Chapter 168: Chapter 52. Spirits (1)

One hundred thousand seeds!

Although they were just spirit seeds, that was an unreasonable quantity. Fairies and spirits were born a long time after they were conceived. There would be no way he would give me that amount of seeds without hesitation or asking something in return.

However, small quantities would be meaningless to me. Contracting to the lowest level of spirits wouldn’t be very helpful either. There was nothing special that only the spirits could do, so, personally, they were neither good nor bad.

Then again…

‘I can pull strings… Koreans can work as seawalls for my dungeon,’ I thought.

Roy and Rose had already become the center of the Koreans. Kirin was actively supporting them. Hence, it would be easy to mobilize them as I wished.

If the Korean awakened heroes contracted with the spirits, my dungeon would become safer. Even if I had to leave the dungeon again, they could serve as a great breakwater.

Of course, the people who would contract with spirits had to be selected with strict standards. I needed someone who was truly eager to be strong. The more desperate they were, the more they would follow me well.

Besides, there might be a hidden achievement related to it.

For those many reasons, I had asked Garatsh for seeds.

He would not easily refuse this because he asked me what I wanted in the first place. It was a question of how many he would willingly give to me. It was also an opportunity to check his distribution.

I stared at Garatsh. He touched his chin and slowly opened his mouth to say, “That is an unusually large number. Even if you take them all, it will take a very long time until they reach maturity.”

Indeed, it was true. It would take time. However, they would grow fast in my dungeon.

I responded calmly, “I will figure something out. Let me worry about it.”

Garatsh smiled. “Alright. But you have to give me one, too.”

He granted my request without reluctance, as if it was not a big deal for him.

“What do you want?” I asked frankly. Surely, he wanted something in return.

“Information. The Spirits of Darkness—no, Adonis—I want to know the ultimate goal of that dark frog.”

Dark frog… I had to restrain myself from smiling at Garatsh’s petty name-calling. In fairness to Garatsh, although both he and Adonis were kings, their levels were so different.

‘Is he asking because he truly doesn’t have an idea about it?’ I considered.

Apart from that, I frowned at his question.

Could it be that Garatsh was blindsided by the Spirits of Darkness when they attacked the Spirits of Fire and Water at the auction?

“He wants to dominate the whole World of Spirits,” I informed him.

Garatsh moaned and shook his head.

“That is his ‘primary’ goal,” Garatsh emphasized, “not an ‘ultimate’ goal. I asked him to show me the ‘system’ thing, but he refused and kept it as a secret. Raising and lowering the level, opening cracks—the system seems very unrealistic. I want to know what Adonis will ultimately do with that system.”

Oh…

I searched my thoughts and remembered something related to this.

When I had summoned the Army of Malicious Commander, Maxium, the seal of the Underworld was shaken. While the Spirits of Darkness had explored there, the Spirits of Fire and Water had caught them and demanded information about the system.

It seemed like the Spirit King of Fire, Garatsh, had a lot of interests in the system.

“What does Adonis want to do with the system?”

I had actually never thought about it because the system applied to everyone involved in the game and couldn’t be owned by anyone.

Even in my previous life, I never heard about Adonis doing something through the system. However, in all honesty, it didn’t make sense that Adonis succeeded to control the entire Spirit World in the first place.

The World of Spirits was extensive. There were numerous spirits, and they had many different types. At least 20 Spirit Kings had been discovered.

In contrast, Adonis was alone. Even if he used the system to exceed his limit, would he be able to cope with the other spirits unaided? He had the help of the points from the Auction of Devildom, but still, it was unreasonable.

Unlike demons, spirits didn’t care much about distinguishing their allies and enemies. Most of them entered into an agreement that was beneficial to them.

Then it occurred to me… Did Adonis use the system to prevent others from forming alliances? I never heard of Adonis uniting with other spirits, so it was weird as well.

‘The Spirits of Darkness are always on the lookout for loopholes in the system,’ I thought.

In particular, they looked for things related to the crack.

I was sure of this because they had forcibly opened the crack to contact me last time.

What if it was possible for them to freely open and close cracks?

It would be possible to separate each spirit. An alliance among spirits would become impossible, so the Spirits of Darkness could hit them one by one.

And if they could open the large crack, it would be possible to open and mobilize a large number of spirits.

Adonis’s dominance over the World of Spirits in the previous life was almost the same time as when Ariel Diablo became the Dark Lady. I didn’t know what happened after that, but maybe Adonis might have started the war against Ariel Diablo.

Was it a conjecture?

It might not be the same as I imagined, but I was convinced that he probably did something similar.

I finally realized why Adonis had treated me like that. If ruling the World of Spirits was his only primary goal…

“I suppose he wants to become an all-powerful god,” I muttered.

God!

That was it.

Although I didn’t know anything about gods, if Adonis could unify the whole world, he could acquire an achievement high enough to elevate him as a god. It would be possible to become a god in a living state, not after death.

Adonis… He was awfully greedy.

“You think so, too?” Garatsh’s eyes sparkled. He went on, “I am ignorant about the system and the game that all of you are playing. So, I only had to guess what Adonis’s ultimate goal was.”

He was now convinced. Garatsh flashed a big smile. This newfound information interested him.

“As I said, I like to see underdogs aiming to the top. It would be very exciting to see Adonis show off his power against mine. He isn’t ready yet. I guess I have to wait for him.”

In other words, Garatsh would wait for Adonis to break through his limits.

I couldn’t understand his way of thinking.

‘He is not normal either,’ I pondered.

Why would he allow an enemy to threaten him?

I couldn’t understand it.

I thought it was better to get rid, the soonest, of someone who would eventually become an enemy.

Yet he was deliberately allowing and waiting for Adonis to improve.

No matter how I thought about it, Garatsh had an unusual way of seeing things.

There was a moment of silence.

In the end, Garatsh said, “Randalf Bruciel, I will send the seeds through Jeeves. I had a good time. And…it’s sad news for Ifrit, but the ninth fire is going through a ritual to make his flames stronger. He will be asleep for about the next three years.”

“I thought the Great Quintessence of Fire is complete being itself.”

“It is because the ninth fire was the last to manifest. Well, ask Ifrit about it. He will answer you.”

Ifrit was currently trapped in the heart of the Hell Lord. I was reluctant to take him out because I didn’t know what would happen.

It wasn’t important, so there was no need to take risks.

“I will be expecting the 100,000 seeds.”

I immediately turned my back to leave. Then, Garatsh said behind me, “You are an interesting demon, Randalf Bruciel. I will keep an eye on you.”

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I reflected on the meeting when I returned to my dungeon.

“I don’t feel good about this.”

Garatsh was strong. He was stronger than me and even stronger than the Archdukes of their heydays in my previous life. But he did not have the intensity like Adonis.

It was highly likely that his margin would be the reason that he would be defeated by Adonis.

‘By now, Adonis should have broken through the limits using the Quintessence of Origin,’ I reflected.

Time was needed to break through the limit and fill up the potential. Based on Garatsh’s attitude, Adonis would have enough time to do that. Would Garatsh be able to stop Adonis once he started to move in earnest?

“I just thought about becoming the Dark Lord…”

It was an easygoing way of thinking. I wanted to become the Dark Lord and wanted to laugh on the throne. That was my dream, and it hadn’t changed.

I had never thought about what I would do when I finally became the Dark Lord. Living at the moment was hard enough, so I could not afford to prepare for a very distant future.

But things had changed… I had enough power. I had to prepare.

Adonis was a potential enemy. I already turned him against me to a certain extent through the contracts with the Spirits of Fire and Water…

‘There is only one option,’ I thought.

My eyes shone.

I drew out Rage and the Sword of the Emperor.

“I have to become stronger. I need to be a better version of my present state,” I declared.

Meeting Garatsh gave me a refreshing jolt. I might be the strongest demon, but demons were not the only enemies.

Something could appear like the case of Oculus.

Thus, I had to keep increasing in strength until there were no more enemies left.

Then, I would have nothing to fear when Adonis tried to attack me after he took over the World of Spirits.

Garatsh certainly had the ability to act.

In just three days, he sent 100,000 seeds through Jeeves.

Most of them were half-burned tree branches or leaves, but I could feel a weak vitality from them.

“Contractor, don’t treat these children badly. If they are raised properly and sent back to us, then you will receive a huge reward from the king,” Jeeves said, showing much affection to the seeds.

“Is it necessary to return them?” I asked.

“It is basically up to you. But, think carefully before deciding. We have a lot of treasure. There are some legendary things that even His Majesty cannot touch.”

All the items worn by Garatsh were unusual.

It was a little surprising that there were even legendary-grade items.

‘That is tempting,’ I pondered.

I knew the effect of legendary-grade items. That’s why I couldn’t help but be fascinated with those.

“Okay,” I replied.

“Then, I will go back as my task is already done. I want to rest a little bit.”

He had been trying to do everything in three days. As I nodded, Jeeves went back to his world.

“What are these, Master?” Lyhee showed up as if waiting for her cue to speak.

I replied with a calm voice, “They are seeds of spirits.”

“Oh! Lyhee can feel the mana of fire. Wow! Lyhee has never seen so many seeds like these.” Lyhee flew around the seeds.

After a while, Lyhee returned to my shoulder with a mischievous smile.

“Lyhee-hee. Are you going to leave all of them in the dungeon, Master?”

“I will wait for them to manifest first.”

“Can Lyhee take some?”

I guess I could give her some.

“You can take three.”

I was nervous that Lyhee would ask more, so I set the limit just in case.

“Lyhee-hee. Can Lyhee pick the seeds then?”

I shrugged and said, “Go ahead.”

“Lyhee-hee-hee-hee!”

Lyhee’s wicked laughter filled the dungeon.