Dungeon Hunter - Chapter 167

Chapter 167: Episode 51. The Spirit King of Fire (2)

The Spirit King of Fire…

I didn’t know a lot about him.

This was because the rest of the spirits were not involved in the fighting of the demons, except the Spirits of Darkness. They fought among each other in the World of Spirits.

I had heard some rumors, but I didn’t think it would help me when I finally saw the Spirit King of Fire.

‘Adonis had a hard time when he fought against the Spirit King of Fire,’ I remembered.

In my previous life, Adonis had exceeded his limit and tried to take over the World of Spirits. That time, the Spirits of Fire, Light, and Lightning had resisted hard. Even when Adonis had taken over half of their world, they continued to fight.

One of his enemies was the Spirit King of Fire.

His name was…

“Garatsh,” I recalled his name and grinned.

I couldn’t help feeling a little nervous about finding out the difference between rumors and facts.

“His Majesty hates beating around the bush. His speech and behavior may seem somewhat harsh for some. But I’m sure you understand, Contractor.”

“Don’t worry.”

I could easily overcome harsh words and actions. From the beginning, I wasn’t the type of demon who paid attention to the tone of others and who would start a fight unless I was provoked or acting in defense.

“Contractor, to meet our king, we have to climb the Stairs of Fire. All outside beings have to climb these 3,600 steps.”

I arrived at the place not long after, passing through the crack. There were countless stairs made of flames going up.

It seemed that climbing the 3,600 steps was a test. The glowing red stones kept burning.

I could sense some sort of magical device. If the Spirit King of Fire was indeed on top of these stairs, I would climb them without hesitation. These flames couldn’t harm me anyway.

Sizzle!

While climbing the stairs, I heard something frying.

If my intelligence was only 80 points, it would have been painful. However, it had already surpassed 100. That made my anti-mana power superior.

Jeeves was surprised that I could climb the stairs without a fuss.

“Even intermediate spirits had a hard time climbing these stairs. Is it due to the contract with the Great Quintessence of Fire?”

“Even if I didn’t have the contract, it would be easy for me.”

Certainly, the contract with the Great Quintessence of Fire helped ease the burden of climbing the stairs, but even without it, I would able to climb easily.

“We didn’t have visitors for a long time. Other spirits watch here with curiosity. Why don’t you wave your hand at them?”

As I climbed the stairs, I noticed countless eyes were watching me.

Numerous Spirits of Fire focused their attention on me. I had wanted to talk to the king quietly, but I figured it would be difficult to keep this meeting a secret.

‘They were already aware… It would be best to build a strong relationship with them,’ I thought.

That was right. From the moment I helped the Spirits of Fire and Water, they knew what I wanted. My goal was to block Adonis from increasing his power. Since I wanted to establish a relationship with the Spirits of Fire, there was nothing wrong with improving my relations with them.

I waved my hand once. Then, the flames around me shook their bodies. Some of them jumped up from the ground up to the staircase and spun around me.

“The spirits are delighted. They like you a lot because you have an affinity to fire.”

“Is that so?”

“It would not work for my level. But why don’t you contract with some lower-level spirits? Depending on the contractor, the spirits can grow rapidly. They will work hard for you, so it wouldn’t be bad for you, either,” Jeeves suggested when we reached the halfway point.

A contract with the lower-level spirits… Kerpy had also handed me some seeds. She wanted me to raise them.

‘I didn’t care about raising spirits, but…,’ I contemplated.

What Jeeves said was right. It would not be bad. I already had stepped into the realm of transcendence, so contracting with a few spirits wouldn’t matter. At best, they would gnaw only a bit of my mana. Even that would be offset by the Conqueror’s Ring.

The ring could recover my mana quickly. Hence, it would exceed what the spirits consumed.

“I will think about it,” I said briefly.

Jeeves smiled with satisfaction. “Maybe the king will mention it, too. Or you can ask him to give you seeds of spirits. I am sure you will create a very unique and wonderful Spirit of Fire.”

“It will be raised as a vicious one,” I replied.

Jeeves laughed. “Contractor, is that a joke?”

I was serious. If the spirits grew to resemble me, then they wouldn’t have a normal personality. But I didn’t have to explain myself to Jeeves.

We climbed the stairs for another 30 minutes. The scene that appeared before me was breathtaking.

There were countless flowers made of fireballs and dozens of Cerberuses. The sun was very close, and the huge castle underneath gave off a feeling of pressure.

“Let’s hurry. The light from the sun is very strong. It means His Majesty is in a bad mood.”

“I guess he hates waiting.”

“Well, of course… Anyway, Contractor, follow me.”

Jeeves increased his speed.

<hr />

Garatsh was the Spirit King of Fire.

He was in the shape of a sturdy man. His hair and stubble beard were red like the sun. He wore a red cloak and looked extravagant by wearing 10 rings and precious necklaces.

However, my perspective was a little different.

‘Most of his items are epic grade,’ I thought as I sized him up.

I discreetly panicked after examining Garatsh with my Mind’s Eye. It was the first time I met him, but he was wearing really good items. I expected the Spirit King of Darkness who hosted auctions would wear better items. But it seemed like that was just my prejudice.

Maybe that was why Adonis had suffered in my previous life. Ganatsh’s stats were the strongest among those I had ever seen.

My heart started beating fast. I saw myself as the strongest one after returning from the Underworld… Or so I thought.

“I guess I should stay vigilant.”

Name: Garatsh

Occupation: The Spirit King of Fire

Title:

<ul>

Ruler of Flames (Ex Epic, All statistics+4, Full immunity against fire)

</ul>

Capability:

Power 107(+12), Intelligence 103(+7), Speed 104(+12), Strength 104(+7), Mana 105(+19)

Potential (523+57/550)

Others: He is the Spirit King in charge of the Fire World. As the strongest Spirit King of Fire in generations, the Fire Spirits have tremendous trust in him.

Skill: Clockwork of Sun (Epic), Shield of Sun (Epic), Dignity of Fire (Epic), Photosynthesis (Epic), Hellfire (Ex Epic), Advent of the Sun King (Ex Epic)

Applied Skill and Item Effects: Sun Ring (Epic, Mana +5), Hellfire Ring (Epic, Power, Speed, Strength, Mana +2), Burning Power Ring (Epic, Power +5), Sirhan’s Necklace (Epic, Intelligence +2, Speed +5), Dignified Armor (Epic, Mana +7), Ring of Last Breath (Ex U, All statistics +1)

[Relative comparison]

Garatsh

Power 119, Intelligence 110, Speed 116, Strength 111, Mana 124, Potential (523+57/550)

Randalf Bruciel

Power 105, Intelligence 105, Speed 100, Strength 107, Mana 110, Potential (434+93/550)

His total stats were closed to 600!

‘Overwhelming’ was the only word to describe it.

Adonis had surpassed his limit and raised his level with points in my previous life, but still, it seemed like he was no match against Garatsh alone. It was likely that Adonis had attacked the Spirit World of Fire because of Garatsh.

‘That’s why he was in a rush,’ I pondered.

Adonis was not a strong one among the Spirit Kings. I could sense the difference after seeing Garatsh.

Besides, the reason why Garatsh did not react to the Spirits of Darkness was explained: He could easily crush them if he wanted to.

Therefore, Adonis must have been impatient. Everything was now clear to me after seeing Garatsh in the flesh.

“There may be blue and better blue.”

It was said that Garatsh was the strongest Fire Spirit among the generation, but I still could not get over the fact that he was stronger than I was. I shouldn’t be complacent. I shouldn’t stop trying to improve…to be stronger.

“So… You have contracted with one of the Great Quintessence of Fire?” Garatsh confirmed, folding his hands behind his back, laughing.

“Yes. It happened somehow.”

“Hmm… If you are a contractor with Ifrit, you are not unrelated. I welcome you.” Garatsh offered his hand.

“I am grateful for your welcome.”

I had thought about maintaining a favorable relationship with them from the beginning. I took his hand and shook it.

Then, Garatsh said, “I will speak briefly. Cancel the contract.”

I frowned. It was not unexpected, but I never thought he would immediately ask for it. It was rude and harsh, just as Jeeves had warned a while ago.

I whispered, “Ifrit is located in my heart. If you force me to cancel the contract, I will have no choice but to use my force.”

If the contract was forcibly canceled, there would be negative consequences. Particularly, Ifrit was located in my heart, so there was a chance that both of us could die.

Garatsh was annoyed at my words. Fire filled the spacious room.

‘What an amazing mana,’ I thought.

I felt the pressure. It had been a long time since I experienced something like this. I felt the tension that I did not experience when I came back.

However, my intelligence and mana weren’t low. It was enough to strike back against Garatsh.

I let the Flame of Pride burst and stepped closer to Garatsh.

‘He can’t hurt me anyway,’ I assured myself.

We were in the center of the Spirit World of Fire.

If Garatsh and I engaged in a battle at this very moment, numerous spirits that I had seen while I climbed the stairs would die.

Also, technically, I was their savior. Garatsh must have known about it. In this situation, the king needed to act with dignity. Every word and action had value.

He would not repay good with evil to take the quintessence from me.

I figured this was a sort of test.

I could deduce his intention. He was checking if I was worthy enough to contract with Ifrit.

Clap!

Garatsh clapped his hands.

The intense aura in the room disappeared at the same time.

He said in an admiring tone, “Amazing. I can’t believe such a young demon like you already stepped into the transcendent realm. But it looks like you are not a perfect transcendent. There is a strong sense of imbalance.”

I did not pass the limit of 500 with my pure stats. It looked like he was referring to that.

I put out the Flame of Pride. “Is the test over?”

Garatsh laughed. “Yes, you passed. You are good enough to contract with the Great Quintessence of Fire. I don’t like the fact that you are a demon, but I heard you are taking a different path from the other demons. Is that right?”

His demeanor changed, completely different from a few minutes ago. He turned chatty. It meant he acknowledged me.

I touched Rage and the Sword of the Emperor and said, “Dark Lord… My goal is to beat all the Archdukes and become the Dark Lord.”

“Dark Lord… I like seeing underdogs aiming at the top. Most of them usually fail, but they create waves that move the world. Anyway, Contractor of Ifrit, you are now a friend of the Spirits of Fire. I would like to give you a present. Is there anything you want?”

I couldn’t return empty-handed, so I told him about my desire without any hesitation.

“I want to receive a large number of seeds of spirits. Since this is the first time, 100,000 should be enough.”