Ludwig walked slowly, taking in the chaos happening around him. He smiled seeing Haze rampage through the city. Truth be told, he never liked Olivia or Orland, so watching them get absolutely demolished by Haze was something that brought him deep satisfaction.

He slowly approached Ulmak, who was trying to recover. His ribs and arm were broken. He groaned in pain, leaning on the stone pillar, attempting to get back to his feet.

“Bravo!” Ludwig approached him, clapping slowly and methodically.

Ulmak readied his spear, pointing it towards Ludwig.

“Whoa, relax! I’m only here to congratulate you.” Ludwig raised his hands. “Well, not you specifically. I mean the victor.”

“Why are they fighting?” Ulmak asked as groaned in pain. “Isn’t he one of your guys?”

“Well, yes, he was. But he tricked me. You see, he was colluding with certain hostile powers who wished to bring harm to the Undercity. As such, the king ordered Olivia, Orland, and Nolan to kill him.” Ludwig explained. “Frankly, I liked Haze. He was strong, real strong. Strong enough to win this competition,” Ludwig sighed, scratching his head. “It’s a shame that you let that boy win.”

“What do you mean?” Ulmak asked.

“Oh, well, there’s only one winner,” Ludwig smiled.

“That’s fine. I don’t care about the victory. I already got what I wanted to achieve here,” Ulmak stood up, looking at his spear.

“Ahh, yes, your soul. Congratulations on that!” Ludwig clapped, “Soul,” he said, summoning his spear to his side. “I see the two of us wield the same weapon,” he stated, flipping around his weapon. “At least, at this level.”

Ludwig grinned.

“Why do you think we manifest our weapons based on our souls? What do you think determines the shape of our soul? Well, I, for one, think that our manifested weapons represent our ego. Their shape and function are everything we are right now, everything we know and see. Did you know that there is another weapon we contractors can summon? We call it the true soul. What do you think that’s about? Well, to put it simply, it’s the true shape of our soul, our most primal shape, our deepest nature,” Ludwig explained, pacing back and forth. “Care for a demonstration?” he asked.

Ulmak reluctantly nodded.

“True soul,” Ludwig called out. His spear turned completely black, its tip melted away, sending drops of black liquid to float through the air. And from these drops, a large crescent blade manifested, forming into a large scythe.

“Behold, this is the true shape of my soul!” Ludwig exclaimed, demonstrating his weapon.

Ulmak’s eyes widened.

“How did you do that?” Ulmak asked.

“You could learn it too, but…” Ludwig grinned.

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“But what?” Ulmak asked.

“But are you willing to do what it takes?” Ludwig retracted his weapon, approaching closer to Ulmak.

“What do you mean?” Ulmak asked, visibly shaken.

“Well, to put it simply, to learn to manifest the true soul, you will need the help of the contractor king,” Ludwig smiled, placing his hand on Ulmak’s shoulder. “And the only way that’s going to happen is if you manage to clear the final challenge. And we both know you can’t kill members of your own team,” Ludwig whispered.

“What are you offering?” Ulmak swallowed.

Ludwig spread his arms, “Simple: all members of my team died or quit. Join my team, kill your leader, or simply take the trophy from him. I don’t care. The thing is, you just have to win,” Ludwig explained, extending his hand to Ulmak.

Ulmak looked at Ludwig. He thought about the time he spent with Zeke. He thought about how he taught the boy how to use the spear. He remembered their promise to remain friends after they win.

Suddenly, a vision flooded his mind. The visage of his parents.

“I need to bury them,” he thought to himself.

“Alright, I’ll do it,” Ulmak shook Ludwig’s hand.

“Splendid!” Ludwig smiled.

“What are you doing?” Elaine asked, appearing seemingly out of nowhere.

“None of your business, stupid girl,” Ludwig growled.

“I’m winning this competition on my own, Elaine,” Ulmak stated, staring coldly at his former companion.

“So, what’s your next move then?” Elaine asked, her gaze as firm as can be.

“I will go through those doors, and I will take whatever’s in there,” Ulmak replied, stepping forward.

“I’m not going to let you do that!” Elaine shouted.

“Yeah?” Ulmak extended his weapon, pointing it at Elaine.

“Yeah,” Elaine charged at Ulmak, detonating a small explosion under her feet, launching herself forwards towards him.

“Magic!” Ulmak thought to himself, with great surprise. “You became a contractor?!” he screamed, swinging his weapon at Elaine.

But Elaine did not reply. Instead, she focused on Ulmak’s movements. She saw how injured he was, barely able to use his weapon.

“Soul,” she called forth her saber and thrust it towards Ulmak.

Ulmak narrowly avoided, gripping his stomach as he groaned.

“To think that you were able to summon your soul right after becoming a contractor. It appears that you are far more talented than me.” Ulmak said, visibly shaken. “However, talent isn’t everything. There are some things that only come with experience.

“I invoke,” Ulmak said, calling forth an invocation that creeped up his arms and legs, covering them completely in an armored shell. A mask formed on Ulmak’s face, decking the lower left quarter of it with a sharp rectangular jaw.

Elaine started shaking after seeing Ulmak in this demonic state.

“I’m sorry Elaine, but there are things in life that you simply cannot overcome,” Ulmak said, his voice becoming more distorted by the second.

“I know,” Elaine replied. “I can do this, Zeke!” she thought to herself. “I Invoke!” She screamed, as her arms and legs, up to her knees and elbows, became engulfed in a warm fire, creating an armor that appeared like the petals of a flower, or feathers of a bird.

She extended her weapon in preparation to attack, but before she had the chance to make her first move, Ulmak cast a spell, launching himself towards her.

He struck Elaine with the pole of his spear, knocking her into the wall behind her. In response, Elaine cast magic throwing fireballs directly at Ulmak.

However, Ulmak did not waver. Fire was the most common elemental type for a contractor. As such, Ulmak had plenty of experience dealing with fire magic.

Ulmak drew a line on the ground with his spear, raising a stone barrier to block Elaine’s attacks. Then he fired off magic of his own, summoning two stone pillars that he launched at Elaine to break her focus.

Ulmak charged at Elaine, manifesting an armor made of stone around his body. He knocked her into the wall again, this time using his fist. Elaine punched back, striking Ulmak’s face, but her attacks had little to no effect.

And just as she squirmed to recompose herself and back away, Ulmak thrust his spear, piercing the girl through the stomach.

“Ulmak,” she whispered.

“I know,” Ulmak said with a heavy heart, “from the very start of this fight, you were not set on hurting me. Yet I could not say the same.”

“I wonder,” Ulmak pondered. “Who will I see the next time I look in the mirror?”