Became the Unjust Contract Slave of the Archamage’s Book

As soon as Binaeril held his breath, he visualized a fierce wind blowing.

‘A sharp, gusting wind!’

He couldn’t incant the spell aloud. The approaching poisonous mist was already at their noses. While conjuring the wind, Binaeril grabbed Inyakan’s collar and leapt backward.

“Siyaaaak!”

The Hydra’s mouth let out another monstrous wail as it dragged its belly menacingly toward the retreating pair. Although Binaeril managed to generate a wind to push the poisonous mist away, the Hydra continued spewing the same amount, making it largely ineffective. The closing distance made the exposed skin prickle with pain. If it was palpable on their skin, inhaling it would be catastrophic.

“Didn’t they teach you anything about this at the Mage Tower?”

“A monster that grows stronger by eating itself? I’ve never heard of such a thing!”

“Complete waste of education, huh.”

“And do you have any solutions, Inyakan?”

“Why ask me? You summoned it, you fix it!”

Even as they bickered, the distance between them and the monster was shrinking rapidly. They were racing through the underbrush, with the Hydra maneuvering surprisingly agilely for its size. Soon, the edge of the forest came into view.

“It’s getting closer!”

“I can see that! It’s hard to cast proper spells while running…!”

“What? Why didn’t you say so earlier!”

Inyakan swiftly grabbed Binaeril by the scruff and slung him onto his back, running even faster than before. Emerging from the forest, they found themselves in a field of tall grass.

“Leave the running to me and focus on your magic!”

The Hydra’s movements caused the tall grass to sway like waves. Its low-lying form made it hard for Binaeril to get a clear sight.

‘What should I do? What magic should I use…?’

Suddenly, the Hydra lifted its head, its neck and cheeks puffing up like someone about to blow. 

“Inyakan, duck!”

“What? Why!”

Binaeril’s instincts were faster than his reasoning, and Inyakan’s actions were faster than his words. As they ducked, the Hydra’s spit flew over their heads, hitting the ground and releasing acrid smoke.

“That monster spat at us?”

“You almost ended up bald like your head!”

“What’s wrong with my head!”

Amid their banter, an idea struck Binaeril. He focused on the Hydra’s venom, which was burning the ground.

‘Ignite.’

Crack, crack, pop!

The small puddles of venom sparked and exploded in a chain reaction, ignited by Binaeril’s magic.

‘This is it!’

But there was a problem. They were surrounded by tall, dry grass. Setting a fire here could turn the field into an inferno, trapping them instead.

“Inyakan, run in a circle!”

“No time to explain, just do it!”

As they curved their path into a circle, the Hydra accelerated its pursuit. Binaeril twisted around to face the approaching monster and began chanting a spell.

“Earthen barrage!”

As Inyakan ran, the ground beneath him erupted like cannon fire. It wasn’t a particularly powerful or impressive spell. Binaeril heard a disapproving click of the tongue from below his chin.

“That’s the only thing I could think of.”

“Who’s complaining?”

The scattered dirt clods hit the Hydra’s body without causing any damage. However, the spell served its intended purpose of uprooting the grass and overturning the soil. This was essentially creating a firebreak.

“Inyakan, run in a circle! Keep running until you hit the overturned ground!”

“In this chaos, you think that’s possible?”

Despite his words, Inyakan complied with Binaeril’s request as best as he could.

“Wall of wind, trap the air.”

Binaeril created a barrier to contain the air within the circular area. 

“Inyakan, leave this to me and get outside the circle.”

“Why don’t you ever listen to me?”

Binaeril planted his feet on Inyakan’s back and kicked off, sending Inyakan rolling out of the circle.

“The earth’s bars shall rise to imprison you and me.”

As the walls rose, Binaeril saw Inyakan roll out through the gap. Binaeril jumped inside the barrier, while Inyakan was left outside. A dome formed, enclosing only the monster and the mage. 

Whoosh―.

Inside the cage-like space, the Hydra stopped moving. It looked down at the tiny mage left alone with it, snorting. Binaeril waited briefly, letting the creature’s gas fill the dome. The weak sunlight filtering through the gaps reflected off the Hydra’s golden scales, lighting up the interior.

Binaeril had one last question he wanted to ask.

“Can you talk to humans?”

Even speaking just one sentence made the air he inhaled feel acrid. Binaeril closed his mouth again. In this confined space, there was no way the Hydra couldn’t have heard him. But it didn’t respond. It just flicked its tongue and eyed its prey.

‘Was I mistaken?’

He had clearly heard it. The laughter and the words mocking him as an interesting prey when it devoured its other heads. But now, the intelligence he thought he had seen in the creature’s eyes was gone. Only the hunger and instinct of a monster remained.

The air inside the dome had grown visibly murky. Binaeril silently chanted the spell he had prepared.

‘Ignite.’

Fire spread from Binaeril’s fingertips to the heads of the grasses. 

‘Eden, transport me outside!’

With Eden’s help, Binaeril’s body began to sink into the ground. He needed to escape before the explosion occurred. He planned to get outside and brace for the impact.

[Where do you think you’re going!]

He heard it again. This time, he was certain it wasn’t a mistake, as he was staring right into the monster’s eyes. The Hydra was definitely speaking to him.

‘How?’

He had hunted countless monsters, but never encountered one that could speak. A monster capable of conversation? That was unheard of. Monsters were called monsters because they couldn’t be negotiated or reasoned with. They were driven by hunger and destruction. Humanity and monsters had been locked in eternal war since time immemorial without a single word exchanged.

His questions and curiosity were buried as his body was submerged underground.

Binaeril, having emerged from the dome, had an urgent task at hand. The explosion was imminent. Pausing to ask questions would jeopardize both his and Inyakan’s safety.

“Hold tight,” he muttered, grabbing his right wrist with his left hand, as if clutching an invisible orb.

The ignited heads of grass met the Hydra’s poisonous mist, triggering an explosion.

Boom!

Once the explosion started, it became uncontrollable. Each blast that struck the dome’s walls sent shivers down Binaeril’s spine as he struggled to maintain his focus. He felt as if someone was relentlessly pounding on his nerves.

Binaeril’s hand, synchronized with his imagination, convulsed stiffly, accumulating black burns. Sweat poured down his face. Inyakan, rolling on the ground, noticed the explosions and cautiously approached, placing a reassuring hand on Binaeril’s shoulder.

It took over ten minutes for the explosions to subside. To Binaeril, it felt like half a day.

“Hey, civilized one. I think it’s over,” Inyakan said.

“Inyakan… Could you help with my arm? It’s so stiff I can’t move it…”

Without a word, Inyakan massaged Binaeril’s arm. His hand was completely blackened by burns.

“That looks awful. Doesn’t it hurt?”

“I can’t feel it much yet.”

“In a bit, it’ll feel like your hand’s being torn apart.”

Inyakan approached the dome and used the hilt of Sikrun to break the wall, releasing acrid black smoke.

“Is it dead?”

“No creature could survive in there.”

Despite his certainty, Inyakan was quickly proven wrong. Though the Hydra’s golden scales were all scorched and its body was barely recognizable, it still had its malevolent eyes open. The area beneath its eyes moved slightly with each shallow breath.

“It’s alive…”

“I thought as much.”

Supported by Inyakan, Binaeril approached the Hydra’s snout. The creature flicked its tongue warily but couldn’t resist. Even its tongue was half-destroyed by the explosion.

Binaeril tried to read something in the Hydra’s eyes. Whether it was his imagination or not, the wary look seemed to slowly shift to one of pain, then to resignation.

“Admiring its beauty? Finish it off quickly,” Inyakan urged from behind.

The Hydra opened its mouth.

[So, I meet my end at the hands of my sibling…]

As Binaeril hesitated, Inyakan raised Sikrun and struck the Hydra’s forehead. A dull thud echoed inside the dome.

“What were you thinking? Trying to have a conversation?”

The Hydra’s body disintegrated into black ash and blew away in the wind. In its place, a peculiar object emitting a dark, crystalline glow was left behind.

“A magic stone.”

‘Is this a magic stone?’

Unlike the dark minerals he had seen before, this one had a different form. Binaeril picked up the Hydra’s magic stone.

“What is that, its heart?”

“It’s a magic stone.”

“What’s it for?”

Inyakan blinked, confused by Binaeril’s words. “Think of it as something similar to a heart.”

The item in Binaeril’s hand indeed resembled a black heart.

– It’s a high-purity magic stone. Not all monsters have magic stones of this form.

‘If I consume this…’

– You will become stronger. You’ll be a far more powerful mage than you are now.

The pulsating black heart in Binaeril’s hand exuded an almost irresistible allure. It even looked somewhat appetizing.

‘But whenever I fed you a magic stone, I suffered from a fever. If I eat this myself, won’t I be in even more pain?’

– Binaeril, cowardly Binaeril. Every growth comes with growing pains. You can’t become stronger if you only try to avoid pain. What’s important is whether you want to become stronger and if you’re ready to endure it.

Binaeril knew from experience that when Veritas tempted him in this way, the outcome was never good. However, Veritas never lied. Now was the time to make a decision. Binaeril opened his mouth and bit into the black heart.

“Drop your weapons and put your hands up! We are soldiers of Count Huber!”

The explosion in the field had drawn the Count’s soldiers, who quickly located the pair. The timing was unfortunate. Inyakan didn’t realize what was happening until his companion, after biting the heart, collapsed. Seeing the soldiers with spears pointed at them, Inyakan was tempted to ask what was going on.

One of the soldiers pulled out a piece of paper and compared Inyakan’s face to a sketch.

“Were you the one who attacked the merchant at Altrang Bridge a few days ago?”

The timing was bad. While a few meager soldiers weren’t much of a threat to Inyakan, his companion was now writhing on the ground in pain from the sudden fever. Inyakan had to make a choice. Escape or help the young mage.

Inyakan’s decision was quick. “Yes, that was me.”

He concealed Sikrun and raised his hands, approaching the soldiers.

“This is him!”

As the soldiers’ guard lowered with his gesture of surrender, Inyakan suddenly punched the soldier holding the sketch.

“Ah! He’s escaping! Catch him!”

Inyakan began to run, leaving Binaeril behind.