Chapter 88: The Spirit King
The Spirit King.
From the moment it gained sentience, one thing was painfully clear: this was a being that was meant to stand at the peak.
It was obvious to even the creature itself as if that was some absolute, undeniable truth etched into its very existence.
It was believed that everything else... was beneath it.
The countless spirits that floated through the air in this lab, the humans running around in white lab coats, every single one of them felt insignificant.
And with that, it knew that it was born to rule over them all.
Time quickly flew by, with the creature growing stronger and bigger with each passing day,
Until it transformed from a form that it didn’t quite understand, and awakened to its true self, a humanoid vessel capable of containing its immense power.
The Spirit King calmly floated in its glass container, curious about the little pests that constantly ran around the lab.
It wondered how much force it would take to squash them.
And with that thought, it slightly lifted its clawed hand towards one of the scientists in the lab, and the next second,
SQUASH!
As if being compressed, the scientist was suddenly crushed and for a few seconds, the others had no reaction to this.
It took their brains a few seconds to process what they had just seen and when it did, chaos erupted.
In the eyes of the spirit king, they scattered like ants, as they tried to activate some kind of lockdown protocol.
A barrier suddenly appeared around its container, one meant to stop it from affecting anything beyond, but the creature just lifted its finger and tapped on the glass.
The moment it did, cracks appeared on both the barrier and glass before they completely shattered, releasing it completely.
"I-it escaped," one of the scientists stated, "c-contact the Ma—"
Before he could complete his words, the sudden force also fell on him, completely crushing him.
The chaos in the lab got even worse as humans ran up and down, unfortunately, none made it far enough to escape.
Throughout all this, the Spirit King floated in one spot looking at the human-like bugs with its eye.
Crushing them was fun for a few seconds, but it was quickly getting boring...well, at least their screams and panic provided enough entertainment.
Continuing its killing spree, the Spirit King massacre was suddenly interrupted when a heavy aura overtook its own.
"Now now," a voice suddenly said, "I know you’re having fun, but I can’t have you killing all my researchers."
The Spirit King turned aside, expecting to see another bug, but the moment its gaze landed on the one who had spoken, a wave of dread overcame it.
It felt an emotion unfitting of one who was meant to stand at the peak,
Fear!
***
And that same fear was what it felt when Lucian’s attack landed on it, almost killing it.
"You must die," it said.
Lucian’s and Noelle’s eyes widened as they heard the creature speak, something they hadn’t expected it to be capable of.
But their surprise didn’t last for long because the next second, the Spirit King’s tendrils were suddenly launched forward, all aimed at Lucian.
BOOM!
They extended and slammed into the spot where he stood, fortunately, he moved just in time to avoid being hit.
But the tendrils didn’t relent, and they continued extending even more, chasing him down.
[Ice Rain]
Noelle suddenly commanded and large shards of ice started falling from the sky above, harmlessly landing on the Spirit King.
But that was not to say the shards were completely useless though, because although they couldn’t harm its main body, any tendril touched by the shards were immediate frozen and broken off.
Annoying, the spirit king said and lifted its hand and swinging it in dismissal.
Noelle’s instincts immediately screamed at her and she managed to shield herself with an ice wall, just in time to block a sudden invisible force that was aimed at her.
The creature’s momentary distraction was all Lucian needed to form an attack right above it.
Multiple swords made of golden light were suddenly formed above it and with a flick of his wrist, Lucian commanded them all to fall.
The Spirit King looked above him a little too late, as the swords were now too close for it to dodge.
BOOM!
The swords exploded on impact, creating a glow in mid-air, one that could be seen even from a distance.
A cloud of smoke was created with each detonation, completely engulfing the spirit king, obscuring its vision of it.
Lucian stood next to Noelle, his breathing a little heavy but his golden aura still burning strong as he looked at the smoke cloud.
"Did that do anything?" he asked, hoping that it did, after all, he wanted to end this quickly and get back to saving people.
The smoke cleared up, revealing a scene that caused him to frown.
Still floating midair was the spirit king, visibly damaged, but not as much as they expected.
It had cuts dripping with black blood flowing from them, and one of its hands was completely gone.
But the creature was very much still alive, and a lot angrier, if the glow around it was anything to go by.
The air turned completely lifeless, so much so that even the weakest spirit mage could feel it.
The Spirit King had sucked up all the Spirits floating around in the air and was using them to heal itself.
"I-it’s getting stronger," Noelle observed as more eyes opened around the creature’s entire body..
The aura of corruption being released by it was even suppressing the two, making it harder and harder for them to breathe.
One thing had become painfully clear as they looked at the regenerating Spirit King,
They had no way of winning against that thing.
"I can hold it off for a few minutes," Lucian said after a while, though his hands were slightly trembling, "in that time, I want you to get to safety."
"B-but —" Noelle wanted to argue, but was cut off.
"That is not a request," Lucian said in a cold tone, "Besides, it wouldn’t make any difference if the two of us stayed anyway, so you might as well go get some help."
With that, he stepped forward and his golden aura rose to one befitting of a protagonist. His blue eyes started glowing, and even his blonde hair took on a golden glow.
He was willing to push himself past his limits, if that meant keeping people safe. Noelle, behind him, hesitated for a while before turning towards the academy.
She planned on getting help as quickly as she could and prayed that Lucian would be able to hold on until then.
The prince watched her leave before smiling and turning back to the spirit king. Fortunately, it was completely uninterested in the Saintess, so it didn’t even look at her leave.
"Alright then," he muttered as he took a sword stance, "let’s get started shall we?"
But just before he could make his move, another dreadful aura completely covered them.
Even the Spirit King seemed affected by it, as it was now frozen stiff under the aura.
The aura felt heavy and suffocating, Lucian’s pupils trembled as his instincts went haywire.
I’m going to die.
That was the only cohesive thought that could form in his mind, and it repeated over and over again.
A voice suddenly rang out directly in his mind, uttering a single command.
[Cease]
And the next second, the Spirit King, a terrifying entity born to stand at the top of the world,
Simply ceased to exist.