Became the Unjust Contract Slave of the Archamage’s Book

The survivors exhaled in relief, their voices filled with awe and the hope for a miracle as they called out Binaeril’s name. Yunnaeril’s face briefly showed a hint of frustration.  

‘Damn… I should have reduced the number of mages before that brat returned.’  

“What about the casualties?” Binaeril asked as he descended from the sky.  

“Many mages…,” one of the nearby mages responded, trailing off.  

There was no need for him to continue; the scattered bodies and the noticeably reduced numbers of Elfenbine’s forces spoke volumes.  

“What about Priya? Inyakan? Dean Yulio? And the others?”  

“They’re still alive… for now.”  

Priya approached Binaeril, supporting the blood-spewing Inya Khan on her shoulder.  

“I’m fine, cough, kid. No problem fighting,” the Inyakan said, trying to shake off the support and appear composed.  

But the amount of blood he’d lost and the condition of his bracers told a different story.  

“I ended up like this fighting Yunnaeril.”  

“I’ll kill him. He’s the enemy of my family,” the Khan growled.  

“Please rest for a moment. I’ll handle it,” Binaeril reassured him.  

“The other mages are exhausted too,” Priya added. The mages, including herself, were utterly drained from continuously casting spells. Some had even gone completely gray-haired from overexerting their mana.  

“But what happened? Why are you so late?” Priya asked.  

“They turned our strategy against us. They split Starfall and Yunnaeril apart,” Binaeril explained briefly.  

“Sir Callisto…” Priya bit her lip in despair.  

“He was already far from whole. Yunnaeril used the fragment’s power to take over his soul. Yunnaeril… killed Sir Callisto.”  

Poor Callisto. Binaeril averted his gaze from them and looked towards the enemy.  

Yunnaeril, meeting his eyes, stood with an unshaken expression.  

How could he stand there with such a face after killing one of his own men? Binaeril couldn’t fathom it.  

“Be careful. There’s another person under Yunnaeril’s command. Not like the paladins,” Priya warned.  

“My shoulder wound was inflicted by him,” Inyakan added.  

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Binaeril replied.  

The situation was grim. Duke Dux’s army was holding the Church’s forces at bay in place of Elfenbine, but from above, the disparity in numbers was clear.  

Though Binaeril had managed to block Starfall once, he hadn’t been able to quash the morale of the Church’s forces, which had been revived by Yunnaeril’s display.  

To turn the tide, Binaeril needed to confront the Church’s soldiers, but…  

Yunnaeril wasn’t likely to sit idly by and let that happen.  

“Sir Clemens, Sir Sergio,” Yunnaeril called out to two of the nearby paladins.  

“Yes, sir!” they responded quickly, still reeling from witnessing Pascal’s death.  

“That is Binaeril. Capture him,”

Binaeril was merely waiting for the right moment. In an instant, his wings spread wide, and the gust from their movement deflected Sergio’s sword upward. His chest was left wide open, and Binaeril’s finger was already pointing directly at it. Though the exact nature of Binaeril’s intent was unclear, his lethal purpose was unmistakable.

‘Danger…!’ Sergio’s mind screamed.

Binaeril fired a magic bullet aimed straight at Sergio’s sternum. In that moment, Sergio felt the cold grip of impending death. Even as someone unfamiliar with magic, he could tell that the power in Binaeril’s attack was overwhelming.

But Sergio was not facing Binaeril alone. Between the magic bullet and Sergio appeared a slender sword, glowing with a soft, yet intense white light. While Sergio’s own light burned like a raging flame, this new light was delicate, almost feather-like. Yet the strength behind it was anything but light.

With a graceful motion, the interceding sword twisted the trajectory of the magic bullet. The movement was so fluid, so natural, it was almost unbelievable to witness. A soldier behind Sergio, struck by the deflected magic bullet, crumpled to the ground, dead.

“Paladin Sergio, calm down. This is not an enemy you can face alone,” the voice of Clemens, the owner of the sword, cut through the chaos.

“Clemens!” Sergio exclaimed.

Binaeril, observing Clemens’ unusual swordsmanship, was mildly surprised. This was someone who wielded a unique style.

“He’s already killed six paladins. If we underestimate him, it’ll be our side that suffers,” Clemens warned, his voice tense. Sergio immediately tensed up, understanding the gravity of the situation.

‘Tch.’ Binaeril clicked his tongue internally. ‘I was hoping to bait them into lowering their guard and pick off the paladins one by one, but Clemens has ruined that plan.’

It seemed Clemens specialized in defense. Even the single move he’d shown so far was remarkable. Binaeril had never seen a knight wield a sword with such finesse.

‘Handling these two isn’t the issue,’ he thought. The real problem was that he couldn’t predict when or how Yunnaeril, who stood behind them, would act. Not to mention, the unknown figure Priya had warned him about hadn’t shown up yet, and there was also the matter of Scylla.

Binaeril’s mind raced as he considered all the variables. There was only one clear course of action left.

He needed to eliminate these two paladins swiftly.

Binaeril began to formulate his battle plan in his mind. Sergio was the first to move, approaching with more caution than before. His attacks came slowly, methodically, giving Binaeril less room to exploit. The impacts from Sergio’s strikes, transmitted through Binaeril’s wings, were heavier than before, and his openings had significantly diminished.

Whenever Binaeril tried to retract his wings and fire a magic bullet, Clemens’ thin sword would dart forward, aiming for a critical spot. Binaeril was forced to defend, staying on the back foot.

‘Not yet. I need to wait a little longer,’ 

Seizing a brief opening, Binaeril fired several magic bullets. Each of them packed formidable power, not something to be easily ignored. However, Clemens deftly twisted the trajectory of each incoming bullet, deflecting them with his peculiar swordsmanship. But this was precisely what Binaeril had intended.

Even with their paths altered, those bullets were still under Binaeril’s control. With his focus maintained, it wasn’t difficult to re-align their targets. The scattered magic bullets, as if guided by invisible strings, converged back to a single point—the two paladins.

Binaeril poured all his concentration into manipulating the magic bullets. But as he did, a hidden threat moved in to strike: Scylla, the third assailant, who had been lying in wait. Scylla drew his dagger and aimed for the back of Binaeril’s neck, a critical spot that could paralyze or kill with even a slightly deep strike.

But this, too, was within Binaeril’s expectations.

Just before the dagger could pierce his neck, Binaeril triggered a pre-cast spell. His entire body was encased in clear, crystalline ice, a technique he had borrowed after witnessing the Archmage of Elfenbine use it to heal him. With a sharp *clink,* Scylla’s dagger was deflected harmlessly away.

Realizing his surprise attack had failed, Scylla immediately blended back into the crowd, thinking he had hidden his presence perfectly. But as he prepared to reassess his target, a chilling sensation ran down his spine.

Binaeril’s eyes, encased in ice, were locked directly onto Scylla’s position.

‘Impossible… Did he see me? But I made no mistakes…’

Indeed, Scylla had made no errors, but his opponent was Binaeril, a mage far beyond the ordinary. The presence of Veritas, linked to the power of Starfall, hadn’t missed Scylla’s presence.

‘Must… evade…!’

But before that thought could fully form, a bead-sized hole appeared in the center of Scylla’s forehead. The instant Binaeril shattered the ice and emerged, he had already claimed Scylla’s life.

“That’s one less to worry about,” Binaeril muttered as he watched Scylla fall.

Meanwhile, the two paladins had barely managed to deal with the returning magic bullets, their breathing ragged from the effort. Up until now, Binaeril had been holding back, engaging them to lure out Scylla. With that done, there was no reason to go easy on them anymore.

Binaeril extended his hand, and a frigid blue chill spread from his fingertips, engulfing the two paladins. It was the same type of cold that had overwhelmed Matthias in the underground tombs of the Rotfallen duchy—an icy magic that even Clemens’ swordsmanship couldn’t deflect.

The two paladins fought back in vain against the biting cold, but their resistance was futile. The bone-chilling frost brought them to their knees.