## Chapter 2532 – 2532. Savior Of The Academy

-There are things in your world that corrupt spirits.

Demonic spirits.

One of the things the Ghost Fall Valley, a group of demonic cultivators in China, does.

The reason why Seong Hari was cursed by the Spirit King is also because of the Ghost Fall Valley. The Spirit King must know this. It would be strange if he didn’t.

“So you already knew. That my mother had no choice but to devour spirits.”

-No choice? No. That woman devoured spirits of her own will. I punished her accordingly.

“And you left the Ghost Fall Valley, who corrupt spirits, alone?”

Spirits are beings that originated from the Spirit King. You could even say they are the Spirit King’s children. Of course, it doesn’t seem like the Spirit King feels any paternal or maternal affection.

I thought about the Ghost Fall Valley and Seong Hari from the Spirit King’s perspective.

The Ghost Fall Valley are the guys who capture and corrupt his children. And Seong Hari is… the woman who devours his children.

Seong Hari felt like the worse of the two.

-I did not leave them alone. I punished them as much as I could.

Seong Hari is an individual, and the Ghost Fall Valley is a group. The Ghost Fall Valley are the type of guys who don’t hesitate to abandon useless subordinates. They wouldn’t have cared about the Spirit King’s curse.

“If you wanted to, you could wipe out all of humanity in our world in an instant. Why don’t you do it yourself?”

-The world connected to the spirit realm is not just your world. I am the center of the spirit realm, so I cannot move rashly. Also, my actions will destroy order and cause immense chaos. Chaos is the enemy of order and providence.

“So you’re saying you wouldn’t burn down an apartment building just to catch a single cockroach.”

-What are you talking about?

“It’s a saying in our world. The condition is the Ghost Fall Valley. Is killing those guys who capture and corrupt spirits enough?”

-It is one of the conditions.

“You’re more petty than I thought. What should I do with the corrupted spirits?”

-Corrupted spirits are not spirits.

That means they’ve been removed from the family registry. It also meant that he didn’t care whether I killed the demonic spirits or not. The Spirit King was ruthless.

“What’s the second condition?”

-I know that the toys of the Demon God are targeting your world. One of them is capturing and abusing a dark spirit. Kill it and give the spirit peace.

“…I have a hunch who that is. The seventh legion commander, the machine demon Germadon. You’re talking about him.”

I desperately tried to hold back my twitching lips.

If it’s Germadon, it’s practically a free meal. Is it because Germadon is weak? No. There isn’t a single legion commander you can underestimate. But Germadon was a machine demon. As a machine, he could never be my match.

‘If I can just meet him, I can take care of him right away.’

The biggest problem was that I couldn’t meet him.

-The last condition is that the woman never devours spirits again. The moment she devours a spirit again, I will curse her again.

“Three conditions are too many.”

Actually, there are only two conditions. Seong Hari will never devour spirits again. Of course, an unavoidable situation might occur… but I can step in then.

-This is a contract with me. I have seen order in you, so I have conceded enough.

“The second condition. Killing Germadon is passing the work onto me. I want proper compensation for that.”

-……What do you want?

[Using Flash. Remaining stacks: 11]

I used Flash to increase my thinking speed.

I got a little greedy, but the Spirit King accepted it. But if I make too big of a demand, it will only provoke the Spirit King.

After much deliberation, I opened my mouth.

“A huge battle that will determine the fate of my world is approaching. Just once is enough. At that time, let the spirits of the spirit realm help me.”

-Very well. I will help you just once. This is the price of the contract.

A twig sprouted from the Spirit King’s body. The twig began to grow rapidly and was instantly in front of me.

-Touch it. Then the contract will be concluded.

“…What if. What happens if I fail to fulfill the contract? Is there a separate penalty?”

-Nothing will change.

So there’s no separate penalty. But if I fail to fulfill the contract, the Spirit King’s goodwill towards me will be greatly diminished. And Seong Hari’s curse will never be lifted.

I reached out and grabbed the twig.

A huge something flowed into me.

It was a part of the Spirit King’s power. Just that part alone felt like it was crushing my entire body. Fortunately, it quickly left.

I felt my eyes burning. Spirit Eyes were being forcibly activated. To be precise, it was evolving as its rank increased.

『Confirmed the essence of spirits. The rank of Spirit Eyes increases to SS.』
『The Spirit King’s power and immense karma of good have a positive effect. The rank of Spirit Eyes increases to SSS.』
『Contracted with the Spirit King. Felt a part of the essence of spirit contracts. The rank of Spirit Contract (A+) increases to S+.』
『Acquired the Spirit Gate (SS) skill through the contract with the Spirit King.』
『Karma: Good increases by 30.』

I gained a lot from just one contract. Even my good karma increased by 30.

-The contract is concluded. I will watch your actions.

“…I found something interesting in the spirit realm. Can I stay in the spirit realm for a while?”

-Do as you please.

The Spirit King closed his eyes. With that, the Spirit King’s immense presence and pressure disappeared, and I felt at ease.

Moka and Makina, who had been forcibly banished far away, flew back. Makina was riding on Moka’s back.

“Kkuu!”

“You scared me! Are you okay?! Oh, but your eyes… they’re glowing rainbow colors. Like the Spirit King!”

Makina pointed at me, looking surprised. I grabbed Makina’s finger and pulled it down.

“How dare you be so impudent.”

I know that my eyes have evolved now. It’s not strange that they’re glowing rainbow colors like the Spirit King. I was influenced by the Spirit King. Of course, the Spirit King didn’t intend for that to happen. It was just an additional thing I got from contracting with the Spirit King.

‘That means the Spirit King is that amazing.’

I checked my Spirit Eyes and Spirit Gate.

『Spirit Eyes
 Trait Rank: SSS
 Can see the unseen.
 Has excellent dynamic visual acuity.
 Has high spirit affinity.
 Can share the vision of contracted spirits.
 Temporarily exerts force on spirits.
 Distinguishes evil.』

‘Exert force on spirits?’

Coincidentally, Makina was next to me. Makina was looking at the Spirit King with a frightened expression. The Spirit King didn’t seem to care about Makina.

‘Judging by the fact that she wasn’t banished from the spirit realm, she’s recognized as a spirit.’

I focused my gaze on Makina.

『Activating the spirit force of Spirit Eyes (SSS).』

“W-what, why are you looking at me like that?”

“Makina. Do a cartwheel in place.”

“L-like this?”

Makina performed a cartwheel. Normally, she would have been snarky, but she didn’t question me now.

『Deactivating the spirit force of Spirit Eyes (SSS).』

“Huh? Uhh?”

“How did you feel just now?”

“Did you do something? It felt like I had to follow your words. There was a little bit of the Spirit King’s feeling too… it was, it was scary.”

“And you could refuse if you wanted to?”

“Well, I could have. But it felt like I shouldn’t.”

It seems that even though it’s called force, it’s not complete force.

Still, it wasn’t bad. If Makina is like this, then the force will probably work on other high-ranking spirits too.

『Spirit Gate
 Skill Rank: SS
 Summons a gate connected to the spirit realm.
 Temporarily opens the spirit gate to summon spirits.
 Spirits summoned through the spirit gate are in a temporary contract state and require a small price to be paid.
 Due to the contract with the Spirit King, a spirit army can be summoned once without any cost. The rank and number of spirits that can be summoned vary depending on the karma of good.』

The newly created Spirit Gate.

I realized that I could travel between the spirit realm and Earth through this ability. In other words, I can enter and exit the spirit realm without the help of the main family. I don’t know if the Spirit King or the spirits will like it though.

‘Being able to summon other spirits isn’t bad.’

The price the spirits will demand will probably be spirit stones.

“Aren’t you going to do spirit possession?”

Makina asked.

“I don’t need to. My Spirit Eyes have been strengthened.”

While Spirit Eyes are activated, the laws of the spirit realm do not harm me.

“Are we done here? Are we going home?”

“There’s still one thing left. I’m going to the Lightning Spring. Moka. You remember the way, right?”

“Kkuu.”

Moka spread her huge wings at my will. We became lightning and arrived in front of the Lightning Spring in an instant.

The white tiger, who had been lying down in front of the Lightning Spring, got up and growled.

-What brings you here again?

“Moka. Stop him.”

“Kkuu!”

-This guy?!

The white tiger opened its mouth and was about to roar.

『Activating the spirit force of Spirit Eyes (SSS).』

“Stop.”

-The Spirit King’s presence…! Did the King make a contract with a human?!

It was effective even on a top-tier spirit. However, judging by the fact that the white tiger’s momentum didn’t completely subside, it seems that it’s impossible to completely force it. It also seemed like the white tiger was surprised by something else.

‘A small opening is enough.’

I approached the Lightning Spring.

I could see something that I couldn’t see before.

This is the essence of lightning.

Lightning that failed to become spirits are wandering around inside. Also, the subtle lightning scattered throughout the spirit realm is gathering here.

The lightning that is ready here will be born as a spirit.

‘It’s literally the cradle of lightning spirits.’

I reached out my right hand towards the Lightning Spring.

-How foolish! Just because you made a contract with the King, do you think you’ve become a spirit! As a human, you cannot withstand the Lightning Spring! Your very soul will be annihilated!

“I know.”

The negotiation with the Spirit King went well thanks to my good karma. There was no reason to save my full recovery. I was prepared to die here once.

-Hmph. If you want to die, then die. I won’t stop you.

The white tiger, who had been exuding a fierce aura, became docile.

My hand went into the Lightning Spring.

Crack.

As soon as I put my hand into the Lightning Spring, countless bolts of lightning sparked and began to eat away at my hand. In less than 5 seconds, more than half of my hand was eaten away and disappeared.

‘No, rather than being eaten… it turned into lightning. The Lightning Spring… does it turn everything that enters it into lightning? Not just matter, but even the soul and mind.’

Even if I wanted to stop, I couldn’t. It was because each and every bolt of lightning in the Lightning Spring had a will of its own.

‘My control over lightning is being eaten away.’

But I couldn’t control it.

The lightning was climbing up my hand and towards my wrist, changing it. All I could do was slow down the process.

I was becoming lightning in real time.

-Amazing. You had an understanding of lightning. But that’s all. Your soul will be annihilated by the lightning. If you’re lucky… you might be reborn as another bolt of lightning and become a lightning spirit.

“It’s not enough to turn even my soul into lightning. It just seems like my body is changing.”

My right forearm slowly turned into lightning and disappeared. But I could see everything, even the fingers of my right arm. The form of my mind that the lightning dared not invade.

‘Ah. Absolute Mind.’

Even if my body and soul are gone, as long as I have my Absolute Mind, my mind cannot be completely changed.

I pondered for about 3 seconds and made a decision.

[Activating Genius Time for 10 seconds.]

And I turned off my Absolute Mind.

The mental power that had been resisting the lightning disappeared. The lightning instantly turned my body, soul, and mind into lightning.

[Death Resistance has been activated. You will not die for the next 15 seconds.]

Normally, I would have been annihilated and felt nothing.

But Death Resistance left the last of my mind for 15 seconds. I was dead, but I was not dead.

I lost myself.

I savor the body, soul, and mind that were forcibly turned into lightning and dismantled.

It’s hard to express in words.

But I could definitely feel it.

[Genius Time has ended.]

Before I completely died.

[Using Full Recovery.]

I returned from death.

My body was reborn. My right hand was still in the Lightning Spring. But it was okay. The Lightning Spring couldn’t turn my right hand into lightning.

That’s because my right hand was already lightning. How can you turn something that’s already lightning into lightning?

[Condition has been met.]

[Lightning Lv.13 increases to Lightning Lv.14.]