Fortunately, nothing happened like a grimoire written by an Outer God avoiding an Outer God. The moment Lea climbed up the stairs, Ian snatched up the grimoire that appeared.
Clatter.
The thin, short chains dangling from its corners crawled out, scraping against the floor. It was a bizarre sight, a book with chains attached to it, but it was not all that heavy. Not as light as a feather, perhaps, but about the weight of a light guidebook.
[U-woong!]
The grimoire vibrated briefly in his grasp, as if stammering.
His body did not explode, nor did anything strange happen to him. His head was clear, and his mood was unchanged. He felt no desire to seize someone and tear them apart, no hatred, no resentment.
He was tranquility itself. Fortunately, it seemed his compatibility with the grimoire was quite high. Ian nodded once, then leaned against the wall and looked back at the group.
“I caught the grimoire. But wait there for a moment. It seems it doesn’t like being in the same space as others.”
“……Hmm.”
“I don’t like this.”
The two Outer Gods narrowed their eyes and glared at the Blue Shackles and Book of Contracts. Perhaps sensing their gazes, the grimoire quivered and burrowed even deeper into Ian’s hand. It somehow felt as though it were breaking out in a cold sweat.
“……Uh, Ian? A whole lot of things are coming down from above.”
It was then. As if she had received some hint from the ghost she controlled, Lee Seo-a drew her bone blade and spoke. Lea, who had been standing there indifferently, lifted her head.
“Ah, they’re mysteries. I suppose they’re angry that we found the grimoire.”
“What?”
“Why are you surprised? I told you, didn’t I? The grimoire is the foundation that makes up this space. Of course they’d be angry when their home is about to disappear.”
“Even so, there are way too many of them…….”
“They’re weaklings anyway. There are just a lot of them. If you really can’t handle it, ask that fish over there for help, insect. Wars of attrition are her specialty, aren’t they? How fortunate that she has at least one use.”
The fish Lea referred to was the Master of the Outer Sea, and the insect was Lee Seo-a. The so-called fish frowned in displeasure.
“Why should I help a human who isn’t even my husband? Do I look that charitable to you?”
“Right now, he is standing in the underground corridor. And he’s holding the grimoire that is the core of this space. If this place is breached, it’s obvious who those parasites will cling to, isn’t it? If you have a head, try using it to think. Ah, my apologies. You don’t have a head, you have tentacles, don’t you? How rude of me. Octopus.”
Lea sneered. All expression vanished from the Master of the Outer Sea’s face.
“Don’t talk about my true form in front of my husband.”
“How absurd. You were the one who brought up your true form in front of him last time, and now you don’t want to hear about yours? Really, just how low is your intelligence…… Every time I see you, I feel so revolted I want to vomit.”
“I told you to shut up.”
Crack.
Half of the Master of the Outer Sea’s face was covered in black seawater. Between it, red eyes bloomed in every direction like flowers. For a brief moment, that was how she remained—until she remembered Ian was right in front of her and changed back into a human appearance.
“Hoo…….”
“Pfft, so you do know your true form is disgusting, at least?”
“I’d like the eight-armed freak to be quiet. Before I turn you into a one-armed one.”
“Try it.”
“You think I can’t?”
The gazes of the two Outer Gods clashed in midair. Lee Seo-a, who had been waiting for their argument to end, could endure it no longer and shrieked.
“Excuse me, you two! I get that you don’t get along, but could you help me! While you’re fighting, they’re already—hiek!”
With a whoosh, a thick iron pipe fell right in front of her as she shouted. If she had been even a little slower to dodge, her head would have been split in half.
“There are a lot of them! If I’m alone, they’ll break through! Ian will die too!”
“That’s what she says, fish.”
Lea said, touching the muscles of her face. The Master of the Outer Sea glared at her, then glanced sideways at Ian and sighed.
“……Let me make this clear. I’m not doing this because you told me to. This is all for my husband.”
She did not wait for a reply. The Master of the Outer Sea picked up several mystery corpses rolling nearby, slammed them into the wall, and muttered.
“Come out and kill them all.”
The moment she spoke, the wall was covered in a sticky crimson. From within it crawled out five small messengers.
They were the weakest of the creatures recorded in the grimoire, but even so, they were more than enough to tear mysteries apart. They tried to greet Ian happily, thinking he had summoned them, only to meet the crimson girl’s gaze and begin trembling all over. Watching them, the Master of the Outer Sea murmured in a low voice.
“I said kill them. Do you want to die?”
[Kigigik!]
The messengers hurriedly rounded the corner and hurled themselves at the mysteries. The Master of the Outer Sea snorted, and Lee Seo-a let out a relieved sigh as she manipulated her evil spirits.
Ian was not looking at them. Instead, he slowly read through what was written in the grimoire.
[This grimoire was written by the Outer God “Shackles of the Hermit,” hereafter ■■■■■, and contains magic pertaining to unilateral contracts with all organic and inorganic entities existing in the universe, as well as concealment and suppression. As there is no previous owner, memories cannot be viewed.]
[The author of the grimoire, Shackles of the Hermit, is currently extremely pleased, but at the same time trembling in fear. However, it will not harm the human “Shin Ian,” who has become the owner of this grimoire. Shackles of the Hermit harbors deep goodwill and kindness toward the first human it has ever encountered with 100 percent compatibility.]
It was written at the very front of the thin book.
An introduction, written similarly to those in other grimoires. Ian carefully chewed over each and every word, engraving them into his mind, then nodded after reading the final sentence.
He had expected to some extent that there would be no previous owner. After all, was this not a newborn grimoire? It had only just been born, so there was no way it could have had a previous owner.
The magic it contained belonged to the categories of contracts, concealment, and suppression.
He quickly got a sense of contracts and concealment, but he was not sure about suppression. It was probably magic that overpowered an opponent one-sidedly, crushing them down or putting a leash on them. It seemed he would have to read the grimoire slowly to find out.
‘The symbolic magic is on the contract side. The fact that it can form unilateral contracts regardless of whether the target is organic or inorganic probably means I can grab someone by the hair and swing them around regardless of their will.’
If he called it impressive, it was impressive. If he called it disappointing, it was disappointing. However, he had yet to properly skim through the magic section, so it was right to withhold judgment for now.
What mattered immediately was that his compatibility was 100 percent. Just like the Hand of Re-creation and the Records of the Deep Sea, this grimoire too was nothing more than a simple book incapable of harming Ian. It did have an ego, but that was not much of a problem.
‘I won’t have to worry about madness.’
Ian smiled faintly and stroked the chains hanging from the bottom of the grimoire. Apart from their light weight, their texture was no different from real iron chains.
“I’m thinking of returning to reality. I’d like you to close this space soon.”
He spoke to the grimoire. As if it understood Ian’s words, the grimoire rustled its pages and showed him a specific page.
[Termination of Contract]
[When a contract has been formed with a specific target, in order to terminate the contract with said target, one must either kill the target or declare unilateral termination. If the latter method is chosen, note that the suggestion placed upon the contracted target will be released. Just like the formation of a contract, termination also does not require the other party’s consent.]
It was a page filled line by line with methods for terminating contracts. Ian tapped the cover of the grimoire with his finger and pushed himself away from the wall.
“You mean I should do as it says here?”
[U, u-woong…… woong……!]
“Yeah, I understand.”
It was nothing more than vibration, but he already had experience owning two grimoires. Ian instinctively understood what the grimoire was saying and, following what was written in the book, began drawing a magic circle on the floor. It was a fairly complicated diagram, so it took some time, but he completed it properly nonetheless. Not bad for a first attempt.
He put the pen he had taken out back into his coat, gripped the grimoire tightly, and began to recite the incantation.
“You. Lowly thing caught in my shackles, hear me.”
Boom!
The school trembled once. At the same time, with a cracking sound, the ceiling of the basement—no, the entire school—was blown away. The mysteries that had been surging in were swept up by the school and ground to pieces, and the dark night sky arrived.
Countless moons and stars hung in the sky. And at its center, something small slowly swam through the night.
It was a stone statue. A statue that looked as though three women had been bound together.
It was the form of Hecate, as she was commonly depicted in mythology.
‘So the true nature of the school ghost story is that goddess fused with various mysteries.’
It was quite an interesting phenomenon, but now was not the time to satisfy his curiosity. Ian looked up at the sky with an expressionless face and continued reciting the spell.
“I do not thank you for your efforts. I do not praise you. You danced entirely within my will, and so I feel only that you are laughable.”
Boom!
The night sky tore apart. Through the gap, Hecate’s enormous face, twisted like an evil spirit, was revealed.
He ignored it.
“But even that amusement has now become tedium. Thus, I declare.”
Clatter!
The iron chains hanging from the bottom of the grimoire stretched long and wrapped around Hecate’s neck.
“I terminate the contract.”
Crack!
The moment he recited the final words, the iron chains pulled taut and then snapped. At the same time, the chains wrapped around Hecate’s body became sharp blades and hacked the body of stone to pieces.
[Aaaah!]
The night wept. The goddess of night, the queen of the moon, spilled beautiful a cappella in place of blood. Watching it, Ian slightly curled up the corner of his mouth.
The unilateral termination of a contract. An Outer God’s contract that shifted all of its burdens onto the other party.
Just as he thought it was truly magic befitting an Outer God—
“…….”
He and Lee Seo-a were suddenly standing at the entrance of the high school.