Chapter 198
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Spirits.
Born from the natural world, they were usually composed of the ‘Five Elements.’
They were like janitors—befriending nature and contributing to the ecosystem.
However, there were occasionally spirits born under unnatural circumstances.
Spirits that emerged from powerful curses or desires.
For example, the negative Mana generated when hundreds of millions—or even billions—of living beings died unjustly.
A spirit that appeared by devouring all of that Mana was called not a spirit, but an ‘evil spirit.’
An evil spirit was like a black hole, destined to curse and destroy everything around it simply by existing.
Their evil did not diminish over time—it only grew stronger.
Thus, when an evil spirit appeared, it had to be annihilated as quickly as possible.
“A Corrupted Ancient Evil Spirit…?”
Ataraxia’s brow furrowed.
For an evil spirit to appear so suddenly.
Usually, the appearance of an evil spirit would send huge ripples through the Abyss.
Sacred beings who followed the gods and brought blessings, or races that lived in harmony with nature, would typically join forces to annihilate it.
Even demon lords did not welcome evil spirits.
Because if an evil spirit contracted with a more powerful being and remained in the mortal world, only its destructive instincts would remain—laying waste to everything around it.
Fortunately, almost all evil spirits that had appeared in the Abyss had vanished, though not without countless sacrifices.
…However.
There were evil spirits that had failed to be exorcised.
Beings called ancient evil spirits.
Among them, the strongest evil spirits were referred to as ‘Corrupted.’
They—long absent, forgotten by everyone—had revealed themselves here in Ahetta’s laboratory.
—
Five spirits appeared, shattering the ‘door.’
They looked nothing like ordinary spirits.
—…They are evil spirits.
Lil immediately recognized them as evil spirits.
And she recognized something else as well.
They were ‘Corrupted Ancient Evil Spirits’—a class apart from all others.
The question was why these ancient evil spirits had appeared.
—Disappear. If you do not return, I will send you back by force.
Lil waved her hand.
At once, light spread from both ends of her hands, forming ropes that constricted the evil spirits.
「Kekeke.」
「Heeheehee!」
But the evil spirits bared their teeth in mockery.
「I like it so much.」
「Such an ecstatic ‘curse’!」
「Won’t you make a contract with me?」
Instead of yielding, they ignored Lil’s magic and fawned over Park Chan-woo.
…They have egos.
After a long time—after endless negative emotions and Mana had mixed together—they had become capable of independent thought.
That was also how they had hidden their presence for so long.
They were certainly different from ordinary evil spirits, which were left with only destructive instincts.
—…It seems just talking nicely won’t work.
But an evil spirit was still an evil spirit.
They were destroyers that should not exist in the natural world.
To Lil, who had befriended Mana, they were absolutely unacceptable.
So she began to unleash her magic in earnest.
Rune Words inscribed with thousands of formulas floated in the air, and a staff of light formed in her hand.
「The Staff of Judgment?」
「She’s a Transcender!」
「Still, it’ll be hard for you to handle all of us alone, right?」
「Don’t overdo it.」
「You’re dying anyway, aren’t you?」
The evil spirits instantly grasped Lil’s condition.
That her power had weakened.
That she didn’t have much time left.
In truth, facing five Corrupted Ancient Evil Spirits at once was no easy task in her current state.
‘These are evil spirits that even the Spirit Kings can’t easily touch.’
Now she understood why none of the spirits had stepped forward.
Just the movement of these beings would have put the entire Spirit Realm on high alert.
It was likely that the high-ranking spirits—and the Spirit Kings themselves—had been keeping them in check.
Because if they clashed, the Spirit Realm would be left in ruins.
…Even so, she had to send them back, even by force.
‘A contract with an evil spirit is absolutely forbidden.’
She couldn’t stand by and watch Park Chan-woo contract with an evil spirit.
The end for a being who contracted with an evil spirit was nothing but death.
In the first place, accepting an evil spirit was itself an impossible feat.
No mortal could contain an abnormal being born from an enormous amount of negative energy.
Their mind would be contaminated, they would run rampant, and they would self-destruct.
He wouldn’t be able to properly inherit Lil’s magic either.
Worse, the magic itself could be distorted.
—This is your last warning. Go back.
Hwoooaaaanng!
Blue light spread from the staff.
Soon, a divine deer made of blue light was summoned atop it.
「The Deer of Judgment!」
「That’s 12th-tier light magic!」
「She’s pretty good, huh?」
「Maybe two or three of us will disappear…」
The evil spirits joked.
But there was tension mixed into their voices.
They, too, recognized Lil as a threat.
Lil’s expression hardened slightly.
‘They won’t go back even if at least two of them will be annihilated?’
The Deer of Judgment was one of the highest-tier light magics.
It was like poison to evil spirits in particular.
Evil spirits, faithful to their destructive instincts, were usually just as faithful to preserving their own existence.
They should have fled the moment they saw it.
…And yet, they weren’t fleeing.
‘…Does that mean they want the mortal Park Chan-woo that much?’
She couldn’t understand it at all.
Just how powerful a curse did he harbor, for Corrupted Ancient Evil Spirits to be this greedy?
At the very least, their eyes for curses would be better than Lil’s.
After all, they were beings born from curses.
“Why do you want to make a contract with me?”
Suddenly, Park Chan-woo stepped forward and spoke.
He placed himself precisely between Lil and the evil spirits.
He was curious as well.
He had heard that even spirit masters fled from evil spirits.
「Your curse!」
「It looks so delicious.」
「It will make us stronger.」
A curse. A curse, huh.
“What curse are you talking about?”
Could they mean the status abnormality ‘Terminal’?
If so, he couldn’t accept a contract so lightly.
If he touched it recklessly, his remaining time might be forcibly reduced.
Could a Corrupted Ancient Evil Spirit succeed where the Eternal Outer God had failed?
「You yourself are a lump of curses!」
「That’s right!」
「I can feel it. The traces of the countless beings who died because of you!」
「Compared to you, we are nothing.」
「You are the real evil spirit!」
…What kind of nonsense was this now?
Park Chan-woo frowned.
‘I’m the real evil spirit?’
A lump of curses—someone who had killed more beings than evil spirits.
They were saying that was Park Chan-woo.
But was that even plausible?
Sure, he hadn’t lived a pristine life, but to have killed more than evil spirits…
「At least several billion! You killed them!」
「The scale is on a completely different level from us!」
「Evil Spirit King!」
「Killing isn’t just about doing it directly.」
「The number of beings who died with you as the cause might be even greater than that. It’s truly admirable.」
…In that moment, a phrase flashed through his mind.
【Humans, disappear.】
Dragon God Sephiro.
That bastard had erased humanity.
He was the cause.
By provoking Sephiro, he had made the bastard erase humanity.
Were they talking about that?
That he had indirectly and brutally led to the deaths of billions of humans?
—Shut your nonsense and get lost.
Lil’s voice carried anger.
To her, it sounded like the evil spirits were spewing ridiculous lies.
However—
“…I’ll make the contract.”
Park Chan-woo’s conclusion was different.
It wasn’t entirely baseless.
Hearing him, Lil hurriedly tried to stop him.
—An evil spirit brings ruin to its contractor. Are you aware of that?
“Didn’t you hear them? They called me the Evil Spirit King.”
—Does that sound to you like they will serve you as their king?
“Yes.”
Park Chan-woo nodded innocently.
From the moment they had appeared, the evil spirits had been pouring fervent favor toward him.
He hadn’t known why, but now that he did, it didn’t seem so bad.
“Aren’t evil spirits still spirits, anyway?”
—In the grand scheme of things, they are the same, but…
Lil let out a deep sigh.
Though their names differed, in the broadest sense, evil spirits were indeed spirits.
If he could truly control one, inheriting her magic would not be a problem.
On the contrary, it could be even more helpful.
The power of an evil spirit was incomparable to that of a normal spirit, and they understood the curses of the Abyss better than any other being.
‘He’s already decided.’
Seeing the look in Park Chan-woo’s eyes, Lil shook her head and unsummoned the staff.
The Deer of Judgment vanished as well.
She decided to respect his will.
It didn’t seem like he would listen even if she insisted.
—You cannot contract with all five.
“Then?”
—One. You must choose one yourself.
“Understood.”
The first contract, by nature, had to be with a single spirit.
And the opponents were Corrupted Ancient Evil Spirits.
Greed would only invite trouble.
「…」
「…」
The evil spirits fell silent as well.
They waited for his choice, tense.
No—that wasn’t it.
They were testing him.
To see how sharp his insight was.
Just as they had recognized Park Chan-woo, could Park Chan-woo recognize them in return?
Whether he was truly qualified to be called the Evil Spirit King.
‘Ah.’
Then Park Chan-woo realized.
“There are not five.”
Five evil spirits had emerged through the ‘door.’
That was what Lil had believed.
—Are you saying more evil spirits are hiding?
“Similar, but that’s not it either.”
—Then what do you mean there aren’t five?
“There is one.”
—…One?
Park Chan-woo nodded.
His gaze fixed on the black smoke enveloping the evil spirits.
The smoke was connected as one.
And not all of it had seeped out yet.
‘Mana Wave.’
…I can feel it.
Though the door was broken, something still hadn’t come out.
There was one more strange Mana Wave.
Only Park Chan-woo could feel it.
Even Lil couldn’t clearly perceive that Mana Wave.
Which meant the answer was—
“The real evil spirit is inside that ‘door.’ These five evil spirits in front of my eyes are a deception. They’re fakes.”
Clap, clap, clap, clap!
It was then.
From inside the broken ‘door’—
「Excellent.」
A man’s voice was heard.
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