"Johan Von Matilda... but, how can you see ?" Velmire asked, his voice filled with pure shock. This was the man he least expected to et—ever.
Johan moved his hand from his forehead, raising both hands toward the sky. "Spirit Pact: Contract."
Johan didn't bother replying, forming a purple-colored contract piece of paper out of nowhere—
"I, Johan Von Matilda, shall revive you and tell you everything I know about the man who attacked you. In return, you will carry out the requests I ask of you. I will ensure that these tasks never harm you, your loved ones, or the Crimson Empire. You, Velmire Sevarin, shall fulfill them to the best of your ability. Even a single mont of conscious refusal... will result in imdiate death."
Johan spoke loudly toward the purple sheet, as if it were a microphone. The contract glowed violently.
Velmire's eyes widened, staring strangely at Johan and the floating piece of parchnt.
It was already bizarre that Johan could even find and see him... but to know about a man like him, possess the ability to revive the dead, and create a contract that could kill him?
He grew more suspicious by the second. Johan was, after all, famously known as more of a con artist.
Johan finally looked at Velmire, his eyes distant. "I owe you a lot... for helping with Alya. That's why I'm doing this. That's why I'm trusting you. I hope you can trust enough too..."
He knew this manipulation technique from back ho—he used it repeatedly on his sister. Reminding soone of a shared mory... it pulled out the emotions they felt back then, making them more likely to agree to your request.
Velmire's eyes softened. Truth be told, he respected Johan—respected him the most.
Johan was the man who chose to sacrifice everything dear to him to save a world that hated his guts. If Johan had chosen not to sacrifice it all—his Alya—then the world would've long ended.
Velmire, suppressing the surge of emotion, spoke in a forced calm voice, "The requests... are they about Alya? I know what happened in court... Don't tell you're planning to unseal her. I will never—"
"It's not. I would've never sealed her in the first place if all I wanted was to unseal her. This is about Lucifer... the man you fought," Johan said calmly, spacing out each word, letting them sink in.
Velmire's pupils dilated. "Then what about the aura of death everyone's talking about!?" He tried to suppress his curiosity about Lucifer, but that was what concerned him the most.
That man—Lucifer—was strong, no doubt. Strong enough to end the world. But after fighting him once, Velmire was confident he had a better chance now. He could rally all the Mantles, seek help from the Divine Generals of the Aurelian Empire, and call upon the other Holy Dragons.
There was a real chance they could win... if he just sealed Kratos first.
But with Alya... he couldn't take any risks.
Thousands of mories surged in his mind, his eyes reddening.
"I'm able to use a part of her strength... I am becoming death. You can already see the changes in my body, right?" Johan said patiently, flashing a smug, all-knowing smile.
Velmire's eyes widened. He focused on Johan's body. Yes—the change in his Aether and physique was unmistakable.
Johan released a bit of his aura—an unmistakable aura of death.
Velmire imdiately believed him.
"...Then it's even worse. You're no better than the Goddess of Death," Velmire said, hesitant.
"Do you want to take a gamble here? Or let Lucifer kill everyone? Die here without ever confessing to Orihi? Let the Crimson Empire fall? You and I both know Orihi's not nearly as capable as you. The Empire of Love will beco part of the Aurelian Empire sooner or later. Queen Lovia, that so-called goddess you admire, is just a brat—easy to manipulate or kill."
Johan cut straight to the point.
Velmire bit his lip, his expression hardening. "Tell about Lucifer first. Then I'll sign." He exhaled deeply. Johan was still the sa old ruthless man he'd known—
An undeniably evil man... with a good heart.
'He couldn't have betrayed Alya like this otherwise... Or maybe he's just an evil scum who sees the world only through a lens of maximum profit. If he truly wanted to save Alya, wouldn't he have abandoned all power instead?' Velmire thought, unable to make sense of Johan's contradictions.
Johan smiled knowingly, his voice turning cold. "Lucifer is the King of the Devils. The negativity of the world. In the Bible, he's said to be Ymir's negativity... but no. He's more than that. He's a part of Ymir's soul—not a byproduct of it."
Velmire's eyes widened.
'How can soone even know this kind of thing!?' Demons were humanity's greatest threat—humans, elves, dwarves, dragons. Thousands of wars had been fought against them.
And those demons were led by their evolved, deadlier form—Devils.
Even now, in this so-called peaceful century (aside from human-on-human conflict, at least), no one had seen a Devil in person. Yet the myths persisted. Not to ntion... it was proven that Alistar was an organization run by Devils, so they did exist.
'Even a Stage-0 Demon required the full might of a Holy Dragon to defeat... and I fought the King of Devils? No wonder...' Velmire's face tensed, his breath growing heavier.
He couldn't ignore this threat. If Johan was telling the truth, humanity would be wiped out.
Johan nodded, satisfied by the reaction. "I'll tell you the rest after you sign the pact. You see, then you can trust more—because I literally won't be able to lie to you." (Even though I didn't lie once till now.) Johan used the oldest trick in the book—cliffhanger.
Velmire finally exhaled and gave a slow nod. The purple paper flew instantly into his hand. With his finger, he signed—
Velmire Sevarin
The sheet then glided back to Johan, who signed it with his real na—
Johan Von Matilda
And with that, the contract exploded into a cloud of shimring purple particles, which scattered into nothing.
Johan's smile widened.
Until—
"By the way... did you ever even love Alya? Did you want to save the world from the reincarnation of the Goddess of Death before it fully manifested? Or was it just to avoid the risk of losing power and going against the entire world? I could understand either reason," Velmire asked with a calm curiosity.
He had wanted to know the answer to this for the longest ti.
Johan's eyes turned red, his nostrils flaring. For the first ti since arriving here—
He felt this much anger.
It wasn't just 'his' rage. It was Johan's mories overwhelming Jas in Johan. The hundreds of flashbacks he already had in just few days were enough to give him an answer.
Author's Note: Guys, I think I cooked good in the next Chapter, it's beautiful, I am literally jumping all over my room. It was a good day. Idc anymore. This book is gonna be aweso. And damn, Tbate is ending I just learned, feels like the end of an era.
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