Chapter 118: Contracting Spirits

On the way, Ramiris spoke a bit about the spirits.

In her words, a spirit is... In nothingness, power finds its fullness. That is a holy spirit. The great holy spirit is the source of power. Among these, light and darkness, the two great spirits. Which came into existence at the same moment as the world.

But the world had no form; it was an ephemeral existence. Light and shadow, darkness and light. Two existences that will never intertwine. One day, the great spirit of time was born. The child of light and darkness.

And thus the world began to move. The moving world spun, aimlessly, around itself. Within the flowing currents of life and death—Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, and Sky: these five great spirits were born. And since then, these have been the eight great spirits.

Until the light consumes the world, extinguishing the darkness, until a new spirit is born, erasing everything. Life and death. Announcing the approaching end of the world...

"In other words, first the holy spirit existed and gave birth to the other eight!" she concluded.

Even Grayfia listened attentively. It was enlightening to learn about this.

As for the children, they often showed confusion. Although the content itself isn't that complicated to understand, the fact that it's speaking of something so believable makes it hard to grasp.

Another thing she mentioned, which he had somewhat already intuited, was that the great spirits had no ego; they were merely masses of energy. The Spirit of Fire merely represented a surplus fragment of that totality. This fragment, upon acquiring self-awareness, transformed into a monster. Essentially, it was a self-aware fragment of pure energy that, on its own, became a monstrous creature. In short: paranormal phenomena are simply what they are.

But she didn't say this without purpose, and it's easy to understand what she wants the children to do.

Shizue asked: "Create another fragment, is that it?"

Ramiris nodded.

To give birth to a new spirit. If not, then summon an existing one.

'In the end, I'll have to take on Rimuru's role and use 'Fenrir' together with the 'Great Sage Scholar' to create new spirits...'

He himself possessed one in his body, different from Rimuru who had to analyze the data by consuming 'Ifrit' and using the collected data to create a new spirit. He had already analyzed his own spirit and was confident he could create a new one based on what he had studied.

Besides... He had an interesting plan he wanted to test using 'Merlin, Lord of Magic'.

Soon, they arrived at a different place. It was the deepest room of the labyrinth; the oracle's room. Before reaching this room, they first passed through a large empty hall. A one-meter-wide and twenty-meter-long path leads from this room to a circular platform five meters in diameter.

Stopping, Zaydas looked at the children.

He wasn't the only one; Shizue in particular had a worried yet loving look as she gazed at them with the eyes of a teacher or even a mother.

Under their gaze, the children wore serious expressions. It was clear they understood that everything depended on this and that if they failed to pass this trial, they could no longer remain in this world.

The good news was that Zaydas had promised them he could take them to another planet not affected by this world's laws. In other words, even if they couldn't stay, at least they wouldn't die.

"Are you ready?" Shizue asked gently.

"""Yes!"""

The children responded in unison.

Ramiris said cheerfully, "Okay, who's going first? Just go and step on that floor and pray to summon a spirit~!"

"Will they really come?"

"They will! Sensei, they will, right?"

"They will?"

The children looked at Ramiris, then at Shizue and Zaydas with worried faces.

"Don't worry, with me here, everything will be fine," Zaydas assured.

Although he didn't want to sound pompous, the indifference in his tone made him seem a little full of himself—to the point that he scratched his face right afterward.

It wasn't a lack of confidence, but rather, Zaydas felt that the influence of his powers was gradually making him act arrogantly, even when it wasn't necessary.

What seemed like minutes of reflection, in fact, lasted mere seconds. He pretended to cough and added with a gentle smile, "Just do your best. Don't disappoint the trust Shizue has placed in you."

""""Yes!""""

This time, Zaydas's words visibly changed the children's expressions, making them more resolute.

Ramiris added, "Although it doesn't matter how many people go, it's narrow. So, it's better to bring one child at a time."

Shizue spoke in a gentle tone: "Very well. One at a time will go. Who's going first?"

Soon the order was arranged.

Timidly and carefully, Gale stepped onto the platform and walked to the center.

"Ok, all right! I'm looking forward to the phrase you choose!" Ramiris told him. And after she patted his head, he closed his eyes and began to pray. Kneeling, as if praying to the gods.

After some time, drops of light began to fall from the sky. Like snow. And, before them, on the altar, a single person… No, a single spirit appeared.

Gale seemed to notice this and continued to pray.

A mass of unconscious natural energy. Appearing like a mass of magical energy, but merely a counterfeit.

Will it be able to acquire an ego? Just like Veldora's cave, this place is filled with natural energy. If it has no self-awareness, it will likely disperse and then gather again to give birth to a new spirit.

Seeing this, Zaydas simply teleported to the platform while a 'black wolf' emerged from his shadow, swallowing the energy.

In moments, the 'Great Sage Scholar' began to analyze the energy form, and the information was transmitted to him. Using 'Merlin,' he began creating similar energy and fusing it with the existing one.

"Keep praying," Zaydas said.

Gale obeyed.

"W-what was that! You… what did you do?!" Ramiris was in shock.

"You'll understand soon enough." Zaydas didn't explain.

[Announcement. The spirit transformation using [Great Sage Scholar] and [Merlin, Lord of Magic] has been completed. The content is now primarily composed of [Earth and Water Attribute Skills]. Furthermore, after using the analysis of [Holy Spirit Quetzalcoatl], a pseudo-human personality was created. Will you grant this power to Gale Gibson? [YES]/[NO]?]

Perhaps because he used 'Quetzalcoatl' as a model, the form of the spirit created was a 'Naga'-type warrior, with an armored upper body and a snake's lower half from the waist down.

Without hesitation, Zaydas placed his hand on Gale's head, selecting 'Yes' and granting him the power of the newly formed spirit.

With that, the contract with the spirit would be completed in a single moment. After analyzing Gale's condition, he confirmed that the rampant magical energy was now at peace. Of course, his overall energy was still much greater than that of normal children.

This was the result of spiritual energy and magical energy balancing each other. Now, as he continues to grow, he'll likely be able to acquire many abilities.

"It's done." Zaydas patted him on the shoulder: "You're okay now. The collapse has stopped."

With a face full of tears, he said: "Zaydas-san, thank you so much!!" He bowed.

Smiling, Zaydas calmly accepted his thanks. After that, they rejoined the other children.

Everyone was very happy to know it had worked.

"Prepare yourselves," Shizue said. "We'll celebrate once everyone is safe."

They agreed.

Next was Alice.

Unlike the original story, although Alice showed fear, the one who carried her to the platform was Shizue in her arms.

As for the early feelings they had toward Rimuru, they weren't necessarily directed at Zaydas.

Honestly, it wasn't that they couldn't have feelings for him, but he felt distant to them. It was like looking at a deity—and not to mention, he had his beautiful wife, Grayfia, by his side. Perhaps this combination of factors prevented them from having wayward thoughts.

After Alice was placed on the platform, Shizue returned while, under everyone's gaze, Alice bowed to pray.

After waiting a little, the light began to fall from the sky as before. At the moment the spirit appeared at the Altar, Zaydas used 'Fenrir' to 'devour' it.

Ramiris looked like she had something to say but ended up staying quiet.

The same process from before was used with her.

[Announcement. The spirit transformation using [Great Sage Scholar] and [Merlin, Lord of Magic] has been completed. The content is now primarily composed of [Sky Attribute Skills]. Furthermore, after using the analysis of [Holy Spirit Quetzalcoatl], a pseudo-human personality was created. Will you grant this power to Alice Rondo? [YES]/[NO]?]

'Huh?'

This time, it didn't have a snake-like feature, but rather a humanoid form similar to Ramiris, with butterfly wings.

Zaydas granted it to Alice.

"Alice, well done!" Zaydas said. "You're okay now."

"Thank you!" She bowed in gratitude.

Afterward, Zaydas teleported her to the group.

Next was Kenya.

The moment Kenya began to pray—or rather, he hadn't even closed his eyes yet—the light began to fall from the sky.

'That hasn't changed either, huh...'

Regarding that, Zaydas didn't plan to interfere.

And there appeared a spirit in human form: a boy.

The spirit that had formed spoke cheerfully. And offered a casual greeting: "Hey there! How's life? I'm good. I felt like coming, so I came!"

"Ah, ahhhhh!!! You—why did you come into someone's house uninvited!?" Ramiris, eyes wide, asked the spirit.

"You are?" Zaydas looked at him.

"O~su! I'm the spirit of light! Unlike that gloomy, fallen descendant of the spirit of darkness, I'm a pure spirit!" he said.

After the introductions, they continued the discussion. Kenya, in a panic, stared at them. After hearing their story, and perhaps because Kenya had a natural affinity toward light…

"So, I decided to help Kenya!"

That's how it happened.

Generally, the spirits of light and darkness have the highest social standing and are the highest-ranking type of spirits. They are also capable of granting divine protection to heroes. Originally, Ramiris and this one were supposed to do it together, but that rarely happens.

"The last time we blessed a hero together was... what? Two thousand years ago?" That's what he said.

After Ramiris got really bored and decided to become an evil spirit, granting divine protection became his job. A pointless argument, but it seems that Ramiris inherited her "self" from previous generations. She used to reign as the queen of fairies, but after reaching the peak of power, beyond which she couldn't advance, she chose to separate.

And to each of these clone-children, she gave a sense of identity. That way, when they grew up, maybe they could surpass the original. The flaw would be their weakness during childhood. A race that continuously strived to grow from weakness. Among all demon lords, only she possesses such hereditary abilities.

Random outbursts of anger are expected from the selfish Ramiris, but their relationship can be described in one word: terrible.

"So, until Ken-chan grows up, I'll be protecting you. Maybe, Ken-chan, you might even become a hero!" With that said, and without waiting for permission, he entered Kenya.

Very quickly, Kenya's body completely stabilized.

"Zaydas-san..."

"It's okay," Zaydas said. "Didn't you hear what that spirit said? You're safe now, and in the future, you might even become a hero."

Though confused, he still nodded.

Next was Ryouta. Just like before, he bowed to pray before the altar. He walked alone down the narrow path. He seemed quite excited. Immediately, an emerald light fell from the sky, drawing thousands of spirals.

Before anything strange could happen, Zaydas used 'Fenrir'. According to the analysis, it was water and wind.

He didn't even need to use 'Merlin' to make it more impressive.

The rest was handled by the Great Sage Scholar.

[Will you grant this power to Sekiguchi Ryouta? [YES]/[NO]?]

This time, it took the form of an assassin-style Naga with two daggers in its hands.

After that, Zaydas granted it to him.

The last person, Chloe.

Like all the others, she bowed to pray. That's when things began to change.

After she began praying, something fell from the sky while an oppressive aura manifested from this being, and then, a beautiful fairy with silver hair and eyes like golden clocks became visible. The wings on her back were of a mystical color, shifting through dazzling hues, emphasizing her splendor.

"Spirit of Time?!" Ramiris was the first to react.

From Ramiris's reaction, it was clear this was no ordinary spirit. If it were, her reaction would have been no stronger than when the spirit appeared to Kenya.

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