"If you wish to pursue him, then defeat me and move forward."

"Of course, I'll allow that."

With a light wave of her hand, the Water Great Spirit summoned an overwhelming torrent of water from empty space, rushing violently toward the Darkness Great Spirit.

What mortals call spirit magic.

It was simply a name given to the innate ability of the Great Spirits, one that became established throughout the world.

Unlike human mages, there's no need to shout incantations or perform preliminary movements.

It is merely the effortless alteration of the world, the divine act of something not human.

Yet, this too is no different for the Darkness Great Spirit.

An overwhelming flood of water, rushing with violent force.

The great spirit of darkness absorbed the tsunami-like wave of overwhelming force—no, it embraced it—by generating a darkness so profound it warped space and time.

Normally, darkness shouldn't be able to resist water.

Water has substance, while darkness is merely a state.

It's nothing more than the absence of light.

Normally.

But at the great spirit of darkness's presence, not even a single drop of water could reach.

Everything was swallowed by darkness.

Consumed entirely, erased without a trace.

"Is that a higher-level manifestation...? Quite troublesome."

"As long as this exists, ordinary water won't affect me at all."

"Hehe. You're just a human summoner, yet you've done quite well."

"You'll never understand this in your entire life!"

To the great spirit of darkness that had been summoned, the summoner, Hikaru, was both their child and their parent. Though it is unknown who first used the title "Beloved," it is the spirit's very nature—no, the instinct of a spirit itself—that makes them fall deeply in love. How much more so when that beloved is the very one who brought them into existence; their love is so overwhelming that they would not hesitate to sacrifice their own life. Even the great spirit of water, currently raging out of control due to hunger, is still a spirit, and thus their feelings toward the Beloved must be much the same. They do not intend to harm Hikaru. They simply find Hikaru so endearing, so desirable, that they wish to possess them. It's merely that, as a result, Hikaru may end up dying.

Being beloved by spirits makes one truly special. Each spirit, akin to a cell in their being, intensely seeks those who are beloved. A great spirit who has lived long and possesses stable spirit power would not be so emotionally unsettled by a beloved individual, but the great spirit of the labyrinth city is constantly used by humans and never ceases to exert its power, making stability impossible.

The great spirit of water, seated in a shrine that is half natural and half artificial, is more stable than the other three, yet it still suffers continual draining of its power as it feeds the labyrinth.

Thus, it possesses less power than a stable great spirit.

That should be the case.

Yet still, such immense power. Especially here, within the domain of water. If only it were night...

While maneuvering through the overwhelming torrent unleashed by the water's great spirit, the great spirit of darkness gritted its teeth.

Though it sounds impressive to call them great spirits, in truth, it was little more than a newborn infant.

It maintains the appearance of a great spirit, but that is all—there is barely any difference between it and a mere "beast" or "monster."

In reality, it could only manage to hold its ground, with no room to launch an offensive.

Though its darkness could nullify water itself, that was all it could do.

And even if not for that, the spirit of darkness inherently lacked offensive capabilities. If the opponent had been wind rather than water, it would have been scattered instantly.

—Well, anyway, holding back is its specialty. Master should have escaped by now, I suppose.

He managed to survive the high-pressure water slash unleashed by the Water Great Spirit by hiding within the darkness or absorbing it into the shadows.

The people gathered there scattered in all directions, and now no one remained nearby.

The Great Spirit of Darkness, sensing through the thread of spiritual energy that the summoned being had passed through the labyrinth and fled toward the domain of the Great Spirit of the East Wind, let out a sigh of relief.

"It seems our master has already escaped into the domain of the Great Spirit of the East Wind? Surely they wouldn’t destroy the town just for their own appetite, would they?"

As the Great Spirit itself had become part of the labyrinth city, its ability to move without destroying the city was limited.

Simply moving out of its domain wouldn’t cause the city to collapse within a day or so.

The problem arises when stepping into the domain of another great spirit.

The labyrinth maintains its balance and preserves its form because power flows in a beautiful spiral. Thus, if power becomes concentrated in one place, that balance is quickly disrupted.

While a spirit of lesser power, like the summoned darkness spirit, would not cause significant disruption, relocating the great spirit guarding the seat carries considerable risk.

"……Why do you think I’d abandon my A?"

"I’m a great spirit too, you know. I understand. How could I weigh the lives of thousands of humans—no, even my own life—against the scale?"

When a great spirit becomes part of the labyrinth city, it vanishes along with the labyrinth’s collapse.

This phenomenon, known as a massive collapse caused by a runaway spiral of power, results in the realm being overtaken by chaos, making it impossible to sustain individual existence.

The Great Spirit is a being composed solely of a single spirit.

It is incompatible with chaos, and if it suffers the corruption of "evil," it will lose the ability to maintain its physical form.

Therefore, when the Demon King emerges from the labyrinth, we immediately set out to destroy it, though this often leads to great collapse, and success is rarely achieved without great cost.

Nevertheless, to the Great Spirit, the Demon King is a threat, and to humanity, whom it seeks to protect, it is also a threat.

There is no option to simply leave it alone.

— It seems we've managed to fulfill our duty after all.

The Dark Great Spirit confidently declared victory.

There is still time before the summoning is complete.

Hikaru has already escaped into the domain of the Wind Great Spirit.

The Water Great Spirit cannot possibly move that far.

But the opposing Water Great Spirit maintained its cool composure.

No, it slightly grimaced, yet still exuded an air of calm confidence that was unsettling.

Could such a proud Great Spirit, even if beloved by humans, really remain this composed after being outwitted?

　

"Disgusting, disgusting,"

"Yet you seem awfully relaxed about it?"

"Heh. It's just that you couldn't catch me yourself. …I'm not so kind as to let you go free."

"Oh? So you've got something up your sleeve?"

"I do. It's a pity I won't be the one to taste it first… but then again, I'm not exactly ordinary."

As it spoke, the Water Great Spirit began concentrating its spiritual power into a single point—the palm of its hands.

"No way…!?"

"That young one can use this technique. There's no reason I, who was summoned, shouldn't be able to? Though perhaps you, who were called forth, cannot perform it."

Water called to water, and the compressed water swelled dramatically in the palm of his hand.

The spirit energy of the water, unable to find an outlet, writhed as if in labor, a sensation the Great Spirit of Darkness could perceive.

I know this.

Just moments ago, I myself was born from this very process.

And as the Great Spirit of Water herself said:

If humans can wield it, there's no reason a Great Spirit shouldn't be able to.

The name of this technique—

'Summon Elemental'

　

The incantation spoken by the Great Spirit of Water infused the mass of spirit energy with life.

A pulse. The violently compressed water spirit energy, throbbing like something hatching, slowly rose, then transformed into a human form.

Smaller than the summoner, yet larger than a human-sized shadow great spirit, and possessing an intensely dense spirit energy utterly distinct from humanity—this was a manifestation of the water god.

The summoning of a great spirit by the great water spirit—

"Come now, my child. Bring me the 'beloved one.' A small taste shall be permitted."

"I won't let you pass!"

"Hahaha. Useless, useless!"

Hundreds of water blades conjured by the great water spirit, along with dozens of water barriers materializing simultaneously.

It was impossible for the shadow great spirit to hold back two at once.

Moreover, even if the summoned great spirit stepped into another great spirit’s domain, it would not possess the power to collapse the labyrinth city.

This had already been proven by the shadow great spirit, another summoned entity.

—Master...!

There was nothing left to do once things had come to this.

If the Great Spirit of Darkness could manage, by a desperate attack, to kill the Great Spirit of Water, even by the slimmest chance, then the summoned Great Spirit would also vanish—but that would be a double-edged sword, threatening the balance of the labyrinth city.

No, in any case, the Great Spirit of Darkness could never kill the Great Spirit of Water.

The gap in power was too great.

Still, enough time had been bought.

The summoned Great Spirit must have a limit to how far it could stay from its caster.

—My lord... Please, somehow escape.

All that the Great Spirit of Darkness could do now was pray.

Eventually, the time limit for the summoning expired, and the Great Spirit of Darkness gradually reverted back into its original small spirit.