'Funny how, despite how much I dislike the law of restriction, I still use contracts made with its power.'
That stray thought crossed his mind just as Evan raised a hand to his chin.
'Come to think of it, there's a law of contracts too, isn't there? What do people who comprehend that even learn?'
Such idle thoughts crossed his mind while the spirits signalled their agreements, even if reluctant, to one another.
Finally, Caeril sighed and nodded before speaking.
"Very well. Let us lay out the terms."
Thus began the brief negotiations, which took barely ten minutes to conclude.
The agreed-upon terms were as follows:
Evan would offer combat support against the forces of the Tree of Creation, as well as the devils attempting to harness its power. If the time came when destroying the Tree of Creation itself became necessary, Evan would take part in the attempt, so long as the strategic and situational rationale for it held.
However, he was not to be treated as a subordinate, nor would he fall under any battlefield command structure. He would act independently, as he saw fit, provided his actions didn't cause disorder or disrupt allied operations.
In exchange, he would be paid on a per-battle or per-action basis, dependent on the significance of the assistance he provided. Compensation would come in the form of artifacts, law crystals, resources, or anything deemed of sufficient value.
Secondly, the spirits would guarantee the protection of Evan and his companions, both within the stronghold and during deployments or missions tied to the alliance.
Thirdly, no spirit, Elder or otherwise, could interfere with Evan's mind, body, soul, or cause him or his companions harm in any way, shape, or form. The reverse held true for Evan and the spirits of Iohodis, with devils or members of other races in disguise naturally excluded from this provision.
Fourth, a reasonable effort was to be made to inform their allied races not to stir up trouble with Evan or his group. This did not imply that the spirits were responsible for controlling the actions of those other races, but rather that they were to issue a formal notice or warning to make the others aware of the alliance and avoid unnecessary provocation.
And of course, the clause stood: anyone who violated the agreement first, lifted all restrictions on the other party, opening the way for retaliation without consequence.
Once the final terms were accepted, each of the spirits signed the contracts, some of them reluctantly, activating the magical bindings.
The ten papers were used to create ten copies of the contracts, one for each spirit, as a single contract simply lacked the capacity to fully bind ten Transcendents simultaneously.
Once they were signed, the magic embedded in each document ignited faintly as it latched onto the signatories.
Immediately after, Caeril spoke.
"…And now, that bomb."
Evan simply nodded and reached for the communication device he'd placed on the table. Lifting it to his ear after pressing a few buttons, he waited a few seconds before speaking.
"Hey Beatrix, send me the current deactivation code."
He took it off his ear and waited for a few seconds, until a faint beeping sound rang out.
Then, he stood, walked over to the Arcanum Eclipsor, opened the side panel, and began pressing a specific sequence of buttons.
Once done, he shut the panel, and the glowing wires attached to his arms immediately dimmed. He detached them one after the other, then returned the entire device to his inventory.
Just a small side note, the 'call' with Beatrix had been nothing more than a bluff, with Evan trying to make them believe he'd been meticulous enough to entrust the deactivation code to someone else.
Just a little extra mind game.
The part about the Arcanum Eclipsor being rigged to detonate if he died or if it was damaged, however, was entirely true.
The last King of Verduracliff, the former owner of the Akashic Page, had rigged it World Magic: Spell Number 16: Disintegration, and he was also the one who created the Arcanum Eclipsor. Long story short, the man had a tendency to rig his creations to explode if things went south, and Evan simply took advantage of that.
With the negotiations concluded, the Elder Spirits had someone escort Evan to the accommodation that had been prepared for him, Artemisia, and Beatrix. However, Evan first exited the city and headed back to the town where the two girls were waiting to get them.
In the meantime, the Elder Spirits naturally discussed everything that had just transpired. And it was quite a heated discussion. Correction—it was quite a heated argument.
To begin with, the council was not a monolithic body, and as previously stated, some members had signed the contract reluctantly, so chaos was inevitable. Arguments broke out, with a portion of the council accusing Caeril's faction of being far too indulgent with Evan.
In response, Caeril and those aligned with him stressed that this was not a matter of personal preference or pride, it was diplomacy under duress. They reminded the others of the prophetess' words and how disastrously things would unfold if Evan did not join forces with them.
Another member questioned whether they truly had to rely solely on Evan, asking if there weren't other Destruction wielders they could turn to.
But another spirit answered grimly, explaining that they had already searched among the outsiders, the cultivators, and found no one. Not a single destruction law user.
They had even come across a creation user, yet none with destruction. Every known destruction law user had already been eliminated by the devils.
After the argument, which ended without any clear resolution and left the council effectively divided, some opposing Evan and others defending the agreement with him, the higher-ups of Tír Síorghlas, including military commanders and other Transcendent spirits, were briefed on the situation.
They were informed that contact had been made with the Destruction user the prophetess had instructed them to reach out to, and were also informed about the contract with Evan and the terms of their alliance.
As with the council members, the reactions from the higher-ups were mixed. However, with the contracts already signed, there was little that could be done to change the situation.
Days passed with Evan, Artemisia, and Beatrix settling into their accommodations, which, at Evan's request, were located on the outskirts of the city.
The building they had been assigned was nestled within a peaceful and relaxing small forested area. There were some security measures in place and a few guards around, but Evan didn't mind them much.
It wasn't until three days later that the moment finally arrived for Evan to begin earning his paycheck.
The opportunity presented itself in the form of an attack on one of the spirit-inhabited cities located outside Tír Síorghlas.
This city had been built atop a hill, with buildings arranged along the terraces sloping down its sides, normally a beautiful sight.
Alas, the attack had plunged the city into chaos, with soldiers scrambling to defend its walls and using their elevated position to strike at the devils below.
However, as a winged race, the devils fielded airborne troops that targeted the spirit forces on the terraces, partially negating the high-ground advantage.
Only partially, though, as any devil shot down above the city crashed into the midst of the spirits and was mercilessly slaughtered.
◇ ◇ ◇
Inside one of the many buildings at the top of the hill, where the City Lord's Mansion stood alongside the Headquarters for both the City Police and the Order of Spirits' Armies, a large-scale magic circle lit up on the floor.
With a bright flash of light, a group of people appeared within the basement chamber.
One among them was Evan, his face half-covered by his usual mask, his hair scattered and slightly damp, as though he had just stepped out of the shower. He didn't look like someone about to engage in battle.
Out of everyone present, he was dressed the most casually, with a simple black-undersleeve grey shirt, a pair of joggers, and sneakers.
'Come to think of it, my current clothes aren't durable enough considering the level of enemies I've been fighting these days…'
These clothes, made with materials of Level 500-550 monsters back when he was on Aidos, could be easily torn through by his recent opponents, rendering them almost useless in combat situations.
There were two solutions to this. It was either that he got armour from the spirits, or he used his demon army uniform.
Evan immediately ruled out the latter option since he frankly detested wearing that uniform.
As for the former, he'd never felt comfortable fighting with armour, which was precisely why he'd opted to create durable clothing from high-level monsters in the first place.
'Once we're done here, I guess I'll ask the spirits if they have any tailors capable of working with the monster materials I've gathered. I'll probably need to hunt spider-type monsters too, ones that produce steel-like threads for weaving. I was too focused on tending to Beatrix's injuries and too exhausted afterwards, so it completely slipped my mind.'
That thought crossed his mind in an instant, and he immediately turned toward one of the spirits standing behind him and asked, "Is there any place where you can find the kind of spider monsters that secrete steel-like threads in abundance?"
The spirit in question, who had just been preparing to report the status of the battle raging outside, stared at him with a dumbfounded expression.
She appeared to be around 18, though she was likely older, her ageing slowed by her high Existence Level. Her shoulder-length hair was a natural dark brown, matching the colour of her eyes behind her glasses, and her slightly tanned skin could be seen beneath the sleeves of her attire.