Became the Unjust Contract Slave of the Archamage’s Book

Kieeeek!

People looked around in confusion, searching for the source of the eerie cry. It was a sharp, piercing sound that had no place on a battlefield filled with humans.

“Mo… Monsters…!”

Panic and shock spread rapidly among the soldiers. Monsters? How could there suddenly be monsters? No one had the slightest clue where they had come from. The surrounding area was nothing but barren land, with the scant vegetation trampled and crushed by the chaos of war. 

Yet, despite this, monsters—previously unseen—began to appear in droves.

Kieek!

Ignoring the questions and fears of those around them, the monsters continued to emerge. Some hatched from eggs inside the corpses of the dead, others roared and charged, saliva dripping from their fangs, while some even flew down from the sky. The anti-Order coalition forces, who had come to support Elfenbine, found themselves battling these creatures even before engaging the Order’s troops.

“Your Majesty, be careful!”

A loyal retainer threw himself in front of Emperor Friederike, shielding her from the monsters. 

Splat—!

“Kreegh!”

Rike swiftly chanted a spell, dispatching the monster that had lunged at her. The retainer, who had been caught off guard, froze in place, realizing his unnecessary action.

“Have you forgotten who I am? Don’t worry about me.”

He had indeed forgotten—this was the Second Emperor, hailing from Elfenbine. No one was better suited to combat monsters than the mages.

“I will protect Her Majesty the Emperor. Sir Amguier, lead the others.”

Count Forzia of the Court politely urged the retainer to step aside. Both the Second Emperor and Count Forzia were mages from Elfenbine. The imperial forces, led by the Emperor, systematically defeated the monsters as they advanced toward the center of the battlefield.

Countess Sylvia Forzia drew closer to the Emperor and asked, “What could this be? A war with the Order, and suddenly monsters appear?”

Rike, instead of answering, lifted her gaze to the sky above the battlefield. Her special eyes, attuned to the flow of magic, followed something unseen by others.

“It’s ominous…”

“I’ve never seen magic like this before. Sylvia, what in the world has the Order done?”

A vortex of colorless magic was swirling, covering the battlefield sky.

“This isn’t the end.”

“What do you mean?”

“We have to stop it now. The Order is up to something!”

The sudden appearance of monsters had thrown everyone into disarray. The small alliance of Aliba, Walka, and Tel Mer was in a state of panic, gasping for breath as they faced the monsters blocking their path.

Beeeep!

“King Ducat! Do we charge forward like this?”

King Ducat, temporarily leading the small alliance, hesitated. The Toins were known for their excellent craftsmanship, artistry, and even brewing skills, but they had few outstanding warriors.

“Should we… retreat?”

“Uncle, I’ll handle it.”

It was the nymph Kaya who stepped forward, her voice calm and her expression fearless. Slowly, her lower body sank into the earth.

Just as Priya was born with a talent for manipulating illusions and mist, Kaya had a natural gift for controlling earth and stone.

“Kreeeek!”

Kaya’s magic pulled the lower bodies of the roaring monsters into the ground, trapping them in the soil. The monsters, now with only their heads above the surface, shrieked in agony.

“Uncle, finish them off!”

“Wha? Oh, right!”

“Hurry, I can’t hold them for long!”

“Kill the monsters!”

The Toins quickly set upon the monsters, cutting them down as they struggled, half-buried in the earth. Despite being buried up to their necks, the monsters were still nearly as tall as the short-statured Toins. The Miao tribe, Dominic’s border troops, the Toins, and the Barbaroi all fought fiercely against the monsters from their respective positions.

The forces of the Order, caught off guard by the sudden expansion of the battlefield, were left in disarray and confusion.

“W-what is this…?”

They had thought they were as good as dead. Many among the Order’s ranks had already abandoned hope of victory and were now scrambling for ways to save their own lives. But then, unexpectedly, the enemy forces were suddenly preoccupied with battling the very monsters that had attacked them.

“It’s a stroke of luck!”

Now, those dreadful monsters had become their potential saviors. This was their chance—a chance to secure a retreat while the enemy was distracted.

“Retreat! Break through the rear!”

However, the rear of the Order’s army was still clueless, hesitating, while the vanguard, desperate to escape, began pushing their comrades aside recklessly.

“Charge forward!”

Yunnaeril shouted.

“Are you insane, Commander?”

“This is our opportunity! We can minimize our losses and retreat! We must withdraw while they’re distracted by the monsters!”

But turning an army of tens of thousands around in the middle of such chaos was no easy task.

Click.

Yunnaeril drew the Starfall from the ground, aiming it directly at the paladin who had opposed his order.

“What…!”

The paladins were horrified.

“Those who defy orders will receive no mercy.”

There was something off in his eyes. The light emitted by the Starfall was no longer the vibrant, colorful radiance it once was, and a disturbing madness flickered in Yunnaeril’s gaze. It was clear to anyone that he was not in his right mind.

“The monsters are on our side. I have ordered a charge. Will you die by the enemy’s hand, or by mine?”

The paladin, with the tip of Yunnaeril’s sword pressed against him, trembled as he met the commander’s crazed eyes.

“I… I will follow your orders…”

“Lead the soldiers. If you don’t charge at them, the Holy Sword will condemn you.”

This was no mere bluff. The paladins surrounding Yunnaeril could feel a deadly intent that seemed to pierce their skin.

The composed and considerate Sword of the Order, Yunnaeril Dalheim, was no more. The paladins who bowed their heads all felt a shared intuition that something was terribly wrong. 

Why was their commander acting this way? Why did he claim that the monsters were on the side of the Order? And why did the sacred artifact of the Order, the Starfall, emanate such a demonic aura?

“Go.”

They couldn’t understand any of it, but they knew they had to act. Sometimes, intuition is more precise than reason. Disobeying his orders now would only mean death.

“Fight! Charge!”

They led the soldiers forward, cutting down those who hesitated. The fear that Yunnaeril had instilled in them was now being spread by the paladins to the soldiers. This was no longer a holy war. It wasn’t even the war the Order had intended. It had become a march of death, driven by the desires of one man and his incomprehensible power.

“Yunnaeril…!”

The battlefield was now engulfed by swarms of black and red monsters. Every breath carried the scent of blood and cloying saliva. The scale of the monster onslaught was even greater than what had happened in the village of Inya.

As soon as the first monster appeared, Binaeril, Inyakan, and Priya exchanged glances. This was a scene all too familiar to them, a nightmare they knew all too well.

They all spoke the same words at once.

“We have to stop him.”

“We have to stop Yunnaeril.”

“We must kill that KSHVARL.”

The monsters that appeared first were mostly small, but there were a few mid-sized ones mixed in, wreaking havoc like wild animals in a field of scarecrows.

“The longer this drags on, the stronger and more numerous the monsters will become. Binaeril, you have to stop him.”

“…Yes. Sister, please spread out the remaining mages to help the others.”

Everyone who had come to aid Elfenbine was now fighting the monsters. But the sacrifice was too great, especially among those who were not adept in magic—the Miao tribe, the Barbaroi, and the imperial soldiers.

“I’ll do whatever it takes to stop Yunnaeril. And then…”

‘And then I’ll finish my revenge.’

Swallowing his final words, Binaeril took a step forward. This single step—how long had it taken him to prepare for it? How many battles had he fought, how many fragments had he gathered to take this one step toward his brother?

Binaeril was no longer the boy who wept in his brother’s shadow. And his brother was no longer the malicious young man who had taken pleasure in tormenting him.

The malevolent power radiating from the Starfall and the wickedness in Yunnaeril’s gaze felt as if it could pierce through his very soul. He was afraid. But he couldn’t stop moving forward.

This was no longer just a personal matter between the two of them. The lives of countless others now depended on Binaeril’s actions. 

With each step Binaeril took, frost flowers bloomed beneath his feet. He didn’t want anyone else to suffer from their battle. As he advanced, a massive, hemispherical barrier of mana enveloped the space, isolating the two of them from the rest of the world. 

This was the same barrier that the Starfall had created during the battle with the corrupted Callisto, but now it was a clear blue dome separating them from everything else.

-Come. Let’s see who will be the last one standing, you loudmouthed Book of Truth. Let’s settle this once and for all.

– I’ve never been able to have a proper conversation with a savage like you. I suppose it’s fortunate. After today, I won’t have to endure the sight of that arrogant Starfall of yours anymore.

Starfall laughed.

Veritas laughed as well.

Within the dome that imprisoned the two of them, neither fragment attempted to hide their presence any longer. Binaeril had fought Starfall several times before, but this was his first battle against Yunnaeril himself.

Yunnaeril slowly swung Starfall, which he had pulled from the ground, upwards. Even that simple motion carried a weight of pressure unlike anything before. From the blade of Starfall, black mana began to creep out. 

Yes, there was no need to worry about others’ gazes now.

The black mana sharpened like the talons of a raptor. Three talons, three blades of darkness shot forward like arrows. This was a simple probing strike, Yunnaeril’s way of greeting his brother.

“Shatter and scatter.”

Binaeril didn’t back down, responding with his own mana bullets. The collision of their magic produced a sound like shattering glass, and the fractured pieces of mana sparkled as they disintegrated in the air. 

The two brothers locked eyes through the splintered fragments of magic, yet neither truly saw the other. 

Yunnaeril, with his sword raised, faced his brother, who had grown far taller since their last confrontation. This was their first battle with weapons drawn, but for Binaeril, this was not new. 

Binaeril had fought his brother countless times, even without crossing swords or clashing magic. His entire life had been a war directed at Yunnaeril, whether or not his brother realized it. His dreams were haunted by Yunnaeril, he saw his brother’s illusions, and he chased his brother’s shadow relentlessly.

For Binaeril, Yunnaeril was the only one he despaired over, the only one he hoped for, the only one who could betray or earn his trust. Yunnaeril was his everything.

At the third repetition of the flickering mana, the two brothers finally moved toward each other. Binaeril was enveloped in blue mana, while Yunnaeril was wrapped in black mana like a protective shroud.

As the rain fell, it turned to snow in Binaeril’s world, while in Yunnaeril’s world, the raindrops became black as ink. 

This was a battle between brothers, a struggle to destroy, trample, deny, and reject each other’s world. 

When Binaeril stamped his foot and charged, a giant’s foot emerged from the sky, aiming to crush his brother’s world. 

Yunnaeril raised his sword. That was all it took. The sword sliced through the giant’s foot and continued upward, tracing a line along Binaeril’s neck. 

A thin, black thread cut horizontally through Binaeril’s blue world.

“…Binaeril!”

Rike’s voice was nearly a scream as she watched. The blue and black mana clashed violently, tangling like the jaws of beasts locked in combat. One force was the mana that summoned monsters, the other, a mana she knew all too well—Binaeril’s familiar and beloved power.

But Binaeril’s mana was being overwhelmed.