The Spirit Lord and the Spirit Kings had been searching desperately for the Water Spirit.
I too spread my senses as much as possible, but it didn’t show up until the Great Cataclysm was approaching.
But to think it would reveal itself the moment the Great Cataclysm began.
“Hello?”
In the eye of the storm, where waves and gusts of wind clashed fiercely, sat a Water Spirit with the size of a young child.
The spirit had a distinct blue glow and a liquid-like form, but what set it apart from typical Water Spirits was its murky aura.
And…
[Isn’t that a Kraken?]
[OMG]
[?]
Something the spirit was perched on.
That something was a long, purple tentacle.
Sinister energy flowed from the suction cups embedded in the writhing tentacle.
The spirit, stroking the tentacle it was sitting on, looked at me and Redberry with its murky eyes and nodded.
“Outsider Redberry. And…? Outsider?”
“That’s not a good thing. Get down.”
“I don’t want to. By the way, who are you? How come you’re an outsider yet have the energy of this place?”
“Well, it’s because I’m from here.”
“…? Really?”
[Is Lily an alien?]
[LOL]
[Has the spirit always been this fierce?]
[Looks kinda strong]
[What happens if we kill it?]
[Is it a quest to catch it?]
[Corrupted spirit, OMG]
[With its speech, it seems like a high-tier spirit, right?]
“Well, it shouldn’t matter. That person instructed to inform all challengers that come here.”
“That person, you mean Arrowna?”
“It’s better not to mention the deposed king.”
“Deposed, huh…”
Then it’s confirmed that the Water Spirit King has been absorbed by the Kraken.
All the Water Spirits follow the Kraken’s commands, not the Spirit King.
Swish.
The Water Spirit stands up from its seat.
The Kraken’s tentacle dances around the spirit, and the spirit’s blue eyes turn violet.
“Oh foolish challengers who seek to defy that person.”
Ding!
“You are mere bugs. Insects that impale themselves on a lamp and die. Do not oppose the sea; embrace it, and calmly offer your souls to the approaching disaster…”
[World Quest, ‘Corrupted Water Spirit (Stage 3)’ has been assigned.]
[World – Corrupted Water Spirit (Stage 3)]
Objective – Defeat or persuade the Corrupted Water Spirit.
Reward – A small amount of experience points, a small gold box, 3 Alliance tokens.
“Alliance tokens?”
“What are Alliance tokens?”
“…Welcome death. The world is ending. I am that person’s herald…”
“The reward for the World Quest is an Alliance Token…”
“It seems like there might be a token shop for the Challenger users.”
“Oh, so there might even be Mythical Items?”
“I think they will sell at a high price.”
“Harbinger of Destruction… are you listening?”
The corrupted Water Spirit glares at me and the Redberry.
“Of course.”
“Stop talking nonsense.”
“I’m serious.”
The ears were open, you know.
Redberry nodded vigorously as if she too was listening.
The expression of the Water Spirit crumples.
[Hahaha]
[Oh, you were listening anyway]
[Flexing so hard]
[I’m curious about the Alliance shop, what’s in there?]
[I don’t listen to the weaker ones]
[Classic education lol]
[What’s with the bravado?]
“How dare you!”
With a murky aura from the Water Spirit’s hand, a spray of water is shot out.
It’s a powerful strike that would vaporize an ordinary Ranker.
[LV.100]
Even the corrupted Water Spirit, merely at level 3, boasts a level 100; it surely must have a power that is on a different dimension.
Boom!
“What…?!”
But still, it’s just level 3, right? Level 100, after all.
Drawing out the White Guardian and lightly swinging the spear, the water spray disperses, pushing the Water Spirit back significantly.
Booom!!
Another cloned White Guardian ripped apart the Water Spirit’s whole body.
“Gah…!!”
The Water Spirit rolls on the ground after just one attack.
I had controlled my strength enough so it wouldn’t die.
[Wow]
[Instant cut!]
[What’s this, it’s weak]
[Started flexing and got wrecked, huh? Lol]
[So real]
“Now… shall we have a little chat?”
“Cough… D-Don’t talk nonsense!!”
With a ferocious grin, the Water Spirit lets out a monstrous roar, summoning a Kraken that rises at least 100 meters behind.
The wriggling legs and bulging violet eyes send the yet-to-escape magicians of the Kingdom of Luscia into a panicked flight.
As a level 3 entity, the Kraken is also a level 3 clone.
Yet, true to its name, the Kraken possessed far greater strength than what we had seen in the dungeon.
[LV.110]
It’s even 10 levels higher than the Water Spirit.
“If it’s a piece of that person, then it should be enough…!”
“The roar of the spear.”
Kwahhhh!!!
The white spear ground the clone into dust.
The clone was crushed.
Even though it’s in the third state, it’s equipped with two transcendent-grade gears.
Since it isn’t restricted like in a dungeon, a Level 110 clone can easily be crushed with a single roar of the spear.
[As a Challenger, you have defeated a fragment of disaster.]
[The Contribution Degree of the Challenger Alliance has increased by 0.1%.]
[You have obtained 2 Alliance Tokens.]
“Oh.”
Even if I catch it, they still give me tokens.
The Water Spirit, who had been staring blankly at the Kraken that vanished without a trace, eventually clenched its teeth and tried to scatter into the sea.
Where do you think you’re going?
Squawk!
“Ah! Let go of me!”
“Where do you think you’re escaping to? Let’s have a chat.”
“This, this monster!”
“The monster was the octopus that died earlier.”
There’s too big of a gap to call me a monster.
The Water Spirit, which had been trying to separate its existence somehow, stopped its struggles after a brief fit.
It realized too.
Without additional support, escaping was impossible.
“Are you ready to talk?”
“…I don’t know anything. I was just given the order to relay the message from that person.”
“Where is that person?”
“I don’t know, okay?!”
“Then let’s find out.”
“What?”
I activated the fourth state and grabbed the creature’s head.
A distant radiance seeped into it, allowing me to grasp the structure of the spiritual entity.
“Interesting.”
“What’s wrong?”
“The control lies with the spirit side.”
If the control of the spirit had shifted to the Kraken, I could have cut the connection and freed it, but unfortunately, the one controlling it is Arrowna, the Spirit King.
Arrowna is the Water Spirit King and the source of all Water Spirits.
The problem is that Arrowna is being controlled by the Kraken, and to sever the connection, I would need to change the very essence of the spirit.
Changing its essence would mean it would simply die as a spirit.
I set the Water Spirit, trembling with divine energy, down carefully.
The Water Spirit collapsed helplessly.
In the end, to restore the corrupted Water Spirit, I need to find Arrowna first.
[What now?]
[Let’s just kill it.]
[Should we prepare for a raid?]
[I bet killing it will give us some sweet experience points.]
[Still level 109?]
“First, let’s take it with us. The Spirit Kings might have a way.”
I planted a sealing spell, the Many-colored Bird’s cage, on the Water Spirit’s forehead and lifted it up.
Since communication was smooth, it appears to be at least a high-level spirit, but it’s only at the third level.
It’s likely that during the erosion process, it was originally a Higher Spirit but got increased to a higher level due to the Kraken’s influence.
It is highly likely that something happened.
Ding ding!
[You have a total of 999+ unread messages.]
[You have a total of 217 important messages.]
[Multiple kingdoms have sent you messages! (2 seconds ago, 31 seconds ago, 5 minutes 12 seconds ago…)]
“Let’s go.”
“Okay!”
Change has begun.
■
The Great Cataclysm showered us with countless updates, and users met it in their own ways.
Some fled, some resisted, and others sought help.
In particular, those who asked for help were so numerous that it’s unbelievable.
The Kraken was a being so powerful that a regular user could not hope to contend with it, making it impossible to fend off the First Damage.
They are challengers, but far too weak to be called that.
“…Is this what the Water Spirit looks like?”
“……”
Even that magnificent Spirit King was insufficient to avoid the grasp of the Kraken.
For that pure and clear Water Spirit had fallen into corruption.
The Spirit King of Earth and the Spirit King of Wind, Nord and Naphras, who had come at my calling, looked serious upon seeing the Water Spirit.
Nord, the Earth Spirit King with a history of corruption, furrowed his brows, examining the fainted Water Spirit as if he recognized the situation.
“…That’s typical of a monster. Absorbing everything blindly leads to this.”
“Isn’t there any way?”
“With it in this state, we can’t intervene. You know this better, don’t you, Lily Elbrite?”
“I don’t know everything, you know.”
While I had indeed been close with the Spirit King, I had rarely specialized in spirit magic or used techniques, so there were things I didn’t know.
Naphras nodded in agreement.
“What’s certain is that we need to find Arrowna. After all, she has a pretty deep connection with the Kraken, so we might figure out the location through this child.”
“Even though they’re not the same attribute?”
“You might not know, Lady Lily, but us Spirit Kings set up a special link to recognize each other in the future before being afflicted by the Demon Race. If we have even a hint, we should be able to find her.”
“But why could Nord not find her for 300 years?”
“…That’s because the opponent is a being with magic.”
“Hmm.”
You can’t help but respect the Demon Race.
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