I Became the Academy’s Genius Shikigami Summoner – Chapter 112

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟏𝟐

“Speaking of which, I heard that he has a most beloved disciple that he doted on. Could it be that it is you?”

In response to Shin Do-hoon’s consecutive questions, Arietta displayed an expression of confusion.

Immediately following, the story of the past that we were not aware of began to flow from Shin Do-hoon’s mouth.

“In the past, during a mission, Myung-yul stole the elixir of immortality that was to be recovered and disposed of.”

“Master did?”

“Until now, it was merely speculation, but now I am certain. After retiring, he must have researched and experimented on it, eventually completing it.”

“. . .I’m not interested in such a story.”

Thinking that the other party was merely wasting time, Arietta once again assumed a battle stance, but Shin Do-hoon spoke with a look of wonder instead.

“At the very least, it should be a story that you should not be unaware of. Are you really saying that you have no idea?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Have you never thought that your wounds heal at an unusually fast rate compared to others?”

At those words, Arietta’s body trembled slightly. It seemed that he had touched upon a sensitive topic.

「𝙄𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙚𝙙, 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙖 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙢𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙗𝙤𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨.」

At that time, I had perceived it to be merely one of the effects of her unlocked unknown trait, but I had no way of knowing the exact details.

Eventually, Arietta, who had been silent for a moment, pursed her lips as if denying Shin Do-hoon’s words.

“. . .What’s wrong with that?”

“Ah, how regrettable. To think that a perfect being born from an infinitesimally small probability harbors such thoughts. I suppose it would be faster for you to experience it firsthand.”

As Shin Do-hoon finished speaking, the squirming incantations around his body began to glow and reveal their form.

Sensing an ominous aura from him, I hurriedly ordered Sori-soe to charge at him while warning Arietta.

“Get behind me!”

However, it seemed that it was already too late.

“. . .Ugh.”

Clutching her fists tightly, Arietta, who had collapsed on the spot while expressing her pain, writhed around.

I hurriedly approached her and stood in front of her, blocking her from Shin Do-hoon, and asked.

“Are you alright?”

I’m not sure, but it seems that the forbidden elixir that Shin Do-hoon possesses is stimulating Arietta.

Before long, her tightly shut eyes opened, and at some point, they had turned as red as blood.

“. . .Ah, ugh.”

Simultaneously, the teeth that could be seen between her parted lips became sharp, and her eyes began to tremble as if she was unable to suppress something.

Witnessing that sight, Shin Do-hoon spoke as if he had expected it.

“So, this is the completed form. Not bad at all. I, too, will soon be able to reach the same realm.”

“. . .What did you do to her?”

“Nothing much. I merely reminded her of a fact that her body had forgotten. Perhaps Myung-yul had been suppressing it with his spell until now.”

Looking at Arietta right beside me, I, too, had a vague feeling.

I seemed to have an idea of what kind of forbidden technique that Elixir of Immortality belonged to.

「𝘽𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙜𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙩.」

Yokai that covet the blood and flesh of humans and make it their own power, and according to legends, they are immortal as long as it does not run out. To put it simply, it would be easier to think of them as the Western blood ghosts(vampires).

The elixir associated with them had revealed itself through the incident of the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons, and for some reason, Arietta seemed to be related to it as well.

「𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙣𝙤 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮, 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝. . .」

Indeed, among the abilities that Arietta used in her battle against Yoo Ha-on’s party, there were some that were reminiscent of blood ghosts.

However, even so, she had never displayed such a noticeable transformation.

After pondering for a moment, I soon realized the reason.

「𝙄𝙨 𝙞𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙢𝙮 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙧, 𝙨𝙤 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙙𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙙𝙪𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙡𝙪𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙃𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙮?」

In other words, the power of the unknown trait that the current Arietta possesses was likely stronger than in the original story.

“. . .Junior, sir. Get away. Quickly.”

Arietta urgently shouted at me, still unable to regain her senses properly.

Judging from her condition, it seemed that she was being overwhelmed by the impulses characteristic of blood ghosts and was having difficulty maintaining her self.

Swish.

Puh-hwa-ak!

“. . .Burn it.”

Just as I was about to summon Ggong-sam-yi to protect myself, Shin Do-hoon, who had been watching the scene, turned around and began to leave.

“There’s no need to struggle any further. Once she consumes human blood and flesh, she’ll properly open her eyes.”

“. . . . . .”

“Why don’t you try running away? If you do, someone other than you will become a victim.”

With that, Shin Do-hoon completely disappeared.

I’m not sure, but judging from his earlier statement about becoming a perfect being and his mention of Myung-yul stealing the Elixir of Immortality, it’s highly likely that he will now go after Myung-yul.

「. . .𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖 𝙝𝙪𝙜𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙚.」

Taking a quick glance, I could see that Arietta had already half-lost her mind and was being consumed by her impulses.

Those blood-red eyes were quietly staring at my body.

“. . .Thirsty, parched.”

In an instant, the ground beneath Arietta’s feet caved in, and a loud noise echoed.

As soon as I saw that, I immediately deployed the defensive spell that I had prepared.

Kwa-aak!

Jjeeeeeeng!

Even though she had only flicked her hand lightly, the spell was broken in an instant. As expected, her physical abilities have greatly increased compared to before.

「𝙄𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚, 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖𝙩 𝙖 𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙧𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙤𝙪𝙩.」

I continued to retreat while sending my shikigami forward in order to buy some time.

「𝙎𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙄 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙨𝙪𝙗𝙙𝙪𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙢 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣?」

However, even Ggong-sam-yi, who boasts the greatest close-quarters combat abilities among my shikigami, is unable to keep up with Arietta’s movements.

She was only able to interfere with her approach as much as possible. It seemed that that was her limit.

“Burn it!”

Puh-hwa-ak!

Hwarrruuruk─!

Although she seemed to have been holding back because we were acquaintances, Ggong-sam-yi eventually felt threatened and pushed Arietta away while breathing out Cleansing Fire.

“. . .Hot. Thirsty, parched.”

Whatever the case, perhaps because it was related to forbidden techniques, Cleansing Fire certainly seemed to be effective.

I repeatedly asked Ggong-sam-yi to keep her in check while I continued to think.

Whether it was due to the influence of the elixir or not, if there was such a noticeable change, it was only right that it would manifest as a trait. Just like Shin Do-hoon’s S-grade trait.

So, perhaps the answer to this situation might lie in her unknown trait.

「𝙅𝙪𝙙𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙖 𝙗𝙞𝙩 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙙.」

The unknown trait that I remember her having is her Night Nature.

It is known to grant its possessor powerful stamina and physical recovery abilities, as well as various damage resistances and stealth effects.

That’s why Arietta was called a wraith. No matter how many times she was attacked, she would always appear unharmed and continuously threaten her allies.

However, judging from the situation, perhaps the current Arietta possesses a different unknown trait instead of Night Nature.

「𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚. . .」

Honestly speaking, just looking at their specs, it doesn’t seem like Myung-yul would be a match for Shin Do-hoon, but it is certain that he meets his end around the same time in the original story.

If we can’t stop Shin Do-hoon now, the tragedy that Unyeon spoke of might actually come true.

In the end, I had no choice but to come up with a risky gamble and make a decision.

「. . .𝙄 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙩.」

As was the case with my Shadow Assimilation trait, unknown traits usually only take effect after they have been unlocked.

Shin Do-hoon, who had been affected by the same elixir in the first place, possessed a sufficiently stable mental state.

Perhaps if she properly awakens her trait, there’s a high chance that Arietta will also be able to control her impulses somehow.

「𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙢 𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩.」

Perhaps the most likely method, as Shin Do-hoon said, would be to consume a certain amount of human blood or flesh.

However, that would be more than just a little bit, literally speaking.

If I were to offer my neck to her without thinking, it was clear that I would end up as Arietta’s late-night snack.

「. . .𝙉𝙤, 𝙢𝙖𝙮𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚’𝙨 𝙖 𝙬𝙖𝙮?」

Back when I was there, the VR version of exorcism, which was the latest release at the time, had an event where a blood ghost-type shikigami was distributed.

And there was a dedicated recovery spell for that shikigami. The setting was that it would condense spiritual power into a single drop of the player’s blood and consume it to gain energy.

I’m not sure what form that spell would take in this world, but it was worth a try.

“Tae Baek-se.”

Swish.

Puh-hwa-ak!

A shadow rose up, and a humanoid shikigami with a body like a rhinoceros crossed with a demon emerged.

It was the short-term battle-type shikigami that I had brought out when I faced Geusdae on Yeongwol Island in the past.

I had created one just in case, but I had been saving it because of its limited 10-minute duration.

Swish.

Hooouuung.

The body of the shikigami, which had assumed a battle stance, turned red and began to emit steam. I took Gloom of Darkness out of my arms and used its effect to strengthen Ggong-sam-yi and Tae Baek-se.

In order to stop Arietta’s movements, even if only for a moment, I needed the help of shikigami with powerful physical abilities.

“. . .Thirsty, parched. Hungry.”

Arietta, who had repeatedly failed to approach due to Ggong-sam-yi’s flames, finally seemed to have run out of patience and charged at me with her body, enduring some damage.

In response, I waited for the perfect moment to make my move while following her movements, which were almost too fast to see.

「𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚’𝙨 𝙣𝙤 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙛 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙎𝙝𝙞𝙣 𝘿𝙤-𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙣.」

So, I’ll end this in a single exchange.

「𝙄𝙩 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙢𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣’𝙩 𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙚’𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙.」

In that case, she’ll definitely try to approach me and aim for my body.

I skillfully moved Ggong-sam-yi and Tae Baek-se to strategic positions and guided her attack route so that she would pass through a certain space between them.

Then, I deliberately approached that exact spot and met Arietta’s gaze.

I had thrown my body as bait.

“. . .Blood, sweet scent.”

Squeeaak!

Along with the sound of the ground caving in, Arietta’s body disappeared in an instant.

I twisted my body at that exact moment and deployed the fastest binding spell that I could use.

It was the intermediate-level binding spell Void Slaughter, which teacher  Choi Do-won had also used before.

Creak!

Kwa-aak!

I felt a significant shock and a burning heat in my waist, and I collapsed to the ground, losing my balance.

However, my timing was perfect.

Arietta, who had momentarily stopped moving due to the sticky spiritual power threads, was being held back with all their might by Tae Baek-se and Ggong-sam-yi, who had been waiting for this moment.

“. . .Burn, fire.”

Kwaaak!

Kuuuuuk!

If there was an opportunity, it was now.

Although I had sustained injuries, I ignored the pain I felt in my waist and immediately got up and headed towards Arietta.

Then, I used the Mental Spellbook to recall a certain spell in my mind.

Tsuzuzuzu.

Hooouung.

“Blood of Pacification.”

The spiritual power that had been filling my body surged and began to move towards my fingertips, and soon, a single drop of clear blood formed there.

Arietta, who was completely restrained, stared at it as if she was possessed, without even struggling.

Sniff.

As I brought my finger closer, Arietta reflexively opened her mouth slightly and stretched her head towards me.

I spoke to Arietta, who was clutching her aching waist.

“. . .Come to your senses and let’s go save Myung-yul together.”

Plop.

And just like that, a single drop of blood fell into her mouth.

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