The Contract
"You are..."
The Steel Spirit King looked at me with obvious surprise. I'd never seen him before, yet he clearly recognized this face. Werner was famous, sure, but was he really the kind of figure a Spirit King would take personal interest in? No matter how outstanding he was, the Spirit Kings fundamentally shouldn't care about human affairs.
"Do you know me?"
"You are... Do you truly not remember who you are? Or perhaps... you were never aware to begin with?"
The nonsensical drivel made my brow furrow instinctively. I knew exactly who I was—what gave this guy the right to act like he understood me better than I did?
"I'm me. Any other explanation necessary?"
"It appears you have no memory of the truth."
"Who do you think I am, then?"
"... You are the son of the being to whom we owe our loyalty."
"What?"
I couldn't believe my ears. Every single medium had always described Werner as a heavenly orphan. The only alternative story was that he'd been captured by villains, endured a miserable childhood, and eventually escaped. But the son of an existence that Spirit Kings had to serve? It wasn't even a funny joke. If his parents were truly such supreme beings, they never would have allowed their child to grow up as an orphan.
"That's not even funny..."
"The fact that you can wield every attribute of magic... Who do you think that blessing comes from?"
It was true that being born with even a single attribute was considered a blessing, and mages arranged political marriages like breeding programs just to increase the chances of children with two. Werner possessing talent in all of them was indeed abnormal. Still, miracles could happen.
"You still don't believe me, I see."
"Of course not. Some stranger shows up out of nowhere and suddenly declares our parents are some unbelievably great existence. Anyone who wouldn't be surprised is the weird one."
But there was no time for this pointless conversation. If I didn't get out there and join the fight immediately, Lorsch would be in serious danger. Even a rotten fish is still a fish—Gawain's abilities remained terrifying, and Carahess was simply a horrible matchup for any mage.
In that case, I'd have to be ready to lose a limb or two to take them both down.
"Are you leaving already?"
"Yeah. There's an urgent problem that needs solving right now."
The Steel Spirit King was in critical condition too, but my friend came first. I had to throw myself into battle with my heart in my throat, terrified that something might happen to Lorsch. His state was severe, but you save the living first.
"In that case, how about borrowing my power?"
The Steel Spirit King didn't sound angry or irritated. Instead, he asked me in a calm, composed voice. For that arrogant, haughty Spirit King to offer me his strength... But offers that sweet always had thorns hidden inside.
"So what's the price?"
"From now on, your descendants will naturally form contracts with me as well."
In other words, he planned to toy with my descendants too. Honestly, I didn't like it one bit. Everyone deserved their own freedom. I had no desire to ruin their lives with some arbitrary decision of mine. If I accepted this contract and dragged my bloodline into it, some child hundreds of years from now might suffer because of my choice.
"I refuse."
"But isn't the current situation rather urgent?"
He wasn't wrong. Ordinary magic couldn't handle that Carahess bastard. Steel-attribute magic was the only effective option, but... unable to use grand magic right now, the only place I could turn to was the Spirit King's power.
Suddenly I remembered that Lorsch had accepted a contract with a Spirit King for my sake. She must have had the same thoughts as me. Given her kind nature, she wouldn't have wanted to involve her descendants either. Yet she had made that contract to save me. When you considered that no one in the original history had ever contracted with the Water Spirit King... she had made a massive decision because of me.
"Tsk... Fine. I'll accept it."
Then I had to do something for her in return. Even if my descendants ended up hating me for it, I couldn't just sit back and watch while Lorsch fought. Yes—if I truly thought about my future bloodline, refusing this contract was the correct choice.
But ignoring small things for the sake of the future, for greater value... wasn't that the same as the ideology of sacrificing the few for the many? I would save what was right in front of my eyes first.
"Understood... I will gather the last of my strength and form a contract with you. I assume you know the method for contracting with a Spirit King?"
"Don't treat me like an idiot. That's common knowledge."
I simply had to follow what Lorsch had shown earlier. I stretched my hand toward the Steel Spirit King.
"I, Werner Alton, by bequeathing my karma upon my own blood and descendants, hereby form this contract. Let it continue through the generations."
"Steel Spirit King Armadura, in accordance with the laws created by the Mother Goddess, I shall lend you my power."
"The humble mage Werner Alton approves this contract."
Armadura's body melted like iron in a furnace and seeped into mine. It was a bizarre sensation—like drawing energy into every cell of my body. Refreshing yet faintly nauseating, I couldn't even decide what expression to wear. At the same time, the incantations for the magic I could now use after contracting with the Steel Spirit King flowed directly into my mind.
"With this, our contract is complete. Since the pact has only just been formed, you will not be able to use every spell I possess... but it should prove more than sufficient for battle."
"Hey... I'll put out the immediate fire first. Later, you're going to explain everything about my parents from start to finish."
The reason I didn't ask right now was simple. I didn't want any mental disturbances before the fight. Since Werner had grown up as a heavenly orphan, the story behind his parents couldn't possibly be a happy one.
"Understood. Within the limits of what is permitted to me... there will be restrictions."
I charged straight through the hole I'd created, straight toward that Carahess bastard. He had apparently been waiting for an opening to ambush Lorsch, but he'd wasted too much time and failed to link up with the others. Now he faced me once again.
"Oh? Back again? Did you go get yourself a pep talk? If you think something like that will change anything, you're making a huge mistake..."
"O Steel Spirit King━━━."
The resonance made everyone turn to stare at me in shock—Carahess, Lorsch, and even that Gawain bastard.
"Let my arm from this moment forward become the God-killing Spear that can slay even the gods."
Rugged scales of steel spread over my arm like living armor. I knew instinctively that this was qualitatively different from any steel I had ever created with magic before.
"Werner, you didn't have to accept this unfair contract too...!"
"Tsk... So he contracted with the Steel Spirit King I barely managed to suppress. This is exactly why I said we should have just killed him and taken him with us."
"Lord Gawain. Even so, steel magic tends to rely heavily on physical techniques. A mere mage's martial arts shouldn't be..."
This bastard dared to dismiss my martial arts. Every style I'd learned was a hymn to the accumulated knowledge of humanity, a tower of hardship built from the blood, sweat, and tears of countless warriors. To insult those arts... Carahess was an enemy of mankind. Basically a Hitler-tier piece of shit.
"Then why don't you take a good look at what a mere mage's martial arts can do and share your impressions afterward."
I charged straight at him.
He tried to absorb my magic as expected. But he couldn't absorb the steel wrapped around my arm. No matter how powerful his magic-absorbing constitution was, it seemed even he couldn't devour the magic of the Spirit King that served as its very source.
Hoyoung-style Rakshasa Palm. The spinning strike shattered his jaw. First I had to seal that pig-like mouth that tried to devour everything in sight.
"Grrrrk...!"
"Looks like you won't be eating properly for a while. But don't worry too much."
Brocken Family Secret Art—Berlin's Red Rain.
Nico-style Diamond Form, Iron Chain.
Boxing Pivot Blow.
Kyokushin Karate Brazilian Kick.
Muay Thai Jumping Knee.
Pro Wrestling Kesagiri Chop.
As I replicated every martial art I'd seen or learned, Carahess gradually turned into a bloody pulp. He had some skill in physical combat, but he'd relied far too heavily on his magic-eating constitution. His defensive techniques were pathetic.
"P-please! I'm a mess right now! My leg is broken, my shoulder is completely shattered! My neck hurts so much!"
Getting the shit beaten out of him had cured his formal speech habit. As expected, a good beating really is the cure for all ailments.
"Let's see... Earlier you tore off and ate a chunk of my calf, didn't you?"
The Code of Hammurabi has a saying: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and a calf muscle for a calf muscle.
Blood sprayed like a fountain with a wet shuk. Eye-gouging was effective, but the splatter was a downside.
"GYAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!"
"Now, what should I finish you with?"
I grabbed his chin and paid silent homage to every martial art humanity had ever created. Then, carrying that respect in my heart, I snapped his neck.
The following are emoticon samples that will be released soon.
