Chapter 25: I Understand the Truth, But Why is The Crow so Big?
Erika stared blankly at the Crow before her, taking a mont to process what had just happened:
"A Crow......can talk?"
Weija folded its wings across its chest and gave a courteous bow.
The gesture was so gentlemanly that Erika found herself staring—though she still could not ignore the fact that she was looking at a Crow.
"Kindly allow a brief mont to introduce myself, Miss."
"I am the Evil God—Habika."
"Evil God Habika?"
Erika murmured the na to herself, but it was clear she had never heard it before.
She knew the Empire's history well. There was no record of any such deity within it.
"Of course, it is perfectly fine if you do not know . You may call by my current na—Weija."
"Now then, please allow to ask once more."
"Do you truly wish to save Viktor Clavena?"
Erika finally snapped back to her senses. In this mont, she didn't care in the slightest who or what she was dealing with, what their identity was, or whether they had any ability to help.
Like soone clutching the last thread at the very edge of despair, she nodded over and over again—she only wanted the Evil God before her to save Viktor.
Weija closed its eye and let out a quiet laugh.
"The ritual has not yet concluded. To save him, your power is required."
"Offer your devotion. Beco my Follower, and I will help you fulfill your wish."
Black Magic Formations spread across the ground like serpents flicking their tongues, converging beneath Erika's feet.
A dark aura began rising from within the Formation, swirling around Erika on all sides.
She had never seen magic like this before. This Formation gave her a deep sense of foreboding.
Was it because it belonged to......an Evil God?
Erika had no other choice. She could only nod and agree.
If becoming its Follower was what it took to save Viktor—
That was the only thought in Erika's mind right now. She didn't hesitate for even a mont, and quickly said:
"I agree. I will offer my devotion and beco your Follower."
Weija looked at the earnest Erika, a gleam of triumphant arrogance shining in its single eye.
"Very well. I acknowledge—your sincerity."
Its gaze drifted toward Viktor, who had already fallen unconscious.
A feeling stirred within it.
To think there is a girl willing to go this far for you, Viktor.
You have quietly gained sothing truly precious, without even realizing it.
In an instant, mist seeped from Weija's body, as though sothing was being infused into the Formation on the ground.
The black Magic Formation began to writhe frantically. Fine tendrils stretched from its edges and danced across the earth, then blazed with a sudden flash of light that enveloped both Weija and Erika together.
The next instant, the light shattered like a broken mirror, and the Formation vanished without a trace.
Erika opened her eyes and searched herself for any sign of change.
And yet......nothing had happened.
There wasn't even a mark left anywhere on her body.
So this—was the ritual for forging a Contract?
If Weija had known what was going through the girl's mind, it would have laughed its beak right off.
Except it had no teeth.
Forging a Contract was never sothing done so casually. This dark Formation was nothing more than a one-sided Follower link.
Signing an actual Contract with it?
That would require at least a proper formal Contract—the kind Viktor had signed!
"So......is that all?"
Erika looked at it with puzzlent, her tone carrying unmistakable urgency.
Was that enough to save Viktor?
That was absolutely what she was thinking.
Weija looked at her and smiled without answering, then narrowed its eye and asked:
"Before I save him, I have a question for you."
"Why did you co here?"
Why—were you at the Summit of the volcano?
Erika paused. She weighed her words for a mont, and in the end had no choice but to tell the truth.
"I heard it—the volcano—crying out in pain."
"It said it was hurting."
"Oh?"
Weija cast a curious sideways glance at Erika, and in that instant, everything beca clear to it.
It narrowed its eye with a slow smile, as though guiding her forward, word by careful word.
"And then? What do you hear now?"
Hearing Weija's question, Erika furrowed her brow and shook her head.
"Nothing at all," she said.
That was only natural.
Weija turned its head away, thoughts churning within it:
Because the Calamity of Fire has been beaten into slumber by that terrifying man......
It would perhaps never forget that scene.
When the final "Magic Ark" descended into the depths of the volcano—
The surging, boiling pillar of fire and the lava seed to freeze mid-motion.
The "Ark" consud everything—Gulton included.
In truth, Gulton could have withstood that attack.
In its peak state, War Magic of that scale would not have been able to so much as graze it.
But Gulton at that mont had already been gravely wounded. Lava flowed freely from its body, and its once-formidable defenses had been reduced to less than a tenth of their forr strength.
In the end, Gulton had been reduced to a lifeless lump of rock, shattered apart within the volcano's interior—and forced into an involuntary slumber.
As for why slumber rather than death—
Because a Calamity could not die.
As long as magical elents continued to exist in the world, a Calamity would go on living.
And as for why Viktor had ended up in the state he was in now—to put it plainly, he wasn't injured at all.
Having witnessed his battle against the Calamity of Fire firsthand, Weija didn't believe there was anything left in existence that could actually injure Viktor.
What Viktor was experiencing at this mont was a state called "Magic Overload."
Using magic borrowed from Weija, Viktor had fought against Gulton without restraint for 3 full days and 2 nights.
But that power was never Viktor's own.
The magic Weija had allowed him to draw upon was not infinite—there was inevitably a threshold.
Under normal circumstances, his consumption would never co close to that threshold.
But normal was not a word that applied to Viktor.
So when his magic ran out at the very last mont, the link between him and Weija was forcibly severed.
Yet even that alone would not have been enough to render Viktor unconscious.
What was truly unhinged was that, just before Gulton fell into slumber, Viktor had torn a "Magic Core" from Gulton's body and forcibly fused it with himself.
That was why Viktor's body appeared to have lava flowing across it.
Because his body was digesting Gulton's Magic Core.
Viktor had already burned through every drop of his own magic—and on top of that, he had forcibly taken in an enormous external source of magic power.
If not him, who else would have passed out?
That said, it wasn't anything serious. A few days of rest at most, and he would be fine.
What had Weija far more interested right now was the girl standing before it.
How fascinating. How very fascinating......
A girl capable of conversing with a Calamity—even she herself likely has no idea just how extraordinary her worth truly is!
What a windfall.
It was still savoring its delight when, all of a sudden, it caught the sound of rapid approaching footsteps.
Soone is coming?
Weija smiled and looked toward the slope. With its extraordinary vision, it spotted a silver figure.
It naturally knew who that was—but now was not the ti to reveal itself.
To keep both itself and Viktor free from unwanted trouble, it spread its wings and moved to Viktor's side.
Its beak closed around Viktor's collar.
Yet its voice continued to sound in Erika's ear as before.
"You saved Viktor. I will make sure he knows."
"Little girl, until we et again."
The mont those words fell, before Erika's very eyes, Weija's body began to expand. The jet-black Crow transford in an instant into a staggering great eagle of black plumage.
It seized Viktor's collar in its beak, beat its wings, and shot into the air.
A gale erupted with a roar, sending every fragnt of loose rock around them flying. In what felt like a single instant, it had vanished from Erika's sight.
"Viktor......"
The black silhouette against the sky grew smaller and smaller, more and more indistinct, until at last it faded entirely from her view.
The late-arriving Gwen had missed her chance. She had not managed to get her hands on Viktor for the questioning she had wanted so badly.
Instead, she was left staring at the fading black speck in the sky, her expression heavy and grim.
"Viktor? Just what on earth is going on......"
Then she noticed Erika.
Erika's body was marked with nurous burn injuries. She was kneeling on the ground, doing her best to squeeze out a smile for Gwen.
As though expending the very last of her strength—there ca a dull thud, and she collapsed unconscious to the ground.
Gwen: "......"
She walked forward and slowly gathered Erika into her arms.
When she looked up at the sky once more, all that remained was the ceaseless, relentless downpour.
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