Vol 4. Chapter 8: Contract

One day earlier,

when Flame Prison, having unleashed her power, led the Abyss Demon horde out of Skyvault at lightning speed, the citizens throughout the entire city collapsed weakly to their knees or slumped onto the ground in relief.

Only after surviving a catastrophe does one realize how fragile life is; only after escaping death does one learn to revere it.

To celebrate having successfully survived this natural disaster, people ecstatically embraced the survivors beside them. Regardless of whether they had known one another before, at this moment they held each other tightly, sharing this incredibly precious moment together.

Like most of the citizens,

after seeing the Abyss Demon horde withdraw en masse, Marquis Xiumu also let out a long sigh of relief. The enormous weight that had been pressing down on his heart for so long seemed to disappear in an instant. After all, the pressure Flame Prison gave him was simply too terrifying. Although Yuan’er was now also a Demon King-class existence, in Xiumu’s eyes, this child of his was clearly different from other Abyss Demons—or rather, from other Demon King-class existences.

She possessed reason.

If Flame Prison had continued leading the Abyss Demon horde in an attack, would an existence with reason like Yuan’er become a thorn in the side of the other Abyss Demons? No one could say for certain. Furthermore, even if Flame Prison did not attack Yuan’er, as Saint-class powerhouses, they themselves certainly would not be able to escape the clutches of that Flame Demon King.

When that happened, Yuan’er would probably confront Flame Prison in order to protect them.

Although Yuan’er also seemed extremely powerful, if she were to face Flame Prison...

Neither Xiumu nor Avnora dared imagine the outcome.

Fortunately, in the end, the Abyss Demon horde withdrew. Although their retreat left everyone utterly baffled, they had withdrawn nonetheless. This allowed Xiumu’s tightly wound heart to relax slightly.

However,

before he could relax for long, Xiumu frowned once more and thoughtfully gazed toward the vast north. His azure eyes were soon filled with worry.

Seeing this expression on her husband’s face, Avnora helplessly walked over to his side.

“What’s wrong, old man?”

“Sigh.”

Xiumu shook his head and let out a long sigh.

“The Abyss Demons have withdrawn from Skyvault, and the citizens of Skyvault survived. But... what about Wind Facing City? What condition are they in now?”

Hearing those words, Avnora’s eyes abruptly contracted.

Because of her excitement and because she had been interacting with her granddaughter after their long separation, she had actually forgotten about the situation in the north for a moment. After her husband reminded her, Avnora’s expression changed drastically. If the Abyss Demon horde had managed to fight all the way to Skyvault, the capital of the Snow Night Empire, then the northern defensive line must already have been breached.

Under such circumstances, Wind Facing City was most likely doomed.

Thinking about the servants left behind in the city and all those familiar, kindhearted citizens, Avnora could not help becoming deeply uneasy.

However, right now, all she could do was comfort herself.

“Old man, Lei Jie is still in Wind Facing City. It... it should be fine...”

“Will it really be fine?”

“Hmm?”

“Skyvault was defended by so many powerful people, including numerous Eighth-Tier powerhouses, yet even they couldn’t withstand the Abyss Demon horde’s attack. With only Lei Jie, a single Eighth-Tier Guardian Beast... sigh...”

After considering the situation in the north and imagining Wind Facing City—the city that generations of the Duke Family had spent centuries building and that had finally been passed down into his hands—simply disappearing like that, Xiumu’s aged face became filled with anguish.

His duty was to defend the north, to protect Wind Facing City. Yet when Wind Facing City was destroyed, he had not even been there? He had not even been able to fight alongside his soldiers.

“Old man...”

“I just wonder how many people managed to escape after Wind Facing City was destroyed...”

Xiumu could not help beginning to pray to his ancestral spirits, even though the ancestral spirits of the Duke Family might already have ceased to exist, just like those of the Imperial Family.

“All we can do is pray.”

However,

just as Xiumu was drowning in worry, an untimely yet incomparably melodious voice suddenly entered the ears of the elderly couple, causing both of their expressions to change abruptly.

“Actually, Wind Facing City is perfectly fine.”

?!!

Hmm?!

Who?! When did she get here?!

The sudden voice made the elderly couple tremble. They immediately turned toward its source.

And the next moment, upon seeing the owner of the voice, Marquis Xiumu’s eyes abruptly contracted.

There stood a peerless beauty with the appearance of a goddess.

Her silky black hair, its ends as crimson as blood, cascaded like a waterfall all the way down to the girl’s small, rounded buttocks.

Her elegant brows framed brilliant eyes whose every glance seemed capable of stealing one’s very soul.

Her delicate nose was exquisitely shaped, her skin as white as snow, while her crimson lips resembled a solitary red plum blossoming proudly and bewitchingly amid the snow.

Her tender pink cheeks, seemingly delicate enough to break at the slightest touch, combined with her crystal-clear scarlet eyes that gleamed like rubies, made her resemble a priceless treasure personally crafted by the Creator—or perhaps a celestial maiden walking through the mortal world.

Dressed {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} in a black gauze dress and standing barefoot, this black-haired girl radiated a soul-captivating charm at every moment.

However,

after seeing such a beautiful girl, Xiumu was stunned for only a moment before immediately pulling out the broken sword he had previously picked up from the ground and assuming an unprecedentedly vigilant stance. Azure battle aura slowly surged around him. Avnora beside him was no exception, immediately wearing an expression as though facing a mortal enemy.

The reason was simple.

Dozens of blood-colored butterflies were fluttering around the girl,

and Xiumu could clearly sense that the terrifying power radiating from both the butterflies and the girl herself was the Power of Shadow of Silence...

She?!

She was an Abyss Demon?!

And those blood-colored butterflies?!

‘Blood Butterflies?! She’s that Demon King-class existence?!’

Recalling the sight of blood-colored butterflies filling the sky during the incident at Garos Fortress, Xiumu abruptly sucked in a cold breath. Even his entire body began trembling uncontrollably.

And when they saw that ‘dangerous’ black-haired woman simply crouch down in front of Yuan’er, the Marquis and his wife became even more frantic, cold sweat continuously trickling down their foreheads.

“Yuan’er! Get over here! That woman is dangerous!!”

Xiumu could not help roaring. Instinctively, he charged forward with his sword, attempting to rescue his granddaughter. In his panic, the old Marquis seemed to have completely forgotten the fact that his granddaughter was already stronger than he was.

“G-Grandpa?”

Seeing her grandfather charging toward them in such desperate anxiety, Yuan’er immediately became flustered. She hurriedly tried to figure out how to stop her grandfather from attacking the breathtakingly beautiful black-haired girl in front of her.

But how was she supposed to stop someone without hurting them?

Big Sister Youlan had not taught her that yet...

For a moment, Yuan’er became even more flustered.

However,

at that moment, the black-haired girl beside her slowly raised a hand and gently rubbed Yuan’er’s little head, signaling with her eyes that there was nothing to worry about. Meeting that warm and loving gaze, Yuan’er somewhat dazedly nodded.

The next moment,

the black-haired girl lightly snapped her fingers. Scarlet Power of Shadow of Silence instantly swept across Marquis Xiumu, directly shattering the sword in his hand into pieces and completely dispersing the battle aura he had just gathered around his body.

The old Marquis’s expression changed drastically, and he froze in place in astonishment. Avnora, who had been attempting to help him from behind, was similarly caught by the powerful fluctuations of the Power of Shadow of Silence and forcibly immobilized on the spot.

“Th-This is?”

After effortlessly stopping the Marquis from attacking, the black-haired girl helplessly raised a hand to her chin.

“Come on, Marquis. I don’t have any ill intentions toward you, okay? Do you really have to be this nervous?”

?!!

“You...”

Hearing this, Xiumu’s brows furrowed sharply as he stared suspiciously at the girl before him.

“You have no ill intentions? A Demon King-class monster has no ill intentions toward humans? Who would believe that?!”

Xiumu knew perfectly well

that this Demon King-class existence before him had casually slaughtered Prince Bernard and a group of Imperial mages during the incident at Garos Fortress. The massive explosion near the Imperial Palace just now also seemed to have something to do with her! No matter how one looked at it, this girl certainly could not be the harmless type like his granddaughter!

“Don’t think you can deceive us with your appearance!”

Xiumu spoke with extreme vigilance while secretly gathering power within his body, waiting for an opportunity.

“Sigh, stereotypes really are troublesome.”

Did you already forget what happened with your own granddaughter?

Seeing this and sensing the power surging within Xiumu’s body, the black-haired girl raised a hand to her forehead in speechless exasperation.

Then,

the girl’s scarlet eyes narrowed slightly. A soul-chilling glint immediately spilled from them, causing Marquis Xiumu and his wife to tremble all over.

“Come on, do I even need to deceive you? What would I gain from deceiving you?”

“This...”

“If I had any malicious intentions, you would already be dead, okay?”

The black-haired girl spoke coldly.

At that moment, the temperature in the surrounding air abruptly plummeted, and Xiumu felt a suffocating pressure descend upon him.

Seeing the fear in her grandfather’s eyes, Yuan’er’s own eyes immediately filled with tears. As far as Yuan’er was concerned, the last thing she wanted was for her grandparents and the black-haired girl before her to come into conflict.

The anxious Yuan’er hurriedly ran to the black-haired girl’s side and helplessly reached out to tug at her dress.

“P-Please... d-don’t hurt Grandpa...”

“Hmm?”

Looking down into the girl’s heterochromatic eyes, now brimming with anxious tears, and hearing the slight sob in her voice, the black-haired girl felt her heart tremble.

Immediately, she withdrew the intimidating chill surrounding her and dispersed the Power of Shadow of Silence restraining Marquis Xiumu and Avnora.

“Don’t worry. I won’t hurt them.”

The girl smiled gently and raised a hand to reassuringly pat Yuan’er’s little head.

Meanwhile,

after the restraints disappeared and he was released from the invisible prison formed by the Power of Shadow of Silence, Marquis Xiumu dropped to one knee with lingering fear. Panting heavily, he clutched his chest and stared incredulously at the black-haired girl not far away.

Naturally, Xiumu had noticed the way the black-haired girl looked at Yuan’er just now.

And precisely because he had noticed it, the old Marquis found it utterly incomprehensible.

Because,

that kind of gaze was one Xiumu knew all too well.

The way Avnora looked at Vidoru, the way Laluona looked at Yuan’er and Xia’er...

They all had that exact same expression.

That was the gaze of a mother looking at her child...

Why would this black-haired girl look at Yuan’er that way? And those feelings did not seem fake...

But regardless,

the black-haired girl before him truly did not seem to harbor the malicious intentions he had imagined.

After taking a deep breath, Xiumu slowly raised his head and met the black-haired girl’s brilliant, jewel-like scarlet eyes.

“Then why did you come here? What... what is your purpose?”

“Purpose?”

Hearing this, the girl could not help smiling.

“My purpose? Actually, it’s nothing much. I just want to sign a contract with you.”

“Hmm? A... contract?”

“Don’t worry. It’s not some contract where you sell your soul. This contract will only benefit the people of your territory and Yuan’er. There are no downsides.”

Xiumu: ...