The Greatest Warrior of All Time Returns-Chapter 423

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 423

The spirit beast was said to be immune to spirit magic, and at the same time, an extremely nimble existence.

The manual contained rough information about this competition.

In it, there was information regarding the spirit beast.

Originally, it was written that just finding this creature was supposed to become an extremely troublesome situation.

However, this foolish spirit beast brazenly passed right in front of me, and was quickly caught by Serqet.

“By any chance… you didn’t inject poison into it, right?”

When I stared straight at Serqet and asked, the guy stiffened his body and then made a gesture as if a cat were bringing its two paws together and waving them around.

It seemed like he was trying to convey some sort of intention in his own way.

I had absolutely no idea what that intention was.

“Anyway, good job.”

When I pulled out a sweet snack from my arms and tossed it to him, Serqet jumped on the spot and nimbly snatched the snack out of the air.

“Th-that spirit… eats food?”

“Uh……”

The two boys stared at the scene with blank expressions.

However, there was no particular reason for me to bother explaining anything to them.

When I remained silent, the two boys looked as if they were thinking deeply, trying to analyze me…

…but they failed to reach any conclusion.

After that, what I had to do was simple.

The objective had been achieved.

Now all that was left was to find a good place to rest and hold out until the test ended.

Just then, a suitable cave came into view not far away, so I ignored the two and strode forward, and the two boys, flustered, followed after me as they were.

“Hmm. Certainly, if you’ve achieved the objective, there’s no need to wander around unnecessarily and draw aggro.”

The way he spoke as if he knew everything was absurd, but since Serqet had brought back the spirit beast, and they weren’t saying anything to me in particular, there was no longer any reason to pick a quarrel with them.

All of a sudden, I found myself wanting to see Elpiria, who would be with Luna.

‘Is she doing well?’

The sight of her squirming her little body this way and that and then bursting into loud cries when she got hungry was so cute that it didn’t easily leave my mind.

Normally, I would want to throw everything aside and just sit beside her all day watching her squirm, but a promise was a promise, so it couldn’t be helped.

In that case, at the very least, I should find a way to shorten the time.

After piling some firewood in one corner of the cave, the boy who handled the fire spirit summoned Kasa and lit a small flame.

I took a seat in a suitable spot and closed my eyes.

Normally, I would have summoned Sur, Serqet, and Grivy, but if I just called them out carelessly, I had no idea what kind of trouble they might cause, so I had them reverse-summoned.

After that, I sharpened my spirit mana keenly and began to investigate its flow.

From the moment I entered this forest, spirit mana had been getting sucked in somewhere.

Since this was clearly an abnormal phenomenon, I was convinced that this phenomenon was being caused intentionally by someone.

However, if such a phenomenon was occurring throughout the entire forest, it wouldn’t be possible at an ordinary level.

Could it be the Water Spirit King, Elraim?

That thought suddenly crossed my mind, but I also wondered what reason a Spirit King would possibly have to do such a thing.

As I slowly traced where the spirit mana that flowed out of me was heading, little by little, the flow of spirit mana spread throughout the entire forest began to come into view.

It wasn’t at a dangerous level.

However, very slightly.

To the point that sensitive individuals might find it bothersome, spirit mana was stretching out like stems from all over the forest, gathering in one place, and then moving somewhere else.

As if.

After creating a gigantic farm, everything was moving together—at that bizarre flow, I summoned Sur.

After that, I told Sur the words he liked the most.

“Sur. Reconnaissance mission.”

At my command, Sur stretched his wings straight up and gave a salute.

His brave, small, round eyes sparkled.

Then, after adjusting his horned helmet, he flapped his tiny wings and quickly flew out of the cave.

I shared Sur’s vision and looked around as if scouting the surroundings.

As I looked around like that, I began to see spiritists who had entered the forest searching for spirit beasts in teams.

Among them were those lucky enough to have already found a spirit beast and were tracking it, and there were also those who encountered competitors in the process and clashed with them.

However, most still seemed to be in the initial search stage, and no one appeared to be acting boldly.

Well.

The objective of this competition was to secure a spirit beast and hold out until sunset on the second day.

In other words, if you burned yourself out from the start, the structure was such that you would inevitably collapse.

The orthodox approach would be to read the situation and then sprint at the end during the latter half.

Of course, there would also be cases where one simply failed to secure a spirit beast due to lack of skill.

But… where exactly is this going?

The spirit mana that exited the forest headed toward the edge of the woods and then secretly continued outside the forest.

If I just traced it a little more…

Vwoong……

That was when it happened.

Feeling an interference that severed my sensory synchronization, I opened my eyes and saw the two boys who had been resting in front of the campfire now watching the outside of the cave warily.

Soon, three men were seen entering the cave.

One of them was a man I had seen before.

“Oh. We meet like this.”

He was the man who had spoken to me during the first preliminary round.

The man who had said he was experienced and would give information if paid.

I didn’t have any particular ill feelings toward him.

I was certain he was the type who meddled a lot and liked to boast, but he hadn’t done anything hostile to me.

But.

Right now, the situation was different.

“The atmosphere outside is no joke, you see. It seems there’s someone who’s retiring competitors on sight under the pretext of searching for spirit beasts.”

Losing a teammate would incur a demerit.

Therefore, most participants would know that recklessly clashing with others could lead to mutual destruction.

Even so, there were only two kinds of cases where someone would attack.

A situation where they had to win no matter what.

Or when there was an overwhelming difference in skill.

“But… you. You already found a spirit beast. Were you lucky? Or… did you have talent for searching?”

Galvadra Collin looked at the collection container placed to one side and grinned.

At that, his teammates exchanged glances with one another.

“Hey. Let me give you some advice. Capturing a spirit beast right at the start is not a good choice. You’ll become everyone’s target.”

Then he proposed.

“So how about giving that to me?”

“What kind of bullshit are you talking about!”

One of the boys on my team shouted irritably.

“No. This is quite a reasonable proposal. Retiring all of you and taking it is also a method, but I didn’t do that. You seem to have talent for searching. You might at least get another chance to find one…”

Right.

Meddling or not, he was still a competitor.

I slowly stood up.

At the same time, multiple spirits began to be summoned on their side.

Our team also brought out every spirit we had, as if pulling out all our meager assets.

In the sudden standoff, I asked,

“You said your name was Galvadra Collin, correct?”

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

“Huh? Uh, yeah. Seems you remember. Thanks. Yes. I’m Galvadra Collin.”

“When you came into this forest, didn’t you feel that spirit mana was being absorbed?”

First, let’s confirm it.

At my question, Galvadra and his teammates made puzzled expressions.

“What are you talking about now? Do you know what he means?”

“Nope.”

“Didn’t see anything like that.”

At that, I turned my gaze and looked at my team.

“What about you two?”

“Uh… uh, didn’t notice.”

“M-me neither.”

“I see.”

For now.

It definitely seemed to be absorbing it very stealthily.

At this, I called over Serqet, who had been lying nearby and rolling around.

“Galvadra. I’ll make a proposal.”

“A proposal?”

“Just leave quietly. I don’t intend to stir things up here and I don’t plan on bothering anyone. If you just go, I’ll let you go.”

At my proposal, his eyes twitched.

“What are you—”

Chiiiiiiik…….

That was when it happened.

Poisonous fumes that had spread from somewhere began melting the surrounding cave.

The moment he saw the cave walls melting like sticky slime, Galvadra’s mouth shut tight.

Afterward, his gaze turned toward Serqet, who was stretching on the floor as if annoyed.

“Ahaha! My, my. Normally I would’ve taken it, but… how could I possibly do that! After all, we met in the preliminaries! Hahaha! I’ll just pretend I didn’t see anything!”

“Uh… uh? What are you doing?!”

His teammates shouted in confusion, but Galvadra, true to his quick-witted nature, instantly grabbed his teammates and ran away.

It ended at this level because he was a perceptive man.

If he had been clueless and fooling around, it would only have been troublesome for us.

After the three of them ran away in an instant, I said to the two boys who were staring at me with blank expressions,

“What are you doing? That meat’s going to burn.”

“Ah!?”

The boy who had hunted a wild beast and was grilling the meat hurriedly turned it again and continued roasting it.

There wasn’t any particular conversation afterward.

Fortunately.

After Galvadra’s intrusion, no one else made a move until night fell.

* * *

At first, the humans who had been reading the room began to slowly show movement as a day passed.

The beginning of it all was the time when everyone was asleep at night.

The first to move was a fire spiritist among the spiritists who had talent.

It was Corison Jackper’s team.

He didn’t hold back his strength and fully revealed his presence.

“Cough?! W-we… we don’t even have a spirit beast! What’s the reason for attacking us!”

A team that had been neutralized in an instant shouted in resentment.

However, Corison Jackper, with the mid-grade fire spirit Salamander floating in the air before him, let out a sneer.

“What are you saying? Whatever it is, we’re all competitors. Is there any reason I should just leave you alone?”

“D-damn it! There’s no need to fight, yet you’re fighting—”

“Fight? Get your words straight. I’m not fighting. I’m hunting.”

“……”

Looking at the despairing spiritists, Corison shrugged.

“Salamander. Adjust your strength appropriately.”

KWAANG!!!!

At the same time, a small explosion occurred, and the spiritists caught in that explosion collapsed without even being able to scream and retired on the spot.

Corison and his team didn’t stop there.

“As expected, you’re amazing, Sir Corison. The opponents can’t do anything at all.”

“In this competition, there are practically no people who can stand against Sir Corison.”

In truth, his team was practically nothing more than followers who had clung to him after hearing of his fame.

They had stuck to him because their chances of winning increased if they teamed up with Corison, but from Corison’s standpoint, they were just a nuisance.

The hunt that began during the night continued endlessly like that, and by the time the number of spiritist teams retired by his hand exceeded ten teams,

a feeling of fatigue began to creep into him.

“That’s enough. Let’s rest around here.”

Saying coldly, he looked for a place to spend the night and discovered a fairly decent cave.

However, the cave already seemed to have prior occupants.

And, surprisingly, beside a masked figure who was sleeping, a spirit beast was inside a collection container.

“Today’s luck is pretty good.”

Securing a decent resting place and a spirit beast quickly as well.

He confidently walked toward the cave.

That was when it happened.

A blade of wind suddenly flew toward Corison.

“Sir Corison!!”

Ignoring the startled shouts of his teammates, Corison nimbly moved his body and frowned.

“Lerban Code, is it?”

Just as Corison was called a genius, the man who had appeared before him now was also such a figure.

Lerban Code.

A skilled spiritist who handled the mid-grade wind spirit Sylph at an advanced level.

“Get lost. We called dibs on this cave and that spirit beast first.”

At Lerban’s tone, which didn’t care at all about the opinions of the prior occupants inside the cave, Corison let out a scoff.

“You’re funny. First come, first served, my ass. Whoever eats it first owns it. If you don’t want to see blood, get lost.”

“Right back at you.”

Since both teams were among the top candidates for victory, neither had the slightest hesitation about their abilities.

Moreover.

Both of them paid no attention at all to the prior occupants of the cave and only kept each other in check.

That was the composure and arrogance of the strong.

A hair-trigger situation where two top-candidate teams were about to clash in the dead of night.

That was when it happened.

“W-what are you doing! There’s no need for two strong teams to oppress a weak team like this—!”

“Shut up and stay back. Can’t you see I’m facing off against that guy right now?”

Corison threatened the two boys who had come out of the cave.

The unique spirit mana of a spiritist flowed out from his entire body, suppressing and dominating the surroundings.

A situation where any ordinary spiritist would flinch in surprise and tense up.

In fact, aside from Lerban Code, the remaining spiritists all stiffened with frozen expressions.

“D-damn it……”

Perhaps realizing that everything was being decided by the choices of the strong, the two boys who had come out of the cave flinched and stepped back.

“What’s the point of talking. We can just fight it out.”

Soon, Corison Jackper controlled Salamander and ignited a fireball.

At the same time, Lerban Code also summoned a wind spirit.

In an instant, the clash between the two talented spiritists began, and explosive booms and cutting sounds echoed everywhere.

“U-uwaaah!”

Naturally, the teams of the two spiritists and the two boys from the cave had to make desperate efforts to escape the aftermath.

“D-damn it! Please wake up!”

“Shit! We have to run first?!”

In the end, the boys from the cave hurriedly tried to wake the masked figure.

Even with the loud booms resounding, the masked man who had been sleeping comfortably slowly stirred.

And then slowly got up.

“What.”

“Th-that is……”

The man slowly raised his body and surveyed the situation around him.

Then he clicked his tongue.

“I just barely fell asleep……”

Muttering irritably, he sprang up from his spot, and the two boys turned their heads to follow him.

“Wh-what are you going to do…….”

“What else would I do. From ancient times, this was the remedy for people making noise at night.”

With those words.

He spoke.

“Grivy.”

At his call, the ground bulged slightly, and from beneath the earth a small, cute girl poked her head out and revealed herself.

A spirit that looked almost human?!

Whether he knew or didn’t know the shock of the two people, he gave the command.

“Landslide.”

Of course, that single word that left his mouth was anything but light.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]