Chapter 156: Contract Resonance

The masked person clenched his fist. He wanted to say something, but at that moment, the blue wings behind his back suddenly jerked violently. The glowing lines along his cloak began to flicker. Part of his body broke apart into countless tiny particles of light, then reluctantly came back together.

"You have to leave now!" Autumn panicked. "I told you already, the loop will not allow you to stay!"

He lowered his gaze to the hand gradually turning translucent, his fingers slowly curling into a fist.

"Next time..." His voice was interrupted by a burst of interference. "Next time, I will definitely succeed."

Autumn bit her lip, tears silently gathering in her amber eyes. She wanted to tell him not to return again, but seeing that stubborn expression, she ultimately could not bring herself to say it.

The masked person suddenly pulled a strange object from his clothes, no larger than a palm. It was formed from many interlocking metal rings, with ever-changing blue symbols around its core. He looked at it briefly, then threw it directly toward the largest gap in the protective dome.

The metal rings opened in midair, releasing a surging stream of silver-blue energy. The energy quickly flowed along both edges of the crack, pulling the severed mana lines back together.

Boom!

The largest hole in the protective dome immediately closed. The Dark Mist trying to pour through was stopped, while the Sentinel magic nodes nearby lit up one after another, gradually stabilizing the defensive network that had been on the verge of collapse.

Autumn stared at the scene before her in shock. Before she could say anything, the masked person had nearly vanished completely.

"You..." Her voice caught. "You’re really so stubborn..."

He did not answer. He only tried to raise his nearly translucent hand, stopping it a short distance from Autumn’s cheek, as if he wanted to wipe away the tear rolling down but could not touch her.

Autumn unconsciously tilted her face toward that hand.

The next moment, the mask broke apart into strands of light, taking the entire figure of its wearer with it as it vanished into the air.

Autumn stood still for a long time, her hand still raised as if waiting for someone to take it. In the end, she let out a small laugh, but tears had already spilled down her face.

"Idiot..."

She raised her head to look at the sky dome that had just been stitched shut and whispered:

"Do you still want to change that fate?"

...

Below the abandoned guard post, Erik was still staring at the stretch of sky the masked person had torn open. The giant monster had vanished, but the scene he had just witnessed made it difficult for him to calm down.

He did not understand who that person was, much less why a single whisper had made him feel such familiarity.

"Impossible!"

The black-haired Succubus’s shout pulled Erik back to reality.

She stood on the other side of the broken wall, her face flushed with anger as the black veins beneath her neck continued twitching.

"Who does he think he is? He kills one of my monsters and leaves as if nothing happened?"

"You just said that was your monster?" Erik suddenly asked.

She froze. A moment later, her familiar sweet smile had returned.

"You must have heard wrong."

Erik did not expose her lie. He carefully shifted to shield Elowen, his left hand still gripping half of the broken spear shaft. His right arm hung close to his side, the torn cloth already soaked through with blood.

The cut on his right upper arm was nearly a handspan long, deep enough for white bone to be seen through the torn flesh. More troubling still, strands of Dark Mist were firmly attached to the opening of the wound, keeping blood flowing endlessly.

Erik was left-handed, so he could still use a spear, but the injuries to his side and shoulder made every movement heavy. If the battle continued much longer, he was not sure how long he could endure.

At that moment, a familiar sound suddenly echoed within his mind.

Ting!

[Emotion Energy is increasing.]

[Faith is increasing.]

[Accumulation Progress: 100%]

[Conditions for attempting a Bronze breakthrough have been met.]

Erik froze.

He had waited for this moment for so long. Yet the conditions for his breakthrough had finally been fulfilled in the middle of a collapsing guard post, while he was injured and a dangerous enemy stood before him.

[Proceed with the breakthrough now?]

[Warning: Host is injured.]

[Yes / No]

Erik glanced at Elowen. She leaned against the stone slab, her face pale from blood loss, yet her hand still gripped her bow tightly, ready to fire if the opponent attacked again.

He did not hesitate any longer.

Yes.

Immediately, the Emotion Energy he had accumulated for so long surged into his Heavenly Gate.

Erik felt his chest grow heavy. The mana channels throughout his body began to expand, while the enormous source of energy constantly crashed against the bottleneck stopping him from advancing.

The pain from his wounds grew increasingly violent. He gritted his teeth and dropped to one knee, using half the broken spear shaft to support his body.

"Erik!" Elowen cried out in panic.

"Don’t come closer." He tried to keep his voice steady. "I need a little time."

The black-haired Succubus looked at him and burst into laughter.

"What are you doing? Suddenly dropping to your knees to beg for mercy?"

She tilted her head as a Dark Mist blade slowly formed from her wrist.

"If you want to beg for mercy, you need to entertain me more than that!"

The moment she finished speaking, she swung her hand.

The black blade shot straight toward Erik, but just before it struck him, a pale green arrow suddenly cut through the room and knocked the attack aside.

"Don’t touch him!"

Elowen gritted her teeth and tried to draw another arrow. However, the wound on her shoulder made her arm tremble, and even pulling the bowstring had become difficult.

The black-haired Succubus frowned, preparing to attack again, when a wave of mana suddenly erupted from where Erik knelt.

Boom!

Dust and stone fragments beneath his feet blasted outward.

At the same time, the System’s voice rang out.

[Breakthrough successful!]

[Realm: Bronze Rank 1]

[Primal Incubus: New ability unlocked.]

[Contract Resonance]

[Temporarily use 20% of the power of all Succubi who have signed an official Contract with the host.]

[Duration: 10 minutes.]

[After the effect ends: The body will be exhausted for 24 hours.]

Erik lowered his head to look at the notifications. He felt two familiar sources of energy appearing within his Heavenly Gate. One carried Elowen’s gentle presence, while the other was vast and endlessly shifting, exactly like Meira’s mana.

Twenty percent of their power...

Erik quickly understood the meaning of the new ability. Through official Contracts, he could temporarily imitate part of the power of the Succubi connected to him without directly draining their energy.

The only issue was that the duration was far too short, while the consequences after using it were extremely serious.

Erik looked at the black-haired Succubus standing by the door, his eyes gradually turning cold.

Activate Contract Resonance.

The moment he issued the command, the two sources of energy within his Heavenly Gate immediately erupted.

A fierce gust swept through the guard post, blowing up dust and the torn scraps of Erik’s clothing. The pale green Wind element appeared first, swirling around him in countless small currents.

Right after that, bright red sparks began to appear among the winds.

The Fire element.

The flames danced around his shoulders, followed by hundreds of blue, silver-white, and pale purple particles of light. The Water element condensed into clear droplets, ice crystals glittered in midair, while tiny bolts of lightning endlessly flashed into existence and disappeared.

They moved around Erik as if alive, constantly interweaving and circling to create a brilliant current of mana.

Erik planted the spear shaft into the ground and slowly rose.

With every movement he made, the elements around him grew denser. Streams of energy rose from the ground, coiling around his legs before spreading across his body, making him look like a giant torch burning in the ruined room.

Multicolored light reflected off his blood-stained face. His black hair was thrown about by the wind, and Erik’s eyes had become icy as he looked directly at the female Succubus standing not far away.

Boom!

A terrifying pressure suddenly erupted.

The ground beneath Erik’s feet cracked into thin lines. The Dark Mist crawling over the walls immediately shrank back, while the tentacles closest to him were crushed by the mana pressure until they could no longer maintain their shape.

The black-haired Succubus’s eyes widened. She instinctively stepped back, only to realize that her legs were trembling.

"W-What is this?!"

She gritted her teeth, trying to steady herself. As the controller of the Dark Mist, she could clearly feel how terrifying the power flooding out of Erik was.

What she found most unbelievable was that the elemental currents were completely different from one another, yet they could coexist around the body of a man who had only just entered Bronze.

"What... what did you do?!"

Erik did not answer immediately.

He slowly raised his left hand, feeling the elements move according to his will. The Fire element immediately gathered at his fingertips, then transformed into a small stream of water before quickly crystallizing into ice and dissolving into the air.

That power far surpassed anything he had used before, but Erik also understood that he could not control it as skillfully as Meira. He needed time to adapt, and his injured body might not be able to withstand casting high-intensity magic continuously.

A cool stream of the Wind of Life flowed through his wounds, helping to stop the bleeding and ease the pain. However, when the energy reached his right upper arm, the Dark Mist clinging to the cut immediately resisted, making Erik frown slightly.

He did not force the healing further.

The wounds were still there, but at least his new power had given him enough ability to keep fighting for a while longer.

"Erik..."

Elowen’s voice came from behind him, carrying undisguised astonishment.

She was staring at him with wide emerald eyes. Through the Contract, Elowen could sense part of her Wind of Life being used by Erik, but what shocked her even more were the countless elements surrounding his body.

"That is... Mother’s power?"

Erik turned to look at her. The cold aura he had shown moments ago softened slightly when his eyes met her worried face.

"I just broke through to Bronze." He smiled. "It seems I also received a rather interesting ability."

"Bronze?!" Elowen’s mouth fell open. "Right now?!"

"Mm."

Erik nodded, then turned back toward the black-haired Succubus still standing frozen across the room.

"I should thank someone for being patient enough to talk to me for so long."

The woman’s smile immediately twisted.

"You..."

She gritted her teeth, the black veins on her neck swelling violently.

"You used me to stall for time?!"

"You were not planning to let me live either," Erik calmly replied. "That makes us even."

He dropped the half of the broken spear shaft and took a spare spear from his storage ring.

The elements around him continued moving without pause. When he gripped the spear shaft with his left hand, the Wind element immediately wrapped around the weapon’s tip, making the sharp metal glow pale green.

The black-haired Succubus looked at the sight, her expression growing even uglier.

"Damn it!"

Dark Mist poured from both of her wrists, dozens of tentacles twisting together into a massive black blade. She stomped hard and charged straight at Erik, moving far faster than before.

The blade swept sideways, aimed directly at his shoulder.

But this time, Erik did not choose to block it head-on.

He only shifted slightly.

A gust of wind suddenly appeared beneath his feet, pushing his body sideways at a speed the female Succubus could not react to. The black blade cut through empty air, while the spear in Erik’s left hand had already thrust directly into the gap between the tentacles.

Just as the opponent tried to retreat, he moved his right fingers slightly.

A thin layer of ice instantly spread beneath her feet.

"Ah!"

The female Succubus slipped hard, completely losing her balance. Before she could steady herself, the butt of the spear struck her shoulder and sent her flying backward into the wall behind her.

Boom!

A large crack appeared across the wall.

The female Succubus gritted her teeth and tried to push herself up, but Erik had already stamped his foot and lunged forward. He lowered his shoulder and used his physical strength combined with a stream of Wind element to strike directly at the mana connecting the tentacles to her wrists.

The black strands immediately snapped apart and dissolved into thin streams of mist.

The female Succubus rolled onto the ground, her face full of disbelief.

"The Wind element... and ice too?!"

She raised her head to look at Erik. Elemental sparks still danced around his body, while the spear in his left hand constantly released sharp currents of wind.

"Didn’t you just enter Bronze?! How can you use so many elements at once?!"

Erik looked at her, his voice calm.

"I’m learning too."

"You...!"

The female Succubus was so furious that she nearly ground her teeth apart.

Erik had intended to continue attacking, but at that moment, a small notification appeared in his mind.

[Contract Resonance time remaining: 09:21]