Chapter 8: Satisfying Air

"Come on!" Reyn had an urgent look on his face, as if time was his own enemy. Guards from the right side poured down to the left side as his spirits began slaughtering the guards stationed there, but it wasn't fast enough. Within seconds, they'll be surrounded.

It was a dangerous maneuver he took, but better than any options he had. If it succeeded, he will only need to face half of the enemies' number one at a time, but if it was unsuccessful, his spirits will face total annihilation.

"Crap!" Reyn cursed in frustration. There was nothing he could do but stand on the stairway, refusing to enter the fourth floor. Afraid that he might get targeted again. Even though the guards lacked discipline, they were much stronger than the ones below. They resisted the swordsmen fiercely, buying enough time for their friends to come over.

If his swordsmen were all killed, it will take six hours before he can summon them all again. He couldn't even dispel them while they're totally engaged in combat.

As the guards from the opposite side drew nearer, a swordsman suddenly blocked their way. Reyn's eyes widened as he stared at the swordsman. It was Yasuke. The spirit's stance was lower than usual. In the blink of an eye, it vanished from sight and appeared five steps forward, leaving a trail of severed bodies.

'Deadly Sweep!' With mouth agape, Reyn watched the awakened spirit fight the dozen guards, single-handedly. Because of its attributes being doubled, it was twice stronger than the usual swordsman. It would grab a guard and throw it on the ground, easily. These throws were brutal. Skulls and spine would shatter from the impact, killing or disabling the victims completely. In addition, it had the Duelist ability and the Deadly Sweep technique, making it untouchable.

But Reyn frowned at this. If Yasuke had engaged like he planned and annihilated the guards on the left with its fellow swordsmen, the task would have been much easier. Although, if he had two more Spirit Swordsmen, he would have used them to hold off the guards on the opposite side. It was still a good thing that Yasuke had done what it did.

As the last of the normal guards fell, the two armored guard finally made their move. Their attention was completely centered on the awakened spirit.

'Yasuke, it's futile. There is no going back," One of them declared, brandishing its axe. "If you let me end your torment, I'll give you a swift death!"

The awakened spirit did not heed this and charged toward them. In a quick response, the duo swung their axes at the same time. Yasuke also swung his sword in a wide arc, not to block their attacks, but was aimed on their necks. The axes buried deep on the spirits shoulder and chest, while its attack also connected, separating two heads from their body.

'Is it gonna die?' Reyn frowned. It will take an hour before he can summon the spirit again if it perished. Carefully looking around, he entered the floor and rushed toward the downed spirit, unaware of the multiple notifications.

Yasuke fell on its knees and stopped moving. The other spirit swordsmen approached and removed the axes embedded on their fallen comrade. Reyn made it to their side and inspected the wounded spirit. The deep wound on its shoulder started to mend.

"Thankfully, you're still alive," He said in relief. "I would have to wait an hour to summon you again. I might have fallen asleep by then."

"Now then, let me check our progress," Reyn sat down on a comfortable spot he saw.

[Floor 4 Cleared!]

[Rewards:

10 Shadow Quintessence]

'Again? I only received quintessences just like the second floor!' He thought. Although, it was still satisfying because it doubled. Perhaps the most valuable of the three is the Shadow Quintessences because his spirits couldn't harvest it. He went on to check his other notifications.

[You have gained 16 Spirit Shards and 10 Soul Essences!]

"Whoa! That many?" Reyn exclaimed. He turned his gaze to the corpses and found no glowing dots of light. The Spirit Chain allowed his spirits to harvest them, which meant that he didn't need to manually collect them all.

After carefully considering for a moment, Reyn spent 6 Spirit Shards to Power and kept the rest for later. The speed made the swordsmen run at a higher speed but it didn't give them the ability to move from side to side. They were all still limping when they walked. What they needed was agility.

When Reyn looked at his spirit's ability, he was surprised to see that there were new ones. He was instantly torn between spending it on the abilities or upgrading the Spirit Memento. If the rune becomes stronger, another spirit might awaken.

Multiple creases formed on his face. In the end, he decided to spend 2 Shadow Quintessences on an ability and 10 for upgrading the Spirit Memento.

[Quick Retaliation Learned!

- Spirit Swordsmen can now swiftly counter strike.]

A sweet melody can be heard in the room as the Spirit Memento absorbed the Shadow Quintessences.

[Greater Spirit Memento gained!]

[Warning! Spirit Memento absorbed too much shadow and can now only be upgraded using Shadow Quintessence!]

"Fuck! Why didn't you tell me that I have to balance the ones I use to upgrade it!?" Reyn despaired upon the thought of the Spirit Memento and Spirit Abilities competing for his attention in the future.

[One of your Spirits heeded the call and awakened!]

[Noda, The Devil Shogun

Technique acquired!

Cruel Retaliation (Passive)

Aura acquired!

Domain of Terror (Passive)

- Your spirits are more brutal. Their power increases by 1.2× when The Devil Shogun is in the field.

Attributes acquired!

+10 Intelligence (×2)]

[Noda, The Devil Shogun:

Power: 21 (×2)

Skill: 26 (×2)

Speed: 10 (×2)

Combat IQ: 15 (×2)

Intelligence: 10 (×2)

Techniques:

Cruel Retaliation (Passive)

Aura:

Domain of Terror (Passive)]

Reyn satisfied his eyes reading the notifications. A minute later, he stood up after hearing noises coming from above. In the few darkness on the ceiling and the walls, something moved. He began to feel fear as the creature defied gravity. It was moving swiftly from walls to walls that his swordsmen couldn't properly position themselves. If it decided to pounce on him, his spirit would be powerless to stop it.

However, the creature suddenly retreated into the stairway, leading to the next floor above. Reyn breathed deeply and exhaled it shakily. He immediately took the initiative to go back down to the third floor. From there, all the fear he felt earlier turned to anger as he stared at the portal.

"Akira!" Reyn muttered thoughtlessly as he dispelled the swordsmen and entered the hole in space. He once again traversed the pathway carefully and stopped before the entrance of the platform.

"You're back!" Akira's voice echoed, followed by a cackle. "Please, come in. I don't bite."

Reyn only stood by the entrance without a sound. He had been planning and envisioning it right after the first time he left the place. Thus, when he climbed the fourth floor, he only stood by the stairway, a tactic he developed solely to not give an inch of opportunity to his enemies, the likes of Akira and other quick moving opponents.

With a wave of a hand, five spirit swordsmen appeared. Due to Yasuke's injury and getting dispelled early, it needed to recuperate for a few more minutes, and it was converted to five minutes cooldown.

"Go!"

Akira was immediately alerted. The swordsmen were running faster than before. With a single leap, the soul evaded the path of a spirit in full throttle. In an instant, he recognized that the spirits have trouble stopping on their tracks, they were not quick enough.

A wicked smile appeared beneath the mask as Akira danced around. The soul glanced at the youth standing on the pathway. The boy was too careful now. But it didn't matter, he will toy with the spirits to further instigate the young man.

Suddenly, green chains appeared on the swordsmen's hands. They used it in such a manner that Akira's face started to twist in desperation. Whenever he moved to a direction, they would whip the ground where he was supposed to be heading.

With a chuckle, as if enjoying his dire situation, Akira drew sword from his back. With this, he started deflecting the incoming chains. As the soul was busy fending off the relentless whipping of chains, a shadow slowly crept on his back.

Sensing the danger, Akira glanced at his back and was shocked. The kid he was mocking earlier had surprisingly entered the platform. A jab aimed on the face connected and stunned the soul for a millisecond. After setting it up for a stronger strike, Reyn took a quick step forward, hands up and elbows tucked in, he used the momentum to deliver an uppercut that snapped the soul's head backward.

The tormented soul had never felt ashamed like this before as he was rocked and staggered backward, suffering a concussion. Before he can react, a strong arm wrapped around his neck as green chains surrounded him from head to feet, subduing him completely.

"I knew there was something wrong with these chains," Akira shook in laughter. "You've guts, kid! I didn't see that coming."

Reyn's fist were still shaking while the Devil Shogun held the soul. His heart pounding fast. It took all the courage he could muster to enter the platform. That was reckless of him. He closed his eyes and controlled his heavy breathing. The air was satisfying. Finally, he could sleep.