The Acolyte of Spirits and Curses

Klein turned his head slightly and his eyes narrowed as he looked the structure around them.

"The only way is to break the Tower itself, isn’t it?"

Artoria gave a nod "Yes. As long as the Tower stands, its rules will continue to claim me. Destroying the structure is the only permanent release."

Klein fell silent upon hearing it.

Even if he somehow managed to shatter the Hollow Crown Tower and free her, there would still be problems.

Where would he keep a True Dragon afterward?

He has attracted too many eyes on him, so he can’t bring her openly in the human domain.

And then there was the outside.

By now the leaderboard would have already updated.

His name was locked at the top with the 40th floor beside it.

Media, guild observers, noble representatives, and academy officials... all of them would be waiting at the base of the Tower.

Walking out of the exit gate with a newly contracted True Dragon in human form would be the fastest way to turn the entire continent’s attention onto him.

He couldn’t bring her out that way.

His gaze narrowed further ’I just need to find a way to bring her from this tower to outside without the media outside noticing.’

’After that I can atleast give her a disguise or something.’

’What if I destroy this tower and in that chaos... can she escape? It’s still risky.’

’If there is any powerful person and they catch her escaping... would be trouble.’

At that moment, he felt a tug in his bond with Orpheus and he could sense that she was trying to enter the human realm through his connection with her.

*swoosh*

Orpheus appeared, and looking at Klein, a relieved sigh escaped her lips.

She closed the distance in two steps and wrapped her arms tightly around him.

"Husband..."

Her voice was muffled against his shoulder as she pressed her face into his shoulder.

With a smile, he hugged her back "There is still some blood on me."

She pressed her forehead against his collarbone for a moment before lifting her head to look at him properly. "You reckless idiot."

Klein rested one hand against her back, "I’m fine. The floor is cleared."

Orpheus pulled back just enough to look at him from head to toe as she checked for injuries the regeneration might have missed.

Seeing that he is unharmed, her gaze shifted past his shoulder and settled on the new woman.

’H-Huh?

Artoria stood a short distance away silently, watching the interaction.

Even in her current weakened state, the aura around her was enormous.

Orpheus’s grip on Klein tightened slightly "...Who is that?"

Klein followed her gaze, then let out a small breath.

"Right," he muttered. "That."

He stepped slightly to the side, "She’s the boss of this floor. Or... was."

Orpheus blinked in confusion "...Was?"

Klein nodded. "She’s a True Dragon. Got chained here, lost control, went on a rampage... usual tower stuff. And we came to an agreement."

Artoria’s brow twitched faintly at that description, but she didn’t interrupt.

Orpheus’s gaze sharpened further, "...What kind of agreement?"

Klein glanced at Artoria for a brief second, then back at Orpheus.

"I fixed her. Or I’m about to. And in return, she works for me."

Artoria stepped forward and glanced at Orpheus "I am Artoria. I have entered a contract of complete submission with your husband. He is my master and owns me now."

-_- Klein gave her a flat look ’Why did you phrase it like that?’

Orpheus glanced at Klein in the corner of her eyes, and a faint blush colored her cheeks as she moved closer to whisper.

"A-Are you into that kind of stuff... Husband?"

He shook his head helplessly "Not really... Also, I am surprised you even know about that kind of stuff."

With a little giggle, she replied "I told you I read some people’s memories."

Seeing her mischievous giggle, his gaze softened in affection ’My wife is so cute.’

Without giving it much thought, he leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead.

Orpheus’s blush deepened instantly. In pure embarrassment she buried her face against the side of his neck and muttered in a flustered voice.

"D-Don’t kiss me like that in front of others, Husband... it’s so embarrassing..."

Artoria watched the entire exchange in absolute silence.

(;☉_☉)

’...Is this some kind of torture? Am I going to see things like this everyday from now on?’

Artoria looked from the spirit woman still hiding against Klein’s neck to the human who just casually accepted a True Dragon’s complete submission.

A low sigh left her lips "...My master is strange."

Orpheus finally lifted her face just enough to peek at Artoria.

"He is," she agreed softly. Then she tightened her arms around Klein’s waist and added, "But he is mine first."

Huh? Artoria raised an eyebrow at that "You can keep that man for yourself. I have no romantic or sexual feelings toward him."

What? Orpheus’ eyes narrowed in "That’s what someone who has sexual attraction towards him will say."

Klein let out a quiet sigh, caught between the affectionate spirit wife clinging to him and the newly contracted dragon who looked like she was already regretting her life choices.

A thoughtful expression crossed his face ’Maybe... I can leave now and come back later at night or something and break the tower.’

’At that time there won’t be any media or anything. With no attention, I can easily escape from here’

’But wait...’

He glanced at Artoria and asked "What if I step out of this floor now without you?"

Hearing his question, Artoria’s gaze lowered "It resets. When you go back and enter. I will be back in my dragon form tied to the chains."

"That’s how it is made."

Klein gave a faint nod ’Makes sense. Even if someone cleared a floor. When another person comes, the floor resets itself for the next challenger."

’Hmm... I wonder if her memory of what happened will also be wiped when it resets.’

’Too much uncertainty... what to do...’

He looked around the ruined cavern once more ’And there is another thing. I don’t know if I am powerful enough to break the tower. But since this is man-made... it’s possible.’

As he was thinking, his battles with true Dragons from his past life popped up in his mind.

He glanced at Orpheus and asked "Dear, what do you know about cursed energy?"

Huh? Orpheus looked athim and muttered "From the cursed energy that leaks through the cracks between the Cursed Realm and the Spirit Realm... I only know that it is the opposite of what I am."

"It’s... opposite to spirit energy. Where mine stabilizes, heals, and harmonizes... cursed energy corrupts, distorts, and erodes."

She paused, then added more thoughtfully, "But despite that... they can achieve similar results. They’re like reflections of each other through different principles."

Klein’s eyes narrowed further as he listened, ’Opposites... but equivalent in function.’

His gaze dropped slightly as memories began surfacing "In my past life I had a few dragons under me."

"And with Zrryha’s help, turned them into Cursed Dragons before bringing them into the Cursed Realm..."

"So if I can make her into a spirit that way, but it was with Zrryha, the mother of curses herself."

He murmured quietly, but Orpheus’s ears twitched.

’With the Mother of Curses... he remade dragons into curses.’

A flash of jealousy crossed her face "I-I can do it too."

Klein turned his head to look at her and Orpheus met her gaze.

"If the Mother of Curses or whatever could rewrite a dragon’s nature with cursed energy, then I... as the Mother of Spirits should be able to do the same with spirit energy."

"I can do it. Just tell me what to do."

Klein stared at her for a moment, caught slightly off guard "Orpheus-"

"I can," she repeated without backing down.

Spirit energy began to gather faintly around her, and a soft green glow formed at her fingertips as the air around them subtly shifted.

"I am not weaker than her just because our energies are different. If cursed energy can reshape a dragon into a curse..."

Her gaze flickered briefly toward Artoria before returning to Klein.

"...then spirit energy can reshape her into something else too."

"I can make her into a spirit."

Hearing her words, Klein’s eyes condensed slightly ’...It is worth a try.’

’It’s not like she won’t become a completely different being. It is just adding a bit of spirit essence to her core, which lets her enter the spirit realm.’

’So after destroying the tower. I can take her to the spirit realm and place her there.’

’It is also the safest route because I can’t just keep her in the human domain either.’

Keeping a True Dragon in the human domain, especially in her current state, was asking for disaster.

The attention on him was already too high, and bringing her out openly would only make things worse.

’Let’s try it.’