Chapter 154 - Transition (2)

The Spirit Realm was actually a name with deep meaning for Conqueror players.

It was the stage that officially marked the start of the latter half of the game, a place where you could actually touch the spirits that had only appeared by name from time to time, and it was also because it was scattered with all sorts of attractions like a dreamlike and mysterious stage background.

But the most famous point was that.

[ Did you make this to be cleared? ]

It was especially famous for being a stage with such a staggering difficulty that even players who had stubbornly held on to this trash game until this point would utter such words.

It was virtually impossible for even players who were considered to have reached a certain level among the top-tier veterans to clear it like a time attack in a short period of time.

So I had expected it to take some time and had given Yoo Ho-jun and Lee Seong-jin-ssi various tasks to take care of in my absence.

After I finished my business in the Spirit Realm and went outside, I would probably have various things to do in collaboration with all the forces I had gathered so far.

‘...In the first place.’

I hadn’t gathered those people just to show off my strength.

To fight against the world’s best guild, which had the world’s strongest Climber, I should have prepared that much in advance.

And the final touch would be the Magic Tower, which would be unable to refuse my proposal after I finished my business in the Spirit Realm this time.

“So, it’s all well and good that you’re thinking about various things with such a relaxed expression...”

As I was continuing those thoughts, a choked-up voice came from nearby.

“Shouldn’t we try to solve this situation first?!”

That’s true.

I could see the party, led by Seo Ah-in who was on the verge of tears, looking around with tense expressions.

Starting with the people who had been through all sorts of incidents with me, frozen with tension, even Evangeline, a member of the Round Table, humanity’s last bastion, was stiff with an expression that said she couldn’t handle it.

Well, but I had no intention of blaming or rebuking them for that.

That was how overwhelming the presence of the ‘encirclement’ lined up around us was.

[ A warning to the intruders. Retreat outside the warp immediately. Otherwise, we will begin our attack. ]

The knight in pure white armor at the forefront declared with dignity.

Well, it was called a knight, but it was actually just a ‘moving suit of armor.’ It was just a white energy mass inside that had taken on a human form within the frame of the armor.

If you were to ask what kind of bizarre explanation that was, I could only say that all the things called spirits in this world had such properties.

Spirits were essentially just masses of energy, but they interfered with the material world by latching onto any nearby object and ‘mimicking’ it to maintain their form.

The Spirit Realm was something like a dimensional mass of such floating energy.

And a spirit that had successfully latched onto an object and mimicked it would evolve to the extreme according to the ‘concept’ of that object.

Han Si-yeon-ssi, who had mimicked a ‘human who wields mana,’ became a support-type user with the best mana sensitivity in the world.

A spirit that had mimicked a tree became a Dryad and a Demonic Beast that could create a forest large enough to devour a whole floor.

Each of the things surrounding us was like that.

Creatures of various races, humans, beasts, weapons, statues, and even furniture were scattered about messily like an abstract painting by a mentally scattered artist.

But, despite such a bizarre scene, the pressure coming from them was no joke.

In the material world, it would be a different story, but in their home ground, the Spirit Realm, there was no mana downgrade phenomenon, so each one could have power close to that of a demigod.

On top of that, due to the nature of the Spirit Realm, which provided an infinite supply of energy, they would be resurrected again soon even if they died.

It was to the point where Evangeline would say this.

“...Even the army of the Round Table is not this much. The aura felt from each one is similar to... the level of the strongmen you call EX-rank Climbers.”

“There are cats and chairs over there too.”

“Yes. I’m confident I’d lose if we fought.”

These were the words of a Knight of the Round Table, who was said to be comparable to the top-tier strongmen of humanity in lore.

Well, anyway, it meant it was a very dangerous place.

“...”

Recalling all that knowledge, I fiddled with the Gnosis’s Heart hanging around my neck.

Now, let’s imagine.

On a necklace like this, which could temporarily pump out almost infinite mana.

If I were to overlay it with something very... peculiar among the spirits.

What kind of result would emerge?

‘It’s not that easy, though.’

In the original work, crafting it was almost in the realm of end-game content, so it was a quest that even top-tier veterans couldn’t easily start.

You could tell just by looking around.

Seo Ah-in was probably on the verge of tears right now because she had realized the gap between herself and her opponent with her Mind’s Eye.

“No matter how much it’s Gyu-sik-ssi, this is, uh...”

“No matter how much it’s me, what?”

“Wouldn’t it be impossible to save all of us?!”

“...”

Yes.

I don’t know whether to praise the fact that the prerequisite that I would die wasn’t even attached.

But you know.

In the first place, I’m someone who never fights a losing battle.

If I had bothered to drag you all here, there was a reason for it.

Now, for example, let’s think about who would be the most useless person in the Spirit Realm, which is so full of energy that any ordinary ritual can be broken just by glaring at it once.

“...Why are you looking at me?”

“No. I just thought you were really useless.”

“Why are you suddenly picking a fight?!”

The answer, without a doubt, would be the pink-haired little girl who was raising her voice as if she was being wronged.

Then why did I bother bringing such a human, who was less helpful to this strategy than a bug!

“You really want to die with me, don’t you?”

“No. I’m trying not to.”

Saying that, I picked up the vessel and handed it to Lee Si-yeong.

The one I had received from Eliya-ssi a while ago.

And I turned my head towards the spirits.

“Well, leaving aside the fact that you’re rude bastards who exclude outsiders without even asking any questions, I’d like to say.”

“...”

A sense that that crazy bastard was up to something again rose up around me, but.

I ignored it and continued with a grin.

“Take me to the queen. We’ll talk from there.”

As soon as I uttered that sentence.

A violent storm of mana began to rage around me.

Yes. A storm made of ‘mana.’

It wasn’t causing a storm, a natural disaster, using mana, but the air was screaming as it was torn apart by the sheer mass of mana.

In other words, it was an absurd phenomenon on the level of causing an earthquake just by breathing. If I poured all this mana into one ritual, I could probably destroy a nation, that’s what it was.

[I don’t know what you’re talking about, you intruder. No, in the first place, how do you even know of the queen’s existence?]

“...Ah, geez.”

Of course.

Whether the entire party turned pale or not.

I’m the type who has to say what I have to say.

“Because I have nothing to say to small fry like you.”

I continued with a grin.

“Bring out the person in charge.”

“...We’re all going to die here.”

Surprisingly, it was Seo Hye-in-ssi who said that, sniffling.

***

If you were to ask who the name Selpas referred to, most mortals would probably not even grasp the gist of the question.

However, if they were wise enough to understand the workings of the world to some extent.

And among them, if they were talented enough to be awarded the title of a genius that appears once in a millennium.

They would react as if they were about to faint at the title of ‘Spirit Queen.’

The source of all mana, the primeval power source, the only countermeasure that could resist the demonic mana that turned everything to minus.

Even among all the dimensions, and even among the greatest of the great.

Even those who could perceive her existence were rare, that was the Spirit Queen Selpas.

Those who could perceive her holiness were even fewer.

And Selpas, such a distant and supreme being.

Was holding both her temples in utter disbelief.

In the long years that she herself could not remember, there had been several intruders who had surprised or interested her, but.

Not a single one had ever made her as ‘flabbergasted’ as this moment.

[...What did you just say?]

At her sighing question, the winged, angel-shaped spirit serving as a messenger tensed and stood up straight.

It was probably because he knew very well how absurd his own words were.

The queen would not have cared that an intruder had appeared.

It was rare, but sometimes humans walked into their world.

Among them, a very small number, a handful, sometimes broke through the ‘guards,’ and in those cases, the queen would be slightly concerned, but it had never gone beyond that.

Yes. So in such a situation.

[...You took him hostage? The captain of the guards?]

It wasn't that his form had temporarily disappeared after a battle so fierce that his energy source was destroyed.

‘Captured’? A spirit?

A mass of energy that could die and be resurrected again at any time if it wanted to?

How on earth?

You might as well say you shot the air with a gun and killed it.

[He could have avoided being captured just by abandoning the object he was mimicking, are you joking?]

[...I wish it were a joke, my queen. But it is a fact that the captain of the guards himself reported.]

Seeing the messenger swallow nervously and answer, Selpas realized that questioning him further was meaningless and sighed.

Yes. This messenger was just faithfully relaying information. It would be better to try to solve the situation.

[...If it’s a hostage, there must be a demand. What is it?]

[He wishes for an audience with you, my queen. But that is out of the question, so we will subdue and drive him out immediately-]

[Bring him here.]

[My queen?!]

[If a spirit himself admits to being captured, I must see for myself what kind of trick he has pulled.]

The queen said calmly and rose from her seat.

Voices of dissuasion came from all around, but she paid them no mind.

She was the Spirit Queen. She never made a choice she would regret.

Even if there was such a possibility, she would just crush it with her overwhelming power.

5 minutes later.

The queen came face to face with the human who had said that to her.

And 10 minutes later.

Selpas, for the first time in a very long time.

Came to bitterly regret the decision she had made.

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