Chapter 100
Distant flames danced in the air.
It was a rather beautiful sight.
The room where the offering ritual was held wasn’t very large. I walked barefoot across the hard white floor. The priests sang in low murmurs, half-kneeling. Kronen stood solemnly apart from me and the chanting priests, keeping his distance.
Was it supposed to be three turns? I strolled leisurely around the bumpy white floor engraved with characters and pictures, then approached the center. The “sacred relic” — the very item Kronen had supposedly obtained by spending his entire fortune — glittered and emitted a faint light.
Well… since it caused a fuss before Kronen even paid for it, I couldn’t be sure he’d really spent everything…
I took out a small needle hung at my waist, pricked my fingertip, and let it bleed. Maybe it was my imagination, but Kronen looked at me with an oddly meaningful expression.
Plip.
When the blood dropped, the relic trembled in a strange way.
The rune etched into the white stone at my feet reacted as well. It happened exactly as I had been told about the “offering ceremony.”
Huh — will this really be resolved without any problems? Really?
It was at that moment. The rune, which had been faintly seeping white light, shivered and then suddenly stopped trembling and shining.
It was clearly an alien reaction. Kronen and the chanting priests all showed obvious bewilderment. But none of them tried to stop me or add anything to the ritual.
Well, when Brian came last year it had been such a disaster that people thought a curse had fallen, so this level of anomaly wasn’t particularly anomalous…
— …Contractor? (ｏ。ｏ；)
“Huh? Why? Is there a problem?”
— Um… external input… has been received?
Right then, an unexpectedly calm, businesslike voice — very different in nature from the emoticon sword’s voice — suddenly echoed in my head.
<Greetings. This is Poda, 45th administrator in charge of the Southern Barrier. You are the second-generation contractor, correct?>
“…? I don’t know about being the second generation, but… yes? I am the contractor of the Veloborg deity… but excuse me, who — who are you? Wait, the barrier has a… administrator of a consciousness…?”
<I am a temporary administrator for maintenance and repair. My predecessor’s functions stopped last year, and I was born from the remnants of that prior administrator; I am the 45th. Excuse me, could you give me a little more blood?>
“Huh?”
<Connection is unstable. I lack sufficient power for detailed explanation. Could you give me more blood?>
“Yes?”
The voice asking for blood sounded so natural that, flustered, I repeatedly pricked my fingertip with the needle and squeezed out more blood. I was so surprised I didn’t feel the pain. As the drops fell, the relic and the rune drank them and blazed bright again.
<You came to the South without having performed a proper ownership ritual. You were fortunate to obtain the guide sword and the “Gloriana’s Emblem,” but as things stand, it’s only half of what it should be. I recommend you perform the proper ownership ritual as soon as possible to gain full power. Ultimately, go to the Northern Barrier.>
“So—what do I have to do with that full power? Defeat Chernobog’s contractor and that’ll be it?”
<You will understand your “proper” mission the moment you gain full power. The superficial mission is to defeat Chernobog’s contractor and restore the barrier. Currently Veloborg is barely maintaining the weakened barrier and is almost out of strength while directing power to you. Repair the barrier before Veloborg’s power is completely gone.>
“But the ownership ritual is so hard. Even if Liciancious who awakened the fire power exists, what about the others who awakened the rest of the powers…?”
<They exist. Look carefully.>
“…Really all of them? In this age?”
<By the way, the Kastrine family is a goldmine. You can find two… perhaps even three people within that household.>
The clear voice gradually faded, like a machine slowly losing power.
<However, judging from the state of your guide sword’s ritual, you’ll have difficulty carrying out the proper ownership ritual. I will transfer a fragment of the barrier to you.>
— Wha—?! Th- that’s basically the Southern Barrier itself?! (´๑・⌓・｀) If you hand that over to the contractor, what happens to the South?
The emoticon sword, which had been listening quietly, cried out in alarm.
<I and this place have reached our limit. Last year some idiots deliberately poured Chernobog’s taint into the barrier and left; the 44th administrator vanished leaving only a fragment of consciousness. I, too, will probably expire after this moment as my power runs out.>
“W-what about future offering ceremonies?!”
<Demons have already invaded this city. The Southern Barrier is shattered and remains only in form. If you’re worried, coming down here every summer and spilling blood at this spot will be a temporary stopgap. But there’s no time for that. Because you are the “proper” contractor, we can transfer power — so accept it.>
Before I had time to respond, a strange power flowed through my body. I felt astonishingly light and my vision brightened.
<Frankly, I didn’t expect a gullible royal who would sign such a scam contract to exist in this age. Veloborg found someone to follow in Gloriana’s footsteps.>
“…Scam contract?”
<But thanks to it, humans might be able to survive a bit longer.>
A blinding light poured from the rune etched on the floor. The priests murmured among themselves.
“This light is much brighter than usual ceremonial light…!”
“Could something be wrong?”
“Wrong?”
“Tch, still better than last year…!”
The next moment, the light was sucked into my body.
The rune on the floor instantly lost its radiance. The characters that had been deeply carved looked as though they had been worn away and became faint.
The sacred relic at the center (a specially-attribute giant mana stone) also dulled to a muffled gray as if it had given up all the power that had been in it. And on my left wrist, a faint wing-like pattern had appeared. It was so pale—almost the same color as my skin—that it was hard to notice unless you looked closely.
“…….”
A cold sweat formed along my spine. Well, something like a power-up had happened. But the offering—seemed to have been ruined… I could tell instinctively. It felt as if the core of the Southern Barrier had been absorbed into me…?
“What is happening?!”
While the priests whispered and looked at one another, Kronen stepped forward and shouted.
“The barrier rune has dimmed and the relic lost its light. Something must have gone wrong!”
I feigned ignorance and tilted my head.
“But the light meant the offering finished safely, right? And it was a tremendously brilliant light!”
“There is no record among the dozens of offering ceremonies we’ve held! Since the founding emperor, this barrier rune has never dimmed and lost power!”
Kronen strained his neck veins and shouted. He had a point. Still, last year when Crown Prince Brian bungled the offering and everything went haywire, Kronen remained silent; so seeing him behave differently now and shout in front of me made me suspicious. What is he up to?
“Unlike usual, Her Highness the Princess did not purify her body properly and must have been tainted! That’s why the sacred offering rite was disrupted!”
Kronen’s eyes glittered. I noticed something strange.
Although only those meant to perform the offering ritual were in this room, many from our side were waiting outside the temple.
If I screamed for help right now, a flood of people would rush in to help me. So what nerve did Kronen have to act like that?
Even if Kronen were planning something, he would not make such blatant moves in the middle of the ritual — I figured. Kronen is more than anyone else power-hungry; he wouldn’t gamble his safety by causing trouble before the task was complete. That was my analysis.
But his present demeanor was odd. He looked as though he were being chased by something, desperate to avert the current crisis at any cost.
Then the priests who had been mumbling prayers around the room started edging toward me, watching each other warily. I slowly placed my hand on the hilt of the emoticon sword hidden at my waist.
I wasn’t sure whether it could burn humans the way it burned beasts, but, well — honestly I didn’t feel like I would lose. Since receiving the barrier fragment, I’d been brimming with energy. Right now, I felt like I could stay awake and active for a week.
— Contractor, I can sense traces of Chernobog in those priests’ bosoms! Bad guys! Bad guys! (╯•﹏•╰)
“Is there anything else I can use?!”
— Yes, yes! I’ll check! ⚆_⚆
It was then.
[Existence of Contractor ‘Titania’ confirmed]
This time I definitely felt it.
It was the voice I had heard when I’d fought beasts in the palace and performed in front of the emperor.
[Gloriana’s Emblem — direct contact confirmed; Poda’s fragment transfer confirmed. Storyborg’s power can be unlocked.]
“Purify Her Highness the Princess!”
With Kronen’s crazed shout, the priests produced small vials they had been clutching and hurled them at me. A bright red liquid splashed toward me.
And suddenly I remembered the sword’s warning: ‘If the opponent is stronger, getting absorbed through a wound becomes troublesome.’
