Chapter 597: Form Change (5)
To directly create a spirit with human hands.
The Dean, hearing those words, shook his head in disbelief, his shoulders trembling.
“Hyman, that’s preposterous…!!”
[…]
“I’ve told you countless times. Your plan is nothing more than a preposterous fantasy!”
[Fantasy? Even seeing me like this, you still don’t believe.]
The lion said, casting a glance towards the twilight-bathed plain beyond.
As currents of surging mana rose, the lion’s mane also bristled, drawing a beautiful silver curve across the horizon where the sun set.
His grave voice, distinct from the unfolding crisis, remained astonishingly calm and composed.
[Sacrificing mages in the Spirit Growth Promotion Ritual isn’t just to make spirits grow. It’s a turning point, where a new Creation Spirit is born, using the existing spirit body as a vessel, in exchange for offering unique and exceptional spirituality.]
The lion, strolling leisurely across the grasslands beyond the horizon, chuckled.
[Human or spirit. We stand at a crossroads right here, where the direction of spirituality is determined.]
The impassioned Dean and the utterly relaxed Hyman conversed.
Yet, Lennok, listening to the dialogue between man and beast that, despite their differing temperaments, approached a fervent debate in its content, quietly lowered his gaze.
[…]
Only Davi, curled up in Lennok’s arms, perked her ears, looking bewildered.
The story of a Creation Spirit made by human hands.
Wasn’t that very fruit, the grand talk of ‘absurd fantasies’ and ‘turning points of creation,’ squirming in Lennok’s arms?
“…”
It was so long ago, a distant memory now, when he first thought of creating a spirit.
The Cybernetic Spirit born from combining necromancy stolen from the black wizard Craig Tillion and advanced AI algorithms, synthesized with transcendental sensitivity.
It was easy to be mistaken, given how much time they’d spent together and the high density of their shared memories.
Davi was a being Lennok had personally created and kept by his side ever since he awakened Property Transformation and reached Level 6.
The absurd fact that Hyman sought to sacrifice dozens of humans and mages to create a being like Davi, whom Lennok had brought into existence at the very beginning of Level 6.
Yet, it seemed undeniable that the conversation unfolding before him was also reality.
Did this mean that what was truly needed to create a spirit wasn’t about attainment or Hierarchy, but rather about a more fundamental spirituality or concept?
[I apologize for deceiving you with the lie that the university requested your cooperation. As a member of the Central Council Technology Advisory Committee, it must have been difficult to refuse the council members’ demands.]
“…It wasn’t because it was a request from a City Councilman.”
The Dean rose, a bitter smile on his face.
Clutching his trembling legs, the Dean, who had risen alone, murmured, looking at the lion’s profile.
“It was because it was your request, Hyman, the one person I thought I could trust more than anyone else in the Central Council.”
[…]
“Even when I was exiled from the magic tower and drifted into this city, when I achieved results and returned to academia, when I suggested creating educational institutions centered around the library… you were the one who extended a hand first, who helped me…”
Hesitating for a long moment, unable to continue, the Dean closed his eyes and spoke.
“Was it all just a ploy to use the library like this, someday? I can’t understand…”
[It wasn’t that you couldn’t understand, Saiolus. You simply chose not to.]
Hyman said in a soft voice.
[But if it is merely a process to be reborn as a being with greater spirituality… then I will try to understand even that absurdity.]
“Hyman, I…!!”
The Dean’s words were cut short.
Hyman’s mighty silver mana, swollen to its fullest, gave off a chilling illusion, as if it were all turning to look this way at once.
CRASH—!!
As the lion violently swung its forepaw, a silver flash erupted, followed by a shockwave.
At that moment, the furball spirit the Dean was clutching swelled, receiving the attack as an enormous fur cushion.
WHOOSH—!!
The silver flash, deflected by the cushion, veered sharply, striking the grasslands dozens of meters behind Lennok and the Dean.
CRASH—!!
It then shot a blinding pillar of light into the heart of the plain.
Its output was so vast it felt as though the entire plain was being dyed in a silver radiance.
Lennok, his face contorted from the heat behind him, asked the Dean.
“He was an acquaintance, then. Is that individual truly the leader of the Ghost God Palace?”
“Hyman Kilberg. One of those legendary politicians who entered the city as a sorcerer and rose to the position of a Central Council Senator.”
The Dean replied, his gaze still fixed on the lion before him.
“Decades before he entered the City Council, he read my thesis on the existence of the Spirit Realm, found it intriguing, and even sponsored me.”
“Then, that form…?”
“He used the Spirit Growth Promotion Ritual to completely transform his own body, making it akin to a spirit.”
The Dean, breathing heavily, quickly continued.
“He forcibly inserted himself into a ritual meant for spirits through human sacrifice, coercing his body to transform into something closer to a spiritual entity.”
“…”
So, Hyman successfully made himself closer to a spirit by twisting the ritual itself, sacrificing low-level mages all the way up to Level 6?
“And the final goal you wish to achieve by sacrificing the Dean is to obtain a Creation Spirit with your own hands, isn’t it?”
Lennok said.
“Or perhaps, for Hyman himself to become a Creation Spirit.”
“…Step back, Evan. I cannot allow you to be caught up in this.”
The Dean swallowed hard, drawing upon his mana, and looked back at Lennok.
“After coming all this way?”
“Even when Hyman was human, he was already an Ascendant-grade sorcerer who had perfected his Hierarchy. Now that he’s closer to a spiritual entity, I can’t even guess how far his power has reached.”
“…”
“I never imagined Hyman would go to such lengths to complete his plan. This is all my fault.”
The Dean gave a bitter laugh and nodded.
“I’ll bear all responsibility. No matter what, I will ensure that at least you escape safely.”
At that moment, an explosive surge of mana burst from the Dean’s body, pushing massive ripples across the surrounding plain.
BOOM—!!
A current of mana so powerful it made his pure white hair slightly rise.
Elemental mana of various hues, red and blue, surged from all around the Dean’s body, dyeing the heart of the plain with brilliant radiance.
Before Saiolus Garteanon, who was enveloped in immense mana radiance, stood the silver lion, glaring at him with piercing eyes.
The Dean didn’t hesitate, immediately raising both hands high.
“Hyman…!!”
CRACKLE—!!
Elemental mana, dyed in all colors, swirled around the Dean’s hands, transforming into a colossal ring of light.
The moment that ring of light swiftly compressed and coalesced within the Dean’s hands.
A vast beam of light shot out like a laser, sweeping through the spot where the lion stood and obliterating everything.
BOOOOOM—!!
A Level 7 Ascendant-grade sorcerer.
An Ascendant-grade spell unleashed with full power by an elder mage who had perfected his Hierarchy decades ago and mastered his abilities to the extreme.
[Saiolus!!]
Hyman, in his gigantic lion form, roared as he charged across the plain.
With every sweep of his silver mane, scattered embers transformed into arcs of mana-light, engulfing the Dean’s body.
The Dean’s elemental mana and Hyman’s silver flashes clashed, backdropped by the plain’s horizon, crushing and tearing space apart where they met.
CRUNCHING ROAR—!!
A collision of lethal spells, unleashed with their full might.
The lion’s form, roughly scraping the ground and crouching, ignited with near-subsonic speed.
WHOOSH—!!
A body blow, launching his massive physique — far larger than any human — forward like a battering ram.
The impact force was enough to instantly sever joints, tear flesh, and crush, resulting in immediate death if struck head-on.
However, the Dean, even as he continuously chanted and invoked spells, made no attempt to evade Hyman’s attack.
Instead, the spirit, which had rapidly swelled and transformed into a colossal cushion, simply absorbed the lion’s attack head-on once more.
WHOOSH—!!
[Grooooan…!!]
Though it groaned in pain, the spirit didn’t seem to have lost its fighting spirit, thwarting the lion’s physical assaults repeatedly, buying time.
But unable to withstand the lion’s strength, which gripped the furball tightly with its forepaw and then simply flung it away, the spirit was sent flying backward.
Meanwhile, within the Dean’s hands, which had swiftly invoked another spell, a sphere of light resembling a celestial body rotated with fierce velocity.
WHRRRRR—!!
Celestial System Unique Magic
[Sa-hwi-seong (社輝星): Great Celestial Sphere (大天球)]
A strange formation where dozens of dazzling mana particles revolved around the sphere of light like planetary orbits.
An intense compression of power, as if an asteroid itself had been temporarily manifested and summoned into existence.
CRASH—!!
The explosions, born from the clash of flamboyant elemental mana and silver-white spirit mana, overlapped dozens of times, unleashing circular shockwaves.
A acrid, burnt smell, as if grass and air were incinerating simultaneously, enveloped the entire plain, and a parched heat pressed down on their shoulders, obstructing breathing.
The battle of two high-ranking superhumans, whose blunt projections of power alone transformed the entire area into an uninhabitable hellscape.
The continuously exploding and spreading mana radiance already made it difficult to even open one’s eyes properly.
CRASH—!!
“Cough!!”
But that was only for a moment; the Dean’s momentum, temporarily bolstered by replenishing his energy and stamina, quickly began to wane and break.
Realizing he couldn’t hold on much longer, the Dean swiftly formed a hand seal, retreating for the first time.
Simultaneously, a colorless wave erupted from beneath the Dean’s feet.
Domain Deployment
Momentary Sea of Time—
[That’s enough.]
THWACK—!!
As if he had been waiting for that very moment, Hyman appeared right beside him and lashed out with his tail, striking the back of the Dean’s legs.
The Dean’s legs buckled backward with disconcerting ease, and he lost his balance, collapsing on the spot.
“G-ghk…!!”
Even then, the Dean tried to continue his spell, but the lion’s forepaw rested on his wrist, pressing down with weight.
CRACK—!!
“AAAAUGH!!!”
Hyman, who had effortlessly broken both of the Dean’s wrists with a single movement of his paw, looked down at him and spoke.
[In the end, this is what happens to an old human body.]
“…”
[How many years has it been since you reached Level 7? You were already quite old when you perfected your Hierarchy. You can slow the flow of time, but you cannot defy it.]
Silence fell.
The Dean gasped for breath, twitching, while beside him, the spirit whimpered anxiously.
The lion sharply gripped the Dean’s collar with its claws and completely turned its body towards Lennok.
It met Lennok’s unwavering gaze directly, passing by at a distance close enough for their breaths to mingle.
[Evan Vylun. Assistant Professor of Elemental Studies, and a disciple of Aris Richellen. A researcher of exceptional talent, and a spirit user of considerable aptitude.]
Hyman slowly enunciated Lennok’s name.
[And the innovator of anti-gravity technology, as well as a Central Council Technology Advisory Committee appointee.]
“…”
[I won’t kill you here. Even I don’t particularly want to touch you, given the Council’s influence.]
The lion spirit, slowly scrutinizing Lennok’s face from close by, bared its fangs slightly and spoke.
[Just watch quietly as the Creation Spirit is born for the first time.]
Leaving Lennok unanswered, Hyman dragged the limp Dean to the ritual’s activation site, lined with stone pillars.
[The essence of a spirit is the materialization of a concept. Thus, upon actualization, its abilities, characteristics, and growth trajectory are determined… but a Creation Spirit is different.]
THUD—!!
Hyman set the Dean down before the empty seventh stone pillar. Simultaneously, as he drew upon his mana, the entire plain was enveloped in dazzling silver waves, shimmering.
WHOOSH—!!!
[Because it is a spirit born with a blank slate of spirituality, it will be able to mimic and learn faster than existing spirits, and grow according to the direction the caster desires.]
“…”
[I have perfectly aligned all environments and catalysts for the growth and learning of this newly born spirit. If I just offer Saiolus as the final sacrifice and twist the essence of the ritual…!!]
As he spoke, the mighty silver-white mana swirling around Hyman’s entire body surged, becoming a colossal pillar of light that descended upon the seventh stone pillar.
CRUMBLING BOOM—!!!!
This was the final moment of a grand undertaking: creating a spirit that had never existed before, using humans as materials, forged through a combination of sorcery and spiritology.
The surging silver-white mana waves continuously opened, and Hyman’s eyes widened to confirm the new spirit emerging from within.
WOOSH—!!
The silver pillar collapsed as if its power had drained, vanishing, and the ritual itself simply dissolved.
Realizing that not only had the new spirit failed to be born, but even the sacrifice of Saiolus had failed, Hyman murmured.
[No… This… After coming all this way, did it fail?]
The answer came not from Hyman himself, nor the fallen Dean, but from Lennok, who stood behind them.
“It’s not so surprising for casters like us, is it?”
Lennok said, slowly stepping forward.
“For large-scale rituals that rely on a constructed ritual circle, there’s always the undeniable proof of non-existence. If the very objective you seek already exists within the space where the ritual is performed, the ritual simply won’t activate.”
[Nonsense—!!]
Hyman spun around to Lennok, unleashing a furious roar.
[Who dared to attempt and succeed at this grand feat before me…!! This miracle that requires dozens of humans as stakes just to even attempt it!!]
“Indeed.”
Lennok replied dispassionately, without even batting an eye.
At that moment, a pure, brilliant blue radiance softly emerged from behind Lennok.
The fox spirit, once small enough to fit snugly in Lennok’s arms, now stood calmly in the form of a fully grown, three-tailed fox, much larger than Lennok himself.
Around Davi, four colossal foxfire entities spun rapidly.
“You said you personally created the environment and catalysts for the Creation Spirit that was about to be born, didn’t you?”
Instead of replying to Hyman, Lennok glanced at the twilight plain and spoke.
“It seems you weren’t entirely wrong.”
[What in the—!!]
At that moment, an illusion arose as if the entire twilight of the sunset plain was tilting.
The silver radiance, which had scattered and vanished into the sky as the ritual failed, now settled, enveloping Davi, and began to be quietly absorbed.
In the instant Hyman realized that the power prepared for the new Creation Spirit was converging on the spirit before him instead of vanishing in failure, he clenched his teeth and his eyes widened.
CRACKLE—!!!
From Davi’s back, infused with silver-white mana, a colossal pillar of lightning struck down, then transformed into a luxuriant tail, beginning to writhe behind her.
As the Cybernetic Spirit, having newly awakened its fifth tail, grew slightly larger,…
…the number of foxfire entities also increased to five, matching her tails, and they rotated furiously behind Davi.
“My spirit says it enjoyed its meal very much.”
Lennok slowly raised his hand and smiled.
“Thank you, Councilman Hyman Kilberg.”
[Surely not, the spirit you were referring to as the proof of non-existence….]
At that moment, Hyman, realizing what Lennok had been implying all this time, murmured with a boiling voice.
[HAAA…!]
The Cybernetic Spirit, standing with a dazzling five-pointed star of thunder at her back, raised her head, scattering blue light from her eyes, and stepped forward.