As the darkness enveloped me, my last coherent thought was:
No... I forgot... About... Ali... cia...
*
Sigh.
Alicia was alone with that beast now…
Me—the supposed knight in… furry armor—had just been disgracefully defeated.
Oh, the shock. The terror. The absolute disappointment I'd left with her.
I'm ashamed.
Forgive me, Alicia. I truly hate your father, but you were just a young human girl with a bright future.
I wanted… to see you grow to full maturity.
I thought I could... be your father, your guardian...
No. If I was being honest, it was all for myself. I just wanted to feel responsible for once.
My only hope now was that Leviathan, satisfied with her victory, would lose interest in Alicia and let her go.
Currently, I felt like I was hovering in a strangling void of darkness.
Whispers of strange prophecies crawled into my ears, but all I could focus on were my failures.
Guilt. Depression.
"Maybe... I shouldn't have left Asgard after all.
There's only so much one Fenrir can handle, right?
I'm not invincible.
I am just... some incompetent, dumb dog. Some easy-to-fool idiot."
Those thoughts haunted me as I drifted through what felt like an eternity in this pot of nothingness, before finally, my eyes opened.
The sun stabbed at them, harsh and unrelenting.
(Don't look at the sun directly, kids. It'll hurt your eyes.)
Hm?
Oh, jeez... There were tears in my eyes.
I moved to wipe them away, but a soft hand beat me to it.
"Are you awake now... Ruby?"
That voice. Familiar, warm, and so achingly innocent.
I looked up to find Alicia's smiling face, her big, bright emerald eyes sparkling with relief.
And for some reason beyond my comprehension, more tears slipped from my eyes.
Argh! So embarrassing!
How could I throw my weight around at this rate?!
She still smelled like books and spicy flowers, even after being washed in the sea.
Ah!!
I... I-I-I-I was in her lap?! Using it as a pillow substitute.
Ahhhhhh, so soft, so supple!!
I want to stay here forever—No, no, no! That's not what I mean! I'm not some pervert who's into small kids, I swear!
Embarrassed by everything, I hurriedly tried to get off.
But Alicia's newfound dragon strength was nothing to scoff at. She pulled me back down with ease, nestling me into those plush, fleshy laps.
Dragon strength was no joke.
She hadn't even learned much about fighting yet, and already she was this powerful?
I should be feeling hungry, wishing to snack on her, not... whatever this unruly feeling was!
"Good morning, Master Ravenswood."
"Ah, good morning," I replied reflexively, my mind still half-fogged.
Wait...
Who was that?
*
Huh? Did someone come here?
I blinked at the stranger again.
White hair, tipped in deep black, framed her youthful face. She looked around twenty, with... ahem... a figure that certainly caught the eye—exactly how I like it...
Wait, did my mouth just say that?!
Okay, okay, calm down. Ruben, this isn't you. Pluto must've done something to you. That guy has a twisted sense of humor.
Needless to say, the lady was very pretty.
Her outfit? Well, it was... interesting:
A grey piece of fabric barely covered her chest, leaving her toned torso exposed. A violet short skirt hung low on her hips, with dark, nimble pants clinging to her legs.
Shoes? Not a chance.
But who was I to judge? I wasn't wearing any either.
Her serpentine eyes shimmered with an unsettling intelligence, and her aura all but screamed, "Yeah, I'm anything but human."
I had a hunch about who she was, but best to play along with the script.
*Exhale*
"Wait?! What about that monster?!" I yelled.
"Oh, of course." Alicia smiled, then turned her emerald gaze to the woman kneeling beside us.
"Let me introduce myself properly: I am Leviathan."
"..."
"I've been searching for you for a long time now, and it fills my heart with boundless joy to not only find you, but to be opportune to enter a Pact with you, my Master." She bowed, her voice smooth and respectful.
Pact?
Yeah, I had more or less guessed she was Leviathan—she had already changed forms once, so why not again, and to a more human appearance, too.
But what does "Pact" mean again?
I think I forgot—with all the blows I've been taking on my head.
Uhm, Platform, I need explanations.
{Congratulations, Master!}
You know, anytime Platform congratulates me, it's just one catastrophe or the order.
Let's hear her out, at least.
{You now have a Master-servant pact with the "Queen of the coast," Leviathan!}
Why is Platform sounding happy?
And I can't believe I got into a Pact again!!
Wait!
'Who's the master and who's the servant?'
{You're the Master, Master.}
Okay, that felt good to hear. But still...
No, Platform's wrong. I don't have a Pact with anyone other than Pluto and Bond—the scammers of Gihon.
And I definitely don't recall agreeing to any contract terms, especially not while I was asleep!
Pacts need consent from both parties, and last I checked, snoring didn't count as consent.
I don't actually snore, please forget I said that.
{Would you look at my Master try to teach me the workings of the heavenly pieces. Laughable.}
At least, mock me in the sanctuary of your mind!!
{But Master, do you doubt me?}
...I want to...
{The pact was enacted while you were asleep.}
Hear yourself, Platform. How can a sleeping Fenrir make a decision?
{See for yourself—}
Then she presented the information.
It hit just as hard as Sarvest's punch.
I almost bit my own tongue.
{Gullible Fenrir: Ruben
Pacts: Servant of the 7th Mortal Power; lap dog of the God of Death; Master of Leviathan of Envy.
Blessings: Blessings of the Death God. Blessings of the Mortal Power.
Class: High-level Principality—Dark Fenrir.
Attributes: Black lightning, fire, water, wind, earth, darkness, holy.
Supreme Gift: Platform. Abadon Jaw.
Abilities: Specter wolf summon, Phase transformation, God Wolf eye, Colossal wolf transition, magic maneuver, wolf's howl... Etc.}
Wow.
My abilities are so many, it'd take about four chapters to reveal them all.
Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration.
But seriously, I better not show anyone this information. What in the heavenly pieces does "Gullible Fenrir" mean?!
Platform, I can smell your meddling all over this stat!
And it was true—I really had a Pact with Leviathan!
Her master, no less.
I shifted my gaze to her—still atop my soft, supple pillow.
She smiled at me, cheerful as a spring drake.
"I promise to serve you to the best of my ability, Master Ravenswood! Feel free to use me as you see fit!"
Whoa, whoa!
Let's not say things like that aloud.
The last thing I need is someone thinking I'm into sex slavery!
"Uhm... Welcome aboard?" I managed to squeeze out.
Haaaaah, I think I just got myself another baby to fend for—a real feral one.
But what does she see in me, anyway?
Well... Heheh!
It doesn't matter. A Pact is absolute!
She—who managed to somehow force a Pact with me while I was unconscious, which basically means she could tamper with the world's calculations and logic—cannot defy the Pact. She can't betray or attack me...
Huh.
Well, let's keep telling ourselves that.
On the bright side, I've got myself a powerful companion.
It's not that I'm just accepting her because she could snap me in half if I refused or anything...
Still, I couldn't shake the fact that Leviathan—despite that endearing, adorable smile—was a known beast. A monster on the level of a cosmic entity, a being that had been around since the dawn of creation.
And yeah, if she's tagging along, we're definitely changing that name!
But first…
"Uh. Why… did you attack me in the first place?"