I Became the Academy’s Genius Shikigami Summoner – Chapter 225

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟐𝟓

Panting, I wiped away the sweat on my forehead when Verdi, who seemed a little surprised, spoke from the bracelet.

『. . .You really did it.』

“I won’t accept any more objections.”

『Yes. I have no more doubts now. I just wanted to leave it to the heavens, since I couldn’t make up my mind until the end.』

Verdi seemed to have completely overcome her anxiety.

Feeling that the situation had calmed down somewhat, I regulated my breathing and slowly headed toward the exit of the space.

『The girl over there is your family. She has also finished making all her choices and is waiting for you outside with her colleagues.』

“. . . . . . .”

Whew.

Just as she said, as I exited the space, I saw Seo-ah looking at me with the others.

Shin No-eul, who noticed my exhausted expression, spoke first.

“Is it all over?”

“Yes. It is. I got everything I wanted.”

In a word, it meant that I had succeeded in perfectly conquering the labyrinth.

“Hmm. So all that’s left is to get out of here?”

As Sophia said.

However, there was one issue I had to address before that.

It was about Xiao Chen.

“. . . . . . .”

Perhaps sensing my meaningful gaze, Xiao Chen suddenly jumped back and put some distance between us.

Then she opened her mouth sarcastically.

“So, now that you’ve done what you had to do, are you going to take care of me?”

Perhaps she, too, had been thinking about various possibilities while cooperating, even though she had been deep down.

Even if she were to go her separate way from Luke, she still had not forgiven her grudge against me, and there was no way to know if her words were true.

To that end, Xiao Chen looked at us all with an expression of readiness and flared up her spiritual power intensely.

“Do you think I’ve been cooperating with you all this time without knowing anything? I guarantee that if I overload this labyrinth with this technique, at least two of you. . . . . . .”

“I haven’t said anything yet.”

My thoughts were not much different at first.

Xiao Chen was still a dangerous person, and I thought she should be dealt with before leaving this labyrinth at least.

However, my mind has changed a little now.

It was because of a piece of information that Echinacea Lianqi had whispered to me last night.

『Xiao Chen is a sworn enemy of the Four Sovereign Sect, who control modern-day China, both in the political and shamanic worlds.』

It was not difficult to understand what that meant. Xiao Chen’s goal was to wipe out the Four Sovereign Sect from this world.

「𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙤𝙛 𝙞𝙩, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩.」

In the early part of the original, in the process of dropping a hint about Yahwak, the game briefly informs players that they raided and scorched one of the Four Sovereign Sect’s branches.

It was just a hint of the enemies they would face in the future, but in the current situation, it was excellent information.

「𝙓𝙞𝙖𝙤 𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙣’𝙨 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙎𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙞𝙜𝙣 𝙎𝙚𝙘𝙩. 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧.」

Although she retired early in the original, so such circumstances were never written, things were completely different now.

If her goal was to break up the Four Sovereign Sect, then it was not an unrelated story to me either.

「𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮’𝙧𝙚 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙜𝙪𝙮𝙨.」

Right now, some of the Four Sovereign Sect’s main forces have come to Korea and committed heinous crimes during the period when the third Night Parade of a Hundred Demons took place.

To be exact, it is an event that takes place in the stage just before the Hell difficulty that I am currently living in, the original highest difficulty.

「𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙢𝙪𝙜𝙜𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘿𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙣 𝘿𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙅𝙖𝙧.」

In order to minimize their own damage in the foreseen third Night Parade of a Hundred Demons, they unsealed the Demon Desire Jar, a special-grade cursed tool that attracts all sorts of yokai.

And after crossing over to Korea and deliberately causing friction with the three major clans, they took advantage of the concentrated attention and brought it into Seoul, the capital of Korea.

「𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙄 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙢𝙤𝙙𝙚, 𝙄 𝙬𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨.」

What’s more, this place is a world in Hell difficulty. It wouldn’t be surprising if they did something even worse than that.

「𝙒𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙥 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢.」

If we don’t, their actions will make the crisis before us even more fierce, and we’ll end up regretting it many times over.

And now, in my head, several pieces of the puzzle were coming together and one thought was floating to the surface.

It was a desperate measure that could really hit the Four Sovereign Sect where it hurt.

“Is Xiao Chen’s goal to annihilate the Four Sovereign Sect?”

“. . .Did Echinacea Lianqi tell you something? But what does that have to do with you?”

“It’s not unrelated. The Four Sovereign Sect are my enemies as well.”

To be exact, they are going to be my mortal enemies from now on.

「𝙄𝙛 𝙓𝙞𝙖𝙤 𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙣’𝙨 𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙝𝙣𝙞𝙦𝙪𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙗𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚. . . . . . .」

It’s definitely possible.

To thwart their wicked purpose and completely destroy their foundation at the same time.

Xiao Chen looked at me with an expression of incomprehension at such thoughts.

And after a short while, we exited Blinding Mountain using the Witch’s Seal as if nothing had happened.

Combining our respective goals that we had harbored inside, creating something new.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

“. . .What you said must be kept.”

“Don’t worry. I need it too.”

She said that, but Xiao Chen didn’t seem to doubt me much.

Well, it’s true that I kept the flimsy covenant I made in the labyrinth. She had no choice but to believe that my words were genuine.

“Then I’ll be going.”

Xiao Chen left us like that. She probably had to move busily from now on to make her plan a reality.

And we, who were left behind, soon finished the necessary arrangements and formally declared the completion of the labyrinth conquest.

“Contact me again if you need anything~”

“It was quite a different experience. Can I tell you about the promised content soon?”

“Yes. I will help you when the time is right.”

And so it was all over.

Seo-ah and I, who had returned to the accommodation that Hwang Jin-chul had prepared for us, began to talk about the stories we hadn’t had a chance to share in the labyrinth.

“Is it true that you became a successor?”

“Yeah. I thought about it for a bit, but I accepted it. Now that I’ve gained a lot of knowledge, I’ll be able to use the shamanism of the witch clan a little more seriously.”

Of course, Seo-ah still had the duty to pass through the remaining two labyrinths, but it seemed that she had made some progress with this conquest alone.

And now, I had to tell her something that I hadn’t revealed to the other party members.

Seo-ah tilted her head with an expression of incomprehension after hearing my story.

“So you’re saying that Verdi’s soul is in that bracelet?”

“Something like that.”

From my point of view, it would have been easier for her to explain it to Seo-ah directly, but for some reason, Verdi was reluctant to reveal her existence in front of Seo-ah.

『That child is not ready yet. It’s better for her not to meet me until she passes through the other two labyrinths.』

In a word, Verdi seemed to think that revealing herself now could have a bad influence on Seo-ah, the successor.

It wasn’t exactly wrong, so I nodded and simply conveyed my intentions to Seo-ah.

“. . .Yeah. I see. I think that’s right too.”

If she understands, then there’s no problem. After talking with Seo-ah for a while, I went up to the rooftop alone and started a conversation with Verdi, casting a noise-canceling spell.

“So, how are you?”

『I’m not bad. To be honest, I thought it was a reckless challenge, but it seems to be more effective than I thought.』

Verdi soon summoned a translucent physical body from the bracelet and moved her body here and there, even poking my cheek with her finger.

“If I get a little more used to it, I’ll be able to do most things in this state. Of course, it’s not as good as before. . . . . . .”

Honestly, since it wasn’t something I did for my own interests, from my point of view, that much was more than enough.

Even if it was in a weakened state, I had made an ancient witch who was a named-class character in the sequel of the series my ally.

「𝘽𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙨, 𝙨𝙝𝙚. . . . . . .」

She’s like family to me for some reason. If I ever had a daughter in real life, wouldn’t it be like this?

Without realizing it, a faint smile must have spread across my face, because Verdi looked at my expression with an incomprehensible reaction.

“You really are an inscrutable person.”

“That’s fortunate.”

On the contrary, that was just the right amount.

It’s better for her not to know too much about my true identity.

Putting my thoughts behind me, Verdi moved her hands a few more times and then slipped back into the bracelet.

『My energy is being consumed considerably. If I don’t diligently gather the nature’s energy flowing into the bracelet, it’ll be difficult to maintain the state I was just in for long.』

In a word, it meant that her help should be for crucial moments.

I nodded and leaned my arms on the railing, gazing blankly at the stars in the night sky.

For the first time in a long time since falling into this world, I reminisced about the past one by one.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

The tasks before me after completing the labyrinth could be broadly divided into two.

The first was to respond to the third Night Parade of a Hundred Demons that would soon take place.

The second was to defeat Luke Pensallot and his colleagues, who were the greatest threat to me right now.

「𝙉𝙚𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙗𝙚 𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙄 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨𝙨.」

And fortunately, I was able to achieve sufficient results through this Eternal Labyrinth conquest.

Not only did Verdi join me, but I finally reached the level of stats that I had originally aimed for.

【Han Kang-yoon】

▶Level 55

▶Ability Scores

【Stamina: B】

【spiritual power : B】

【Spellcraft: B-】

【Mental Strength: A-】

▶Trait(10/10)

【Shadow Assimilation(S)】

【Witch’s Echo(A+)】

【Dragon’s Body(A+)】

【Spirit Absorption(A)】

【Challenger(B+)】

【Mental Spellbook(B)】

【Revived Person(B-)】

【Emergency Evasion(B-)】

【Hawk Eye(C+)】

【Strong Bones(C-)】

It’s a remarkable growth, especially when I think back to when I first fell into the academy dormitory.

「𝙄𝙩 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙙.」

Even in terms of stats, I’m already at a level where I can beat any ordinary 1st-grade exorcist, and with my abilities added to that, I’m no longer inferior to even special-grade rookie exorcists.

And with this, I have finally met the challenge conditions for the Blue-White Soul Mirror trial.

「. . .𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙚.」

Now, it was time to dive into the difficulties before me more seriously.

Translator’s Blog

Blog

• Scrolling Through Reddit: “I’m an English man travelling India. Fancied some British food and ordered fish and chips… wow, what a sight this was”
• My Brain on UFC: Why I’m Convinced I Could Totally Take on Adesanya (I’m Lying, Don’t Tell Dana)
• How to Not Die Like Jiraiya: A Guide to Staying Alive
• My Inner Samurai vs. My Real-Life Chicken Heart: Why My Brain Thinks I’m Bruce Lee, But My Body Screams “Run!”
• How to Deal with Your Cringey Otaku Classmate (Without Turning into a Weeaboo Yourself)