Capítulo 218: A Moonlit Meeting [3]
"Tch! Silly man..."
Then, as if time stopped, James's body blurred and in an instant he was right at Sebastian's side, catching the spear with his hand. Turning my eyes back to the chair that was now vacant, I couldn't believe what had just happened.
Somehow he had managed to dash right to our side faster than my eyes could even see. No, it was as if he teleported here in an instant, or as if his body had always been right here with us.
As Sebastian noticed what had happened, his lower body lost strength and he once again fell to the ground. At the same time, a pair of heavenly eyes shone down on him, James leaning over the body of a foolish man while still holding onto the silvery spear.
"Say, Sebastian... What did you think would happen now...?"
*DON!*
Another wave of pressure was exuded from the devil in front of us, now infused with pure killing intent, strong enough to make the hairs on my skin rise in opposition. Meanwhile, Sebastian, who was the focus of the intent, couldn't stop his teeth from chattering.
"I...I..."
"Hmm? After all this, you can't even give me a proper answer?"
"I-I did... Didn't think..."
"Didn't think what? That you weren't allowed to take your own life? Are you that stupid? If you wanted to die, why not just tell someone about me and the contract would have ended it immediately. Did you truly believe I would just stand here, allowing you to do whatever you wanted?"
'Fuck! I need to do something!'
Spectating the interaction between what could only be said to be a king and a pawn, I had already felt Sebastian's resolve. And if he didn't give up, how could I?
So, without being able to stand up, I forced my lungs to activate, screaming as loudly as I could.
"I won't sign the contract! I'd rather die!"
...
Finally, the demon turned his head toward me, his face still expressionless and void of emotion.
"Huh?"
Once again, I collected power into my lungs and gave him my answer.
"I will not sign a contract with you! Just kill us instead!"
*Thud!*
The spear fell to the ground as he released his grip, his gaze turning up to the sky. As if the moon was more interesting than the ones below him, he looked up for a long time before finally going back to his chair.
As he sat down, he released his pressure on us.
"So, no matter what, you won't sign the contract? You would rather both of you died instead of signing it?"
Both of us now stood up, although my legs weren't nearly as unsteady as Sebastian's. However, even with his pale face, he turned to me and nodded. A nod that said everything I needed to hear.
He was also resolved now.
"Yes."
"You guys... Aren't you both incredibly stupid? First of all, why do you assume that I will take your life, Arthur? If you don't sign the contract, do you truly think I would allow you to die? Wouldn't that make Sophie sad?"
'This guy...'
Even after all of this, he still dared to act as if he cared about others, as if somewhere deep inside he still had some kind of altruistic heart.
"If you care about her, how can you still act like this?!"
Somehow, my question finally managed to make his mouth twitch a bit, as if he hadn't been prepared for it. Sadly, he still kept his composure to the point where it might as well have been an illusion.
"How I can act like this? What do you mean? Aren't I living the life of someone in power? Doing whatever I want as I have the power to back it up?"
Somehow, his words sparked a memory inside of me, a memory of a frail but incredibly powerful boy who had tried to prove us all wrong.
'-Then, let me show you what happens when the truly strong do whatever they want, what the truly strong are capable of.'
'Is this what he was talking about? How scary it is when someone truly strong does whatever they want to?'
Looking at the boyish looks of the monster in front of us, I couldn't help but start to feel regret. Regretting not being more persistent in finding out the truth, that I didn't do everything I could to try and avoid the tragedy that went down.
Still, that didn't mean I could accept what he was doing now. No matter what the truth of the matter was, the truth right now was that he was acting like a maniac. An incredibly dangerous maniac.
Then, he spoke once again, this time leaning forward as if he was exhausted, "Haa... Can't be helped, can it? Anyway, you can do as you like. But can you at least read through the contract? I don't think you understand what I want from you."
Suddenly, he threw a roll of paper at me, a paper I assumed was the contract he kept pestering me about. "What are you waiting for? Just read it. Man, I don't want to stay here all night, my skin will deteriorate if I don't get my beauty sleep."
Albeit with a bit of hesitation, I opened up the roll, stressed about whatever the content could possibly be.
'This... What the fuck?'
Turning my sights to James once again, I was filled with even more stress as I couldn't understand what he was doing.
"This... Is this real? This is really it?"
"Yup. That's it. So, what do you think? Is it good enough for you to swallow your stupid pride and sign it?"
It was... interesting to say the least. Nonetheless, it wasn't enough for me to just accept it blindly.
"I'm not sure... But if this is really it, then I don't see a problem with it. However..."
"Hmm?"
"Why? Why would you offer me something like this, with almost nothing for you to gain? Didn't you want to make me your pawn? Wasn't it something like using me as a military power in the future?"
To my question, he also stood up, looking up at me and meeting my gaze head-on. Once again, even though I was a lot taller, I felt as if he was looking down at me. Then, he spoke with a smirk, a smirk that made my blood freeze.
"Are you really that stupid, Arthur? After all, aren't you already my pawn? Why would I need a leash for a dog that I know is loyal?"
"You...!"
"I don't really care what you choose to do in the future. Because I already know what you will do, and I already know what choices you will make. And that's all I need to know. However...."
Suddenly, his sky-blue eyes started shining, lighting up the dark night even more than the moon could ever do.
"Even if a dog doesn't need a leash, I wouldn't be so stupid not to put a muzzle on it."
'How could that ever make sense?'
If a dog didn't need a leash, wouldn't it make more sense to think it was trained enough not to bite the hands which feed it?
'No, what am I thinking?! It's not like he is feeding me... At least not yet...'
Yes, the first part of the contract merely stated that I couldn't attack him, and the second part... Was that he would make sure I got stronger. So even more than it being to the point where I became his slave, it was a mutual agreement.
'No, it's even more than that... He is strong enough that he could just get rid of me if he wanted to. This is a contract purely for my sake...'
Putting his hand on my shoulder, he showed me a smile that I hadn't seen in so long. The smile of James when he was just trying to do his best on his own, the smile that told me he was also desperately trying to move forward. Even if it was in his own insane way.
So for the first time, ever since the survival event, I gave in.
"I will sign the contract."
"No you fucking won't!"
All of a sudden, a burning figure flew towards us with insane speed. Or rather, it flew towards James, fully intent on destroying him immediately. Fortunately, or unfortunately, his body blurred and instantly disappeared.
*BOOM!*
A huge crater was created right in front of me and in it, a very familiar person was now standing with her fist making contact with the ground. With her scaly blue wings now set on fire and her powerful claws, I suddenly felt a lot more scared than I had ever done with James.
'Ah, I'm fucked...'
Yes, the person who had somehow shown up was Sophie herself, unbeknownst to me how she had found out about this place.
At the same time, the figure of James was once again shown, now standing on one of the thin branches of the large tree.
"Get your ass down here James and let me punch you!"
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