<Episode 58>
***
His Eyes that twinkled as if mixed with black fog.
With a deep smile written all over his face.
It was not the cool and indifferent expression of Oried that I had seen so far.
What was it, what had happened really?
I couldn’t help but shiver a little as I stared at Oried’s smile, which felt truly unreal.
“……”
There was no answer from Meinhardt.
I looked up at him, and with frustration, then looked back at Oried again.
Immediately our eyes met, and he tilted his head slightly, staring at me, as if he was assessing something.
[You are the spiritist who received Oried’s blessing.]He immediately said with a big smile on his face.
“…….?”
What is this sudden third person expression?
Why is Oried really doing this?
…Could it be that this is also an illusion?
It was clearly an evil being imitating Oried’s appearance.
Just when I frowned while thinking that…
Rumble-!
The ceiling, which had already collapsed like a ruin, began to shatter in various places.
“Aaaah!”
How was that possible that a giant whose overall size could not even be guessed appeared through that gap, dropping piles of dirt from his body and pushing his face into the cave?
What was this!
Was she in Jin X facing a giant and zombies now?!
“It’s clay.”
Meinhardt said.
“What?!”
The demon 1She means the strange Oried.still had a calm expression while she was immersed in fear as she looked up at the grotesquely sinister looking giant, who had black holes where the eyes, nose, and mouth should have been, as if someone had just gathered dirt and kneaded it into a human shape.
If it’s clay then…….Oops, I was so surprised that I forgot for a moment.
I remembered the form of the high-level earth spirits that I had seen in the textbook given by Count Juppes and bit my lip.
“Why is a higher spirit of the earth here…?…..No way?”
I muttered in a daze and raised my head.
The demon in the form of Oried stared at me and smiled as if the situation was enjoyable.
“Close your eyes.”
“Huh? Why……”
…What was so funny?
While I was staring blankly at Oried, unable to understand the situation, Meinhard spoke urgently.
There was no time to feel doubtful.
Rumble-!
The clay monster started threatening us by shaking the inside of the mansion with his large hands.
Bam Bam-!
Meinhardt was completely focused on avoiding the Clay’s attacks while hugging me.
I couldn’t comprehend that the high-ranking earth spirit that followed Oried was attacking me, so I was frozen in Meinhardt’s arms, dumbfounded.
There was only one conclusion about this situation.
…Oried is using his subordinates to attack me.
That one who appeared before me was not another being who took on Oried’s appearance, but Oried himself.
But why?
For what reason?
He was the one who told me to get my revenge and to use him generously to do so.
Why is he doing this to me…?
At that moment, the spirit’s hand, which had come close enough to cast a shadow over Meinhardt and me, stopped moving right in front of our noses.
The feel of the dirt crumbs falling on my face gave me goosebumps all over my body.
Meinhard muttered quietly, giving strength to the arm that hugged me.
“It’s Yuhirian.”
“……Yes?”
“I’m talking about the person who is taking on the form of Oried and is attacking me and you.”
…What are you talking about?
I blinked and looked up at Meinhardt.
Anyone can see that he looked like Oried, but he was Yuhirian?
“Who is Yuhirian? No, then why does he look just like Oried?”
At the same time I was asking these questions out of absurdity…
[Haa…! Look at this.]The unknown being with the appearance of Oried, the one named ‘Yuhirian’, muttered mockingly as he held his wrist in which his veins were bulging colored red and blue, tightly.
[Are you saying that you will protect what is yours, even though you are stuck in the deep end and cannot see anything?]Oh my god…
I felt like I can understand something, but hesitated because I lacked a decisive clue.
“Oried, the Spirit King of the Earth, possesses two personalities.”
Crash-!
At that moment, the walls of the mansion crumbled into powder and collapsed.
What was revealed beyond that was not the sunny and quiet garden that existed when I first opened my eyes…….. But it was so dark that you couldn’t see an inch ahead.
“As you know, the personality that is usually revealed is Oried, the Spirit King of the Earth who blessed you. And ‘that’ is his other hidden side, [Yuhirian].”
Meinhard continued his explanation to me, narrowly avoiding the aftermath of Yuhirian’s anger.
“It is easy to think of it this way, Oried is suppressed by reason, on the other hand Yuhirian is when his wildness is revealed without filtering. I don’t know how Yuhirian’s personality broke the seal and came out… but the personalities swept places. The simplest way to confirm this is that when it’s Oried, his eyes would be golden, but when Yuhirian’s seal is released, his eyes would be golden mixed with black, so keep that in mind.”
Crack-!
Yuhirian stretched out his hand toward the wall that revealed the darkness outside.
Soon, the remaining space of the mansion began to shake more violently than before.
“It seems clear that it is Yuhirian now. Master Oried is never that vicious.”
Meinhard hugged me tightly and extended his free hand toward the air.
Then, numerous dense tree roots that grew in an instant formed a coil and blocked the flying debris.
“It is not a commonly known fact among spiritists, but it is said that Yuhirian possesses abnormal strength that even the Dark Spirit King Arkane avoids, and was sealed so that he could not come out on a regular basis under the pretext of his presence harming the ‘balance’ of the world.”
…..What, he was strong enough to be avoided by Arcane?
“So… So, in other words, Oried is a double? The strange guy over there is not Oried, but Yuhirian, right?”
The mansion was collapsing every passing moment, the Clay monster was still standing here with his face and hands extended inside the mansion, and Yuhirian, Oried’s other personality, was over there showing off his strength without knowing what he’s thinking.
I was completely out of my mind.
I asked, barely able to keep my composure as it became more and more distant.
The tree trunks that Meinhard created became thicker and more numerous, blocking the onrushing debris.
“That’s right. However, it is said that there was another reason why Yuhirian was sealed.”
As his voice continued to flow, I don’t know what kind of obsession was that, but corpses crawled up from the bottomless pit with admirable agility.
[Go away, you filthy puppet!]Yuhirian then stomped his foot in the air as if he was annoyed by the corpses.
The corpses were all moving when they exploded in a gruesome manner.2Well, that a big mess…
“Yuhirian is the most powerful of all the Spirit Kings. If he goes to war against Arkane, it is clear that it will be a great victory for the spirits of the natural world and this world. However, the reason he was sealed and could not be allowed to engage in an all-out war with Arkane was because of the slaughter and tyranny he enjoyed… And because he had the fatal flaw of excessive violence while fighting.”
Even though he looked extremely vicious even now, it seemed that he was truly a man with many flaws in his character.
“Yuhirian is a great warrior and the strongest spirit king. But there is no value of others life in his mind.”
I whispered softly.
Meinhardt tilted his head towards my bedside.
I looked up at Yuhirian, clutching Meinhardt’s robe with my still slightly trembling hands.
“Once he takes control of the body of the Earth Spirit King, he would leave others with no choice but to be torn apart by the terrible gravity that weigh down their entire body, whether they will be crushed by dirt and rocks, or whether they will fall deep underground, never to be found. His behavior of being crazy about battle and not fighting the other party exclusively was considered a very serious problem. Accordingly, the other spirit kings decided to seal Yuhirian.”
….. I see. So, it is understandable why Oried, who is weaker than Yuhirian, is the one in the position of the Spirit King of the Earth.
But where did this person get these information?
Belatedly, a question arose in my mind and I looked at Meinhardt, and for an instant my eyes met his.
These information was not described in elemental science textbooks.
“…………I learned about it through a personal connection. It’s a story that ordinary spiritists don’t know.”
As if he sensed what I was thinking, Meinhardt glanced away from me and spoke vaguely.
Crack–
At that moment, there was an energy surrounding Yuhirian as if the entire space was disappearing.
I looked at Yuhirian feeling shocked about the huge crack, which was different in intensity than before.
[No matter how many times I kill them, they keep coming up……. And I can’t kill them because of that damn Oried.]Yuhirian, who was looking directly at me with Oried’s face and spewing out horrifying words, said while gazing upwards where everything was completely destroyed and only darkness remained.
[Stop making jokes that aren’t funny and stop showing yourself, Arkane.]“…..Arkane?”
I paused for a moment at the unexpected name that was suddenly mentioned.
Whoosh–
“!”
What remained of the mansion disappeared like an illusion, and only a space covered in black darkness remained, surrounding me and Meinhardt.
What’s going on here?
Just when I tried to open my mouth, trying to analyze the situation…
[It’s been a while.]He was looking over our heads.
[Yuhirian.]Trying to Guess the situation again and again, a voice that clearly belonged to Arkane, the Spirit King of Darkness, was heard as if in response.
… Crazy, the final boss appeared so suddenly.
***
TL:
I am alife don’t worry, just some normal internet problems that must happen every month and some exams made me disappear for more than a week.
Anyway I am so sorry for the delay and thank you very much for your patience.
Enjoy your day~
Thank you
💖