Ch.211211. Contract with the Phoenix (2)

As the doors of the temple opened, the nun slowly walked inside.

Flaming walls and pillars surrounded her, flames that seemed alive, yet strangely, they weren’t hot. Rather, a gentle warmth enveloped her, seeping deep within.

And at the center of the temple, a young girl was waiting for her.

“Who? How could a young girl be in this place?”

This was completely different from what Sister Teresa had imagined.

She had expected that any being she would encounter in this sacred temple would surely have a majestic and fearsome appearance.

But the girl before her, contrary to Teresa’s expectations, wore a warm and comforting smile.

Her twilight-colored hair shimmered as it fell past her shoulders, and her red eyes were as soft as the sunset.

She was wearing ceremonial robes that looked modest yet exuded dignity—robes that she had barely managed to obtain from the Dragon God after throwing a tantrum and begging for help, bowing her head so low to her friend the Dragon God that she showed her crown. She stood proudly barefoot, fitting for the ancient temple setting.

‘Great! I’m wearing the ceremonial robes Bahamut gave me, and I’ve adjusted to match the temple atmosphere! The rest depends on my acting skills!’

Yes, for this contract, Phoenix had prepared several rehearsals just like Bahamut.

This temple guided by Bahamut, and the attire she was currently wearing—Phoenix herself had constructed and designed everything specifically for this contract, and even asked Bahamut himself to review it, preparing the best possible venue she could.

It had all been very sudden, and Bahamut had only recently discovered Sister Teresa, so there wasn’t much time. But at the mention of a new contractor, Phoenix’s eyes had lit up, and she had endured unreasonable overtime work to meet the deadline. Though divinely exhausted, she hid her fatigue to create the perfect contract scene, pretending to greet the nun with the innocent face of a child who had been playing and happened to meet her by chance.

“Finally, you have come. My friend. One who has been guided by Bahamut.”

Her voice was clear and melodious, not revealing the exhaustion from working non-stop to complete the temple, and somehow exuded an aura of dignity and mystery.

Sister Teresa, unaware of Phoenix’s inner thoughts, was left speechless when Phoenix displayed this light show of dignity, staring blankly at her.

Seeing this reaction, Phoenix clasped her hands together and approached with a bright smile.

“I am… the one people call the Phoenix. My name is Phoenix. You are a guest who has come to my temple.”

“You are… the Phoenix? Where is that majestic form?”

Upon revealing her identity, the nun still clung to the one remaining piece of doubt in her mind, questioning whether the girl before her was truly Phoenix.

She might have thought this could be an impersonation, but considering this temple and the fact that Bahamut himself had acted as an intermediary, who would dare impersonate Phoenix!

Even the doubting nun inwardly acknowledged that the girl before her must be Phoenix, but she held onto her final shred of rationality to confirm.

“This is a form I’ve taken to appear comfortably before many humans. If you wish, I can take the form of Phoenix that you desire.”

“Then…”

Phoenix tilted her head at the nun’s question, then gently smiled.

While saying she could transform into her true form at any time…

“But I don’t want to. I could be your friend, after all.”

“Friend…?”

She said she would rather be Sister Teresa’s friend than appear in her true form.

“Yes. You’ve left behind so much, haven’t you? I should at least accompany you as your friend moving forward.”

Phoenix gently took Sister Teresa’s hand.

The nun felt disconnected from reality as she felt the baby-soft touch against her own hands, roughened by the hardships of the apocalypse.

She wondered if she had misunderstood Phoenix’s words—a being called a god was claiming to be her friend.

But her dazed mind was instantly awakened by Phoenix’s next words.

“The moment this contract is fulfilled, you won’t have to be alone anymore. The path you walk isn’t solitary. As my duty to the contracted one, I will always watch over you.”

“Ah. Aah…”

It had been so long since she’d heard such kind words in this apocalypse, and she was amazed that these words came not from another human, but from Phoenix, who claimed to be a god.

She hadn’t expected Phoenix to be so gentle, but that gentleness was melting Teresa’s frozen heart.

In that warmth, like being in a mother’s embrace, Teresa was overcome with hot tears, wanting nothing more than to throw herself into those arms and cry out “mother.”

“Now, it’s time to form our contract.”

The moment Phoenix finished speaking, Teresa felt a powerful force flowing through her body from the hand Phoenix was holding.

Warm flames traveled through her veins and spread throughout her body.

Her rough, scarred skin began to burn, and flames started to rise from various parts of her body, yet she felt no pain.

This was the moment Phoenix had spoken of—the time to form the contract—and Teresa swallowed hard, nodded, and opened her mouth.

“What should I do?”

“It’s simple. Give me your name, and tell me the ideal world you wish for.”

“Ah…”

Teresa hesitated for a moment.

She was so close.

Just a little more, and if she told Phoenix her dream and the ambition she wished to fulfill, that ideal would appear before her.

But precisely because of that, doubts and hesitation began to rise in her mind—did she even deserve to dream of such an ideal?

“I…”

At that moment, the countless flames burning in the temple enveloped the entire structure and emitted light.

Phoenix smiled gently from within and spoke.

“I heard you have a god you already believe in. Perhaps some of that faith still remains?”

“Yes… I still believe in the Lord. I thought I had abandoned all faith, but it’s still difficult.”

“Then, for this contract, rather than appearing as a friend, I’ll proceed in the form you desire.”

At that moment, all the flames gathered in one place, and the girl’s form began to disappear.

The temple was engulfed in darkness, and within that darkness shone a brilliant sun—the Phoenix.

Teresa felt as though she would be blinded by the intense light, and could barely make out the form, but she realized that Phoenix’s true form had appeared before her.

“One who seeks to form a contract. Speak your name.”

“Teresa. Please call me Teresa Marie.”

“Then, now look not at the god you believe in, but at yourself. You have been abandoned in this world. But I have seen you. My friend Bahamut believed in you and guided you here.”

In that moment, an intensely vivid image of the Phoenix appeared in the nun’s mind.

A massive being reborn from flames.

Wings made not of feathers but of fire, a sacred form repeating endless cycles of life and death.

“I am Phoenix. The symbol of immortality, one who can burn everything in the world. I will burn you. At the same time, I will make you be reborn.”

Teresa was momentarily gripped by fear at those powerful words.

But she no longer retreated.

“Are you truly a god?”

“I don’t know. But I will not abandon you, my friend. I will fulfill my duty as a contractor.”

Those words moved Teresa’s heart.

Once, she had lived for her faith, but there was no salvation even in this cruel apocalypse, and her god had abandoned her.

But the Phoenix before her had chosen her as a contractor.

Teresa removed the cross she had been wearing and threw it to the floor.

Then she stretched out her hand.

“I accept.”

In that moment, Phoenix’s flames engulfed her.

And Phoenix undid her transformation, returning to her original form.

“You are now my priestess, Phoenix’s priestess. My friend Bahamut called his the Dragon’s Priestess, so I should think of a new title as well.”

As her body became one with the flames, a new name was given to her.

And a new destiny began.

‘Wow. Was I like this when I was conducting the contract? How embarrassing. Hey.’

Of course, Bahamut, who had been mediating and silently watching from the side, was being forcibly assaulted by memories of seeing a scene identical to his own contract.

Let’s move past this self-inflicted suffering.

“With this, the contract is established.”

“That’s right. The contract is complete. Good job, everyone.”

Bahamut and Phoenix spoke casually about the completion of the contract, while Teresa, whose hair had turned orange like the twilight due to the contract’s influence, kept her eyes closed, seemingly enjoying the flame-like warmth she felt within.

‘It feels as if something that was weighing heavily on me has disappeared… Ah… Is this the power of Phoenix? I feel a power that completely fills my being and overflows…’

She felt an incredible power.

Her heart was burning passionately, and she felt like she could achieve her long-dreamed ideal right now.

In that intense sensation of something returning to its rightful place, Teresa thought:

‘Yes. I’ve been waiting for this moment of rebirth all along…!’

She believed she was born solely for this day.

She thought she had lived so tenaciously until now for this contract.

‘Now the ideal I envision will soon become reality.’

And for that…

“I’ve decided, Phoenix.”

“Huh? What have you decided?”

She needed to establish the foundation first.

Although she had contracted with Phoenix, her territory consisted of just one ruined church, and her followers were only the powerless children she cared for.

Even if Phoenix’s power was absolute, not everyone would follow Phoenix alone.

In other words, Teresa also needed to reign as a power like the Saint of Orleans, and the only means to quickly gather followers was:

“I will create a religion that worships you as a god, Phoenix.”

“…What? Religion?”

To use religious fanaticism.

The foundation was already there, only lacking a center, and Phoenix’s existence was already imprinted on Europe.

The moment someone gave it a push, the worship of Phoenix would begin to burn throughout Europe, and that faith could soon become Teresa’s foundation.

“The name of that religion will be the Phoenix Cult. A religion that believes in the immortal Phoenix. A religion that believes in fire.”

She seemed to have already thought of the religion’s name, naming it after Phoenix’s alternative name.

With international reconstruction organizations and many European countries already in the process of rebuilding, the emergence of one religion might not overturn the general trend, but…

‘Starting a religion immediately after forming a contract… She’s exactly like Yuna!’

The problem was that there was a precedent of a religious group actually establishing a country.

Yes, Choi Yu-na, Bahamut’s first contractor and the Dragon’s Priestess, had also started as a religious group and later succeeded in founding a country.

And the apocalypse was not yet over, with variables still remaining.

In this situation, how could one say it was too late?

Using the Phoenix Cult she would establish in Europe, Teresa would:

“Call for revolution. Transformation for our world, sanctions against dictators.”

She would call for revolution.

Naturally, Phoenix, who had contracted with such a Teresa, was alarmed.

“R-Religion? W-What are you saying, Teresa?”

“It’s simple. Yes. Everything is finally returning to how it should be, Phoenix.”

Despite Phoenix’s questioning gaze, Teresa implied that everything was returning to its natural state, and that faith in Phoenix would now be taken for granted.

Yes, she would…

“I will create paradise here in France.”

She would create the Garden of Eden… paradise as described in the Bible.

‘Could Yuna and Seolhwa have somehow fused? No, is this a demon fusion?’

Bahamut inwardly expressed fear at her manic appearance, wondering if Yuna and Seolhwa had somehow performed a demonic fusion, but…

‘Well, Phoenix will handle it.’

He passed all future problems to Phoenix.

Oh, at least Bahamut was capable and revered Phoenix, and had somehow met Phoenix’s requirements!

He could reasonably argue that what followed was not his responsibility.

To put it bluntly, he was passing the bomb…

‘What’s that? I don’t know, it’s scary.’

Phoenix, her brain seemingly destroyed by Teresa’s sudden transformation, could only be dragged along by her eloquence without saying a word.