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With a clean hit, Jack had already snatched the spirit king's true body into his hand.
Its appearance was that of a soft, silvery orb. Squishy, even. Jack felt oddly comfortable squeezing it.
This sensation felt… familiar.
Ah. He remembered. When he hugged Rias to sleep at night, grabbing her chest felt exactly like this.
Well. That was kind of evil.
Zatouji arrived a moment later. He exchanged a few magical pulses with the creature before laughing. "Not bad, kid. Quick reflexes. Looks like you passed its test. You can let it go now."
Hearing that, Jack released the little thing. It popped back into its round, silvery-ball form and floated in the air. With a flap, a pair of tiny wings unfolded, fluttering with adorable, rapid beats.
All around them, the elemental spirits—whether humanoid or beast-shaped—bowed deeply to the ground.
Rias and the others ran over, and all of them let out impressed sounds when they saw the scene.
"As expected of a spirit king. That status is no joke," Rias murmured.
"Of course," Zatouji said with a hearty slap to Jack's shoulder. "Among familiars, a spirit king might not appear even once in several thousand years. And the metal attribute is the strongest in terms of raw combat power. Your luck is something else, kid."
"Thanks for the help, senior."
Jack smiled in gratitude. Without the expertise of this familiar specialist, he definitely wouldn't have passed the test so easily.
"Now now. A treasure like this shouldn't be kept waiting. Go ahead and form the contract," Akeno reminded him with a soft laugh. "I'm curious about its powers too. You'll have to let us see later."
"Got it."
Jack had already memorized the contract spell. With a focused breath, he summoned the magic array. The spirit king floated over and settled atop the formation on its own.
He chanted the spell. The magic array glowed. The contract was complete.
The moment it happened, Jack's expression tightened.
Magic inside him surged at an absurd pace, flooding straight into the spirit king, being devoured nonstop.
"It's beginning to condense a physical form. Until it finishes, you need to keep your magic flowing," Zatouji warned.
So that was a thing.
Jack quickly sat down, meditating to replenish his magic while maintaining the output.
Seeing this, Rias suggested they return to the clubroom. It was quieter there.
After saying goodbye to Zatouji, they teleported back to the human world. Everyone stayed near Jack, waiting for the familiar to finish its transformation.
About half an hour later, just when Jack thought his magic was about to run dry, the silver spirit king finally stopped absorbing.
It flapped its tiny wings and wobbled into the air like it was tipsy. Then its body began to spin rapidly.
Its round shape shifted into a square, silvery metallic seal. The little wings stayed exactly where they were, which made the whole thing look rather strange.
"A seal? Seriously?"
Everyone gathered around, fascinated.
Jack stood up as the newly formed seal beat its wings and circled happily around him.
"Jack, what can it do?" Rias asked with a smile.
He was curious too. He grinned at the familiar. "Go on and show them."
The seal obeyed. A silver ripple spread out, and the familiar anti-magic field appeared.
As expected, it had anti-magic abilities.
"My magic is suppressed by sixty percent… how powerful," Akeno murmured.
Everyone grew excited. Once the familiar's power grew, this effect would only get stronger. It was ridiculously good.
"And there's more," Jack said. He knew this little guy had more than one trick.
Sure enough, with a flick of the seal, numerous metallic blades materialized and shot toward the girls.
"Oh?"
Rias stepped forward fearlessly, releasing her scarlet flames to meet the attack. Akeno followed up with a bolt of golden lightning.
The metal blades shattered instantly.
"Attack power is decent," Rias commented with a grin.
But their reactions seemed to annoy the seal. It fluttered its wings angrily, then shot toward the four girls in a streak of silver light.
Slap. Slap. Slap. Slap.
With frightening speed, it stamped each of them hard on the thigh, leaving behind a vivid purple-red mark.
Jack saw it clearly. The mark was the character "正"…
Wait. What?
Before he or anyone else could react, the girls' magic was completely sealed. A second later, their clothes burst apart with a ripping sound, dissolving into scattered motes of magic.
Everyone: "…"
Jack: "...??"
Staring at the glowing purple-red "正" marks on their thighs, Jack was completely speechless.
What on earth was this?
"Kya!!"
Asia shrieked, dropping into a crouch and covering herself, cheeks burning.
"Oh my my…" Akeno's voice carried surprise and a trace of amusement.
"This feels familiar," Koneko muttered, hugging herself with an expression that mixed resignation and mild annoyance.
Rias put a hand on her hip and sighed at Jack.
"So… what exactly is this skill?"
Jack called the familiar back. It zipped over obediently and hovered in front of him, wings buzzing like a smug little bee.
He could sense the familiar's thoughts. It was trying to show off. Jack rubbed his forehead and explained.
"This is its signature move. It can seal someone's magic for up to ten hours. It can target up to ten people at once, though in that case the duration drops to about one hour. Against stronger opponents, the time will shorten accordingly."
Rias muttered, "And the clothes? What was that about… does this little guy have some sort of weird hobby?"
Jack had no idea how to defend the familiar because he knew that was exactly the case.
In fact, the "正" stamped on the girls' pale thighs had already told him everything.
Staring at those purple-red glowing marks, he couldn't help covering his face with a long sigh.
Great. Just great. Turns out this little guy isn't a proper familiar at all…
"..."
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