"...Don't you think this type of contract benefits me more than you?" Asked Alvine with a skeptical air.
"...Sigh, I think it's normal to tell you about the advantages I would have to bring you in this contract. Of course, I also get benefits from it." She explained briefly by keeping her usual expression which showed that she was like a doll devoid of emotion and morality.
But as it was not the first time that Alvine met people like her, he did not care too much; these kinds of people have characteristics that many people do not have, respect for their agreements.
"..."
"So what do you think?"
"...It would be stupid to refuse such an agreement--
"ISN'T IT?!" She jumps on the couch before Alvine takes the mark of his sentence.
"..."
Seeing that everyone noticed her excitement, she sat down while regaining her usual expression.
"Ahem, I mean, of course, it's a contract that deserves to be accepted."
"No, it's too late to pretend to be calm!" Alvine replied when he saw that she pretended to be calm.
-Urgh! It doesn't matter; do you accept my deal or not?"
"...Sigh, so far, I have not stopped following the only path of power. Power, even more powers, again and again. But there's a problem with what you just said."
"...Hm?" She tilts her head with a confused air in the face of Alvine's skeptical looks.
"So far, you have talked about the advantages this contract would bring me, but what about the disadvantages?!"
"...Hm? Disadvantages?"
"Yes! I'm not an idiot who jumps on the first opportunity. You handled your words well by talking about the things I needed. You blackmailed me by exposing my weaknesses; you forced me to come here using this same weakness which is more than an obvious fact; my desire to protect mine.
-Also, my weakness, by demonstrating your authority over the person I considered stronger than me and my allies combined.
-You erased my suspicions by revealing that you are no longer a member of the order who is probably in pursuit of me.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt-But there is a detail you have tried to hide from the beginning. You are not a saint who just wants to do good deeds. And that's the only point and the most embarrassing point; because a deal that is too favorable more often hides hilarious disadvantages!" He ended his speech by listing this point that slightly and momentarily frowned his interlocutor.
"...Ah, I think the term 'disadvantage' is a little reckless. Let's say counterparts instead."
"...counterparts?" Alvine's frown was accentuated when he heard the woman's words before him.
"Sigh, to acquire power and protect your loved ones, you constantly said you were ready to do anything to achieve it. Isn't it hypocritical of you to care about the counterparts as long as these two factors are satisfied, Alvine Dragnar?!" She asked in an icy tone.
"Huh?! No, wait, minute, little--!"
"No, I don't want to wait anymore! Do you want to know about the counterparts? Here they are."
"..."
"First, you despise your powers that go beyond fascination too much. You don't understand the importance of truths and the mysteries I want to discover. You don't know the purpose of your existence. You don't know how fascinating it is to be the only one among the supreme beings to possess the seed of supremacy; your powers, your body, and your soul have secrets that you don't know how to discover or exploit them. I want them! I want everything you have! It goes without saying that you are the perfect subject who can help me satisfy my greed for knowledge!
-Of course, I wouldn't force you to do things you don't want. For my part, I would help you with my knowledge and powers so that you achieve your goals and fantasies. I hope this approach's results will contribute to lasting satisfaction with my CURIOSITY! We can examine your problems together and the mysteries behind your powers and your existence to find a solution!
-I would use you to satisfy my curiosity, and in exchange, I would gladly let you use me as you see fit! When I said I had abandoned order, it's the truth; I did all this because I appreciate you for real, and I don't want to see such a fascinating, perfect, and supreme subject disappear overnight! Your journey, your combativeness, your suffering, your hatred, and your sorrows, I want to contemplate them all! Everything! Absolutely everything!
-Do you like dedicated women? I would be one with pleasure! I will help you take care of yourself, share your bath, and even your bed if you feel like it! In exchange, I would like to have the same seed obtained from this vampire who can't stand it and who is between life and death.
-You don't want your loved ones to die? I would help you save them! I could even resurrect your grandfather here and now if you say YES! But of course, all this is only intended to experience your positive or negative emotions, no matter your sorrows, your rage, your joy, happiness, hatred, contempt, absolutely everything! I want to see them! To contemplate them! To disguise them! Experienced them and found fascinating results for the sole purpose of knowing the mystery of your existence!
-Here are the counterparties of our contract! The only counterpart is to offer you to me, body and soul, just as I do for you!" She finally stopped after listing everything she had in her heart.
"..."
In her explanations, the shock and surprise were right of d'Alvine. And without even noticing it, Feryre, sitting before him, now found herself glued to him with her twisted smile that seemed to testify to her endless happiness.
'I knew she wasn't slanted, but there, she even goes beyond the common of transcendence.' Reha murmured as she looked at Feyre embrace Alvine as if he were the most precious toy that she would not let anyone have him but her.
"..."
"What do you think, Alvine Dragnar? Isn't our collaboration exemplary?! Isn't it a divine and fascinating collaboration?!" She murmured with closed eyes and a giddy smile on her lips.
-Stab!
"...To begin with, you're choking me!" He retorted by stabbing her with a dark mana blade.
"...Fascinating!" She exclaimed with a grotesque air despite the fact that Alvine did not miss her heart with his aura blade.
"!!"
Seeing her stagger backward with a superficial smile and the blade sinks into her chest without bleeding, Alvine's expression wobbles slightly in horror.
"So? What do you think about signing this contract with me?" She said, removing Alvine's blade from her chest while keeping her superficial smile.
"..." Seeing that his dagger did not make her bleed, Alvine sighed slightly while momentarily focusing on Reha.
But the next moment, his heart trembled once again when he saw that Reha was in the same state as him.
'In other words, this madwoman turned out to be more twisted than she thought.' He murmured to himself, nervously swallowing his saliva.
'Well, let's stay zen and take a closer look at the different possibilities. She knows my experience from the beginning to now, which means that not only she but many people have been spying on me from the start. I am not able to defeat her, neither she nor Reha, not to mention these members of the order who are probably as strong as she is. And finally, I can't escape her. Otherwise, she will threaten me with my loved ones.
-What do I have left as an alternative? Can my skill, 'Evil God's Heart', help me trap her? I have nothing that can confirm this to me. And given her powers, I'm not even sure she is transcendent like Reha or Renia. But the problem is that I don't know the beings above the transcendents before the supreme rank. But...*Eureka!!*' As he whispered these words to himself, he suddenly froze, remembering a detail that could serve as a loophole.
*Stella, I have a mission of the utmost importance to you. Deliver a message to Heepha and Shadow from me and tell them that it is an entire order!*
*Yes, my lord.*
*[...]*
*...Are you sure of your choice?*
*Sure. That’s the only solution to spare us from these fuckers and bastards who have been watching me since the beginning. It's time to reverse the pace and prepare to face them until now.*
*If this is your wish, I would send the message to General Shadow, my lord.*
After this brief conversation with Stella, Alvine focused on Feyre with piercing eyes.
'She may be able to spy on my telepathic conversation with Reha, but I don't know if this is the case for me between my shadows. So far, I haven't seen anyone capable of this; even Reha was no exception.' He said to himself, frowning at her, when he noticed that she always had her usual expression on her lips.
'...Sigh; with this superficial smile on her lips, I can never see through her intentions. But the risk is better than letting me be drawn into this blasphemous contract!'
"I have one last question. And I believe that in connection with your answer, I would give you my verdict." He replied casually after sorting his thoughts.
"I'm listening to you."
"It was you who gave In Soon Min the power of prediction, right?"
"Hm? This girl who is in my image?"
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"Yes, I'm talking about her." He nods, frowning.
"Yes, whether it's her or the other girl. In addition to them, there are eight other Guinea pigs that I had created to see their progress in real-time and see what they will provide me as a result."
"Very well, in this case, my question is as follows. Have the death of their parents, their tragic destinies, and all the misery they have experienced been so orchestrated by you?" His frown increased when he asked this question.
But Feyre didn't care much about what he had behind his head.
She taps her chin as she passively analyzes Alvine's question in depth.
While a dull and heavy silence reigned in the living room, a saving smile stood on her lips.
"Yes~! It was to push them to manifest all their powers."
"?? - H-Hah??" Alvine's heart falters when he sees Feyre's unexpected answer.
"Initially, I intended to leave them in their environment, like ignorant creatures who enjoy their daily lives. But unlike happiness, despair often pushes people to exceed their limits. And time proved me right. Each of them made paths that exceeded the forecast mess. Human beings are really fascinating creatures!" She giggled with evasive eyes and was filled with a sense of triumph.
"Feyre! You are only a madwoman who has lost all notion and common sense because of your endless longevity!!"
"..."
"You're supposed to get angry now!" He added when he saw the superficial smile on her lips.
"Hmm~...It's fascinating and enriching, Alvine Dragnar. If the opportunity arises again, I will get angry by showing this expression." She answers coldly, followed by her dark and threatening mood.
"??? - Decidedly, you are by far the most twisted of all the people I have met so far, Feyre!" He sighed while holding back all his rage.
"Don't worry, Alvine Dragnar. I would make sure that your case differs from these unimportant people."
"How will I be different from them?"
"You are the ideal being who will break my curse for knowledge. You like to treat people, right? I am also sick; yes, I would even say being cursed for my thirst for knowledge. I want to know everything in this world. And with you as a guinea pig, I am sure I can eliminate this curse. I would let you know what despair is and make you powerful by helping you channel the aura of despair."
"FEYRE! Fuck off your--
"No, let me finish my sentence. You have to be stupid not to understand that despair is the natural way to accelerate your growth. Only a hundred years have passed, a nanosecond on the interstellar time scale. But yet, during this period, you managed to channel your hatred and make it a weapon that opened up more possibilities for you.
-I said that the transcendents could do everything you just explained to this forest fairy (Reha). But what you don't know is she could never be able to do them if she were out of her domain, like now. But you get there; no matter where you are, your body adapts to the energy, whatever the nature or ferocity of it. A century and your actual power already compete with primordial. A century and you could manage to fight against a primordial on an equal footing, even to see them kill if you untie the dense energy accumulated in your three cores. Isn't that fascinating? Isn't that incredible?!"
"..."
"Imagine what will happen if, for example, this girl, Sabrina or Sylvia, suddenly dies in the hand of a transcendent? Ah~ Alvine Dragnar, your hatred of the latter will help you reach unsuspected ranks! And you will become as strong as the transcendent. And at that moment, it will be enough to find another pawn like one of your generals. And the death of the latter will help you reach the transcendent rank!
-This cycle is only possible by you. Losing one of your loved ones will generate hatred toward your enemy. And this hatred will push you to exceed your limits and obtain unsuspected powers. And finally, with such powers, you will succeed in protecting your loved ones who are still alive! That's the perfect cultivation method for you, Alvine Dragnar!