[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Chapter 424
Grivy, who had popped out from the ground, reacted imdiately.
As if she were a mischievous child, Grivy wriggled her hand and lightly tapped the ground. The earth trembled, and the nearby terrain shook violently.
“Uh… uhh?!”
At the sa ti, before long, sothing began to sweep down from the upper part of the mountain, and the faces of the spiritists who saw it turned pale.
“A… a landslide?!”
“Out of nowhere?!”
“Damn it! The ground was weak! Run!!”
Most of those who saw the landslide mistakenly assud it had occurred because of the loud noise and impact on unstable ground, and they quickly scattered in all directions.
But before they could properly escape, the landslide moved in a bizarre way and blocked their escape routes, and in the end they were swept away with screams.
After chasing away the teams of Corison Jackper and Lerban Code like that, the two boys beside Leon stared at him with shocked expressions.
“W-what on earth… are you?”
They had already forgotten to speak casually since facing Galvadra because sothing had seed off, but seeing him cause a landslide with a single move left them no choice but to freeze stiff.
They had thought Leon was just so insignificant half-baked spiritist, but now that they saw him wielding spirit arts far beyond imagination, they were completely petrified with fear.
“What are you doing. If you stay up instead of sleeping, you’ll collapse tomorrow.”
Then, as if nothing had happened, he stroked the head of the girl who had erged from the ground, leaned his back against the cave wall again, and slightly lowered his head as if going to sleep.
In this absurd situation, they clearly needed a detailed explanation, but Leon had no reason to give them one.
If they had been cooperative from the start, maybe—but after openly ignoring him before, their conscience pricked at them, and they were also afraid of Leon’s power, so they couldn’t bring themselves to say anything now.
“W-well… I guess it worked out?”
“Y… yeah, I suppose.”
In the end, all the two boys could do was co to terms with reality.
* * *
In the competition to secure the Spirit Beast, what truly mattered was essentially the second day.
The first day was for light scouting.
And the long-awaited second day was when, before sunset, one had to secure a Spirit Beast as quickly as possible or defeat competitors.
Because of that, the forest felt noisy in many places, but it didn’t apply to us.
After being chased off by the landslide, the teams of Corison Jackper and Lerban Code never appeared here again.
Whether or not they knew the landslide had been caused by Grivy, to them this place was a danger zone not worth the risk.
Moreover, since the landslide had occurred in the middle of the night, other spiritists who noticed it also avoided this mountain area entirely.
During that ti, through Sur, I explored various parts of the forest while observing the flow of spirit mana and the flow of the competition.
The ones I had initially taken note of secured Spirit Beasts without much difficulty.
So captured them personally, others stole Spirit Beasts that soone else had obtained.
As long as a team hadn’t beco completely unable to move and retired, a single defeat didn’t an elimination, so many people busily moved through the forest.
After surveying the forest from morning onward, I did gain so information.
The spirit mana that had been slowly absorbed in this forest was flowing sowhere, and I realized that soone was absorbing it.
Since the culprit wasn’t anyone in this forest, it didn’t take long to guess who it was.
The Water Spirit King, Elraim.
For whatever reason, she currently needed the large amount of spirit mana possessed by the spiritists.
At this point, it felt like I could see why the Spirit King had suddenly appeared and demanded the competition.
Still, this phenonon wasn’t causing any major issues, and nothing was certain yet, so I simply offered a small amount of spirit mana as it was.
Of course, in the process I also mixed a bit of another power into the spirit mana and sent it off.
I planted it like a virus, but honestly, I didn’t expect much.
By the ti the day brightened and noon had passed,
I began to feel bored.
Waiting was fine, but I missed our youngest.
I missed Elpiria.
Not just a little—I missed her intensely.
Maybe I should just tear this entire forest apart and end this early?
Just as I was thinking that,
as if it had read my mind, green-colored spirits were seen flying up into the sky above the forest.
At the sa ti, the vibration of the air was finely adjusted, and the host’s voice was heard throughout the entire forest.
—We are now entering sudden death. From this mont, restricted zones will appear throughout the forest. Their range will widen. If a Spirit Beast enters a restricted zone, its position will be artificially changed.
In other words, it ant not to obtain a Spirit Beast and then just stay in one place.
“Hmm….”
“Were we sniped?”
“No way.”
Seeing Team mbers 1 and 2, who now listened quite well to what I said, I pondered.
As if waiting for the mont, the cave we were in was about to be designated a restricted zone.
If we stayed like this, by the rules the Spirit Beast would escape from our hands.
I didn’t care if others fought and brawled, but… if it slipped away, all the effort so far would be wasted, which was absolutely unacceptable.
“No choice. Let’s go.”
“Uh… where are we going?”
“Considering the restricted zones and the distribution, the west is the safest.”
“H-how do you…?”
They looked at as if to say, We’ve been in the cave the whole ti—how would you know?
I answered indifferently.
“Then don’t co.”
“W-we’ll go!”
“We’re coming!”
With the addition of restricted zones, the area of activity gradually shrank.
Those who had secured Spirit Beasts tried desperately to escape the restricted zones, while those who hadn’t yet obtained one rushed along the shortest routes, regardless of restricted areas, trying to snatch a Spirit Beast sohow.
Naturally, several teams appeared in front of us as well.
They tried ambushes, aiming for the weaknesses of spiritists in their own way, but
since we were already prepared before they even finished readying their attacks, their ambushes ant nothing.
Sur flew in an instant and ramd the spirits with his horned helt, knocking them down in the blink of an eye.
The spirits were sent flying by the unexpected impact and were instantly reverse-summoned, and the spiritists, stunned by this absurd situation, froze on the spot.
When a spirit is reverse-summoned, it deals a heavy blow to a spiritist.
Naturally, it also takes a great deal of ti to summon that spirit again.
In the end, the spiritists, having lost their ans of attack, had no choice but to declare surrender with vacant expressions.
“Is this right?”
“What’s the problem?”
“No… it’s just going too easily….”
“Shh. You’ll offend him. Watch your mouth. Can’t you tell? He’s avoiding places that look like they’ll be a hassle.”
“No, I an, is there normally a way to know that? Even people who handle wind spirits rarely do that….”
Leaving the boys chatting in confusion behind, I found a suitable spot and waited.
That was when it happened.
A team was seen approaching from the opposite side.
Their clothes were stained with blood, but judging from their gait, it didn’t seem to be their own.
The mont they faced us, we also looked at them warily.
Then, before long, Boys 1 and 2 widened their eyes and spoke in trembling voices.
“E… Eltemion Rubakara….”
“Soone you know?”
He was one of the talented ones. Among those seven, he was the most gifted.
“He’s the most famous prospect in the spiritist industry… and… there are rumors he’s cold and cruel, so everyone’s afraid of him.”
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
At those words, I quietly looked at the boy standing at the front.
Despite his delicate appearance, he gave off the feeling that he wouldn’t hesitate to harm soone.
“They’ve got a Spirit Beast too. What are you worried about?”
The purpose of this competition was securing Spirit Beasts, not a battle royale where people killed each other.
“B-but look at the blood on their clothes. It doesn’t look like they only knocked down one or two people.”
“Don’t worry. They don’t look like they want to fight either.”
Just as I said that and tried to pass them by,
Eltemion’s gaze landed on .
As that strange gaze followed , my two teammates flinched and tensed, but in the end he didn’t pick a fight, and both sides went their separate ways.
That was when it happened.
“Uh… uhh?!”
Maybe it was the aftermath of a previous fight, but Eltemion’s team’s Spirit Beast collection container cracked—crack!—and the Spirit Beast, as if it had been waiting for that mont, fled at trendous speed.
Two teams.
One Spirit Beast.
The result was obvious.
The first to move was Eltemion.
The mont he stretched out his hand toward , he muttered softly.
“Silaphe.”
At the sa ti, more than two mid-level spirits, Silaphe, appeared and fired wind blades at us at trendous speed.
His judgnt was accurate and swift.
Mid-level spirits were rare upper-tier entities even among the spiritists participating in this competition.
Moreover, the Silaphes he commanded were fully matured even among mid-level spirits, clearly summoned and radiating strong power.
“Aaah!!!”
Startled by the sudden wind blades, the boys scread and threw themselves aside.
“H-he was trying to slice too just now….”
“C-crazy bastard?! Who’s he trying to cut down?!”
The two boys panicked, but soon they noticed sothing strange about themselves.
Because of the wind blades just now, all of their spirits had been reverse-summoned.
In terms of aptitude as spiritists alone, it was truly an overwhelming talent gap.
From the start, spiritists relied more on innate talent than effort.
Terrified, they shouted.
“S-stop! We’ll give you our Spirit Beast, just stop att—”
Thud!!
I kicked the ones trying to negotiate in fear.
“Ghk?”
“Who said you get to decide to give it or not? Do you have no guts?”
“B-but it’s Eltemion! How are we supposed to beat that mon—”
“Even so, why do you get to decide that?”
“Uh….”
After saying that calmly, I walked forward step by step.
Then, facing Eltemion, I said,
“If you lost it, you should think about catching it. Instead you’re trying to take ours.”
“That’s easier.”
“You thought it’d be easy?”
At my question, he silently stared at .
“It’s right in front of . Spirit Beasts are fast and hard to catch.”
Judging by how he spoke, it seed he hadn’t caught his first Spirit Beast himself either but had stolen it.
“Yeah. Well, those are the rules.”
Letting out a short sigh, I imdiately summoned Grivy.
My desire to see Elpiria, our youngest who must be waiting for her father even now, had been piling up and stressing , so this kind of approach slightly irritated .
“Father!”
Grivy ca over with a bright smile, as if she had been playing with dirt.
I brushed the soil off her head, and the other side showed signs of confusion.
“A child?”
“A spirit? She looks like a person no matter how you look at her?”
Sure, Sur and Serqet were one thing, but at a glance Grivy looked human.
However, Eltemion looked at Grivy silently and then asked,
“Is she an earth spirit?”
“You can tell?”
“That’s interesting. It’s my first ti seeing mutant spirits. And she seems to be holding unusual power.”
He said calmly and gestured.
Then, faintly but with a different, powerful earth energy unlike ordinary mid-level spirits, a force began to extend.
“Murden.”
When the na of a high-level spirit unexpectedly ca from his mouth, the earth shook and a gigantic giant of soil slowly revealed itself.
Those who saw it widened their eyes to the limit and opened their mouths.
“A… a high-level spirit.”
“No way….”
It didn’t look like he could handle it perfectly.
Even so, in terms of potential alone, it was close to master level.
It was the unfairness typical of spiritists, whose fate was mostly decided by talent.
“I don’t want to hurt that little spirit. Mutant spirits can’t even grow.”
At those words, I lightly tapped Grivy’s back.
“Grivy. A dirt friend.”
“Dirt friend!”
Grivy’s eyes sparkled.
“Go play with him.”
At the sa ti as those words, Murden and Grivy charged toward each other.
The difference was that Murden moved threateningly, as if intending to crush his opponent to pulp,
while Grivy moved with the pure excitent of a child seeing a friend.
Murden struck first.
Murden’s massive stone fist swung straight at Grivy, and Grivy, running forward with both hands spread, was hit head-on.
The size difference between Murden and Grivy was enormous, like a tiny infant colliding with a gigantic troll.
“This is bad! They collided head-on!”
“She’s finished!”
Amid the urgent cries, everyone was convinced Grivy would be turned into dried fish in a one-sided beating.
After all, Murden was a high-level spirit.
Even if imperfect, being able to handle Murden essentially ant Eltemion’s skill was the highest in this competition.
In reality, struck by the fist whose shockwave burst outward, Grivy bounced away like a ball.
“I don’t want your spirit to get hurt anymore. Surrender and hand over the Spirit Bea—”
Just as Eltemion was about to say sothing,
the fist of Murden that had hit Grivy began to crumble with a crackling sound.
“M-Murden?”
And then—
“Wow! My friend is squishy!”
Grivy, completely unhard, ca running back with a bright smile and grabbed Murden’s staggering arm.
“Be Grivy’s friend!”
She grabbed the fingers of Murden’s remaining hand as if shaking hands and swung them up and down.
Crunch!!
Murden’s remaining arm shattered as well.
“Huh?”
Grivy looked back and forth between the broken arm in her hand and the wavering Murden, flustered.
“My friend’s arm broke….”
As Grivy, on the verge of tears, approached Murden, Murden flinched and stepped back.
Grivy tilted her head.
Then, as she took another step forward, Murden took another step back.
Silence fell over the entire area.
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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