I Became the Academy’s Genius Shikigami Summoner – Chapter 310

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑𝟏𝟎

「. . .𝙄 𝙜𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚’𝙨 𝙣𝙤 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙩.」

The reason I haven’t been able to use my shikigami in my battles with Polar Night up until now was simple. They too were likely to be affected by Polar Night’s power and fall under her control.

However, now that I’ve used the power of my Shadow Assimilation trait to steal Polar Night’s desires and isolate them in the shadow space, I should be able to withstand her influence just fine.

“. . .Burn.”

『Ggoo-ooo!』

Ggong-sam-yi and Geusdae let out a roar, and the rest of the shikigami calmly began to gather around Polar Night.

Meanwhile, I summoned Verdi from inside the Sun-Moon Stone without missing a beat.

“Can you help me?”

『It’ll take about 5 minutes.』

Polar Night twitched one of her eyebrows slightly as if she was annoyed by the rapid increase in power.

And so, the final battle finally began.

Zzzzaaaappp!

“Did you know that while you’re isolated here like this, your friends outside are still facing off against the rest of me?”

“. . . . . . .”

“I don’t think they’ll be able to hold out for much longer. The longer this drags on, the more the odds are stacked against you.”

She was right. What I had pulled into the shadow space was just the lump of desires I had temporarily separated from Polar Night, the rest of her remained outside.

If the Blue-White Soul Mirror’s trial space and Cheong-il failed to hold out, Polar Night would eventually return to reality and do battle with the rest of my party.

However,

“The fact that you’re going out of your way to say that means that your situation isn’t so good either, doesn’t it?”

“. . . . . . .”

Polar Night remained silent at those words. It was her tacit acknowledgement that she too was in a crisis she hadn’t anticipated.

“Even so, the outcome won’t change. It’s just a matter of the order in which things happen.”

Clang!

Polar Night’s wind blade instantly pierced Ox-Head Ogre’s entire body.

I pursed my lips slightly as I watched Ox-Head Ogre vanish without being able to do anything.

「𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙝𝙚’𝙨 𝙬𝙚𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙙, 𝙨𝙝𝙚’𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜. . . . . . .」

I had succeeded in detecting the attack in advance and attempted to defend, but the wind blades she sent flying in that instant also carried some kind of high-level threat.

As a result, I had no choice but to abandon Ox-Head Ogre rather than continue with a half-hearted defense.

Kwaa-ka-kwak!

Boooom!

“I can see all sorts of things as I observe you. You probably won’t be able to maintain this space for much longer, will you? It’s already close to your limit just creating the situation you have here, isn’t it?”

Polar Night, who had regained her composure at some point, spoke to me with a faint smile.

Normally, I would have tried various methods while carefully exchanging blows, but as she said, I didn’t have the luxury of time either.

And even if she was weakened, the total amount of power she possessed far exceeded my imagination.

Seugh!

Zzzzaaaappp!

In the ensuing melee, Giant Ogre was destroyed and Sori-soe was dealt a fatal blow.

And Hwa Baek, who had been protecting the other shikigami, also reached her limit and collapsed heavily.

“The composure is starting to vanish from your expression. Don’t you think the end is drawing near?”

I had no choice but to admit that the situation was steadily turning against me.

At this rate, I would be driven into a corner and meet my end at her hands without accomplishing anything.

「𝙄 𝙜𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙤𝙪𝙩. . . . . . .」

I clenched my fist as I let out a sigh, and the feel of the yellow crystal I was holding within it was transmitted directly to me.

At the same time, I couldn’t help but recall something the prophet Unyeon had said to me a long time ago.

A prophecy that said that my future self would meet a true death at the hands of someone I was in love with.

For a while, I had taken that to mean literally, but my thinking had changed a little now.

「𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙣𝙤 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙢𝙚 𝙮𝙚𝙩. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙤𝙣.」

Even if my current feelings did develop into something more, that would be a story for the distant future.

However, the thing that I truly loved had clearly existed even back when I had first heard that prophecy.

I had created part of it with my own hands, and I loved this world that had been the object of all kinds of joys and sorrows.

As I had said many times before, I had devoted my entire life to the exorcism series, which was nothing more than a game.

And so, that prophecy might have been aimed at my current heart for a very long time.

「. . . . . . .」

If I use this last resort, I will most likely meet my eternal end.

I will no longer be able to return to reality and meet my other comrades, or draw up plans for the future together.

Even so, my resolve was already firm.

Boom!

I instantly soared into the sky with the help of Black Yin and the Black Birds, and immediately used the Eight Trigrams and Celestial Heavens Art technique to conceal myself and charge towards Polar Night from a tricky angle.

“Do you think such a paltry trick will work?”

Seugh!

Several of the Black Birds helping me fly were destroyed by the ensuing attack, and a moment later, one of Black Yin’s wings was sliced off by an invisible blow.

『Kiiieeeek!』

Black Yin and the Black Birds let out screams as they fell, and the distance between me and Polar Night was now a mere 3 meters.

Polar Night calmly faced me as I jumped down from the sky and unleashed my technique.

The sharp spell I sent flying was scattered by the wind, and the black thorns that sprang up at the same time were blocked by a barrier technique.

In that brief exchange of blows, the ultimate victor was Polar Night.

Puush!

Puh-whoosh!

Polar Night’s slender hand pierced my abdomen, and blood splattered everywhere.

A fatal blow, an irreversible wound on a battlefield where a single mistake could decide victory or defeat.

“. . .It’s over. In the end, it came to this.”

“Gulp!”

A hot stream of blood gushed from my mouth, and the inside of my mouth felt as if it was on fire.

Even as my consciousness faded and my vision blurred, I stubbornly went through the final steps like a puppet carrying out a pre-planned task.

At some point, finely crushed crystals began to spill out of my right hand, and as Polar Night withdrew her hand, I collapsed into the dark space without any support.

Clatter!

And with that, all consciousness ceased. And then.

Thump.

Thump.

It was like the sound of a beating heart, and it also sounded like something was pulsating.

Thump.

Before I knew it, I had risen from the ground, and my strange eyes gazed at Polar Night before me.

Sensing the danger, Polar Night also tried to distance herself and assess my condition.

“Why. . . . . .No, you’re different from before. . . . . . .”

She was right.

The me now was different from the me before, both in appearance and atmosphere, and I seemed to be giving off an aura as if my entire contents had changed.

In fact, that was because it wasn’t me.

“. . . . . . .”

He seemed to be analyzing the current situation by going over the memories I had passed on to him using the power of my Shadow Assimilation trait.

And when that was over, he let out a small sigh and spoke.

“I understand the situation, but it’s still difficult. This isn’t the battlefield I was asked to go to.”

At the same time, a line of shadow pulsed beside him as he smirked, and it quickly began to form a body identical to his.

It was me, who had chosen a different form of revival by utilizing the trait of the shadow space.

“Your descendants are in danger. Will you help me?”

“Huh. . . . . .That’s complicated. To be honest, I don’t understand what’s going on. I guess a lot of things got twisted up in the long flow of time.”

However,

“If the successor who unraveled the secret of the Solitary Shade’s lair asks for salvation, there is no reason for this Hwang-hwi to refuse.”

As he said those words, his true identity was the soul of Hwang-hwi, the founder of the Hwang family, which had been contained in the Soul Stone I had obtained in the Solitary Shade’s lair before.

I had been holding it in my right hand the entire time, and the moment I met my end at Polar Night’s hands, I had called out to Hwang-hwi’s soul and had him take possession of my body.

“I’ve read the memories you passed on to me roughly. You’ve done well to create such a situation while facing that unreasonable being. My descendants are quite skilled.”

Due to various restrictions, I was unable to call on the help of my comrades in this shadow space.

That was why I had been saving my last resort until the very end, worried that I would run out of strength.

I would have my body call upon Hwang-hwi, the ancestor of the Hwang family, and I would revive in the form of a spiritual body and focus my efforts on maintaining the space and supporting Hwang-hwi.

That was the final stage of the plan to defeat Polar Night, its endpoint.

“. . .But you know, right? Once this space is destroyed, you won’t be able to maintain your spirit in that form. You’ll just scatter and disappear.”

“I know.”

Hwang-hwi hesitated for a moment, before gazing at me with a solemn look and continuing to speak.

“If I use my power, we might be able to switch positions, but the chances of that are extremely slim and it’s likely that we will both perish. And I, who have been entrusted with a great promise and must fulfill my calling, have no intention of risking mutual destruction for such a slim chance.”

“. . .I know. I’m already prepared for that.”

On the contrary, the fact that there was a way to try even in such a situation was proof of Hwang-hwi’s skill as an exorcist.

Hwang-hwi scratched his head as he took in all my answers, and let out a sigh that contained a variety of emotions.

“Well, alright then. But in return, this Hwang-hwi will make sure to fulfill your last wish no matter what.”

We had been given a little bit of breathing room while we were talking, but surprisingly, Polar Night didn’t try to take advantage of the gap.

Perhaps, to her weakened self right now, Hwang-hwi’s existence felt like enough of a threat.

“Unbelievable. Even at this point, you still resort to such tricks. . . . . . .”

“Enough with the posturing, little girl. I understand that you’re an unreasonable being, but you’re not that scary in your current state. You must be aware of that much, right?”

Polar Night was also in no position to be relaxed anymore.

She was weakened, and had used up a great deal of her power in the repeated battles.

On top of that, the final trap I had laid was about to show its face.

Swish.

Snap!

“This is. . . . . . .”

“It’s a curse. I’ve offered up my own life as a medium, so you won’t be able to shake it off easily in your current state.”

The most vicious form of curse I had ever used, even in my previous battle with Cheong Woon-do, the former elder of the Cheong family.

Since I had used my own life as a medium, Polar Night, who had taken it from me, would be forced to face a considerable amount of backlash and would have to expend her energy to deal with its side effects.

Taking all of the circumstances into account, the realization that she was now the one being hunted dawned on Polar Night, and her expression visibly distorted.

And before her, I and Hwang-hwi slowly began to gather our strength and move forward.

To put an end to the long battle, once and for all.

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