The Spirit King's Summoning

Forget? As if I ever could.

The Letisia standing before me was hands-down the most broken character among the entire spirit-mage archetype—a complete cheat. True to that performance, she was no ordinary spirit user; she had successfully contracted with a Spirit King.

"If Caesius can just pinpoint the barrier's focal points, I'll ask the Spirit King to force it open."

"…How long will that take?"

"It depends on how complex the barrier is… but given the skill level I've heard about, it might take a little while."

My expression hardened slightly. Letisia's face softened with quiet regret, and she timidly took hold of my arm.

"Stay strong, Albrecht. Clara will be all right."

"…Sorry."

"You don't need to apologize to me."

That was all she said. I nodded and turned to Caesius.

"Caesius, analyze the barrier's structure."

"I shall examine it."

Caesius approached the barrier and laid her hand against it. Her blue eyes glimmered faintly as magic stirred to life.

I knew perfectly well how difficult it was to peer into someone else's barrier. Helping with Agresia's research had taught me just how hard it was to interfere with another person's magic—which was exactly why my own power was so unusual.

Watching her do it so casually made me freshly aware that the lazy dragon who usually sprawled across the living-room floor was, in fact, a higher being.

While she worked, Letisia prepared.

"You who are bound by the eternal contract."

She was preparing to summon the strongest spirit of all—the king of spirits.

"As your sole contractor desires, reveal your form to this world. Ruler of the Spirits."

It had been a long time since I last saw this sight. After a special chant different from ordinary spirit summons, a massive summoning circle bloomed beneath Letisia's feet.

The circle poured out radiant magical light that soon gathered into a human shape. Then the light scattered in every direction, revealing a single figure.

A woman of indeterminate age, soft pink hair cascading beautifully, looked at Letisia and smiled gently.

"Calling me so soon this time? Faster than I expected."

"…It's been a while, Elysia."

Spirit King Elysia. She turned her gaze to me and gave a light laugh.

"You still look healthy."

"Yeah, well…"

"But that only makes me dislike it more."

"Huh?"

Before I could even react, Elysia was suddenly right in front of me. It was less that she moved and more that she vanished and reappeared.

She reached out and lightly gripped my chin.

"Making my precious little contractor's heart ache… Do you wish to die?"

"…Th-that… guh…"

"Elysia, what are you doing? Let him go this instant."

Letisia scolded her with a hint of real anger. The Spirit King sighed softly and released my chin.

"I only act this way because you keep suffering every time…"

"Th-that's something I can handle myself. Besides, I didn't call you for that."

It had been abrupt and rude, yet I couldn't bring myself to get angry at a Spirit King. I understood exactly what she meant about Letisia's heartache.

…More than that, her grip is ridiculously strong.

In that brief moment of being held, I realized that if she decided not to let go, I would never break free. So Spirit Kings were powerhouses in raw strength too…

With power like that, I wanted to check her status. But—

For some reason I couldn't examine anything about the Spirit King. Normally even restricted stats still showed a status window with the values blacked out. This was the first time the window itself refused to appear.

She ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠glanced around once and spoke.

"…It seems you need me. It's been a long time since I last saw a battlefield."

"Yes. You see that barrier over there?"

The Spirit King looked where Letisia pointed.

"A sealing barrier? …Yet it doesn't feel like something monsters raised."

"…You saw right through it. A human cast it."

"……Hah."

She let out a dry laugh and looked at Letisia.

"So. Human division has begun."

"…"

Neither Letisia nor I could refute her. Barrier Master Yula and Pursuer Reite—both had once been called heroes of the front lines, hadn't they?

Of course, I'm still not certain about the latter…

But the former alone was enough. If even a hardened hero thought that way, the desertion rate among frontline soldiers must already be far worse than expected. Not that every hero possessed exceptional mental fortitude, of course.

The Spirit King gave a hearty laugh.

"Why so grim? It's only natural that such things happen."

"…Is there no way to reforge the Mad God's Covenant? The person who raised that barrier just now… seemed terrified of the covenant growing weaker."

"Hmm."

Elysia considered Letisia's question for a moment before answering.

"It will be difficult."

"Why can you answer so definitively?"

When I asked, she looked intrigued.

"You ask not 'why' but 'how I can be so certain'? A rather sharp question."

"Well… I'm curious about the reason too, but the certainty is even stranger."

"The reason is simple enough. Just think about why the covenant is weakening in the first place."

"Because it's old?"

"Old? Haha, what an amusing thing to say."

The Spirit King chuckled. I hadn't thought my remark that strange, but her next words made me realize how arrogant I'd been.

"It is a covenant forged by a god. Do you truly believe time could affect it?"

…She had a point. Gods transcended time and space; they weren't beings who suffered the same influences we did.

"Then why is it weakening?"

"Contractor, think a little more simply. What determines the strength of the power I share with you through our contract?"

"…My mana."

The moment Letisia answered, her eyes went wide. I roughly understood what Elysia was driving at and said it aloud.

"Has the Mad God grown weak?"

"Yes. You catch on quickly."

"How? What reason could a god have to weaken…"

"Gods are beings sustained by the faith of living creatures."

The Spirit King continued.

"And as you know, among all living things, the ones who possess the strongest faith are none other than humanity—humans, demi-humans, elves, and the rest."

"Because monsters don't worship gods…"

"Exactly. Beasts and plants lack the intelligence to worship anything. Dragons do revere the Dragon God, but that is limited to the Dragon God alone."

So dragons had a god of their own. That must be why, even though they were monsters, they refused to serve the Demon King.

"Humanity creates religions to express that faith and cultivate it further. But does humanity possess a religion that worships Mad God Ren?"

Just as Elysia said, the presence or absence of an organized religion made an enormous difference. Clear doctrine and a community that shared the same faith only strengthened belief.

That was why so many churches existed—Freya's Church of Myeongsin, the Church of Inshin that boasted the largest following, and others. Yet there was no Church of the Mad God?

Mad God… literally the Crazy God.

Would people even want to worship a deity with a name like that?

"Forget a religion—most people simply do not worship the Mad God at all. She is, as her name implies, a lunatic. Naturally her faith dwindles, her power wanes, and the covenant weakens with it."

"…So if we spread faith in the Mad God, the covenant would grow strong again?"

"Yes. But who would willingly believe? With perfectly respectable gods available, why choose a mad one?"

She was right. There were gods like Inshin Caro, who worked tirelessly for humanity, and Myeongsin Vita, who held the weighty duty of determining the span of life itself… No one had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠any real reason to worship the Mad God.

Reason…?

The word sparked a new question.

"Does the Mad God offer nothing useful?"

The frontline covenant, the trait Caesius gained after our contract—[Curse of the Mad God]—everything related to promises seemed to carry the Mad God's name.

"She is not without use. She is certainly mad, but there is a reason she came to symbolize madness. You do not know it?"

"What is it?"

The Spirit King looked at me as if I were strange—the same reaction Freya and Erinn had shown when I asked about the Mad God's Covenant.

Apparently, in this world, never studying the gods at all was considered odd…

"Promises, and conviction," Letisia explained kindly.

"Every contract and covenant except spirit contracts formed through spirit power falls under the Mad God's domain. The very reason ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠people can hold something called 'conviction' exists because of her."

"Then she's clearly a necessary god. Seems worth believing in…"

"As you say. Yet she is not called the Mad God for nothing. The intensity of conviction she demands far exceeds what ordinary humans possess."

Spirit King Elysia offered an example.

"The only convictions she accepts are those a person would place above their own life. A few humans are capable of that, but most are not."

"…"

That was true. How many people could throw away their own life for a conviction?

Why else did the story of a college student who leapt onto subway tracks to save someone—and died in their place—become worldwide news, with everyone calling him extraordinary?

Because almost no one could do it. Sacrificing one's life to help another was that person's conviction, and even in a modern world of billions, such people were vanishingly rare.

"That is why so few living beings worship the Mad God."

In short, ordinary people simply could not bear the conviction she demanded.

So is there no solution?

Would we have to defeat the Demon King before the Mad God's Covenant vanished completely and the Demon King's army poured through like a flood?

It might be possible… but the opposite possibility is just as large.

Wasn't that far too dangerous? The story of Dungeon in Evil never felt this precarious.

But none of this was in the main story.

Which meant it was background lore, and the main plot somehow resolved it. So there had to be a method—I just didn't know what it was.

KRA-KOOM!!!

While we talked, the war outside accelerated. Whether from the aftershock of Karna's thrown Holy Spear or something else, a massive explosion bloomed ahead of us.

We fell silent and returned to the matter at hand.

"…Anyway, we need you to destroy the barrier."

"So that is why the young dragon was examining it."

"Yes. Our comrades are trapped inside."

At Letisia's request the Spirit King gave a small nod, her soft pink hair swaying.

"Very well, I shall. Though the human who wove this barrier seems quite skilled."

Spirit King Elysia spoke.

"It will take a little time."

Exactly as Letisia had said. She glanced at me then, her eyes full of quiet comfort. I smiled to show her I was fine.

"Please. We're counting on you."

"Analysis complete, Albrecht."

Caesius withdrew her hand from the barrier. Then, without warning, she reached up, seized a lock of her own hair, and deliberately yanked several strands free with a soft tug.

…Did dragons not feel pain when their hair was pulled? I was about to wonder why she was doing that when I saw what came next and understood.

Her hair strands scattered under the influence of magic and embedded themselves one by one at various points across the barrier. Even without explanation I could tell they marked the focal points.

The Spirit King watched with mild admiration.

"For a young dragon, her skill is quite impressive."

Maybe it was because she had once seized the heart of a capital city, but I hadn't expected her to earn praise from a Spirit King. Without other dragons' stats for comparison it was hard to gauge, yet she was clearly operating at a high level.

If Freya hadn't been there that day, subduing her would have been a real pain.

In the end, capturing and contracting her that day had been the right call. Without Caesius now, breaking this barrier would have been far more troublesome.

"Then let us begin."

The Spirit King spoke and unleashed her power. Letisia turned to me once more.

"…Don't worry too much, Albrecht."

She smiled softly.

"I'll get them out for you soon."

"……I'm counting on you."

While Albrecht and Letisia worked outside to shatter the barrier, inside it the standoff between Eris and Erinn's party continued.

"Hey… doesn't this barrier feel weird~?"

"Puhaha, you're right. It was supposed to just isolate space…"

Ser-Aria quickly grasped its nature and spoke.

"It's a barrier that traps people, isn't it?"

"Puh-heh, your faces are priceless. You really didn't see this coming?"

Oblivion Legion Commander Eris laughed as if she found it all delightful.

"Well, I suppose that's fair. You never expected someone your fellow humans praise as a hero to betray you."

Each of them was exceptional enough that they grasped the situation quickly and did not fall into panic—yet that did nothing to improve their predicament.

Freya examined the barrier carefully.

"…This barrier… monsters can freely enter and leave it."

"……We have to keep her here."

Clara spoke.

"She can't be allowed outside."

"…Yeah, that's certain. If she gets out, the entire front line could collapse~."

Erinn agreed with Clara.

"No choice then~. Luckily Letisia didn't make it inside with us, so while we wait for her to break it from outside…"

Erinn raised the Holy Sword and leveled it at Eris.

"We'll keep this one busy~♡ Everyone remember how to dodge the curses?"

"Yes."

"Of course!"

"…I know."

Eris watched them prepare for battle and gave a low chuckle.

"Hero of the Holy Sword. I've heard plenty about how you're the finest among the heroes."

She laughed again, the sound unpleasant, and raised her hand.

"Do you really think I'd take the risk of facing a hero like that alone?"

When Erinn's party saw what rested in that hand, their expressions hardened. It was a seed capable of creating a Canal—the massive ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠transport portal the Demon King's army used to move hordes of monsters.

"You lot are going to die trapped right here~."