As mentioned before, Heaven's Strike was a trump-card ultimate skill for the Flügel. Once unleashed, the user would regress to their larval stage and require several years to recover, even with the aid of a healing chamber.
And now, Jibril, defeated by the Holy Sword of the Planet, had regressed to her little-girl state. Her tattered appearance and torn clothes, combined with her childlike body, created a scene that looked vaguely like a crime scene.
"Ugh…"
Thanks to Artoria holding back, Jibril only needed to shake her head a bit before she groggily climbed out of the crater.
Looking down at her small body, she then looked up at Su Mo and the others.
"Did I… lose?" she asked, her tone slightly dazed, as if she was having trouble accepting reality.
Rin Tohsaka: That's right! You lost, and you lost badly. You didn't even get to see Lord Su Mo make a move!
Rin, of course, chose to kick her while she was down. That's what you get for being so arrogant. You picked on the wrong person, didn't you?
She had thought that with Jibril's arrogant personality, she would never admit defeat so easily.
But to her surprise, after only a moment of reflection, the childlike Jibril immediately nodded, acknowledging the fact.
"That's right, I did lose. I lost to this sword."
She looked at the Holy Sword of the Planet in Artoria's hand with curiosity.
"Um… can I have a look?" she asked with surprising familiarity.
Faced with this enemy, Artoria naturally refused.
"No!"
If the Holy Sword were taken, wouldn't that be dangerous?
"Aww… so stingy," Jibril grumbled, then spread her hands and faced Su Mo with an attitude of complete surrender.
"According to our agreement, I am now your property. You can use me however you like. I won't have a single complaint."
After saying this, she shakily gathered the tattered hem of her dress and gave a slight curtsy to the group.
"My name is Jibril. You may all call me that."
Seeing the previously unhinged girl suddenly acting so obedient, everyone was taken aback.
Rin Tohsaka: So obedient all of a sudden. Is it a trap?
Kanae Kocho: It's hard to imagine her arrogant demeanor from before.
Erica Blandelli: What even are these Flügel? Her attitude switched so fast I can't even keep up.
Even Su Mo was slightly surprised.
He scrutinized the small girl before him and spoke.
"You're not planning to go back on your word?"
As far as he knew, the Flügel were not a race that strictly adhered to integrity. Although they rarely lied, it was only natural for their standards to be a bit more flexible when their own lives were on the line.
Faced with Su Mo's question, Jibril proudly puffed out her small chest.
"Of course I thought about backing out! I was planning to run away just now!"
As the one who was invited, she could sever the connection at any time and return to her own world. If she did that, she wouldn't have to worry about the constraints of defeat.
Rin Tohsaka: That's such a shameful thing, so why is she saying it so matter-of-factly?
Rin was shocked by Jibril's thick skin. Could you even say things like that?
Kanae Kocho: In a way, isn't that a form of honesty?
Madoka Kaname: So, why didn't you run away?
Su Mo asked the same question.
And Jibril's answer was…
"I thought about it briefly. If I ran away, you all would probably block me, and I'd never be able to travel to other worlds or witness new powers again, right?"
"In that case, I'd just have to watch you all chat and travel between worlds… How could I stand that!"
The reason she gave was surprisingly practical.
Rin Tohsaka: To be fair, she's right.
Rin Tohsaka: If you really ran away, we definitely wouldn't want to interact with you again. Not only that, we'd warn new members about you.
The chat group was, after all, a place for making friends. Those who came in wanting to dominate everyone would be ostracized by the whole group.
"So this is the result of weighing the pros and cons?" Su Mo looked at Jibril. He could roughly guess why she was willing to become someone else's property just to come into contact with the powers of other worlds.
"You could say that!" Jibril nodded.
"Besides, if Lord Artosh found out I didn't fulfill my duties as the loser, he'd expel me from the Flügel. So, I might as well abide by the agreement."
Saying this, she glanced at Artoria, then back at Su Mo.
"Also, I'm very curious about your views on power and strength! If you could grant me one small request, I'd be willing to obey your commands with all my heart! You can make me do anything you want!"
As she spoke, she purposefully tilted her head up, her large eyes sparkling with anticipation. She clearly wanted something.
Su Mo, of course, wouldn't fall for such a simple trick.
"I don't know what your so-called request is, but since you've already chosen to fulfill our agreement and become my property, you should be obeying my commands anyway. What incentive does your current offer hold?"
Faced with Su Mo's calm retort, Jibril, having failed at acting cute, didn't give up.
"Even if I obey, there's a difference between doing so willingly and unwillingly, right? Aren't you worried I might resist your commands in the future? I might even ruin things for you!" she said, winking slyly.
"It's fine." Su Mo shook his head.
"Huh?" This time it was Jibril's turn to be confused.
"You can try to resist my commands, provided you can."
Seeing Jibril's continued confusion, Su Mo spoke again.
"Jibril, sit."
"Hm? Eh… ah!"
Jibril froze for a moment. Before she could even react, her body had already sat down on its own.
Suddenly sitting on the ground with her legs tucked under her, she looked completely bewildered, unsure of what had just happened.
"What's going on? What happened? My body won't listen to me?!"
After a moment of shock, she immediately looked at Su Mo.
"What did you do?"
"I possess a Divinity related to contracts," Su Mo explained simply. "The promise you made to me is equivalent to signing a contract. Once a contract takes effect, it cannot be violated."
The Boar Incarnation symbolized Verethragna's aspect as the enforcer of contracts. Su Mo had extracted this Authority through a Mythological Art and combined it with his Command Spell system.
Therefore, anyone who made a contract with Su Mo, even a verbal one, would be bound by the Divinity of Mithra.
Now, even though Jibril had only verbally agreed to become Su Mo's property, under the effect of the contract Divinity, she had in fact already become his subordinate and could not refuse his commands.
Of course, the contract's binding wasn't absolute. If one was willing to pay the price, it was possible to break free. However, for Jibril in her childlike state, this was completely impossible. Her power was now only on the level of a Heretic God.
"So you're saying, no matter whether I was willing to abide by the agreement or not, the outcome was set from the very beginning?" Jibril finally realized.
"Yes. You should be glad you made the right choice and don't have to suffer the penalty for breaking your word," Su Mo nodded.
She had delivered herself right to his doorstep. How could he let her leave so easily?
"…Alright!"
Realizing she had no way to resist and no bargaining chips, Jibril's head drooped in dejection.
"Jibril-chan's great failure."
It was over. Not only had she gambled herself away, but she had become a complete prisoner. With her arrogant attitude from before, her new master probably wouldn't tell her what she wanted to know.
Just as she was giving up on negotiations, Su Mo suddenly asked, "What was the request you wanted to make earlier?"
"I wanted to ask you to show me what true power is… That's why I provoked you. If you want to hear the specific reasons, I can tell you everything," Jibril said, her wings drooping.
She had originally intended to probe Su Mo's power by observing him in action. Who knew she would lose before he even made a move? She couldn't really blame her opponent for being too strong; she could only blame herself for being too weak.
"Is that all?" Su Mo asked in response to her words.
"That's all… huh? Lord Su Mo, you mean…?!"
Jibril nodded casually, then realized something mid-sentence. Her eyes widened as she looked at Su Mo, her form of address becoming much more intimate.
"As my property, you have no right to negotiate with me," Su Mo stated. "However, I don't mind occasionally granting the wishes of my subordinates."
As he spoke, he slowly raised his hand.
A torrential flood of magical energy gathered in Su Mo's hand, finally forming a very familiar-looking spear of light.