Now, that field was gone, and The Nightmare was sending the full force of its might toward him.
Xavier was no longer connected to The Nightmare’s mind. He had combed the mountain, destroying at least half of the C Grade demon’s minions, and the black substance that held sway over the beasts—the same substance that had almost taken over his mind just a moment ago—along with them.
The dragon Volkarin looked at Xavier, a serious expression in his eyes.
We spirits will not remain long in this world. Will you flee, young dragonkin? I sense the being that you face has great power.
There was something twinkling in the dragon’s eyes. Xavier could read the dragon’s expressions so much better now, but he wasn’t sure what this feeling was.
I will remain, Xavier replied. I will destroy this demon, and I will soon summon you to help me do it.
You seek vengeance upon this entity? Volkarin asked seriously. You know the rules, young dragonkin. I cannot break them simply because I am fond of the you and your potential.
Xavier thought of Liana. Of all the woman had taught him. And of what this demon had done to her by taking her husband.
There is vengeance to be sought, Volkarin, you can be sure of that.
Xavier and the dragon did not have the luxury of a long conversation. Their exchange had perhaps taken only a second.
Beasts were making their way to them. Xavier had the spirit here for one hundred seconds, as he had used one thousand souls to summon them to the Mortal Realm.
But once they were gone, he would no longer have a way to kill the substance within the enemies that came forth.
The spirits fought with fervour and passion. There were thousands of beasts still upon the Dark Mountains, and all of them were making their way to destroy—or perhaps enslave—Xavier.
There was something else, too. Though Xavier was no longer connected to the mind of The Nightmare, he could feel a dark presence nearby. It had the sense signature of that of The Nightmare’s mind. Xavier wondered if the demon was releasing its aura—wondered if the demon even had an aura.
He could almost sense where the power was coming from. Was that where the demon’s heart was?
Xavier watched as the spirits destroyed every beast that came near them. He watched as closely as he could, wondering if it had been a mistake to summon the spirits. There was a danger in them being here, one he hadn’t considered when he had made the choice to bring them, for he was too desperate at the time to worry about it.
Some of these spirits were chaotic beings. They did not restrain themselves, and they would not follow his orders. If it happened that the very person Xavier had come here to save attacked them right now, he doubted any of the spirits would hesitate to kill him…
Xavier remained vigilant, a countdown timer for when the bridge would shut down up in the corner of his vision. He joined the fight with the spirits, but his attacks only dealt damage to the beasts and not the entity within.
He was beginning to feel useless, fighting this thing, even though he knew that wasn’t the case. He had destroyed more than half of it already.
Facing this beast was like facing nothing he’d ever encountered before. The beasts that it brought forth were weak. He was beginning to feel a false sense of security. But even with the spirits destroying the black substance, more and more of it pooled around him, and it was beginning to edge closer to him.
As the countdown timer was nearing its end, hundreds upon hundreds of beasts having died during the fight, Xavier brought something out of his Storage Ring.
A sack of salt.
He poured a line of the stuff around him. A protective circle that should stop the black, oozing substance from reaching him, though he doubted it would stop the beasts that it controlled from getting over it.
The moment he’d started pouring the salt he heard something from above. The whoosh of loud wings. An Infected Giant Owl cast some sort of wind spell down at him, scattering the salt everywhere. It seared the flesh of The Nightmare’s minions, but they otherwise didn’t look affected.
The spirits from the Otherworld were about to disappear from this place.
The instant they did, Xavier called forth the Spirit of Vengeance—he cast Summon Otherworldly Spirit. The colour bled from the world, and everything froze as a notification popped up in his vision.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
You have successfully connected to the Otherworld.
What kind of Spirit do you wish to summon?
- Spirit of Protection
- Spirit of Vengeance
- Spirit of Time
The cooldown for this spell varies significantly depending upon the spirit you summon.
Xavier willed his selection.
Spirit of Vengeance!
The dragon—whom had only been there a mere moment ago through the power of the Soul Sacrifice spell—came into existence before him, and there was something different about the dragon.
The dragon was significantly larger than the last time he had summoned it. Xavier was a little taken a back, looking at the beast. It had somehow grown to about fifty feet in height, while before the beast had only been twenty-feet tall.
That wasn’t the only change. Volkarin also looked a little less transparent.
Is this because the spell has grown so much stronger, with my attributes propping it up?
He hadn’t used this specific spell to bring forth the Spirit of Vengeance while he was D Grade before. Whenever he tried to rank the spell up, he tended to use the Spirit of Protection. The Spirit of Protection didn’t require vengeance to be summoned, and it also didn’t have a six month wait time between uses like the Spirit of Time.
Honestly, Xavier had been hoping he would have more spirits available to summon through this spell by now, but he couldn’t complain at how powerful it was.
The Spirit of Vengeance stood before him, looking more solid and majestic than he ever had. The massive dragon drew in a breath as though it could actually breathe, then released a stream of smoke from each nostril.
Ahhhhhh. It’s good to be back. Volkarin bent his head forward and looked down at Xavier with narrowed eyes. What vengeance is it that you wish to carry out, young dragonkin?
Xavier raised his chin. Liana. My instructor, and friend. Her husband was taken by this demon. He may very well still be alive. That is the vengeance I seek. Payment for what was done to her, and to him. And the only payment that will suffice is this demon’s death.
The dragon raised its head, made a strange noise in its throat. Xavier knew now that this was the equivalent of someone saying, “Hmm.”
A noble cause. Vengeance on behalf of another. This will suffice—it is enough to summon me, Xavier Collins. And enough not to suffer my wrath.
Time was still frozen for the both of them. Xavier wanted to keep it that way for a moment longer.
How have you grown larger? Xavier asked.
The dragon threw back its head and roared in delight. As you grow in power, less of the power that I hold is restricted. More so in this spell than in Soul Sacrifice. If you grew strong enough, one day you might even witness the full extent of my might. Volkarin sounded somewhat wistful as he said that.
Xavier contemplated that for a moment. This was one of the most powerful spirits in the entirety of the Otherworld. One of the seven, he had been told—the seven leaders of the Otherworld. But he did not think he would see the full might of the dragon—at least, through the use of Summon Otherworldly Spirit.
For he soon intended to bring the beast into this world for good.
Xavier checked the cooldown for his Time Alteration spell. It had significantly reduced since he’d first gotten the spell, and he found that he would be able to use it again soon. Very soon.
Willpower Infusion, too, had reached the end of its cooldown—but using that again was a risk he didn’t want to take. He had felt his mind bending to the will of the demon. That wasn’t something he wished to experience again.
Only a little longer…
There was one more thing that he needed to do if his contingency plan was to work. Summoning the Spirit of Vengeance, he knew, wouldn’t be enough. Yes, the Spirit of Vengeance would be able to destroy the bits of the black substance inside of the infected beasts they faced on this mountain, but Xavier needed to be able to harm it himself.
There was no telling what else they would have to face here. The demon could very well have other C Grades under its thrall. He didn’t want to find that out when the Spirit of Vengeance was too injured to help. The Spirit of Vengeance was powerful, but its power was limited.
There were two more spells Xavier needed to cast, and something else he needed to do on top of that.
Colour flowed back into the world. The fight began once more. The beasts coming their way seemed to double. They could both still handle it, which was making Xavier worry.
This is too easy. If others are able to dispense with this black stuff without controlling The Nightmare, how is it no one in this sector has been able to kill this thing? Wouldn’t it be as simple as killing all of its minions?
That was certainly how he had been approaching this fight. He’d already scoured over half the mountain, killing every infected beast he could along with the substance that controlled them. If that substance was the entity, then he must be on the right track.
He had been able to feel the damage he’d been doing to it, after all.
Just as he had that thought, the ground shook, as though a great earthquake was underway. They were currently on the side of the mountain. He glanced up. Rocks were beginning to fall from above, and though the earthquake he’d felt had ended, there was a strange vibration in the ground.
Xavier wasn’t sure what was causing that vibration, but he had a good idea of what it could be.
A beast came out of the ground, one that Xavier had never seen before. It was some kind of rock worm, but the worm was massive. It opened its giant maw, revealing several rows of sharp-looking stone teeth.
There were more coming from out of the ground. He could feel a vibration right beneath him. Xavier leapt up and expanded his wings just as something burst out of the ground.
Volkarin had already been in the air. The dragon had been swooping down and burning and freezing all of the oozing black substance that Xavier left behind whenever he killed the beasts.
Good to see you using those wings, young dragonkin, the dragon said in his mind as he flew past.
Xavier focused on the beasts that had just burst up from the ground, scanning the nearest of them.
{Infected Rock Worm - Level 305}
This C Grade beast has been infected by The Nightmare. It is no longer under its own will.
Rock Worms are ancient creatures who live beneath mountains. They rarely come up to the surface, and only do so when they feel their domain has been threatened. They are able to control earth and stone, and they have the power to inflict petrification on their enemies if they are able to clamp their teeth around them.
Don’t get bitten.
There were at least four of the bastards coming out of the ground. Xavier scanned all of them, and found all of them to be C Grade beasts.
Four C Grade beasts? He’d come here to face only one, and now he was facing four more?
And he had a feeling there was more to all of this than what he was doing, for the presence that he’d felt, it was only growing stronger, and there was a feeling emanating from it.
Anger.
Accidental Champion!
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