Chapter 60: Alpha’s curse

“Nemesis’ will.” Lin Fang didn’t hesitate to make the choice. He didn’t know the function of Spirit collection, but he was interested in this guardian spirit.

[+1 Thunderhoof Stallion Spirit has been absorbed by Nemesis’ will.]

[Thunderhoof Stallion spirit is converted into 1000 common-grade spirits.]

“1000?” he muttered with a flicker of surprise in his eyes. “So that means, common grade monster spirits are considered 1, uncommon is 10, rare is 100, epic is 1000, and legendary is 10,000?”

“Open Quests.”

Scrolling down the quest list, he clicked on a certain quest.

Hidden quest: Kill and Absorb 100,000 common-grade spirits.

Progress: 11,517/100,000

Reward: Guardian Spirit.

“Looking at this, it looks like I just need to find a spirit king and feed it to this will. But can this will swallow a fellow spirit king? Hmm… we’ll have to see.”

Half an hour later, his footsteps brought him to a wide plateau at the heart of the valley.

At the center of the platform stood a creature.

Lin Fang’s breath caught in his throat, spotting the monster with a body of white equine with a mane shimmering with gold and silver. A ring-like halo floated around its midsection, rotating slowly. Its hooves almost touched the ground but fell just short of an inch. Unlike with Nemesis, this spirit king was floating without any bindings, but it stood like a statue as if it didn’t have any will to move.

*Ding!

[You encountered the spirit, Alpha]

Species: Alpha

Grade: Mythical

Potential: Level 90 (Quasi God Tier)

State: Spirit

“It’s just like Nemesis…” Lin Fang’s eyes lit up. But before Lin Fang could speak, the creature opened its mouth, and words echoed directly into his mind through telepathy.

“Welcome, Summoner. I have been waiting for you.”

The air around them seemed to still. Even Nemesis’ remn ant spirit, behind him, could only stay still.

Lin Fang stared at the being before him, taken aback by shock. “How do you know?”

The colossal being lowered its head as its eyes glowed with an ancient wisdom. Its voice resounded in Lin Fang’s head as it started speaking, “I am Alpha… one of the Nine Children of Null, one of the Four Cosmic Beasts.” The divine spirit king paused, letting the weight of its words settle before continuing. “Nemesis is my sibling too, though it strayed, corrupted by humanity’s sins. And to the far west, in the Wastelands, slumbers Vermith, another of our kin. We three are the spirit kings that guard this valley. Well, I should say two, since Nemesis is no longer here.”

Lin Fang’s brow tightened. Nine children? Four cosmic beasts? He drew in a breath, asking the one thing that gnawed at him. “By the way, earlier, why did you call me ’Summoner’? And what do you mean by waiting for me?”

A faint rumble echoed from Alpha’s throat, almost like a laugh as it replied. “To understand that, you must first learn what power you carry.”

And then it began to recount a tale that predated kingdoms, dungeons, and even mana itself.

Thousands of years ago, the world had been nothing but a battlefield between Celestials and Demons. No mana. No monsters. No summoners.

Only bloodshed between these two races.

Over time, their numbers dwindled, and to turn a tide in the war, desperate Celestials blessed humans with fragments of divine energy. That blessing, when merged with the human body, caused their cells to undergo automatic mutation while developing a core that absorbs cellular energy and transforms into unique energy that can be manipulated, which is called mana. With armies of humans serving their cause, the Celestials tipped the battle to their favor.

Demons, unwilling to fall behind, corrupted wild animals with their own power, twisting them into the first monsters.

However, it still went insufficient due to humanity’s extraordinary ability to grow intelligence and adaptability.

In the end, the Demon Empress was captured and thrown into imprisonment, which only resulted in civil war among the demon clans and caused chaos all over the world with the unchecked power of monsters.

While this went on for years, something unexpected bloomed in the Celestial Empire—a forbidden love emerged between the Celestial King and the Demon Empress. From that union was born a cosmic child: Tempus, who carried an unimaginable power of the cosmos.

However, unlike its parents, Tempus had no desire for war. He didn’t side with either of them. Instead, he brought chaos to both sides. So great was the destruction that Celestials and Demons, long-time enemies, were forced into an uneasy truce to suppress one single entity after Tempus massacred his own parents.

Even after defeat, Tempus could not be killed. Before his fall, he shattered his essence into nine crystals, each holding a fragment of his dominion—

Time. Creation. Venom. Pact. Strength. Rebirth. Shadows. Desire. Authority.

Alpha’s eyes gleamed. “You are one of the nine overlord heirs, carrying the power of Overlord’s Pact, the Summoner. While you have yet to claim the seat of the overlords, it didn’t change the fact that you are one whom we all have been waiting for several millennia.”

As if to confirm its words, a cold chime echoed in Lin Fang’s ears right then.

[New Main Quest Unlocked: Claim one of the Nine Overlord Seats]

Condition 1: Form a contract with at least one God-Tier Beast.

Condition 2: ???

.

.

.

Condition 7: ???

Another chime followed almost instantly.

*Ding!

[Hidden Quest Unlocked: Contract with All Nine Spawns of Null]

Progress: 1/9

Reward: Null (summoning token)

Lin Fang’s chest tightened. “All nine…?”

But Alpha wasn’t done. It continued to speak to him in its usual deep voice. “I see you have already forced Nemesis into rebirth. And I sense you could do the same for me. But I will not allow it… not until you resolve Nemesis’ grudge.”

Lin Fang frowned but answered quickly. “That can be dealt with ease. I’ll just have to absorb the spirits lingering here.”

However, Alpha’s gaze sharpened by his reply. Letting almost a low growl in displeasure, it said. “You could do that, but it would demand the sacrifice of half the monsters in this valley. You are meant to be their friend, not their executioner.”

For a long moment, silence hung between them. Then Lin Fang’s lips curved into a bitter smile. “I am human, Alpha. Why should I pity monsters?”

“Hmm?” As Alpha’s gaze sharpened, intending to take it by surprise, Lin Fang activated Spirit Collection.

His palm glowed like before, activating the force of vacuum to suck in Alpha. However, with a glow in Alpha’s eyes, the spell was broken, and a chime was heard in Lin Fang’s head.

*Ding!

[Spirit Collection function has failed.]

[The Target is displeased.]

“Eh?” As Lin Fang’s eyes widened in surprise, Alpha’s aura flared, rippling through the valley. “You dare?” Its voice thundered in his head.

Followed by its voice, a pressure crashed onto him, bending his knees and forcing him to kneel to the ground as it said. “You should not have done that, Summoner. I extended the offer of friendship, but you seemed to think my goodwill was nothing to think about. Had you been another hunter or a tamer, I would have destroyed you on the spot, but you are a Summoner, and we can’t kill you. But you won’t leave without facing consequences. As punishment for attacking me with such a sly move, using my authority as the King of this valley, I banish you from the Spirit Valley. Until Nemesis’ grudge is cleansed, you may never return.”

A beam of radiant force lanced down following its words, striking Lin Fang square in the chest. He felt no pain, no injury, as if he was perfectly alright, but the system’s chime and notification said otherwise.,

[You have received Alpha’s Curse]

Condition: Resolve Nemesis’s grudge to lift the curse and re-enter Spirit Valley. Failure to comply with the condition and forcefully entering the spirit valley will burn your mind and soul.

His vision blurred for a moment and then snapped back. He found himself standing in front of the cavern’s familiar entrance. Alpha was no longer seen in his sight.

Lin Fang couldn’t help but clench his fists, grinding his teeth in anger. “Damn it… I was too arrogant. I thought the System could handle Alpha, just like it did with Nemesis. The system isn’t omnipotent as I thought it was. Why should I have run off my mouth like that? I could have roamed around to capture a few Epic-grade spirits. Now, I can’t even step inside.”

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