SRS 209

His eyes could see the beast’s movements, but his body wouldn’t respond.

Yohan frowned at his frozen body.

…The restrictions!

The stamina and divine power he had exhausted on his way here, along with the curse he had taken upon himself in place of the souls, all combined to slow Yohan’s movements.

Just as he was about to be attacked with no way to defend himself, a hand reached out from behind and pulled Yohan away.

Sssshhh!

The beast’s fangs grazed Yohan’s forearm. The collar of his overcoat tore and got caught on the beast’s teeth.

Boom!

Immediately afterward, Professor Shinbi’s spirit collided with the beast. As the two beings fought, the students ran toward Yohan.

“Yohan! Are you okay?”

“Why were you just standing there?!”

Suhyeok shouted angrily as he checked the injuries. Just as he hurriedly pulled out a healing potion, a bright light reached Yohan’s forearm even faster than he could. The laceration was closed.

“It’s because of the curse.”

“Yes.”

“…Since it’s because of the souls purification, everyone should go do your own things. Now is not the time for us to be hanging around idly.”

The student, who seemed to be holding back the thought that he’d known this would happen, nodded toward the front. There, they could see the beast fighting on equal footing with Professor Shinbi’s spirit.

It was strong.

It was a completely different beasts from the one they’d seen in the mountains.

Professor Shinbi, who was commanding her spirits and facing the beast head-on, couldn’t possibly be unaware of this. As she clenched his jaw, the contract mark left by the spirit on her wrist glowed brightly.

Crackle!

A lightning spirit in the form of a bird appeared and struck down a bolt of lightning.

The beast, now facing an increased number of spirits, retreated.

Aaaaoo!

The beast let out a howl that sounded like an explosion.

“Ugh!”

The students caught in the blast covered their ears and staggered.

“What was that sound…!”

The howl emitted by the became both tinnitus and a curse. It whispered the things they longed to deny.

-Cheplen’s fall is your fault.

What Yohan was experiencing was not much different.

However, Yohan had already endured this sort of thing ad nauseam.

The image of Cheplen revealed by the illusions of Fantasiademia, the nightmares he often had, and the fragments of the past he encountered whenever he panicked had tempered Yohan’s mental fortitude, and the part of the prophecy shown to him by his god had further strengthened his resolve.

There was no reason for him to be shaken by this now.

Yohan took a deep breath and channeled divine power into his palms before covering his ears. The curse was persistent but not overwhelmingly powerful, therefore it was easily dispelled.

“Mikael, please take care of the others too.”

“Sure.”

Since his current physical condition made it difficult for him to look after the other students as well, Mikael – who had been frowning as he removed the curse from himself – agreed to lift the curses from the other students as well.

The faces of Group 3, who had been suffering while covering their ears, relaxed in an instant.

“That thing really…!

Sei gritted her teeth and glared at the beast who had done such a terrible thing to her.

“Wow, this is why you have to hang out with divine powers wielders.”

Suhyeok looked at Mikael and Yohan with newfound envy, and Kylus smacked him on the back of the head.

Once the curse on Bebel was finally lifted, the students, now back to their senses, grabbed their weapons once more.

Even though the number of spirits had doubled, the beast’s momentum remained the same, as if the howling from moments ago had acted as a stimulant. It was a battle between the professor and a beast that had become abnormally powerful. If they rushed in recklessly, they might actually end up hindering Professor Shinbi.

Consequently, while the students remained on the front lines, unable to move rashly, Yohan stared at the beast’s aura.

“Mikael. You heard it too, right?”

Mikael nodded in response to the question.

“Yes.”

“…It said I smell like a god. What do you think that means?”

“Well…”

Mikael’s silence dragged on.

It wasn’t that he had no idea. On the contrary, too many possibilities came to mind, making it hard for him to speak.

Yohan glanced at Mikael, then placed his hand over his heart. He could feel the pulsing aura of a curse.

An aura that wasn’t his own. A sticky, hideous curse. But….

He felt something that was similar to divinity.

Perhaps it was only natural. Since he had taken upon himself the curse that had been imprinted on those who had been branded as sacrifices to a god, it wasn’t all that surprising to sense divinity within the curse.

What deserved attention was something else.

What exactly did that beast see that made it say it smelled of a god?

The divine power Yohan possessed?

The curse he took upon himself to purify the souls?

The beast sensed the scent of a god and attacked him. If so, did that mean it was the former?

If so, why did it attack him even though it recognized the scent of a god?

A beast capable of conversation would have realized that the divine power Yohan possessed was no ordinary force.

The sacrifice, the Dimension Destroyers, the beast.

The ritual, the corpses from the first village that had been dead for quite some time, and the traces of a beast left on the corpses.

“Everyone, step back!”

Professor Shinbi, who issued the command, combined the energies of the two spirits and fired them like a single beam. As Yohan quietly watched the battle unfold and pieced together the clues, a sound like gears clicking into place echoed in his head.

“…That can’t be.”

Yohan let out a wry laugh.

That’s ridiculous.

But the evidence, if you could call it that, was right in front of him.

Was it that far-fetched?

“What’s wrong? Did you figure something out?”

Suhyeok, who had noticed that Yohan had been lost in thought the whole time, gave his friend a gentle nudge. Yohan wiped his face and leaned against Mikael. Just the thought of it drained him of all energy; he couldn’t even stand properly.

“Yohan.”

When Mikael also gave him a questioning look, Yohan hesitated for a moment before sharing his theory.

“…Maybe the Dimension Destroyers are evolving the beasts.”

“Evolving?”

“How?”

“By infusing divine power through rituals or similar means to boost their power. At the same time, they make the beast capable of sensing divinity, causing them to attack any entity possessing it. Just like when it charged at me.”

“…Is that even possible?”

“I don’t know if it’s possible or not. But we all agree that the beast right in front of us isn’t normal.”

Even if Professor Shinbi wasn’t fighting at full strength, this was a beast fighting her on equal terms. Under normal circumstances, that would be impossible, so when everyone tacitly agreed, Yohan let out a groan.

The beasts had become weapons to kill gods.

What kind of blasphemy is this?

He wanted to believe it wasn’t true, but all the circumstances proved that Yohan’s suspicion was correct.

If the Dimension Destroyers had forcibly driven the beasts berserk, taken only those showing promise back to the village, and performed a ritual there, then everything would make sense.

Why only that beast had come down from the mountain range.

Why traces of the ritual had been found only in the first village.

Why that beast was so strong, and why it had attacked him the moment it saw him.

While not everything was certain, it was obvious that the Dimension Destroyers were conducting sinister experiments on the beasts to enhance their power.

Just as he was thinking he needed to hurry and inform Professor Shinbi of this, Professor Shinbi was also preparing to end the battle.

“…Haa. I didn’t want to have to resort to this, but you’re making things difficult for me.”

Professor Shinbi murmured irritably, then bit down on her thumb, drawing a drop of blood.

One of the glowing contract marks slowly began to turn red, and a fissure appeared in the air where the drop of blood fell.

Plop.

Something swallowed the falling drop of blood and forced its way out of the narrow space.

Sei, Mikael, and Yohan – who were taking the Spirit Studies class – immediately recognized what it was.

A supreme-class spirit that could only be summoned by drinking the contract holder’s blood.

“…It’s the Spirit of Gluttony.”

As Sei murmured in surprise, Professor Shinbi, who had heard the whisper, gave the students an awkward glance.

“The cost of the contract is a bit steep, so I don’t usually summon it.”

-Kihihihit.

The creature crawling slowly out of the fissure laughed.

Part beast, part monster, it had countless mouths, each drooling as if revealing an insatiable appetite. An appearance that brought to mind a monster rather than a spirit.

But despite that, it was undoubtedly a spirit.

-Fingers! Give me fingers!

“I’ll give you one once the duty’s done, so hurry up and go clear that out!”

-Uheheh!

…It might have been a bit crude, but it was still a spirit.

Whether light-aligned or dark-aligned, spirits naturally reacted to evil. The beast before them was precisely that kind of evil.

Boom!

The Spirit of Gluttony charged toward the beast in an instant.

–Grrrrrr!

Aware of the threat, the beast roared and swung its claws, but the Spirit of Gluttony was too quick. It moved as fast as lightning to dodge the attack, and opened its jaws before swallowing the beast’s paw whole.

Crunch.

The beast’s forepaw was torn off entirely.

–Grrr!

The giant beast let out its first scream.

But that wasn’t the end of the screaming.

-Aaaaargh!

“……?”

The Spirit of Gluttony was screaming as well.

Yohan and Mikael tensed up. They wondered if the evil aura emanating from the beast was affecting the spirit, but the result was unexpected.

-Ugh! Ugh! Ugh, this tastes awful… Ugh!

“…….”

The Spirit of Gluttony stuck out its tongue and vomited. At that pitiful sight, Professor Shinbi sighed and covered her face, while the students taking Spirit Studies class pressed their hands to their foreheads.

“…Hey, Yohan. I’m asking because I don’t really know. Are spirits normally like that?”

“…I suppose they are?”

Yohan frowned at Suhyeok, who asked the question even though he knew the answer was no.

The Spirit of Gluttony.

It was certainly powerful, but the cost of summoning it was just as unauthorized copyhigh… and it was a spirit with a capricious temperament.

After finally witnessing the true nature of that spirit— which he’d previously known only through theory —Yohan quietly closed a door in his heart.

Even if the opportunity arose in the future, he would never make a contract with a Spirit of Gluttony.