God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

{Congratulations to the host... You have received the opportunity to create a Binding contract}.

{Binding Contract}: Form a [body and soul] contract with a Flame Spirit. This contract allows the target elemental spirit and the host to forge a bond that is governed by the following set of rules;

{Condition 1}: The Spectre's and human's involvement in the [body and soul] contract shall be bound by the laws of magic as long as both parties may live.

{Condition 2}: This contract can be initiated by either one of the parties involved, but can only be concluded if and only if the other party fully agrees to uphold the conditions involved wholeheartedly.

{Condition 3}: The agreement is built upon the law of equivalent exchange. A trade deemed to be of equal proportions by the system must be made for the contract to be enabled.

{Condition 4}: This contract is based upon the universal laws of mana, and cannot be broken.

{Does the host agree to all these conditions?}

Following the usual proceedings, he quickly agreed. The gem began to shine brightly. A searing sensation traveled swiftly across his chest.

Soon, the image of a star burning below a mountain appeared on his chest alongside Ruby's paw imprint and the mark from the {Dark Soul}.

The sensation of heat was not mild. However, it wasn't painful as well. The heat spread through his veins and into every part of his body, enriching it with its heat...

[Body and Soul Contract]

Type: Elemental Spirit.

Details: A temporary binding that will become undone once the elemental spirit has completed its term of servitude. The elemental spirit will obey any and every command given by its master.

Note: This contract will last for two years.

{Congratulations to the host... The contract has been completed}.

{Host has been granted a greater affinity with flames}.

{Your flame-elemental skills have grown stronger...}

{+10,000 System points}.

{Cherufe Spawn]: level 50 (Legendary)

Strength: 1700.

Agility; 2000.

Defense: 500.

Magic: 2100.

Spirit: 900.

HP: 15,000/15,000.

MP: 42,000/42,000.

Skills: Raging Flames, Lava Manipulation, Hell Shift, Burning Ocean, Inferno Fist Barrage, Destroyer's Flame.

The flashes of light coming from the gem grew in intensity until it exploded. A wave of heat washed over him, and something heavy fell onto his body, almost toppling him over.

'Crap!'

The danger came almost immediately. He almost couldn't defend himself against the bone-crushing blow.

"Stop, Damn it!"

The binding contract worked beautifully...

The angry flame spirit shook with anger as she tried to bring her first down to pulverize his head. However, much to her dismay, her first was unable to move an inch closer.

"D-damn... Damn it!" Tears formed at the corners of her eyes as she slowly fell onto her knees. Cain felt his heart ache for some reason when he saw this.

"Damned demon! I'll kill you one day!" Grotting her teeth, Ignis stared at Cain with malice and hatred in her eyes.

"You..."

Cain let out a tired sigh, "While I understand how you feel, I need you to help me right now."

Ignis sneered, "And why should I do that?"

Cain was tempted to order her around, but for some reason, he was a bit hesitant,

"Because all our lives depend on it..." Hence, he didn't hesitate to tell a little white lie.

"Ha! What do I care?! Let's all go to hell together then!"

Cain flinched at her intensity but quickly calmed down. His tone became a little dark,

"Don't force my hand. You and I aren't exactly friends, so don't blame me if I abuse my power a bit."

"Do your worst..." Ignis said with a dark grin. Her expression made Cain suspect she had more than a few tricks up her sleeve to deal with him.

On the other hand, another part of his mind told him she was just bluffing and was trying to save face while thinking of what to do and how to escape her current situation.

Shaking his head, he shot her a glare,

"I won't order you to do anything, then. Fend for yourself..."

With that, Cain prepared to jump off the roof of the cave.

"Wait!" A panicked look appeared on her face

'Bingo...'

Cain tilted his body and threw her a dead stare. Her skin was unlike how it had been under the volcano. Her skin was as white as alabaster with glowing red cracks and lines running through certain areas on her face and neck. The red flame gem on her forehead glowed dimly.

"What is it?" Cain fought hard to contain a smirk.

Her pale white face seemed even paler than before,

"If you want me to follow you willingly, then you have to make a few concessions."

Cain simply shrugged, "Not like you are in any position to negotiate, but okay..."

The orders of the master in a [Body and Soul] contract were usually absolute. However, the subordinates in the contract would have to obey the orders any way they saw fit, as long as the order was followed...

This meant that subordinates would be able to make decisions and weren't puppets. This meant they couldn't outrightly rebel against their master. On the other hand, they could do it subtly...

A powerful and intelligent being like Ignis would surely be able to see through the various loopholes. That was why Cain had to tread carefully.

Taking a deep breath, the beautiful flame spirit tried to calm down. Her eyes glowed briefly as she spoke,

"You can't order me to do perverted things. I know how wretched and disgusting humans are, so..."

Cain's brows trembled a bit as he fought the urge to lash out angrily,

"Hmph! I'm not interested in doing anything with a... Whatever it is you are. My tastes aren't that diverse..."

This time, it was Ignis' turn to get angry...

Her brows shot up in anger as she glared at him,

"What do you mean, huh?!"

Cain simply shook his head, "Exactly what I said. What's your second condition?"

While Cain really wasn't interested in her like that, he couldn't deny that she was quite the beauty. However, his morality and ethics fought against him anytime he tried to pursue that line of thought.

'Ha... Snap out of it, Cain. You aren't that thirsty... Maybe...'

Shaking his head, Cain listened,

"You can't give me suicidal orders." This time, she said it more seriously.

Cain thought about it for a while. His idea of suicidal orders and hers could be different, but he decided to compromise.

"Fine... Anything else?" Cain asked with a raised brow.

"Yes... I need mana shards. Lots and lots of mana shards."

Cain stared at a wide plain of rocks with diligent eyes. The {Dark Soul} hid in the shadows of a few boulders a few meters away from them. Crouching beside him was Ignis in black armor that looked like it was carved from obsidian.

The armor covered all the sensitive parts of her body but was absent in her joints so as not to obstruct movement during battle. Her long fiery red hair flowed down the sides of the black pauldrons as she stared at the creature lurking in the distance.

"Tell me something..." She said, her gaze still locked onto the creature.

Cain glanced at her briefly, "Sure... What do you want to hear?"

"Why do you want to hunt this thing? From what I can tell, it won't be of trouble to us if we leave it alone." She said with a frown.

Cain shook his head, "It doesn't seem like it, but if we want to move forward, then this thing has to die."

Ignis frowned, "Is there some special ability it possesses that we should be way of?"

Cain simply nodded, "These things are called {Blood-eye Death Beasts}. While their visage and names are intimidating, their true abilities lay in their ability to see through stealth skills and call the entire horde on us once we are spotted."

Cain frowned as he continued, "But this one... This one is a bit special. I've been observing it for some time, and I realized that these creatures rely on a network centered around this big guy to communicate with one another through those antennae. If we somehow manage to take this one down, their network will fail to some extent and they will crumble to the ground without any pillar of support."

While his plan wasn't foolproof, Cain was convinced it would work to some extent. The abilities of creatures were usually tied to their aether and mana-developed physique.

He had noticed this through a stroke of luck and was sure he was right. However, the only problem, was actually defeating the creature.

The beast stood over five meters on its hind legs and possessed a mouth filled with bloodied sharp fangs. It had the body of a huge wolf but its head was filled with numerous eyes like an insect.

Two antennae on its head vibrated every once in a while, and its tail ended with a stinger that dripped with poisonous fluid every once in a while. Its eyes were pitch black and filled with a cold wickedness that sent chills down his spine

'How the hell do I bring this thing down?'