Zoe had to admit that she was more curious about what an Oath entailed than what the lich’s Godfather-esque offer would be. Did the System have a feature that enforced some kind of magical, unbreakable contract? While she wouldn’t be surprised by that in and of itself, she would find it odd that she hadn’t already encountered it already.

The reality of it turned out too be less exciting but perhaps a bit more interesting. As the lich went over the terms of the Oath, Zoe quickly surmised that it was something exclusive to paladins. Apparently, all paladins of lux had an ability that allowed them to forge some kind of unbreakable agreement with other awakened people. Whether it was truly paladin-exclusive or if they were just a particular group who were guaranteed to have it, Zoe wasn’t sure.

She did wonder how it worked. It seemed clear that the System recognized it applying to both parties. How did one path get such a special privilege? And then—what even were paladins in this world? So far, both of them had been called paladins of lux, which seemed to imply that there were multiple varieties. Different gods, perhaps? No one had actually mentioned anything about gods though.

Zoe decided that she really needed to find out more about even the very basics of this world. Actually, I don’t even know its name.

But as for the Oath itself, it turned out that the lich wasn’t being sarcastic or threatening. No—her terms really were quite generous, in Zoe’s opinion. At least, that was the case assuming there wasn’t some subtle catch that she wasn’t picking up on.

In essence, the paladin would provide them with any information she knew of that she believed was relevant to their safety from her own sect. However, once they released her, she would no longer be obligated to tell them anything if they met again. In exchange, they would not kill her until she was released.

But other conditions would still remain. Specifically, she would not be able to tell anyone else any information about them that she learned before she was officially released, and she would never be able to directly harm them.

Once again assuming that it was all in good faith and there were no tricky loopholes, Zoe thought it over herself. There’s nothing about it that would prevent her from assisting her allies from harming us later, though. I think the lich knows that. Also, she would be able to freely share information about us that she learned AFTER being released.

In Zoe’s opinion, it was more than fair. Mostly, it just prevented the paladin from working against them in the short term. The only real downside, from the other woman’s perspective, was that she would have to give them a little bit of her own intel.

Actually, wait—there’s nothing that says she can’t immediately try to non-lethally escape.

“And you will make no attempts to escape at any time in any capacity prior to your voluntary release,” the lich added, as if reading Zoe’s thoughts. Having the skeleton holding the paladin set her back down on her own feet, the lich spread her arms wide. “So? What will it be?”

Zoe watched with a great degree of curiosity as the paladin glanced around the chamber, considering the deal. It was only a few moments before she made her choice. “I accept.”

The lich nodded once. “Good.”

Just a few seconds later, a new System notification alerted Zoe.

{Astrid Vael, Paladin of Lux (Purity of Grace) - 128 has offered you an Oath, witnessed by the Grand Design.}

The message was followed by several paragraphs outlining the terms. They weren’t written exactly as the lich had stated them—but if anything, they were actually more rigid and precise. I guess the lich was just instructing her on what she wanted, and the paladin was the one who still had to formulate it.

Looking past the system display, Zoe saw that everyone else was now staring at her. Basil cleared his throat.

Zoe hastily accepted the Oath.

{You have accepted Astrid Vael’s Oath, binding you to its terms as witnessed by the Grand Design.}

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Zoe read the last notification slowly. Oddly, she noted that there was no mention of what would happen if she tried to break it. What happens if I try to kill her? Would I be unable to, or would it punish me somehow? Zoe decided not to test it.

But now that the Oath was completed, Zoe eagerly anticipated the questioning. I can’t wait to find out all the juicy gossip from her.

Basil cleared his throat again. “Do we let the demon stay, or…?”

The lich, who had been in the process of shaking Astrid’s hand, dropped it and turned back to face Zoe. “Err—no. You. Demon.” She pointed at Zoe, as if there was any question about who she was addressing. “Go wander off somewhere. I don’t care where you go, just get far enough away. And don’t try to leave.”

Zoe glared daggers at Basil. Fuck you! Huffing, she whirled around—but then froze. She realized she had forgotten about Millie. Oops. Turning back around, she pointed at the still unconscious child. “I’m taking her too.”

“Okay.”

Dismissing the magical bindings, Basil allowed Zoe to pick her up and carry her back out of the chamber. Adding to Zoe’s mounting irritation, one of the skeletons stepped up to follow her. She huffed, but didn’t argue. But where should she go? Well, neither of them said that I couldn’t poke around.

----------------------------------------

After a good few hours of wandering, Zoe found herself back at the cavern where she and Astrid had first been dumped by the kraken. She hadn’t found anything else in the sprawling complex that was worthy of note, and she had been quite hesitant to investigate any of it very deeply.

After all, the experience of reality crushing her and the System pushing back just in time was still quite fresh. Still something to definitely look into, though. It certainly feels pretty damn important.

Millie was still unconscious as well. Zoe didn’t think anything was actually wrong with her though. She couldn’t detect any magical abnormalities—not even a suspicious lack of magic like in her surroundings—and she spent about half an hour feeling throughout the girl’s body with {Morph} as well. No, there was nothing wrong. While maybe there had been before, now she was just sleeping.

At least I got some levels. Her use of {Morph} had granted her two whole levels, bringing the ability up to level eight. Testing it on herself, Zoe found that it was now significantly easier to temporarily hold back the corruption of her own body. She was even able to give patches of the flesh under her scales a more human-like appearance. I bet I’ll eventually be able to look fully human for periods.

After that, Zoe spent the time playing with another magical torch she had ripped off the wall and working on her {Water Meditation}. While the ability had finally gained another level, bringing it up to three, Zoe suspected it was just from persistently using it at full strength and not from actually gaining proficiency. This fact bothered her more than she would have expected.

Closing her eyes, she sunk into her own spirit. The scarred wound from when her heart was shot out was still quite visible. Zoe floated closer to it. I do need to work on this. But not yet. While her initial repair had been sloppy and rushed, she had no doubt that messing with it any more right now would just make it even worse.

Returning her mental position to her core, Zoe observed the primary currents and pathways channeling her mana throughout her body and spirit. Equal parts crimson and black, with a smaller amount of gold. Frowning, Zoe saw that the black corruption wasn’t the only one that had increased in proportion. The regal gold streamers had grown brighter and bolder. I wonder if that’s just from leveling up. I’m pretty sure it represents the System itself, after all.

Zoe also noted that the gold didn’t mix like the other two did. Sure, it wove intimately through them, but its edges formed a perfect boundary.

Zoe still found it curious that she had absolutely zero life mana. There was none of the vibrant green at all. Weird. Are demons—even corrupted ones—not actually alive? I feel like I’m very much made of flesh.

Mentally shrugging, Zoe shifted her attention back to the flow—and then she paused. Wait, wasn’t there a fourth color? Squinting, she realized that there was. There was still the faint, deep purple haze. Neither flowing nor mixing, it looked more like a soft glow escaping from the edges of her spirit.

It reminded Zoe of the violet flashes she had seen while being dragged underwater by the kraken, and also when the System itself had saved her from being spiritually crushed by that strange, broken reality. It was just far less intense—dormant. Subdued. Now that is DEFINITELY something to look into, Zoe noted yet again.

Sighing, she finally returned to her initial goal—fixing her spiritual turbulence with {Water Meditation}. She was still quite miffed by being put in time-out during the paladin interrogation.

Taking stock of the overall state of her mana flows, Zoe tried searching for a different approach. Just smoothing out one knot at a time wasn’t working. It was like trying to solve a Rubik’s cube—every new victory came at the expense of ruining any previous progress. Zoe paused.

That’s it!

Excited, she began shifting multiple different areas at a time. It’s EXACTLY like a puzzle. I can’t just force it—I have to figure out how to untangle the whole thing as one—whole. Thrilled by her latest real piece of progress, Zoe set to work.

She was interrupted not five seconds later as Millie began to stir.

Groaning, Zoe opened her real eyes and looked around the cavern. The skeleton was still there, watching over them from a distance, and the surface of the water was perfectly still. Millie sat up, rubbing her eyes. She froze when she saw Zoe.

Shit. Zoe slowly raised her hands to be as non-threatening as she could. I think I’m going to have some explaining to do.