Chapter 97

Chapter 97

The Deepening Darkness (End)

After learning Shade’s true name, I was able to seal him safely.

It was not a matter of being reluctant because he was a spirit of darkness or anything like that.

I thought it would still be better than wasting the Spirit King’s Whistle for no reason.

The true name was rather difficult to pronounce, but there was no major hindrance in sealing him.

At the moment I sealed Shade, he muttered something that sounded like the language of spirits, and judging by the force of the pronunciation... it seemed like profanity.

After that, extreme pain followed.

“Forcibly” sealing a spirit inside one’s body was not something to take lightly.

Shade was now a black furball, Shady.

Shady could recognize Sierra.

He could touch Sierra, and communicate with her.

Communicate.

That was right. Though they were very simple words, Shady could speak.

Perhaps the fact that he had been an upper spirit had an influence.

After Shade had become “Shady” like that...

His already huge eyes opened roundly, and his mouth opened.

The first low words I heard from Shady were...

...“Fuck.”

I understood.

From a spirit’s perspective, he had lost his free will through an unfair contract formed in a single instant, so there was no way profanity would not burst out.

It had not even been a summoning, but a call made through a whistle.

Magredo had also said I should at least be prepared to be hated by spirits.

Shady muttered curses as if his soul had left him, and Sierra, unable to watch any longer, smacked Shady on the head, saying he had a terrible way of speaking.

Even while receiving flicks on the head from Sierra, he stubbornly kept swearing. After being hit about five times like that...

“...”

Shady rapidly became quiet.

He could touch Sierra, and he could hear her voice.

[ Shady... Does Shady not sound like a little girl’s name? ]

“Spirits do not have gender to begin with, so should it not be fine?”

[ Yes, Shady. Do you like your name? ]

Sierra asked while looking at Shady, who had settled on top of my head.

“...Krrng.”

Shady glared at Sierra once, then turned his short neck and ignored her.

[ Hah. ]

Sierra also snorted and turned her head sharply away.

Even if they did not get along right now, if they spent time together, they would probably become close soon.

Overall, Shady was on the cute side.

His fluffy fur gave off a cozy feeling, his body was small, yet his face was quite large.

If there was a golden ratio for cuteness, I thought Shady might fit exactly into that ratio.

“Food.”

Shady’s voice came from on top of my head.

His tone was high, like a child’s, but his uniquely rough voice from when he had been Shade remained.

“Do spirits eat?”

What should I feed him?

Around the time I reached that thought...

—Chomp.

From above my head came a strange sound, as if something sharp had driven into it.

Then Sierra asked me with a dark expression.

[ D-disciple...? ]

“Yes?”

[ That... creature has sunk its teeth into your head... Are you all right...? ]

“Ah.”

It seemed that was the sound of Shady sinking his teeth into the crown of my head.

“I did not feel any pain...”

Soon, Shady began making slurping sounds, as if sucking blood.

Still, I felt no pain whatsoever.

[ What is it eating...?! ]

Sierra hurriedly tried to pull him off the top of my head.

However, perhaps because he had sunk his teeth in deeply, Shady did not come off easily.

I stopped Sierra and opened my mouth.

“Perhaps he is consuming life force? I think we can leave him as he is.”

[ I-is that so... ]

“Haha, it does not hurt, so it is fine.”

I said that and smiled to reassure Sierra.

At that, Sierra wore an uneasy expression.

[ I am glad it does not hurt, but... Should you not wipe the blood flowing from the corner of your mouth? ]

“Blood? Hss...”

Immediately, Sierra held out her hand and wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth.

It seemed certain my life force was being gnawed away.

The symptoms themselves were similar in many ways to Chapter Two of Rebellion Against Heaven, which consumed stamina.

Leaving Shady, who was having his “meal,” behind, Sierra’s soft voice rang in my head.

[ More importantly... To think you even knew the true name of a darkness spirit. You truly know many things, my disciple... ]

“...It seems so.”

I answered reluctantly and scratched my head.

I did not know how I had learned the true name.

Although Shade had been touched by the wave... I did not remember seeing the true name of a darkness spirit even in passing, whether in the game or in users’ communities.

The only thing that came to mind at all was the existence of the “Blindfold of Piercing Insight.”

There had to be a reason such a phrase was attached to the blindfold.

And the effects I knew the blindfold had did match, if one thought about it, the phrase “piercing insight.”

Absurdly broken effects.

That alone pierced through reason. It violated reason... such as impossible growth, or destructive power through critical hits.

What if I interpreted “insight” from a slightly broader perspective?

The reason of the world.

The reason of all things.

The order of things, the foundation, the root, the essence, the truth.

...To pierce through.

To see through.

“If the blindfold harmonized with Perception and pierced through to the spirit’s ‘true name’...”

For now, it was only a guess.

However, there was a simple way to confirm whether this approach was correct.

Was there not a dragon serving as the village chief in a small village?

As a rule, dragons too possessed true names, just like spirits.

Since his true name had not been revealed even in the game, I thought he would be a good target to test it on.

It would be enough merely to discover it.

Deep in thought about true names, I walked through the quiet forest.

Shady finished his meal quickly and was burping softly.

I did not know exactly how much he had eaten, but it was better than when I had overused Chapter Two. It seemed he had not gnawed away all the way to my maximum stamina.

Soon, Sierra asked me a question.

[ By the way, should you not try handling the power? Judging by that furball, the sealing seems to have succeeded. ]

“Ah, the spirit’s power...”

I said that and stopped walking.

It was the power of an upper spirit, no less.

Since I was now able to handle that freely, the amount of knowledge flowing into my head was fairly large.

The headache I felt immediately after sealing was also pain caused by this.

On the status window as well, a skill named “Shade of the Shadows” had appeared at maximum level, so I had forgotten to test the power.

As one could tell from Shade’s epithet, “Shadow,” his power was related to shadows.

There were various techniques, and among them, I decided to try one that seemed useful in most situations.

I focused on my shadow on the ground.

Soon, the shadow stirred, then swallowed me in an instant.

Immediately, my vision was dyed in darkness with no end in sight.

I had hidden my body inside the shadow in an instant.

“Shadow Hide-and-Seek, is it.”

That was the name of the technique that came to mind, though I could not know whether Shade had named it, or whether the status window had.

The inner space was entirely dark, but since I had “Night Vision,” rather than saying it was dark, it was more accurate to say that the color composing the space itself was black.

“Krrng! Krrng!”

As soon as we entered the shadow, Shady, who had been on my head, seemed excited and hopped around.

I could not tell why he was excited.

Had he not clearly been angry?

Sierra was visible beside me as well.

To begin with, the cursed blade was at my waist, so it seemed she could follow me too.

After looking around, Sierra opened her mouth.

[ Oho? A technique for hiding one’s form... Should I call this another dimension...? Rather than simply hiding the body, perhaps it would be more correct to say you have vanished. ]

She immediately recognized what kind of technique it was.

“Fortunately, Perception reaches out.”

I said this and slowly walked inside the space.

The waves of Perception reached outside, and I could sufficiently distinguish objects outside.

I could come out whenever I wished, but there was one condition.

I could only emerge from a place where a shadow existed.

It was a very slight restriction.

How many places could there be without even the tiniest shadow?

From the vague sensation in my head, it felt as though I could use it more freely during dark nights.

After walking a few more steps, I decided it was time to leave the shadow.

Simply being conscious of it immediately moved my body into action.

Soon, with a hissing sound, my body rose from the ground where a tree’s shadow lay.

Sierra followed me out of the shadow.

After fully removing my body from the shadow, I looked at her and opened my mouth.

“Well, it feels like this.”

“Krrng!”

Following my words, Shady cried out as if boasting.

[...It does seem useful. ]

Sierra merely shrugged.

Aside from this, there were many different techniques using shadows, from direct attacks to defense and binding.

While examining the techniques, Kaen suddenly came to mind.

“Was it Shadow Erasure...?”

It was like her own secret technique that could be learned from Kaen’s lines in the game, but there was no actual skill like that.

It was merely an exaggerated name attached to the act of hiding her form.

...In any case, there were many stylish techniques that would suit Kaen’s tastes perfectly.

The only problem was that it was the “darkness attribute.”

If someone saw me using Shady’s power and concluded I was a demon, I would have nothing to say.

It was not something I could easily display before others.

“Though I can show it as much as I like to those who are about to die.”

I thought it was hundreds, thousands of times better than gaining nothing at all.

In particular, the “Shadow Hide-and-Seek” I had just used was a technique extremely good at avoiding people’s eyes.

Thanks to that, I could now move more secretly.

“As for the energy...”

...Since I had sealed a darkness spirit inside my body, perhaps a faint energy could be sensed.

For now, Magredo had said it would be better for me not to run into spirit summoners.

In terms of the story, there should be no occasion for me to meet a spirit summoner with enough affinity to recognize an upper spirit.

“At best, the Hero?”

The Hero’s spirit affinity was extremely high.

And as it happened, I had recently been forming a plan concerning the Hero.

Even so, he... no, she should have a simple way to distinguish whether I was a demon or not, so it would be fine.

Though it had been accidental, the result was good.

Perhaps it was fortunate that it was darkness instead.

At least the attribute does not overlap, does it?

...I decided to think that way.

For the sake of my mental health.

At this level, it could be seen that I had obtained an ability to respond to diverse situations with little investment.

Soon, having sorted out my thoughts, I moved my feet toward the academy to return to ordinary daily life.

***

I had expected an intimate meal with Zeto, but my plans had all gone wrong.

“Because of that redhead.”

I quietly glared at Yuri, who sat beside me.

Usually, Zeto became the screen between us, but for some reason, he was late today.

Soon, Yuri also rolled her eyes and glanced at me.

A sudden check.

According to “101 Ways to Capture a Man,” in such a situation, one had to clearly appeal one’s own charm.

“Do I have anything that could be called charm...?”

What kind of charm did I possess?

What charm should I appeal?

“My figure...?”

Even Zeto was ultimately a man... and could touch and feel as much as he wanted.

There was one thing I had realized when we had the “extremely embarrassing physical contact disguised as coincidence” last time.

At the time, Zeto had brushed it off as if nothing had happened, but his ears had turned red.

Reaching that thought, I lowered my gaze.

“...”

Then I glanced at Yuri’s chest.

“Fortunately, there is not a very large difference... Perhaps mine is even better.”

If not for that “pink twin-tail,” no one would be able to create a difference when it came to figure.

Being active was not enough.

And so, while looking back on memories of the previous round and thinking about things Zeto might like...

A man entered the classroom.

The moment I confirmed his face, the corners of my lips naturally rose.

The man approached and sat in his seat, beside me.

“Zeto, why are you late today?”

Yuri spoke to him.

“...It seems I am not late, just barely.”

Then Yuri and Zeto spoke affectionately.

I wanted to say something too, but...

My voice simply would not come out.

Ever since he had come close, my throat had tightened.

In one day.

In just one day.

The ominous energy I sensed from Zeto had deepened by another layer.

“Surely...”

Then I heard Yuri’s urgent voice.

“Uh, Zeto... Blood...!”

“Ah.”

Following Zeto’s brief sound, he wiped the blood streaming from his mouth with his thumb.

“Are you sick...? Do you want to go to the infirmary with me?”

“Haha, it is all right. I have overdone it lately, so my body is just in slightly poor condition.”

Despite Yuri’s worried voice, Zeto merely laughed brightly and brushed it off.

“But even if you overdid it, there is no reason blood would flow from your mouth...”

Yuri was murmuring that, but I felt I knew the cause.

The deepened ominous energy, and coughing blood.

Even that attitude, trying to laugh it off as if nothing were wrong.

When I reached a conclusion, my sight blurred.

My head spun.

Why?

I did not know for what reason.

...But it seemed Zeto’s “curse” had worsened.