Chapter 157: Forging the Familiar Contract

Boom—

With a violent explosion, Si Kongxu finally crashed heavily onto the ground amidst the blast.

The sensation was akin to being heavily struck by a speeding train, with the added misfortune of landing precisely on top of a landmine buried beneath his feet.

That was precisely Si Kongxu's current predicament. Not only had he endured the immense impact of falling from a great height, but he had also suffered the explosive force of what felt like a landmine detonating. It was injuries compounding upon injuries!

As the smoke and dust kicked up by the explosion gradually dissipated, Si Kongxu's figure was finally revealed.

Surprised by his sudden appearance, the surrounding boys and girls curiously crowded around him, gazing at him with the look one might reserve for small animals at a zoo.

However, covered in wounds as he was, Si Kongxu was in no condition to care. Lying flat on the soft turf in a semi-conscious state, he quietly waited for his "Giant's Resilience" to take effect.

"H... Human?"

"I've never seen that kind of attire before!"

"Could he be a commoner?"

"Must be. I've never seen any noble clothes like that."

Presently, whispers rippled through the crowd, everyone full of curiosity about how Si Kongxu had materialized.

"Louise, why on earth did you summon a commoner with your familiar summoning?" At that moment, a red-haired girl chimed in teasingly, her words provoking a burst of laughter from everyone present, save for one girl who kept her eyes fixed intently on Si Kongxu.

"I... Is this supposed to be the sacred, beautiful, and powerful familiar?" Standing before Si Kongxu, the young maiden addressed as Louise was appraising him with her wide, watery eyes.

She was about Si Kongxu's age, around fifteen or sixteen, and her petite figure was clad in a white shirt and a grey pleated skirt.

She possessed peach-pink hair, fair skin, and an exquisite doll-like face, making her look exceptionally cute.

"I... I just made a mistake!" Hearing the mockery of her classmates, Louise retorted angrily in a voice like silver bells.

"A mistake? Louise, you always seem to make mistakes, don't you?"

"Truly deserving of the name Louise the Zero, living up to everyone's expectations! Hahaha—"

Someone uttered those words, and the crowd erupted into laughter once more.

"All of you, shut up!" Louise roared, glaring with her large, teary eyes before shifting her gaze beyond the crowd to a middle-aged man wearing robes and holding a wooden staff.

"Professor Colbert!"

"What is it?" As the surrounding crowd willingly parted, the middle-aged man walked from the outer edge to stand before Louise.

"Please let me summon again!"

"That simply won't do," Colbert shook his head.

"What? Why?!"

"This ritual is a sacred event that determines the fate of a lifetime. To summon again would be the utmost blasphemy against the ritual!" Colbert said in an instructional tone. "Regardless of whether you two are a good match, he is now your familiar."

Seemingly unwilling to accept this, Louise continued, "But using a commoner as a familiar—that's never happened before!"

"Whatever his status may be, the matter is settled. Miss Louise, please proceed with the ritual!" Colbert's tone carried a hint of exasperation.

"Ugh! With... with him?" Expressions of shock and shyness crossed Louise's face as she gave Si Kongxu a light kick.

"Do not dawdle. If this continues, you truly will be expelled, Miss Louise!"

Hearing the word expulsion, a defeated expression finally settled over Louise's face. "I understand..." she murmured.

With that, she glared fiercely at the motionless Si Kongxu lying on the ground, biting her soft lower lip while the tips of her ears turned faintly red.

"Well done, Louise!"

The onlookers continued to jeer, but Louise no longer had the heart to mind them.

Slowly approaching the semi-conscious Si Kongxu, she leaned down and whispered in a voice audible only to herself, "You should be grateful. Having a noblewoman do something like this for you is something you'd normally never encounter in a lifetime!"

Then, propping up the prone Si Kongxu, she said with a solemn air, "My name is Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière."

"Pentagram governing the five forces, bestow your blessing upon him and make him my familiar."

Slowly closing her eyes, Louise leaned in toward Si Kongxu's cheek. A moment later, the semi-conscious Si Kongxu felt his lips brush against something soft.

The sensation was remarkably pleasant.

Yet, that softness lingered for only a brief moment before vanishing.

Louise pulled back from Si Kongxu. Although her cheeks were flushed pink, the blush faded almost instantly.

"Th-Th-This, this definitely isn't my first kiss! Right, exactly, he's just a familiar! Kissing a familiar absolutely doesn't count!"

Louise's mind was in utter turmoil. From childhood to this very day, this was unequivocally her first kiss with a member of the opposite sex, leaving the slightly tsundere Louise with no choice but to desperately comfort herself inwardly.

"Very well, the contract is successfully completed," Colbert announced.

"Mm... What's going on..." At that moment, Si Kongxu, who had been in a semi-conscious haze, finally drifted back to wakefulness. He blinked sleepily at Louise, who was closest to him, and muttered.

"You've become my familiar, that's what's going on." Louise gave Si Kongxu a tap with her small leather shoe, clearly still nursing her petty grievances.

"Familiar..." As his consciousness cleared further, Si Kongxu abruptly snapped upright and demanded of Louise, "What is your name?!"

"Such insolence! Is that any way to speak to your master?" Louise glared at him with her pretty eyes before declaring, "Remember this: this young lady is Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière, your master. And you are the familiar summoned by me; you must never disobey your master's commands from now on, understand?!"

"Louise! Could it be that I..." Instantly, Si Kongxu shifted his gaze to the back of his left hand. At that exact moment, an overwhelming wave of heat surged through his entire body.

Familiar with the original work, Si Kongxu naturally recognized the beautiful girl named Louise; she was the female protagonist of The Familiar of Zero. The searing heat he felt right now was the direct result of forming the familiar contract with Louise, as the familiar crest was being branded onto him!

"As expected! I..." Before Si Kongxu could finish, the strange warmth instantly flared into a scalding blaze, as though he had plunged straight from a hot spring into molten lava.

"Ah..." Cupping the back of his left hand, Si Kongxu cried out. At the same time, an inexplicable set of characters and symbols burned themselves into the back of his left hand. Having already sustained heavy injuries, his body could no longer bear the strain. He staggered, collapsed onto the ground, and plunged deep into unconsciousness...