-1559- Forced Contract

"Pe... Pet?"

Leysritt was stunned into silence.

Clearly, Leysritt never expected that Rozen would say such a thing.

But Rozen wasn't just saying it for the sake of saying it.

"'Raise your hand.'"

At Rozen's sudden command, Leysritt's hand lifted completely against her will.

Then...

"In the name of Rorelai Arneet, you, Leysritt Flowerchild, will now become my shikigami."

Rozen chanted this spell, converting the high-grade mana in his body into high-grade spiritual energy, and then into high-grade jutsuryoku, which gathered at his fingertips. Extending his finger, he quickly traced a pattern on the back of Leysritt's hand.

It was the sigil of Rozen's essence—three interlocking rings forming a unique symbol.

"Zing!"

The sigil on the back of Leysritt's hand began to emit a radiant glow.

"Done."

Rozen withdrew his jutsuryoku and released Leysritt from the command.

Yet, even after being freed, Leysritt still couldn't move.

It wasn't that she was still bound, but rather that her mind had gone completely blank. She couldn't process what had just happened, and could no longer feel any animosity or hostility toward Rozen.

Leysritt could sense that with the formation of the pattern on her hand, there was now some kind of connection between her and Rozen.

This connection was incredibly clear, making Leysritt feel as if she had been absorbed into Rozen's being, as if she had become a part of his body. Whatever Rozen wished her to do, she would be compelled to obey.

Because of this, Leysritt also became aware of the terrifying power within Rozen.

This realization filled Leysritt with fear.

"What... what have you done to me?"

Leysritt asked, her voice trembling and on the verge of tears.

It was obvious that Leysritt had been thoroughly scared by Rozen, causing her to desperately try to wipe away the symbol on the back of her hand.

Unfortunately, the symbol wouldn't budge.

"Don't waste your energy," Rozen said with a smirk. "Even if you cut off that hand, the symbol will simply appear on your other hand. If you cut off both hands, it'll appear somewhere else on your body. Unless I allow it, you'll never be rid of that mark."

After all, that symbol wasn't just a mark—it was proof of a contract.

Rozen had just formed a shikigami contract with Leysritt.

And it was a forced shikigami contract at that.

After so many years, Rozen was no longer the same person. The shikigami contract he inherited from the Tsuchimikado family had undergone countless improvements. It had evolved into a power that could forcibly turn others into his shikigami.

The strength of this contract, formed with high-grade jutsuryoku, was astonishing. To break free from it, one would need to meet two conditions:

First: Surpass the caster in strength.

Second: Surpass the caster in technique.

In other words, one would need to be both stronger than the caster and possess greater knowledge and expertise in jujutsu to break the contract.

Otherwise, even powers that could negate magic or jutsuryoku would be ineffective in breaking free from this contract.

The contract had grown this powerful over time.

However, forcibly imposing this contract required the same conditions to be met.

That is, the caster must surpass the target in both strength and jujutsu expertise. Only then could the contract be successfully formed.

Additionally, the contract could only be imposed when the target was incapacitated.

So, even if someone was stronger and more skilled, if they couldn't subdue their opponent, they still couldn't form the contract.

If all the conditions were met, the contract could be established in mere moments.

Of course, if the target willingly became a shikigami, the contract could be formed without any of these conditions.

This was the current form of the contract Rozen had mastered.

If the Tsuchimikado family knew that their family's contract jujutsu had been modified to this extent by Rozen, it would surely cause a sensation throughout the clan, if not the entire world of onmyoji.

Without a doubt, after years of research, Rozen had not only mastered every aspect of the jujutsu knowledge passed down by Yakou, but he had also innovated, pushing the boundaries even further. He had created countless new jujutsu and had surpassed anyone in history in the art of jujutsu.

Perhaps not even Abe no Seimei, the founding figure of the Onmyodou, could compare to the current Rozen.

And that's only in terms of jujutsu expertise.

If Rozen's mastery of magic and his overall strength were taken into account, not even a hundred, a thousand, or ten thousand Abe no Seimeis would stand a chance against him.

Under such circumstances, Leysritt had no chance of resisting Rozen.

"Take back your curse, Leysritt."

Rozen gave an order as the caster to his new shikigami.

Immediately, Leysritt, against her will, complied.

"Buzz!"

Leysritt withdrew all her Collapse Force, canceling the power of the Chaotic Resurrection she had placed on the trinity of variants.

"Roar!"

"Roar!"

"Roar!"

Kakushuku [1], Kako [2], and Sanshuku [7] all let out roars of frustration, their bodies glowing with black phosphorescence. Then, their size and power began to diminish.

Although these three trinity variants still retained the enhancements from their numerous resurrections, with the connection to Chaotic Resurrection severed, they were no longer linked to Leysritt.

In other words, they were no longer invincible. If they were all killed within sixty seconds, they would die permanently.

However, it didn't even take sixty seconds to kill these three variants.

"Grr—!"

Hokuto rushed to the high ground, and with a mighty dragon's roar, gathered a terrifying amount of dragon energy in its mouth.

"Boom—!"

In the next moment, a white, mist-like frost breath shot from Hokuto's mouth, freezing the air as ice crystals fell onto the three variants.

"Crack, crack, crack…!"

The three variants had no time to resist before they were frozen solid by the icy breath, turning into three ice sculptures.

"Roar!"

"Roar!"

At this point, two other giant dragon flanked Hokuto, unleashing scorching dragon flames at the three ice statues.

"Boom—!"

The dragon flames struck the ice sculptures, triggering a massive explosion. The shockwave and firestorm consumed the statues.

And just like that, the trinity of variants was annihilated.

The swarm of armored beetles had also been wiped out by the wyvern forces.

"Grr—!"

Hokuto roared to the heavens.

"""""Roar!!!!!"""""

Led by the two giant dragon, countless wyverns joined in the sky-shaking roars, their presence reaching the heavens.

This scene would be forever etched in the hearts of all who witnessed it.

It would never, ever be forgotten.