Became the Unjust Contract Slave of the Archamage’s Book

Binaeril dodged Callisto’s attacks with nimble leaps, almost like a rabbit avoiding a predator. When Callisto swung his sword horizontally, Starfall’s mana pressed down on Binaeril from above. When he brought the sword down vertically, the mana shifted to target Binaeril from behind. To an observer, Binaeril’s evasive maneuvers might have seemed like acrobatics performed under a relentless assault.

But Binaeril’s thoughts were different.

‘It’s awkward.’

Binaeril remembered Callisto’s swordsmanship. The style he once knew was not like this. Callisto’s attacks had been slow and heavy, but with an undeniable weight that made them nearly impossible to dodge. Now, it was as if Callisto were merely a puppet, his muscles moving the sword without the grace or intent of a true warrior.

– His will has been devoured. He’s become just like the puppet we encountered before.

Binaeril recalled Paladin Antero, whom they had met in Barbaroana. Antero had been reduced to nothing more than a puppet with a sword, his will consumed by Starfall.

“Sir Callisto would never make such a choice.”

Starfall had been able to consume Antero’s will because he had desired power so desperately that he was willing to forsake himself. Starfall feeds on weak minds, turning them into mere hosts. But Callisto wasn’t a weak man.

– Heh heh heh…!

Starfall sneered as Binaeril continued to dodge.

“What did you do to Sir Callisto?”

– He crossed the line.

Shiiing!

Even as they spoke, Callisto’s sword lashed out, aiming for Binaeril’s throat.

– Do you want to know? Are you curious?

The next slash was aimed at Binaeril’s heart, and the one after that at his abdomen. Binaeril narrowly dodged each strike as they cut through the rain.

“Did Sir Callisto go to see my brother?”

Without him realizing it, the mana from Starfall’s sword began to envelop the two of them. The rain ceased. They were trapped within a dark, spherical space, with only the faint blue glow of Binaeril’s wings lighting the shadowy surroundings.

– If you want to know, I’ll show you!

Starfall drew out fragments of memory that still lingered in Callisto’s body. The walls of the sphere displayed the scene of Callisto’s meeting with Yunnaeril.

– Such a pitiful sight.

Starfall intended to use this memory to shake Binaeril. Despair, fear, and negative emotions were Starfall’s nourishment. It sought to break Binaeril’s spirit and then claim his life. As it projected Callisto’s memory, Starfall paused its attack. Savoring the moment when a person’s will crumbled was Starfall’s greatest pleasure.

In the memory, Callisto spoke:

– That young man, he’s willing to lay down his life to kill someone. It’s more than simple resentment. He wants you to atone for your mother’s death.

Callisto was pointing his sword at Yunnaeril. His expression was hidden in the shadow of the moonlight behind him.

– But what will be left after he achieves his revenge? What remains at the end of a war where a brother kills his brother?

What remains at the end of revenge?  

It was a question he had never considered before.  

In the relationship between the Dalheim brothers, what remains in the end?  

The tenacious and bloody bond where they aim for each other’s lives as agents of fragments.  

For Binaeril, there was no life after revenge.  

He was a mage, a person who could create miracles through imagination.  

But he had never imagined a life after revenge.  

What he could not imagine was, to him, something that did not exist.  

Callisto spoke again.  

– Nothing will be left. I don’t wish to see such an end.

Yunnaeril said something, but his brother’s words did not resonate with Binaeril at all.  

The perspective shifted, likely to Yunnaeril’s point of view.  

Only then could he see Callisto’s expression.  

In his eyes… there was sadness.  

“I’m sorry.”  

Callisto moved first, and Yunnaeril swung Starfall in sync, like lovers dancing in unison.  

It was Yunnaeril who survived.  

The space once again sank into a faint, hazy darkness.  

“So that’s what happened. Even knowing Starfall’s power, he fought against it—what a fool.”  

Binaeril remained silent, while Veritas, like an impatient spectator, shared his thoughts.  

Binaeril suddenly wondered what expression he was wearing now.  

With no mirror, he could only gauge it by the face of the man in front of him.  

Callisto’s face was devoid of any emotion.  

Only then did Binaeril realize what expression he had been making.  

He was clenching his teeth.  

– You must kill him. Discard your softened heart. That man is no longer the person you remember.

The fragment spoke.  

– How does it feel? Sad? Do you regret it? Does the man risking his life for something that isn’t even his own seem foolish? Do you feel like screaming for them to give him back? 

And then the fragment spoke again.  

– But it’s a pity. Callisto is dead. He will never return. All because of that very heart that wasn’t even his own.

– He is pitiable.

Callisto moved again.  

Binaeril stood there, dazed, as if his soul had left him.  

Starfall believed it had finally broken his spirit.  

But the truth was the opposite.  

With a wave of his hand, Binaeril sent Callisto flying mercilessly.  

He crossed his hands and pointed his fingers at Callisto.  

The light of the magic bullet gathered.  

Just once, but that attack had pierced through Starfall’s power before.  

Starfall hastily mustered its power to forcibly move Callisto’s body.  

Callisto, now consumed by the writhing, black magic, no longer resembled anything human.  

– Stop him! You must kill him! 

Starfall’s command was also Yunnaeril’s command.

And that hope soon turned into a desperate resistance.  

“Ugh! Kill as many mages as you can! Hurry!”  

The paladins shouted in frustration.  

Lightning struck, flames surged, and the falling raindrops tore through the soldiers’ skin like needles.  

As the situation reached this point, dealing with the remaining mages became exceedingly difficult.  

“We can’t, we can’t break through!”  

Curses rose to their lips, impossible to hold back.  

Captain Yunnaeril was engaged in combat with a massive figure.  

“Who is this bastard?”  

Even in the chaotic battlefield, no soldiers dared approach the two of them.  

Their fight was that intense.  

The more Yunnaeril clashed swords with his opponent, the more he was astonished by the other’s skill.  

A warrior bearing the name of Inya.  

Only one living Inya warrior remained.  

Moreover, if this man displayed such martial prowess…  

“Are you the coward Balrai who ran from the wolves?”  

“NARR! How do you know that?”  

“So it’s true. You are the Khan of Inya.”  

The two of them clashed weapons and then retreated a few steps apart.  

“Speak! How do you know my name?”  

“Your son told me.”  

The Inya Khan realized that the man before him was the one responsible for the massacre of the Inya tribe.  

“You! I’ll kill you!”  

The Inya Khan charged like a beast, his eyes bloodshot with rage.  

‘This is troublesome.’  

Although he had provoked him to create an opening, the Inya Khan was no easy opponent.  

Moreover, an unknown force was supporting Elfenbine, pushing forward.  

Though not as formidable as the Church’s army, they weren’t few enough to be defeated in one stroke either.  

‘I must kill him quickly.’  

He needed to eliminate Elfenbine’s mages to make it easier to deal with Binaeril.  

Yunnaeril did not believe that Callisto could handle Binaeril.  

That side was a sacrificial pawn from the start.  

However, he instinctively knew that if Elfenbine was driven into a corner, Binaeril would come to them.  

Therefore, the remaining mages had to be dealt with before Binaeril arrived.  

“MAL PARAVINYA!”  

The Inya Khan’s roar pierced through all the noise of the battlefield.  

Yunnaeril was startled by the shout.  

There was magic imbued in his cry, a magic familiar to Yunnaeril.  

“This… this is Inya’s…!”  

Yunnaeril hastily thrust his sword toward the ferocious Inya Khan.  

That was his mistake.  

As his sword collided with the Khan’s bracer, he instinctively felt that something was wrong.  

The Inya Khan had not lost his composure.  

With a skillful twist of his bracer, the Khan caught Yunnaeril’s sword and snapped it.  

“Captain Yunnaeril!”  

The Khan’s fist came crashing toward Yunnaeril’s face.