The divine sound of a celestial trumpet echoed in all directions, and behind me, a white gate resembling a holy castle gate revealed itself.
With the sound of drums, the gate opened, and the first gatekeeper, Morotai, appeared.
“Welcome, Lord Morotai.”
His armor still sparkled uselessly.
I disliked not just that massive body of his, but also that overly holy-looking armor, which didn’t suit him at all.
He also didn’t bother hiding his displeasure at my presence.
Well, considering the petty things he did and still couldn’t break the contract, he was probably frustrated.
It was just a shame I couldn’t see his expression through that helmet.
“A few days ago, you really did a splendid job, didn’t you?”
“…How unfortunate. I thought I’d never have to see you again.”
I had more I wanted to say, but a black wyvern suddenly lunged toward us.
“By our covenant, I give you this command. First, subdue the black wyvern without injuring it.”
“…No choice, I suppose.”
Morotai reluctantly moved.
He couldn’t even draw his sword, and since he was commanded to subdue the wyvern without injury, he couldn’t fight properly either.
No doubt it was incredibly frustrating for him.
On top of that, unlike before, I had explicitly called it a command this time, which probably irked him even more.
The black wyvern didn’t care in the slightest about Morotai’s sudden appearance.
It charged viciously and lunged at him, and as Morotai grabbed the wyvern’s head with one hand, its tail struck out at him.
Although the wyvern’s tail carried deadly poison, it couldn’t pierce Morotai’s armor.
Still, the impact alone was enough to stagger him briefly.
“Oh my, was that command a bit too unreasonable?”
“Shut up!”
Morotai shoved the black wyvern away with all his might, gaining some distance.
Subconsciously, his hand kept drifting toward his sword.
For him, this was probably pure agony.
Normally, a single swing of his sword would have ended a creature like the black wyvern.
But now, that wasn’t an option.
Moreover, as a holy knight who valued dignity and formality, such physical brawling was unfamiliar to him.
“You know, it must not be injured.”
“I know!”
Realizing its tail wasn’t effective, the black wyvern changed tactics.
Instead of stabbing, it used its much larger body to add weight and swung its tail at Morotai with force.
But Morotai was still someone favored by the gods.
He caught the wyvern’s tail as it came at him, and with the tail in his grasp, he launched himself forward to close the distance.
The startled black wyvern flailed its wings and head, trying to shake him off, but it was too late.
Still holding the tail, Morotai grabbed the wyvern’s neck with his other arm.
With one hand pulling the tail and the other pushing the neck, he forced the wyvern down onto the ground.
But that wasn’t the end of it.
The wyvern’s roars echoed everywhere, and clouds of dust flew as it struggled violently.
Though Morotai had managed to topple it, subduing something larger than himself was no easy task.
He was visibly straining, putting in everything he had to pin the wyvern down.
The desperate, almost pitiful sight was… oddly satisfying.
“Let it go, Eril. We won’t get another chance like this.”
Eril, growing impatient, urged me on.
But from my point of view, I wanted to watch just a bit longer.
After all, my contract with Morotai was a special one—I could issue only one command per day.
On top of that, the scope was limited to combat, so opportunities to get back at him like this didn’t come often.
Sure, in the last great war, there were dangerous situations, and Morotai even struggled against demon commanders and officers.
But with the demon lord’s army now gone, there were few chances for him to struggle like this.
Maybe if I picked a side in a war and called Morotai to fight an entire army, that might work… but even that was prohibited by the contract, which barred me from interfering in human power struggles.
Eventually, time passed, and the black wyvern finally stopped struggling, having spent all its strength.
It panted heavily, white steam puffing from its nostrils, but it no longer had the strength to resist.
“…It’s captured.”
I liked how he said it, barely holding back his anger.
“Good. Then keep holding it just like that. Make sure I don’t get hurt.”
I slowly walked toward Morotai and the black wyvern—very deliberately slowly.
“Keep holding it tightly. It’s not fully subdued yet.”
I added that just in case he tried interpreting the command however he wanted again, like last time.
I approached the wyvern’s head.
Since Morotai was pinning it down, it wasn’t dangerous, but the foul smell of rotting flesh from its nostrils and mouth made me gag.
Holding my breath, I placed my hand on the wyvern’s head.
Even a black wyvern, in the end, was just a beast, like any other wyvern.
No special contract or agreement was needed.
All I had to do was imprint the seal of contract and bind its soul to me.
“Eril, I’m disconnecting for a moment.”
I severed my mental link with Eril and focused my consciousness, moving my mana.
A red seal of contract was inscribed on the wyvern’s head, and as the connection formed, its soul began to synchronize with mine.
The first thing I felt was rage—raw, primal rage filled with the instinct to tear me apart with its fangs.
Then came fear and rejection as its soul instinctively fought back against the foreign presence invading it.
But it was useless.
If it was a creature intelligent enough to block my will with such resistance, I wouldn’t have used a forced contract method in the first place.
My mind and soul gradually consumed the wyvern’s consciousness, and the moment my will reached the deepest part of its soul, I completely overwhelmed it.
[Submit!]
That single command etched itself into the wyvern’s soul and mind—and unless a summoner more powerful than me appeared, it would never be erased.
I removed my hand after confirming that the red seal of contract had soaked in and disappeared.
That completed the contract.
“It’s done. You may release it now.”
Morotai released the hand he was holding, and the freed Black Wyvern rose to its feet.
It then bowed its head deeply before me in submission.
It was mine now.
“Good. That’s a good boy.”
Of course, unless it’s a being from another world or a summon solidified by magic, sending this Black Wyvern back after summoning would require either summoning the Duramino Kordos to return it, or, like with Eril, having it fly back separately through a dimensional magic circle installed in the Kenner region forest.
The same applies to the Mereka mountain range—we’d need to install an auxiliary dimensional magic circle there.
Unfortunately, Lord Medluf, who used to install those magic circles, is currently unavailable.
Unlike Eril, this one doesn’t have the personality to return safely without any accidents.
So there’s a high chance that during the return, it might, say, attack a small village.
Because the range of command and synchronization is limited, I can’t confidently say that wouldn’t happen.
Still, for now, it was mine.
“How fitting for you.”
Morotai’s voice, as always, was filled with contempt.
“You just had to get your hands on this filthy black creature once ridden by the Demon King’s soldiers? How typical of your kind. Filthy and pathetic—you’re always drawn to the darkness.”
It was pure disdain and hostility.
Though not entirely directed at me personally, nor entirely my fault.
“…It’s been hundreds of years. Besides, from your perspective, you didn’t even experience those events firsthand. You merely learned about them.
Even after ascending to the heavens, do you still intend to cling to the prejudices and beliefs you held in your past life?”
Unlike Lord Medluf, I don’t know the exact era he lived in.
I never found history to be a particularly fascinating subject.
But as a summoner, I do know how most of the once-famous summoners met their end.
Thanks to that, I can more or less predict how summoners like us were referred to—and treated—in certain regions and times.
That’s why I understand why he holds such contempt for me.
Of course, before all that, his narrow-mindedness and arrogance are the real root problems—there’s no excuse for that.
“I know your kind. You summoners never change. You always turn your eyes away from the light of the great gods and toward the darkness, both within and outside yourselves.”
“As I told you several times, I helped Lowell. I fought alongside him and against the Demon King’s army—for the world, and for the light. More than that, I helped ensure that you could join that journey. And yet you still believe I’ll fall into darkness?”
“Even if you helped the great hero, it makes no difference. It’s only a matter of time. Your cursed abilities and wretched nature all end up in the same place!”
In response to my growing anger, Eril and the Black Wyvern showed hostility toward Morotai.
Eril’s body ignited with flame, and the Black Wyvern fiercely struck the ground with its tail.
But these meaningless threats couldn’t silence his mouth.
“Even if thousands of years pass, and you come up with new titles like Synchronizer or Connector, hiding behind them changes nothing! You are still a filthy dark priest!”
I was so overcome with rage that I wanted to unleash spells at him right then and there.
The incantations I had brought to the verge of activation—and even the summoning intent for a grand army of summons that could erase Morotai—were ultimately suppressed beneath reason.
It wasn’t because he was a useful summon.
That didn’t matter anymore.
Killing him would only offend the God of Knights, and he wasn’t worth sacrificing my other summons over.
“…Just go back already.”
At my gesture toward the door, Morotai turned roughly and walked away.
Even though I knew it was pointless, I could hardly suppress the urge to hurl fire at his back.
“…And you had better pray that your belief is wrong.
Because if it turns out you’re right—then only the great gods will know what I might do to you.”
In hindsight, maybe I shouldn’t have said that last part.
But even so, I had to say it.
“Then I shall await that day with joy in my heart.”
He replied solemnly and disappeared back to the heavens.
His unwavering conviction and certainty made my anger boil even more.