To Adrian, these ruins were home.

But he knew.

It was time to leave.

The turning point came three months ago.

Was it when Rox arrived?

For Adrian, who had lived alone here for centuries, Rox became a friend.

“Adrian, thanks to you, I could come to the human world. Thank you.”

The reason she, a spirit, could exist in the human realm without a contractor was because of this space, created by ancient fairies and protected by Adrian.

This place, filled with dense mana, was similar to the spirit realm.

But after guarding it alone for centuries, Adrian was slowly growing weary.

It wasn’t that no one ever came.

Occasionally, lost humans would wander in.

But they either perished in the maze or barely escaped, never to return.

In the end, he was left alone.

Guarding this place was Adrian’s family duty.

Driven by a transcendent sense of obligation, he had protected it for centuries.

But even the duty of a fairy could wear thin over time.

Was there any point in guarding this place?

Was he just wasting his efforts?

The fairies had already left the human world.

It was during such moments of doubt that she appeared.

“Wow, I didn’t know there was such a wonderful place in the human world.”

She had fled from the spirit realm, and she said this with a smile.

‘I’m glad I kept it safe.’

Thanks to the friend he hadn’t had in ages, Adrian felt joy.

Rox’s fiery red hair was beautiful.

Fairies don’t feel love, but if he were to compare it to human emotions, Adrian thought it must be something similar.

“Is there a way to move around without a contractor?”

About two months later, Rox asked Adrian.

She said she had to find a contractor, someone she must meet, but she couldn’t go.

Adrian couldn’t bear to see her sad.

He gathered mana stones left behind by humans in the ruins and crafted a necklace for her.

He filled it with mana so she could move around the human world without a contractor.

“…I’ll definitely come back!”

With a face full of emotion, she said this and left.

Adrian was alone again.

But it was different from before.

Thinking of Rox returning one day with her contractor, he could guard the ruins for as long as needed.

And about a week later, Rox returned.

Without a contractor.

She staggered back, relying on the dwindling mana from the stones.

“My contractor… became a dark sorcerer….”

She said she had watched from afar.

The human who was so precious to her had become a dark sorcerer, she said in despair.

She considered ending it herself but couldn’t bring herself to do it.

“What should I do?”

She couldn’t return to the spirit realm.

She had fled.

In the end, she had to stay in these ruins.

But the very next day, she fell into a deep sleep.

It was the price of wandering the human world without a contractor.

Adrian did everything he could for her.

He gathered all the fire in the place to give to her, hoping she would awaken.

But nothing changed.

She only grew weaker.

Adrian made a choice.

He used sealing magic to confine Rox.

It pained him to imprison his friend, but it was the only way to save her.

He managed to stop her condition from worsening, but the problem remained unsolved.

Rox still needed a contractor.

Yes, a human contractor.

Then today.

Several humans entered at once.

Adrian was overjoyed.

Finally, Rox could awaken, he thought.

But…

‘I can’t let her contract with just anyone.’

So he set a ‘trial,’ something uncharacteristic of him.

It was full of holes, easily seen through by the young humans….

‘But that’s okay.’

Adrian could smile.

The two girls who saw through his trial had pure souls.

Neither would harm Rox.

“This way!”

With an excited face, Adrian led Liz and Kim Ina to Rox.

They passed through the cave to where Rox was contained in a lamp.

“Is this… a spirit?”

The spirit in the lamp looked like a girl about their age.

Only the highest-ranking spirits could take on human form.

‘A high-ranking spirit…?’

Kim Ina placed her hand on the lamp.

A gentle warmth emanated from it.

“You want me to contract with her?”

“Yes! Please!”

Adrian said with a face full of anticipation.

“Liz, do you want to do it?”

“Um~ I don’t think I can.”

Liz replied with an innocent face.

“You said she’s a high-ranking spirit. I struggled just to contract with our Gerard.”

Gerard popped out and nodded from atop Liz’s head.

“So Ina should do it.”

“Hmm….”

But Kim Ina was just as unsure.

Even though she had been auditing spirit studies classes diligently, she still lacked confidence.

“If I don’t contract, she won’t wake up, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Ugh….”

Kim Ina furrowed her brow, staring at the lamp.

“Ugh, where’s Shin Haeryeong when you need her! Now I have to solve this again!”

Fueled by a sense of competition, Kim Ina pulled out her chalk once more.

“Both of you, step back… eek!”

But before she could draw the magic circle, a loud thud echoed, and the cave shook.

“What, what is it?!”

Adrian quickly surveyed the ruins.

Thanks to the magic spread throughout, he immediately knew the source of the noise.

Two sorcerers.

And one of them was….

‘A dark sorcerer…!’

Statues lay shattered around the dark sorcerer.

Adrian was appalled.

To destroy statues made to counter dark magic so easily!

‘It’s dangerous!’

His heart raced.

If that dark sorcerer reached here….

Who knew what they might do to Rox.

Fortunately, they were currently fighting another sorcerer, but….

Even that sorcerer bore traces of dark magic.

“Hurry, hurry!”

“What? What’s going on?”

“A dark sorcerer is here!”

Dark sorcerer.

Kim Ina shivered, wrapping her arms around herself.

The dark sorcerer who had turned Sally into a dark spirit, Han Hyejin.

The thought of that face made her seethe.

‘Are they planning to do something terrible to this spirit too!?’

When Sally was turned into a dark spirit.

Kim Ina had shared the spirit’s emotions.

Sally was sad, angry.

Amidst a storm of negative emotions, only one feeling remained for Sally, who had been tormented for so long.

Fear.

In the fear of her mind twisting and reason crumbling.

Sally had tried to kill Shin Haeryeong against her will.

‘…I won’t let that happen again.’

With Sally’s egg beside her and the spirit Rox in front of her.

She had to prevent these beings from being dominated by a dark sorcerer and experiencing fear again.

“Both of you, step aside!”

Kim Ina immediately began drawing a magic circle with her chalk.

– Scritch.

A circle was drawn, lines were etched.

A spirit contract magic circle.

Since the opponent was a high-ranking spirit, she poured in the knowledge she had gained from auditing.

Fortunately, drawing the magic circle wasn’t too difficult.

The problem was whether it would work properly.

That was something she couldn’t be sure of.

– Thud!

Another loud noise made Kim Ina resolve herself.

She had to do it before the dark sorcerer arrived; she couldn’t hesitate any longer.

‘I can do it. I can do it.’

Repeating positive affirmations to herself.

Kim Ina was about to activate the magic.

Then suddenly.

‘Wait a minute.’

She realized something was off with the magic circle.

‘This line number 3….’

A memory from her auditing flashed in her mind.

The content of Lee Jaesang’s class crossed her thoughts.

‘Make line number 3 thicker!’

Kim Ina immediately corrected the magic circle.

Thickening line number 3 revealed issues with the other lines.

– Scritch.

– Scratch.

– Scritch.

The sound of chalk continued, and the magic circle kept changing shape.

The important aspects of contracting a high-ranking spirit, she had already learned from Lee Jaesang.

The knowledge she had gained from him had become her own strength, manifesting in the magic circle.

Even when drawing the line that pierced the circle, she didn’t hesitate.

Because her teacher had taught her.

Because he had taught her, she believed it was right.

She had confidence that if Lee Jaesang had taught it, it must be correct.

“Alright. Let’s do this!”

She clapped her hands and immediately activated the magic.

Mana flowed along the lines without any issues.

The magic was perfectly executed.

There were no gaps, no problems.

But.

‘What?’

The contract didn’t happen.

Kim Ina examined the magic circle again.

But there was nothing wrong.

‘Seriously, what is it?’

Suddenly, Rox’s will was conveyed to Kim Ina.

She said.

The only one she could contract with was….

“Someone above?”

“What?”

Adrian asked in surprise.

Someone above.

That meant….

‘One of the dark sorcerers fighting right now?’

Adrian didn’t want to believe it.

Both were dark sorcerers, yet one of them was her contractor?

“Is that true, Rox?”

Adrian pressed his face against the lamp.

Very faintly.

Rox nodded.

‘Release the seal.’

It was as if he heard her say that.

‘…I can’t….’

Adrian was reluctant to release her seal.

Was it right to let his only friend contract with a dark sorcerer?

But….

‘If that’s your will.’

Adrian realized that doing as Rox wished was what was best for her.

‘Understood.’

Adrian placed his hand on the lamp and drew out mana.

The sealing magic began to fade away.

The lamp disappeared, leaving Rox floating alone in the air.

With her red hair shining, she murmured.

“…Contractor.”

Cynthia and Gemut were there.

They stood alongside the Contractor.

“Wasn’t the Contractor supposed to have become a dark sorcerer?”

Could it be that they had made a pact with a dark sorcerer?

No, that couldn’t be it.

“Maybe there’s something I’ve missed.”

She opened her eyes abruptly.

“Adrian, thank you.”

“That’s what friends are for.”

Flames erupted from Rox’s body. Her mana was nearly depleted, rendering her form almost translucent, but she paid it no mind.

“I’m going to meet the Contractor.”

The flames roared to life, and her eyes and hair blazed a vivid red.

***

Lee Jaesang decided to admit his mistake.

The old man he faced was far more formidable than he had anticipated.

The black flames that incinerated the sphere of light in an instant were beyond even the level of Nemesis’s black flames.

They had been locked in a fierce battle for some time, but he was gradually being overwhelmed.

The old man’s relentless barrage of magic was something no mana stone could replicate.

His black flames were so tainted they seemed to swallow light itself.

The heat was so intense it disrupted his concentration, making it difficult to cast spells effectively.

“…If only I could withstand the heat.”

Cynthia’s water barrier couldn’t block the heat.

“…If only Rox were here.”

Rox, the supreme fire spirit, might not be able to control the black flames, but she could certainly manage the heat.

“Not as impressive as I thought.”

The old man conjured more black flames, larger and fiercer than before.

Watching the countless flames rise, Lee Jaesang bit his lip.

“…Was he holding back?”

Even with a mana shield, the heat would be unbearable.

He was bound to suffer serious injuries.

“Damn it.”

But there was only one thing to do.

Deflect the attack with the fairy’s mana shield.

With speed on his side, he might find an opening…!

“Ah, is this not enough? Tsk tsk.”

The black flames multiplied.

What had seemed like dozens now appeared to be in the hundreds.

The heat distorted his vision, bending even the light.

“I wish you’d just die already.”

A torrent of black flames descended.

The black fire fell from the sky, swirling as it came down.

“Ugh…!”

He layered every defensive measure he had—mana shield, water barrier.

But the heat…

“…?”

Lee Jaesang noticed something strange.

“Why isn’t it hot?”

Was it because he had blocked the attack effectively?

No, that alone couldn’t have stopped the heat.

“What?”

Someone stood before him.

Beside Cynthia, who had cast the water barrier, was a figure with flowing red hair.

“Honestly, Cynthia! What are you doing if you can’t even protect one Contractor properly?”

Blocking all the heat, she grinned.

“It’s a different realm, that’s why!”

“Excuses, excuses. Fish are always like this.”

“Hey! I told you not to call me a fish! I’ll tell the Spirit King!”

Lee Jaesang called her name.

“Rox.”

“Hello, Contractor. I have a few questions for you, but first…”

With the combined efforts of the two spirits, the black flames were completely extinguished. Rox turned her head with a smile.

“Let’s deal with that old man first, then we can talk.”

Seeing her familiar face, Lee Jaesang couldn’t help but smile as well.

“Alright, let’s finish this quickly and chat.”