Transformed into Cosmic Horror in a Sci-Fi Universe

EP.107 Three Factions

I casually release a bit of my power without any particular purpose.

The scent of dense magical energy.

I guide it not to leak elsewhere, but to flow towards them.

That alone was enough.

“Huk?!”

“Hiek?!”

To extinguish their flickering anger.

No, not just extinguishing their anger.

“……”

They’re too weak, aren’t they?

I didn’t even release my power that strongly…

Or am I just too strong?

Come to think of it, that wind spirit I saw before must have been pretty resilient.

When I think about it that way, it’s quite impressive.

I guess when you reach the level of a high-ranking spirit, you have more magical energy, so your soul becomes stronger too?

Well, anyway, this incident was about to end as a minor happening…

“B-Big bro! We’ll serve you as our leader!”

“Urgh! You’re too strong!”

“P-Please spare us!”

“……”

I wish it had ended as a minor incident.

These weird guys are clinging to me.

No, get angry.

Get angry that I made you faint!

Aren’t you wasting your title as spirits of wrath?

Why are you suddenly bowing and making a fuss about serving me as your leader?

Geez, this is ridiculous.

“I don’t keep pets like you.”

As I was about to leave after saying that.

“B-Big bro! Please take us in!”

“We’ll follow you for life~!”

As they shouted and followed me, a thought suddenly occurred to me.

Well, come to think of it, isn’t it a good thing that I can hear stories from rare spirits like the spirits of wrath and ash?

Besides, since I was born here not long ago, wouldn’t it be good to have a guide?

“Alright, fine. I have various things I’m curious about, so tell me.”

When I said I’d accept them, they nodded with bright expressions.

“Th-Thank you, big bro!”@@novelbin@@

“Ask us anything, we’ll answer even if we don’t know!”

How are you going to answer things you don’t know…?

They seem a bit overzealous, but they’re quite useful fellows.

Because they knew quite a lot of information.

Especially ‘Oldi’, the spirit of ash, who used to be a subordinate of the fire spirits in the fire territory.

Perhaps because of that, he knew quite a bit of information related to the fire territory.

Where to go, what are the characteristics of the fire spirits, and even that they often start wars and are planning to go to war with the wind spirits again soon. R̃𝔞NỔꞖÊŠ

“But why are you here?”

When I asked why someone who served the fire spirits was here, he said he was kicked out for being too cowardly.

He didn’t have the courage to live alone here either, so he clung to the two spirits of wrath.

Hmm… I see.

The twin spirits of wrath, ‘Lupi’ and ‘Rats’, were long-time residents of the Barren Ravine, so they had quite a lot of information about the ravine.

How the current power distribution in the ravine is, and that they’re in the midst of chaos due to the power structure being disrupted by a recent war.

There were many stories that could be quite helpful.

“Oh, the power structure has been disrupted?”

That’s an interesting story.

I thought that war was just good news for the spirits living in the Barren Ravine because it spreads a lot of magical energy.

It seems it’s not all good things.

Well… There’s no way there could only be good things when causing fights and conflicts in this land.

I guess villages and factions that were carefully built up get wiped out when caught up in it.

“Yes. Originally, there were 3 factions in this Barren Ravine. But due to the war 20 years ago, the factions were scattered in all directions, and now they’re working hard to restore them. We used to belong to a different faction, but now we’re part of the Greed faction.”

I thought they were quite powerful among the intermediate ranks, and it seems they indeed have a faction.

I guess they’re gathering all the spirits with even a little power to become the master of this Barren Ravine.

By the way, the Greed faction, huh.

It feels like a spirit of greed would be ruling it, just from the sound of it.

“The Greed faction is ruled by ‘Suk’, a spirit of greed with top-tier strength.”

Top-tier level, huh.

Then I guess the others are at that level too.

In terms of simple strength, I think they might be at a similar level to me right now.

There are a total of 3 factions in the Barren Ravine.

The Greed faction, ruled by Suk, the spirit of greed who came from a far northern land.

The Metal faction, ruled by Aigen, the spirit of metal who was known as the strongest general in the earth territory.

The Melancholy faction, ruled by Rumo, the spirit of melancholy who was born and raised in the Barren Ravine and is rumored to have lived for more than 2 generations (1000 years).

Each has numerous spirits under their command in the Barren Ravine, and according to one theory, they have close connections with the fire territory and wind territory as well.

Well… They must have done something to ensure they don’t become a nuisance to themselves, to the extent of getting involved in wars.

It seems they suffered great damage in previous wars by taking sides or getting involved in some way.

Anyway, the conclusion is this.

“This is going to be fun.”

Three factions in the Barren Ravine.

And they’re all ruled by top-tier spirits of completely different types.

I want to meet them in person, have a conversation, or do some research.

To do that, I need to draw their attention and make them take notice of me.

There’s a very good way to do that.

“I’m going to create a faction too.”

“…Pardon?”

“What?!”

My three subordinates are shocked by my words.

Well, I can understand why.

The other guys’ factions are too formidable.

They’ve been building their factions here for a long time, so their scale must be enormous.

Right now, if I say I’m going to create one, it’s just me alone.

At most, it’s the four of us, since these guys said they’d serve me as their leader?

“B-Big bro, no matter how strong you are, the power of the faction leaders is beyond imagination. There are even rumors that they’re close to the level of spirit kings.”

“That’s right. If you recklessly try to create a faction, you’ll become their target.”

They advise me while trembling.

Well, I guess it would be scary for them.

Even if I’m strong, they don’t know how strong I really am.

Honestly, I’m not sure how I compare to the other faction leaders either.

I thought about using a bit of my original body’s knowledge, but if I spoil everything like that, it won’t be fun, right?

Now that I have the chance to become the protagonist of the spirit world story, it wouldn’t be fun to become like a possessed protagonist who already knows all the content.

There’s a certain fun in destroying everything with knowledge I already have, but… honestly, if I’m going to do that, I might as well ignore Cthugha and everything else and just dismantle this entire spirit world by myself, examining it piece by piece slowly.

This time, I don’t want to handle things in such a boring way.

Let’s have fun using only this avatar’s abilities as much as possible.

If I get bored, well… I’ll just tell Cthugha to make another one and erase everything.

#

Shiver─

“…?”

For a moment, the Wind Spirit King felt a chill run down his spine.

It was an eerie sensation, as if some unknown, mysterious force was trying to erase this world.

‘What am I thinking? That’s absurd.’

Of course, such a thing couldn’t possibly happen, so the Wind Spirit King snorted and exhaled.

Whoosh─

His breath turned into a gentle breeze, softly spreading throughout the entire wind territory.

The great Spirit King who could create wind across the entire territory with just a single breath.

Someone came to see him.

“Your Majesty, a banished spirit named Dalpo has returned to our territory.”

“Dalpo?”

For a moment, he couldn’t recall, but then the Wind Spirit King remembered the name.

It was the very one who had been so blinded by the pursuit of merit that he tried to harm his own comrades.

The one who was banished from the wind territory 10 years ago for the crime of attempting to harm his colleagues.

Why would they bother to inform the Spirit King about such a person’s return?

“It is a principle that those who have been banished cannot return to the territory. So why is there a need to inform me?”

At those words, the subordinate bowed his head and spoke.

“I apologize. After hearing the story, it seemed to be an urgent matter, so I came to inform you. We’ve prevented him from entering the territory for now.”

“Hmm.”

The Wind Spirit King exhaled deeply.

Perhaps mixed with a bit of annoyance, the wind was a little rougher than before.

Still, judging by the fact that he didn’t scold him further, it was clear he was at least willing to hear what he had to say.

If a subordinate came to inform him like this, it must surely be important news.

“Well… According to Dalpo’s account, it seems a dangerous entity has been born in the Barren Ravine.”

“A dangerous entity?”

The Barren Ravine.

The land that borders the fire territory.

As a result, it’s always used as a battlefield with the fire spirits.

And because of that, it was also a place where they maintained a certain level of relationship with the factions of spirits living there.

A dangerous entity was born in such a place?

“Is it significant enough to inform me?”

Honestly, it wasn’t his concern.

Although the Barren Ravine was used as a battlefield and they maintained a certain level of relationship with the factions there because of it.

It was just that – a certain level of relationship, nothing more.

The Wind Spirit King didn’t particularly care whether they were exposed to dangerous entities or not.

And above all, he believed in their abilities.

The leaders of factions who possessed strength ranking at the top even among the highest tier.

No matter how dangerous a spirit might be born there, they had enough power to handle it on their own.

However, at his subordinate’s next words, the Wind Spirit King couldn’t help but frown.

“Well… It’s said that it might be dangerous enough to require Your Majesty’s direct intervention.”