiders, their abilities turned out to be far stronger than anticipated.

They could draw more than thirty percent of his power.

‘Do they eventually grow up to be like Leona or the Sword Saint?’

Kazar had confidence in defeating both of them, but the thought of facing more than three or four at once made him hesitate to assert it.

I had confidence in winning, but thinking about how they kept increasing by threes and fours made it hard to be sure.

Paaaar…

Above all, that pure white light that comes down every time those archangels get hurt.

As long as that light is there to heal allies beyond the kingdom level, dealing with those guys won’t be easy.

‘I want to kill them before they grow… but as immortals, I can’t even kill them.’

Kazar turned away, suddenly filled with hatred for the immortals.

“Consider yourself lucky.”

“What a load of crap…”

“Over there!”

Pababak!

Three arrows of light flew towards Kazar, but none of the arrows hit anyone.

“Hoo… I blocked it….”

But he was already gone.

Exhausted, Uriel plopped down on the floor.

Next to him, Sandalphon lay sprawled out like a withered seaweed, and thanks to its long-range trait, Laguiel, who had taken the least damage, trembled while igniting the Mana Lantern.

For some reason, it felt like verifying the source of Kazar’s disappearance was more important than resting right now.

“…Demon?”

“Wow, that’s crazy strong… what?”

“It’s a pillar of light. A black pillar of light.”

Laguiel pointed at the pillar of light.

“There’s something demon-like at the center. Moreover, the pillar of light right now…”

“…Shit, it’s like mountain upon mountain.”

The pillar of light began to rampage.

■

The Sword Saint who returned was pretty strong, but he couldn’t beat me.

His skills and abilities were several levels above Leo’s, but that didn’t make it deadly for me.

“Guh…”

At least the ‘weapon’ the Sword Saint had was certainly something to be wary of… but its power was slowly dwindling.

‘Is it because the Magic Lord isn’t in top form? He’s gotten way weaker.’

At this point, he was only slightly stronger than Leo at full power.

Of course, if Leo and the Sword Saint clashed, the Sword Saint would win nine times out of ten, but against me right now, the Sword Saint would lose every time.

‘No matter how much power he uses, the result won’t… change.’

Just as I was roughly assessing and getting ready to finish him off…

“Hmm?”

“…?!”

[?]

[?]

[Light Pillar?]

[It’s black, though?]

[What the hell?]

[Oh wow]

[????????]

A black pillar of light shot up not too far from here.

In an instant, it broke through the sky, revealing the presence of a mass of magic.

Amidst the pillars of light, a thick malice stirred, and through it appeared someone with two horns and dark black wings.

A man resembling a ‘demon.’

But of course, he wasn’t a demon.

‘Spirit of Darkness.’

A spirit that had lost its original form entirely due to magic and become a completely different existence.

The Spirit of Darkness gazed at the world with violet eyes and laughed maniacally.

“Hahahahahaha!!!”

“Ugh… it hurts!”

“Silphid.”

The Wind Spirit, Silphid, received from Yena, writhes in agony.

A thick malice seeps into the pure spirit’s essence, collapsing both mind and spiritual body.

Sre…

“It hurts… Ugh…”

“You’re asleep.”

Using holiness to block the magic, I subdued Silphid and pulled off the bracelet, placing it into Space.

With this, it shouldn’t be affected for a while.

[Crazy]

[??????]

[Why is a demon just popping up? Isn’t that something that happens after the Great Cataclysm?]

[What the hell?]

[Demon gate? LOL]

[Holy sh*t]

[The end of the human age has come]

[We’re screwed]

[They were talking about some experiments with the Magic Lord, right?]

[Wow, LOL]

[What do you get if you catch that?]

[Wow! A demon! You know about it!]

[They made something like that through experiments?]

Ugh.

The Spirit of Darkness exhaled a burst of magic, and its tattered clothing transformed to resemble a vampire from a medium.

Satisfied with its attire, the Spirit of Darkness raised its hand, with sharp black claws extending, and declared:

“Spirits and humans.”

Creak.

“Everyone shall perish.”

Fwoosh!!!

A pillar of black light erupted, and the magic scattered across the world.

If left unchecked, magic would seep across the entire continent, turning anyone into a ‘Corrupted’ being, their bodies and souls melting away.

I soared to prevent this and soon halted my steps.

“Nord.”

The wind, the greatest wind that exists, blocked his path.

The green wind surrounded the pillar of light like a sphere, swirling to disrupt the magic’s escape route.

He nodded and gazed at the wind.

“You’re… Naphras. The Wind Spirit King, Naphras.”

“Right. Do you remember me?”

“Of course.”

[Oh]

[Spirit King?]

[Spirit King gate? LOL]

[Insane legend]

[Lily’s viewer count surpassed 1.6 million ÷0]

[Do you two know each other?]

[Wow, what a crazy lineup]

[Popcorn time]

The Spirit of Darkness, known as Nord, momentarily lost in memories, slowly opened its eyes.

“Nord… It’s been a while since I’ve heard that name. Has it been over thousands of years?”

“Indeed. It’s the same for me. We survived against all odds, but we’re still here.”

Twitch.

Nord’s brow furrows.

“Survived? Maintaining such a grotesque existence and leading all those beings to death is what you call surviving?”

“…It was unavoidable. Besides, the ones who killed us were the Demon Race. Don’t confuse your targets of hatred.”

They glare at each other.

Though both inevitably made the same choice, their outcomes were different.

When Naphras awakened, he met Arne, who loved spirits, and became her contractor, maintaining his true form.

I met Arne, who loved spirits, and became her contractor, allowing me to maintain my true form.

On the contrary, from the moment he awoke, everything was pawned for Nord, who lost his true form enduring Karia’s experiments for 300 years in terrible days.

They merely met different people upon awakening.

One side experienced quite happy days.

The other side endured a horrific hell.

He smiled faintly.

“The target of my hatred… yes. Clearly, that crazy woman who put me in a glass jar for 300 years is my object of hatred. From what I’ve gathered, she seems to be dead already.”

“Then there’s no need for this anymore—”

“But what put me in this state are the spirits and humans.”

Fizz…

The demon pierces through the wind.

The wind couldn’t endure it, shaking violently, and the furious demon caused cracks in the sphere of wind that surrounded the pillar of light.

“Nord…!”

“What the hell were the spirits and humans doing while we suffered like this? The spirits forsook the grace of nurturing and gave in to living their own lives. Humans merely borrowed the spirits’ power without thinking at all about this pain!”

Creak…!

“Your contractor is the same! Just because the spirit is being experimented on, I need to take revenge on that crazy human? But what did you do for those 300 years? Making excuses and delaying for hundreds of years, again and again! If it weren’t for that human down below, you would have never stepped forward!”

“……”

“…Ha, haha…”

It collapses.

The sphere of wind surrounding the pillar of light.

The self of Nord, maintaining his sanity, also breaks down.

Nord’s hand draws a line through the air.

Ka-pow!!!

The sphere of wind shatters completely.

“Please, Nord…”

“And.”

Whoosh.

“Cough…!”