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chapter 18
“Why?”
Aria questioned me in response to my firm refusal.
Why not?
For a fleeting moment, countless reasons rose and fell in my mind.
But none of them made it out of my mouth.
All of them were valid reasons.
Too dangerous.
Even I can’t control it properly.
Or that “thing” is hostile to humanity, and expanding the number of contractors would be catastrophic.
Many reasons.
But all of those reasons became meaningless the moment I saw the strange fervor in Aria’s eyes.
Because when someone yearns for something with burning desire, every obstacle transforms into a trial to be overcome.
And the one who yearns imagines their future self, having overcome the trial and attained their desire.
Above all, the very fact that I already had a contract was itself an obstacle to persuading her.
To her, everything I said could easily sound like deception.
Which meant…
I had to make her understand.
Not with words.
But with proof.
[Arcane Blast]
Bzzzt—!
On my outstretched palm, strands of Arcane Blast writhed and danced.
They pulsed like thick, blood-red veins.
Of course, I had stripped them of their destructive power.
“This is…”
Aria stared, entranced by the Arcane Blast.
When she had met Chairman Aires that day, she had bled from the eyes after seeing something through me.
Trusting in that same talent of hers…
I began dismantling the Arcane Blast, piece by piece.
Shape, size, motion, direction, will, attribute, intensity, duration, mutability—
Hissss…
Stripped of everything but the bare minimum needed to exist, the magic lost its form and revealed its purest state.
The original magical archetype—something I normally couldn’t touch, marked only by the contractor’s essence.
A tiny fragment, now bare, revealing itself to the world.
“Ahh…”
Blood streamed from Aria’s eyes, but she didn’t even notice.
Mesmerized, she stared at the formless, colorless flame that bloomed in the air.
When I sensed her reaching her limit, I snuffed it out.
Whoosh.
“That’s enough.”
Aria leaned forward, desperately blurting out:
“N-no, just a little more—show me—!”
Splash!
I threw a cup of water in her face.
“…Ah?”
Drip, drip.
Aria froze, suddenly soaked through.
But her eyes…
Still glazed.
Creak.
I stood up from my chair.
When it came to situations like this, there was no choice.
If I shocked her a few more times, she’d snap out of it without lasting harm—
“W-wait! I’m fine, I came to my senses!”
Fortunately, she seemed to recover.
Still, I carefully checked her gaze to confirm it was truly normal before sitting down again.
In this world, mental corruption was one of the greatest dangers.
Rustle, wipe.
“Whew…”
As she wiped her soaked hair and face with a cloth, she froze at the sight of crimson smearing the fabric.
I spoke slowly.
“Now do you understand? You can’t form a contract with what I’ve contracted. Your talent… it’s not enough.”
Not that she lacked talent.
If anything, she had too much—enough to clearly grasp her own limits.
“What you saw was less than a shadow of a fragment of what I’ve bound. And yet you ended up like that. Could you resist it?”
“…No.”
That little display had been one of my private tests—something I’d experimented with when I had free time.
And of course, it had no effect on me.
Thanks to my [Madness Immunity] trait.
But at least it proved useful now.
“How does it feel, standing at the brink of madness?”
“Ah, that was…”
At the memory, her eyes grew hazy again—
But she shook herself.
“No! I’m fine. I swear, I’m fine.”
Because of my immunity, I couldn’t truly understand what others felt when slipping into madness.
Which made me overly cautious.
Crossing my arms, I urged her to explain.
“My emotions, my thoughts… it felt like they were being dragged outward, away from me. Like a rubber band being stretched, my inner self reflected in it for a moment, but then snapping back, straining to escape. And that rubber band—was me.”
She paused, then added softly:
“…If I had gone even a step further, I would have crossed a point of no return. Definitely.”
Aria bowed her head deeply.
“Thank you for saving me—and for showing me.”
Though technically I was the one who put her at risk.
I nodded calmly, as if it were only natural.
“Good. But remember, my case is unusual. If you find another opportunity, I’d recommend putting that talent to use.”
It would be a waste not to.
Aria nodded.
“In the end, talent is just potential unless it’s used. Testing it—that’s the only way to turn potential into reality. I should be more proactive in testing myself.”
Her tone still carried an edge of madness.
But… I was starting to get used to it.
Though seriously—how does one end up speaking like that?
While I was mulling that over, she said:
“Even though I saw only a fraction… for you to contract with such an existence and remain this composed—today I realized just how extraordinary the black magician guarding me really is.”
“…Hm.”
That was… a little too flattering.
The truth was, I wasn’t “guarding” so much as dragged along by the throat.
But still.
I had no intention of wasting a fine meal.
Clink.
The roast lamb had cooled slightly, but was still delicious.
Aria followed suit, lifting her utensils again. Then, as if a thought struck her, she asked:
“But… experiencing it myself, I wonder—just how many people in the world could contract with such a being? I can’t even imagine it.”
That, I could answer without hesitation.
“None.”
Not a single human.
In fact, if not for my exclusive trait—[Cthulhu’s Second Tentacle]—it would have been impossible for me too.
Even the most perfectly leveled black magician in the game couldn’t dream of such a contract.
…Wait.
Then what about the first tentacle?
By definition, it had to already exist in this world.
We were a year ahead of the game’s timeline, so it was unclear if the others had manifested yet.
But the first one… it was certain.
What could it be doing right now?
Thoughts I’d been avoiding since I landed in this world began resurfacing, muddling my mind.
Exhibition Day.
“This is your physical access badge. My goodness, a purist—never would’ve guessed, Mr. Eddy. I had to rush this out for you.”
She handed me a badge-shaped pass.
Everyone else had downloaded encrypted digital passes.
I shoved mine into my pocket and passed through the entrance.
The worries from last night could wait.
Thinking about them now wouldn’t change anything.
The priority was to get through today smoothly.
“Mr. Eddy, you remember the schedule, right? I don’t have that many parts to attend. Opening, then Q&A, then the experience zone for demos, and finally the networking party—that’s it! I don’t need to be at the closing. Simple, right?”
Aria chattered excitedly as she followed me inside.
We were heading to the stage.
As we walked, I thought:
If I were the enemy, would I strike now?
Opinions had varied about the infiltration route, but Aria’s events were clearly the most dangerous moments.
Of them all, I believed the likeliest was this one—
“See you soon.”
Aria took the mic and stepped onto the stage.
I waved, then summoned my mana.
After all, the enemy black magician was Third Circle.
That was a level where you were officially recognized as a proper black magician.
Which meant I had to take this seriously.
And just then, my mana sense caught something.
…What the hell is that?
Toulon Goxel frowned.
Things had gotten… complicated.
At first, he’d planned to toy with weaklings, luring them into underestimating him.
That would open a gap in Aria Aires’ security detail.
Then, at the decisive moment, he would slip in and abduct her with ease.
But somewhere along the line, Aires had reshuffled her forces.
The new mercenaries weren’t particularly strong individually…
But—
They’re all veterans. The more I fight them, the better they’ll read me.
He would have to act before his abilities were fully exposed.
Thus, he had chosen the Sacrificial Magic Circle.
The exhibition hall spanned about 36,000 square meters.
He had summoned spiders to the vast ceiling and spun the circle with their threads.
Spider silk was thin to begin with.
And the ceiling was twenty meters high.
Even if someone glanced upward by chance, they would never notice.
So, on the day of the exhibition, Toulon had completed the magic circle over several hours, completely undetected.
But while working, he noticed something odd.
Who’s that?
Dangling from the ceiling in spider form, he peered down—
And saw a black magician he didn’t recognize.
Since the start of the exhibition, other guards had gradually left… leaving only one man by Aria’s side.
He looked like a bodyguard assigned to stick close during the event.
But—
You’re telling me he’s just First Circle?
Higher-ranked mages could easily gauge the rank of those below them.
And especially among fellow black magicians.
That’s why Toulon was confused.
Because to his eyes, that man was clearly nothing more than First Circle.
Don’t they know I’m Third Circle?
Then why leave her alone with a First Circle?
Could it be a trap?
Suspicious, Toulon hung from his threads for a long while, observing.
And eventually, he became convinced.
It’s a trap.
At the very least, he knew the mercenaries were veterans.
Such a glaring “gap” couldn’t exist without their consent.
Even if that First Circle had somehow tricked Aires, he couldn’t have fooled her seasoned mercs.
So Toulon ignored the apparent weakness and stuck to his plan.
He would wait until the chaos peaked—when the Sacrificial Circle activated in the middle of a VIP-packed session.
And that moment came quickly.
“Yes, thank you for your question. To address that concern, Aires Corporation uses dedicated security keys for mutual authentication of each system component, and all data transmissions undergo integrity checks to ensure—”
On stage, during the Q&A with important figures—
As the tension eased and the guards relaxed ever so slightly—
Now.
Through his familiar, Toulon began channeling power.
And then… his gaze met that of the black magician below.
The man looked straight at him—
And spoke.
“…No traits?”
