The group walked along a path overlooking the Undercity. Zeke could no longer bear to look at the crowded underground city, even from a far. This city, the vista and all of its residents blended together into a colorful mush, a mush that took so much from the young boy, while giving him something he lacked most, experience.
“Hey, be honest, are you the king of contracts?” Zeke asked turning gaze towards Fredric.
“I’m not,“ Fredric smirked.
“You thought he was the contractor king?”, Nolan laughed intensely, grabbing his stomach. He continued for a while until he ran out of air and started gasping, after which, he grabbed a cigar out of his picket and placed it in his mouth. “Whatever made you think that?” he wondered whipping tears off his eyes.
Zeke looked towards Ulmak’s lifeless body.
“Ah I see? You thought he used his soul, huh?” Nolan smirked while lighting his cigar. “Well, kid, I’ll have to disappoint you. Fredric is not the contractor king. Nor can he use other’s souls the same way the contractor king can.”
“The king possesses a unique ability to manipulate souls and contracts. It is his greatest strength, and his biggest weakness.” Fredric explained in a quiet, almost whispered tone.
“What is he like?” Zeke wondered.
“Monstrous…” Nolan scoffed.
“About as unpredictable as the Pale Reaper and I’d say about a dozen times more deadly,” Fredric, said while rushing his pace.
“I’m not so sure about that last bit,” Nolan shrugged.
Zeke continued walking, attempting to match Fredric’s hurried pace. Suddenly, his legs gave out, forcing him to fall flat on his face.
“Careful!” Nolan laughed. “You don’t want your face getting messed up before you become a contractor or it’ll never heal,” He smirked.
As Zeke raised his head a strange vista opened up before him, the same chapel he had visited before, however this time it was at an entirely different place.
“Why are we here?” Zeke stumbled, “I mean… why is this here?”
“It’s a hub of sorts,” Nolan explained.
“A hub?” Zeke wondered.
“A location that exists everywhere within this city all at the same time. Nowhere is outside our reach because of it. Should the need arise, we can travel to almost any district of the Undercity in an instant.” Fredric explained while opening the front doors.
As the group went inside, the interior of the chapel appeared like it did before, disproportionally large when compared to the outside. A throne constructed out of thousands of intertwined chains found itself in the middle of the room, constantly moving, changing its shape in places where it did not make contact with anything solid.
Michael slouched seated on the ever-changing throne with an amused expression.
Both Nolan and Fredric dropped down to a single knee. “I greet the king, “they said in unison.
“Surprised?” Michael smirked, standing up off his throne.
“I assumed it was you,” Zeke replied, as Michael approached ever closer.
“Well Fredric, let’s see just what you have brought me here this time,” The king muttered while extending his hand towards Zeke.
A faint blue light emerged from Zeke’s chest.
“Interesting,” the King squinted his eyes.
Suddenly, the doors of the chapel opened once again, sending a loud resonating slam along the halls of the building.
“King!” Orland screamed, charging through the doors, dragging heavily wounded Olivia directly behind him. “You must help her!”
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“Shhhhh,” the king replied while bringing his index finger up to his lips. “You’re interrupting your teammate’s initiation ceremony.” He replied.
“King, the demon, escaped. As far as I know, it could still be rampaging underground.” Orland desperately explained, “You need to help Olivia and assist us in stopping that thing!”
“That’s precisely what I intend to do,” The king said, shifting his gaze towards Fredric.
Fredric sighed, “Alright, “As he extended his hand Olivia’s injuries glowed in a golden light. Her wounds closed, reverting her body to a time before they occurred.
“As for the other thing,” the king smirked, “I have already captured the demon.”
“What?!” Orland exclaimed with a shocked expression.
“You mean you couldn’t tell?” Nolan smirked, “You got your ass handed pretty bad out there,” he continued.
“Not like you did much to help!” Orland shouted getting into Nolan’s face.
Nolan took a deep puff of his cigar and blew the smoke directly into Orland’s face.
“I used up most of my mana trying to stop that fucker from destroying the city, what’s your excuse?” Nolan frowned.
“Just look at Olivia,” Orland gestured, “He was like a savage beast, tearing off her wing. Taking her apart bit by bit. How was I supposed to stand up to something like that?”
“I see nothing bestial in that,” the contractor king remarked. “Had he decided to take both of her wings she would have become a demon, but since only one wing is gone, he simply rendered her unable to fight. That is not savagery, its strategy,” He smiled while explaining. “As for what were you supposed to do against something like that, well… I’d say… Win by playing it smart,” the king remarked as he smiled generously.
“Is that what you did?” Zeke asked seemingly out of nowhere.
“Oh,” the king approached him, “I brute forced it,” he said with a serious expression.
Yet that did not dissuade Zeke, if anything it made him even more curious.
“So, what did you do with him?” Zeke paused. “Did you kill him?”
The Contractor King chuckled.
“Of course not,” he replied. “I offered him to serve under me, something he politely declined. As such I put him into district 17,” The king squinted his eyes.
“What…” Zeke said before being interrupted by Fredric, who firmly placed his hand on Zeke’s shoulder.
“It’s best you do not find out,” He whispered.
“Olivia!” the king shouted, “Open your eyes,” he whispered closely into her ear. He gripped her by her cheeks, caressing them with his thumb and index finger.
“Hmmm, she’ll be out for a good while,” the king remarked after examining her.
“Speaking of which, Ludwig is also out of commission,” The contractor king paused. “You will take up his post,” he said, pointing towards Zeke.
“What post?” Zeke questioned.
“Within the Undercity of course,” the king replied with a warm smile.
“That’s enticing and all, but I really have to get back to lower babel,” Zeke replied.
“Sure thing! I’ll kill you here and ask Fredric to dump your body up on the surface,” The king stated without even a slight change to his facial expression. “The entire purpose of the cradle of fools is to select those, worthy of becoming my subordinates, did you think I would just let you go after you know so much about me?”
“Then,” Zeke stumbled, “What about my contract?”
The king smirked with a wide grin.
“I thought you’d never ask,” he remarked while extending his right hand towards Zeke.
“Here I prepared a special contract just for you, a rare one indeed, bring it here,” the King snapped his fingers.
Suddenly, two figures wearing plain white masks appeared, dragging a severely wounded person with a cotton sack on their head. The person screamed mumbling incomprehensible gibberish while contorting in every direction, attempting to break free.
“A sorry sight for eyes,” the King remarked.
“You cut out his tongue, I’m surprised you can sleep at night,” Fredric retorted.
“I can’t,“ the king squinted in response.
“What is this,” Zeke questioned.
“In light of your many achievements I have decided to grant you a very special contract, a special present from me to you. An incredibly rare and powerful type of demon, that if you are able to master, will make you a force of nature.” the king said extending his hand towards the wounded man.
A chain popped out of his chest and at the end of this chain was a sharp vial that appeared to contain a dark mysterious substance. The chain swirled around mid-air. As the king directed his hand towards Zeke, the chain followed suit, entering his chest.
The shackled figure squirmed in agony as his soul left his body. Zeke looked on mournfully, as the person drew their final breath. As he closed his eyes and opened them again, he found himself locked in a massive dark birdcage covered in spiked wires. A blue flame in the shape of a massive incomprehensible beast could be seen peering from the distance.
“What have you done,” The creature growled.
Zeke once again opened his eyes, immediately finding himself back inside the chapel. Blue flames erupted from Zeke, engulfing his body, as he screamed out in agony.
“Interesting,” The king groaned while grabbing his right hand. Sweat dripped down his temple and his eyes grew bloodshot as countless chains extended out from his hand entering and feeding the blue fire. Countless links disintegrated and crumbled, burning to ash, until eventually the fire ceased, and a black smoke began emanating from Zeke.
Zeke dropped to the ground losing unconsciousnes as the king wiped the sweat from his forehead.
“What was that?” Fredric asked, his eyes wide with fascination.
“The boy was already a contractor,” the king replied.
“But how could that be?” Nolan asked, “He’s much too weak.”
“Did you…” Fredric stumbled, “…Succeed?”
“Yeah,” the king sighed heavily. ” No sleep for the weary,” he grinned“, I just took the lives of 15536 people,” the king smiled, yet his eyes carried a great sadness he was, without a doubt, too tired to conceal.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/1RrKkLhk/Name-Alias-X-Species-Demon-Age-80-Height-182cm-Affiliation-Knights-Rank-Special-grade-investigator.png]