Chapter 150: A Contract Between Equals

A faint smile touched Malrik's lips when he heard the imperial soul's words and her low, broken voice.

"Why should I do that, Your Majesty?" Malrik asked in his mind, his tone carrying a hint of quiet sarcasm. "As I told you, Arden has fallen. Which means I won't be getting those treasures that someone as lowly as me could never even dream of."

Upon hearing Malrik's words, the soul fell silent at his insolence.

But he was right. She had initially ordered him to obtain the book and send it back to her empire, promising him unimaginable wealth in return.

But now... she was completely helpless. She didn't know how to answer him or what she could possibly offer.

"What do you want, you insolent fool?" she finally asked, her voice carrying a mixture of frustration and restrained anger.

"Right now, I have no idea what I could possibly want from a sealed book being sold at an auction," Malrik replied coldly. "As you know, you're completely powerless to give me anything I might want."

"I am an Archon!" the soul declared, trying to reclaim some of her pride. "If you help me break my seal, I will grant you a single wish."

"And what does this 'Archon' mean?"

"Fool!" the soul replied, her voice dripping with pride. "Archon is the title given to someone who reaches the Empyrean rank."

Upon hearing this, Malrik froze.

Empyrean rank?

The highest rank he had ever heard of in this world was the Sovereign rank, whose holders were known as the "Supreme." They represented the highest authority in the world as it currently stood, people like his father, the Duke.

It was no wonder, then, that he had never heard of the title Archon. As far as he knew, no one in the world currently held that rank... or at least, that was what he had believed.

But Malrik was no longer certain that the rank was truly extinct now.

After all, if the soul speaking to him truly was an Empyrean, then someone had reached that rank.

...And perhaps she wasn't the only one.

There might be others like her somewhere in this world, hidden from everyone's eyes. Or perhaps... there were even those who had surpassed her.

Malrik lingered on that possibility for a moment.

If there truly were powers that surpassed the Supreme rank, then everything he knew about the balance of power in Valtheria might be far more flawed than he had imagined.

Malrik thought of the current Emperor and his sister, the Black Empress. Both were Supreme.

Their conflict alone was enough to ignite a war that could drag the various powers of the world into it.

So what would happen if they learned that there was a rank in this world above the Supreme?

Malrik had no idea what kind of impact such a discovery would have if anyone learned that it was real.

And he didn't care about that right now.

He had just been given the chance to acquire a sealed book containing an Empyrean-rank soul.

"I'll buy the book, and I'll find a way to break this seal," Malrik said firmly in his mind. "But in return, you'll form a contract with me, and you'll fight for me whenever I order you to."

"How insolent!" the soul cried out, her voice filled with disdain and wounded pride.

"Do you think I'm your slave? In your dreams, you fool! I'd rather die than become a slave to a mortal like you."

"You're already dead. Have you forgotten?"

An awkward silence filled his mind for a moment before Evangeline finally replied. "...You know very well what I mean."

Malrik fell silent, weighing his options.

In truth, he had no idea what he could ask of her or what terms he could offer in exchange for helping her if they were to form a contract.

After all, if he formed a standard contract with her, her power would be sealed down to a rank only one level above his own, just as it had happened with Lilith.

And he had no intention of letting that happen.

Ever since Malrik had advanced from the Mortal rank to the Awakened rank, the power of his class skills had increased, but so had his understanding of them.

The Soul Resurrection skill allowed him to create soul contracts and force a soul to accept them. That was what was known as a Master and Slave contract.

As for Soul Calling, it allowed him to open a gate between this world and the Soul Realm.

But this time, it was different.

He was not summoning a soul and forcing it into a contract. Instead, he was offering the contract to her and leaving the choice to accept or reject it in her hands.

It was still a Master and Slave contract, but the soul had the right to choose whether to accept it.

That was exactly what had happened with Lilith.

She had chosen to leave the Soul Realm in exchange for serving under him as her master.

As both Soul Resurrection and Soul Calling leveled up, the changes were not limited to shorter cooldowns or greater power. Malrik's understanding of both skills had also deepened, to the point that he could make certain modifications to them, such as changing the contents of the contract, its conditions, and even the restriction that limited the soul's rank, though only under certain conditions.

"Very well. I'll buy the book now, and I'll find a way to break your seal. In return, you'll form a contract with me."

Malrik paused for a moment before adding.

"It won't be a Master and Slave contract. It will be a contract between equals. If I ask for your help a certain number of times, you'll assist me without any conditions. Once you've fulfilled those requests, you'll be free. What do you say?"

The soul fell silent for a while.

For the first time, she seemed to be seriously considering his offer.

"Hurry up, before I change my mind."

Silence lingered for a few moments.

"...Fine. I agree."

A faint smile touched Malrik's lips when he heard the soul's answer. He looked toward the book on the pedestal.

Up until this moment, no one had placed a single bid on it.

The auction host Mia gestured with her hand, and a few workers stepped forward, preparing to remove the book from the pedestal, as it appeared no one was interested in this unknown book.

Malrik calmly reached for the shimmering crystal orb beside his chair and channeled mana into it, just as the auction manager had instructed.

Immediately, a calm voice echoed from his VIP box across the entirety of the auction hall:

"One copper coin."