Chapter 1161

〈Chapter 1161〉 1161. The Academy’s Savior

It blocked Seonghali’s path.

Seonghali dislikes using the Spirit Devourer trait. I didn’t want to force my girl to do something she hates.

The blowing wind passed by me.

[Will you interfere?]

Seonghali and a wind spirit I’ve never seen before. Who I’d side with was obvious. I hoped we could have a conversation… but the wind spirit had already gone too far. There would be no talking this out.

I raised my sword and aimed it at the spirit. The elephant-faced spirit’s expression twisted as if wounded.

[So. You’re human after all.]

The wind grew fiercer. My sword wavered left and right due to the wind’s influence.

“Brother. Let me handle this…”

“Hari. You hate using that skill, right? I’ll take care of it, just stay back.”

Even as I spoke, the wind grew stronger. It felt like talking in front of a powerful fan.

‘Going in for the kill. Let’s end this in one shot.’

I charged toward the spirit.

The wind changed direction. Suddenly turning into an updraft, lifting my body into the sky. At this rate, I’d end up like those three Chinese guys getting toyed with over there.

‘Stormbreaker!’

Stormbreaker appeared in front of me, breaking apart and attaching itself to my body, forming armor. The added weight brought me back down. The spirit’s nose moved. The wind grew even more violent, pushing my body upward.

‘Seonghali… fortunately, she’s out of the wind’s reach. As expected from someone with good instincts.’

KAAANG! KANG! KAAANG!

Blades of wind struck the armor. They lacked the power and cutting force to penetrate Stormbreaker. Most importantly, the armor was tightly sealed. The wind couldn’t reach my skin.

That doesn’t mean I had the upper hand in this fight with the spirit. If the spirit changes how it uses the wind, I’ll be completely defenseless.

‘Makina.’

Makina suddenly appeared next to me in ethereal form. In this state, she’s unaffected by the wind. But she can’t use any abilities either.

[Calling me already? Weren’t you supposed to keep an eye on that bald old man?]

I had assigned Makina the task of tailing and monitoring Yang Zishen. Just in case there was something suspicious.

‘Don’t you see the urgent situation here? Possess Stormbreaker.’

[Got it.]

Makina cheerfully replied and possessed Stormbreaker. Thanks to the recent maintenance with spirit oil, everything went smoothly.

‘It’d be great if you were always this cooperative.’

As Makina possessed it, the armor transformed into a futuristic suit. Especially the right hand, which turned into a round cylindrical cannon. The cannon emitted light and spun around, drawing in the surrounding wind to use as power.

Makina’s abilities were versatile. However, they consumed a lot of mana, which was the downside.

[Charging complete! Now all we need to do is fire!]

The problem was that the fierce wind made aiming difficult.

Click.

Steel wings emerged from my back. The wings helped maintain balance amidst the raging wind. Having Makina’s support made things much easier in various ways.

Bang!

A lump of energy shot out from the cannon toward the spirit. The spirit hastily moved its body


“GYAAAAAH!”

The Spirit lets out a blood-curdling scream as it’s struck at its core. I point my cannon at the creature, mana surging through me to charge the weapon in an instant. Just before the energy blast can hit, a massive gust of wind erupts, shielding the Spirit and sending the three Chinese warriors who had approached it flying.

“NEVER!!! NEVER!!! NEVER!!!”

The Spirit goes berserk, its core glowing wildly in response.

“So it’s resorting to Existence Manipulation? This is… seriously dangerous.”

We’re dealing with a High-Class Spirit here. Its rampant power could annihilate everything around us without breaking a sweat.

“I have to end this before it fully unleashes its strength…”

“But how…”

“Hey! Isn’t that lady moving?”

“Huh?”

I look down to see Seong-Ha-Ri approaching the Spirit despite the cutting winds. Each step forward leaves her battered, blood mixing with the wind as her dark hair whips violently around her.

“SEONG-HA-RI! GET BACK HERE!!”

My shout is swallowed by the gale, leaving her unfazed.

“If she can’t hear me, I’ll have to go to her myself…”

Shifting my weight downward while floating on the wind proves futile; the wind grows stronger, resisting my descent.

“Makina! Any ideas?!”

“It’s no good! Even with propulsion, the wind’s too intense closer in! Didn’t you see it block your energy blast?!”

“…Damn.”

What about Heavenly Heart?

“But how’s she enduring this? Normally, people would’ve been blown away like those others.”

Even I notice the oddity now. How is Seong-Ha-Ri advancing against such forces? Not through physical prowess—she’s not that strong. She’s on par with the Chinese warriors who were sent flying earlier.

Is it sheer willpower then? Some things can be overcome by will alone… but most cannot.

“It must be the Spirit Devourer(S) trait.”

It’s clear the Spirit Devourer(S) reduces damage taken from Spirits.

“Yu-Jin. Are you just going to stand there?”

“…”

I watch Seong-Ha-Ri push forward. Should I stop her? Is that what she truly wants?

“…I respect Seong-Ha-Ri’s choice.”

Still, I keep an eye on her, ready to intervene should anything happen. Her condition worsens with every step: her clothes torn to shreds, bloodstains marking her path.

Finally, she reaches the Spirit.

“GO AWAY!! GO AWAY!!”

Fear laces the Spirit’s roar as Seong-Ha-Ri continues undeterred.

Though terrified, the Spirit doesn’t retreat. Instead, it launches an attack—a devastating tornado capable of obliterating everything within range.

Seong-Ha-Ri swings her spear.

The wind is cleanly sliced apart, vanishing into nothingness. She advances further, her spear piercing the Spirit’s core with precision.

“AHHHHH… AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!”

The Spirit screams in agony, its final attempt to summon a wind bomb evident. But the gathered winds dissipate mid-form, its power absorbed by none other than Seong-Ha-Ri herself.


…That ajumma just ate a spirit!]

Makina said seriously. It made sense. From Makina’s perspective, it was a scene of her kind being eaten.

‘To me, it doesn’t look as grotesque as I thought it would.’

The wind disappears.

My body plummets downward. Thanks to Makina using the thrusters midway, I landed safely on the ground.

I approached Seong Hali, who stood there with a dazed expression.

“Hali, are you okay?”

Seong Hali weakly nods her head.

“I’m fine.”

Up close, her body was in shambles. Torn clothes and a blood-soaked figure. Thankfully, there were no fatal wounds. I pulled out a potion and sprayed it on her head.

The blood on her body washed away with the potion. Her scarred skin healed and smoothed over thanks to the top-tier potion.

“Is it really okay to use such expensive potions like this?”

She jokingly said, trying to lighten the somber mood.

“The potion isn’t as important as you are.”

“…Thank you, Oppa.”

I summoned new clothes and handed them to her. Seong Hali was about to change when she hesitated. Three Chinese people were approaching from afar, covered in injuries.

“Do you have any potions?”

“It would be great if you could give us some potions too.”

“We’ll pay you back later for the cost of the potions.”

They boldly requested the potions.

‘Makina.’

[Okay!]

Wheeeeee.

A drone appeared from the sky and flew toward the Chinese individuals. They widened their eyes in surprise, unable to immediately comprehend what the drone was. Soon, they tried to evade it, but the magnetic field emitted from the drone restrained their movements.

[Haha! Self-destruction mode!]

Makina cheerfully shouted.

The result wasn’t cheerful at all. A massive explosion wiped out the surrounding area. Naturally, a crater formed in the ground as if a meteor had fallen.

The three Chinese individuals vanished without a trace.

“Hahaha! This is my power! You pathetic humans!”

Makina materialized, crossing her arms and laughing.

Though Makina alone couldn’t usually wield this much power, the time spent consuming spirit orbs and the special environment that had transformed into a spirit realm gave her strength.

Makina slowly flew toward us.

Seong Hali’s expression wasn’t good. It seemed she was afraid of Makina’s reaction rather than the deaths of the three Chinese individuals.

Makina is a spirit, and Seong Hali literally ate a spirit right in front of her. Seong Hali must be fearing that Makina might feel fear or hatred toward her.

“Hali, you’re not dying, right?”

“Gu, I’m fine.”

“Thank goodness!”

Makina hugged Seong Hali just like she usually did. Seong Hali’s eyes widened. She then relaxed with a faint smile, hugging Makina back.

“Thank you for worrying about me, Makina.”

It was fortunate that Makina wasn’t an ordinary spirit. Unlike Mocha, a high-level spirit who subtly avoided Seong Hali, Makina didn’t avoid her at all.

Later, Seong Hali went behind a tree to change clothes and came out.

I sneakily peeked. There might be injuries in places that aren’t visible.

In the middle of it, my urges flared up, and I almost pounced on her, but I restrained myself because of her serious expression.

“Hali, how about we just run? To me, this situation reeks too much.”

We destroyed the radio provided by the Chinese Hero Association. That alone was enough to make enemies with them, but we also killed three Chinese heroes. Our relationship with the Chinese Hero Association has already soured beyond repair. Running away would be beneficial.

“If we run, millions of people on this island will die.”

“I care more about you than millions of strangers whose faces I don’t even know.”

“Oppa…”

Seong Hali’s face turned red.

A pinkish atmosphere enveloped us.

Spending happy times like this wouldn’t be so bad.

Kwaang!

An explosion sound rang out, and Seong Hali quickly composed herself.

“Let’s go, Oppa.”