I watched in disbelief as her body began to change shape, her skin turning dark, leathery and scaly like a reptile, her legs merging together before narrowing and elongating, as her neck extended as well.

Her face and head took the shape of a snake’s, her hair shrinking into her hair as another snake head appeared at the end of her tail, what had been her legs just a few seconds ago.

No way...I didn’t think there was anyone in the present who possessed a Contract with a Monster. A Contract can only be formed if a Monster consents to it, it’s a mutual, two way agreement. Plus the Monster has to have a fairly high level of intelligence for it to work, a level that’s usually only found in Demonic Grade Monsters like Izzy.

So, as you can imagine, it’s extremely rare. A Contract is effectively a death sentence for Monsters, they basically seal themselves inside of the person they’re forming the Contract with, and that person will then be able to use the Monster’s powers.

And when the person dies, the Monster will die right along with them. Most Demonic Grade Monsters stop aging once they reach their prime, so they’re effectively immortal.

Which basically means that they’ve got plenty to lose and nothing to gain by forming a Contract with a human. And the name she mentioned, Amphisbaena...that’s a Demonic Grade Monster, a large aquatic snake Monster with two heads, one where it would normally be and the other at the end of the tail...so like an aux cable.

It’s a Monster that’s supposed to be several centuries old, and quite a powerful one, at that. How the hell did she manage to-...no, she didn’t convince it to form a Contract with her. There’s just no way...

"I see...you used your whip to put the Monster under your control and then forced it to form a Contract with you. Am I wrong?" I surmised with a raised eyebrow.

"Of course, as a Noble, subjugating a mere beast like this one was child’s play," She scoffed in response, before the other head at the end of her tail turned this way and added, "You should feel honored, you will be the first person whom I kill with this form."

She then fired out a rapid, pressurized blast of water at me from the second head, I quickly sprang away to narrowly avoid it, countering with a swirling ball of blue flames, evaporating the water as a wave of steam burst out upon impact.

She slithered out of the way as I fired out another blast of blue flames at her, before I used Distance Casting to fire out another one from just a few meters ahead of her...she’s keeping her distance from me, staying just out of the now twenty-five meter range of my Distance Casting.

But it’s fine, I don’t need to be able to fire at point-blank range to hit her, my last attack just burned her shoulder. Unfortunately, I can’t use this too much...the flames are already spreading rapidly.

I then unleashed a cloud of black mist as she began to charge up another water blast, using the smoke screen to sink into the shadows, emerging close to the spreading flames while making sure to remain in her blind spot and then using Magic Eater to swallow up the flames.

"What the...!?" She exclaimed incredulously as she spotted me, right as I finished swallowing up all the flames.

I swiftly sunk back into the shadows as she suddenly extended one of her arms towards me rapidly, her claws scratching the ground as I disappeared just in time avoid getting caught.

I floated through until I was behind her, manifesting my whip before rapidly extending it out of her shadow, aimed at the middle of her upper back. She reacted at the last second and slithered across to her left, letting out a gasp of pain as I pierced through her right shoulder blade and swiftly swung my arm up, slicing her shoulder open.

As blood gushed out and she rapidly slithered away in alarm, the wound began closing up, healing at a pretty quick speed...hm, I’d say that’s similar to the speed of High Speed Regeneration, the same speed at which I can heal others but slower than the speed at which I can heal myself.

I followed after her as she continued to stay on the move, her gaze darting about in fear as she tried to predict where I’d pop out from next...heh, this is fun. I know just what to try next.

As she then inadvertently slithered right over where I was, I reached up and grabbed hold of her tail, eliciting a startled cry from her as I began to pull her into her own shadow. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

She dug her claws into the ground in desperation as I pulled her lower half down, the head on her tail staring at me in horror before a look of agony appeared on its face, like it was suffocating.

When I sink into the shadows, it requires both Attributes, and coating myself with the combined Mana of both the Attributes is what lets me survive down here.

Which means that I can safely stay down here for as long as I have Mana. It also means that if I drag anyone else down here with me, they’ll die. I tested it out with Monsters while I was down in the Labyrinth, and it worked super well, except with flying Monsters.

In a straight fight, I’d probably be at a disadvantage against this woman...she’s both stronger and faster than I am. I gotta say though...is this really it? Is this really all the power she’s gained from her Contract?

She’s definitely strong, but only slightly more so than the average Catastrophic Grade Monster...you’d think a Contract with an ancient, legendary Demonic Grade Monster would result in a much more drastic and significant power boost.

Oh, looks like she’s extended out her arms and grabbed hold of a lamppost to try and pull herself out before I fully drag her down here. Like I said, she’s a lot stronger than I am, so I have no hope of winning this tug of war...so, let’s try something else instead.

As I began to lose my grip on her, I turned my gaze up to her shadow with a smirk...there’s going to be no dodging this, Heretic Spell: Black Hole.

An excruciating scream of pain rang out as I formed the black hole by her waist, the middle of her body getting pulled into it, before she slashed at her midsection with her claws in desperation, severing everything below her stomach and pulling herself away from the black hole.

I then dissipated the Spell as her lower body got fully drawn into the black hole, emerging out of the shadows as she gasped and wheezed in pain, blood pooling out around her even as her body began to regenerate.

I made sure to put away my whip before re-emerging, don’t need her recognizing me...it’s quite possible that this True Nobility group has some members in the Knight Order. I know it’s been cleaned up or whatever by Aries, but I doubt she’s gotten rid of every corrupt Knight.

"Im...impossible. H-how could I be losing, even with the Contract!?" She snapped, getting back up as most of her missing body finished regenerating.

From what I’ve read about Amphisbaena, it can heal from any injury no matter how severe, the only way to kill it is to destroy both heads. So long as one remains, it can always regenerate.

"Heh, even with a Contract, you haven’t laid so much as scratch on me, a lowly Commoner. Want my opinion, though? You brainwashed and forced this Monster into forming a Contract with you...my guess is that that’s keeping you from accessing its full power," I smirked, as she shot towards me with an enraged roar.

No idea if that’s true or not, more like a hunch at best. I mainly said that to provoke her, and it looks like it worked. She’s almost within range...the instant she gets within twenty-five meters of me, I’ll just create two black holes, one by either one of her heads and kill her-...

Suddenly, right as she began to get within that range, I was forced to spring back as a bolt of lightning came shooting down towards me. Who did that!?

"I couldn’t bear to watch this disgraceful display any longer...that was quite pathetic, Miss Drisbell," Came a somewhat familiar voice, as a hooded figure suddenly appeared beside her.

"P-please forgive me, I was just-...," She began timidly.

"Don’t bother with any excuses, I watched the whole thing," He sighed in exasperation, before turning his gaze this way.

Hm? I can’t quite see his face, it’s hidden by the shadow of his hood, but...from what I can see, his skin looks kinda off.

"Who are you? That was a pretty rude interruption," I remarked as I sized him up.

"The bigger question is, who are you? A Commoner with such mastery over Spellcasting is quite rare. And those blue flames you used...," He responded warily.

Ah, I recognize his voice now...he’s that Knight Lieutenant who survived and escaped after his partner released that Frost Dragon. If I try to cast a Spell, the resulting Magic Circle will give him enough time to react, I can tell just by looking at him. Hm, what was his name again? Oh, that’s right, Tayn Regerelle.

"Man, everyone sure does get dumbstruck by the blue flames, huh? Personally, I think it’s kinda overrated...I mean, I’ve got plenty more cool tricks up my sleeve!" I exclaimed as I then rapidly fired out a spider thread from my index finger.

He began to react and tried to get out of the way, but was a fraction of a second too slow, as my web struck and got stuck to his left shoulder.

"What the hell!?" He blurted out in bewilderment, as I then gave it a swift, firm tug to pull him this way, but he quickly reached up and unclasped the cloak before he lost his balance.

I ended up pulling the hooded cloak right off of him, before igniting the sticky thread with blue flames, which rapidly spread across it till it reached the cloak, turning it to ash in a matter of seconds.

"Oh, wow...those must’ve been some pretty nasty burns," I remarked with a laugh.

Heh, I’m the one the gave him those burns in the first place. I don’t think he’s recognized me though.

"I’ll be sure to remember your face, you rat...goodbye for now, but rest assured that this isn’t over," He declared icily, as he placed a hand on Lyra’s shoulder before the two of them vanished from sight.

Well, that was ominous. But I don’t care, I feel pretty good about myself, right now. I just totally dominated a fight against someone with a Contract, and it wasn’t even close!

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