Chapter 85 – Master (5)
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“—!”
The water spirit, the third spirit I encountered, appeared to be in a good mood as it had the environment around it to leap about in.
With my still insufficient power, I couldn’t draw up the underground water below, manipulate moisture within living beings, or gather water from the water vapor in the air.
Instead, the water brought from the nearby valley became a mass weapon that the water spirit could manipulate at will. It turned into a golem that swung a massive arm made up of tons of water.
“Ugh, Uaaah!”
The massive water spirit, enlarged to the size of a large truck, swept away the enemies that stumbled before its fist all at once. The rushing water itself was a powerful violence.
It would be difficult to even stand properly in such a strong current, and those directly hit would have their faces or bodies crushed.
“—..”
“Yeah, you won’t go down easily.”
The problem was that those corrupted beings had power to resist the spirit’s strength.
Deus, with his eyes darkened, unleashed a shockwave from his staff that struck the water spirit and exploded.
The water spirit fled to my side in horror. At the same time, the uncontrolled water poured down, turning the nearby area into a sea.
In a hurry, I used the earth spirit to create a dike to protect the others.
“Don’t do something you’ll regret. Follow the established order!”
“Don’t be foolish; we fought until the tower was on the verge of collapse. You want us to die quietly? That’s absolutely not going to happen.”
Deus, standing in the middle of the flooded area, shouted at me with burning eyes. Realizing that it was the remnants of the tower that left that intent toward me, I gritted my teeth.
To cast me aside in a world that had already been 10,000 years past and now demand that I die quietly—does that even make sense?
“Think carefully. What will happen if, unlike before, there are no survivors and everyone dies? It would just be extermination.”
“Hehe, do you really think it will come to that? Do you truly intend to make this land a place filled only with death? Only you who have not perished will disappear. And in this empty land, new lives will emerge!”
“…New lives?”
“Exactly. Us, the clan of destruction and creation.”
Deus spread his arms wide, smiling. It didn’t seem like the delusions of a fanatic. After all, the curse of corruption currently occupying his body was at play.
If that was true, the process of destruction intended to erase all current inhabitants and start a new era with new people. Quite presumptuously.
“Either way.”
In the end, we had only one choice, aside from the truth. To thwart their plans and fight to win.
As I bit my lip and snapped my fingers, the water spirit began to freeze the water pooling on the ground all at once.
“Charge!”
The power of the spirits using natural forces was undoubtedly strong. The earth and wind spirits, with whom I had spent a long time, could exert particularly strong power.
However, attacking them directly with the powers of the spirits would easily be countered, just as the weapons of the mythical era were useless against me. I had to attack the enemies using indirect physical force through the spirits’ power.
Launching sharpened ice spears and hurling massive boulders was just such a method.
“W-What nonsense…”
Deus and his minions staggered in surprise.
It was because sharp ice and rocks mixed in the massive gusts of wind that covered the entire area came flying in. Any attempts to resist would only shatter a few ice pieces or rocks. Within that storm covering the area, there were hundreds, if not thousands, of them.
“Uagh, Uaaah!”
Amidst the fierce gusts, body parts of those crushed and broken began to fly up.
‘Should I look for another method?’
The problem was that this method consumed my energy too quickly.
Like a sugar rush, my strength began to drain away and I felt dizzy. When the powers I had gathered through the spirits and the terrain I had altered settled down,
I briefly knelt beside the worried spirits. I really wasn’t cut out to be a heroic figure.
The heroes I admired in the tower never tired or wavered this much.
While others perceived my age to be 10,000 years, the actual time I had lived was barely 25 years…
It was too short a time for an ordinary young man who had lived normally before entering the tower to become the hero meant to save the world.
“Iriliana!”
When the brief storm subsided, Arisa, armed with a bow, rushed over from beyond the dike I had made. Fortunately, it seemed the battle on the other side against the hordes of orcs went well.
“Is everyone safe?”
“Of course. While we did have some casualties among the paladins and priests, you and the two saintesses are unharmed. The enemies you faced were quite numerous as well.”
Arisa reported brightly that those they needed to protect were safe. I smiled, feeling satisfied. Having survived this ordeal, I had obtained quite a valuable piece of information.
“Did you do all of this by yourself?”
After shifting her gaze from me, Arisa muttered, staring blankly ahead. Her voice trembled slightly.
The very land was overturned, the valley waters had flooded and frozen before melting again. Trees were uprooted by the fierce wind, mountains crumbled, and broken rocks and ice chunks lay scattered everywhere.
“They had to be dealt with in this way.”
Thankful for the stillness, I felt so powerless and my eyelids kept drooping that I actually thought my efforts were lacking.
Without saying a word afterward, Arisa quietly extended her hand towards me.
Taking her hand and crossing the dike, we found those who had survived the orc assault were working to recover from the damages.
“See? It’s useful when used properly.”
Seeing Melisa busily moving around with a pale face, wielding her healing powers, I couldn’t help but smile.
“Twelve paladins and five priests have fallen. The damage is significant, but it can’t be helped. We must continue moving forward.”
“Don’t tell me Deus…!”
The church forces, while keeping an eye on my silence, ultimately decided to keep moving forward as I wanted. We had no choice anyway.
Having come this far and having already been attacked first, we had to see it through to the end.
“By the way, this is a serious problem. The corruption curse, which we thought was a natural phenomenon, has approached with intent and altered people. If a king or emperor of a nation fell victim to that, how would we deal with it?”
“That’s why you brought the hero and the saintesses. Their powers should suffice to lift the curse.”
“But the corruption curse…”
“Exactly. It’s not a convenient curse like brainwashing or hypnosis.”
Just like Deus, one had to possess the necessary triggers in their heart to fall under the curse of corruption.
Even if the curse was called a legacy of the tower, it meant that it was impossible to dominate and manipulate a person’s heart without those triggers in the first place.
However, that wasn’t entirely a positive thing.
Being cursed meant that, on the contrary, one had that kind of mindset to begin with.
If we weren’t careful, we might end up in a civil war between ourselves before everyone united under one mind and purpose.
“That absolutely must not happen. The only result will be disastrous.”
“I know. I’ll do whatever I can to prevent that.”
The priest, Kopelios, trembled in fear. For me, I had no choice but to say that I would do my best.
Seeing their relieved expressions, as if they felt I had some method, pricked my conscience, but it was correct that I had to do something regardless.
“Then let’s get moving everyone! For now, let’s resolve the issue right in front of us. We can’t tell when the orcs will show up again.”
Trusting me and regaining their resolve, they once again started to move, ultimately reaching the site of the infestation.
The infested area that had spewed out orcs still seemed weak and wasn’t able to spawn new troops.
“I’m tired. After all, you came here to do this, right? Go ahead.”
Standing with my arms crossed, I waved my hand at Maria and Ian, who were looking back at me.
I had intervened due to unexpected events along the way, but I was originally only there to observe. Everything had initially been decided to be resolved by the church and the two people belonging to it. They had to show me that they were reliable before I could leave for another place.
“Then, we’ll be back.”
In the end, Ian and Maria stood with resolute expressions, bowed to me, and moved toward the ominous hole ahead.
Although I told them to handle it themselves, all my nerves were focused on them. Ready to jump in the instant anything went wrong.
“—. —!”
Fortunately, that was not the case. Much like the spirits rejoicing, the hero and saintesses began to purify the wicked pit using their powers.
