In terms of how difficult he was to subdue, Verethragna was the most troublesome Contract Spirit Roland had encountered so far.
Even red Contract Spirits could not resist the Key of All Spirits because of their very nature. Once the trouble arising from them had been dealt with, securing them was easy.
Moreover, unlike Lilith and Mana, Contract Spirits who were fundamentally well-intentioned, Verethragna had truly intended to fight Roland to the death. In return, however, defeating him had earned Roland the most generous gift he had received yet.
Without hesitation, Roland issued an order to the Key of All Spirits with a thought.
-Form a contract with Verethragna.
Powerful energy once again poured into Roland's body, forging his muscles and bones bit by bit. The total amount of magical energy he could output rose again as well.
In the past, after every battle of greater intensity, his highly adaptable body would raise the output limit of the vessel that was Roland himself. This was inseparable from his ability, during his battle with Scáthach, to unleash enough magical energy in one burst to shatter the Land of Shadows without suffering any harm, and still have enough left to force out another blast.
This was also an important reason why Roland's total magical energy still surpassed Verethragna's, despite having two portions of his standing sealed away and Verethragna possessing multiple Divine Cores.
Thus, while his body was still assimilating the experience and traces of this battle, he could clearly feel the difference from before.
"The growth in magical energy and my physical strength have both increased..."
If his improvement had previously been like water welling from a mountain spring, it was now at least a stream.
Although the increase was not large, the fact that his already perfected body could feel