I Became the Academy’s Genius Shikigami Summoner – Chapter 154

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟓𝟒

. . .The direction no longer changes, perhaps it has stopped moving.

Seo Ji-an quietly conveyed the information, but in fact, it no longer mattered.

I could clearly tell with my current senses that something was lurking not too far away.

Our movement speed naturally began to slow down, and after about 5 minutes like that, we finally encountered it.

A monster sleeping in a huge cave with its mouth open.

「. . .𝙎𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩.」

Tiring!

【Taniwa】

▶Level 57

▶Ability Scores

【Stamina: A+】

【Magic power: A-】

【Spellcraft: B】

【Mental Strength: B+】

▶Traits (7/10)

【Dragon Scales (A+)】

【Conduction (A+)】

【Predator (A)】

【Combat Instinct (A-)】

【Spiritual Power Amplification (B)】

【Water Maneuver (C+)】

【Enhanced Senses (C+)】

It looked like a giant eel, or perhaps it felt like an oddly shaped shark.

The characteristic part was the huge pitchfork that branched out into two parts on the torso.

It reminded me of the wings of a dragon from Western mythology.

However, leaving aside the external appearance, the most surprising aspect was.

「. . .𝙇𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡 57?」

As if my ominous prediction had come true, his level was at a level that we could hardly approach.

Considering the basic difference in specs, even if two 1st-grade exorcists of the same level rushed in, they could not guarantee victory against him.

The ability scores were also excellent, and each of the traits was powerful enough to have a direct impact on the battle.

And among them, there was one noticeable part.

It was the Dragon Scales trait of A+ rank.

「. . .𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙔𝙚𝙤𝙪𝙞𝙟𝙪.」

It must have been in his body for quite a long time, not just a day or two.

It makes sense if that assumption is made, given that his stamina and magical power ability scores are particularly high.

「𝘽𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙮, 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨. . . . . . .」

It’s difficult. It’s going to be a very difficult fight.

I could be sure of that fact just by checking his information.

His weight class was basically different from ours, and he could move freely in the water.

Seo Ji-an and Cheong Juhwa seemed to have the same thought, and they were just looking at me with hardened expressions.

“. . .Wouldn’t it be better to back off for now?”

I fell into deep contemplation at the words whispered by Cheong Juhwa.

It was frustrating, but it might be better to turn around once, prepare other measures, or call for reinforcements.

Anyway, I had figured out the location, and there was no way anyone else would find this place.

However, as I was thinking that, I realized something strange as I stared at Taniwa.

「𝙒𝙝𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣?」

Of course, he is now in a deep sleep, and we are using a concealment technique to keep a certain distance.

But even so, with his specs, he would have vaguely noticed our presence.

Even if he had judged that we were not a threat to him, it was strange that he was so unresponsive.

As I continued to think without stopping, I suddenly realized that a thin film that had not existed even a moment ago had begun to form on his body.

And the implication of that fact was self-evident.

“He’s molting.”

“What?”

“Look around his body. It’s already started. Once it’s all over, he’ll be even stronger than before.”

As much as the Yeouiju’s power had increased, he might have reached S rank, crossing the A rank wall.

I had to stop that at all costs.

After a brief deliberation, I instructed the party to prepare for battle and immediately cast an intermediate spell and shot it at him.

The plan was to draw his attention for now and break his molt.

However.

Crash!

Thud!

Even though the spell hit him squarely and crushed some of his scales, there was no movement.

Only then did I realize the real reason he hadn’t responded to our approach so far.

「𝙃𝙚’𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙪𝙣𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙫𝙚, 𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣’𝙩 𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙚?」

At the same time, Cheong Juhwa must have come to the same conclusion and opened her mouth urgently.

“That, it seems like it can’t move during molting?”

It wasn’t an absurd inference, in fact, it was common sense that yokai of this lineage would find a safe hiding place and proceed with molting there.

And he judged this place to be safe and proceeded with his work.

“. . .Well, no one would have come in here for a while, so it must have been the most reassuring hiding place.”

As Seo Ji-an said, the ins and outs of the matter were clear. And we had found him at that very timing, incredibly.

「. . .𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙮.」

This was the perfect opportunity.

Now that he was defenseless, I had to stab him with a dagger and turn the tide towards us in one go.

“Each of you prepare your strongest attack. You don’t have to worry about defense.”

At the same time, I immediately asked Cheong Juhwa to summon the Azure Dragon.

I couldn’t keep the summon up for long yet, so if there was an optimal timing to use it, it was now.

Whoooosh.

Fwhoosh!

『. . .I can’t believe it. My Yeouiju is really in front of me.』

The Azure Dragon seemed to be moved and filled with regret.

Even though the powerful yokai that had swallowed the Yeouiju was right in front of him, he didn’t seem to care about that fact.

And that attitude was indeed reassuring.

“Can you interfere with the Yeouiju’s power?”

『Of course. That kind of trivial thing can’t be handled by a small fry like that, a thing that has been a part of this body since the beginning of time.』

In that case, there was nothing to hesitate about. I began to prepare the most powerful curse I could cast right now, drawing on the Spirit Incineration trait and the spiritual power contained in the Baryok Beads.

And I spoke to the Azure Dragon.

“Right now, when he’s trying to evolve, you can make the Yeouiju’s energy inside him run wild.”

『I understand what you mean.』

There is a word often referred to as “going mad with power” in martial arts novels.

It refers to the phenomenon in which one’s internal energy cannot be controlled, causing the internal energy to flow backward or run wild.

And I intended to make Taniwa experience something similar right now.

Whoooosh.

『A trivial thing. It has something in its body that doesn’t suit it. It’s time to take it back.』

Splash.

Splash.

As the Azure Dragon exerted its power with its body suddenly enlarged, a reaction came instantly.

A blue light bloomed from a corner of Taniwa’s body, wrapped in a thin film, and soon began to run wild in all directions.

Thud.

Boom.

Thud.

Taniwa’s body began to twist as the turbulent energy currents collided, and the film that had wrapped around his body gradually began to tear.

Soon, we could witness Taniwa, who had failed to molt after all, writhing in pain, revealing his incomplete shell.

“Kyaaaah─!”

A scream that made my body tingle just from hearing it.

It was in line with the idea that there was that much spiritual power in it.

However, his condition was clearly not normal no matter how I looked at it, and we were not the ones to miss that.

I quickly uttered the mantra I had prepared and cast the spell.

Whoooosh.

“The bitterness of the green mountain, the vain curse of the realm of the dead. . .”

It was the advanced curse spell that was the specialty of Hektel, the warlock of the Yahwak.

“. . .Cleansing Death Fragrance.”

Crash!

Flash!

I couldn’t use it right after I learned the advanced spell, but I could now, as I had been through continuous battles.

And at the same time, Seo Ji-an and Cheong Juhwa also gave it their all and fired the most powerful attacks they could currently deliver.

“Sevenfold Strike!”

“Whoop.”

Crash─!

Rumble!

Cheong Juhwa cast the advanced spell she had seen in the last battle with the Cheong family, and Seo Ji-an pulled water from all around to create several giant spiral whirlpools.

And all of those attacks hit Taniwa, who was unable to regain his senses due to the failure of his molt.

Splash!

Splash!

Crackle─!

“Kyaaaah─!”

Taniwa screamed in pain, much more than before, and soon collapsed to the ground, losing strength.

When I glanced at it, the Dragon Scales it had been so proud of were completely shattered and scattered everywhere, and large wounds were carved all over its body, blood gushing out.

We had succeeded in inflicting a complete fatal wound with just one joint attack.

「. . .𝙄𝙩 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙢𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙙?」

To be honest, it was better than expected.

Perhaps his defense had been reduced more than usual because the molting had been incompletely interrupted in the process of shedding the scales.

「𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨.」

Cheong Juhwa, who had learned an advanced spell like me, was surprising, but what really caught my eye this time was Seo Ji-an’s abilities, which had changed so drastically that they were almost a metamorphosis.

「𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙖𝙣 𝙤𝙘𝙚𝙖𝙣 𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙬𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧, 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙡𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙮 𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙖𝙘𝙠. . . . . .?」

In fact, the attack that had dealt the most damage to Taniwa was also Seo Ji-an’s.

Even though she was breathing hard as if she had pushed herself too hard, the fact that she was able to do such a thing was very surprising.

「𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜.」

I hadn’t noticed it, but some of them were getting stronger much faster than in the original timeline.

And that, too, was something that my actions had triggered in a way.

I felt a sense of satisfaction for some reason and headed to the place where Taniwa had collapsed with the party, led by the Azure Dragon.

“Keek. . . . . . .”

I thought there might be some last-ditch struggle, but Taniwa was already lying on the ground with his eyes dead, as if he didn’t have the strength to move.

The Azure Dragon, who confirmed that, glanced at me and greeted me.

『. . .Thank you. You kept your promise. I will also keep my promise and give all my strength to this child’s power in the future.』

After saying that, the Azure Dragon soon caused a waterspout and rushed at Taniwa, biting a corner of his torso.

Splash!

Splash!

Fwhoosh!

What popped out from there was a round bead that emitted a reddish flesh and a brilliant light.

It was the Yeouiju, the other half of the Azure Dragon that he had been looking for so desperately.

“That’s. . . . . . .”

“. . .It’s certainly amazing. I can feel a strong energy just by looking at it.”

The Azure Dragon, who was about to swallow it without hesitation, soon hesitated as if he was thinking about something, and came up to me with it in his mouth.

『Keep this for now.』

“. . .Why?”

『It’s not time yet. Even if I regain my original form now, that child won’t be able to handle it. Let’s wait until then.』

It was a surprisingly thoughtful remark that I would never have expected from the arrogant Azure Dragon.

I nodded my head and bowed to the Azure Dragon.

And so, our short but long journey over two days finally came to an end.

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