Became the Unjust Contract Slave of the Archamage’s Book

The white mage, Priya, took a deep drag from her pipe.

‘Human? No, this isn’t human mana. Has he been transformed after being wounded by a demon?’

An awkward silence hung between them.

Priya was the first to break it.

“…You’re not human, are you?”

Bernstein didn’t answer.

As Priya tried to assess him, Bernstein was doing the same.

The human before him was strong. Perhaps even stronger than the professors from the Mage Tower who had been pursuing him.

But the object cradled in her arms, wrapped like a baby in swaddling clothes…

He drooled.

Bernstein felt saliva pooling in his mouth.

It didn’t seem impossible to snatch that object and escape.

His gaze was openly fixed on the cursed sword.

Priya noticed his intent.

‘This guy…’

“Whoo—.”

She exhaled a long plume of pipe smoke.

The fog around them grew thicker.

“Answer me. Who are you? What are you after, coming here to find me?”

She pressed Bernstein with a voice a tone higher than before.

There was no response.

Bernstein moved, and Priya reacted almost simultaneously.

“Whoo—.”

As Bernstein lunged, Priya’s figure vanished into the fog.

It was her specialty: a spell to trap her enemies in mist.

Bernstein’s claws slashed through the air. His arms had already grown long claws like those of a beast.

“A thunderstruck idiot, aren’t you?”

Her voice echoed through the gaps in the surrounding mist.

Bernstein swung his head fiercely, trying to locate Priya.

He couldn’t gauge her position. Once trapped in this mist, even the famed paladins of the Order struggled to escape.

“Give me my prey!”

His eyes darted around, and his nostrils flared.

But his senses alone couldn’t find the mage hidden in the fog.

‘What to do with this one.’

Priya pondered how to deal with Bernstein.

Suddenly, Bernstein closed his eyes.

He clasped his ten fingers together and bowed his head, mumbling something.

“Lightning, shot from my hand, pierce and burn my enemies.”

Priya was taken aback by the sudden incantation.

She had assumed he was merely a human consumed by demonic energy, but he was a mage?

Bernstein completed his incantation and extended his hand toward a point in the fog.

Directly at where Priya was hiding.

“How did he…!”

Bernstein, with his eyes closed, identified Priya’s location through the ‘scent’ that had lured him here.

It wasn’t her scent, but the scent of the ‘cursed sword’ she carried.

Priya gathered the surrounding fog to shield herself from his lightning.

Bernstein didn’t miss the opening.

“There you are!”

The lightning spell was a decoy. Bernstein sharpened his claws and charged at Priya again.

But Priya was no ordinary mage.

As soon as she scattered the lightning with the gathered fog, she was ready to counterattack.

“One hidden in the fog, heed the silent call of the shadows.”

Her mist followed him like a shadow, trailing behind the charging Bernstein.

Unbeknownst to him, the mist began to take shape, forming a thin, long arrowhead or spear tip aimed at his back.

“Grrrr!”

An inhuman sound emanated from Bernstein’s throat.

He swung his claws, reaching for the swaddled cursed sword.

But Priya’s magic was faster.

Unaware of the misty spear behind him, Bernstein was impaled through the back.

The spear pierced through his chest and pushed him right to Priya’s face.

“…Not bad.”

Priya looked into Bernstein’s eyes from a breath away and sighed in relief.

Blood gushed from Bernstein’s mouth.

Priya stepped back to avoid getting blood on her.

Bernstein was smiling.

“I… got it…”

His right hand grasped the cursed sword’s blade.

Blood dripped from his sliced fingers, but Bernstein didn’t care.

From his touch, the sword, Mimung, called out to him.

-Accept me! Slave of magic!

-Offer your flesh to me! Swear to become my servant!

Bernstein grinned, blood dripping from his mouth.

“This is… my… prey!”

His blood flowed along the blade and into the sword’s central part, the guard.

Then, it started flowing back up.

The blood that seeped into the guard spread through the blade like veins.

-Hahaha! Sweet, so sweet!

The magic of Mimung, which Priya had suppressed, exploded.

Mimung accepted the blood of its new servant.

The sword’s power burst out, knocking Priya back.

***

Three people, frowning, gathered around the sleeping face of Pierre.

A gray-haired young mage, a bald middle-aged warrior, and a young mage tower professor.

If Pierre Blanchot woke up at this moment and saw the faces gathered around him like a mobile above a cradle, he would find the combination strange.

“The emergency treatment is all done. But they can’t guarantee his right arm will recover.”

“Thank you, Binaeril.”

Avia finally looked away from Pierre’s face.

“Thank you for carrying him here. Thanks to you, we got here quickly.”

She expressed her gratitude to Inyakan.

Inyakan looked embarrassed by her sincere thanks.

“It was nothing.”

“What will you do now?”

Binaeril changed the subject.

Their mission wasn’t over yet.

“We need to track Bernstein again once the professor wakes up.”

There was no guarantee Pierre would wake up soon.

“Why don’t we leave the professor here and start the chase?”

Avia shook her head.

“My senior’s tracking skills are better than mine. It won’t be easy to track Bernstein without him.”

That wouldn’t be a problem.

Binaeril knew how to find Bernstein.

He was after the page.

The item Binaeril had lost in the southwestern empire, the cursed sword Mimung.

By following Veritas’s information on Mimung’s location…

Veritas spoke to him for the first time in a while.

-There’s a problem.

This dusty old book rarely brought good news.

‘What is it now?’

-The aura of the page we were tracking has split into two.

‘What?’

Taken aback, Binaeril paused briefly before asking again.

– It seems there were two pages overlapping each other, which is why we couldn’t detect them separately. Now they are splitting up.

‘Can you tell which one is the cursed sword, Mimung?’

– Yes, I can. I have had direct contact with the cursed sword’s magic, so I can’t forget it. Fortunately, the other one is less significant compared to the cursed sword. It’s easy to distinguish. The presence of the other one is faint compared to the overwhelming presence of the cursed sword.

Things were getting complicated.

Which side was Bernstein on? The cursed sword Mimung? Or the other one?

– There’s another issue. One more thing you need to know.

‘What’s the problem now?’

– The faint presence I mentioned. Others are approaching that one too.

So, there are others seeking the page as well.

‘Who are they? Apart from me and the Paladins of the Order, who else knows about the fragments…?’

– Correct. The ones approaching are traveling with the holy sword Starfall. Most likely, the Paladins of the Order.

Binaeril thought of the Paladins he had met at the Duke’s estate.

He first met Starfall there.

Back then, he had met other Paladins besides his brother, but could it be that now…

‘Veritas, one question. Is the one approaching with Starfall my brother, Yunnaeril Dalheim?’

– That, I cannot tell.

Two fragments splitting apart, and the approaching Starfall.

‘How many fragments are converging here?’

Binaeril had to admit that the Archmage Elfenbine’s foresight was accurate.

She had foreseen that Binaeril would encounter a fragment during this mission.

However, even she likely did not anticipate so many fragments converging.

Binaeril had to choose between the two.

And his decision didn’t take long.

‘I need to go where Starfall is approaching first.’

– No. You shouldn’t.

But Veritas halted his resolution.

– If you confront Starfall first, you might lose the cursed sword forever. You must obtain the cursed sword first.

‘But the one approaching with Starfall might be my brother.’

And if he met his brother, Binaeril had a lot to say.

Veritas shouted in his head.

– Binaeril, my words are not a gentle suggestion. Remember, you don’t have much time left.

It was almost a threat.

“…Professor Flynn.”

“I have a way to track Bernstein.”

“You do?”

“Yes. There is an item I believe Bernstein has. We can follow its trail.”

“Is that so? But for now, it’s difficult. At least until my senior wakes up…”

“I’m awake, Avia.”

At that moment, Pierre, who had seemed asleep, groaned and sat up.

“Senior! You’re awake!”

“Yes. It was fast, but the ride was rough.”

Pierre said, looking around the room at the three people.

His gaze stopped at Inyakan.

“No complaints. I’m just not good at expressing gratitude. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Inyakan shrugged. Such reactions were more comfortable for him.

“Binaeril, is it true you have a way to find Bernstein?”

“Yes, Professor Blanchot.”

Avia shouted out.

Pierre rubbed his face with his palm, as if trying to shake off dizziness.

“Don’t shout. We can’t afford to stay down. He’s escaping right now.”

“But your arm!”

“I can barely move it. It won’t hinder my magic.”

That couldn’t be true.

Though not as crucial as words, hands and arms were important for controlling and balancing magic.

Pierre, despite his weakened state, managed to stand.

“The mission isn’t over yet. Tracking is a race against time. Where to, Binaeril? Where do we go?”

Binaeril couldn’t help but admire Pierre Blanchot’s determination.

“We can’t all go together. We’ll split into two teams. One team will…”

Binaeril and Inyakan ran in the direction Veritas indicated.

Just like when they went to meet Avia, Binaeril rode on Inyakan’s back.

This method was faster and preserved Binaeril’s energy.

“How much further?”

“We’re almost there.”

As they got closer, Binaeril could clearly feel it too.

The dark, blood-red mana he sensed at the Rotfallen underground cemetery.

The necromantic power of Mimung!

The path left by the cursed sword drained the life around it.

Vegetation and animals left no sign of life.

And as they drew nearer…

“What is that?”

Inyakan asked, eyes wide.

Binaeril recognized it, but it was a first for Inyakan.

“Undead.”

“Undead?”

“The dead returned from the grave.”

“What do we do? Ignore them?”

“We’ll have to break through.”

“Got it.”

Inyakan ran like a racehorse, and Binaeril, on his back, struck down the approaching undead.

And soon…

– You’ve come back to die, haven’t you!

Mimung’s voice echoed.

The sky turned a dark crimson, casting a sinister glow.

At the center of the desolate land stood a figure Binaeril recognized.

“Bernstein!”

Richard Bernstein, holding the cursed sword Mimung, faced Binaeril.