Chapter 151 - - Contract
Turning around, Talon completely ignored the guards sitting behind him and focused solely on Acrypha. For him, she was far more worth his time than all of these idiots combined. If anything, she was perhaps the person worth most of his time in this world.
"From what I can see, there are 70 of them. Most of them are level 10-13 with a few being level 14 and 15. They have decent weapons too. They aren't weak by this world's standards."
"Yeah… Perhaps from all the hunting they did." Talon said as he looked up again. "But, what does that have to do with anything?"
"Simple, why don't you make use of this additional power? You can make them work for you and benefit from them instead of simply killing them off. I believe that would be a better way to punish them for what they did." She explained.
"Hmm, that isn't a bad idea. But, how am I supposed to control them? Even if I scare them into submission. One of them will probably try to do something bad and I will end up having to deal with him." Talon replied with a shrug.
"That's not hard. Just bind them with a contract." Acrypha replied.
"A contract? Wait, you mean a contract similar to the one you tried on me?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Exactly, that one. By the way, my offer is still present, you can accept it whenever you want." The beauty said in a mischievous tone as she licked her lips.
But, Talon ignored that look and thought about her words for a second. "I thought making a contract is something only you can do."
"No, every single creature that has the Core Dimension's blessing can offer a contract to another creature. But, as I said before, a contract is only activated once the second party accepts it with a full understanding of what it offers."
"Wow, to think that is true. Well, that makes it perfect then. How do I initiate a contract?" Talon asked. "Wait, don't tell me… Do I have to kiss them?!"
Recalling what happened the first time he met Acrypha, she kissed him deeply to initiate the contract.
'Blurgh, no please…' Just imagining it made Talon shudder.
"No, you don't have to kiss them hahaha. All you have to do is just touch their foreheads, think of the contract you want to offer, and channel Aetheris to your fingertips. That would trigger it and all that's left is for them to accept it." She said.
"Then, why did you…" Talon opened his mouth to ask before he shook his head. "Not very much, ignore what I said."
"Hm?" Acrypha raised an eyebrow in confusion.
With that, Talon turned around and stared at the group coldly. "Who of you want to die first?" He asked.
But, no one immediately answered for obvious reasons. But, Talon predicted that and continued speaking.
"So, I assume none of you want to die?"
The guards looked down as they faintly nodded.
"Ok, fine, let me give you a choice instead. If you don't want to die then you only have one single thing to do… Work for me." He said.
"Huh? Work for you?"
"That's an option?"
"We can do that?"
Questions and murmurs echoed in the place, but, Talon stopped them all with one single clap.
"Yes, you have that choice now. My offer is this: I will bind you all under a contract with me. In the contract, you will unconditionally serve me, do what I must tell you without any questions, and accept whatever I say as the absolute order you must adhere to. In other words, you will be my puppets to control."
His words made the guards frown visibly. No matter how they thought about it, what he said sounded like slavery rather than a contractual job. It was perhaps the same thing as what Cha Kwang was doing to them.
"But, in return, I can guarantee you a normal life. You can live like everyone else, eat like everyone else, and do what everyone else does. I won't kill you or beat you up unless there is a good reason for it and apart from the times I order you to do something, you're free to do what you want the rest of the time." Talon explained.
He knew that with what he said at first, they were not going to accept the offer willingly which is an important part of the contract. So, he put that part as bait so that whatever benefits he would give them will sound way better than it actually is.
It was a simple trick Talon learned to manipulate how people think and perceive things.
"Oh…"
Much to his expectations, the expression on the guards' faces changed again as they started slowly contemplating the offer to themselves. At that moment, Talon knew that he needed to hammer the last nail in the coffin.
"You told me that you wanted to atone for your sins, no? Then, what better time to start than now? Instead of burning you all to death right here and now, I'm giving you a choice to live life better."
"... We…"
The men were completely speechless. In a few seconds, what they assumed was a horrible offer became something really convincing. Talon had somehow turned it into a viable option for them to consider.
'They're going to get convinced.' He thought to himself as he squinted his eyes while watching their reactions change.
Meanwhile, Acrypha watched all of that occur with an impressed look on her face. 'The ability to toy with your targets like this is a terrifying weapon. He really learned how to control others using words alone. I didn't even teach him that. Where did he learn it from?'
Acrypha still recalled when she first met the young man in front of her. He was an innocent and cheerful human who had no clue about anything. In a sense, he was a white sheet of paper. But, with time, Acrypha watched that white sheet of paper change colors every now and then before returning to being a white sheet of paper on its own.
This was one of the moments where his color changed and it always impressed her.
She never understood how someone could go through all of that and still remain the same person the entire time. Even she couldn't do such a thing and yet Talon was the best example that it is possible.
''Perhaps that's why I found him to be too intriguing. No one other than him can stay the same no matter what happens.' She thought to herself.
"So, what is your choice? I don't have the entire day. You have 10 seconds to give me an answer. Who wants to serve me and who wants to burn in hell?"
Hearing that, the men quickly panicked as they started lifting their hands in the air.
"Me, sir! I want to live!"
"Me too!!"
"Count me in!"
"I would never choose death over anything else!"
In a few short seconds, all the guards lifted their hands as they accepted the offer. None of them refused and that surprised Talon. Even with how convincing he sounded, he expected a few of them to still think that dying is better than becoming his puppets. But, he clearly underestimated how much these idiots valued their lives.
'Well, I can't complain, the more the merrier.' He shrugged to himself as he approached the first man and slowly pointed his finger at his forehead.
"This is a contract I will initiate using Aetheris. If any of you try to break this contract, you will die a very painful death. So don't even try to mess around. Understood?"
"Y-Yes, sir! *Gulp*"
"Good." With that, Talon closed his eyes for a second as he thought of all the rules he wanted to add to the contract. From 'not harming any individual he tells them not to touch' to 'Doing everything he asks immediately without any questions'. He made sure to think of every possible loophole that the contract could have and immediately closed it.
Then, when he was certain that everything was perfect, he channeled Aetheris to his body and then to his fingertips. Meanwhile, the man felt a cold sensation pierce through his skull. It wasn't painful or uncomfortable but still a very weird sensation.
[Ding!]
[A contract has been offered.]
[Do you want to accept?]
[Yes.] [No.]
Met with those choices, the man hesitated for a second as he felt extremely nervous. It almost looked like he was about to sell his soul forever and he didn't know how to feel about it. But, in the end, this was clearly the better choice.
'I'm going to be fine… I accept.'
[Ding!]
[Contract has been accepted.]
[Ding!]
[Contract successfully established.]
At that moment, both Talon and the guard felt a very faint connection emerge between them. It wasn't anything noticeable in normal cases but due to the circumstances, they felt it at that moment.
'Ok, he accepted. I don't know how I can feel this but somehow I can.' Talon shrugged as he moved to the next one and did the same.
Then, slowly, one by one, he initiated a contract with every single one of Cha Kwang's men. It took a few minutes but when he was done, the entire group was completely under his control.
"Ok, time to try this contract thing." He murmured to himself.
"Just say anything you want them to do and they will do it. You won't need to use Aetheris to make them abide either." Acrypha said.
"Ok, my first order for you is… I want you to free Soomin and Shin-Il and all the women you have imprisoned in here and bring them here now." He said.
The moment he finished those words, all the guards stood up at the same time before they all scattered away. They didn't even hesitate for a second to do it.
"Wow… This feels a little weird. To easily control people with mere words… What a power!" He exclaimed. "Thank you for the help, Acrypha. This is far more worth it than killing them." He said as he smiled at Acrypha.
"Any time. If I can help you with anything, I will always do." She replied with a soft look on her face.
Seeing that beautiful smile he loved to look at, Talon could only sigh.
"... Are you trying to make me fall in love with you?" He asked jokingly.
"Maybe… Who knows?"
"Have mercy on me, will you? I have a fragile heart."
The two stared at each other before they started laughing.
A//N: Don't forget to support the book if you enjoyed reading ??