My sister wrestled me to the ground, twisting my arm up behind my back. She held me there until I gave up struggling and shouted, “I give, I give!” 

With a laugh, she let me go and watched me spit dirt out from my mouth. Amusement made her black eyes warm. “Eunseok, how many times do I have to tell you? You can’t rely on ruthlessness to shock and overpower your opponents every time.” 

“I did just fine before I met you,” I grumbled. Hadn’t I found a way to survive somehow? 

Even though it had been really hard after my brother died. 

Nam Hyeji flicked me on the forehead. “That just means you were lucky up until now. Ground yourself in the basics and fight properly.” 

I couldn’t help but pout, pushing her hand away when she tried to help me up. “This is so unfair. I get in fights way. more than you! Why are you still better than me?” 

She laughed. “I have a decade of experience on you, that’s why.”

A year ago, after losing, I would have spitefully called her by the honorifics for an older woman, “nunim,” instead of for an older sister, “nuna.”

Now, I just complained, “If you’ve got such an advantage, be nice to me and let me win at least once!” 

“No way. This is called learning by example. How else am I gonna pass everything down to you on time?” 

For some reason, my breath caught. 

“On time? For what?” 

“For when I have to leave.” 

My stomach dropped, and I went cold. My hand went up to my neck, where I felt the comforting weight of my sister’s necklace in my palm.

She hadn’t given this to me until the day before she died.

Was this a memory? A dream?

“…Why would you leave? Don’t leave. You have to stay until I’m old and gray.” 

It didn’t matter. I reached out and grabbed her tightly, as if it would be enough to bring her back to life.

Hyeji-nuna let me cling to her waist, and she ruffled my hair with a warm but sad smile. 

“Eunseok. Teacher and I won’t be here to protect you forever.” 

“Stop it. Don’t say that.” 

“You have to remember what we taught you.” 

“I don’t want to.” 

“When we’re gone, you must live on, and live well.” 

The anger that flared up in me was so intense, I felt like I would go crazy.

“I said I don’t want to. If you wanted me to listen to you, you should have made sure to live on, too.” 

“Eunseok.” 

“And if you couldn’t, then you should have at least let me die with you.” 

“Little brother.” 

“What do you want!” 

I didn’t mean raise my voice when I was angry. It made me feel like the gang leader who used to hit my brother when he was in a bad mood. Throat tightening, I abruptly let go and backed away. 

Hyeji-nuna caught me by the shoulders. 

“Listen to me. To all of us, whom you thought of as family, you were an incomparably precious existence. That was why we could entrust our hopes and wishes to you: to live a better life than the ones we were granted.” 

My anger surged so hot, I felt like I was burning again. All I could think about was the ashes of my last home, the funerals I never got to hold, the bodies that I never found. My next words tore out of me like an open wound. 

“I’m not like you, nuna! I can’t live as if I don’t hate everyone, everything — I wish the whole world was buried with you that day! Even if you ask me to live on, I can’t let go of the past, and I don’t want to either!” 

It was like she didn’t even hear me. She just looked at me the way she had when I’d first joined Teacher’s home, like I was a pitiful and ignorant child.

I held onto her like it would make her understand. 

“Don’t you know that this world is hell? So why did you leave me behind…? Without you, without any of you, I might as well be a…”

— Ghost.

The voice was like a stone cast in a still pond. My dream wavered and thinned, but I didn’t want to hear.

— Are you there?

Shut up. I didn’t want to wake up, and I didn’t want to let go.

Even if it was just a dream, I couldn’t bear to let her disappear before my eyes again.

It was hopeless. The dream dissipated like smoke, and my consciousness stirred. As if from very far away, I heard myself groan. My head felt heavy. The faint smell of incense drifted by, and with a dizzying sense of vertigo, I felt myself sinking back into a deep dark.

Fine. It didn’t matter anyway.

I didn’t want to wake up ever again.

— Ghost?

But I couldn’t even do that, because some jerk kept calling out for me.

— Where are you?

Who the hell was it? Maybe they should just die, too. 

— Please answer me.

Wait. 

I knew this voice. 

[…Luka?]

Like a fish on a hook, something sank into me and pulled. 

When I regained my consciousness properly, I found myself looking out at Luka from the reflection of his sword.

He was alive.

And he’d summoned me again.

We were outside the caverns, up the mountains and overlooking the sea, where the moon winked down from a starry sky. I couldn’t see anyone else with him. Had they made it? Did Hanan kill them after I was knocked out? Damn it, I should’ve asked her to swear an oath too…

My connection to Acacius’ body stretched out and away, higher up the mountain. When I tried transferring part of my consciousness there, it felt like a pebble dropping into the ocean. No response. I really hoped nothing irreversible was happening over there.

It would be hard for Luka to see me in his reflection like this, so I considerately brightened the scenery within the blade’s reflection, as if lit by firelight.

“Hello, Ghost. Thank you for answering my call.”

Luka’s hands looked much better. They were still a bit discolored, but they had regained volume and softness, and he seemed to be moving them much more easily. That boded well.

I couldn’t figure out why he’d called me out like this, though.

[What’s the occasion? Did you need a hand, or are you just in the mood for a chat?]

“Yes, I wanted to ask a favor. Of course, I don’t intend to leave you empty-handed.”

[What is it?]

“I noticed that you have the ability to make others accept your presence as natural. While you possessed me, the monsters in the moon path realms thought of me as one of them, and the Duke momentarily was unable to identify me as an enemy.”

…Wait, I thought that was his ability. What did he mean, that was me? It sure would have been convenient to have this ability in my day-to-day life.

He wouldn’t make this judgment out of nothing, though, so if Luka attributed this phenomenon to me, perhaps it was something I could only do as “Ghost.” Did it have something to do with the blacked-out pages on my Record? Seriously, what the hell did Acacius even have there…

“Would it be possible to use this ability to disguise myself as someone’s legitimate contractor?” Luka asked.

Like with a contract card? If they planned to fight Hanan, perhaps he wanted to hijack cards from her deck. It was a good idea. Unfortunately…

[I’ve never tried before.]

“I see. That’s fine. Would it be possible for you to give the effect to multiple people at once?”

I’d been able to fill multiple “vessels” as Ghost, so I guessed, [Maybe. I think they’d have to let me in like you did.]

Luka nodded.

“Then, I’d like your help for an upcoming conflict. What would you like in return?”

I thought for a moment. I was willing to help him without conditions, but I felt like that didn’t really match his conception of Ghost, and it would be annoying to deal with questions and reassurances at a time like this. So if I had to pick a price, it should be something simple, helpful, and unlikely to scare him off.

[Next time you call me, introduce me to some other spirits.]

“I will.”

[And tell me a bit more about your situation.]

Luka nodded.

“When we entered this Fantasm World, our classmate caught the attention of a spirit like you. As a result of that affinity, an enemy has captured him with the intent to extract that spirit’s power from his body. We would like to rescue him before such a thing can happen.”

He paused.

“I believe this classmate is of interest to you as well. It’s Acacius Duval.”

In our first meeting as summon and spirit, I’d asked him not to target Acacius needlessly. I had to wonder what assumptions he’d made on his own.

[Rescuing the Duval? I was under the impression that you were enemies.]

Luka lowered his eyes.

“I was under that impression too.”

I didn’t know what to say.

After a moment, he lifted his eyes to me again.

“Even so, he bet his life to buy us a chance of survival. So I want him to survive, too. Since you lent your power to him, you must want the same.”

This was more comfortable ground. I made his reflection raise an eyebrow and dug for more information. [Lent my power?]

“When we fought the man with the green flames. The fire that overtook his and burned him was yours, wasn’t it?”

Was that what had happened? I couldn’t remember that well.

[I’ll help you,] I said. [But that power you mentioned is…]

I trailed off.

“I think it’s beyond our capabilities,” Luka said. “There’s no need to lend it to us. What can be done by our own ability, we will do.”

That saved me a lot of hurdles and awkward questions, so after Luka assured me that he had a plan in mind, I agreed.

With everything discussed, Luka picked up the sword and walked some distance away, past a ridge to where Veric and Roxana were waiting. They stood up when Luka arrived.

“Did it go well?” Veric asked.

“Yes.” Luka lifted and tilted the sword until their reflections appeared on the other side of the blade. “Ghost, this is Veric and Roxana.”

Veric put a hand over her heart and bowed slightly, while Roxana gave a small curtsy.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Thank you for agreeing to help us today.”

I made their reflections smile and wave back at them.

I could feel their “vessels” in my spiritual senses, but unlike with Luka and their reflections, the two of them had a barrier that stopped me from reaching in. They were closed off to me, and didn’t seem to notice when I brushed against them with my spirit body.

“You need to open yourself to Ghost to receive their power,” Luka said. “I think an invocation ritual should work.”

Veric nodded. “Luka said that Ghost is a pseudonym. Is there a title we can invoke you by as well?”

I shuffled through my list of available titles for something that would fit Luka’s perception of me as a spirit, didn’t overlap too much with Acacius’ image, and didn’t feel too incriminating to reveal.

Title: [Keeper of Forgotten Wrongs]

Symbol: Black key engraved with a red eye

Description: When the bodies were buried and evidence burned, as the powers-that-were made every effort to erase all traces of what had happened there, one person crawled out of the ashes and swore to keep that history alive forever.

Passive Effect: The title bearer’s memories cannot be altered or erased by any powers that wish to conceal information. Hidden and forgotten matters are more likely to reach you.

I wasn’t a huge fan of this title because it really made me sound like someone who held grudges. I felt like I was a practical person who was willing to let things slide and move on, aside from the things I’d rather die than let go of.

But everyone had stuff like that.

[You can address me as {Keeper of Forgotten Wrongs},] I said.

Roxana stepped forward. “I’ll do the invocation first.”

She raised her hands and bowed.

“Come unto me, Ghost, the [Keeper of Forgotten Wrongs], who dwells in darkness and in fire, who speaks from the mirror. With my name as the key and my body as the vessel, I, Roxana, call upon thee. Bestow thy blessings upon thy humble servant.”

Her vessel shone in my senses, calling out to me, and by some instinct, I pressed up against it and murmured, [Roxana.]

It opened up to me, and part of my consciousness slipped in.

Roxana shuddered and breathed deeply before straightening up. “Ghost?”

[Here,] I said.

“I don’t feel much different.”

Should I put more of myself into her? I wasn’t sure. Her vessel felt more fragile than Luka’s.

However, Luka put my worries to rest when he said, “Don’t worry, it worked. Ghost’s presence evades special notice by nature.”

Veric performed the ritual next. Her vessel wasn’t much sturdier than Roxana’s, but her soul felt stronger. I didn’t have to be so cautious of pressing against it.

I withdrew from Luka’s reflection and placed the rest of my consciousness into his vessel. Perhaps it was because he was the one who first summoned me, but his vessel felt the most comfortable for me.

Then Veric brought out the makeshift bag that I’d made from Acacius’ outer coat. From within, she pulled out the robes and masks of the Order that I’d grabbed before. The three of them pulled the black robes on and placed the masks over their faces.

“Is there anything else?” Luka said.

Veric took out and unfolded a piece of paper. Judging by the creases, it had been thumbed and folded multiple times. The handwriting was cramped and crooked, with its lines occasionally running into each other, and as it went on, the words began fading away. The pen must have run out of ink halfway, but the writer, as if they hadn’t noticed, had continued writing on, leaving illegible creases pressed into the paper until the end.

It was my will.

If I’m dead, I must have made at least one wrong call, so remember to make your own judgments. Good luck. If this will helps you survive, then be sure to make a grave for me.

• If Prof. Raoul was cooperating the enemy, they wouldn’t need to seal him. He’s probably at least the enemy of the enemy.
• There’s obviously only one way the visual disaster could have come to an island, so don’t go down to the ocean.
• Upon entering the Fantasm, I was given some ability related to the eyes. I guess my body is valuable because of that. If you can’t make use of it, you should destroy it to keep it out of enemy hands.
• …

I skipped reading it over and looked further down. The ink had run out too quickly; the funerary rites faded to nothing halfway through, and none of the names I’d wanted on my gravestone had been written down.

I wanted to laugh. It was fitting for me; I hadn’t told anyone my real name in years, and I’d died without anyone to call me by it. But even if I could accept dying namelessly, without a single soul knowing the truth, I couldn’t accept that for all the people I’d known.

I guess it was a good thing Luka had summoned me. It gave me another chance to pass those names on if I died.

“You won’t uncover any more mysteries by looking at that again,” Roxana said. “Why don’t we ask Acacius about it after we rescue him?”

Veric ran her fingers over the creases again before folding it and putting it away.

“You’re right. The arrow has been drawn; all that’s left is to fire it.”

Luka took out a familiar compass and checked the needle. Written in blood were the two words, “Acacius Duval.”

It wasn’t my name, of course. But it was one of my titles.

It was good that my efforts hadn’t been in vain.

The three of them began climbing the mountain, occasionally checking the compass as they went. It guided them to a cluster of trees growing on a ridge, leaves hanging down towards the small creek that flowed through the grass. It was an idyllic and peaceful scene that belied the tension and struggle of the past day.

A familiar scent began to drift by on the breeze.

“Isn’t that the incense that the Institute uses to manage the butterflies?” Veric said.

“It should be,” said Roxana. “But the inhabitants also said the butterflies won’t leave the caverns for another few weeks. It’s strange to be using it out here.”

I guess it was a bit of a logical leap to go from “Acacius has the Eye of the Kaleidoscope” to “Acacius is fusing with a butterfly.” Sorry guys, I forgot to mention it… If it was important, they’d be able to figure it out, right?

“I sense movement up ahead,” Luka said. “Don’t forget the plan.”

The trees cleared away at a bend in the creek, and the pale moonlight shone down on the long grass. Water washed up along the shallow bank at the bend, forming a mirror-like surface that caught the light.

Across the bend, hanging from a tree by a rope around the wrists, was Acacius’ body… now, my body.

A pair of enormous butterfly wings was unfurled from my back. Unlike the Kalos butterflies’ usual blue, these wings were a rosy magenta at the base and faded to a deep purple at the edge. However, they were decorated with the same distinctive eye spots and intricate patterns that made the viewer dizzy if they looked for too long.

The wings were pierced at the tips by a pair of hooks tied to the surrounding trees, pulling them taut like a tapestry on display.

That was bad and all, but to top it all off…

I wasn’t wearing a shirt!

Sure, the wings must have shredded the shirt, and it would be annoying to find a covering that would work around that, and there wasn’t much point in paying attention to the feelings of the guy you planned to kill, but still…! Hanan! Do something for my modesty, would you…! All my titles’ tattoos were exposed!

When I turned my attention to Hanan, though, I couldn’t help but flinch.

Like Cyprian, she bore a heavy karma. A sense of revulsion filled me. The desire to purge her from my sight was strong.

Not that I had the ability to do that right now.

Hanan had painted some weird symbols on my face and around the wings, and she was carefully drawing patterns in the freshly-cleared dirt below my body. She looked up at our approach, but didn’t make a move against us.

“If you’re looking for your leader, I’m afraid he isn’t here,” she said.

Roxana stepped forward and bowed courteously, speaking with a pitched-down voice. “Apologies for disturbing you. We lost contact with the others and hoped to regroup with someone who understood the situation at large.”

Hanan considered.

“Ozias has regained a handle on matters below, and has mostly fulfilled his half of the agreement.” She gestured towards my unconscious self. “However, I could use extra hands. Since there are no urgent matters, you should act on your master’s behalf and assist me.”

Roxana pretended to look at the others in hesitation. They mirrored her body language.

“Quickly, now,” Hanan said impatiently. “The preparations must be completed before the moon reaches its zenith.”

“Are you sure that he doesn’t need us?” Roxana said cautiously.

“I’ve replenished his supply of paper dolls. They are far more numerous and expendable than you,” Hanan replied without blinking an eye. Wow, she was really great at lying. “Have you any other objections?”

“…Very well,” Roxana said reluctantly. “What do you require of us?”

Hanan gestured for everyone to cross the stream. “Clear out the grass in the area. Be careful not to knock over the incense. One of you, come grind the casting ink on the stone over there.”

“Yes.”

Roxana went to the exposed rock by the stream where Hanan had piled various materials along with a mortar and pestle. She began sorting through them with a deft hand, evidently familiar with whatever process Hanan had begun. Luka and Veric, meanwhile, went obediently to uproot nearby plants.

[It seems like you didn’t need my help with her,] I remarked to Luka.

[That isn’t the case,] Luka replied. [It’s strange for a group of disconnected subordinates to show up unannounced at this time. I’m sure she would normally have many more questions about us. But because of you, she is able to accept our presence here as naturally part of her group.]

He slid his eyes to glance at her from beneath the mask, watching the threads in his vision.

[That is, we are “naturally” tools at her disposal, and should be used accordingly.]

Luka and the others worked patiently. Clouds drifted by in the sky, casting shadows beneath the moon.

“Have you finished grinding the ink?” Hanan said.

Roxana, panting, said, “I’m almost done with the last batch.”

Hanan pointed her chin at Luka. “You, go bring the first batch over.”

Luka went and picked up the shallow wooden bowl that Roxana had prepared. Dark leaves and red powder had been ground down and mixed with the clear stream water to form a surprisingly viscous ink. He slowly walked back towards Hanan with it, careful not to spill a drop.

Hanan took the bowl and carefully stepped into the ritual circle she’d drawn below my body. She’d left enough space to stand in front of me.

“You, retreat from the ritual circle.”

Luka shuffled to follow her directions, passing behind her as he did.

He reached one hand into his sleeve and pulled out the golden dagger. Black aura coated the blade.

Seamless as a sword into its sheath, he slid the dagger between Hanan’s ribs and into her heart.

Hanan turned, stumbled, and fell. The bowl of ink splattered over the ground like blood. Luka pulled the dagger out of her back and tossed it to the side. “Veric!”

Veric caught it and leaped into motion. Silver-gray aura swirled along the edge, extending it just long enough that when she swung, it cut through the ropes suspending my body from the trees. Roxana appeared out of nowhere to help catch my body as it fell, letting out a soft “oomph” as she did so.

Three white circles appeared above Hanan’s head, two of them cracked. A pair of inhuman arms began to emerge from the third.

Luka ripped open Hanan’s vest. Shadows gathered around his hand, and he pulled her leather booklet out of nothing just as he had before.

The pair of arms paused, as if confused.

“Look. I, your legitimate contractor, am whole and healthy,” Luka said. “There’s no need to act.”

The alabaster hands worked their scissors thoughtfully.

[One contractor is dead, and one resurrection remains,] came a sussurating voice. [The contract shall be upheld.]

When Luka tried to block the entity’s movements, one contemptuous swing of its arm flung him away. It began to stitch.

Veric folded my body’s wings away as best as she could, bundled me up in an awkward carry, and summoned her dragon phantom. “Roxana!”

Roxana waved her hands. The wind stirred, blowing at their back, and they sprinted downhill and away as if they had wings attached to their feet. Roxana pulled Luka up by the hand as they ran by. The hoods of their robes fell off, and the masks blew away.

Luka, clutching the booklet, flipped through the pages upon pages of unknown cards.

He threw out Professor Raoul’s card into the wind.

“Raoul Sattari, [Crucible of Katsouli], I release thee from thy bonds and summon thee before me!”

The card flashed. Professor Raoul materialized out of green and gold light, and the card, now with an empty photo, reappeared in Luka’s hand.

Professor Raoul didn’t even have time to open his mouth before Roxana grabbed him by the arm and pulled him along to run.

“Professor! We just unsealed you from Hanan’s contract card! Do you have a way to fight her?”

Professor Raoul’s face went through a journey of emotions — shock, joy, worry, despair — before finally settling on a sad smile.

“I’m afraid I can’t fight her.”

“Why?” Roxana demanded. “She engineered this whole disaster! Are you saying you’re with her?”

“No. It is simply that, when first made my contract with her…” Professor Raoul smiled self-deprecatingly. “I promised I would never use my abilities to hurt her.”

Veric cursed. “Then help us escape!”

“It is too late for that,” said Hanan.

A shadow flitted over the group, momentarily blocking the light of the moon. Hanan landed lightly before us. Three puppet-jointed pairs of arms hovered behind her back, pale and chitinous, and three extra pairs of eyes had grown on her face. A large spool of white thread hung behind her like a spider’s abdomen, and in each hand, she held a sewing needle.

Professor Raoul stepped in front of us, expression stern. “Tiziri.”

“Senior brother,” she greeted. Her facial features changed: eyes rounding and turning up at the corner in lively mischief, nose shrinking, cheeks softening, hair lengthening and falling down to her shoulders. It was a completely different face from the Hanan we had come to know. “I wish you would not look so sad when reuniting with your dear junior after all these years.”

“You are not my junior sister anymore,” Professor Raoul said. His voice was soft as usual, but it was colder than I had ever heard it, as if there had been steel hidden in the wool all along. “Moreover, you have touched my students. Do you think you can play around without consequence as you always have?”

“Or what?” Tiziri’s mouth turned up at the corners in a smile. “Will you attack me, senior? But you cannot. The contract forbids you. There is no need to make things so difficult for yourself; surrender and return to your card. What other choice do you have?”

“If you believed that,” said Professor Raoul, “you would not have moved to remove me from the picture from the start.”

He held out his hand, and a golden astrolabe appeared. As its metal parts shifted and spun, the stars above us distorted. A glowing green boundary line drew itself into the ground around us.

Tiziri flashed forward, striking out with her puppet limbs. The boundary line completed its circle and flared. A shimmering, nebula-like barrier sprang up, blocking Tiziri’s outstretched arms.

Tiziri narrowed her eyes, but she didn’t stop smiling.

“Senior brother, you are as foolish as ever. This is nothing but buying time.”

“Professor, buying time is a good thing,” Veric said quickly. “She wanted to start her ritual at the moon’s zenith.”

Professor Raoul gazed up at the sky. He spun the plates on his astrolabe.

“Tiziri never has only one plan,” he said. “She knows my abilities, and since I can’t harm her, I can only hold her off for so long. You must think of a way to escape.”

Veric and Luka looked at each other.

But it was Roxana who moved first.

She wiped away the blood trickling from my body’s nose and placed her hands over its chest, and a blue glow spread out. I extended my spirit senses back towards my body, and this time, felt a flicker of sensation from it: exhaustion and relief.

Then Roxana slapped my face.

“Acacius, wake up or we’re all going to die!”

And with a jolt, I did.

The senses from being summoned into their bodies overlapped dizzyingly with the [Last Genesis]’s powers. I was cold and feverish, my skull was pounding, and my shoulders hurt like a bitch. I couldn’t help but groan.

“Fuck. Which layer of hell did I just wake up in…”

“Don’t talk nonsense. You’re still alive,” said Roxana. “Listen. Professor Raoul is free, but his contract prevents him from fighting Hanan directly. We’re trapped. We need to escape. You’re good at thinking, aren’t you? Help us think of a way out.”

I felt momentarily speechless. “Am I your fairy godmother? What the hell am I going to do?”

“Sorry, Acacius,” said Veric. She tried to set me down to stand on my own, but my legs immediately gave out under me, so she ended up supporting my whole weight anyways. “This probably wasn’t the rescue you were hoping for.”

With that, my indignation faded away. I sighed. “At least I’m still alive.”

I could really use a shirt, though.

But that was beside the point.

“Professor Raoul, could you fight off Hanan if you weren’t under the restrictions of your contract?”

Professor Raoul hesitated for a moment, then pressed his lips together and nodded firmly. “Yes.”

Okay. I didn’t have time to dig into that right now. “And what’s holding you back from breaking the contract?”

Roxana gave me a look as if to ask me if I was an idiot, but Professor Raoul patiently explained. “Once formed, a card contract can only be terminated by the summoner, or by the summon’s death.”

“And what do you think our chances of defeating her are?”

“Tiziri is someone who has consolidated her titles to the Epic realm. She is not far from touching the realm of Myth.”

That meant nothing to me, but judging by Roxana and Veric’s grim faces, our chances were extremely bad.

“Senior brother,” Tiziri called softly, prowling around us. Her puppet arms were scraping their needles against the barrier, tracing strange patterns through the stars. “My patience is running out. In consideration of how long we have known each other, I will give you one more minute to come out.”

No matter how I racked my brains, only one possibility came to mind. I sighed.

“I have conditions.”

“Are you serious?” Roxana snapped.

I moved my eyes to stare at her and spoke calmly.

“That’s right. Don’t ask me any questions about this later. Don’t tell anyone about it, either. If you do, you can consider me your enemy for the rest of all time.” I smiled at her pleasantly. “Do you like having enemies, Roxana?”

“What kind of question is that?”

“I don’t either. So that’s why I do my best to keep my number of enemies at zero.”

I narrowed my eyes.

“Do you understand?”

There was a moment of silence.

Then Veric said, “I understand. I won’t say a word.”

“I’ll swear the same,” said Luka.

Roxana blew out a breath, rolled her eyes, and flicked her hair over her shoulder. “If it can get us out of here, I’ll swear anything you like. I’ll even swear by whatever oath you said you have.”

“I was deceiving you,” I said. “I don’t know how to do that.”

Roxana’s jaw dropped. “You—!”

“You have my word as well,” said Professor Raoul. “Not just as an ally, but as your teacher. As long as you are my student, I will look after you.”

Now I knew where Hanan had learned to talk so sweetly. Time would tell if I would regret the trust I was about to place in him.

Leaning heavily against Veric, I held out my still-bound wrists. “Someone help me cut this off.”

Luka swiped the golden dagger, and the ropes fell off.

I turned to the Professor. “Give me your hand.”

He did. I took hold of it, summoned [Caller], and closed my eyes.

I needed a title that would let Professor break the contract, that he could make true within the borrowed time limit, and that wouldn’t drain the life out of me to give him. Some kind of instinct flowed through [Caller], presenting me with different possibilities, their effects, and the price they would exact. I dismissed them one by one.

“Senior brother,” Tiziri called. Her nails had pierced constellation patterns into Professor Raoul’s barrier. It was beginning to flicker and fall. “Your time is up.”

I didn’t want to screw him over, but in the end, there was only one suitable title I could think of.

“Sorry about this, Professor,” I said.

I cut the back of his hand and let [Caller of What Must Be True] guide my tongue.

“Raoul Sattari. By the snake I swear to you, and by the knife I bind you. By the cut that ends it shall the circle begin. I declare this title to be true: [Contract Breaker]!”

I felt the life force physically draining out of me. Luka and Veric caught me before I could fall completely, and Roxana hurriedly laid her hands on my body, saving me from blacking out entirely. Maybe it didn’t matter. I felt like I was about to die.

“O lady of sorrows,” Roxana whispered “May you have mercy on this poor lamb.”

The barrier around us shattered.

Professor Raoul stared at me with a strange expression, and then he held out his hand.

His contract card floated out of Luka’s grasp and into his.

Tiziri, arms poised to attack, came to a halt.

“…What are you doing, senior brother?”

Professor Raoul didn’t answer. His fingers tightened.

“You do not wish for this,” Tiziri cautioned. She took a step forward. “This is a contract formed from our bond. It is the proof of the times we spent together. Master and I have always loved you, Raoul, do not doubt this. Are you truly willing to throw this away?”

He met her gaze, and in those dark eyes was a deep sorrow that went down to the bone.

But right alongside it, there was a new emotion growing. A terrified yet ecstatic joy.

Red tattoos swam down his arm, coiling around his fingers like glowing red snakes. His fingernails sharpened like a serpent’s fangs.

“I am willing,” he said.

Professor Raoul tore the contract card in two.

Chapter 32 Chapter 34