Chapter 153
Chapter 153
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 153
Chapter Title: First Contract
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But then, suddenly, the mage appeared.
And just like that, the cult was destroyed.
"Guh... guhuk...!"
In the ruins of the secret chamber, where not only the ceiling but the outer walls had completely collapsed, the Circulator prowled across the blood-soaked floor, shoving its maw toward the survivors who still clung to life. The cultist trembled violently at the sight of its teeth, caked with blood and chunks of flesh.
"S-spare—"
Kwachik!
Before he could finish, the Circulator crunched down on his head and swallowed it whole. Blood sprayed out, and the headless corpse flopped limply to the floor. Ian tapped the Circulator's hind leg lightly with his grimoire propped on his shoulder.
"I told you not to eat the heads. We need stuff to harvest."
"I know it's a shame, but no means no. Anywhere below the neck is fair game, so go wild."
The Circulator flicked out its tongue and devoured the cultist's lifeless body. Ian pulled Mariang's body down from where it was secured on the Circulator's back and tilted his head.
Her limbs, which had been cleanly severed and vaporized before, had regenerated to some extent. They weren't fully intact, but fresh white bones had regrown on her shoulders and thighs. Still, just bones meant she couldn't move yet.
'No joints either, so they'd crumble if handled wrong. Not that it matters.'
This body would keep regenerating as long as it got blood. A few shattered bones weren't worth worrying about. He had no idea how the regeneration worked, but it was probably some anomaly organ implant or another.
Not important anyway. Ian set her body down on the floor.
"Y-you filthy minion of the devil!"
That's when the cult leader, still barely alive, spat out the words amid streams of blood. Ian's eyes turned toward him.
"We are the proclaimers of God's will! How dare you! Kugh, how dare you ruin God's paradise?!"
"No idea what you're babbling about."
Ian drew a revolver from inside his coat. He aimed it at the cult leader's chest and pulled the trigger.
Taang!!
A deafening gunshot rang out as the lead bullet pierced the cult leader's chest. The round shredded through skin, muscle, and bone until it reached his heart, and his breath cut off abruptly. That was the end of the cult leader who had maintained some power on the peninsula.
Ian felt nothing special.
Even if he told himself this wasn't reality, he'd at least wish peace on the souls of innocent people he killed. But everyone here was a heretic who had captured and killed people alive. No need to waste sympathy.
'Plenty of bodies. Gather materials before the contract.'
Ian lit a cigarette and holstered the revolver.
"Pile the bodies in one spot. Can you do that?"
"Good boy. Daddy believes in you."
As if repaying Ian's trust, the Circulator bounced around, gathering the corpses. It just swallowed the badly damaged ones and carefully stacked the relatively intact ones in the center of the ruins.
Ian left the Circulator to it and walked over to the cult leader's freshly dead body.
The old man's corpse stared wide-eyed in death. In reality, it might've been the sort to sit up and recite the Lord's Prayer, but unfortunately, no anomalies existed here except Reptilians. No need to worry about some cult horror possessing the body and birthing a new anomaly.
'Eyes, tongue, ears should do it. Nose too, probably.'
A thoroughly mad thought, but not strange for a mage.
Ian pulled out the Primate Slayer Knife he'd brought and carefully harvested the cult leader's facial features. Luckily, it was sharp for primates and cut cleanly.
...Schwick.
After slicing off the ears, tongue, and nose, he finally gouged out the eyes, dragging out the optic nerves with sticky blood. All unnecessary parts, so off they came.
"...Kinda gross when they're all together like this."
Ian grimaced slightly as he bagged the alchemical ingredients. A bag full of human eyes, nose, and ears looked brutal, but restocking materials when you could was the right call.
And anyway, his stomach had toughened up since becoming a mage—no nausea here. Piece of cake.
"Might as well grab the rest..."
Ian tossed aside the cult leader's eyeless corpse and harvested facial features from the others. He scored 20 pairs of eyes and ears, 10 noses, and 10 tongues—from 10 bodies total.
Far more corpses than that, but intact faces were scarce, so this was the max. Disappointing, but unavoidable.
Still, enough for the Dying Sensory Organs series. Ian nodded in satisfaction and turned to the pile of bodies the Circulator had gathered. The creature, rolling a round head like a ball, lowered its body and panted as his gaze landed on it.
'Looks kinda like a dog up close.'
He chuckled softly, shoved the bag into his pack, and approached the Circulator.
"Good job gathering them?"
Ian stroked the low-growling Circulator's head. The rough texture wasn't pleasant, but he could endure it once.
"Good boy. Now step aside for a bit. Keep anyone from coming near."
He pulled his hand away, opened the grimoire, and spoke.
The Circulator nodded and lumbered out of the ruins.
Silence fell. The wind whistled sharply against the broken outer walls, and the thick stench of blood assaulted his nostrils.
Ian stood still for a moment to catch his breath, then inspected the jumbled corpses one by one, selecting the least damaged.
"Intact" meant highways carved into skulls or chests and stomachs riddled with holes, but limbs were fine—no big issue.
"Let's get started..."
Ian stretched to loosen up and read from the grimoire.
The magic circle was intricate. Its size meant you needed ample space to even attempt it.
But this place met all conditions. He rolled up his coat sleeves, grabbed water the cultists had hoarded, and mopped up the bloodstains on the floor. He set aside bodies for use and shoved the rest into corners.
Swipe... Swipe...
Cleaning blood and organ chunks took about 20 minutes. A spell to auto-clean would’ve been nice, but none existed, so manual labor it was.
He briefly considered having the Circulator do it, but that was impossible, so he gritted his teeth and focused. Now there was space for the circle.
"Whew..."
Ian wiped sweat from his brow and pulled out his meteor pen. He inscribed the grimoire's magic circle on the floor.
About 30 minutes later, it was complete.
It came out right. He nodded, dragged the still-unconscious Mariang to the center, and tossed her down. He arranged the 10 other bodies around her like points on a circle.
Prep done. Ian placed chunks of anomaly flesh from his bag at the circle's cardinal points, stepped out, and opened the grimoire.
The grimoire vibrated briefly at the chance to debut his signature spell. Ian chuckled at the cute reaction.
But only for a moment. He focused on the magic.
"God's shackles are not merciful." "Mercy is granted solely to me, His proxy. Without my permission, you shall neither break the shackles nor find release in death." "Foolish slave of mine. Thus, you shall become my limb."
⟨ Chains of the Proxy ⟩
The chains on the grimoire's edges clinked and extended. They slithered toward Mariang's neck, reaching the floor in seconds.
Clink...
The chains tightly bound Mariang's neck. Strands pierced the circling corpses. Blood sprayed, pooling swiftly around her head into a blue spike.
Puk.
The spike pierced her forehead smoothly—no blood, no wound, just rigidly embedded like a stake. To implant manipulated memories in spell-like format, it would melt into her brain.
No hesitation needed. Ian quietly recited the prepared manipulation.
Clank!
As the manipulation concluded, the chains around Mariang's neck tightened fiercely, branding a choke-mark sigil. The blue spike in her forehead melted slowly into her brain.
Magic complete. Ian looked down at her, bound on the glowing blue circle, and intoned the finale.
Fwaaah...!
With the final words, chains spread out, covering the circle. Seconds later, only chains were visible; they converged rapidly toward the sigil on Mariang's neck.
The moment they all sucked into the sigil—
"...Mm."
Mariang, unconscious until now, slowly opened her eyes. She stared blankly at the ceiling for a moment, then turned to Ian with a faint smile.
"Ah... Master, you saved me again."
Deep loyalty and affection filled her blue eyes.
Ian's lips curved into a sly grin.