-
Fwoooosh...!!
[Report. Contracts are currently being formed with five [High Spirit]s: water, earth, wind, light, and darkness.]
A mechanical voice, though one that felt more human than [Great Sage].
As the [High Spirit]s each chose a child and descended to the ground, the voice of [Odin] rang out inside Adelio's head.
'Kenya got light, Ryota water, Gale earth, Alice darkness... and Chloe is wind.'
Light, which matched the power of a [Hero].
Water, which would help control berserk rampages.
Earth, specialized in defense and protective battles.
Darkness, which would become the soul of a puppet.
And wind, capable of containing Chronoa's graceful sword aura.
They really were [High Spirit]s on the same level as Ifrit. In an instant, they had grasped which magical attributes the children were best suited for and chosen accordingly.
'Then the only thing left now is...'
After watching the children as their contracts proceeded one by one, Adelio lifted his gaze again. Thinking of Chronoa's [Thought Body], which would likely reveal itself soon, he placed a hand on his scabbard.
'There's no way Chronoa's [Thought Body] would run wild already, not even by the slimmest chance... but it never hurts to be careful.'
It was a reunion after nearly decades apart, but that only meant he couldn't let his guard down for even a moment. His eyes sharpened slightly as he stared at the very top of the [Dwelling of Spirits].
And just as he was about to draw out his magic once more to wrap it around his body—
-
Press.
A transparent girl with an expressionless face lightly poked his cheek with her finger.
"......"
Startled by the sudden attack-that-wasn't-really-an-attack, Adelio turned an awkward look toward the girl. She tilted her head, her translucent hair fluttering softly.
"...Are you nervous?"
The girl was the last remaining [High Spirit]—the spirit of space, Fadaa.
"...The contracts are all done. Is something wrong?"
Among the spirits, who all tended to have childlike personalities, the spirit of space was said to be the hardest to understand and the most difficult to read. She continued speaking in a slow, vacant sort of tone.
"I'm curious."
"......"
Judging by appearances alone, she looked close to a mature adult, like Adelio or Ria. But the way she acted was even more childish than Ramiris.
She was like a quiet child who wanted attention from an older brother or sister, but didn't know how to put it into words.
"......"
"...No, it's nothing."
Since the moment Fadaa had poked his cheek, Adelio had been feeling the intense stares of Ria, Shizue, and Rimuru from the opposite side of her. Cowed by those gazes, he quietly shook his head and pretended not to notice them.
He couldn't answer that question anyway, and the three of them were practically screaming, "Get away from him right now."
"Fadaa, are you not planning to contract with those kids? Are you just going to stay by my side?"
Changing the subject, Adelio pointed at Alice and Chloe, who mainly handled the space attribute during lessons, and asked her.
"Yeah. I won the bet. So I'm on hold."
It seemed the [High Spirit]s had made some kind of wager among themselves before contracting with the children. A confident air showed through Fadaa's blank expression as she raised two fingers in a V.
"I'm the strongest."
"......"
She was unusual.
Whether she really was the strongest or not, she was definitely a very unusual spirit for one of the [High Spirit]s of the five basic attributes.
Unlike light and darkness, the two opposing attributes, space was classified as a clearly lower attribute than time. He had heard that spirits of space usually didn't show their emotions much, but the Fadaa before his eyes was expressing hers quite freely.
'...Maybe it's because she never appeared in the novel at all, but I really have no idea how I'm supposed to deal with her.'
Just as the thought crossed Adelio's mind that maybe he should leave her to Ifrit, another [High Spirit]—
-
BOOM!!!
A massive wave of magic power shattered the leisurely atmosphere and slammed hard into the [Dwelling of Spirits].
"......!"
"T-Teacher!"
"This is..."
"W-what is that?!"
Rumble rumble rumble...!!
An absurd pressure, as if the sky itself were collapsing.
Even if it were only [Catastrophe]-class, this was not a pressure anyone could dismiss lightly. And it was one Adelio and Ria knew all too well.
'......Even though it should be much weaker since only the [Thought Body] remains, it's still monstrous.'
It lasted only an instant, but Adelio had felt a pressure almost on par with Guy's [Demon Lord's Haki]. He moved the children and Rimuru behind him and sent a [Thought Body] message to Ria.
'Ria. You felt it too, right? That magic just now...'
[Yeah, it was Chronoa's magic.]
Among all humans currently in existence, there were only three who could exert such overwhelming pressure on a [Primordial Demons].
And since Ria knew two of them, she recognized the owner of that magic at once.
[What in the world is going on? Chronoa should still be sealed inside Luminous's holy ark.]
'Chronoa's body itself is still inside that holy ark, but her [Thought Body] was transferred straight from the point in the distant past when it was destroyed to this era. So that's probably why—'
-
Fwoooong!!
Just as Adelio continued his [Thought Body] exchange with Ria, who wore a cold expression of utter incomprehension, a huge mass of magic swirled up from beneath his feet and soon took the shape of a woman in a pure white dress.
-
"......"
And with it came a pitch-black gaze, mixed with rage that hated the world and affection directed at a single man.
Comments (0)
Please log in to leave a comment. Login or Register