I Became the Academy’s Genius Shikigami Summoner – Chapter 218

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟏𝟖

Han Kang-yoon and his companions, who had begun the battle without hesitation, were briefly admired by Halo.

「𝙎𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜. . . . . .!」

He had guessed as much when they faced the void serpent, but seeing their prowess in action really was beyond imagination.

Even in Halo’s time outside, people with this level of skill were extremely rare.

He hadn’t seen it himself, but he imagined that if the companions in the old diary had appeared in modern times, they would have looked just like this.

「𝙒𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡?」

It was certainly enough to be confident. Even Halo thought that these people were definitely not the kind of talent that would rot away in this unidentified labyrinth.

Seeing the guardian, now tattered and staggering, Halo instinctively shouted.

“Be careful! The guardian will continue to regenerate its body unless you finish it off!”

Then, he questioned his own words for a moment.

「𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙙𝙤 𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨?」

Besides, the guardian was an indispensable being in this village. Stopping Han Kang-yoon and his companions from eliminating it should be what Halo should be doing right now.

However, for some reason, Halo felt that their actions were not wrong.

Whew.

Clatter!

The guardian, which had begun to regenerate by gathering its scattered remains, was not fazed by Han Kang-yoon and his companions, who had heard Halo’s cry and stopped it.

Like that, the battle continued for 10 minutes, then 20 minutes.

The guardian showed its strength without reserve, with its tireless body and immense power, but Han Kang-yoon and his companions fought the guardian perfectly.

In the end, as the sun began to set, it was not Han Kang-yoon and his companions who collapsed on the ground in a miserable state, but the guardian of the village.

Thud!

“Whew, huh. What kind of mindless monster is this?”

” . . . It was quite a struggle. Even though there are five of us.”

Looking at the guardian, which had collapsed without any strength, Halo instinctively flinched.

The situation was confusing, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was about to pop out of his head.

And Han Kang-yoon and his companions, who had caught their breath, began to approach Halo.

“Look behind you.”

” . . . Behind?”

Halo turned his head with difficulty, his head spinning, and looked towards where the village had been.

His village, which had retained its beautiful appearance even in this colorless labyrinth, was now losing its color and fading away.

“This is. . . . . . .”

Halo, who had been speaking, suddenly shifted his gaze and stared at his own body.

Before he knew it, he too had taken on the same color as the fading village.

Only then was Halo able to recall the memories that had been blocked, as if a dam had burst.

“I see, in fact, I have been for a long time. . . . . . .”

“Have you remembered everything?”

“Yes. That’s right. I also had companions, but I gave up on going through the labyrinth and settled in this village.”

Halo looked at the fallen guardian with a bitter expression, clenching his fists.

“Guardian, what a joke. It was definitely him who stole our souls and memories.”

Halo’s explanation made everything clearer.

That wasn’t a guardian.

It was just a cruel executioner who took away all opportunities from those who had lost their courage and will and chose to stay here.

” . . . I regret it. If I had been more clever and acted, the result might have been different.”

But Halo failed in the end. He was unable to shake off the illusion that obscured his vision and succumbed to reality.

This is the result. Halo had forgotten even the memories of his companions and had become a part of the labyrinth, drawing the lost into this colorless village.

Halo, who realized this, sighed deeply.

“Thank you. If you hadn’t defeated the guardian, I would have continued to repeat this forever.”

” . . . . . . .”

“Don’t be fooled, and be sure to leave this place together.”

With those words, Halo disappeared like a mirage, hiding his own form.

The swamp that had devoured the lost of Blinding Mountain for so long had finally come to an end.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

” . . . There’s not a single one left. They’ve all disappeared without a trace.”

“Either we’re the first people to enter here in a long time, or the screening process by the latest guy happened very recently.”

It was as Shin No-eul said.

Judging from the case of Xiao Chen mentioned by Halo, it was clear that new lost souls had been flowing into the labyrinth until very recently.

However, most of them must have been blinded by the peace of the village and eventually met their deaths, deprived even of their chances.

「𝙊𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙, 𝙓𝙞𝙖𝙤 𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙡𝙚𝙛𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙫𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨, 𝙨𝙤 𝙃𝙖𝙡𝙤 𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙢.」

However, judging from the fact that she hadn’t touched the guardian, Xiao Chen hadn’t yet achieved any meaningful results in conquering the labyrinth.

Perhaps she really did lose her life wandering around here afterwards.

「𝙐𝙣𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙪𝙨, 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙙, 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨.」

And the bad news for us was that the real difficulty was likely to lie ahead.

「. . . 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙠𝙚𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘽𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙈𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡 70.」

However, Wigwald, the guardian and selector of the village, was level 69.

In short, it meant that there were still stronger enemies left.

“Do you still plan to go down?”

“Yes. For now, that seems like the right answer.”

However, no matter what, we had no choice but to move forward now. I pulled the purple gem from the guardian’s remains and quietly stepped outside the cave.

“Hmm. That’s great. There are sorcerers who can do such a thing. I can’t even imagine the principle.”

Indeed, it’s a space that’s hard to believe was created by a single person.

However, I, who had played countless exorcism series, knew.

The fact that there are monsters in the world capable of doing such a thing.

「𝘼𝙣𝙙. . . . . . .」

I too must aim for such a realm, even if I cannot reach it.

Only then will I be able to overcome all the difficulties ahead and reach the true ending of this world.

“It’s about time we got going, Oppa.”

And so, we continued to walk, finally passing the space where we had first encountered the mountain and heading below it.

Accordingly, various demons mentioned in the diary, including the void serpent we had seen before, attacked us, but since we already knew of their existence, we were not easily defeated.

After a few battles and a few more hours of walking down, the surrounding scenery finally began to change.

Unlike the summit, which seemed to be getting no closer, the lower part of the mountain was definitely responding.

The expressions of the party brightened at that fact.

“It looks like I was right after all.”

“Who knows? Maybe the creator of this labyrinth was quite a nasty character?”

“Ugh. Who would think this is a path?”

Starting with the village that bewitched people, the path that seemed to unfold towards the summit, and the cliff below it.

As Shin No-eul said, it’s definitely not a good hobby.

No matter how much she chooses those who are worthy of passing on knowledge, her methods are too mean and capricious.

But there was nothing we could do. That was the witch Verdi.

「𝘼𝙡𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙚 𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙮𝙚𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙙, 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙗𝙖𝙞𝙩. . . . . . .」

Since I, the creator of Black Forest, was also somewhat involved in her birth, I have some information.

If she had a mind that could go anywhere, it wouldn’t be strange for her to create such a nasty labyrinth.

” . . . We’ve really come down.”

Echinacea Lianqi uttered the words with a subtle expression, as if the scenery unfolding before her eyes was somewhat awkward.

As she said, the forest, which seemed to have lost its color, and the trees, which had become less vibrant, were now replaced by a huge rock wall.

「𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙬𝙛𝙪𝙡.」

Even for us, the skilled exorcists, it was a difficult terrain that we had come down with great difficulty.

Few people would have dared to break through this, even if it was the right path.

However, once we got past that, we were finally able to set foot on the real path to conquering the labyrinth.

“So, on the surface, it looks like nothing.”

“There must be a way. As we’ve seen so far, you can’t trust what you see here.”

We split into two groups and began to look around the area while maintaining our vigilance.

From the cliff we had descended from to the huge rocks and the occasional forest around them.

We thoroughly searched a wide area, but finding a way was not as easy as we thought.

So I had no choice but to call in a specialist who was good at this kind of situation again.

“Sahwanjae.”

Swish.

Poof!

『Keyheck. . . . . . .』

Sahwanjae, who now had a familiar face, shook his head for a few minutes, looking around the place, and finally set off, setting his target.

It was the huge rock wall that we had just checked.

“Oh, did I miss something?”

However, Sahwanjae suddenly changed direction as he headed towards the rock wall and stopped when he reached the side of it.

It was a space that existed halfway between the rock wall and the cliff.

“Hmm? I don’t see anything.”

It really was.

It was literally just flat ground. There were no devices or anything unusual.

However, Sahwanjae soon shook his head and pointed his finger at something on the ground.

It was an ordinary stone, a little larger than a human foot.

「𝙉𝙤 𝙬𝙖𝙮. . . . . . .」

Shin No-eul, who approached it, soon crouched down and touched the stone, and then chanted with an excited look.

“Hey, can’t you hear it?”

In short, it was the sound of the correct answer.

We quickly moved to the stone and, one by one, touched it, exchanged glances, and used attack spells to destroy it.

Then, a small hole, just big enough to fit a small gem, gradually revealed itself.

「. . . 𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙗𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚.」

Hiding a device in an ambiguous space between a giant rock wall and a cliff that would catch anyone’s eye.

It was a truly malicious act, as if mocking the lost souls who risked their lives to break through the labyrinth.

“Then, I’ll put it in.”

When the gem obtained from the guardian was fitted into the small gap, it fit perfectly, as if it was its original place.

And soon, the earth shook and a deafening roar filled our ears as if the heavens and the earth were collapsing.

Boom!

Zzzzt─!

” . . . Is this where it says to come?”

The huge rock wall that had filled one side of the flat ground split in half, revealing its entrance and beckoning to us.

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