CHAPTER 143…………………………………..
Crash!
“Saint! Are you all right?”
Acolyte Paolo jumped in alarm and grabbed Sion’s hand. Shards of the shattered fountain pen had cut into his palm, causing ink and blood to mingle messily.
Between the black ink, dark crimson streaks tangled together.
“Saint?”
Finding it strange that Sion was only staring silently at it, Paolo called out to him carefully.
Sion looked at the broken pen for a moment, then suddenly turned his head away.
Beyond the window, the morning sun was just beginning to rise. From somewhere past it, Sion could feel an ominous presence.
“What’s wrong? …Are you feeling unwell anywhere? Ah—or could it be that you’ve received a revelation?”
Paolo looked at Sion with hopeful eyes.
“Can’t you feel it?”
“Pardon?”
“Something… something is wrong.”
He couldn’t say exactly what, but Sion felt an overwhelming intuition.
An inexplicable certainty took root inside him. Paolo tilted his head in confusion, but Sion flung the window open and leaned out.
“Good heavens! Saint! That’s dangerous!”
Paolo cried out in shock, trying to stop him, but Sion didn’t budge.
Hoo—when he inhaled the dawn air, its chill filled his lungs.
Normally he would have savored such clean air, but this time it was different. There was an unpleasant sensation, as though impurities were mixed in.
Remnants of dark magic.
It doesn’t seem like it was cast nearby… but the residue has spread all the way here?
Just how massive would the dark magic have to be for that to happen? A chill ran down Sion’s spine.
And this residue… I’ve seen it before.
Among the remnants of various hues, one golden tint stood out most strongly.
It was unmistakably the same dark magic residue he had seen during the Penelope Swanson incident. Even then, he had suspected there was a hidden third dark mage besides the two who had revealed themselves…
What are they planning now?
Sion couldn’t fathom what scheme the dark mages were hiding.
No—honestly, it didn’t matter.
Most of them were trapped on the Isle of Thanatos and couldn’t escape anyway. Whatever they were plotting, they wouldn’t get away with it so easily—
“Sa-Saint.”
At that moment, Paolo called to him with a deathly pale face. He was staring at the emergency communication orb connected to the Holy See.
“We’ve just… received a message from the Vatican.”
“What is it? Another blessing for the imperial elites or something?”
“No! This time it’s… uh…”
Paolo hesitated, unable to continue. When Sion frowned slightly, he finally spoke in a trembling voice.
“We’ve lost contact with the Tower of Nyx.”
“…What?”
“The last transmission was from Cardinal Bellado: ‘The barrier has been breached. The dark mages are attacking.’”
“……”
Sion felt his mind go cold.
The barrier has been breached.
Those few words carried immense weight. After the initial shock passed, Sion realized that he had always been preparing for a situation like this.
“When was that message sent?”
“F-fifteen minutes ago!”
“Enough time for them to destroy the Tower of Nyx and invade the Grand Duchy of Ghelline.”
Sion assessed the situation calmly.
“With Cardinal Bellado, who holds supreme command over the Holy Knights, currently unreachable, all authority is now delegated to me.”
In other words, from this moment on, Sion was the military commander of the Holy See.
“Immediately notify the Empire and the Grand Duchy that this is a state of emergency!”
“Yes, y-yes!”
Staring toward the distant horizon, Sion murmured,
“So once again, this continent will be soaked in blood….”
An all-out war against the dark mages. Another chance to wipe them out completely.
It was something Sion had long desired—yet now that it was becoming reality, his chest felt heavy and unsettled.
“…Ah, that reminds me.”
Sion reached into his robe and pulled out a piece of candy.
Tap.
As he rolled it around in his mouth, sweetness spread across his tongue. His cluttered thoughts seemed to clear just a little.
“Honestly…”
He thought of Emily, who always seemed to brighten her surroundings like sunlight.
Whenever his thoughts became tangled, he would nibble on one candy after another—until it had turned into a habit.
At a moment like this, instead of thinking of Helios, the chief god watching over them all, the one who came to mind was a mere human who, despite her frail body, never hesitated to sacrifice herself.
“I’m unfit to be a saint….”
Crunch. Biting down on the candy in his mouth, Sion let out a bitter smile.
Warm.
Soft.
Comfortable.
With only those primal sensations remaining, I drifted aimlessly through the darkness. I wanted to keep sleeping like this forever.
—…Hey.
A voice whispered to me from far away. So annoying. What are you even saying?
—Con… tractor!
I can’t hear you! You’re just buzzing like a fly. I can’t understand a thing.
—Contractor!
“Gasp!”
I jolted awake.
Feeling the hard floor beneath me, I slowly pushed myself up. Dazed, I looked around.
Where am I?
Why am I here?
As I slowly retraced my memories, I realized this was no time to be spacing out. I sprang to my feet and paced around.
“…Claude?”
He was the most likely suspect. Had I been kidnapped again?
Considering that crazed look in his eyes, it was entirely possible.
But this place was far too wide to be the village hidden beneath the Frostwood Forest.
No matter how capable Claude was, he couldn’t possibly create such a vast, empty clearing overnight just to lock me up.
“Yulie! Ed, Isaac! …Andrea!”
I called out my brothers’ names, but no answer came back.
Not them either? Honestly, even if he’d locked me in a basement this time, I wouldn’t have much room to complain.
Standing in the middle of the space where only my own voice echoed back at me, I called the final candidate.
“Rev?”
—So you finally call for me, Contractor!
Tap.
A black cat landed softly in front of me.
It padded closer, then sat down a few steps away and began licking its black paw.
“Where is this place?”
—Don’t worry. Your body is sleeping soundly right now, and this is merely your inner world.
If that were true, it felt far too real. I stared down at my palm—it looked exactly the same as always.
I bent my middle finger backward, but instead of bending all the way to the back of my hand, it just hurt.
“Ow!”
—Hmph. This isn’t a dream! Idiot.
All that fuss over bending one finger.
When I shot him a slight glare, Rev flicked his tail sharply against the ground, clearly irritated.
—That’s why I told you to call me sooner! As I said, since you are not my official contractor, there’s a limit to how much I can help unless you summon me yourself.
“I know.”
—You know, and yet when you were kidnapped, you didn’t call me even once?! Even though you usually summon me whenever you’re bored!
Ugh. Nagging.
“…But I called you this time. By your true name.”
—That’s about the only thing worth praising.
“It was the first time since I was eleven.”
That was when my bond with Rev had begun.
In a state of extreme anxiety, I had unknowingly made the best choice I could at the time.
“Thinking about… that moment, I just couldn’t bring myself to call you.”
When I came to my senses, I was standing alone among corpses, drenched in blood. I still vividly remembered Edmond and the knights staring at me as if they’d lost their souls.
What happened that day was swept under the rug, but—
If I had called Rev in the village of the dark mages… a horrific scene would surely have unfolded.
—Soft-hearted fool.
Rev clicked his tongue.
—That half-baked nature of yours is always the problem. Neither fully human, fearing dark mages, nor fully a dark mage, despising humans—your clumsy in-betweenness!
“I know.”
—Contractor. When you first spoke my true name, I planted a very small seed in your body.
Tap.
As Rev threw a playful punch into the air, a burning sensation flared beneath my collarbone.
Looking down, I saw an abstract symbol beneath my right collarbone. It resembled waves—or perhaps the scales of a serpent.
It was the mark of the provisional contract Rev and I had made.
When Rev first proposed a full contract, I had refused, afraid my soul would be held hostage.
That was when he offered this “provisional contract” instead.
In exchange for borrowing part of his power, I would have to pay a corresponding price each time.
In my case, that price was—
—And today, when you borrowed my power once more, that seed sprouted.
Crack!
“Ugh!”
From the original mark, new crack-like patterns spread outward. Was this what the markings looked like on those who survived being struck by lightning?
The pattern crept from my right shoulder down toward my upper arm.
This was the price I paid every time I used his power.
Handing over a share of my soul….
Seeing it with my own eyes stirred complicated feelings.
—Remember this well. The moment that mark covers your entire body—
Rev’s red eyes gleamed.
—Your soul will belong to me.
That was the original contract, after all.
“…I know.”
I nodded obediently, thinking to myself that it was a generous deal, considering how often I’d borrowed his power bit by bit.
—You answer well. Contractor, it’s better that you don’t truly understand what it means to sell your soul to a demon.
“Are you… worried about me or something?”
—Don’t be ridiculous.
Rev stared at me without even blinking.
—This is a warning. It means that no matter how much you cry and beg later, I won’t go easy on you.
Hearing that from a demon was genuinely chilling. Thinking that, I smiled faintly.
“Thanks. You saved my life again.”
—Hmph. You do have a way with words.
Rev swished his tail lazily. He seemed to be in a noticeably better mood.
—That’s enough chit-chat. It’s time for you to return to reality.
“Okay.”
—When you open your eyes…
Rev’s whisper brushed past my ear.
—Many things will have changed.
Changed how? Before I could ask, I felt myself drop straight downward.
When I came to, I was lying on a white bed.
