“Do it, Sigrum!”
“Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieee!”
Responding to my command, Sigrum swooped down from above at high speed and rammed the evil spirit’s barrier with his massive body.
“Ooohh!?”
As Sigrum’s attack caused the evil spirit to falter, the cracks on the barrier spread rapidly. Finally, with a sound like shattering glass, the evil spirit’s defense was completely destroyed.
Shocked and disoriented, the evil spirit froze for a moment when its prized shield was broken. It was a natural reaction for any creature with combat abilities to freeze when their best defense was suddenly taken down.
But in a battle, especially one involving a spirit summoner, such hesitation at this moment was fatal. The evil spirit sensed me preparing to counterattack and started to activate its spiritual technique, but it was too late. Not missing the chance, I gathered all my remaining spiritual energy and slashed at the evil spirit’s face.
“Haaah!!”
Two rapid strikes, enhanced by my spiritual energy, carved lines across the evil spirit’s face. At the same time, the wind surrounding the sword turned into small blades that sliced into the spirit, inflicting numerous small wounds.
“Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooaaaahhh!?!?”
The evil spirit screamed in pain as the slashes across its face bled profusely, thrashing about wildly in agony.
“Whoa!?”
I clung to the thrashing spirit, trying to deliver another attack, but the spirit used its power to shift gravity sideways, throwing off my footing and sending me crashing hard into a wall.
“Guh!”
Wincing at the impact on my back, I readied my sword again.
I thought I had weakened it enough with that attack, but it’s still got some fight left in it. However, its spiritual techniques are definitely getting weaker, and its movements are slower than before. The evil spirit is clearly getting worn down.
But the problem is my own spiritual energy. Even though I’ve been using potions to recover, this pace of exhaustion is brutal.
At best, I can keep fighting at full strength for a few more minutes. I have to find a way to neutralize this evil spirit before then.
“Grrrrhh!”
“Damn it, you’re not going down without a fight—!”
It must really hate me. In the middle of my muttering, the evil spirit suddenly pressed down on me from all sides, and before I knew it, I was completely immobilized, unable to even move a finger. This is bad.
“Ooooaahhh!”
“Guh!”
With an angry roar, the evil spirit used its gravity manipulation to shape huge pieces of debris into spear-like weapons, aiming every one of them at me. Unable to move, I had no way to defend myself.
It was a dire situation, but the evil spirit was so blinded by rage that it completely ignored its surroundings.
“Kiiiiiiiiiiiiieee!”
“Ooohh!”
As a result, it was slow to react to Sigrum’s attack from above. Sigrum’s sharp claws dug into the evil spirit’s back, but even then, the spirit prioritized attacking me, directing all the massive spears toward me.
“Uooohhh!”
Thanks to Sigrum’s attack, the spirit’s grip on me weakened slightly, allowing me to move my legs just enough to kick off the wall and barely dodge the incoming spears.
That was close! I thought I was done for!
Looking back, I saw that the spot where I’d just been standing was now a forest of spears. It was easy to imagine what would’ve happened if I hadn’t moved in time. This evil spirit shows no mercy.
“Huff, huff…”
As I flew through the air, I struggled to steady my ragged breathing.
I’m almost at my limit. I can probably only manage one or two more big moves.
And since I can’t hold off the evil spirit without using Sigrum, I essentially have only one shot left at full power.
I have to finish this now.
I gathered all the remaining spiritual energy I had left and placed my sword by my left hip, preparing to unleash my final technique.
At the same time, I refined the wind enveloping my blade, making it thinner, sharper, and more condensed.
“Ooohhh!”
“Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieee!!!”
I turned my gaze toward the evil spirit, which was still grappling with Sigrum. But now, Sigrum was starting to get overwhelmed, with my spiritual energy supply dwindling. The evil spirit was pushing him back, and his once beautiful green body was beginning to stain red from unblocked attacks.
Yet, despite that, Sigrum continued to fight bravely, keeping the evil spirit pinned down. That would be enough to give me a clear shot.
I silently thanked Sigrum and mobilized all my spiritual energy to strengthen my body.
If this strike doesn’t finish it, I’m as good as dead.
Taking a small breath to steady myself, I poured spiritual energy into my legs and kicked off the wall with all my might. The wall shattered with a loud crack, and I flew toward the evil spirit, aiming to end it all.
“Hurricane Sword—Flash Dance!”
It was over in an instant.
By the time the sound of slicing wind echoed through the air, my body had already passed through the evil spirit, the sword swing completed, and I was soaring through the air.
“Ugh…ugh…”
Behind me, the evil spirit, one of its pectoral fins severed by my strike, began to fall slowly, blood spraying from the wound. Its expression had shifted from one of furious anger to one of confusion, as if it couldn’t comprehend what had just happened.
This was one of the few sword techniques I could call my own.
Gareth had once told me that in the East, there’s a similar sword technique called “Iai,” which focuses on quick-draw slashes. But honestly, it’s not that impressive.
What I’m doing is simple: I just swing the sword faster, using spiritual energy to enhance my body. I also enchant the blade with different elemental spirits to increase its destructive power, but that’s about it.
Still… even so, it was undoubtedly the best technique I could use in my current state.
“…! Return, Sigrum!”
The Hurricane Sword dissolved after that last strike, and with my spiritual energy nearly depleted, I pulled out the Spirit Sealing Stone to reseal Sigrum.
Thanks to the Master’s training, Sigrum wouldn’t try to escape or cause any trouble, but in my weakened state, it was best to reseal him quickly before he had the chance.
Fortunately, Sigrum didn’t resist and was calmly absorbed into the Spirit Sealing Stone. As expected from the Master—controlling spirits this well without a contract, I’d love to know what exactly he did.
“Well, this is bad.”
While it was a relief to reseal Sigrum, I realized I had another problem. The lesser wind spirits had already vanished as the contract expired, leaving me with no stock of wind spirits in the substitute medium. On top of that, my spiritual energy was almost completely drained. In other words, I had no means left to stay airborne.
“Aaaahhhh—”
As I accelerated toward the ground, I started thinking about what to do next.
I had only a trace of spiritual energy left, but if I used it to reinforce my body, I should be able to survive the impact… probably. Of course, even if I do, I’ll likely be unable to move afterward…
To be honest, the thought of waiting for rescue in that creepy room forever, with the possibility of getting attacked by a Guardian and meeting a grim end, is not appealing. I want to keep that as a last resort if I can.
The only other idea I can think of is to make a contract with some kind of minor spirit and use a spirit technique to soften the impact just before I hit the ground. But honestly, with my current spirit energy, just casting one proper technique would probably drain me completely, so I doubt this plan would change much.
“Damn it…”
I muttered a sigh as I was lost in thought, when I suddenly noticed an evil spirit falling alongside me.
Only now do I realize that this evil spirit hasn’t been sent back yet. It should have been severely injured, with one of its fins cut off, but it seems it hasn’t reached its limit yet.
Wait, am I screwed?
I instinctively raised my sword, bracing myself for a desperate second round, but it seemed the evil spirit no longer had the will to fight. It just helplessly followed gravity, falling without resistance.
“…………”
As I watched the evil spirit fall, a thought popped into my head. I figured I might as well give it a try, so I pulled out a vessel and prepared to execute my plan, but then something wrapped around my leg, stopping my fall abruptly.
“!? “
I looked up in surprise to see vines tangled around my legs. As I traced the vines upward, I saw two familiar girls and a spirit riding on the back of a giant red-winged dragon, the Salamander.
“You’re safe after all.”
“Rourke-senpai!”
“Now, everything’s fine.”
It seems I’ve been saved.
As I was pulled up by the Dryad’s spirit technique, exhaustion, relief, and the overuse of my spirit energy hit me all at once, causing my consciousness to quickly fade. There was no way to stop it, and my mind sank into darkness.
In that fleeting moment, I thought I saw a girl smiling at me in the darkness, a face I vaguely recognized.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.PAGES.DEV
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“… Mmm…”
It seems I fell asleep without realizing it. When I opened my eyes, I saw the red dragon flying with its wings spread wide under the sky, now tinged with the color of twilight.
“…… Where am I?”
“You’re awake.”
As I slowly tried to sit up despite feeling a sense of fatigue, Lily’s face suddenly appeared from the edge of my vision. I was really startled.
“Are you alright?”
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