Chapter 71: The Buyout

Chapter 71: Chapter 71: The Buyout

The shadows in the ruined vault seemed to physically coil around Sylvia, dripping from her daggers like liquid ink.

"A counter-proposal?" Malcor wheezed from the floor, his bloated face twisting into a sneer. "You’re a fool, Investor! The contract is bound in blood and dark mana! If my heart stops beating, the dead-man’s switch triggers. The tether snaps, a signal reaches the Capital, and Julian Vane executes her brother. You can’t outbid a hostage!"

Sylvia’s violet eyes flickered with a raw, agonizing panic, but her body remained locked in its lethal combat stance. The magical compulsion woven into her contract forced her to raise her daggers, pointing them directly at Donald’s chest.

"Step back, Investor," Sylvia warned, her voice trembling slightly behind the mask. "I can’t override the command. If you take one more step, the contract will force me to strike."

Donald didn’t step back. He stood perfectly still, letting his golden [Valuation Eye] dissect the invisible magical tethers wrapping around the assassin.

[Target: Magical Binding Contract (Class-A)]

[Owner: Crimson Lotus Guild]

[Subject: Sylvia (Blood Petal Operative)]

[Condition: Total defense of Guild Master Malcor. Dead-man’s switch active.]

Donald smiled beneath his mask.

"Malcor," Donald said smoothly, not taking his eyes off Sylvia. "You’re fundamentally misunderstanding how corporate restructuring works."

Malcor blinked, wiping sweat from his forehead. "What are you talking about?"

"A magical contract is an asset," Donald explained, tapping his temple. "It is registered under the Crimson Lotus Guild charter. And ten minutes ago, on my way up the stairs, I bought seventy percent of your Guild’s outstanding debt. I executed a hostile takeover. Which means everything the Crimson Lotus owns... belongs to me."

Donald pulled up his internal SSS+ System interface.

[Current Balance: 10,500,000 System Credits.]

[Asset Management: Crimson Lotus Guild.]

[Action: Transfer Ownership of ’Class-A Binding Contract (Sylvia)’.]

[Cost: -500,000 System Credits to sever magical tether and reassign. Execute?]

Execute.

"I’m the new Guild Master of the Crimson Lotus, Malcor," Donald whispered. "And you’re fired."

A blinding flash of golden System light erupted inside the dark vault.

It didn’t come from Evelyn. It came from Sylvia. The invisible, suffocating chains of dark magic that had been wrapped around her soul for a year suddenly materialized as thick, black iron. Then, touched by the golden light of the Investor’s system, the chains violently shattered into a million pieces of harmless ash.

Sylvia gasped, stumbling forward as the absolute compulsion evaporated from her mind. The two curved daggers slipped from her hands, clattering uselessly onto the expensive carpet.

She stared at her hands, then looked up at Donald in absolute, unadulterated shock.

"The tether," Sylvia breathed, her violet eyes wide. "It’s gone. I... I can’t feel the compulsion."

"No!" Malcor shrieked. The bloated Guild Master scrambled backward, realizing his human shield was gone. "That’s impossible! That was Capital-grade shadow magic! You can’t just buy a blood contract!"

Evelyn didn’t give him another second to speak.

The Valkyrie crossed the room in a blur of silver light. She grabbed Malcor by the collar of his silk robe and violently slammed him against the steel wall of the vault. The impact knocked the wind out of him, leaving him gasping and sliding down to the floor, completely helpless.

Evelyn raised the Bloodhound’s Fang, pressing the glowing, celestial blade directly against Malcor’s throat.

"Wait," Sylvia croaked, taking a desperate step forward. "Vance, wait! Don’t kill him!"

Evelyn didn’t press the blade, but she didn’t lower it either. She looked over her shoulder at the assassin. "He left you to die in a boss room. He sold you to Julian Vane. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t take his head off right now."

"Because the dead-man’s switch is still tied to his biology," Donald said quietly, walking over to join them. "I broke the magical compulsion forcing Sylvia to defend him, but the physical signal linked to Julian Vane is still anchored to Malcor’s heartbeat. If he dies, Vane gets the alert, and the brother dies."

Evelyn’s jaw tightened. She glared down at the whimpering, pathetic man. With a disgusted sigh, she pulled her sword back and drove the heavy pommel directly into Malcor’s temple.

The corrupt Guild Master went limp instantly, knocked completely unconscious.

"He’s alive," Evelyn said, dismissing her sword. "But he’s going to have a massive headache when he wakes up."

Donald looked at Sylvia. The A-Rank assassin was trembling slightly, staring at Malcor’s unconscious body. For a year, she had been a ghost, a slave to the men who murdered her friends. Now, in the span of sixty seconds, the Investor had completely shattered her chains.

"I don’t understand," Sylvia whispered, looking at Donald. "You broke the Crimson Lotus. You won. Why did you free me?"

"Because you’re an A-Rank Dark Mage with perfect infiltration skills," Donald said, sliding his hands back into his pockets. "And my Guild currently has exactly two people in it. We have a lot of empty bedrooms."

Sylvia stared at him. "You want to recruit me? After I tried to put a knife in your throat this morning?"

"You missed," Donald said effortlessly. "And I don’t hold grudges when people are being coerced. I’m offering you a new contract, Sylvia. A real one. You come work for the Investment Guild. You get a home. You get the best gear on the market. And in return, I promise you, I will personally fund, plan, and execute a raid on the Capital to get your brother back."

Sylvia’s breath hitched. She looked at Evelyn, expecting the Valkyrie to object.

Instead, Evelyn just offered a soft, knowing smile. "He’s telling the truth. If he says he’s going to buy your brother’s freedom, he’ll do it. Trust me. He has a habit of picking up strays."

Sylvia fell to her knees. The cold, lethal assassin completely broke down, pressing her hands to her face as a year of suppressed trauma and terror finally cracked.

"Okay," Sylvia choked out, her voice thick with tears. "Yes. I accept. My life is yours."

The moment the words left her mouth, Donald’s internal System interface flared violently. The golden text was brighter than usual, signaling a major narrative shift.

[Transfer Complete. Current Balance: 10,000,000 System Credits.]

[Primary Asset Acquired: Sylvia (A-Rank Dark Mage/Assassin).]

[Hidden Milestone Reached: The Emancipator’s Bond.]

[Reward: Skill Unlocked - Familia Summoning (Growth-Type).]

Donald blinked. A new skill. He mentally selected it to view the details.

[Skill: Familia Summoning]

[Effect: Summons a spiritual familiar born from the Investor’s expanding portfolio. Highly adept at stealth, scouting, and mana disruption. Manifests characteristics of bonded assets.]

"Let’s see what we got," Donald murmured. He raised his right hand, channeling a small pulse of his 68 mana into the new skill.

A swirling vortex of dark, inky shadow materialized on the vault floor. But instead of being purely corrupted magic, the edges of the shadow were traced with warm, glowing celestial gold.

With a soft, incredibly quiet pop, a creature stepped out of the shadows.

It was a sleek, midnight-black cat. Its eyes were a piercing, vibrant violet—exactly matching Sylvia’s. But what made it truly anomalous were the two small, ethereal wings folded against its back. They were a bizarre, beautiful fusion of leathery bat-like shadow and glowing golden feathers.

The winged cat stretched, let out a tiny, heavily reverberating purr that sounded like a bass drop, and leaped lightly onto Donald’s shoulder.

Evelyn stared at it. "Donald... did you just summon a flying cat?"

Sylvia wiped her eyes, looking up at the familiar in absolute awe. She could feel the heavy, concentrated A-Rank dark mana radiating off the tiny creature, perfectly stabilized by the holy aura holding it together. "It feels like my magic. But... pure."

"It’s a scout," Donald smiled, reaching up to scratch the familiar behind its ears. The cat leaned into his glove, its small wings fluttering happily. "And I have a feeling we’re going to need it very soon. Right, Sylvia?"

Sylvia’s professional training instantly reasserted itself. She stood up, her violet eyes hardening.

"We are," Sylvia warned, looking at Donald and Evelyn. "Vane isn’t waiting. The embargo was just a distraction. A holding action to keep you trapped in your building while the Capital moved their real pieces into place."

"What pieces?" Evelyn asked, stepping closer.

"Tomorrow morning, Julian Vane is dropping the Abyssal Charter," Sylvia revealed, her voice dropping to an urgent whisper. "Dragonheart has a Royal Decree. They are legally seizing control of the Abyssal Gate."

Evelyn’s eyes went wide. "The Abyssal Gate? That’s Genesis City’s primary high-tier dungeon. It produces seventy percent of the city’s monster cores. If Dragonheart takes it, they control the entire local economy."

"They brought a twenty-man raid team of elite A-Ranks from the Capital," Sylvia continued. "They enter the gate at dawn. Once they clear the bottom floor and plant the Dragonheart flag, the dungeon legally belongs to the Capital. The Awakener Association won’t be able to stop them."

Donald stood up, his mind rapidly processing the tactical layout. The winged cat on his shoulder let out a low, warning hiss, as if sensing the impending conflict.

A Royal Charter was an absolute legal mandate. The only loophole—the Vanguard Clause—stated that if a local, independent Guild cleared the dungeon first, the Royal claim was invalidated.

"If they plant their flag, Genesis City becomes a vassal state," Donald murmured. He stroked the cat’s dark wings, looking at Evelyn. "Julian Vane thinks we’re trapped in the dark. He thinks we’re starving. He has no idea we just restocked our armory."

Evelyn cracked her knuckles, a fierce, predatory grin spreading across her face. "A twenty-man raid team of Capital elites."

"We beat them to the bottom," Donald ordered, his [Valuation Eye] flashing brightly in the dim vault. "We clear the Abyssal Gate. And we take the city’s biggest dungeon for ourselves."