Challenge: The Fool with the Surname Okayamine

Chapter 153 Beast Saga: 'Elf Spell Formula'

On a towering, snow-capped mountain in Northern Europe, there is a cave covered by thick snow.

This cave is hidden in a world covered in silver, surrounded by endless snow-capped mountains and dense forests, like a secluded fairyland.

'Shuashua~'

The wind inside the cave was biting cold, but a few steady footsteps could be heard coming from within.

Echoing the dark cave, a man with long black hair reaching the ground, wearing an old-fashioned suit and sporting heterochromatic eyes with two horns was walking ahead.

The man's steps were steady, moving like a ghost in the darkness. As he ventured deeper, the surrounding temperature seemed to drop even further, and the cold wind cut like a knife across his cheeks.

Finally, he arrived at the deepest part of the cave.

Before them, the spring water, emitting an eerie green light, flowed silently, its glow particularly dazzling in the darkness.

Beside it, a huge stone statue stood, its face indistinct, but its massive body gave people an invisible sense of oppression.

The man gazed at the spring and the stone statue, a thoughtful look flashing in his eyes.

"The original text, the well of wisdom possessed by the legendary giant Mimir in Norse mythology, something Odin once tried to seize. Although the myth doesn't quite capture it... I'll borrow the mystery of this unsummoned place that shrouds it here."

Ming bent down and pressed the display device from the small box given to him by Möbius onto the ground, but suddenly the giant statue behind him moved.

The heavy footsteps made the cave tremble slightly, and the dust they kicked up filled the air.

Ming noticed the commotion but didn't turn around, seemingly deep in thought.

"Is that so? The so-called giant master Mimir was actually protected by a magician's protective spell here? But to complete the magic ritual of this spring, is it still necessary to offer those things..."

Ming muttered to himself without making any movement. Suddenly, the statue's eyes shot out a cold, eerie green light, and then it clenched its fists and slammed them down hard at Ming.

The enormous fist crashed down with the force of a whirlwind. At that critical moment, Ming's eyes flashed with a sharp light, and in an instant, the giant was cleaved in two by the attack before he could even react.

Standing up, Ming didn't hesitate. He reached for his left eye with his gloved hand, then groped and squeezed, gouging out his left eye.

"Can't it be regenerated? Well, that makes sense. The original text needs to go through this first to maximize its mystery."

The lake water emitted an unscientific blue light that shone on his face, and Ming decisively threw his own eyeballs into the water of the Fountain of Wisdom.

As the eyeballs sank to the bottom, the blue light emanating from the spring became even more dazzling, and at this moment, the display device that he had placed on the ground to connect with mystery and spiritual power also reacted.

Ming touched his empty eye sockets with his hand, but he didn't feel much. Or rather, for him, he was willing to sacrifice any part of himself to complete the plan.

"Okay, next one."

After that, Ming's figure moved like a ghost through mysterious places all over the world.

He first arrived in Egypt, standing before the magnificent Pyramid of Ramses II, feeling the solemn aura emanating from this ancient building.

Next, he traveled to a spiritual vein point in Tokyo, Japan, to explore the mysterious power it contained.

Then, Ming arrived in England, at the bottom of the lake where King Arthur and the sword in the lake were said to be, and at the British Museum. Here, he seemed to see King Arthur's heroic figure and the cold glint of the sword in the lake.

He also discovered a replica of the cowhide from the Irish Bullfight, an ancient artifact that bears witness to that legendary history.

Continuing on, Ming arrived at the Temple of Zeus in Greece. Although this once magnificent building is now in ruins, one can still feel its former majesty.

Finally, he came to China, where the artifacts of the Shang Dynasty led him to collect what was called the mystery in the Investiture of the Gods.

Moreover, Ming also ventured into Mesopotamia in Iraq, using a stone slab from Gilgamesh "borrowed" from the British Museum to recreate the "so-called divinely ordained moment."

In India, standing before the statue of Fan Tian, ​​gazing at the sacred image and listening to the ancient Indian people's reverence and prayers for their gods, Ming only felt a faint sense of mystery.

In these places, Mingdu has magically recreated parts of that myth.

Having completed his exploration of mysterious places around the world, Ming, carrying the mysterious power he had collected, finally settled on the moon. The lunar surface was barren and silent, and only his figure appeared exceptionally lonely.

He closed his eyes, but his mind was unusually active.

"Nordic countries account for 20%, Egypt 10%, Japan 0.5%, Ireland, Greece, and China each account for 1.5%, Sumer and India have almost none, and the British Museum alone accounts for the remaining 10%, which is outrageous."

This was not a pleasant joke. Ming was simply calculating in his mind from the most rational perspective, using the Divine Eclipse Chapter to perceive the most standard time flow in Earth and Japan.

It wasn't until noon that Ming opened his eyes again.

"Six Eaters".

"Yes, Lord Flame Beast."

Slowly standing up, accompanied by the sound of a key turning behind him, a purple spatial door appeared beside Ming, and Mujin Mujin, wearing the uniform of Raizen High School, walked out from it.

“Take me to the vicinity of the sun,” Ming said calmly.

Rokuro nodded slightly, a glimmer of light flashing in her lifeless eyes, but it quickly dimmed again. She turned the [Sealing Master] in her hand, and then an even larger purple spatial gate slowly unfolded on the surface of the moon. On the other side of the gate was a blazing and dazzling light.

Ming stepped inside without hesitation, with Rokuro following closely behind.

As they passed through the portal, a strong heat wave hit them, and the intense heat almost burned the school uniform that Liu Shi had woven with spiritual power beside Ming.

Ming, who has always maintained perfect control over the temperature, was completely unaffected, or rather, he was smiling at that moment...

A massive sphere of energy lay before him, the power he had once craved now right before his eyes. Even if he couldn't fully control it, he could still seize a portion of the sun's energy through the technique.

"How beautiful!"

Ming sighed in fascination, as the Spear of Longinus, which he had previously absorbed into his body, was propelled out by his own power.

"Then... let the ritual of ascension begin!"

Just as Ming was about to control the Spear of Longinus to activate the Elven Spell he had modified, a pure white light shone brightly in the sun.

At the same time, a pure white holy light filled the sky over the snow-capped mountains of Northern Europe, the pyramid sites in Egypt, Tokyo in Japan, London in England, Ireland, the entire Greek sky, Shaanxi Province in China, Mesopotamia in Iraq, and the entire Indian sky.

It's like the legendary celestial realm.

Countless feathers fell from the sky, accompanied by countless golden particles being sucked into the air.

Ming connects the spiritual power of the Calamity Paradise, which is engraved on the Spear of Longinus, to the mysterious manifestation devices of those places.

This resulted in these regions being isolated and confined to a vast, arbitrary domain.

"I offer this blessing, with the desire of God as my body, the mystery of the world as my limbs, Your Law is revealed, light... Tree of God... ascend here, that Tree of God! In this realm, let me hear! See! Feel! The journey of the tree, thus ascending to the highest point."

As Ming chanted, the reversed spiritual power within his body began to surge rapidly, as if combining to form a key—the key to open the Tree Gate.

"Isn't that enough...?"

The malice within the spirit crystal in Rokuro's body was also extracted. The girl collapsed and was teleported away by the Demon King that Ming had just acquired, which Ming then implanted into himself without hesitation.

The moment Ming implanted Rokuro's spirit crystal into himself, the originally pure white holy light quickly turned black, and the sky in various regions changed from gold to dark red.

The energy around the sun began to vibrate violently, as if resisting the ritual of Ming.

Ming's body was also under immense pressure, his reversed spiritual energy surging wildly within him, turning his face deathly pale. But he gritted his teeth, enduring the pain, and continued to control the Spear of Longinus.

"Not yet... I can't stop! I absolutely can't withdraw the money! I must see her, I absolutely cannot stop—!"

After that roar, cracks began to spread rapidly across Ming's arms, and his voice became hoarse, as if it could not be heard!

After a long and painful ordeal, Ming's skin gradually became covered with dense cracks, resembling a spider web.

"Aa ...

As time went on, the cracks deepened and eventually pierced Ming's skin, causing blood to seep out and mix with the black mud, creating a bizarre sight.

Immediately afterwards, Ming's body began to fester, and his muscles and bones were gradually exposed, turning his once healthy body into something unrecognizable.

That powerful force seemed to be raging within him, constantly destroying his physical structure.

Suddenly, Ming's body seemed to be squeezed by a huge pressure and exploded violently.

Countless streams of black mud erupted like a volcanic eruption, completely enveloping Ming's body.

In this torrent of black mud, the boy's soul drifted away, and he vaguely seemed to see the pitch-black, reversed Kabbalah Tree of Life, representing the opposite...

At the same time, tens of thousands of hands dragged him into the mud. Ming's consciousness began to become hazy, as if tens of thousands of souls were pouring into him and being forcibly spliced ​​together.

"...You bitch! Get the hell out of here!" The man's eyes widened in fury, his face contorted with rage, as if he wanted to tear the person in front of him to pieces.

"You beast, I'll fight you to the death!" The woman's voice was filled with despair and resentment, and her eyes flashed with a mad light.

"Why doesn't she like me!" This sentence echoed in Ming's mind like a curse, each word like a sharp blade, deeply piercing his heart.

Images flashed before Ming's eyes: those who had once been hostile to him were now mocking and ridiculing him in his mind.

Their eyes revealed endless contempt and disdain, as if he were the most lowly and useless being in the world.

"Aaaaaaaaaaa!"

Ming felt his body getting heavier and heavier, as if he was being pressed down by an invisible force and unable to move.

His breathing became rapid, and his heartbeat became increasingly violent, as if it were about to leap out of his chest.

The malice of hundreds of thousands of people played endlessly in his mind, like a horde of demons ravaging the depths of his soul. Ming painfully closed his eyes, trying to escape it all, but the malice followed him like a shadow, constantly haunting him.

In this endless pain, Ming gradually lost himself. He didn't know how to face it all, nor did he know where the future lay.

In this hazy, painful state, the only thing Ming could clearly hear was a mixed male and female voice that sounded like hundreds of millions of people talking at once.

Ascend the ladder of God, relinquish your desires, begin in the Kingdom, traverse countless lives, and ultimately transcend death. Understand God's will, comprehend God's principles, unite all things, and you will no longer be yourself.

"It's so noisy..."

Ming suppressed the surging malice in his mind and roared at the voice:

"I don't care about God's will or God's reason! I just want to see her one more time!" As soon as he finished speaking, the boy climbed back to the top of the black mud, but his body was pulled back down again.

The mixed voice rang out again: "Your obsession runs so deep; if you can bear the weight of all things..."

After saying that, more souls turned into black mud and rushed towards Ming. Ming felt his consciousness becoming increasingly blurred; his name... his memories... everything was merging with other souls...

"So...so sleepy...Who am I...Where am I? Why am I here...I'm Ryutaro...No! I'm Edward...No, who am I?"

Ming wandered through the black mud in countless ways, until he lost his face and gender no longer mattered to him. Now he was just a black soul, or perhaps nothing at all...

From a biological perspective, the noise of "instability" echoed in his mind. The ugly face of humanity showed him the cruelty of the world. It only takes a little push for a benevolent creature to turn into a compassionate one, and primates can be reduced to the pathetic state of dullness.

Malice was being instilled within him, and his soul was crumbling little by little. Ming, or what should now be called "unknown," was experiencing death again and again, yet he was unable to abandon all the malice and thoughts of humanity in order to transcend death.

Do I love humanity? I don't know...

Even if he had forgotten language, even if he knew nothing, there was still a sun and will that belonged only to him that faintly flashed in his heart.

It was a girl... a girl standing under cherry blossoms, but I didn't know who she was.

...but I want to touch it again.

The meaning of my existence... is not important to me, my own life... I don't value it either... but one thing... no!

Absolutely not! They can take anything away from me... but the memories of her that I hold in my body are absolutely unacceptable!

Ming's soul climbed the tree that never ends, carrying the weight of countless consciousnesses.

For a soul like his, if he lost his hands, he would use his feet; if he lost his feet, he would use his body to climb like an insect. Even now that he has lost his body, Ming still has not stopped moving forward.

the climb...

the climb...

To climb...

the climb……

the climb!

the climb!

the climb!

Climb! Climb! Climb!

"We absolutely have to climb up there!!!"

At that moment, this nameless soul, who didn't even know who he was, was struggling to climb, with human malice beyond description embedded in his body.

He had long forgotten who he was, but that didn't matter. No matter who he was... no matter what kind of life he was, no matter what form he existed in, he only needed to remember one thing.

"To see her again, and to reclaim the smile of that girl named Sawa Yamada!!!"

"That is the will that I now possess! This is my evil! Do you see it, [world]?!"

The black mud, representing the world's malice, is being devoured by an unknown greed. Even though the soul becomes deformed, it still climbs the path to power.

He... or rather, at this moment, a halo appeared above his head, emanating black mud. Various creatures' skin and scales grew on his body, 12 wings of various creatures grew from his back, and he was covered with a large number of irregular eyes. He grew 6 tails of different creatures, and his feet turned into goat hooves and grew goat horns, but he was still moving forward.

Even the tree, which represents the evil of all primates, trembled at this madness, and it tried to reclaim the black mud.

But these muds were involuntarily and forcibly swallowed up by something unknown, and in some terrifying cases, they even faced death, all for this moment of madness!

No matter what it is... as long as it makes him stronger after being devoured, that's all that matters. This is the man's endless philosophy of stitching things together. As long as he can climb up and help him complete his mission, it doesn't matter what it looks like.

As long as I can kill [that one], as long as... I don't care how Sawa views me anymore when I see her again... This is my arrogance!!!

The sound of his own soul disintegrating gradually became melodious, but that no longer mattered. The tree steps, however, were trembling rapidly, trying to disintegrate to prevent the man from climbing... only to be forcibly pieced back together by the black mud gushing from his body.

Like a symphony played by a demon...