I Swear by the Honor of the Animusphere Family / If You've Made a Contract with Me, You'd Better Be Ready to Die in Battle Alongside Me

His words pierced Olga Marie's heart like Antarctic ice and snow.

"That was a summoning chant. In other words—you, who had no aptitude for Spiritron Transfer, already died. What remains now is your soul. Of the forty-nine Team A Masters, only Akuta Hinako and I remain, along with Master Number 48, Fujimaru Ritsuka, whom you drove out.

"If I had to say, the entire control room was blown to pieces. My Coffin was in relatively decent shape, though, since Da Vinci personally reinforced it."

Expressions constantly shifted across her beautiful face, and Olga Marie's relief at surviving the disaster turned into terror.

Then Olga Marie asked, "Then... what about Lev?!"

"Lev... sigh. If you ask me about Lev, you won't believe anything I say. That's just the kind of person you are, Olga—expecting things on your own, relying on others on your own, with a bit of self-righteousness mixed in... Ah, I have some of that too, but nowhere near as much as Director Olga Marie. So, Director, you should see Flauros's true face for yourself."

Bai Ming stood and dusted the dirt from his backside. "Now then, Olga Marie, there is only one way for you to survive: make a contract with me and become my familiar. In China, there is a kind of existence somewhat similar to a necromancer, and I know a little about their methods. If you refuse, that's fine too. I'll leave you here to die."

Bai Ming appeared to have given Olga Marie a choice, but in reality, he had given her none.

He knew exactly what kind of girl Olga Marie was.

She was insecure, loved to put on a brave front, wanted recognition, and acted decisively. Before she could do all that and earn that recognition, she did not want to die.

Ignoring the mockery in Bai Ming's words, Olga Marie hugged her shoulders and crouched off to one side. "A contract... What kind of contract is it? If it's an unequal contract, I'd rather die here."

"I'll preserve your consciousness and nourish your soul. In exchange, you'll serve at my command."

"...Fine."

Olga Marie agreed to Bai Ming's terms easily. She had no choice. Even if it were an unequal contract, she would have accepted it.

Bai Ming raised a hand. Complex, obscure runes formed at his fingertips. Olga Marie's pale fingers touched his, and in an instant, a surge of magical energy erupted from the runes. Olga Marie felt a faint connection form between herself and Bai Ming, then deepen until the rune sank directly into her body.

"That will do."

Olga Marie looked at the Dragon Tooth Warriors gathered below, who had yet to leave, and fell into thought. With no particular ideas of her own, she looked to Bai Ming. "Then... what do we do about these Dragon Tooth Warriors?"

"No rush. We'll stay here for now. Even souls have a limit to their stamina, so get some rest first, Olga. Oh, and by the way, the current date is January 30, 2004."

Olga Marie nodded and sat down on a stone platform nearby.

Bai Ming: System, you there? I have a question. Is there an inventory space? Can it store things?

System: Yes. There is no storage limit, but you can't put living things in it.

Bai Ming: Got it.

After a brief exchange with the system, Bai Ming looked at Olga Marie and asked, "Come to think of it, why were Dragon Tooth Warriors chasing you instead of Skeleton Soldiers? Did you gather any information along the way?"

Olga Marie shook her head and said somewhat dejectedly, "I only remember a flash of fire, then when I came to, I was here. I barely took two steps before they started chasing me down to kill me... What kind of expression is that? Are you laughing at me? It's not like I didn't want to fight back with magecraft. The activation conditions for Celestial Department magecraft are too demanding. I didn't have time to prepare anything."

The mocked girl became angry, and her dejected demeanor vanished. She knew Bai Ming was a man with a terrible personality. She did not even understand why her father had recruited someone like him. Ever since she took office, everyone had shown some restraint out of respect for her position as director, and they had even offered their assistance voluntarily.

Only Bai Ming was different. He was free-spirited and unruly, his words always barbed, his behavior arrogant and unrestrained.

She could even imagine that Beryl Gut, the werewolf who had never gotten along with Bai Ming, had probably been kicked while he was down and killed on the spot by Bai Ming at a time like this.

If possible, she truly did not want to rely on Bai Ming, but she had no choice.

Olga Marie knew that her Spiritron compatibility was zero, and the fact that she had completed Spiritron Transfer successfully meant her real body was already thoroughly dead.

Bai Ming really was laughing at the pathetic Olga Marie.

As though trying to prove something, Olga Marie thought hard for a while before saying, "The Dragon Tooth Warriors should have been created by a Caster."

"Oh, and?"

His indifferent response left Olga Marie speechless.

"Come to think of it... Why do I feel like I'm supplying magical energy to somewhere else too?"

At that moment, the communication line connected, and a pale blue screen appeared before Bai Ming and Olga Marie.

"Ah! Director, thank goodness you're all right! The situation is rather complicated right now. Since the backup power has only just been connected, the communication time may not be long—" Roman's rambling voice came through. "I'll keep it short. According to the current data, Mash has become your familiar—that is, your Servant. Although I don't know why the two of you were separated, you should hurry and..."

The communication cut off.

Bai Ming stood, stretched slightly, then headed downstairs. "Come, my dear Olga Marie. It's time to follow in my footsteps and cause some trouble."

Though he did not understand why Mash had become his Servant, once he had received word from Roman, Bai Ming could finally wreak havoc in the Fuyuki Singularity without worry.

"That's a whole group of Dragon Tooth Warriors! No matter how good you are at fighting, you can't handle that many people, can you?"

"You... Who are you looking down on?"

Bai Ming shot Olga Marie a glance, then summoned the Pojun Divine Lightning Halberd from his sea of consciousness and charged straight into the mass of Dragon Tooth Warriors. Lightning erupted, scattering them in all directions. Bai Ming swung the halberd with fierce momentum, and then roared, "You wretches, die!"

As his voice fell, lightning descended, and thunderous radiance surged in an instant.

A great number of Dragon Tooth Warriors were reduced to dust, and Bai Ming's sweeping strikes tore a massive gap through their airtight encirclement.

Olga Marie, who had no combat ability whatsoever, stared blankly for several seconds. Then she hurried after Bai Ming, watching him carve a path through the enemy with his halberd.

I Swear Upon the Honor of the Animusphere Family

After Olga Marie and Bai Ming broke through the encirclement, they stopped at a place where a Fuyuki City Leyline passed through.

"It looks like the Leyline here is why Dragon Tooth Warriors and Skeleton Soldiers have been gathering endlessly in this area. Since Roman hasn't contacted us... Olga Marie, we'll wait here."

Bai Ming put away his halberd and said, "It seems these undead creatures are different from the undead in those novels. They can actually feel fear. I thought they were things with no self-awareness at all."

Olga Marie looked at the undead creatures around them, which only dared to make clattering noises and occasional growls. For some reason, the worry in her heart lessened considerably.

Olga Marie said, "I think they might simply be afraid of the talismans in your hand."

"They're just a few little trinkets for warding off evil and protecting the body."

Bai Ming did not care in the slightest. "You have a chance to ask me some questions now, Olga Marie. I don't want my female ghost director familiar to suddenly lose her mind upon seeing an enemy and walk toward them."

Olga Marie ignored Bai Ming's jab and merely said, "Your hand is injured."

"I was injured before the transfer. It doesn't matter."

Bai Ming glanced at his wounded hand. "They're only minor injuries. I'm used to them."

Olga Marie took a deep breath. "Then I have questions. You seemed to know long ago that the control room would explode, so why didn't you say anything beforehand? Why was it Roman who contacted us just now instead of Lev? And why did you say I was expecting things on my own when I asked about Lev? Why do you always seem so hostile toward everyone?"

"Three out of four questions are about Lev. Once all the problems here are resolved, you'll understand the answers. I'll answer your last question."

Bai Ming walked toward Olga Marie. "Olga Marie, you know what a Magus is, don't you? Someone who strives by any means necessary toward a goal, a madman-like existence without any morality whatsoever. But my vision stands higher and reaches farther than those selfish, hysterical Magi. In other words—"

"So you really do have future sight?"

"If you want to think that, then think that."

Bai Ming spoke with forceful conviction. "At this moment, my conversation with you is not entirely meant to answer your questions. It is to deepen the trust between us. Since I first came into contact with magecraft, my heart has been filled with unease—not because I sensed the decline of Mystery, nor because I was surprised, but simply because of my desire to live. Olga, now that you know you are dead, I think you understand that desire for life better than anyone. That is why you signed even an unequal contract without hesitation."

Olga Marie fell silent.

She could not refute Bai Ming, because she really had made a contract with him and become his familiar out of a refusal to die, because she still wanted to do something.

"What I seek is peace of mind, Olga Marie. I have a set of principles that share certain views with some people, but differ from worldly conventions in far more ways. You have to admit that most human actions are done for peace of mind and survival. Perhaps some people seek life through death, but only when they are forced into it. What I seek is not to reach farther by myself like a Magus. What I seek is a world where everyone can survive."

Bai Ming's words were so straightforward that Olga Marie could already hear something different in them. She heard the problem in his tone. "The world outside..."

Olga Marie's tone grew increasingly heavy, and she even sounded somewhat self-destructive.

After all, there was no one else around now, only Bai Ming, who did not care at all about her status as director.

Bai Ming, however, remained impassioned.

"For the time being, let's call it Humanity Foundation incineration. Olga Marie, humanity has already perished. Chaldea is humanity's last safeguard, but I have been thinking—suppose the preservation of humanity is resolved. During that blank period of time, every country on Earth will pressure Chaldea. Even if Chaldea has the relevant records, those rulers will try every possible means to interfere with Chaldea's operations. When that time comes, what will you do? What will you choose? Don't rush to give me an answer. You, who wish to earn recognition, show me with your actions once everything is over."

Olga Marie was silent for a long time before finally saying, "I believe in my father, and I believe in my own judgment. I once had a teacher with future sight. Her name was Trisha Fellows. She loved me dearly, and she died in an accident because of me. I can feel that you are truly considering my sake right now. Therefore, no matter what you say or what you have done before, I, Olga Marie Asmleit Animusphere, swear upon the honor of the Animusphere family that I will trust you unconditionally until the end of my life."

While Olga Marie and Bai Ming deepened their trust in one another, Mash and Fujimaru Ritsuka, elsewhere, received Roman's communication and headed toward Olga Marie and Bai Ming under his guidance.

Elsewhere, Akuta Hinako—or rather, Yu Meiren, Consort Yu.

A pile of bones lay scattered around the woman of the Elemental species who pretended to be a literary girl.

Akuta Hinako muttered coldly, "What a hassle. How could I possibly do something like this? And this place has been damaged so badly that I can't even self-destruct anymore."

The self-destruction Akuta Hinako spoke of was a technique in which she abandoned her own body, allowed her magical energy to go out of control beyond its limits, used curses to trigger abnormal weather, and then reconstructed her body. It was a self-destructive attack only Elementals, who shared their Spirit Cores with the environment, could use. This meant that if Consort Yu self-destructed in a place like Fuyuki City, which had already been utterly devastated, reconstructing her body would result in her being contaminated.

From the Qin-Han Era until the modern day, few people could be said to understand Akuta Hinako. One was Xu Fu, another was Gao Changgong, and if one had to say, Bai Ming now counted as someone who understood her as well.

It was just that Bai Ming's way of speaking was truly hard to accept.

Roman's message connected, and Roman said from the blue screen, "Akuta Hinako, I've already sent you the coordinates of where you need to go. It may be because things were urgent during the Spiritron Transfer, but all of you were scattered. Mash and Ritsuka are currently heading toward Bai Ming."

"...You don't need to tell me. I already know where they are."

Akuta Hinako ended the communication. The disturbance Bai Ming had caused by summoning lightning from the sky was so obvious that only someone blind and deaf could fail to see or hear it.

Before long, Akuta Hinako met up with Bai Ming, Olga Marie, and the others.

Looking at the late-arriving Akuta Hinako, Bai Ming said, "Have you become such a shut-in that you can't even manage basic exercise?"

Once You Make a Contract with Me, You Must Be Prepared to Die Beside Me

Akuta Hinako looked at Bai Ming with a baffled expression. She had not even done anything yet, and he was already taking shots at her?

"All right, stop arguing!"

Seeing Akuta Hinako looking ready to argue with Bai Ming as if she would be admitting fear if she did not, Olga Marie felt a headache coming on.

Seeing Olga Marie step in to mediate, Akuta Hinako said in surprise, "Isn't this the director? You're actually not dead yet. No, technically, you should be dead. After all, Director Olga Marie has absolutely no aptitude for Spiritron Transfer. You made some unequal contract with Bai Ming, didn't you? Otherwise, how could you maintain such a stable form of existence?"

Olga Marie glared fiercely at Akuta Hinako. Why was her mouth just as unpleasant as Bai Ming's? No wonder Bai Ming was normally the only one who ever went near her.

"Um... Can someone explain what exactly is going on first?"

"Oh... it's you. I remember now, the one who fell asleep right in front of me during the meeting." Olga Marie looked at Fujimaru Ritsuka with an unfriendly expression. "What is with you? You're just an ordinary person with no connection to magecraft who came to fill out the numbers, right? How did you get transferred here? And Mash, what is with that form of yours? You became a Demi-Servant, didn't you? Why did it only succeed now?!"

One sentence from Bai Ming—"Fujimaru Ritsuka's Spiritron Transfer compatibility is 100%"—silenced Olga Marie.

"An ordinary person with 100% compatibility? Fine. Mash, place your shield on the Leyline as a catalyst to establish a summoning link, then connect it to Chaldea. Although I have learned a lot about the situation from Bai Ming, I still haven't figured out what exactly happened inside Chaldea."

Olga Marie began issuing orders. "Bai Ming, you explain the current situation to that ordinary Master. Akuta Hinako, come help establish a stable ritual foundation."

Mash placed her shield on the Leyline. Bai Ming spread his hands, put on the air of an older brother, and draped an arm around the red-faced Fujimaru Ritsuka as he led her off to the side. He began explaining magecraft and all manner of matters from the hidden side of the world, while also saying that Olga Marie was just a flat-chested white-haired brat with a slightly bigger chest, who acted like a hedgehog every day because she lacked affection, and so on.

Olga Marie immediately turned bright red. Before she could say anything, the communication line connected with Roman after a beep.

"Wah! It finally connected."

Roman let out a sigh, but before he could say anything, Olga Marie spoke. "So, the highest-ranking person still alive over there should only be you, Roman. Bai Ming has already analyzed my situation for me, so from today onward, you will be Chaldea's acting director."

"Let me report the situation first!"

Roman cried out, "There are fewer than twenty survivors in all of Chaldea. Of the forty-nine Masters, three are with you, Director. Beryl was pierced through by a sharp object and has already been reduced to ashes in the sea of fire. All the rest are in critical condition, and we don't have enough medical equipment—"

Seeing that Roman was about to continue, Olga Marie became anxious first. "Stop! Freeze them first. The Coffins have cryogenic facilities. We can find a way to wake them later. Make sure no one dies first!"

"Oh, right. I forgot about that."

Roman smacked his forehead and ran off to arrange for the Coffins' cryogenic functions.

"It's quite surprising. Freezing people without their consent is a criminal act." Mash casually made that remark, then explained to the utterly confused Fujimaru Ritsuka beside her, "Don't be fooled by how Director Marie acts. Compared to the responsibility of being director, she cares more about human lives, you know?"

Olga Marie immediately turned and snapped back, "What nonsense are you talking about? As long as they're alive, we can explain everything later, can't we? No matter what, I can't bear responsibility for the lives of forty-five people!"

Even as Lord Animusphere, Olga Marie could not easily bear the deaths of thirty or forty magecraft elites from various families. If they all really died, the other Lords would certainly join forces to hold her accountable.

Before long, Roman returned after arranging everything and reported the situation, along with his plans for the remaining staff.

Olga Marie's already poor complexion worsened after hearing Roman's report, but she unexpectedly praised him. "If I were there, I could not have handled it any better than you did."

"Enough idle chatter, Olga Marie."

Bai Ming walked over. "Roman, you can give up on contacting the outside world. Have Da Vinci figure out a way for Chaldea to become self-sufficient. Before the forced activation of Spiritron Transfer, Chaldeas could no longer ensure humanity's future, because humanity outside has already been completely wiped out. Chaldea's twenty-odd people are the last humans."

"W-What? Why didn't you tell me about this beforehand?"

Seeing Olga Marie about to bristle again, Bai Ming asked in return, "Would telling you have helped? Cold on the outside but soft at heart, timid yet pretending to be strong, Director Olga Marie—right now, there is nothing you can do. You can only stand by and watch quietly."

To Fujimaru Ritsuka's amazement, Olga Marie bit her lip and retreated. "Timid, my ass—"

Then Olga Marie continued, "We came to investigate Singularity F in the first place. I'm still useful. None of you here know healing magecraft, right? Then I'll be the field medic! Our objective now is to investigate Singularity F. Since there are two Team A members here, we can deal with any problems directly once we find them. Move out!"

"She sure does make decisions on her own, but four protecting one should not be a problem."

"The four of us are more than enough to protect this ordinary person." Olga Marie suddenly felt that Bai Ming was capable of saying a few nice things after all, but the next moment, she could not keep herself composed as Bai Ming said, "What are you thinking, Olga Marie? You're the one being protected. Fujimaru Ritsuka may be an ordinary person, but her luck is far better than yours. You're unlucky and have no combat ability."

After saying that, Bai Ming looked at Mash again. "Although I don't know why Mash was forced to make a contract with me, since you made a contract with me, you must be prepared to die beside me. The same goes for Olga Marie. As for Fujimaru Ritsuka's abilities as a Master, once this is over, I'll focus on training her command skills."

Olga Marie sighed. "I'm already dead, aren't I? Do I have to die twice?"