Ogre's words left the shadow demon in silence.

"It's not that... you don't mind, but I do!" The shadow demon desperately wanted to kill this cross-dressing pervert, but unfortunately, it was powerless to do so.

"Master, actually, the equal contract has many benefits, like allowing entry into the shadow realm for a period, for example..." The shadow demon still wanted to negotiate better terms.

It felt like it was fighting for its life, just for a mouthful of dirt.

If it weren't for the fact that the other option was even worse.

"I don't need it. Besides, you have two more sentences left." Ogre interrupted the shadow demon's rambling from within his forearm.

"A servant contract means the master not only loses benefits, but it also becomes difficult for me to heal..."

Without the life connection of an equal contract, the shadow demon would need to absorb shadow power or fear energy to heal its injuries.

Human essence could indeed play a role, but the effect wasn't significant. The primary function of human essence was as an anchor point and to resist light damage.

For such fundamental weakness and loss, human essence could only be used to sustain life.

However, what the shadow demon didn't mention was that relying on the anchor point of the servant contract, it could completely return to the shadow realm to recover, and then use the anchor point to jump back.

(Note: The mirror world is a 'door' located between the shadow realm and the real world, and the essence of a thief's stealth technique is to use the dual anchor points of shadow and reality to enter the mirror, but they can't go in entirely, a part must remain outside—otherwise, something extremely terrifying will happen!

Life in a stealth state can be attacked by energy, and because it is in the crevice of the mirror, energy attack damage will be amplified.

Shadow jumping involves merging with shadow creatures, crossing the mirror world to enter the shadow realm and then coming out, completing a small displacement. The downside is that it may be attacked by shadow creatures during use, and it can lead to irreversible shadow assimilation, so it should not be used frequently.)

"You have one more sentence left." Ogre's gentle tone made the shadow demon feel cold for the first time.

"I only need useful and obedient servants."

For such demon beasts and mutants that live by harming others, Ogre had no qualms about taking action.

He didn't need the so-called shadow power; the shadow power conflicted too much with his own lightning.

Unless Ogre had lost his mind, he wouldn't choose to become a thief, a Professional with little growth potential. As for becoming a so-called shadow mage—he'd have to be a mage first.

"No, no, no, Master agrees! I agree!" The shadow demon finally gave in, choosing to die later rather than immediately.

'It's fine... who knows when this guy might die, then I'll be free. At worst, I'll never return to the real world again,' the shadow demon comforted itself internally.

Although signing a servant contract would place its life under the 'master's' control and strip away its free will, there was still a chance for freedom—just as long as the master died suddenly.

The servant contract would be lifted upon the death of one party, unlike the equal contract, which would cause significant harm to the other party.

But the downside is that the master can cause the servant to die at any time.

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Therefore, many masters would transfer or take the servant with them before dying.

Servants cannot defy the master's will in any way...

Therefore, the fate of servants is generally not good unless the master is willing to release them.

"Come on."

Ogre released the shadow demon's true form—a wisp of black mist weakened to the extreme.

'Sigh...' The shadow demon sighed slightly in its heart, resigning to its bad luck, and then opened its black mist body, from which it separated a tiny gray crystal grain.

This was its spirit core, something akin to a magic core in demon beasts—and also the key to forming this contract.

Contracts are divided into voluntary contracts and forced contracts.

The former only requires certain separations between Transcendent beings, while the latter requires the assistance of magic runes.

Aside from contracts established between certain powerful abilities, once a contract is established, regardless of whether it is forced, the effect is not much different.

The only difference is the subjective will of the contractor, and (magic rune contracts) can allow some beings or non-beings (objects) without contract abilities to complete the contract and bear the cost.

"Very good."

Ogre's fingertip lightly touched the gray dot, and as a mysterious sensation rose in his mental perception, he knew—the contract was complete.

Now, if Ogre wished, he could destroy this tiny soul core at any time, killing the shadow demon in his hand, and could also forcibly summon it through the soul core.

(Note: The mental mana control that mages inject into the souls of other demon beasts belongs to a forced contract, while Ogre's case should strictly be considered a non-forced voluntary contract.)

"Master..." The shadow demon, having lost its core, became even weaker.

Although now, even without the black mist shell, it wouldn't die, it was as good as dead...

Without the supply of an external black mist shell, the soul core would soon lose its will and become a tonic for Ogre's soul.

This meant that if it wanted to survive, it couldn't stray too far from Ogre.

If an equal contract had been signed, it might have received a wisp of Ogre's true soul to enhance the information connection.

"I remember, you said you would die after signing a servant contract, that you couldn't heal your injuries." Ogre seemed to have just remembered the matter of helping the shadow demon recover.

"The servant contract can't rely on the master for recovery, but the master only needs to provide me with fear energy, the more intelligent the species, the better the effect..." The shadow demon cautiously requested.

"Fear..." Ogre thought that if he took the shadow demon to see Macal, it might indeed frighten the shadow demon.

"Is there any other way to recover? It's not good to scare people all the time. I could feed you some blood." Ogre didn't want to create unnecessary trouble.

Mainly because he couldn't stray too far now.

Otherwise, spending some time finding a goblin nest wouldn't be impossible.

"I need a body to inhabit, living or dead—it doesn't matter. But in doing so, I would have to leave the master for a while. I need to take the body to the shadow realm, and after corrupting it with shadow energy, I can slowly recover." The shadow demon proposed a second option.

"What if you leave and I can't find you?" Ogre asked warily.

"You should be able to sense where my true form is. If the shadow shell and my core soul crystal are separated for too long, the connection will be completely severed, and I will die. The master can rest assured, I will adjust my position in the shadow world according to the connection with the perception and reality coordinates, making it convenient to come out at any time—then the master only needs to provide me with a shadow."

The shadow demon meticulously explained its 'convenience,' fearing that it would be crushed by Ogre if it lost its value.

Once the connection between the shadow demon's black mist shell and the core soul crystal is completely severed, the core soul crystal will become utterly weak and turn into a supplement.

The shell would then transform into a mindless shadow beast, and only after accumulating enough time could it be reborn with intelligence and become a shadow demon again.

Of course, by then, the shadow demon would have nothing to do with its current form.

"You can jump back? Didn't you say that once a shadow demon returns to the shadow realm, it's hard to come back?" Ogre asked, somewhat suspicious.

"That's because there's no real-world anchor point. Now that my soul core is in the master's hands, it's naturally easy to come back..."

Neither thieves nor shadow mages are purely composed of shadow realm creatures. The shadow demon must complete symbiosis with humans or other life forms to perform shadow magic that traverses both realms.

And a servant contract cannot achieve this effect.

It only makes it easier for controlled shadow realm creatures to enter the real world.

"Do you have any other abilities?" Ogre asked, pulling down his sleeve.

"If I recover well, I can enter objects and become shadow weapons—but only if you don't use thunder. I can also control shadowed bodies to share vision with you..."

If it were a symbiotic state, there would be many, many ways to play.

But unfortunately, this is just one-sided control.

"Turning into a weapon and reconnaissance, not bad, more useful than I imagined, though limited during the day." Ogre opened his palm and retracted the shadow demon's shell.

His body certainly couldn't serve as a residence for the shadow demon for too long.

That would affect his lightning power.

The shadow demon's soul crystal is pure energy and won't be directly harmed by non-holy attacks, so under Ogre's lightning damage, it can retain its intelligence.

But the shadow demon's shell (black mist) is solid shadow energy, which can be damaged by various energy attacks. If the shell is destroyed, the soul crystal will naturally 'starve' to death.

"So, master, which method will you choose? My current shell can't last much longer." The shadow demon was eager to demonstrate its value to get Ogre to help it sustain its life.

"Does the body need to be intact? I mean—can you assimilate several separately?" Ogre carefully inquired about the shadow demon's characteristics.

In his heart, he already had a plan for using this tool.

"Preferably intact, the more complete and stronger the body, the better the recovery effect. As for separating the shell... I've never tried it, but I can give it a try." The shadow demon's crystal core can control a limited amount of shadow demon shell.

So, except for escaping, they usually don't engage in this practice of splitting the shell.

Besides natural growth, only by absorbing enough fear power can the shadow demon crystal core be enhanced.

Generally speaking, the upper and lower limits of shadow creatures in the shadow realm are determined at birth (when the soul crystal condenses)—the stronger the shadow beast, the stronger the shadow demon soul crystal it nurtures, but correspondingly, the nurturing speed is slower.

If only in the shadow realm, the growth of shadow creatures is extremely limited.

That's why many shadow creatures attempt to leave the shadow realm and go to the real world to absorb fear and grow themselves.

"That's good." Ogre nodded thoughtfully, "Alright, I'll help you find a suitable body."

"Thank you, great master!"