The Greatest Warrior of All Time Returns-Chapter 431

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Chapter 431

The torrents of water whipping in from all directions did not freeze; instead, they gathered even more momentum.

Rather, the frozen snowflakes melted into water, strengthening her power further.

—You keep interfering until the very end. Fine. There was no need to make things complicated from the beginning. If it’s come to this, I’ll deal with you as quickly as possible and proceed with the ritual.

The oppressive pressure radiating from her body made everyone tremble uncontrollably.

“The Spirit King… This is… the Spirit King…”

Most of them had already lost the will to fight.

Even high-ranking spirits were beings that stood at the very limit for ordinary spiritists.

But the Spirit King—two ranks higher than even those high spirits, essentially the sovereign of an entire element within a region—was a being people only knew through information and stories.

“We’re… we’re all going to die…! We’re all going to die!”

As one terrified man clutched his head and fell into panic, his fear spread through the surroundings in an instant.

Even though the atmosphere had grown ominous, I deliberately showed no reaction.

—You all possess excellent talent. You could absorb spirit mana of high purity and in great quantities. But once you entered this place, there was no reason to let you live.

She extended her hand.

At once, droplets began forming in midair, and soon they shot forward like bullets.

Water bullets compressed to an overwhelming degree.

In a way, those were weapons harder than steel bullets.

As the cadets watched the water projectiles fly in from all directions—so fast they made no sound and so dense their shapes were almost invisible—they hurriedly summoned their spirits.

It was like a human instinctively drawing out power beyond their limits when faced with death.

But.

Pung!! Pupung!!!

Each spirit they summoned was neutralized in a single attack from Elraim.

“Aaaagh!!!”

“Ghhk…!”

No one suffered severe injuries, yet not a single person managed to block the attacks completely.

—Humans are so fragile. They bleed and suffer from attacks of this level. You know? Even the blood flowing through your bodies is mostly made of water.

In other words, a Spirit King of Elraim’s level could even use that blood as a weapon.

That was a fatal truth for any living being.

“Nice sales pitch.”

At that moment, I cut her off.

—What?

After neutralizing the dozens of water shots flying toward me, I took a step toward her.

“You can’t control other people’s blood to that extent.”

If that were possible, water control magic and water spirits would be the strongest power in existence.

After all, there were hardly any places in this world without moisture.

—…….

Facing her silence, I issued a command.

“Grivy.”

“Mm-hmm!”

“Body slam.”

At my words, Grivy dashed forward and instantly leapt toward her floating form.

Naturally, Elraim neither dodged nor truly acknowledged the attack from a mere lower-rank spirit, intending to nullify it instead.

—Foolish judgment. No matter how strong it is, a being of lower spirit rank could never—

Jjeojeok!!! Puh-uhng!!

The water barrier Elraim had deployed shattered in an instant, and her body was blasted backward.

Her face showed complete confusion—unable to understand how she had allowed an attack from a spirit of lower rank to strike her.

A massive hole had opened through her waist from Grivy’s body slam.

Grimacing, she began restoring her body.

Grivy’s attack hadn’t been overwhelmingly effective—but it certainly hadn’t been ineffective either.

Spirits made of elemental matter were often impossible to eliminate through ordinary means.

Especially a Spirit King, the pinnacle of an element—trying to cut water with a sword was no different from trying to slice water itself.

However, spirit mana possessed by another spirit could create fatal cracks in an opposing spirit’s structure, and a spirit unable to maintain its form would inevitably suffer damage.

Even Elraim was no fool.

She had realized that Grivy’s attack was now capable of harming her.

Perhaps because of that, she shifted her focus from the seemingly useless other spiritists to me.

“Now you’re finally paying attention.”

—You’re definitely the most dangerous one.

“Sylphid didn’t ask me for nothing.”

—Sylphid… yes. I thought something felt strange.

We moved first.

Serqet, who had been hiding its presence, shot forward like a flash and bit into Elraim’s body.

Because Serqet was in the form of a small otter, its bite didn’t split Elraim’s body in half or anything like that.

Besides, Elraim was a Spirit King.

She defended against Serqet’s attack almost instantly and flung it away instead.

—Stop being such a nuisance!

At her shout, whirlwinds of water erupted everywhere and launched toward me and my spirits.

It only took one hit.

If any one of my spirits took a direct blow, there was a real possibility they would be instantly retired.

It wasn’t that Grivy, Sur, or Serqet were weak.

And it wasn’t that I was weak either.

It was true that Spirit King Elraim had consumed immense power to maintain this ritual.

But just as I utilized the dense spirit mana in this space, she too used spirit mana to compensate for her weakened state.

And under such conditions, my opponent was the absolute pinnacle of spirits—a Spirit King.

What more needed to be said?

Even Sylphid, whom I had once met, was an existence close to the origin when it came to wind.

Even if she had been respectful and considerate, a being at the level of a Spirit King wasn’t someone the current me could casually deal with once they went out of control.

I summoned my three spirits closer and accelerated the contract seals linking us.

Elraim also knew well that I wasn’t an enemy she could simply kill, and she understood I possessed many powers beyond spirit arts, so she was extremely cautious.

The reason I wasn’t using aura or magic was simple—they were far less effective in this space.

Still, if necessary, there was no reason I couldn’t use them.

She attacked first, and I began colliding with her head-on using poison, earth, and heat.

Was her contractor sharing her will?

I had wondered that at first.

But now, it looked different.

“Looks like there’s no spiritist around.”

—What?

“What you’re doing right now goes far beyond a spiritist’s normal capabilities.”

—Ha. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t look down on my contractor like that.

“No. That’s not it.”

Cutting her off, I condensed spirit mana above one hand.

“Wanna make a bet? I guarantee it. What you’re doing right now isn’t something your spiritist can handle.”

I wasn’t belittling the opponent’s talent.

It was a single absolute law and truth I had concluded after wandering endlessly through time in search of answers.

As if my words were the undeniable truth, her expression twisted, and countless attacks poured toward me.

* * *

Elraim raised one hand high.

She didn’t bother commanding lower spirits.

Because she knew it was meaningless.

Instead, she slowly began revealing the power of a Spirit King.

“Oh my… what is that in the sky?”

“Are you insane…?”

The spiritists looked up at the ominous presence and froze in place.

A gigantic circular magic circle—several kilometers in diameter—slowly rotated into existence overhead.

And as it moved, droplets of water began gathering.

An ultra-high-level spirit spell permitted only to a Spirit King.

Its form was still being constructed—but the moment it completed, a catastrophe would unfold.

She didn’t stop there and rapidly suspended more droplets throughout the air.

At the same time—

The internal structure of the droplets changed, rapidly focusing sunlight.

Like convex and concave lenses being used together, the blizzard ceased, and she began concentrating the newly emerged sunlight into a single point.

Then, as if adjusting the angle of mirrors, she redirected that sunlight toward me.

What was the difference between a spirit and a spiritist?

A spirit was the wielder of elemental power itself; a spiritist was the one who commanded spirits.

Both used elemental power, but there were two fundamental differences.

Spiritists lacked the natural resistance to attacks that spirits possessed.

On the other hand—

Spiritists played major roles in summoning and reverse-summoning spirits, assisting, and controlling their power.

In other words, there were many differences between a Spirit King Elraim without a contractor and me, who commanded three spirits.

Normally, no one would even be able to perceive the concentrated beams of light, but right before they reached Grivy, Sur, and Serqet, I reverse-summoned and recreated them, evading the attacks.

And—

Unlike ordinary spirits, spiritists could handle more than a single spirit.

Like now.

Kwaddeudeuk!!!

The moment the earth wall that shot upward met the solar light, it rapidly turned red and began melting.

It attacked as if it intended to melt me along with the earth itself—but Grivy wasn’t my only means.

Sur shot upward in an instant and rapidly altered the temperature between the sun and the droplets scattered everywhere.

The air rippled and forcibly refracted.

Even light changed its refraction index depending on temperature.

Elraim’s ultra-high-temperature solar beam was not produced entirely through her own power—it was concentrated sunlight.

Which meant if the source sunlight failed to reach her ability properly, it was useless.

—How insolent!

She moved the droplets again and launched part of the water stream toward Sur—but I still had one more spirit.

Kwajik!!

—Kuh?!

Like a flash, the small otter Serqet burrowed in and left another wound on Elraim’s body with his tiny teeth.

A light wound at first.

Another light wound now.

Neither was fatal.

But—

As with all poisons, the size of the wound wasn’t what mattered.

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Only whether poison had been injected or not.

Of course, one might wonder what use poison could be against water.

But the venom gland Serqet possessed had been created based on my own Heavenly Poison Body’s venom gland.

Meaning it worked even on spirits.

—Ghhk…!

Caught off guard by the poison, she staggered.

—How… how can you ignore rank itself?!

In response to her cry, I raised my hand toward Grivy and injected an enormous amount of spirit mana.

Then I answered.

“I don’t know either. That crazy book just doesn’t follow common sense.”

Absolute mental barriers.

Ignoring rank restrictions.

Both were phenomena impossible under normal laws.

Even though I had reached Grand Master level—capable of manifesting a world and forcing its laws into reality—the changes produced by the Book of Genesis were beyond even that level.

The Book of Genesis felt like…

…instead of adding something new onto this world…

…it was legally altering the very structure of the world itself.

—That book is that kind of object. I recommend not using it carelessly.

That was when it happened.

It wasn’t Elraim’s willful voice—but a different one altogether.

The owner of the voice was none other than the sealed First Archangel.

Lucifer.

He had been silent all this time—what wind had blown now?

—Well. Nothing special. You’re just doing something interesting.

Lucifer’s voice carried a sneering laugh.

‘If you’re not helping, then shut up.’

—Puh-hut. Fine. I’ve got no reason to help you. Suffer on your own.

What a foul-tempered damn archangel.

‘Then why speak up at all? You don’t actually know anything, do you?’

—Your provocation is too low-level to be worth watching. Still, you’re at least somewhat to my liking, so I’ll give you a little service for once.

Lucifer’s voice lowered.

—Perpetual Frozen Land. The space where I once existed is this snowfield. The core over there… appears to be Glaysia, the Ice Spirit King.

Glaysia?

—I roughly understand what they’re trying to do. Once the ritual completes, something very… interesting will happen.

I focused back on Elraim.

Her body was being rapidly permeated by poison.

Like osmotic pressure, Serqet’s venom—carrying immense density—spread quickly throughout her entire form.

She hurriedly began pouring out massive streams of water in resistance.

The air compressed and tore as waterfalls began crashing from the sky to the ground.

That water was lethal if left alone.

Grinding my teeth, I drew a sword from subspace.

Elraim flinched at the sight of the claymore in my hand, wary—but I didn’t expect much from it either.

You’ve rested long enough, right?

Just work once.

Aura, elemental mana, necromantic mana, spiritual energy—all those powers besides spirit mana were not unusable for me right now.

Their efficiency was just drastically reduced, which was why spirit arts were preferable.

In other words, if I truly wanted to, I could still use them.

“Falling Blossom.”

[Scatter.]

At my command, the claymore’s blade began blossoming, turning into particles of light as flower buds bloomed around it.

Kuuung!!!

Enormous tree trunks burst through the ground and began absorbing all moisture nearby.

—Futile!!

Realizing it was difficult to control moisture already absorbed by the Falling Blossom trees, she tried slicing them down with blades of compressed water pressure to avoid losing her power. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

But I didn’t stop there.

Slightly twisting the claymore’s blade, I aimed it forward.

[Bloom.]

Falling Blossom’s second power manifested.

Its form shifted again, light infusing into the trees—and unbelievably, they endured every one of Elraim’s pressure cutters.

Paseseuseu!!!

After releasing its power just once, Falling Blossom exhausted itself and fell silent, and I returned it to subspace.

Enduring Elraim’s power alone was difficult, and the restrictions within this space played a big role as well.

But the trees already created absorbed moisture indiscriminately, heavily resisting her attacks.

Of course, her attacks weren’t entirely useless.

Droplets the trees failed to absorb flew like blades and lightly grazed my cheek.

A thin red line of blood slid down.

I wiped it away with the back of my hand.

At the same moment, Elraim’s eyes widened.

—You… bled.

Instantly, it felt as if the blood throughout my entire body began boiling.

“What is this?”

It should have been impossible for her to fully control the moisture inside my body.

Yet using the wound as a reference, she was forcing control over the water within me.

When I pushed my spirit vision to the limit, I could faintly see threads twisted from spirit mana linking her and me.

If I left it alone, the blood in my whole body could reverse and kill me.

Even though something incomprehensible was happening, I didn’t hesitate.

Being counterattacked with inexplicable phenomena wasn’t something new to me—by the latter half of the Labyrinthos, things like this happened constantly.

Like when I fought an ancient god-level monster called the Cursed Doll.

I cut it with my sword—yet the wounds transferred directly to me, leaving it unscathed while my body suffered massive injuries.

Even when I forced the world with Grand Master-level power, those effects still pierced through.

So how did I defeat it?

Simple.

The way attacks applied to it transferred to me was straightforward.

By reversing the positions of our existences.

Conversely, if I received a wound at that brief moment, it would transfer to its body.

I waited for that timing, stabbed my sword into it, and simultaneously overclocked my aura to explosive output, bursting its heart.

The monster, ignorant of this, reversed positions—and its heart exploded instantly.

There had been countless failures.

Whenever I failed, I reset by ending my own life.

In the Labyrinthos, death was impossible anyway.

And so I killed myself repeatedly until I grew used to it.

Fortunately, complete control seemed impossible, and I resisted her power, enduring.

A fierce clash of spirit mana erupted between us.

—Ha. How long do you think you can endure?

“Looks like it’s not a power you can use often either. You don’t have the luxury to focus elsewhere, right?”

As proof, the completion of the massive magic circle in the sky slowed dramatically.

“If someone attacked you right now… it’d be pretty interesting, wouldn’t it?”

At my smile, she flinched and turned her head.

She looked toward the other spiritists watching our battle.

They stood stunned, watching a single spiritist fight the Spirit King as an equal.

As if they had never imagined someone could display this level of capability.

And then—

Eltemion, who had quickly grasped my meaning, shouted.

“Give it everything you’ve got!!! If you don’t want to die, attack her!!”

Even the tiniest crack in this tightly balanced struggle would decisively tip the outcome.

Individually they were weak.

Honestly, even together they couldn’t truly harm a Spirit King.

But they could shake the balance for just a moment.

At Eltemion’s cry, the dazed spiritists squeezed out every ounce of their power and launched attacks at Elraim.

—Do you think that’ll change anything?! Did the amount of spirit mana a Spirit King possesses look like a joke to you?!

I answered her shout with a mocking smile.

“Open your eyes and look carefully. Who do you think actually has more spirit mana right now?”

Her narrowed eyes swept across my entire body.

Then they widened in shock.

—What… why do you have this much spirit mana?!

How many spirits did she think I had contracted and raised to Spirit King-level strength during all that time inside the Labyrinthos?

And the moment she spoke—

I seized the initiative and violently twisted her existence.

Unable to withstand the unimaginable impact, she fell from the sky.

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