I'm the Only Totem in Another World - Chapter 182

Chapter 182: I’m the Only Totem in Another World （1）

The giant beast, moving like a flash of lightning, grabbed Tuga’s pincer in its mouth and ripped it off with a shake of its jaw.

The beast, a wolf monster with sleek black fur, was, of course, Rakan.

Nike had hinted at contacting Rakan, saying she would ‘prepare for any eventuality,’ and that was the foreshadowing. Rakan had come to help me at Nike’s call.

Even breaking the unspoken rule of the Loa world, ‘To avoid confusion among the Spirit World and followers, stay within your domain.’

“Th, Thank you.”

I blurted out.

In fact, it was Rakan who guided Nike to me. The encounter felt too contrived, so I asked Nike directly, and she readily answered.

‘Rakan-nim said I would meet a noble person if I went to Sesu’s Flower Garden. He didn’t tell me to help that person, but I’m sure he knew I would.’

He is the only Loa who has helped me in this Spirit World.

“Go quickly! Hurry!”

Nike’s voice came from afar.

“Ah.”

Now I’m coming to my senses. I was half out of it, watching those mountain-sized things rumble and fight before my eyes. It felt like there was static in my ears.

Getting hit by a boulder that flew out when Tuga broke through the ground, nearly turning me to dust, probably contributed as well.

━ …

Rakan, shoving aside Tuga who was floundering after losing his pincer, glanced at me.

There were no words, no revelations. But it felt like he was conveying a message, ‘Please take care of my daughter and the surface world.’

“Leave it to me!”

A quick mental recovery is my strength. I nodded and ran towards the Spirit Gate again.

Growl!

Woof!

I heard the sounds of Rakan and Tuga engaging in hand-to-hand combat behind me, but I ignored them and ran.

Rakan is 1.5 times bigger than Tuga to begin with. Plus, the most threatening part of Tuga’s body, the pincer, had been torn off.

Wouldn’t Rakan be beating him up one-sidedly? Anyway, it wasn’t my concern. I just had to focus on passing through the Spirit Gate.

“Ugh…!”

The closer I got, the more my body blurred. It felt like the things that made me up were scattering, breaking apart piece by piece.

I started to doubt whether I could really go back to the surface world if I passed through here. A fear of death I hadn’t felt in a long time crept up on me.

Ah, so this is what it feels like. Unfamiliar yet familiar.

“Don’t be scared!”

I can’t give up now, not before even reaching the surface world. I stepped into the Spirit Gate with a dignified air.

“Just gotta go through, uwaaaaaaaaaaah~!”

My body stretched out like taffy, then got sucked in.

“Agh━!”

My soul stretched, twisted, and exploded as it passed through a long tunnel.

“Two, times two is, four! Oh, Mom!”

I repeatedly did multiplication, subtraction, and division to try to stay conscious during that bizarre experience.

It might sound crazy, but it helped more than I thought. It’s like, by constantly using my brain to calculate, I prevented it from going blank.

━ …!

In the blink of an eye, I was back in Totem No. 1. I saw Rake looking at me with worry in her eyes.

“Malak-nim!”

Numerous emotions flickered across her face, and finally, ‘joy’ settled upon it.

━ Sorry I’m late. I was focused on recovering.

I tried to speak as calmly as possible. My head was spinning from the chaotic multiverse experience I just went through.

“No, you came at a good time.”

Rake said that while there were no signs of division or evacuation yet, everyone was visibly struggling. She added that if my absence had continued for two more days, they might have had to prepare for the worst.

━ Don’t worry. I’m back.

“I wasn’t worried. I believed in Malak-nim.”

Rake gently stroked the totem.

Even if her words of belief were empty, they were enough to soothe my heart.

Seeing Rake, feeling her warmth, and talking to her brought me joy. Even though this ‘Price of Manifestation’ pattern has repeated three times now, it feels new every time.

“It’s late, but everyone will be happy to wake up hearing that Malak-nim has returned.”

Perhaps because she was so overjoyed, Rake casually dropped a bombshell.

No, thanks. Everyone needs their sleep. It’s not because I’m afraid of Karon, but I’ll run away if you don’t let me sleep.

━ It’s alright. Announce it tomorrow morning.

I stopped Rake’s reckless suggestion and threw in a new piece of information.

━ As you know, I visited the Spirit World after a long time. I went through a lot.

“I want to hear about it.”

Rake leaned against me, her eyes sparkling with curiosity. I felt a momentary pang of emptiness realizing my limbs were gone again.

━ So, Nike is…

“An archer, I see. Priestess Muri didn’t mention that…”

Rake and I chatted away.

She was very amused when I recounted, with a ‘slight’ embellishment, the things I had experienced in the Spirit World. I got carried away and boasted quite a bit without realizing it.

I didn’t tell her about what happened to Udan, or the choice I made after seeing him…but that’s all.

I’ve already made up my mind, and I’ve chosen to willingly accept my fate for the sake of those I love.

That’s all.

▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄

Well, the past two days were uneventful.

I let everyone in the Tribal Federation know that I was alright, managed the territory for the first time in a while, and mediated some minor disputes.

I also conveyed that the followers who went to the Spirit World were doing well. Of course, I didn’t tell everyone, just called out my acquaintances separately. It’s just sad that not all the fallen can go to the Spirit World.

Oh, and I listened to Paya’s concerns.

“After seeing that infidel, Karon, I thought I could learn necromancy. If you allow me, I want to learn it and be helpful to Malak-nim and the Tribal Federation.”

She said this after cautiously approaching the altar alone.

━ No. I can’t allow necromancy.

Of course, I dissuaded her. Even Karon, who was timid and introverted （according to Mera）, went mad after learning necromancy.

From the moment we first met, Karon had been mumbling to himself. I’m guessing his personality became warped in the process of learning necromancy and hearing the voices of the dead.

The primary cause would be the grief of losing his children, but wouldn’t the secondary cause be necromancy?

“I, I understand. It’s a forbidden magic that the Loa themselves have prohibited…”

Paya bowed her head deeply, looking very apologetic.

━ It’s not because it’s forbidden. Necromancy is dangerous. You could lose yourself in the process of dealing with the dead. Priestess Paya, I don’t want to lose you.

Well, I borrowed Jin Malak’s soul and used the ‘Zombie Control’ skill with the help of the unique superpower called ‘Skill,’ so I was fine. But if it was real necromancy, the side effects would be huge.

To begin with, magic that deals with corpses can’t be normal. Even if Paya became as strong as Rake and could be of great help, it would be a bigger loss if she went mad like Karon and turned into an enemy.

“Ah…!”

━ I want you to stay by my side as a Spirit Master.

“Yes!”

Paya left, strangely delighted. Yes. Just stay healthy and cheerful as a Spirit Master who handles the monster pigeon, Tteunteuni.

Right on cue, I received a personal message from Hanna.

[Not a Netkama: I asked what you were doing 4 hours ago.]

[Not a Netkama: Why aren’t you answering quickly?]

[Not a Netkama: Stop going AFK, what do you have to do?]

She was sulking because I had been neglecting our communication while focusing on other matters in the Spirit World.

[I’m busy avoiding that Karon bastard. I’ve been telling you for days. Do you want me to become a zombie?]

Excuses are plentiful. Hanna thinks I’m near the Capital, so she’ll buy this explanation.

[Not a Netkama: Argh, just you wait.]

[Not a Netkama: All talk and no action.]

[It’s my fingers.]

[Not a Netkama: You wanna die for real?}

[Not a Netkama: Anyway, stop doing useless things and stay hidden. Do you know how shocked I was to see One Piece get done in like that?]

[Okay.]

She’s pretending to be worried now. She just wanted to scold me for not replying to her messages.

[Not a Netkama: Hey. So what was it you wanted to say earlier?]

[?]

[Not a Netkama: Continue tomorrow morning.]

Ah, she’s talking about the message I sent before the all-out war with the demons.

[Idk.]

If that had been the real final battle, I might have told her, but Karon is still out there. I decided to play dumb.

[Not a Netkama: You little…]

I was ignoring the countless curses Hanna was sending when two new posts appeared on the community forum simultaneously.

[Love Death Cat: Meow meow meow~! （After finishing my multiverse trip）]

[Love Death Cat: Meow meow meow meow~! （I’m going to the Tribal Federation, so please don’t attack.）]

A few hours later, a female knight riding a white horse with wings and horns flew towards the Tribal Federation.

Seeing her, I couldn’t help but recall the mural I had seen in the church.

The painting of a hero riding a winged unicorn, confronting the Demon King, the avatar of the Evil God Shamishur.

“…What the?”

“What is that?”

“A unicorn all of a sudden?”

Even the Paladins seemed bewildered.

This is really out of the blue.