“I really shouldn’t have underestimated my grandmother… Grandmas are scary…” Victor told Kuu emotionally as he reached the heirs' meeting point a day later.
He couldn’t stop laughing after that.
It was not a trap to isolate him. He could tell with ease, as all the heirs were there, split into groups that shot glares at each other every few seconds!
This must have been his grandmother’s counter plan to send them here to be safe! Like him, she was also playing along to expose all the traitors!
Damn it… His plan was a no-go! And Bill would live for now.
“Victor!” Alice, who was the first to notice Victor as he entered the large chamber, waved to him. She was standing with Mike and two other elites who were a part of his camp.
“Hi Sis… Bro… How was your hunt?” Victor asked casually as reached them with a maid at hand. For the entire day, he was having fun explaining many things to her as they traveled. He planned to make her a player ASAP!
“Not bad…” Alice said immediately. “Who is she?”
“The result of my hunt!” Victor said, hugging the embarrassed Kuu. “Isn’t she cute!” he added as Zoe who had been avoiding looking him in the eyes since the moment he entered inspected Kuu the frowned.
“A new one?” she asked. “What did you do with that one from earlier?” she added in disgust.
“She is the only one!” Victor clarified. “She had a curse on her, and the only way to cure it was for her to ….. You know… I figured it out, the moment I saw her!” Victor clarified. “I couldn’t leave a girl like her in a place like this, so I made her my official maid and I plan to take care of her from now on!” he said proudly, making Kuu smile sweetly.
“Don’t you have a ton of maids or something?” Alice asked, disgusted by her brother scamming two girls at the same time. “Do you still have any slots left?” she wondered.
“Most of the ones in the mansion are not from the family… And I got to free some slots after the wedding anyway” he said. The twins, Mira and Aria were no longer his maids, but his wives!
“Oh…” Zoe frowned. She didn’t like it one bit that Victor was with this girl, but the fact that he saved her made Zoe unable to hate him. She even felt a little ashamed of herself for cursing at him earlier.
“So… What are we doing here?” Victor asked as he had no idea.
“Waiting… According to the assistants, the elders will be here in an hour or so…” Mike said. “Some kind of a final mission!” he added, shooting a glare at Bill.
“I see… I think they might get a little delayed though…” Victor said, through Rita’s eyes, he could see that the family elders had already surrounded the Second branch’s base.
Ann with the Patriarch stood at the front in golden battle armor. The rest of the elders were behind them.
It was time to close the net!
…
Alpha slowly left the hotel, telling the girls she needed to get some air. The ungrateful girls who were planning their sightseeing trip didn’t even care. On the contrary, they seemed to be glad to get rid of her.
Well, they planned to meet Mona’s friends in a few days, despite finishing their preparations, so the girls earned their vacation.
She sighed as she crossed the street, making sure no one was following her.
She knew that what she was going to do was technically betraying Victor, but this needed to be done.
As long as she was careful with what she said, her contract with him would not be breached.
Crossing the main square and heading into the old city, she had to retrace her steps multiple times, first to check if she was being followed, and the second time because she took a wrong turn.
The memories in her head that popped out as soon as she entered this city were a little old, and the city’s way had changed a lot in the last 20 years.
This was one of the family’s protection mechanisms that she had no idea about, location-bound memories! It seemed like the memories would remain hidden until certain conditions were applicable.
Alpha sighed for the 24th time.
It took her more than an hour to locate the old temple building she wanted to go. It was situated right in between a lousy pub and a lousier brothel. It featured heaps of trash to the side and a long and seemingly ancient trail of urine stains all over its stone walls.
This temple, was the type some old sect used to scam people back in the day. Now it was left with broken windows and a falling wooden gate that was plastered with all kinds of old unfulfilled evacuation notices, left by the myriad of land developers who wanted to evacuate the residents and tear down this building, but ended up being evacuated to the afterlife.
Apparently, whoever got the deed for this place nowadays had decided it was no longer worth it, as this place had become the filthiest place in town, and it was no longer viable to invest there.
“Is this really it?” Alpha frowned and wondered. She began to look around and then noticed a simple eye symbol on the side of the temple’s gate.
It was here. She took a deep breath and opened the temple door, careful not to break it then entered.
It was a mess and it looked as if everyone in town had decided that this place was a good garbage dump.
The temple’s courtyard was filled with all kinds of broken furniture and old electrical appliances that were clearly thrown there by people who didn’t want to bother taking the trip to the landfill.
Still, there was no person in sight.
Alpha slowly made her way to the main building, and entered the main hall that was seemingly the only clean room in the temple… Relatively clean…someone had seemingly decided not to bother the giant, menacing-looking spider on the corner.
In front of the Altar where the giant golden statue of a strawberry with three legs and three eyes was placed, an ugly young temple maiden was sitting, lighting some strawberry-scented incense as she chanted something in an unrecognizable language.
“ጮዐነ፱ነ፱... ጎ ሠልክፕ ነፕዪዐሠ፪ቹዪዪሃ... ልክዐፕⶴቹዪ ጎጋጎዐፕ ጎነ ⶴቹዪቹ... ሠⶴልፕ ፕዐ ጋዐ ጮዐነ፱ነ፱.... ……………………”
It took her 15 minutes to finish then turn to face Alpha, looking at her with lazy cloudy eyes. “Did you come here to Pray to Mosusu the Great?” she asked.
“I want to meet the grandmas… I am number B42, Louise…” Alpha said. She was not the kind to joke around.
“We don’t offer grandmas here… There is some strawberry cake though…”
Alpha frowned, then said nothing as she looked around the chamber, then slowly found a seat where a lousy eye symbol was carved. She sat on it.
“Suit yourself…”The maiden frowned then turned to the statue and continued her worship ignoring Alpha.
“ጮዐነ፱ነ፱ ጎነ ፕⶴቹ ፪ዪጎክፏቹዪ ዐቻ ነፕልሠ፪ቹዪዪሃ.... ረቹፕ ፕⶴቹ ነፕዪልሠ፪ቹዪዪሃ ዪልጎክ... ረቹፕ ፕⶴቹ ነፕዪልሠ፪ቹዪዪሃ ቻዪቹፏክልክርቹ ቹሸየረዐጋቹ.... ዐⶴ ነፕዪዐሠ፪ቹዪዪሃ...ቹልፕ ነፕዪዐሠ፪ቹዪዪሃ.... ነፕዪዐ፪ቹዪዪሃ ⶴልፕነ... ነፕዪዐ፪ቹዪዪሃ ጋጎረጋዐነ... ነፕዪልሠዐ፪ቹዪዪሃ ⶴቹረየ ፱ነ ጋቹቻቹልፕ ፕⶴቹ ቹህጎረ ረዐዪጋ…” The girl chanted.
For the next 3 hours nothing happened. And just when Alpha, who had enough of listening to the stupid chants, was about to lose her patience, the maiden suddenly stopped chanting, stood up, and looked at her. Her eyes were no longer cloudy.
“The grandmas will meet you now…” she said as the Altar moved to the side revealing a staircase down… A classic!
Alpha nodded then quickly entered the stairway and descended.
It was a really long way down, as it took Alpha about 30 minutes to reach the bottom where she found a room with a strange shimmering gate in its center. A space-crossing portal!
Taking a deep breath, Alpha stepped through it.
Opening her eyes, it was bright!
She had just walked out of the closet of a rural wooden cottage.
Facing her was a cozy living room where three old women were sitting enjoying the sun and watching some soap opera on an old TV set.
“You are here?” one of the women, who seemed to be a little reluctant to leave the TV said, as she turned to Alpha. “Luise right? I remember your mother… A fine woman, you look just like her…”
“The Heir had seen the elder!” Alpha said as she kneeled on the ground.
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“No need for formalities… What brings you here, dear? I see that you have already gotten rid of your curse…” she said, her eyes turning to the TV every few seconds. The handsome male lead was about to kiss the reluctant maid whom he was secretly in love with, but couldn’t tell her because she was the daughter of the man who killed his father and he was planning to torture then kill her until he discovered that she was, in fact, his childhood friend who saved his life when their other friend turned out to be a drug dealer and planned to kill him because he was, in fact, his half brother!
“Yes… I passed a life and death experience…” Alpha replied. Everyone in her family was born with a curse, this was the destiny of their bloodline.
“Good… Then why are you here? You should know that if this is not something really urgent you will be punished!” the grandma said, her eyes on the TV. The kiss attempt was a failure again as the man’s lover barged in. AGAIN!
“... I met someone… He knows about us… About the family….” Alpha said directly.
“WHAT?” the grandma asked, turning to face Alpha and making another grandma look too. “EXPLAIN!”
“Ah… I can’t…” Alpha said. It was all because Victor made her sign that contract after the Spark incident… Damn it…
“You can’t?”
“I can’t…”
“I see… Mother…” The first grandma called the second grandma, who turned out to be a great-grandma.
“A contract or a curse?” the great-grandma asked.
Alpha didn’t reply as the old woman gave the TV one last look and then slowly approached her, beginning to smell her.
“A contract it is…” she said. “Unlike stupid curses, contracts are tricky, there are two ways to get rid of them, an easy way and a hard way…” she said explaining to Alpha. “Let’s try the first…” she said, taking out a golden scale.
“Put a drop of your blood on the left plate, … ” she said.
Alpha nodded, dropping some blood on the small dish-shaped plate, representing her deeds.
“Now, blow the word, CONTRACT on this…” the old woman gave Alpha a sparkling feather.
Alpha nodded then blew the word, feeling as if something from inside of her, getting inscribed on the feather that became a little heavy.
“Good, carefully place the feather on the destiny’s scale’s right plate…”
The second the feather touched the plate, nothing happened… They were in balance for the next three seconds, then it was as if the feather weighed a ton, it suddenly moved down, flipping the entire scale out of the old woman’s hand.
“Wah… Mom, what happened?” the grandma asked.
“The benefits that guy gave little Louise here, far outweighs his commitments for the contract… He had given her more than she could ever repay him…” the frightened old woman said. “What did he give you? This is not a simple matter of just saving your life or removing a curse…” she asked the shocked Alpha.
“Ah… I don’t…. No…” she quickly went silent. It was probably the spark.
“You can’t say… I see…” the old woman said. “Then it is the second method… Do you really want this contract voided?” she asked Alpha.
“It is for the family!” Alpha said. She had enough of being manipulated by that bastard Victor. Once the contract was voided, she could ask the grandmas to take a look at the soul mark he left, and then she would be free!
As for what to do with Victor after that… She couldn’t really make up her mind.
“Wouldn’t a relationship with whoever contracted you be beneficial to the family?” the grandma, seemingly having some thoughts asked.
“... I want the contract voided…” she repeated. With every passing day, she could feel the day when Victor would take her to bed coming closer! SHE WOULD NEVER SURRENDER TO A FILTHY MAN!
“Are you sure?”
“YES!”
“This will hurt like hell…” The old woman said as she placed her hand on Alpha’s chest.
“I am ready!” Alpha replied.
“Take a deep breath…” the old woman said. “BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE JUDGE, I ANNULE THIS….”
She didn’t continue, as a second later, she was flying backward with a trail of blood flowing out of her mouth. She hit the TV set and then fell to the wooden ground rolling.
Alpha who felt a sharp pain at the same moment fell to the ground in tears.
“Ah, Mother!...” The grandma ran to her mother as the last old woman who kept watching TV the entire time, hurried to check on the poor TV set.
“I am fine… Shit…” the old woman was quickly helped to her feet.
“Is it over?” Alpha asked.
“OVER MY ASS!” the old woman said, taking the slipper that had just fallen from her foot and throwing it at Alpha. “WHY THE HELL DID YOU MAKE A CONTRACT WITH A DEMON?”
“A demon? No… He is not….” Alpha quickly replied as she dodged to the right. The slipper passed right beside her face, drawing a line of blood as it grazed her cheek like a bullet.
“Not a demon? A LORD? NO… A SCION?” the old grandma pondered.
“Ahh… What? What Lord? That bastard is not a lord…” Alpha said. She did hear Lily and Victor discuss the lords, and it was clear that Victor was not one.
“Then why would this guy have more than 1000 Authority points!” the old woman said. “That’s the only way my skill could fail. If the other side’s authority is larger than mine!” she yelled.
“Ah… I really don’t know…” Alpha said.
The old woman glared at her and then looked at the last woman who was kneeling and trying hard to revive the dead TV by hitting it with her cane.
“Mother… Please help…” she said to the last Grandma, who turned out to be a great-great grandma!
“You little girls can’t do a thing right… In my days we would solve such trivial problems by just kicking their ass!” The brutal last grandma said as she gave up on the TV and slowly stood up, her hand on her back as she slowly approached Alpha who for the first time realized that this old woman was blind… Not exactly, it was as if inside of her eyes there was no pupil, but she was looking right through Alpha.
“Relax lass, and let me see…” the last old woman said as she began to activate her skill, making her eyes turn gold.
“Can you see anything Grandma?” the first old woman asked.
“It is not demonic… No…LET ME SEE… He is a man… ” the old woman frowned. It was very cloudy. “LASS, WHAT THE FUCK HAD YOU BEEN DOING? WHY IS YOUR FATE LOOK LIKE A PIECE OF DUNG ICE CREAM?” she finally asked as she peered into Alpha’s soul.
“I don’t know…”
“Wait! No.. THAT… Something… WHY DO YOU HAVE A SPARK?” the old woman finally gasped and asked in shock.
“Ah, that…. My contractor took it from someone and then gave it to me…” Alpha could only say that. She was surprised they knew about this, and couldn’t wait to ask them what it meant.
“Oh… Then what the FUCK are you doing here?” the old woman asked angrily as she took a step back.
“Ah… I want the contract voided to be able to work to revive the family and… .. AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Alpha screamed in pain as the old woman began to hit her with her cane.
“Mother! Why are you hitting her!” one old woman asked.
“IDIOT! THAT GUY GAVE YOU A SPARK AND YOU WANT TO LEAVE HIM! UNGRATEFUL BITCH!” the oldest woman replied as she began to hit Alpha again.
The other two old women quickly hurried to stop her.
“LOUISE DO YOU KNOW WHY THE FAMILY CREATED THE HEIRS PROJECT?” she asked as she calmed down a little.
“To revive the family!” Alpha who felt extra wronged said nervously.
“EXACTLY! And how were you supposed to do that?” the old woman asked calming down more.
“Ah… I believe by creating a force and…”
“IDIOT! NO ONE SAID THAT!” the old woman began to hit her again. The old woman must have a STRENGTH of more than 1000 as Alpha’s bones would have broken if not for the SS rank armor vest Victor gave her.
“GRANDMOTHER, YOU WILL KILL THE POOR LASS!” the first grandma quickly said.
“LISTEN!” the last Grandma said, taking a deep breath as she put her cane down. “WE MADE YOU TO REVIVE THE FAMILY! TO FIND STRONG ALLIES AND REBUILD OUR FORCES IN THE SHADOWS...THAT’S IT!” she said.
“WHAT?” Alpha asked in shock. “Weren’t we supposed to kill Von Zwei and the Von Rosen?”
“Why would we care about such insects… Those guys were only minions who were following orders, our real enemy was the Lord whom we angered 20 years ago… He was the one who helped our enemies to destroy us by giving them a way to counter and track our bloodlines, how else would most of our elders perish just like that one night, leaving the family without leadership! Forcing us to hide on the edge of this Ruin where the only good TV reception we can get is some lousy local channel!”
“Ahh…. WHAT?” Alpha had no idea about that.
“After that, the only way for the family to avoid total annihilation was to disappear… Pinning our hope on our chosen Heirs to rebuild the family on a more firm ground!”
Alpha nodded. She was very afraid to ask what her great-great-grandmother meant by firm ground though.
“Now… Your contractor is a man… He is young… He is from one of the high families…” the old woman as if she was getting her answers from Alpha’s expression.
“Is he handsome? I see…” the old woman nodded. Her power allowed her to get the answers to her questions without Alpha’s answering. Although the contract’s power was constraining her, it didn’t completely stop her if she asked just right.
“Now , let me ask you… Is that guy successful? Does he always get what he wants? I see… Does he survive very dangerous situations with ease? Is he always surrounded by girls?”
The old woman began to ask Alpha a barrage of questions while watching her facial expression.
“What do you think?” finally her daughter asked after the old woman went silent.
“I think he is a scion…” she said, making Alpha flinch. Could Victor be a Scion? YES! Why didn’t she think of that? Although Victor did say he was a time traveler, he never said anything about his fate!
“Then is he a candidate?” the other old woman asked, ignoring Alpha’s strange gaze.
“Yes! And more than that,” the old woman said as her white eyes sparkled. “You said that guy knew about us?” she asked Alpha.
“Yes… I can’t tell you why though…” Alpha replied nervously.
“Is he friendly or is he an enemy…”
“He promised me and Hana to help us rebuild our family if we obeyed him…” Alpha said.
“HANA? Number c77?”
“Ah… I can’t say…” Alpha didn’t know Hana’s code number.
“She was in the Immortal Abode I think… Did something happen?” the youngest grandma asked.
“We will check later…” the oldest said, looking at Alpha. “Although many things are obfuscated by the contract, I believe in my hunch that Louise's contractor is a good candidate… Think of it, someone with a scion fate and more than 1000 Authority… It is only about time that some Lord adopts him… Or he might be able to become a Lord himself!”
“A Candidate?” Alpha asked nervously.
“Yes… To be one of the chosen to revive our family!” ” she said, seriously, before turning to face Alpha. “Louise Von Richter, from now on your mission has been changed to acquiring your contractor’s help for our family, you are to seduce him and then become his wife and his ally… And you should focus on giving birth to his children as soon as possible!”
“WHAT! NO WAY IN…… AHHHHHHHHHHHH…” Alpha quickly shut up as she felt the old woman’s cane.
“SHUT UP! You ungrateful lass! If I was 900 years young, I would have done it myself!” the old woman scolded. “We are barely hanging on a thread here, and you want to choose! If that lord were to find any of our heirs, he would kill them on sight… Our only hope to save our descendants is to rebuild our family inside of another power… A power that has the protection of another Lord!” the old woman explained. The family was that desperate.
“WHAT IS THIS LORD THING?” Alpha who had tears in her eyes asked in despair. This was going in the exact opposite direction she hoped for!
All the grandma’s sighed before the oldest one began to talk.
“Think of them like super players… Game masters in a way. They have power beyond any other, their only limit is that they usually specialize in one area… That of their spark!”
“I have a spark now. Can’t I be a lord or something…” Alpha quickly shut up as the grandma raised her cane, preparing to strike again.
“IDIOT… AS IF IT WAS THAT EASY!” the old scolded. “We don’t know how one becomes a lord, but what we do know is that they require anyone who wants to be their disciple to have a spark, a shit ton of Authority, and an S-rank fate at the very least!” she added. “Your fate is only an A rank… That’s why your code name begins with the letter B!”
“Oh…” Alpha squeezed her fist. “Then this spark… What is it? What is it good for?” she asked.
“Think of it like a skill book… An ultimate skill book that would allow you to master all the skills of a certain subject…” the oldest Grandma said. “We don’t really know how to use it, as Lords usually collect those like crazy… But listen to me, you better keep the fact that you have it a secret, or you might be in a shit load of trouble!”
“Oh…” Alpha frowned. She didn’t like this at all.
“Now go… Remember your mission and fulfill it faithfully! It is your duty as an heir!” the old woman said, kicking Alpha out. “We will contact you again when the time is right!”