The Return of the Genius Ranker’s Myth Warehouse - Chapter 415

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 415
Chapter 415
The Neutral Zone of the Spirit Realm.
The deeper I ventured into it, the more severely the space deteriorated.
Places where time moved sluggishly, where beams of light bore down with crushing intensity, places where gravity suddenly weakened and bodies drifted weightlessly—
As a dwelling place for spirits of every conceivable variety, the landscape itself was equally diverse.
Among them, the most troublesome areas were, naturally,
“Please be careful. This is the domain where spirits of wrath dwell.”
“Spirits of wrath, you say…”
“Grraaaaaaagh! Those dark spirits, those gloomy wretches, how dare they! I will never forgive them! I’ll tear them all to shreds!”
“Get out of here right now! This is the domain of wrath!”
“With so many spirits crowding in, the paths have become impossibly narrow. Navigating around the domains of emotion is quite the ordeal.”
This was where spirits of emotion made their dwelling.
To the eye, these regions showed little distinction, and their boundaries were scarcely visible.
Because of this, far more spirits than expected strayed into the domains of emotion.
And each time they did, they would rage like this,
“Sob, sob… those poor dark spirits. If I had to live in such a place, I think I’d burst too. It’s so heartbreaking.”
Or suddenly collapse and burst into tears,
“Hahahaha! How wonderful! On such a beautiful day, for all the spirits of the Spirit Realm to gather like this! It’s like a festival!”
Or suddenly break into laughter.
Had anyone witnessed it, they might have thought the entire assembly had contracted bipolar disorder.
Still, the spirits helped one another and steadily advanced toward their destination.
However,
“Aren’t the fire spirits coming?”
Water spirits, wind spirits, earth spirits.
And the spirits derived from them—mist, ice, wood, and others.
Countless spirits were all mobilizing, yet the fire spirits alone were nowhere to be seen.
The fire spirits, which could be said to be the strongest in terms of raw power, had no reason to be absent from such an occasion.
Fortunately, thanks to my high affinity, Elquines kindly answered my question.
“You said you heard from Bubble, but it seems you don’t know the details of this matter.”
“I only heard that the dark spirits have risen in rebellion and that all spirits are mobilizing to suppress it.”
“Well, since you heard it secretly through Bubble, she probably didn’t know the details either. The truth is, it wasn’t only the dark spirits who caused this.”
“What?”
“If it were only the dark spirits’ doing, not all the spirits would have gathered. If it were only the dark spirits, we water spirits alone would have been sufficient to suppress them.”
Now that I thought about it, that made sense.
The dark spirits, after all, were merely one faction among the countless spirits dwelling in the Neutral Zone.
I’d heard that among them, the light spirits and dark spirits held considerable sway, but they couldn’t compare to the four great elemental spirits.
For such dark spirits to rise in rebellion,
Even if their power had grown somewhat stronger, could they possibly turn all four great elemental spirits into enemies?
No matter how I thought about it, I remained skeptical.
In other words, the reason why all spirits of the Spirit Realm were mobilizing and why this was being called the greatest crisis in the Spirit Realm’s history was simple.
“The fire spirits have also been corrupted by the darkness spirits.”
“Corrupted, you say….”
“I haven’t witnessed it myself, so I don’t know all the details, but when a fire spirit approached, its flames turned black and it was absorbed into the darkness spirits.”
The fire spirits had fallen under the dominion of the darkness spirits.
Fire spirits were renowned throughout the Spirit Realm for their strength.
Yet fire spirits and darkness spirits had now united as one force.
Moreover, the darkness spirits’ power had grown far beyond what the spirits previously understood, so their sense of crisis was entirely justified.
Listening to this explanation, a thought struck me.
‘Luke, this is because of your bones, isn’t it?’
– …It does seem likely.
No matter how I thought about it, I could only arrive at Luke as the cause.
After all, Luke’s black bones spreading had likely caused the darkness spirits to lose control and riot.
And perhaps the fire spirits had been corrupted by the flame essence that Luke, the Black Flame Dragon, possessed.
At first, I hadn’t given it much thought.
But the more I learned about the situation, the more responsibility I felt.
“We’re almost there now. It’s just ahead.”
And so we finally arrived at the scene.
The scene was shrouded in darkness.
As if complete night had descended.
The path here had been somewhat dim, but not entirely pitch-black.
This place, however, was so dark that even describing it as the darkness of midnight seemed insufficient.
The only saving grace was this:
“Stay focused!”
“Please!”
“It’s too dark!”
The light spirits were illuminating the surroundings.
Not only Will, a high-ranking spirit, but even the lower-ranking spirits were pooling their strength to illuminate the area like lanterns.
In fact,
“Brighten the surroundings as much as possible! Our role is the most crucial! If the darkness consumes the area, the darkness spirits will become overwhelmingly powerful!”
“Yes!”
Even Ignis, the Spirit King of Light, was exerting his power.
The problem was that despite all this, the surroundings still didn’t feel particularly bright.
It was only struggling to illuminate the area like a streetlamp on the verge of burning out.
Beneath that feeble light,
“For something like this to happen in the Spirit Realm.”
“What in the world is going on?”
“An ominous portent indeed.”
Countless spirits had gathered together.
Naturally, they could be divided into two distinct factions.
The lower encampment was packed with spirits of darkness and fire, while the upper encampment where I stood held most of the other spirits.
With so many spirits from the Spirit Realm gathered in one place, their numbers were staggering.
A war like this was about to break out in the Spirit Realm.
And what’s more, it was happening because of Luke.
“Fire spirits. How did they become influenced by the spirits of darkness?”
“They were never the type to do such a thing.”
The spirits kept multiplying.
Enough to completely surround the Pit where the darkness spirits dwelled.
Well, it made sense since most of the Spirit Realm’s spirits were gathering here.
The problematic Pit was so shrouded in darkness that even the light spirits’ efforts couldn’t penetrate it—visibility was nearly impossible.
But using Luke’s dark vision.
‘I can see it.’
Everything became clear as daylight.
Looking down into the Pit below.
‘There are quite a lot.’
The darkness spirits filled it completely.
Darkness spirits also had different names depending on their rank—Death as lower-tier spirits and Shade as mid-tier spirits.
Sprite as upper-tier spirits.
And from what I could see.
‘It’s not that their numbers are so great… their bodies have swollen, haven’t they?’
All the darkness spirits appeared to have entered a rampage state.
Compared to other spirits, the condition of the darkness spirits was far from normal.
The problem was.
‘Those are fire spirits.’
Fire spirits.
The fire spirits too had lost their forms and now blazed as black flames.
The black flames emitted no light whatsoever.
Instead, they burned even more fiercely, feeding on the light that the light spirits above were pouring down.
The reason light couldn’t reach below despite the light spirits’ efforts was probably because of those flames.
‘The faction is quite powerful.’
But something about their state seemed off.
No matter how I looked at it, they didn’t seem ready to fight immediately.
The other spirits couldn’t see what was happening below, so they appeared to be waiting for all the spirits to gather before launching a coordinated assault.
But from my perspective, this was the perfect moment.
The instant I thought that.
‘What’s that?’
Two beings entered my vision.
Arcane, the Darkness Spirit King.
Ifrit, the Fire Spirit King.
Both Spirit Kings had eyes devoid of reason.
My body was no exception.
Arcane occupied roughly half the Pit with a gelatinous, amorphous form.
Ifrit was charring that other half into blackness.
And these two beings.
‘They’re fusing?’
began intermingling their bodies.
But that wasn’t all.
A soft, slithering sound.
The other spirits of darkness.
The other spirits of flame.
All of them were being absorbed, drawn inward as if sucked toward the two Spirit Kings at the center.
The sight was deeply unsettling.
– Master, that is….
“Yes, I think I understand.”
Watching this unfold, I could now comprehend the situation with perfect clarity.
And there was something else.
I could also see that leaving things as they were would be dangerous.
If they completed their form.
If they engaged in battle with all the spirits gathered here in that state.
Whether the lower faction or the upper faction emerged victorious, irreversible devastation would surely befall the Spirit Realm.
Therefore.
“Elquines.”
“Are you uneasy? I can send them back to my Spirit Palace. If you ride my currents, it won’t take long.”
“I’ll handle this myself.”
“Pardon?”
I had resolved to deal with it personally.
If they fought the other spirits, the damage could be catastrophic.
But I felt I could somehow manage it.
I couldn’t claim with certainty that I could defeat that entity—all the spirits of darkness and flame fused together around the two Spirit Kings—even with my power alone.
But with Luke beside me, I felt we could resolve it.
“That’s impossible. I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I cannot send a guest—one who has visited the Spirit Realm after so long and possesses such remarkable affinity—into danger.”
“Don’t you understand, Elquines? If battle erupts as things stand, the Spirit Realm will suffer immense damage.”
“I’m aware of that, but….”
“Before that happens, I will resolve this. This is my will. The Spirit Realm has nothing to lose, does it?”
I couldn’t simply rush in recklessly.
If Elquines or the other spirits immediately attacked or interfered, it would be problematic.
So first, I needed to obtain Elquines’s permission.
Of course, she didn’t grant it easily.
“…Are you truly confident?”
“Yes.”
“Please wait a moment. This doesn’t seem like a decision I should make alone.”
Fortunately, I managed to convince them somehow.
Soon after, Elquines muttered something.
“What is it, Elquines?”
“Haven’t all the spirits gathered yet?”
Sylphid, the Wind Spirit King, and Trowell, the Earth Spirit King, appeared.
After that, Elquines began explaining my proposal to the two of them.
They also didn’t seem enthusiastic about sending a guest of the Spirit Realm into danger.
“Surely there must be some way?”
“There’s no need to tell lies and throw away your life.”
“You must be confident about something.”
“That human’s words are right. I think it would be good for us to trust them once.”
Fortunately, Elquines successfully persuaded the two of them.
Now only one thing remained.
“Is there anything we can help with?”
“I would appreciate it if you could create a wall.”
“A wall?”
“Something might happen below. I don’t want to cause unnecessary damage, so I’d like you to seal the top of the Pit.”
“Hmm, that’s…”
If I use Black Flame below, it could cause misunderstandings among them.
They might think I’m in league with the two Spirit Kings below.
That’s why I requested the wall.
To hide it from the eyes of the other spirits.
The three Spirit Kings seemed to deliberate for a moment.
“Isn’t there a saying that you have nothing to lose?”
“Ahem, understood.”
“However, you must finish within one hour. After one hour, when all our spirits have gathered, we will immediately break down the wall and proceed with the attack.”
“Understood.”
I received permission right away.
After that, without further explanation, I
leaped straight down into the Pit.
Above me,
a rumbling sound echoed.
Three layers of walls materialized.
First, solid earth formed the ceiling, and water seeped through it before freezing solid.
Fierce wind wrapped around this, sealing off the entire Pit.
Even the light from the Light Spirit was blocked, making the darkness of the Pit even deeper.
But it didn’t matter.
‘I don’t care.’
Using Dark Vision, I could see my surroundings clearly even in this darkness.
And so I.
Witnessed it.
A spirit of darkness and a spirit of flame.
Two kinds of spirits converging, taking form.
“Grrrrooooaaahhhhh….”
I beheld the silhouette of the Black Flame Dragon.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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