“Ever since a moment ago, these incomprehensible words have been flooding my mind! What is this!?”
“Incomprehensible words are flooding your mind?”
Owen furrowed his brow at Rourke’s explanation.
Beside him, Gareth was equally confused, wondering what Rourke was talking about. But Owen decided to focus on understanding Rourke’s situation.
From what Rourke described, it sounded like telepathy—a means of communication between a spirit and its contractor without words.
Normally, the spirit’s thoughts would be translated into understandable language within the contractor’s mind. But in this case, it seemed the translated words were nonsensical.
But how could that happen? Shouldn’t the translation make sense?
“…What’s going on?”
At the very least, it was clear that things weren’t normal.
The only possible cause was the evil spirit, but it didn’t seem like the spirit was trying to harm Rourke. In fact, since they had managed to form a provisional contract, it was safe to say the spirit held no hostility toward Rourke.
“…Perhaps it’s the nature of the spirit.”
“Grrrrr… My head’s going crazy!?”
“Owen!”
It seemed the situation had worsened while they were thinking.
The spirit appeared to be continuously sending messages to Rourke, but for Rourke, it was just a stream of meaningless words—pure agony.
“Let’s separate them for now.”
From Rourke’s groans, it seemed he still had some strength left, but the situation wasn’t likely to improve if they left it as is. Just as Owen decided to dismantle the barrier, another abnormality occurred.
“Gaaaah!? ……Ah……Uh……”
“…Rourke!?”
Rourke’s pained groans suddenly stopped, and his body stiffened unnaturally.
Gareth called out to him, but there was no response. Rourke appeared to be in the same state as before he started groaning.
However, the air around Rourke began to feel heavy and ominous, signaling that something had changed. Owen stopped preparing to open the barrier and instead reinforced it.
“Gareth.”
“Yes.”
At the same time, Owen called out to Gareth, who immediately understood the unspoken command and quietly readied his magic sword. Beowulf, who had been standing behind his master, moved to Gareth’s side.
Something dangerous was happening.
Everyone present—the spirit master, the spirits—felt a vague sense of impending danger and quietly prepared for battle.
“…………”
As if confirming their fears, Rourke stirred with an eerie, ghostly movement. His eyes slowly scanned his surroundings.
The evil spirit standing before him. The four spirits surrounding him.
“…………”
Finally, his gaze fell on his mentor, his friend, and their contracted spirits. His crimson eyes, usually devoid of malice, now gleamed with a murderous intent.
“……”
With a deafening roar, a shockwave erupted from Rourke.
The shockwave struck the barrier Owen had erected, cracking the sturdy wall of spiritual energy.
“What!?”
“Whoa… Seriously?”
Despite the barrier being reinforced by four spirits, it was nearly shattered by a single blow. Owen couldn’t help but grimace at the sheer power.
“Gareth, fall back! I’ll handle this!”
“But—!”
“Fall back, now!”
Just as Owen shouted, another shockwave erupted from Rourke. The barrier, already on the verge of collapse, shattered with the sound of breaking glass, and the shockwave’s aftermath struck the two.
Beowulf instinctively created an ice wall in front of Gareth, twisting his body to shield his master, but it wasn’t enough. Both Gareth and Beowulf were sent flying backward.
“Ugh… Restrain him!”
Meanwhile, Owen used his enhanced spiritual body and a wind barrier to endure the shockwave. He immediately ordered the four spirits maintaining the barrier to restrain Rourke.
The spirits, seizing the moment when the shockwave subsided, readied their weapons and charged at Rourke.
“Annoying.”
[ [ [ [……!?] ] ] ]
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But just as they closed in, the spirits were slammed into the ground with tremendous force, pinned down as if stitched into place.
“One after another…”
The spirits looked as if they were being pressed into the ground from above. Owen muttered in annoyance, suspecting that some kind of spiritual technique was at play, though he couldn’t figure out the mechanics.
The spirits struggled to rise but couldn’t, as if some force was holding them down. Was Rourke manipulating gravity?
Owen wanted to analyze the technique, but Rourke, now facing him with an outstretched hand, didn’t seem inclined to give him the time.
Just as another shockwave was about to be unleashed, a chunk of ice flew toward Rourke from behind.
“…Hah.”
Rourke flicked his finger disdainfully, and the ice chunk veered off course, disappearing harmlessly into the distance.
“Owen, this must be gravity! The evil spirit from the Luna ruins could control gravity! Rourke must be—!”
“I see. Then we need to figure out what’s going on…”
Owen responded to Gareth’s voice from behind while keeping his eyes on Rourke and the spirit beside him.
[!!]
The four spirits pinned to the ground… and the evil spirit next to Rourke.
If Rourke had contracted with the spirit and it was controlling him, why wasn’t the spirit also pinned to the ground like the others?
Nothing made sense.
“………”
After a brief glance at the four spirits, Rourke slowly clenched his fist.
Simultaneously, cracks appeared in the spirits’ armor, and eventually, unable to withstand the gravity pressing down on them, the spirits disintegrated into particles of light and were sent back.
“This is no joke…”
Since they were only bound by provisional contracts, there was no way to retrieve them.
Having lost four of his spirits in an instant, Owen wore a look of exasperation.
“Come forth, Sigrum.”
Next, Owen took out the spirit stone containing Sigrum, a spirit he had retrieved from Rourke. Summoned without hesitation, Sigrum unleashed a wind slash toward Rourke.
“Useless.”
The wind slash, like the ice chunk before it, veered off course, missing Rourke entirely and cutting down the surrounding trees instead.
“…………”
But Owen learned one thing from Sigrum’s action.
Sigrum was a spirit Owen had lent to Rourke multiple times. Though they hadn’t formed a full spirit contract, they had at least established enough trust for a provisional contract.
Such a high-ranking spirit like Sigrum now attacked Rourke, not with hesitation but rather with a sense of disgust. Moreover, it was under a simple contract, a state where resistance should have been possible if he had the will. This was a bit strange.
“……Rourke, what happened?”
The response to the question was a gravitational wave released simultaneously with a swing of the arm. Owen channeled spiritual energy into Sigrum, countering the incoming gravitational wave with a gust of wind infused with spiritual power.
“What did you do to my friend?!”
“Gah!”
While Owen was under attack, Gareth, who had circled behind Rourke, swung his magic sword, aiming to knock Rourke unconscious with the flat of the blade.
At the same time, Beowulf bared his fangs and lunged at the evil spirit pinned to the ground, unable to move.
It was unclear why the evil spirit couldn’t move.
But one of the reasons Rourke had stopped moving was undoubtedly this evil spirit. Judging so, Gareth had attacked the evil spirit as well, but the next moment, both he and Beowulf were slammed into the ground by a powerful gravitational force from above.
“Guh!?”
“……Die.”
It was a spiritual technique Rourke had unleashed with the intent to crush them, but Gareth managed to endure by wrapping his body in spiritual energy, avoiding being completely crushed.
However, Rourke looked down at Gareth, who was struggling pathetically at his feet, and tried to increase the gravitational force on him to deliver the finishing blow.
“……Haaaah!”
“……!?”
Immediately after, Gareth let out a roar and unleashed the power of his magic sword.
Purple lightning shot from the magic sword, catching Rourke off guard, and he instinctively released the spiritual technique on Gareth and retreated.
“You bastard!”
“You don’t understand my magic sword, do you?! You’re not Rourke, are you?!”
Clutching the electrified magic sword, Gareth shouted with conviction that the current Rourke was not his true self, then swung his sword in a horizontal slash.
“Shut up! Just stay still and get crushed!”
“!”
As Rourke shouted in anger, a chill ran down Gareth’s spine. Trusting his instincts, he quickly moved away from the spot.
The next moment, the ground where Gareth had just been standing caved in with a loud crash.
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