BTCATL 16

Chapter 16

Countless butterflies—more than I had ever seen—swarmed toward the man like a black cloud.

My heart filled with hostility toward him, a feeling I knew didn’t belong to me.

Why?

I’d felt this sensation once before.

—[Asila, should we kill him for you?]

Yes, it was similar to when the butterflies had asked if I wanted to kill the Grand Duke.

But back then, it felt more like an amplification of my negative emotions toward him. Now, it felt like emotions I didn’t even possess were rising up from deep inside me.

Like I was under some sort of spell.

Time seemed to slow.

[He’s dangerous. He doesn’t like Asila.]
[How could he not like her?]
[We like Asila.]
[We have to protect her.]
[Attack. Strike first to win.]

The dark crimson light softly glowing from the spirits’ wings began to intensify, swirling as if ready to launch at the man at any moment.

I didn’t know why the spirits were suddenly acting this way, but I knew one thing for sure: they shouldn’t attack him.

I quickly opened my mouth.

“…Stop.”

The man’s eyes widened slightly in surprise.

[Asila, no!]
[We have to attack.]
[He’s dangerous.]

The energy was draining from my body faster and faster. At the same time, the glow from the butterflies grew stronger.

I tried to block the power they were drawing from me, but I couldn’t stop them.

I had no control.

I bit my lip.

What did Redin say to me?

“Those who contract with Nyx are a little different from other elemental users…”

Right. Nyx was different from other spirits.

And now, I could feel it—completely.

They could attack other spirits without hesitation. And even though I was the one who made the contract with them, I couldn’t control them. On the contrary, it felt like I was being dragged along helplessly.

Maybe it was because I had only just formed the contract, or maybe Nyx was simply that hard to control from the start—I didn’t know.

But that man had come out of concern for the spirits going berserk. I had to stop Nyx from attacking him.

Whether he came out of concern or came to kill me, I didn’t know for sure—but either way…

[Attack.]
[Let’s erase him.]
[Reverse summoning isn’t enough. Let’s destroy everything.]

The voices of the spirits echoed in my head even now. The more of them there were, the louder it became.

“Please. I said stop.”

Their emotions and voices stirred up chaos in my mind. I covered my mouth, feeling like I might throw up.

I felt like I could collapse at any moment.

[Asila, he’s dangerous!]
[Leave it to us.]
[We’ll eliminate him.]

It was like talking to a brick wall. They weren’t listening.

I clenched my fists. Even as my nails dug into my skin, I couldn’t feel any pain.

—Boom!

I bit down on my lip.

A wave of energy from the butterflies struck the man. A gray barrier had appeared in front of him at some point.

I could feel the strength leaving my body in chunks. Behind the barrier, the man’s crimson eyes locked onto mine and didn’t budge.

I reached out toward the butterflies.

They were spirits I had contracted with because I needed power.

I had made a contract with Nyx because I wanted strength to dig through the unwanted situation I was in.

If their emotions flowed into me, could mine also reach them?

[…Asila?]

Something must have reached them. For the first time, the butterflies—who had been ignoring my voice—paused.

I twisted my lips into a bitter smile.

As I lifted the dam on my heart, all the negative emotions I’d tried to hold back surged in like a flood.

The butterflies flinched.

They say spirits can’t hide their feelings. They’re pure beings of nature with no reason to lie.

I remembered how these butterflies had whispered to me before—that they liked me, that they loved me.

I’d made a contract with them because I needed something—something that could give me strength.

Yes. That’s why I did it. But if they create a situation I didn’t want, then the reason for our contract vanishes.

It would be no different than adding another prison to my life.

[Asila…]
[We’re not like that.]

The butterflies fluttered their wings gently as if to soothe me. But I wouldn’t be swayed.

I was too overwhelmed to listen to spirits who had drained every last drop of energy from my body.

My thoughts tangled with their emotions, and my mind was in turmoil.

The blinding glow from their wings dimmed slightly.

[Stop.]

A voice escaped my lips—not quite my own, deeper, more resonant.

And with that, the last of my strength left me.

A pounding headache exploded in my skull, and every sound in the world overlapped and echoed.

Despite everything, the butterflies that had filled the sky like a swarm began to fade as if by a miracle. Their blinding light turned cloudy… and then vanished entirely.

Even the man, who had taken one attack from Nyx, looked unharmed behind the gray barrier.

His gaze—expression unreadable—was overwhelming now.

…Is it over?

The world tilted.

A wave of pain spread through my body.

“Asila!!!”

Only after I collapsed did I realize I’d fallen. My consciousness began to fade.

The last thing I saw in my spinning vision was Redin running toward me—and far behind him, the man who looked amused, the corner of his mouth lifted in a smile as he stared at me.

—Boom! Boom boom!

All the spirits were forcibly reverse summoned, and the old man of the Northern Tower coughed up dark red blood.

“Enough! Cough! Are you going to keep rampaging like this, Calios?!”

The scream-like voice echoed as Calios simply shrugged.

That’s why you should’ve listened the first time I asked nicely.

Being able to attack other spirits had its advantages.

“Nymphs!”

Just as he was about to pursue the Tower Master, a very familiar voice called out—and a massive green barrier materialized.

Calios frowned.

Lazerdin. That bothersome man who always got in the way.

Despite being contracted to such docile nymphs, he was strong enough to go head-to-head with Calios.

—Flutter.

“…Butterflies?”

But all the anger that had surged when facing his enemy vanished like melting snow.

He had found the energy he’d followed here.

The crimson-winged butterflies weren’t quite the same as his own spirit, but the aura—the power—it was unmistakably Nyx.

He had expected the energy to be overflowing, since it was immediately after a berserk episode. But instead, the faint remnants were like dust. An unexpected result.

“You finally showed yourself.”

He curled his lips into a smirk and looked around.

Where was the contractor of these butterflies? If the spirits had gone berserk, the contractor couldn’t be unharmed.

He tilted his head.

Amidst the multiplying butterflies, he saw a woman standing.

She looked pale, as if she might disappear at any moment—but her limbs were perfectly intact, without a single scratch.

[They look like newborns.]
[It’s not berserk—they made a contract.]

The spirit wrapped around him whispered in his ear.

“…Was there a region in the North that was reported destroyed?”

So it wasn’t a berserk incident. That was disappointing—but the fact that she looked completely unharmed was even more bizarre.

He himself had erased an entire region from the map when he contracted with these cursed spirits at the age of fifteen.

Losing control and going berserk was the first thing that happened to anyone who received Nyx’s power.

Though still weak, those butterflies were definitely Nyx—dark spirits.

He stared at the pale woman, intrigued. How had she managed to form a contract without going berserk?

Then, her pale lips moved.

He stared hard at her mouth.

“Stop”…?

Ah. So she couldn’t control them after all.

Calios looked at the small, glowing spirits with flapping wings.

There were a staggering number of them—but they were just newborn Nyx.

No threat to him.

—Boom!

A blast of crimson energy slammed into him.

[Shall we attack?]

“No.”

He murmured quietly, eyes fixed on the dark-haired woman.

The butterflies surrounded him, trying to intimidate him—but his large golden eyes simply watched them coldly.

He rested his chin on his hand.

She was clearly trying to stop them, but it was pointless.

Spirits that had gone out of control—especially newborn Nyx—were like wild birds. They wouldn’t be leashed easily.

—Whistle.

Watching the endless wave of spirits, Calios let out a whistle.

To summon this many right after a contract was certainly rare. They were likely forcing power from her, but still…

She must have an incredible amount of mana.

He was just about ready to get bored of waiting when he noticed it—the butterflies were slowing down.

“…Oh?”

The air rippled and trembled.

[Stop.]

The strange voice echoed clearly in Calios’s ears. The woman’s body swayed, about to collapse.

He blinked.

The butterflies and their glow faded, and then—vanished.

The sky, once filled with spirits, was suddenly empty.

“Heh.”

Watching the woman finally collapse, Calios let out a short laugh.

He thought she was a mutant—but she was a baby monster, unexpectedly interesting.

Just moments ago he hadn’t cared, but now… the tiny woman piqued his interest.

Who would’ve thought she could use Word Command? It didn’t look intentional, but still—

He curled his lips into a grin.

It seemed his fate was tied to the Northern Tower for now.

He imagined Johann back at the Western Tower wailing in disbelief when he heard about this—and wore that thought with perfect ease, his seductive crimson eyes gleaming with quiet amusement.