Chapter 270 – Collector of Divinities (2)
"Natasha, hold Fenry down!"
"...What??"
"Quickly!"
Since this involved the Elves' sacred oath, Fenry wouldn’t be able to ignore Arcane’s request.
To prevent conflict, I had to stop it before it began.
Kwang!
Yiin—
While Natasha grabbed Fenry’s ankle, Lochter shot forward like lightning.
His twin swords glinted red, and sparks flared around Arcane.
Sothing deflected those terrifying strikes.
Blinding wings erupted from Arcane’s back and blocked all of Lochter’s attacks.
Was that how he could wield the power of the divine beast, Fortea?
Even so, Arcane’s eyes remained locked only on .
Lochter clenched his teeth.
Arcane’s actions made it clear—I was the only one he considered a threat.
Offended, Lochter’s sword aura surged even fiercer, but the wings simply pushed his attacks aside, soft as silk.
"The counter’s weakness is not attacking at all."
Yiin—
"I'm not one who enjoys fighting. Well then, I’ll be going."
A pure-white orb rose in Arcane’s hands.
The summoning formula for the divine beast Fortea.
“Lily!”
At my shout, Lily’s eyes glowed with light.
The talent of Full Moon.
An overwhelming ability that could instantly read and nullify a targeted power.
But—
“I nullified it... ahh!”
Uuuuuuuuung—!
The mont Lily erased the orb in front of her, dozens more appeared around Arcane at once and burst with intense light.
"Ahh! My eyes!"
Blinded, Lily clutched her eyes and turned her head away.
It was clear the summoning formula had been designed with her interference in mind.
Kieeeeeeeeeeeh—!
At the sharp cry, Fortea lifted its head in the air and revealed itself.
Its body rained down blue feathers made of light, and when its enormous wings unfurled, a piercing gust swept through the forest.
We were all pushed back by the wind, and Arcane, now mounted atop the monstrous bird, soared high into the sky.
He looked down at , then smiled faintly at the arrow I still held aid at him.
"I’ll assu there’s still a chance we might beco friends."
Leaving those words behind, he turned toward the far side of the forest.
His back to us, he vanished like the wind.
I silently lowered the bow I’d kept drawn.
Arcane had likely misread my action as a sign of goodwill.
But he had gotten it wrong—I hadn’t refrained from firing. I simply couldn’t.
Because the arrow wasn’t one of divinity.
“Damn it!”
Natasha’s curse rang out.
She must’ve thought we lost Arcane because of Fenry.
The normally fierce dark elf had fallen silent, guilt heavy on her face.
I had to get things in order first.
“He was never soone we could capture in the first place. It’s not her fault.”
"You?! You could’ve stopped him, right? If you sealed his summoning powers like you said—"
“No. It would've been difficult.”
“Why?”
Natasha demanded furiously, but I only gave her a bitter smile.
Because I didn’t see his halo…
Like soone under divine protection, Arcane had a halo.
But it couldn’t be sensed.
If the halo can’t be detected, I can’t activate Divinity Hunter.
Which also ans I can’t use the Arrow of Divinity.
I once asked Reto about this—there was only one reason:
“Either I’m too weak, or the opponent is too strong.”
It was a matter of strength.
But that wasn’t the only reason I gave up the chase.
The Collector of Divinities’ ability...
“We can’t capture Arcane with our current thods.”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
He blocked Fenry’s attack by invoking the Elves’ oath, and Natasha’s hands were tied because of that.
In battle, he had clearly analyzed Lochter’s counters and Lily’s nullification in advance.
If my guess about the Collector of Divinities is right, then once he has the list of a divinity’s owners, they’re no longer threats to him.
Natasha gave a baffled expression.
“So you’re saying he knows all our moves? How’s that even possible?”
“I don’t know the details. But he seems to have the power to gather information through the owners of divinities.”
“You make him sound like a god! That ans he can use them as eyes and ears!”
“Then how the hell do we fight soone like that?”
“His power isn’t perfect.”
He ca to us despite the risk, just to warn us about the World Tree.
If his abilities were flawless, he wouldn’t have needed to say anything—he would’ve prevented the threat before it started.
After all, Demtor has several divinity holders, too.
“So you’re saying he’s just an informant for now.”
It was Fenry who understood correctly.
As soone who runs Black Rose, he imdiately saw Arcane’s limitations.
“An informant?”
“Even if you get the information you want, that doesn’t an you can imdiately act on it. Just having the intel isn’t enough—you need the strength to use it.”
“You’re saying Arcane lacks that strength?”
“I don’t know. If I did, I wouldn’t have been outplayed like earlier.”
Fenry and Natasha both looked at , and I shrugged.
“Owners of divinities are either powerful or backed by powerful forces. It’s not easy to manipulate them as you wish.”
“So we’re okay for now?”
“We’ll figure it out in ti. First, we have to deal with the imdiate threat.”
“You trust his warning?”
“Yes, I do.”
“How?”
“Because he spoke of the Revelation.”
The ‘Revelation’ is practically everything to Arcane.
Any warning carrying that weight cannot be ignored.
Especially not when it involves protecting the World Tree, known as the Land of Wishes.
I called for the others.
“Auuugh…”
“Lily, are you okay?”
“My eyes are burning…”
Tears welled in Lily’s eyes, and I let out a dry chuckle.
I hadn’t expected her nullification to be countered like that.
And—
There was Lochter, alternating his gaze between his twin swords, deep in thought.
An enemy who doesn’t attack.
Realizing the flaw in his counter, Lochter seed contemplative.
“For now, let’s move.”
We returned to the Ordoer Forest.
It wasn’t far, so getting back was quick.
Natasha kept glancing behind her, clearly frustrated over letting Arcane escape.
“We’ll catch him next ti.”
“I’m still pissed.”
“What’s wrong?”
“If what you said is true, then Arcane can spy on , right? The idea that he might use again—it’s disgusting.”
“What’s the point of getting stronger if it doesn’t matter against soone like him? Damn it!”
I could understand how she felt.
We needed a way to defend against Arcane’s ability.
Right now, there are only two ways to avoid his gaze.
One: like , when one’s divinity is shrouded in mystery.
He had misread twice—it was clear.
The other:
When the divinity is invisible—or doesn’t exist.
We needed to work with people who weren’t divinity holders.
Why did the image of Kal flash through my mind just now?
Aside from those two cases, there would be no easy way to deceive Arcane.
“How’s your spirit form? Still active?”
When I nodded, Natasha muttered under her breath.
She seed to be talking with soone—probably Gereflam.
Just like Fenry said, the World Tree’s birth had triggered big and small changes in those nearby.
The density of spirit energy around the World Tree had spiked.
For witches, that ant significant power growth.
The sa applied to their spirit beings.
As Natasha’s synchrony with Gereflam increased dramatically, they could now emotionally communicate.
Her current behavior reflected that.
As her bond approached perfection, Natasha’s combat ability was now on a whole different level.
The problem was .
Reto...?
Lily had said my synchrony was also increasing, but unlike Gereflam, Reto had fallen silent, as if in a deep sleep.
“Just wait. It’s not a bad sign.”
The sudden growth of Gereflam and the shadow spirit Banri…
This wasn’t just about energy—it was affecting the very presence and evolution of spirits.
If the World Tree’s growth continued, these changes might not stop at the Ordoer Forest—they could spread to the outside world.
A world-altering change.
Suddenly, Arcane’s reason for protecting the World Tree began to weigh on my mind.
‘This is… way too similar to that phenonon.’
The changes happening to our allies were eerily similar to—
The 6-star Gate Phenonon happening in the hands of Gram Serphim, wielder of the Blood-Drinking Chalice.
The collapse of the 5-star wall and the rise of the 6-star awakenings.
“Ah—?”
As we arrived at the witches’ forest, familiar faces were waiting for us.
Off to the side, a bald man was speaking with Elton.
Smiling, I approached the familiar back.
“Karl. You arrived just in ti.”
Karl and the spirits who had gone to capture Gram had safely returned to the forest.
After hearing a quick summary of what happened, it seed they had followed my instructions well.
“We wiped out all the Black Butterflies.”
“What about Gram?”
“That woman—she’s vicious. Her power’s insane, we couldn’t even get close. She wasn’t affected by mory magic either.”
Breaking through the Veil of Blood must’ve been tough.
But it sounded like Karl and the others had pushed Gram hard enough to make her fire a signal flare.
Being hunted by spirits in their own domain—the Forest of Spirits—must have drained her blood to dangerous levels.
The annihilation of the Black Butterflies.
That alone would drastically weaken her position in Demtor.
“But hey, what happened here while I was gone? And what’s that?”
Karl looked up.
The spirits all stared in awe at the World Tree.
Elton cautiously asked,
“Did you feel anything… different?”
“Different? Oh, this?”
Karl raised one hand, and thick black liquid extended from it.
It wasn’t quite spirit magic, but a power using spirit energy—Spirit Form.
The spirits all shared the sa experience.
As they shifted into spirit form, their bodies turned black.
They were already stealthy, but now in darkness, their stealth had beco even more refined.
The World Tree had strengthened their abilities.
Though in Karl’s case, his expression was full of discontent.
“Why the hell did it have to be black? It stands out too much.”
Karl’s spirit technique involved extending web-like energy to capture enemies or move across terrain.
It had once been transparent, but now the black color made it way too noticeable.
It looked—
“Like ink.”
“…Ink?”
“It suits you, honestly.”
“What the hell does that an?!”
The spirits fell silent.
Elton looked away awkwardly.
He couldn’t bring himself to say the word octopus.
Just then, Lily, still rubbing her eyes, saw Karl pulling out long black spirit threads and blinked curiously.
Then, with wide sparkling eyes, she shouted,
“An octopus!”
“An ugly octopus!”
Of course, there’s always one exception.
User Comments
0 comments from readers