I Possessed the Heroine’s Teacher

Lorcha emanated an extraordinary power. But a Spirit King? Wasn’t Iris the only person officially known to have contracted with a Spirit King? There were stories of people who had refused such contracts. A swordsman who gave up a contract with the Spirit of Wind for revenge, a mage who turned it down for their convictions, and others who simply disliked the idea of forming any spirit contracts. But to think Lorcha was one of them…

“Pillars of water from the Spirit King, envelop the wicked and purify them.”

A massive column of water wrapped around Gawain’s body. Surely, he’d evaporate it in an instant as usual, but this time, he couldn’t escape so easily. After spewing a large amount of flames, he finally managed to break free. Meanwhile, Lorcha appeared to have expended almost no effort creating that water column.

If Gawain had used the equivalent of 50 units of magical power to unleash his flames, Lorcha seemed to have used only about 10 to create the water column.

Drenched in water, Gawain shouted angrily:

“Lancelot! Galahad! What are you doing just standing there?! Help me!”

This was bad. No matter how strong Lorcha was, there was no way she could handle Lancelot as well. That bastard Lancelot was an absolute monster, someone even I, Camellia, and Ricardo couldn’t handle together.

But Lancelot didn’t move a step and said calmly:

“This is outside the scope of my contract.”

“What? What nonsense are you spouting?!”

“The contract I agreed to was to obey the king’s orders. I never agreed to follow the commands of garbage like you.”

“What the hell are you saying, Lancelot?! Fight them now!”

“The only order I was given was to subdue the Iron Spirit King. I’ve fulfilled that order and will receive my promised payment. Unless the king commands me to subdue those people, this fight holds no meaning for me.”

In short, he was saying he only did what he was ordered and had no reason to involve himself in this battle. Subdue the Iron Spirit King? Was that just a bluff?

“Fine! I was a fool to expect anything from an arrogant bastard like you! Galahad! At least you, come and help me!”

Then the masked woman accompanying Lancelot responded.

“I am of the same opinion as Sir Lancelot. You’re the one who started this fight, so you can end it yourself, trash.”

Gawain’s body began to ignite with flames. Is this why people describe someone losing their temper as “burning up”? It seemed like quite a literal expression.

“Carahes! At least you, come and help!”

A masked man began to approach in response.

“As you command.”

“Damn it! The only one I can count on is this trash… I swear I’ll report all of this to His Majesty today!”

Despite being called trash, Lancelot and Galahad didn’t react at all. Lancelot, with a calm expression, glanced between Gawain, Lorcha, and me before speaking.

“Sir Gawain, consider this a pre-funeral condolence. Allow me to give you a prophecy: today, the one to kill you will be the weakest and most unremarkable person in this domain.”

After saying this, Lancelot slashed the wall with his sword. The slash revealed a dark, shadowy void. I had seen something similar before—was this how they created it?

“And as for you two mages… still so foolish. I hope you’ve grown by the next time we meet.”

“You bastard, calling us foolish… I’ll kill you!”

“Farewell.”

With that, Lancelot and Galahad disappeared into the void. I had no idea how it worked, but now wasn’t the time to dwell on them. The immediate problem was Gawain and the bastard named Carahes.

When Carahes moved toward Lorcha, I cast a spell at him.

“Lightning, become an arrow.”

The bolt of lightning shot forward like an arrow, aimed straight at his face, and hit directly. Normally, a human’s face would be pulverized by such an attack… Even if it didn’t kill him, it should’ve caused significant damage.

“Hmm… this tastes rather good. Lightning spells always have that delightful zing. Truly the best.”

He was unscathed. To be precise, his mask was shattered, but his irritating face and grating voice were perfectly fine. That lightning-arrow spell was quite powerful; there was no way anyone could take it head-on and remain unaffected. Judging from his words just now…

“You bastard, you absorbed my magic.”

“Yes~ All members of the Black Round Table are born with unique traits. Since I was a child, I’ve been able to ‘eat’ magic. Whether it’s a Tower Master or anyone else, any enemy who uses magic is just a chef serving me a feast.”

Just like that Nymph bastard with the obnoxious tone, it seemed they only gathered troublesome opponents. So, this was their secret. Did that mean Lancelot and Galahad also had some unique traits?

“Both of you are mages, right? Then I’ll enjoy you both thoroughly. Not a scrap will be left behind…!”

He opened his mouth greedily, its grotesque shape oozing revulsion. Personally, I despised creatures like him the most. But it was undeniable that he was a natural counter to mages—no, Gawain and this Carahes bastard were both terrible matches for most mages.

Even if I unleashed a large-scale spell from the Book of Enoch, it would just become a luxurious meal for him.

In that case, I needed to use magic he wouldn’t benefit from devouring.

“Lightning, become armor.”

The power of lightning began to wrap around my body like armor. It wasn’t a projectile, so I could punch him square in the face with a lightning-charged fist. I dashed toward him and kicked his face.

But the one who lost flesh wasn’t him—it was my calf.

“Did you think wrapping your attacks in magic would stop me from consuming them? Did you assume I could only eat projectiles? I devour the magic energy emitted by spells themselves!”

The bastard should’ve explained that earlier! Blood started to pour from my leg, and one thought echoed in my mind: I couldn’t let this guy reach Lorcha. He was too unfavorable a matchup for mages to handle.

If only Ricardo, Camellia, or Glacia were here—no, even one of them alone could’ve easily dealt with him.

“Well then, it’s my turn!”

The bastard lunged at me, mouth wide open. This lunatic thought people were some kind of snack food.

“Steel, encase my body!”

If I was going to die, I at least intended to make this bastard break a few teeth. That was my thinking as I cast steel magic. However, when he saw my body encased in steel, he shifted his stance and sent me flying with a kick.

Even with my body protected by steel, I still felt the impact. On top of that, Carahes was surprisingly skilled in martial arts.

But why change his approach when he could’ve just eaten me outright? He was clearly a natural counter to magic, so why switch tactics now? Wait a moment—Lancelot said earlier that he subdued the Iron Spirit King.

If Carahes alone could handle a Spirit King, there’d be no need to send three of them. Did that mean he couldn’t consume steel-element magic? Was that why he switched to kicking me instead of eating me when I turned my body into steel?

If so, the solution was simple. From now on, I’m Iron Man.

I charged at him with my body clad in steel. I would crush his face with my iron fists.

“Tsk… It seems you’ve figured it out.”

So that was his weakness? If I’d discovered his weak point, this bastard was as good as dead. I closed in, expecting him to retreat. Instead, Carahes approached me and bit down on my shoulder.

The steel enveloping my body shattered, and he began chewing the steel as he spoke.

“Who said I couldn’t eat steel-element magic? It’s just a little tougher to digest. Everyone thinks the same, reacts the same, and ends up falling the same way… It’s almost laughable.”

“You damned pig bastard…”

Was there really no way to deal with him? Even if I relied on pure martial arts, his all-consuming ability would eventually tear me apart.

“Well then, it seems you have no more tricks up your sleeve.”

He kicked me in the abdomen. Though I blocked it with my arms, the impact was so powerful it sent me flying through a wall.

As I debated whether to resign myself to losing a limb and relying solely on hand-to-hand combat, an eerie voice came from behind me.

“To think you’d reduce me to such a state… How insolent…”

I turned to see a massive hedgehog-like creature with steel spikes, bound in chains and groaning in pain. Judging by the damage all over its body, it seemed Lancelot had given it quite the beating.

“To dare humiliate me, the Iron Spirit King…”

“Hey, you over there.”

I approached the creature, hoping it might be useful. The Iron Spirit King’s pupils trembled as it saw me.

“Y-you are…”