Chapter 128: Forming contract

His voice contained a strange mixture of amusement and disbelief.

"After the astral world was created, I was always here. Using my power of creation, I created all the astral realms and countless astral creatures."

"I allowed beings from different worlds to come here and form contracts with my creations. Through those contracts, the astral realm continued to grow stronger."

Astrion stared at Victor with amusement.

"But I never thought that one day, I would actually be offered to become someone’s summon."

Victor remained silent.

Instead, he activated his evolved technique and examined Astrion’s potential.

His expression slowly changed.

There was no color.

Not gray.

Not red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, or violet.

Astrion’s potential was simply pitch black.

Victor stared at him for several seconds.

The black cat suddenly recovered from its shock and immediately roared furiously.

"How dare you, mortal? How dare you say such vile words to our Majesty?"

The ancient turtle’s aura also erupted as it stared angrily at Victor.

"Do you even understand who stands before you?"

Victor did not even bother looking at them. His eyes remained fixed upon Astrion.

"Only you are worthy of becoming my summon."

The hall instantly fell silent. Astrion’s expression changed.

"Oh?"

Victor’s voice remained calm.

"Are you up for the task or not?"

Astrion stared at Victor for several moments before speaking.

"Are you certain your soul can handle the contract?"

His voice had become much more serious.

"Normally, creatures from the first to sixth astral realms form master-servant contracts with their summoners. Creatures from the seventh realm can form equal contracts, and only some extraordinary ones can still form master-servant contracts."

"As for the eighth realm, only the best of the best can enter that realm and form an equal contract. Until now, no master-servant contract has ever been formed there."

"In some cases, the summoner becomes the servant instead."

Astrion’s eyes gradually became deeper.

"And the ninth realm has remained completely untouched until now."

Victor quietly listened.

Astrion continued.

"I am different from all of them. I am the ruler of the astral realm, and even if I leave this place and born in an outside universe as a summon, I will become a Universal Supreme from the start."

His enormous eyes narrowed.

"Now tell me, human. Do you still want to ask me to become your summon?"

Victor simply smiled.

"That’s what my summon should be."

Astrion’s expression became serious. Victor’s gaze moved toward the eight heads.

"Your other seven heads aren’t awakened, right?"

The moment those words left his mouth, Astrion’s pupils contracted.

Victor continued speaking calmly.

"I’m sure they would awaken if you found a worthy master. Which laws are you proficient in?"

Even Victor himself did not know where this information had come from.

He simply knew.

The moment he looked at Astrion, something deep within his origin seemed to provide him with an understanding that his conscious mind had never possessed.

It was the exact same mysterious feeling he had experienced when his chaos body first awakened.

Astrion’s eyes suddenly widened.

"How do you know about this?"

His previously calm presence instantly became violent and immense.

Boom!

A terrifying aura erupted from Astrion’s body, crashing against the surrounding barrier and causing the entire hall to tremble.

Victor did not respond.

He simply continued smiling while staring at Astrion.

The black cat and ancient turtle also remained completely silent.

They had served Astrion for an unimaginable length of time, yet this was the first time they had ever heard such a troubled tone in their master’s voice.

Astrion stared at Victor for a long time.

Then his expression slowly became calm again.

"Come, then."

His enormous eyes became solemn.

"Let’s form the contract."

Astrion’s voice echoed through the enormous hall.

"If your soul can truly take me as your summon, you will learn about my laws and everything else you wish to know."

"But if you fail, your soul will extinguish here."

Victor’s smile remained unchanged.

"Let’s do this."

...

The barrier vanished, and Astrion completely emerged from behind the darkness.

His enormous eight-headed body was finally revealed in its entirety. Each of his heads carried a different presence, and his colossal body seemed to stretch endlessly through the vast hall. Even the surrounding darkness appeared insignificant before his existence.

"You two, go and prepare the Grand Contract Formation."

"Your Majesty, you don’t have to do this. He is just a lowly human. There is no need to be provoked by him. We can end his life here."

Astrion simply gave the black cat a calm look.

The moment their eyes met, the black cat immediately stopped speaking. It understood that its master had already made his decision.

"I understand. We will prepare it instantly."

The black cat and ancient turtle immediately vanished from the hall.

Victor and Astrion were left standing there side by side, surrounded by an eerie silence.

Neither of them spoke. Each was lost in their own thoughts.

"You can still back down, human," Astrion suddenly said.

Victor didn’t answer.

He merely smiled.

Deep down, Astrion actually wanted the human not to back down. He had no idea why, but when he saw Victor’s complete nonchalance, a strange sense of relief appeared within him.

After waiting for a while, the black cat’s voice finally echoed through the hall.

"Your Majesty, we have created the formation."

"Let’s go," Astrion said.

Victor nodded and followed him.

Soon, they arrived in another enormous room.

The black cat and ancient turtle were already waiting there. In the center of the room was an enormous circular formation that had been freshly created on the ground.

Countless intricate patterns covered its surface, with ancient symbols intertwined across the enormous circle. Even Victor could sense the profound laws contained within the formation.

"We will enter the formation and let it decide the outcome," the black cat explained solemnly. "You will either die here, become His Majesty’s slave, become his partner, or become his master. This is the highest-order contract formation."

Victor only nodded and stepped directly into the circle.

For some reason, he felt completely confident that he would be just fine.

Astrion stared at him for a moment.

The ancient hydra hesitated slightly.

Then, he also entered the formation.

The instant both of them stood inside, the countless patterns beneath their feet began glowing.

Victor immediately activated the Astral Communication Technique, and his vast energy began circulating throughout his body.

Boom!

His energy instantly connected with Astrion’s.

"Human, there is something I didn’t tell you."

Astrion’s voice echoed through Victor’s mind.

"For other astral creatures, the contract is judged by the potential of the Summoner. The truly energy reserve doen’t matter.But as I am the ruler of the astral realm, this rule changes completely."

"You need to have more energy than me to summon me."

Victor’s expression remained calm.

Astrion continued, his voice carrying absolute confidence.

"Even a Universal Supreme is nothing but a child compared to me in terms of energy reserves. Not even those Immortals are comparable to me."

"Only a Supreme God King possesses an energy reserve comparable to mine, but they are forbidden from coming here."

Astrion had never told Victor this because Victor had been too arrogant to ask.

Boom!

The instant Victor’s energy completely connected with Astrion’s, both of their minds were suddenly pulled into a strange space.

The world around them disappeared.

There was no tenth realm.

No castle.

No black cat.

No ancient turtle.

Only an endless, mysterious space remained.

This was the space of the Contract.

Here, the bodies of the summon and summoner were manifested according to their energy reserves and potential.

If the summoner was larger, he would become the master.

If both were similar in size, they would become equal partners.

But if the summon was larger, the summoner would either become the servant or have his soul extinguished.

Astrion’s soul form began manifesting.

It expanded rapidly.

A single universe.

Then countless universes.

His enormous soul continued expanding until it became larger than billions of universes combined.

Worthy of the ruler of the astral world.

Normally, even the Progenitors would possess soul forms comparable to a single universe, while creatures from the eighth realm would be as large as several galaxies.

But Astrion was completely different.

His soul was on an entirely different level.

Astrion looked behind himself, expecting to see Victor’s terrified expression.

After all, the difference between their energy reserves should have been absolute.

But the moment Astrion looked back, his pupils suddenly contracted.

His entire consciousness froze.

There was a huge cosmic throne behind him.

And someone was sitting upon it.

Astrion stared at the figure in disbelief.

It looked like a humanoid universe.

Countless stars and galaxies seemed to exist within its body, while an incomprehensible cosmic aura radiated from its existence.

In its hand was a universal sword.

Astrion’s eight heads became completely motionless.

The cosmic throne was so enormous, and Victor’s form was so vast, that Astrion suddenly felt like a tiny grain of dust standing before an endless cosmos.

"What..."

For the first time, genuine disbelief appeared in Astrion’s voice.

He had expected Victor to be terrified after seeing the vastness of his soul.

Instead, Astrion was the one who felt insignificant.

Victor remained seated upon the enormous cosmic throne, looking down at Astrion with an unusually calm expression.

Then, slowly, a faint smile appeared on his face.

But Astrion couldn’t understand where this fucking throne came from.

There shouldn’t have been any external object.

They should have both standing in the endless void.

"What the fu...."