Chapter 274. A Demon Will Always Be A Demon

Chapter 274: 274. A Demon Will Always Be A Demon

Currently, almost everyone had already evacuated from the royal palace due to the earlier battle in the garden. With the lack of any leading figures, only the servants who had nowhere to go were still hiding nearby.

The two court mages were also in their respective towers. The King’s Hand, Thaddeus, had miraculously survived the underground collapse, but his whereabouts were unknown.

Except for these people, there were two others who remained in the royal palace.

As Jake teleported there with Pristina, he found his subordinates surrounding the main wing from the sky.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

"Master!" The three of them immediately flew over and bowed to him midair.

"They are?" Pristina narrowed her eyes before a shocked expression covered her face.

Jake was expecting that and immediately laughed, slapping her ass he let her go.

"What? You thought I didn’t have other powerful subordinates?"

The gothic pirate didn’t know what to say. The last time she saw him, Jake was just a 4th Circle demon. But now, he’d already advanced and even gathered three underlings of the same rank!

Such growth honestly left her terrified.

’Thankfully, I only signed a 10-year contract with him...’ Pristina internally heaved a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, soft claps drew everyone’s attention. Standing on the same balcony as earlier, Averon stood beside Dominik who spoke in fascination, "Yet another 5th Circle helper... But her addition won’t make a difference."

"How about I kill you again? And again? How many times can you truly revive, old man?" Jake replied with a condescending smile.

"You..." Dominik’s face twitched before he shook his head, "You just don’t learn. It is impossible to kill me unless your abilities can invoke a principle!"

’Principle?’ Jake was confused. ’System, what is he saying?’

[Please reach the 6th Circle Advancement threshold first. Or you may spend 500,000 evil points to access this knowledge beforehand.]

’Tch! Stingy as always.’ Jake couldn’t help but curse internally. He was already in debt and this system was asking for more.

Dominik seemed to find joy in seeing his sour expression.

"You don’t even know what a principle is. What an ignorant demon!"

This warlock held great pride in his knowledge and magical capabilities. So, being able to flaunt that made him instantly revel.

"He dares?" Yvonne was quick tempered and as she already hated this fellow, she immediately began charging up her mana.

Dominik’s expression turned solemn. He hastily raised his hand and whispered a string of obscure words, creating a pale ray which collided with the crimson dragon’s attack.

Contrary to the usual explosion, a neutralizing effect took place. Dominik had fired an anti-magic ray.

"If I wanted to fight, I would have already done so."

"And?"

"In the first place, I don’t really have much incentive to fight you all. It’s too boring."

"Just say that you can’t kill us either. Acting all high and mighty..." Zevik spat in contempt.

"You." Dominik looked at the assassin and said with his hands folded behind his back, "Bring back my nephew’s family members and let them evacuate together. We can consider this matter settled."

On the side, Averon’s expression was pale. Looking at his own brother who’d been corrupted, he understood that this was the best he could ask for. The kingdom was already lost...

"You aren’t in the position to negotia-"

"Interesting." Jake spoke and Zevik immediately became silent.

"I can do that, but on a condition."

"And that is?" The cursed prince narrowed his eyes. A demon’s condition was never one to trifle with. Even if you were cautious, you’d never know when a cunning demon might swindle your soul through a contract...

"Relax, I just want to fuck them first. Afterwards, they can decide whether to stay or leave with him." Jake chuckled as he glanced at the king whose face became red with anger.

"Y-You...!" Averon seemed like he wanted to say something but eventually looked down and began muttering to himself.

"Hah, they’re just flesh and bones... What is there to like?" Dominik seemed highly disappointed as he faced upward and declared, "Only great knowledge deserves love and pursuit!"

He almost looked ecstatic while saying this, causing Pristina to click her tongue in disgust, "Tch, this guy is deranged."

On the other hand, Jake finally understood more about Dominik and even had an idea of how his corruption may have started.

"So, do we have an agreement?"

"Sure."

Obviously, the warlock didn’t care much about his distant relative’s family members.

Averon looked all around the empty palace and remembered it being full of servants, officials and guards. He remembered the power he once held.

Now, he couldn’t even bargain for his wife and daughters. How did it come to this point?

"Why did I even free you...?" Averon’s hands trembled.

Meanwhile, Dominik retained his playful smile as he said, "Don’t you want to know how loyal your family is to you? I’ll make sure they won’t be mind-controlled. Let’s see how this demon charms them."

"But still-"

"Dear nephew, I have never researched in this area..." The undying warlock narrowed his eyes.

"Are you trying to interfere?"

As a subtle mana pressure fell, Averon gritted his teeth and remained silent.

The reason Dominik was called a monster was exactly because of this. He was a research fanatic, and would kill millions without batting an eyelid if it meant proving a single statistic.

Of course, Jake didn’t entirely trust the cursed prince. So, he withdrew a template contract from his inventory and added the terms using his own blood.

After he was done, Jake imbued some mana into the paper and threw it at the balcony.

"Check it and sign. Use your own blood."

"A demon will always be a demon..." Dominik shook his head in amusement and began reading.

However, the first sentence itself caused him to turn solemn and mutter, "This writing... He knows the way of abyssal covenants?"

If Jake was asked this question, he would be confused again. The template contracts sold by the system were actually very strict!

Typical demonic contracts placed a Demon King or Queen as the overseer. However, Jake’s contract was something that those very rulers used.

If Dominik wasn’t a knowledge hungry fanatic, he would never know the severity of it. Thus, he read even more carefully to see if there was anything fishy.

However, even after rereading multiple times, he didn’t find anything suspicious. The foundational terms were a little lengthy but limited both him and Jake in a similar manner.

Thus, after nearly half an hour of contemplating, this warlock cautiously wrote his name on the blanks using his own blood. He read the contract again and finally signed at the bottom with a relieved expression.

’Relief? Why would I feel relieved after signing it?’ Suddenly, a doubtful thought popped up in his mind.

’When did I forget about this demon’s ability to manipulate emotions?!’ Dominik’s eyes widened as he looked upward.

There, he saw Jake leisurely floating with a slight smile on his face.

As if knowing the man’s thoughts, Jake spoke slowly,

"I can’t actually make you forget anything, but I can make you unnecessarily anxious. And what happens to a person in that state? He mostly focuses on the thing that’s worrying him..."

"Hah, so you’re telling me that I’ve been outsmarted?"

"If I didn’t taste a subtle fear when you saw the contract, I wouldn’t even consider this approach. Emotions don’t really govern your mind, but they can definitely influence your decisions."

Jake chuckled and added sarcastically, "Aren’t you happy that you learned something new?"

___

Note: The full contract is in Author’s Thoughts. It is a bit lengthy and would inflate the word count too much, so I put it there. Can you find the loopholes?