A Villainous Aristocrat's Pursuit of Peace ~ Reincarnated as the Most Talented Mage in History, I'll Achieve Supremacy in order to live a peaceful life with My Maid~ - Chapter 65
This “Independent World.”
That’s what we called the space where the Spirit King and their followers, the spirits, resided. It was a realm separate from our world, existing independently without any interference. In this realm, the spirits were incredibly powerful compared to the spirits in our world.
The reason for this stark difference was simple. The spirits in our world existed as what we called “sub-bodies,” temporary forms that allowed them to interact in our world. However, in the Independent World, even lower-tier spirits were stronger than the higher-tier ones in our world.
Even if I were to go all out in my current state, it would likely be a close match with higher-tier spirits. The Spirit King, in their prime condition, was absolutely unbeatable for humans. Even dragons would be killed like mere infants, and dragons themselves would last no longer than ten minutes before being annihilated. In that sense, humans were simply not suited to be their adversaries.
By the way, in the other world, I managed to narrowly defeat the Spirit King. However, that was just a mirage, and if I were to encounter the Spirit King in the Independent World, I would likely be reduced to dust in seconds.
And…
The name of this world is the “Abyss, the World of the Darkness.”
It served as the home of the Spirit King of Darkness and its followers; a realm eternally shrouded in profound darkness. Once someone entered it, they could never leave unless they possessed the power of divine intervention or some sort of world-crossing ability. Everyone else would be trapped there for eternity. Except for me and the Spirit King of Darkness, Shade, as we were the contract bearers.
In this extremely perilous place, Yumiel, Shade, and I had come.
“…Where is this?”
“‘Welcome to my home. Wind’s upper-tier spirit and the Elf warrior, Yumiel.'”
We extended our hands in welcome, but Yumiel remained cautious, with minimal reaction. Well, considering that there was no light here, aside from me and Shade, no one else could be seen. Furthermore, this world was saturated with the magic of darkness, making it impossible to sense even with the power of spirits.
Certainly, Yumiel must be feeling confused, with my voice coming from all directions. The more he panics, the harder it becomes for him to understand his current orientation and posture.
“…So, this is where the Spirit King resides. Hmm… it’s a different dimension.”
“‘Of course. There’s a fundamental difference in specs between humans and the Spirit King, after all.'”
“Yeah, I’ve come to realize that anew. The world is vast. I’m still just a tiny existence.”
Yumiel glanced around and shrugged in resignation. Seeing his reaction, I had a question I wanted to ask, so it was a good time to bring it up.
“‘Hey, about your village chief… he’s under a curse, right?'”
“!? H-How do you know about that?”
Yumiel suddenly went on high alert, and the wind started to swirl around him. Well, considering that only a select few know about it, it’s only natural for him to be cautious when a stranger like me mentions it.
“Who are you…?”
“‘I’m just a villainous noble who loves Mea a lot.'”
“Are you kidding me?”
I was simply stating the truth, but it seemed that I was taken for a joke. Yumiel’s face turned bright red with anger, and he shook his fist.
In response to his emotions, the wind swirled dramatically, growing strong enough to reach me. As expected of a high-level spirit, some of the dark spirits were intimidated.
Driven by his anger, I offered a proposal:
“‘What if I told you I could cure the village chief?'”
“What…?”
My words made Yumiel stop in his tracks, and his angry expression shifted to one of skepticism. However, this pause caused the wind to weaken, and the spirits around us sighed in relief.
“Can you take responsibility for your words?”
“Of course. I just don’t want to see Mea’s homeland, where she was born, destroyed.”
The Elf Village was like a side story in the game, but if you failed, the Elf Village would be destroyed, and over 90% of the world’s elves would disappear from this world. Among them were Mea’s parents. I attempted this part of the story multiple times, because Mea appeared here individually.
However, no matter how many times I cleared it, Mea wouldn’t appear. It was frustrating that she only appeared when I failed.
The success or failure of this story hinged on the death of the village chief. The village chief wasn’t just the leader of the Elf Village; they were also known as the “Guardian of the World Tree,” a special role reserved for those who dedicated themselves to the World Tree’s protection.
When the village chief died, the World Tree’s power weakened, and a certain individual, sealed away by the World Tree’s power, would break free, leading to the destruction of the village. By the way, the curse placed on the village chief was the work of that sealed individual, and it was incredibly powerful.
—But I will never let that happen.
“How do you know that? Can you see the future?”
There was a moment of silence. It seemed difficult for him to respond. Well, since I do have knowledge of the future, it wasn’t entirely inaccurate.
As I maintained a vague expression, seemingly unsure of how to respond, Yumiel suddenly smiled.
“Well, I don’t really care about that. And… if you claim you can save the village chief, then first try to defeat me!”
In that instant, an immense magical wind enveloped the lightless abyssal world. It appeared that even in a different spirit’s independent world, he became somewhat stronger.
Vast magical power emanated from Yumiel’s body, gradually converging into his hands. With mana several tens of times the size of his body, a colossal, faintly glowing wind spear manifested in his grasp.
The sudden appearance of light caused the spirits to become agitated; the space began to tremble and they could feel the mana in the room growing.
Ugh, this is troublesome…
“Calm down.”
I uttered a single word to prevent any further chaos.
In that instant, the spirits around us regained their composure.
“Let’s put an end to this. My followers are quite startled.”
“Then go ahead and try to defeat me. If you do, I’ll tell you about the village chief, and I’ll do my best to persuade them to let Mea return to this village.”
This was actually a welcome proposition for me.
Being forbidden from returning to the place where you were born is truly a heartbreaking situation.
“———Very well. If you’re going that far, let me show you the power of the Spirit King,” we said, and as we gathered our magic, Yumiel completed his technique almost simultaneously. Then———
we released them at the same time.
“———【Sky-Piercing Spear of the Void】———”
“———【Abyss Lord, Ruler of the Abyss】———”
The extraordinary spears unleashed towards us were instantly swallowed by the all-encompassing darkness and disappeared. Just before the darkness reached Yumiel, it stopped, and we returned to our original world.
“———I won, didn’t we?” I asked.
“…………Hmph, yeah, you did. Please save our village Chief and our elven village.”
“———Of course. I’ll make sure to put you to work for that, Yumiel.”
And so, in front of the bewildered spectators who had no idea what had just happened, we shook hands firmly.