— — — — — —
After a moment of hesitation, Virgo decided she still had to tell the Spirit King the truth: Kazuma wasn't a Celestial Spirit mage.
"Eh—what?! That kid isn't a Celestial Spirit mage?
"Then how did he sign contracts with you all? Why can he summon you without using Celestial Spirit Magic?!"
The Spirit King's face froze in pure shock. Summoning spirits without Celestial Spirit Magic? He had never even heard of such a thing.
"It seems to be because Master has a very unusual type of magic. Anything he gets his hands on, he can use it directly without needing the corresponding spell."
Virgo watched the king's stunned expression and added, "This… is it actually that important?"
"Well… important? Not exactly. But at first, I was planning to send the boy back to the human world and have him work with Leo."
"As long as Leo and that boy built enough of a bond, and Leo was willing to offer his key as the price to summon me… Then I'd acknowledge that he'd reflected on his mistakes and allow him to return to the Spirit World."
"But if the boy isn't a Spirit mage… then he can't use summoning magic at all, can he?"
The Spirit King stroked his beard, stuck in a dilemma. A perfectly decent plan, yet somehow doomed from the very beginning.
The surrounding spirits heard this and quietly sank into thought, remembering how long they'd been left unused since signing with Kazuma.
"Yeah, Master absolutely doesn't know Celestial Spirit summoning magic. I don't think he even realizes it exists."
Virgo nodded. From everything she'd seen, Kazuma had never studied Celestial Spirit Magic at all.
"Well… that's a problem."
The Spirit King scratched his head, completely unsure what to do. Should he tell Virgo to go fetch the kid back?
— — —
Meanwhile, in the human world—
"You are back!"
Seeing the magic circle reappear, Leo almost burst into tears. Finally—finally—Kazuma was back safely.
A moment later the glow faded, and Kazuma's figure stepped out before him.
"The Spirit King is insanely strong in the Spirit World. He actually tossed me out just like that.... Whatever ~ Yo, Loki, I'm back. The issue isn't totally solved yet, but I'm this close."
Kazuma greeted the half-dead Leo lying against the stone, then immediately rummaged through his Treasury.
"Using the link between each spirit and their key… there. Find the Spirit King's key. Ehh? I can't find it. Then..."
He began locating key after key of the Zodiac spirits. In the Fairy Tail world each key was supposed to be unique.
But within the absurd logic of the Gate of Babylon, nothing was ever truly "unique." If he could lay eyes on it, then it belonged to him. That effect only appeared after the Gate had been upgraded though. When he first received the GOB as his magic, it definitely wasn't that ridiculous.
"It's fine if things aren't resolved yet. As long as you came back safe. Kazuma… my friend… thank you for everything. But at the very end, all I want is to leave quietly."
Leaning against the gravestone, Loki looked weaker than ever. He mustered a relieved smile, then raised his head toward the sky as his body slowly sagged.
He was ready to die.
"…That's it. Summoning the Spirit King is a pain."
Kazuma pulled out a box from his Treasury. Seventy-six silver keys flew into the air, glowing softly like stardust.
Then Virgo's golden key, Taurus, Aquarius, Scorpio, Gemini—one after another, the golden keys rose into the sky.
In an instant day shifted into night. The sun's light faded, replaced by a sky overflowing with stars. All eighty-eight constellations lit up at once—
"Wait… hold on… why am I still alive?!"
Leo's head snapped up. He stared wide-eyed at the star-filled sky. He could feel the breath of the Spirit World brushing against his skin.
"No, no no no. What are you doing?!"
He felt as if he'd already returned to the Spirit World. Starlight surged through his weakened body.
A sudden, terrible hunch gripped him. As more and more spirits materialized, the feeling only got worse.
"Oh? Leo? And this is the human world?"
"So we finally got summoned."
"Why are there so many of us here all at once?!"
"One… two… all eighty-eight constellations are here?!"
Every spirit Kazuma had previously defeated now responded to his call and appeared in the human world.
"Lucy's really in the same guild as this monster? The gap is unreal."
Aquarius felt magic overflowing through her body and couldn't stop herself from complaining.
Summoning this many spirits at once and keeping every single one fully empowered—what kind of monster could do that?
"I shouldn't say this, but sometimes I seriously wonder if Master's even human." Virgo sighed.
"Also, why does he have all our keys? And why did he force a contract on us like this?" Gemini floated in the air, absolutely bewildered.
"The Zodiac keys are supposed to exist one at a time. How does he even manage this?" Sagittarius looked just as confused.
"Leo, I'm so sorry. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have been exiled from the Spirit World. I'm really, really sorry." Aries, eyes full of tears, apologized to the barely conscious Leo whose body was almost translucent.
Normally a spirit staying in the human world even one day would suffer immensely. Leo had endured three whole years.
Aries couldn't imagine what he had gone through. How much pain… how much loneliness.
"Aries… it's not your fault… I…"
Leo tried to comfort her, but Kazuma walked over before he got the words out.
"Why are you two acting out some tragic drama here? Every second you're draining my magic. Get up there."
Holding Leo's key, Kazuma kicked him straight up toward the starry sky and forced open the Leo Gate.
With the influence of his treasury, he forcibly opened the Celestial Gate and sent Leo back into his rightful constellation.
"My strength… it's coming back!"
Leo's body regained its form. His magic surged, stronger than ever thanks to Kazuma's overwhelming supply.
"Everything's ready. Next comes summoning the Spirit King."
"As witness to all eighty-eight constellations, bound by your oath—answer my call. Open, Gate of the Spirit World."
Kazuma unleashed the full power of every key. The light of all eighty-eight constellations converged into a single beam—
It shot into the sky, piercing through the boundary of both worlds. In that moment, not just Kazuma and the spirits, but everyone in the world saw that blazing star above.
— — —
In the Spirit World
"Hm? What's happening?"
The Spirit King watched spirit after spirit vanish in a flash of light, utterly bewildered. Why were so many being summoned all at once?
At first he was only confused, but when the Golden Zodiac spirits vanished too, a faint sense of premonition stirred inside him.
He looked up.
A single beam of starlight fell directly onto him. And carried along that light, he heard Kazuma's voice.
"As witness to all eighty-eight constellations, bound by your oath—answer my call. Open, Gate of the Spirit World."
"…Hahaha! So he's directly summoning me."
"How interesting. In all these years, I've never once encountered something like this."
The Spirit King rose along the pillar of starlight. The light folded into a gateway and, stepping through, he crossed into the human world.
It all happened in an instant. One moment he was in the Spirit World, the next he stood before Kazuma — and for that brief moment, time across the whole world froze.
"S… Spirit… Spirit King!"
Leo's eyes went wide. He couldn't believe the Spirit King had personally come to the human world just to resolve his mess.
"Young man, you really are something. I never imagined anyone would summon me this way. Completely unexpected."
"As we agreed earlier, I'll pardon Leo for his crimes."
The Spirit King looked around at the sea of spirits filling the sky, then burst into laughter. A sight like this had never happened in all of history.
"Leo, you should be thanking your partner. He's the one who used his courage and strength to defeat all these spirits, broke through the Zodiac siege…"
"He stood before me with unwavering resolve, willing to fight me if he had to, just to win you this chance."
He turned to Leo as he spoke.
"Kazuma… thank you."
Leo finally understood what Kazuma had gone through in that short span of time. He dropped from the sky, walked up to him, and lightly punched his shoulder.
"From today on, my power is yours. Whenever you need me, call me. Even if it costs my life, I won't hesitate." He said it with absolute sincerity.
Kazuma nodded seriously. "Honestly I'd prefer seeing you bawl your eyes out thanking me."
He meant it. Forget Leo's power — the crying face would've been priceless. Kazuma could've kept that photo and mocked him forever.
"You're saying that with a straight face? You really want me to punch you."
Leo's irritation spiked. If Kazuma were joking he'd let it slide, but no, this bastard actually meant it.
"I couldn't go all out before, that's why I looked weak. Now that my power's restored, I'm not scared of you."
Kazuma smirked. "Tch. As if going all out would change anything."
Whether Leo was weakened or restored, one punch was all it took. No difference at all.
"Damn it!" Leo ground his teeth.
"The worst part is he talks like that… and he's right." Aquarius folded her arms, remembering how she'd been one-punched even after holding back only a little.
"Master's personality is horrible. Aside from being strong, he basically has no virtues." Virgo sighed.
"So scary…" Gemini huddled together, shivering.
They were still traumatized from their earlier beating.
"And he doesn't even care who he's hitting," Aries added weakly. She had only tried to speak before, then instantly got blasted away before finishing a sentence.
"All right, if there's nothing else, we'll return to the Spirit World," the Spirit King said. "Keeping this many of us here is consuming a massive amount of magic."
He watched the group bicker and decided it was time to go. The matter was resolved, after all.
"Not yet. We agreed earlier — you pardon Leo, and I have to accept a request from you. Go ahead. Whatever it is, I'll do it."
Kazuma hadn't forgotten. Leo's issue was settled, but his promise wasn't.
"Hm."
The Spirit King looked surprised. "I actually don't have anything I need you to do. Summoning me and proving your resolve is already enough."
"The plan went a little off track, but the result is the same. That's good enough."
Kazuma nodded, "So… your request is considered complete, right?"
"You could put it that way," the Spirit King said with a nod.
"Great. Goodbye then~"
A notification pinged in Kazuma's mind. Task complete, magic buff acquired. Satisfied, he waved the king off.
"…Why does that feel odd…"
The Spirit King had never in his life been dismissed like that. Most people would beg for a chance even to see him. This kid was practically shooing him away.
He took two steps, then suddenly remembered something.
"There's one more thing. Consider this my new request to you."
"Because of Leo's case, I realized there are flaws in the contract rules between humans and spirits. We cannot allow spirits to harm their summoners. But we also cannot allow summoners to abuse spirits."
"Yet human affairs must be handled by humans. So I want to entrust you with something: deal with the humans who violate their contracts."
"This task is extremely difficult. If you refuse, it's understandable. Don't feel pressured."
"Decide for yourself whether you'll accept."
The Spirit King was strict with rules but never rigid. If something was wrong, it had to be acknowledged and fixed. Only then could the Spirit World thrive.
Rigid stubbornness only led to ruin.
Of course, that request wasn't meant to fix — it was just a necessary delay until he found the right solution.
[Ding.]
[High-level quest detected: 'Request of the Spirit King.']
[Accept?]
"Accept. If someone asks something of me, I respond. That's my way." Kazuma smiled.
"Think carefully. We spirits take oaths very seriously. Once you accept, there's no backing out halfway." The Spirit King's expression hardened as he looked down at Kazuma.
"The tasks I take on never fail."
"Once I give my word, not even a thousand years will change it. That's my promise. Let's seal it."
Kazuma held out his fist.
"…What is this?"
The Spirit King frowned at the tiny fist in front of him, then at his own massive one. He had no idea what he was supposed to do.
"It's a human way of sealing an agreement," Virgo explained. "Men bump fists to show a pact is made and unbreakable."
She'd learned a lot working at the guild… including this.
"Oh, and girls usually do pinky promises. Except Erza," she added matter-of-factly.
"A contract, is it? Hahaha. I like this boy who honors his promises."
The Spirit King laughed, lifted his huge fist, and tapped it against Kazuma's.
It felt strange, but in a good way.
.
.
.