Emily followed his gaze as it shifted toward the pendant resting around her neck. Her expression lit up.
"Oh, right!" she said. "Come inside the Soulbind Pendant. There’s something I need to show you two."
They nodded.
Isaac and Alice already had an idea as to what she wanted to show them.
Before entering, they placed the pendant on the back of the Deathwood Guardian.
It stood tall and unmoving, its black bark-like body thick with moss and mana lines. Even in its stillness, it gave off a quiet sense of threat.
Leaving the pendant unattended like that wasn’t normally advised, but with the Deathwood Guardian watching over it, they didn’t need to worry.
Then, all three of them touched the pendant. A pulse of light swept over them. In the next moment, they were gone.
—
Inside the Soulbind Pendant was a small home, modestly built with simple comforts. The living room welcomed them with polished wooden floors, soft chairs, and a round table. Outside, through the clear window, they could already see the green field.
Emily didn’t waste time.
"Alice," she said as they stood in the room. "I need to revive my summon. Can you do it?"
Alice nodded without hesitation. "Yeah, I can."
Isaac raised a brow. She needed a Divine Stone Fragment to revive anything, and they didn’t have that.
Did Alice get it from somewhere?
Alice noticed his curiosity. She crossed her arms. A sense of smugness flashed through her gaze.
She didn’t answer his curiosity. Instead, she turned and walked ahead. It was obvious that she wasn’t going to tell him. Revenge, clearly.
He let it go for now. He would find the answer when they use resurrection on the Champion rank summon.
They stepped outside onto the small, open field that stretched around the house. The wind was soft here, and it was evening, just like outside.
Emily led them toward the edge of the field.
There, on the grass, lay the remnants of two bodies. One was Guardian Machina, broken and burnt out. The other was her Champion-rank summon. Its form was still intact but lifeless.
She looked down at both. Then back at the others.
"First, I’m going to make a contract with Guardian Machina, and then Alice will revive the summon. If we wait too long, their souls might vanish."
She was holding two items in her hand. One looked like a swirling green orb, mist twisting inside its smooth surface. The other was a flat piece of parchment, glowing faintly with silver lines.
Phantom Core Extractor, and Celestial Spirit Pact Token.
She knelt beside Guardian Machina. Then, she pressed the Phantom Core Extractor against its chest.
A moment passed.
Then the green mist inside the orb began to flow outward. It moved in thin tendrils, seeping into the metal corpse and curling around its broken core.
Isaac watched carefully. The process of making a contract wasn’t something he had seen up close before.
From what he knew, the chance of success depended on luck, and the level difference between the user and the target.
Emily, though, didn’t look concerned. Her expression was calm, and steady. As if she already knew it would work. Perhaps, it was because she had talent as a summoner.
After a minute, a light flickered inside Guardian Machina’s chest.
A pale smoke-like form began to rise out of the metal body.
It shimmered like a ghost, shaped roughly like the guardian it had once been.
The spirit opened its eyes and stared directly at the three of them. Then, with a growl, it began to move forward.
Before it could attack, Emily lifted the Celestial Spirit Pact Token.
The silver glow pulsed once.
The ghost froze. Its limbs stiffened. Then its body flashed brightly—too bright to look at directly—and dissolved into dust.
Isaac blinked. "Where did it go?"
"Here," Emily said, raising her other hand. A translucent card had appeared in her palm. "When I use the Celestial Spirit Pact Token, the spirit is stored in my mind inside a card. I can summon them from it, but I can’t put them back once they’re out."
He leaned slightly forward. "So this is like a one-way gate."
She nodded. "Exactly."
It was similar to the card he had received. It seemed he got that because Emily had a card too.
Emily focused her mana and activated the card.
It glowed, then broke into a shower of blue light. From the center, a form began to emerge. Metal limbs, sharp armor, glowing blue eyes. Guardian Machina stood tall once again, kneeling on one knee in front of Emily.
It bowed.
"That went smoother than I expected," Isaac said.
Emily gave a small smile. "I think... maybe because I’m a natural summoner, things like this come easier."
He nodded. That made sense. There were certain instincts, and internal talents, that couldn’t be taught.
Alice stepped forward and looked at the second body. "So this one... the Champion-ranked summon. You want me to bring her back?"
Emily hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Yes."
Alice knelt beside the summon.
She took out a white stone from her pocket.
She held it, her hands clasped, and closed her eyes. Her mana surged, silent and slow, flowing from her body into the summon.
Isaac stepped back, giving her space. He could already feel the intensity of the magic gathering around her.
Divine presence appeared around Alice.
A faint golden light began to shimmer from her hands.
It gathered like a thread and sunk into the summon’s body. The energy pulsed once. Then twice. Then, slowly, the summon’s chest began to rise.
Its eyes fluttered open.
Emily’s face lit up in relief. "You did it!"
"Yes." Alice stood, a bit pale. "But I can’t do that again anytime soon."
Emily ran to her summon, checking it over quickly before standing back up. "Thank you."
"Don’t mind it."
"So?" Isaac stood beside Alice while Emily was checking her new summons. "Where did you get the Divine Stone Fragment from?"