Became the Unjust Contract Slave of the Archamage’s Book

Sylvia, holding Binaeril, dodged the spirit’s relentless attacks. Rike cast a protective spell around Simon as the Wind Spirit focused its fury on Sylvia. The spirit conjured sharp, condensed spears of wind in midair and launched them straight at her.

“Hah!”

‘I can’t block this!’

Sylvia chanted an acceleration spell, narrowly evading the spears. The impact of the spirit’s attack left a clean hole through the rock, showcasing its terrifying power. Sylvia felt a chill down her spine.

Simon, protected by Rike, stepped forward and tried to reason with the spirit.

“Spirit of the gorge, please calm down! There is a Miao child here, one of your servants!”

The spirit hesitated upon seeing Simon.

[You dare bring a Miao child into this!]

The water around the spirit swirled violently, creating fierce whirlwinds.

“This seems to be making things worse,” Rike said.

“This isn’t working…” Simon muttered.

“Just stay back!” Sylvia commanded.

Sylvia skillfully dodged the spirit’s attacks multiple times. Each dodge left her with fewer places to step, forcing her to leap high into the air. But this was part of the spirit’s trap.

[Release him!]

In the air, Sylvia couldn’t defend herself effectively. The strong wind knocked her off balance, and she lost her grip on Binaeril. 

During their flight, Binaeril had temporarily frozen his wound to stop the bleeding.

“Grr…!”

The pain was intense, but preventing further blood loss was his priority.

As he plummeted towards the ground, Binaeril extended his arm.

“Where I touch, the ground will soften.”

He applied a modified version of the swamp spell Rike had shown him to cushion his fall.

“Ugh.”

Though he managed to lessen the impact, pain shot through his injured shoulder as he hit the ground. He clenched his teeth but knew he couldn’t stay down.

The spirit’s next attack roared towards him. Binaeril pressed himself against an upraised rock for cover. The sound of the spirit’s wind smashing against the barrier echoed through the gorge.

[Pathetic tricks!]

The Wind Spirit unleashed another razor-sharp gust. The stone wall Binaeril had raised was sliced cleanly in half. Binaeril narrowly ducked, avoiding decapitation by a hair’s breadth.

Defense alone wouldn’t be enough.

“Simon, I’m sorry.”

Whether it was a revered spirit of the Miao or not, if it wouldn’t listen, he had no choice but to fight back.

Binaeril summoned his strongest spell.

“Contracting earth, ensnaring sands. Beneath us lies a ravenous maw.”

The spell Binaeril used was the same one that had devoured the Wild Hounds in Fairhill. Casting it a second time, he didn’t feel the same excruciating headache as before. The massive amount of mana channeled through Veritas mixed seamlessly with his imagination.

An overwhelming fatigue gripped his entire body in an instant.

If this single attack couldn’t subdue the spirit, Binaeril knew he would be the one to fall.

“The ravenous maw seeks its prey. Devour, O maw. You shall be consumed.”

Gugung―.

The entire gorge vibrated with the spell’s power.

[What is this?]

The Wind Spirit, focused on its attacks, sensed the growing disturbance.

“The gathering mana… it’s incredible…”

To Rike, who could see the flow of mana, Binaeril’s spell looked like thousands of fireflies converging in one place.

The spell, imbued with Binaeril’s will, began to take shape.

Creak!

The gorge’s water was sucked into a newly formed pit.

Binaeril’s magic manifested like a long-dormant monster within the gorge, opening its gaping maw.

Crunch!

It swallowed the Wind Spirit whole.

“Is it dead?”

He hadn’t intended to go this far but couldn’t control his mana in his haste.

The spell was still unfamiliar to him.

Simon, wide-eyed, ran over from where he had been standing with Rike.

“What did you do! What did you do to the spirit!”

“Hey, if we hadn’t fought back, we would have all been killed!”

“Make it spit the spirit out! Command it to spit it out right now!”

But that wasn’t necessary. Simon’s worry soon proved unfounded.

The maw that had swallowed the spirit began to heave and make ominous sounds.

It looked like a mouth struggling to hold back vomit.

The bloated maw burst apart, shattering into pieces.

The spirit’s wind blades shredded the maw’s flesh into grains of sand.

Binaeril and his companions were covered in the resulting dust and dirt.

“This is ridiculous!”

Binaeril’s mouth hung open, filled with dirt in his shock.

He had unleashed his strongest spell.

He had channeled Veritas’s mana to its limit.

And yet, the spirit appeared unscathed?

It seemed Binaeril’s magic had only further incited the spirit’s rage.

[Is this all you have?]

[With the power of a fragment, this is all you can muster?]

The spirit asked, almost puzzled.

Binaeril had no strength left to even move a finger.

[Good. Now you shall die.]

The spirit conjured wind blades that whistled as they aimed at Binaeril.

The countless blades descended upon him.

“Eden?”

The small earth spirit residing in Binaeril’s ring emerged to protect its master.

Rocks, stones, and sand around them moved under Eden’s will, forming a sturdy shield.

[What is this…?]

The clash between the Wind Spirit’s attack and Eden’s defense was intense. Binaeril could sense that Eden was struggling. Despite both being spirits, there seemed to be a significant difference in power between Eden and the Wind Spirit.

After all the attacks were blocked, the Wind Spirit’s expression revealed clear bewilderment.

[A spirit child? Why…?]

Eden, looking furious, flew up to the Wind Spirit hovering in the air.

“Eden! It’s dangerous!”

Despite his warning, Binaeril couldn’t stop her. However, the situation unfolded unexpectedly.

The Wind Spirit seemed completely taken aback by the audacious charge of the small spirit.

[No, it’s not like that…]

[Child, calm down.]

“……!!”

[Alright, alright. I’m sorry! It seems I misunderstood.]

“Are they… talking?”

Binaeril realized he couldn’t hear Eden. In fact, he hadn’t known that Eden could speak at all until now. But it was clear that some form of communication was occurring between the spirits.

Binaeril stood still, hoping Eden could persuade the Wind Spirit successfully.

The Wind Spirit was a formidable entity. If they fought properly, victory was far from assured.

After a brief pause, Eden returned to Binaeril, hands on her hips and wearing a very self-satisfied expression. She had clearly given the Wind Spirit a piece of her mind.

[Sigh…]

The Wind Spirit descended among the wary group and approached Binaeril, inspecting him closely.

[It’s clear you’re not the one. You are indeed the holder of the fragment, but you’re too weak.]

“What do you mean…?”

[I misunderstood. I apologize.]

Binaeril accepted the apology, albeit somewhat confusedly.

[My name is Zilph. I am the Wind Spirit residing in Hoenberg.]

The spirit extended a hand to shake Binaeril’s, though his size made it difficult. Zilph was currently as small as Eden.

With a shrug, Zilph put his finger to his mouth and blew, inflating himself to the size of a robust young man. Only then could he shake hands with Binaeril properly.

Binaeril took Zilph’s hand and stood up. Though still dizzy and in pain, he felt it was important to stand while speaking.

“What did you mean by what you said earlier?”

[My name? Or this place? Hoenberg has rugged terrain and plenty of resting spots for the wind. It’s an ideal place for a Wind Spirit.]

“No, I meant the part about a ‘holder of the fragment’…”

“Ah, the holder of the fragment.”

Zilph pointed at a spot on Binaeril’s waist where Veritas was attached.

Binaeril looked at him with a puzzled expression.

[Isn’t that your fragment?]

Binaeril was taken aback.