Chapter 293: Black Contract

Closing and opening my eyes, rubbing them and repeating those actions a couple of times over, what I saw remained the same.

A Contract scroll, but not one that was white as they were supposed to be.

It wasn’t even red―an old surprise that I had yet grown to understand.

Rather, it was pitch black.

“That…”

Was this something that had ever been explained to me?

As far as I was aware, Red Contracts was the worst they got, but this… Even at just a glance, it was obviously bad news.

“Enki! Y-you need to accept it immediately! Please!”

“W– Hold on a second! What does it even mean? I know Red, but Black–”

“It means there isn’t time to waste! Hurry, hurry!”

“Kh…”

Even though nothing was explained properly, I could more or less infer the meaning behind it.

Most likely, it followed this code:

White was normal―no major problems.

Red was concerning―it meant the Antagonist was searching for help outside his own world.

And Black… Probably meant there wasn’t much time left until the Antagonist would die.

Needless to say, if that happened, the Illusory World and everything that originated from it would eternally perish―The very thing that the Illusory Library and the Antagonist Protection Service that I was a vital part of worked to prevent.

So, I needed to take this Contract on, no matter what.

That was my responsibility, and if I rejected it now, I would be doing nothing but spitting in the face of the Librarian and the Library who helped me come this far in the first place, betraying her and her trust.

However, there was one problem…

Contract Details

[Souls of Extinction]

Video Game

Protagonist: Him | Chosen One

Tags: #Fantasy #Action #RPG #MaleProtagonist #CalmProtagonist #DeterminedProtagonist #Soulslike #Grimdark #GothicHorror

Difficulty: ★★★★★

“You’re fucking kidding me…”

Five stars.

‘And “Him”? Is this some sort of joke?’

The only silver lining I could possibly identify was that there was no #OverpoweredProtagonist tag.

For starters, this game was one I had heard much about. In fact, prior to being sucked into all this, I had planned on buying and playing it.

Of course, I never had the time after that, so I didn’t bother.

But, seeing it here like this, I was really starting to wish I had.

“Damn it… Librarian, are you even sure this is something I can take on?”

“You have to! Fret not, I believe in you Enki! You can do it! In fact, now I can help you even more!”

“You can? I’ll need it.”

“Certainly! Please accept the Contract quickly, I’ll tell you when you arrive!”

“Haa… Alright, fine. One second.”

It’s not like I had much of a choice. Before officially accepting, I opened the Shop and bought as many Health Potions as I could with the 800 World Stability remaining.

‘Done… Just like that I’m completely broke again.’

Now, I had a total of seven Lesser Health Potions and six Standard Health Potions in Storage.

“I’m ready.”

Truthfully, I couldn’t say that I was, but that was irrelevant.

I had to be.

“Good luck, Enki! You will win, I believe it!”

At the same time as the Librarian’s cheerleading, my vision distorted, the world beginning to twist and turn violently around me.

By this point, I had grown so familiar with the ordinarily sickening experience that it didn’t faze me one bit.

“…I won’t disappoint you.”

This time, I could only hope that I would live to experience it again.

And like that.

[Transporting to the Illusory World of ‘Souls of Extinction’!]

I had entered the world of my very first 5-star Difficulty Contract.

❖─────★★★★★─────❖

“…”

Surprisingly, the world was quiet. Still.

I would even be inclined to call it peaceful if it weren’t for the blatant sense of dread floating about in the air.

Something that sent chills inside and out.

It felt like a silent, lurking presence, watching from someplace afar.

My natural curiosity made me want to turn around and look to see if anything was really there, but instinctively, I knew I shouldn’t.

…No. I was sitting down, my back leaning against something hard, like stone. I shouldn’t have been able to turn around, and to begin with, nothing should have been able to be watching me from that direction.

And yet, that’s exactly what it was.

Reinforcing that gut feeling, my body felt extraordinarily stiff.

In an effort to distract myself, I instead looked to the surroundings in front of me; it was extraordinarily dark, with not a single light source other than some passive night-time glow filtering through the stained glass windows, but thankfully that wasn’t something that impaired me too much.

‘This… is a church?’

Rather, the place seemed quite small, so perhaps it was closer to a chapel in technical terms. Though, it wasn’t like I was familiar with religion outside of that time-looped Contract.

In any case, a chapel of black stone, evidently withered by time to look ancient.

And I, sitting on this cold, stone chair, was directly facing the entrance.

[Enki, are you there? Oh, the Protagonist hasn’t arrived yet! There’s still time!]

‘Librarian. You said you could help me now, what’s that about?’

[Certainly! Umm, you remember how we used additional World Stability to put you in a role of someone close to the Antagonist in order to protect them during the Red Contract you previously accepted? It’s that!]

‘…I guess that explains the armour I’m wearing.’

Glancing down, I briefly examined the head-to-toe, dark-themed outfit that seemed to me like an artistic hybrid between a knight and a priest.

Even just saying I looked evil would be putting it lightly.

[Correct! So, I put in a lot of World Stability to make sure you would be able to protect the Antagonist with everything you’ve got!]

‘Speaking of which, what exactly–‘

DONG~~!

At that moment, a loud church bell rang to interrupt both my question and thoughts, resounding with a continuous echo.

DONG~~!

After a few seconds passed, it rang again.

Then, something strange appeared.

[Chapel at the End of the World]

For just a couple of seconds, seven words manifested in a strange font before my eyes.

‘…Uh. Librarian?’

[Goodness! He’s here already! Enki, you have to beat him!]

‘What? No, wait, what was that thing abo–‘

DONG~~!

Again, I was cut off by the bell, and soon after―

Creeeaaaaak~!

―The entrance of the chapel slowly opened.

Fwoosh– fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh–

Alongside the small amount of light let in from outside, candles and lamps of blue flame lit up in pairs on either side of the chapel, finalising with a large, black chandelier hanging from the central ceiling.

In such a manner, the chapel was bathed in hued light, revealing its interior fully.

Decorating that black stone, a red carpet was rolled out, leading straight from the entrance doors to the chair I was currently sitting on; on the walls, banners presenting an unknown insignia were hung, and the stained glass windows I had previously took note of turned out to be depicting scenes of something bizarre and grotesque happening to people that I couldn’t quite put into words.

And, most importantly…

“…”

[Him]

Standing at the door of the chapel, the Protagonist stood, his name visible in red a short distance above his head.

Stranger than anything else, however, was his appearance.

Utterly naked bar a single sullied loincloth around his waist, intense green skin not even a goblin could bear, and a matching face that was as if he had been fiercely bludgeoned.

‘…Wait. Don’t tell me…’

However, for a reason I could only hope was untrue, him looking like this was the most terrifying possibility.

And, as a wall of thick fog appeared from nothing to block the open doorway just behind the Protagonist, at the same time, my body began to move on its own.

Slowly rising from my chair of black stone, my left hand pulled a sinister-looking, archaic book from somewhere on my waist, opening it past the depiction of an insignia that matched those on the various banners around me.

It was also at that moment I belatedly realised that I was significantly taller than usual.

“―――――. ”

Something like incomprehensible ritualistic incantations resounded throughout the hall, and then, my right arm crossed over my chest and stretched out to my left side, my hand proceeding to clutch something that didn’t appear to be there in reality.

‘Librarian, just quickly tell me what–‘

[It’s thanks to the promotion! Erm, to be precise, because you have a higher Tier of Authority, you are able to exist in a deeper level of the Illusory World’s essence!]

‘What, and that means I’m forced to take part in this cutscene?!’

[Yep! Because I used World Stability to put you in a position that requires it!]

Of all things, I don’t know why she sounded so jolly when saying that.

With a minor jolt, my hand clutching the invisible object began to pull, and immediately, I felt the space around me tremble.

RUMBLE~~!

Even the chapel itself was shaking, and the more I pulled on whatever object I was summoning, the more violent the tremors grew.

What could it have been that caused this severe of an impact merely from its presence?

Soon enough, I realised what exactly it was that I was summoning.

Put simply, it was a sword, black like the rest of the surroundings and bearing engravings of something beyond my understanding.

Of greater length and width than any of the swords I had ever personally witnessed or wielded, it could be noted that this thing was even longer than John Pierce’s azure spear, and not by a small margin. Yet, thanks to my abnormally large stature in this ‘disguise’, it didn’t feel unwieldy in my grasp.

“―――――.”

Following a second incomprehensible incantation, the rumbling abruptly ceased, upon which another name appeared in my vision.

Near the very bottom, just above a thin, red line running horizontally.

[Nameless Cardinal]

Thus, the battle began.