"-Dust!"
The command of the King of Spirits echoed across the battlefield as the white cube of disintegration expanded with a high-pitched hum. The very air within the barrier seemed to scream. The grass, the soil, and even the ambient moisture were reduced to subatomic nothingness.
Seeing the incoming wave of white light, Jay's expression remained unfazed.
He simply adjusted his grip on the jagged black hilt of his blade and pointed the tip of Alichino directly toward the heart of the expanding cube.
Then, he whispered.
"Vanish."
KYUU-
The effect was instantaneous. The expanding particle-based attack of the white disintegrator, formed from the combination of three of Theurgia's elemental sigils, simply ceased to exist with a single command from the Sword of Desire.
"What the-"
Theurgia's golden ocular sensor flickered wildly with shock. His armored chest heaved as his spirit mind struggled to process what had just happened.
First, his body exploded, and now his ultimate attack had been nullified by a single word from a human.
"Is that the power of that sword!?"
Even in his time, the old age of gods, he had never seen such absurd power.
But before he could regain his composure, a searing beam of jade spirit energy lanced through the air. Bilqis had moved the moment the dust cleared, her hands glowing with terrifying spirit energy.
SHUUUNG
Theurgia reacted quickly despite his massive four-meter frame. He twisted in midair, his reptilian tail whipping behind him as he dove toward the ground, narrowly dodging the beam.
"You think that slow attac- HM!"
Jay was already there.
His figure moved through the space between heartbeats, appearing at Theurgia's flank with Alichino raised high. The blade was engulfed in a swirling, violent shroud of grey Senjutsu Ki.
Then, in a grey flash, Jay slash the sword down in a heavy vertical cleave, intending to split the spirit's armored torso.
But Theurgia reacted quickly.
He channeled myriad-colored spirit energy into his forearm and raised it to parry the strike. And then-
CLANK
The impact rang out like a hammer striking an anvil, sending a shockwave through the ground that cracked the earth for meters around.
Jay didn't let up. His eyes, glowing with the golden X of Avesta, remained locked on the spirit's head.
"Suspended."
SHIIIING
Theurgia felt an invisible, crushing weight descend upon him.
It was as if the laws of motion on his spirit body had been revoked as his limbs grew heavy, and his connection to the surrounding air was severed by another command.
And in that fleeting second of paralysis.
FWUOOOM
A burst of absolute-zero ice blizzard, conjured by Lavinia's Spirit Form suddenly slammed into him. The frost permeated every part of his spirit construct, locking him in a crystalline tomb.
His golden ocular sensor pulsed with sudden panic. All six of his elemental sigils began to flare in a desperate attempt to break the ice prison.
But Jay wouldn't let him escape as he stepped into the strike. He gripped Alichino with both hands as the grey Senjutsu Ki along the blade turned into a dancing, flaming shroud.
And with three violent, fluid motions-
SHIING. SHIING. SHIING.
BOOM.
Three consecutive swings tore through the ice crystal, and Theurgia's spirit body was split into three in an instant.
Each impact shattered the ice and carved massive craters dozens of meters deep, the force only contained by the perimeter of Solomon's barrier.
Theurgia was sent hurtling through the air as his armored form rattling inside the shards of ice.
'No, it can't be!'
And suddenly, before he hit the ground, Theurgia's frozen figure flickered and dissolved, becoming completely invisible as he merged with the natural Ki of the Temple of Solomon.
Jay narrowed his eyes, his senses stretching outward.
"Hm?"
Suddenly, a piercing scream echoed through the clearing.
"Arghhhhhhhh!!!"
Lavinia's head snapped toward the sound.
Bilqis's expression went rigid as she felt a shift in the spiritual atmosphere.
"What did-"
But as they searched for Theurgia, a whisper, cold and malicious drifted through the wind from an impossible angle.
"Spirit of Dust!"
Lavinia's sapphire eyes widened as her sense screamed at her.
"From behind!"
Bilqis and Solomon quickly realized what she meant as they reacted, trying to dodge the incoming attack.
But-
KYUUUUNG
BOOOM
They were a fraction of a second too late.
A blinding pillar of white light erupted from the void behind them. The beam of disintegration was narrow but faster than before, catching Lavinia and Bilqis as they tried to turn.
"Argh!"
Lavinia screamed in agony as her right hand, caught in the path of the beam, simply vanished. There was no blood at first, only a cauterized, glowing stump where her hand had been.
Bilqis bit her lip hard enough to endure the pain, her own hands shimmering with jade light as she desperately tried to force spiritual regeneration onto the severed limb.
Theurgia suddenly manifested fully behind them from a thin air as his armored faceplate seemingly twisted in a smug grin of light.
The three sigils behind him began to glow once more, preparing to finish the job.
Lavinia, staggering from the shock, clutched the stump of her arm. Blood began to drip onto the grass, staining the green blades a dark crimson. Even through her pain, she gathered her Senjutsu Ki, her eyes locking onto the creature with a look of defiance.
Theurgia raised his right hand, forming a fresh cube of white light and aiming it at the blonde girl.
"Spirit of-"
Before the word could leave his nonexistent mouth, a dark purple flash tore through the space between them.
"Nya!"
CLANK
Kuroka appeared in a flash, her claws extended. She raked them across Theurgia's raised arm. Though the armored hide of the King of Spirits was too thick for her to sever the limb entirely, the force of the strike knocked his aim wide.
"Get away from me, you cat!"
The sigils of Pyro and Geo flared behind him.
Theurgia's right hand transformed into a glowing mass of molten magma, heat radiating from it in waves that scorched the nearby air as he pulled his fist back to crush Kuroka, intending to melt her into the earth.
But suddenly-
SHH.
"...Huh?"
Theurgia stopped mid-swing as a sudden, hollow sensation washed over him.
He then looked down at his right arm, and the laughter died in his throat.
There was nothing there.
His hand, forearm, and even the magma spirit he had been channeling were gone, as if they had never existed in the first place. It was a flash of void that moved faster than his spiritual senses could track.
And then he felt it.
A spiritual pressure so heavy it was as if the world itself was collapsing beneath it.
His head then slowly turned toward the figure.
Jay stood behind Lavinia and the others, his entire figure enveloped in a terrifying, pitch-black aura.
His expression was a mask of indifference as he just stood there, stared emptily at Theurgia, making the King of Spirits flinch. His eyes were the most frightening part, a pools of infinite darkness, with the golden X of Avesta faintly ignited at the center of his left eye.
And then he walked.
Every step he took toward the group caused the air, grass and soil beneath his feet to vanish into a black void, leaving nothing but a trail of nonexistence.
"W-w-w-w-what... what is that!? What are you!?" Theurgia's voice was high and ragged with panic.
He shoved Kuroka aside, no longer interested in the fight. He turned to flee, attempting to dissolve back into the nature around him.
But before he could do anything, a whisper echoed across the silent battlefield.
"Stay there."
Theurgia's golden ocular pulsed frantically. His body was locked in place once again, but this time the command felt different, as though his very essence was being held by the throat.
He found he could no longer merge with the nature around him as he was supposed to.
And the only thing he could do was stay there.
Solomon, Bilqis, and the wounded Lavinia looked back.
"Zayyn-sama..." Bilqis muttered, her voice trembling.
Solomon's entire body tensed.
Even he felt a primal fear he had never experienced in his long life.
No existence should be capable of facing the primal terror of standing before nonexistence.
Jay's expression didn't change, but the atmosphere was suffocating. It was clear to everyone present that he was furious.
He just walked past Solomon and Bilqis, his focus entirely on Lavinia. Then a black grail manifested at his side.
"Does it hurt?" Jay asked. His voice was soft as he looked at the stump of her arm with concern.
Lavinia, seeing the look in his eyes, forced a small, reassuring smile. She shook her head, though her face was pale from blood loss.
"It's nothing."
"That's good. Don't move... I'll heal you," Jay said.
Lavinia nodded, her trust in him was, is, and will always be absolute.
A black flame began to dance around the rim of the black Grail as an obsidian light shot out, enveloping Lavinia's arm. Within that light, the missing flesh, bone, and nerves were reconstructed in a display of instant regeneration.
And in a split second, the light faded, leaving her slender hand completely intact, with no scar to show where it had been severed.
"Thank you, Illya-kun," Lavinia said softly, flex her fingers.
Jay gave a short nod before his black eyes sent a side glance toward the shivering Theurgia.
"You… that spirit… it's impossible! Who are you?" Theurgia screamed, his voice cracking with the realization of Jay's identity.
Jay ignored the question.
He walked up to the King of Spirits, stopping directly in front of the towering armored entity. He looked small in comparison as he simply stared up at the spirit from the ground.
"A hand for a hand," Jay said, his voice flat.
"And your hand has been unmade from existence."
The implication finally sank in. Theurgia, the immortal King of Spirits who had survived since the dawn of the world, felt a coldness that no ice could match as he stood on the brink of nonexistence.
His ocular light flickered as he looked at the stump of his arm, realizing it was truly gone forever.
"Y-y-y-y-y-you… how did a human get that power…!?"
He turned his gaze desperately toward Solomon, who was watching from a safe distance.
"Solomon, you bastard! What do you think you are doing by bringing this abomination into this world!? Do you want to destroy everything?"
"No," Solomon replied, his eyes firm.
"It is the opposite. This world needs him so it won't be destroyed. And I am not the one who brought him to life. He is… a human."
"Huh!?"
"So," Solomon continued, his voice taking on an authority. "If you don't want your entire existence to be unmade into nonexistence, you would be wise to make a contract with him."
Theurgia looked back at Jay.
The human was just standing there, shrouded in that terrifying black veil, waiting for his answer.
"Arghhh! Not again! Not after being a slave to Yesh for so long! No... I want to enjoy my life! I want to be free!"
Theurgia's scream was one of frustration and despair as he faced a lose-lose choice.
Then Jay, silent all this time, finally spoke up, his voice cutting through the spirit's outburst.
"Don't worry about that," Jay said.
"Huh?"
"I won't trap you in a seal or keep you in a cage... You will be free to go wherever you want, and you'll only need to come when I call for you."
With the Black Grail, Jay knew it was possible. He would only need to form something similar to summoning contract to call Theurgia's spirit into his body whenever he needed him.
The ever-reliable Holy Grail never disappointed. If only every human had a tool like this, one that could answer almost literally any question. It would make life much easier.
"Are you telling the truth?" Theurgia asked in a hesitant voice. The offer was unexpectedly reasonable, almost too considerate coming from the terrifying being before him.
"Of course," Jay replied. However, he didn't lower his black aura.
It continued to flare, as if to make it clear, if Theurgia did not accept his offer, he would be turned into nothing.
Theurgia stared into the blackness of Jay's eyes for a long moment, weighing the choice between servitude with freedom or absolute nonexistence.
Finally, he let out a long, defeated sigh.
"Fine then… I shall make a contract with you."
The spirit's voice had lost its aggressive edge, replaced by a weary acceptance.
Jay nodded, satisfied.
He then looked over at Solomon.
"Solomon."
The white-haired King understood immediately. He stepped forward, moving into the space between the human and the spirit.
"Alright. I will act as the witness for your first spirit contract. You have seen how Lady Lavinia and Lady Kuroka formed their bonds with the spirits my wife provided. The process is simple in theory. You must bind your spirit energy with Theurgia's and reach a mutual agreement through that connection." Solomon said.
Jay released his Desire over Theurgia's movement.
The black aura around him began to recede, replaced once again by the familiar grey Ki of Senjutsu.
Understanding the necessity of the ritual, Theurgia, now regaining his ability to move, slowly lowered his massive frame. He then knelt on one knee and bowed his golden head before the black-haired young man in front of him.
A myriad-colored aura began to bleed from the king of spirit, swirling in the air before intertwining with Jay's grey energy.
Solomon nodded.
"Proceed."
Jay looked directly at the bowed head of the spirit.
"Then I, Zayyn Illya Kovalenko, will commence the contract. I shall summon you at my will and wield your power. You shall answer my call whenever it is issued, and remain free at all other times. Should this contract be breached by your hand, you will be reduced to nothing. I declare myself the Master of the King of Nature Spirits, Theurgia. Do you accept the contract?"
A master-to-servant contract between the host and it's spirit implies a one-sided punishment. It is inherently cruel, as it reduces the contracted spirit to little more than a slave, but it is also necessary for the host's safety and to prevent something like Glenda's case from happening.
After a moment of silence, Theurgia spoke.
"I, Theurgia, hereby accept this contract."
The moment the words were spoken, a blinding explosion of light erupted from the spirit's figure as his four-meter-tall body began to dissolve, turning into a stream of pure, kaleidoscopic energy that flowed directly into Jay's chest.
Jay gasped as the influx of power hit him. He felt as if he were being filled with the raw energy of the planet itself.
'This crazy amount of nature energy…' Jay thought.
It was an overwhelming, infinite sensation.
The grey Senjutsu Ki around him instantly transformed, taking on the myriad-colored hue of Theurgia. The great hexagram of the Six Elemental Sigils manifested behind Jay's back, its nodes pulsing with the power of nature around him.
Theurgia, can you hear me? Jay thought, testing the mental link.
Yeah... but now that I'm inside your spirit, why is it so damn dark in here!? Theurgia's voice grumbled in the back of his mind.
That's good... You can go for now. I'll call for you later.
As Jay spoke, the colored aura began to dissipate and the sigils behind him faded into the air.
And the moment the connection went dormant, the physical and spiritual strain of using Absolute Nonexistence finally crashed into him like a blow.
COUGH
Jay doubled over, a small spray of blood hitting the grass.
"Illya-kun!" Lavinia cried out, rushing to his side to support him.
"It's okay..." Jay wheezed, waving her off even as he leaned into her.
The Black Grail could help with physical or soul strain, but it could not truly mend his spirit. Even if it could heal his body countless times, it would not allow him to use Absolute Nonexistence repeatedly unless he was willing to risk permanent damage to his own spirit.
A black light then enveloped Jay as it healed his body.
Solomon approached him, a look of profound relief on his face.
"I was almost certain you were going to completely nullify him just now."
"Well, seeing as he was unfazed by my regular Senjutsu, I didn't have much of a choice, did I?" Jay said, slowly standing up straight.
"Besides, I only erased his hand. He's permanently one-handed now, but it shouldn't affect his elementals output and ability."
'Are you sure you didn't just do that because you were angry?' Solomon thought, a faint smile forming on his lips.
"Was that the first time you've used that attack in such a precise way?" Solomon asked. "I thought your Nonexistence could only nullify a target in its entirety. I didn't know you could target specific parts of a conceptual being."
"I've used the black flames that way before," Jay admitted. "But with the pure Absolute Nonexistence... yes, that was the first time."
Kuroka, who had been quietly tending to her own bruises with her Ki, finally walked over to join them.
She began patting the dust from her kimono.
"Nya... then what was the point of the Senjutsu training if you could just do that, Boss? Did we waste a whole year here-nya?"
Jay went silent for a moment.
A year ago, he might have agreed with her. He might have seen the months of meditation and training as merely a means to an end.
But as he looked at Lavinia, still holding his hand, and then at Kuroka, Solomon, and Bilqis, he realized something. The fleeting time they had spent together here, from the quiet tea sessions, the grueling training and spars, the shared meals.
They had meant something to him.
It wasn't too bad.
"It wasn't a waste of time," Jay said, shaking his head.
"You and Lavi, we all got stronger. And more importantly, we finally have what we need to heal Glenda. So it wasn't a waste of time at all."
Lavinia's eyes widened slightly before a warm, radiant smile broke across her face.
Kuroka shrugged, a small smile playing on her lips.
Bilqis and Solomon exchanged a glance, their expressions softening.
"Very well, then," Solomon said, his voice regaining its kingly warmth.
"Let us forth and cure Lady Glenda's condition."
Jay then looked at Solomon and nodded firmly.
"Yeah, let's go."