Chapter 51: Episode 51

Back in his quarters, Simon laid out several conditions before finalizing the contract with Erzebet. She was not to kill humans without his explicit permission. If she needed to consume bodily fluids, she was to hunt monsters. She was forbidden from harming anyone around him, in any way. And she was to obey his commands without question.

Simon had rejected her once for this very reason: to ensure these clauses were non-negotiable. In his eyes, Erzebet was more emotional and impulsive than any human. She wasn’t a trustworthy mentor like Pier; she seemed destined to become the Legion’s greatest troublemaker. He had to have absolute control. Now that she was the one pleading to join, the power was firmly in his hands.

“I’ll say it again,” he stated, his tone serious. “If you come to Roc Island with me, your life will be restricted. Your entire world will shrink to Pier’s ruin and the Forbidden Forest. You won’t have the freedom you do now.”

“[Yes. I am aware,]” Erzebet said, bowing her head. “[You may bind me however you wish. I shall endure anything to be with you.]”

’Has she become too docile all of a sudden?’ he wondered. It was convenient, certainly, but also a little bewildering.

“[My body and soul are yours,]” she declared, her eyes gleaming with an unnerving light. “[In exchange for my absolute loyalty, I ask for only one thing: your affection.]”

A wave of pressure washed over him. He shifted uncomfortably.

“I’m human, and you’re an undead. If you’re hoping for something… uh, physical…”

“[It’s a different story if you wished it, but I shall not force you,]” she purred, a faint smile playing on her lips. “[For now, it is enough for you to cherish me.]”

The pressure was crushing. Wanting affection, asking to be cherished—no one had ever asked such things of him in his entire life.

[Tsk, tsk,] Pier clicked his tongue from inside Simon’s mind. [She’s completely smitten.]

“Pardon?”

[It’s nothing.]

Though the terms were burdensome, Simon decided they were an acceptable price for her loyalty. He would make the contract.

“[Then, let us proceed,]” Erzebet announced. She grasped the top of her dress with both hands and flung it wide open.

“Whoa! W-What are you doing?!” Simon yelped, slapping a hand over his eyes.

Seeing his reaction, Erzebet tilted her head in confusion.

“[Did you not say we were making a contract?]”

Her chest parted, revealing a black core that pulsed like a living heart. Simon cautiously spread his fingers, peering at the core between them.

’Oh, my adorable one,’ she thought, her heart fluttering. ’How can he be so cute even when he’s flustered? To think this is the same person who shamelessly forced an unfair contract on me just minutes ago!’

“[Come, quickly!]” she urged.

“Ugh.” Resigned, Simon stepped forward. He took a deep breath and placed his hand on the exposed core between her breasts.

In an instant, their Jet-Black energies erupted, raging like a tempest.

“Ugh!”

“Aaaah!”

The agony was immense, but unlike his first contract with the Legion, it passed quickly. As the torrent of power stabilized, Simon could see his own deep blue Jet-Black flowing from her body.

[Hehehe! Welcome back to the Legion, Erzebet!] Pier’s voice echoed in his mind.

She rose slowly to her feet.

“[It has been a long time since I was an undead bound by a contract.]” Erzebet extended her fingertips, and a single thread of silk shot out, anchoring itself to the ceiling. As her Jet-Black coated the strand, it began to glow with a faint, deep blue light, transforming the monstrous web into something beautiful, like a glowing, otherworldly decoration.

The sight was fascinating. The feeling that she was truly ’his’ undead was so potent that it forged a new, deeper sense of intimacy.

“How is it, Erzebet?” Simon asked, a hint of pride in his voice.

“[Hmmmm.]” She retracted the web and offered a sweet, unnerving smile. “[You are unbelievably weak. My master is a novice, indeed.]”

“Ugh!” Simon staggered back, leaning against the wall with a wounded expression.

Pier’s disembodied cackles filled the room.

“[To think I’ve become even weaker than when I was a natural undead after joining the Legion,]” she mused. “[It is a bit ironic.]”

The undead of the Legion were intrinsically linked to their commander’s Jet-Black; as he grew stronger, so did they. The reverse, unfortunately, was also true. Simon’s face burned crimson. Pier was now laughing so hard he was practically doubled over.

“S-Sorry for being a novice!” Simon retorted. “But I’m attending Kizen now! In just a month or two, I’ll definitely—!”

“[Still,]” she interrupted, conjuring a wisp of the deep blue Jet-Black at her fingertips as a blush crept up her cheeks. “[It is a gentle and comforting power.]”

But the damage to the seventeen-year-old’s pride was already done. Simon stomped over to his bed and yanked the covers over his head.

“I’m going to sleep.”

[Bwahahaha! He’s sulking! Are you sulking, kid?]

“It’s a fact that I’m weak, so what is there to sulk about?” he grumbled from under the blankets.

“[Oh dear, I have wounded my master’s heart. I shall atone by your bedside.]”

“Both of you, get away from me!”

The sound of their laughter filled the room.

—

He had completed a fifty-gold mission—one that even Professor Jane had balked at—in a single day. Returning to Kizen immediately would only raise suspicion, so Simon decided to remain in the fief and use the opportunity to train his Legion.

He, Pier, and Erzebet made their way to the northern mountain range of Arnish, where a massive orc settlement had formed.

“[Now then, Master! Let us begin the tutorial for the ’Corpse Spider’, the undead you will be commanding,]” Erzebet announced, hands on her hips. A swarm of newly legionized spiders scurried around her feet. Instead of Jet-Black burning in their eye sockets like skeletons, a deep blue light flickered from the tips of their eight legs.

Just then, Simon raised his hand.

“[Oh my, Master. The lesson hasn’t even begun, and you already have a question?]”

“No, it’s not about the lesson.” Simon scratched his head.

“Are you going to keep calling me ’Master’?”

“[Hahaha! Are you embarrassed?]” she teased, covering her mouth with a hand. Simon flushed and turned away.

“It’s not that, it’s just…”

“[If you insist, I shall simply call you Legion Commander. Now, let us continue.]” She snapped her fingers, and a Corpse Spider shot a stream of webbing from its mouth. “[The Corpse Spider’s most crucial ability is its web. It serves as both a binding and a movement technique.]”

“Hmm.”

“[Now, Legion Commander, take control of the two spiders before you and shoot a web at that tree.]”

Simon nodded, connecting his consciousness to the two spiders and issuing a single command. ’Web.’

The spiders fired, their webs striking the tree with perfect accuracy. The strands fanned out mid-air, wrapping tightly around the trunk.

“[Well done! Generally, the web fired from the mouth is for binding, while the web from the spinneret is for movement.]”

The two spiders that had demonstrated earlier now fired webs from their rears. The strands shot high, attaching to a tall tree. The spiders scuttled forward, lifting their bodies and swinging through the air in a pendulum-like arc.

’Wow, they move like that, and they’re surprisingly fast!’ he thought.

They landed on their target tree and sank their venomous fangs into the bark. A viscous green liquid trickled down from the fresh wound.

“[This is the basic combination. Would you like to try?]”

“Of course!”

“[Then your target will be…]” Her gaze scanned the surroundings before locking onto a spot behind a nearby tree. She grinned. “[Excellent. Let’s use those orcs.]”

Two Gray Orcs were lumbering toward them, their pig-like noses twitching and their massive tusks jutting from their mouths. These were the monsters that dominated the mountain range, the same creatures that had once pushed Arnish to the brink of ruin.

’And just like that, I’m in a real battle.’

Still, the stage was set. Simon connected to the minds of the two Corpse Spiders as the orcs spotted him and broke into a charge.

’Fire webs from the spinnerets.’

The spiders spun around, firing their webs at the trees opposite the charging orcs.

’Lift and dash!’

’Tap. Tap.’

The spiders swung forward in a pendulum arc, but Simon’s control wavered for a split second, and they sailed past the charging orcs by a hair’s breadth.

“[Oh, what a shame!]” Erzebet stepped forward, Jet-Black flaring around her hands.

But Simon caught her shoulder, holding her back. ’Fire!’

’Cross-Operation.’ He connected to the mind of the other spider, firing a web from its mouth to ensnare the orcs.

The beasts thrashed, trying to break free from the sticky strands.

Just then, the spiders reached the apex of their swing and arced back, pouncing on the orcs from behind. Venomous fangs sank into the napes of their necks. The orcs let out bloodcurdling squeals and collapsed.

“It worked!” The twitching orcs finally went still as the poison took hold.

“[Excellent! Your control is already quite impressive.]”

“This much is basic,” Simon replied, trying to sound nonchalant.

It was then that more gray orcs began to emerge from the forest. It seemed they’d stumbled upon an entire settlement.

“There are quite a few of them.”

“[A suitable situation to demonstrate the power of the Spider Corps, I believe.]”

[Oh, a fight? Let me out, boy!] Pier’s clone chirped from Simon’s uniform.

Simon opened his Subspace, and Pier, along with the Legion’s skeleton troops, poured out.

“Since it’s come to this,” Simon said with a grin, “how about we earn that five hundred gold?”

“[What?]”

“Let’s wipe out every orc settlement in this mountain range before we head back to Kizen.”

Pier’s face split into a wide, predatory smile, as if he’d been waiting for those very words. [And we’ll replenish the Legion’s ranks with their corpses!]

“[This sounds fun,]” Erzebet added, her eyes alight.

Training and recruiting all at once—this was the true advantage of being a necromancer.

Enraged at the loss of their comrades, the remaining orcs charged with terrifying speed. Pier and Erzebet fell into combat stances while the skeletons and Corpse Spiders hissed, awaiting their orders.

“Alright,” Simon commanded, baring his teeth in a smile. “Let’s go.”

Finally, the stage was set to unleash the true power of the Legion.

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