Eutheo closed his eyes for a brief mont. Then he laughed, quietly this ti.
"Damn you, hero," he said softly. "I was hoping to ease into that."
He opened his eyes again, and the jovial Baron was gone entirely.
"Yes," Eutheo admitted. "I built it."
Percival didn’t react. "Why?"
"Because Hollowcreek would have been wiped out without it," Eutheo said. "And because Luvengart needed the resources."
There it was. Bare. Ugly. Honest.
"You’ve been using Hollowcreek’s Gate World density to fuel your city’s economy," Percival said flatly.
"It was a win-win deal," Eutheo defended himself. "Hollowcreek reduced themselves to the way of the past. They wanted to live without civilization. The netizens believe in the ancient way, but Duke Ithalan, who has to protect them, is not stupid. He knows without Awakeners and the growing arsenal of the world, they would be destroyed within a year."
"And so he went to you," Percival said, staring coldly at the Baron. "Or let guess, you went to him?"
Baron gazed at him for a while, then chuckled. "Don’t judge , Hero."
"I won’t judge you, and you won’t call Hero," Percival stated flatly.
Baron Eutheo seed to agree silently.
Percival sighed, looking away. "Besides, I do not really care about any of this to be honest. You are yet to tell what you want from ."
Eutheo’s eyes narrowed as he reclaid his courage, faced with desperation and duty. "You are powerful. You are perhaps the most powerful person I have ever stood close to."
Percival’s brows creased slightly. Sucking up and flattering an outworlder? Baron Eutheo really must be very desperate.
Eutheo’s hands raised as if to proclaim retreat. "I do not wish to know your secrets. I only ask that you use it. Use it to help ."
He leaned in a bit closer. "You cleared the A-Ranked Gate World solo, I know that you can do the sa with this one. If you require a team, I can prepare it for you."
He stepped closer, lowering his voice. "Please. Luvengart, Hollowcreek, perhaps even Eldermoor as a whole is at risk here. Clear that Demon Gate World for , Percival."
Percival’s eyes burned with quiet contempt. "Did you already forget that I rejected a similar proposal from the King of Valoris?"
Eutheo’s eyes glistened. "Oh no I haven’t. No no. You see..."
He gestured vaguely toward the walls. "I can offer sothing the King didn’t. I do not want to bind you to duties based on my gifts. However, I think we can co to a deal."
Percival stayed silent. To Eutheo, that ant he was interested.
"The Gate World you just cleared. I can keep you as the owner. Every coin obtained from it goes straight to an account under your na in the Luvengart Bank."
Percival didn’t answer.
"The Gate World will remain yours, Percival," Eutheo said softly. "You will not have to worry about coin. And even better, you owe no one as the Gate World remains yours."
Percival looked up sharply.
"I am a desperate man," Eutheo continued, voice steady, persuasive. "I will do this for you without a second thought. I will do it before you set foot in Hollowcreek. Regardless of the result, the Gate World is yours."
Percival narrowed his eyes. "You’ll be going against another Crown law."
Eutheo shook his head tentatively. "I am screwed either way, Percival. At this mont, you are my Necromancer in shining armor."
Percival did not answer imdiately.
Silence stretched between them, thick and deliberate. He let it sit there, unmoving, watching Baron Eutheo from beneath half-lowered lashes, letting the man’s impatience press against the air.
Demons.
The word lingered unpleasantly in his mind.
Not because it frightened him—maybe it did. But... it almost didn’t fit.
Gate Worlds followed rules. Even the broken ones did. It was beasts. Just beasts.
Demonspawns never appeared in Gate Worlds, so even if Demons were to show up in the world, it made no sense for them to be in those thed Dungeons.
Gate Worlds were stories woven by the gods, right? Well, what god had a thing for demons?
However, Percival had lived long enough—twice—to know that chaos was rarely random. It only appeared so to those who didn’t understand the system beneath it.
Demons sat outside that logic.
Too old. Too forgotten.
Which made them either impossible...
or a sign that sothing had shifted far deeper than anyone was prepared to admit.
Could Eutheo be lying?
Yes. Easily.
The Baron was a ruler. And rulers lied as naturally as they breathed. They always had reasons—security, stability, control—but reasons never made lies any less dangerous.
Nevertheless, Percival examined the situation the way he examined a battlefield.
Slowly. Dispassionately.
If this was a trap, it was a strange one.
Eutheo had not threatened him. Had not cornered him with authority. Had not attempted to force obedience through law or crown.
Instead, he had confessed.
The portal.
The pact.
The treason.
Percival was surprised that he confessed. But not at all surprised by the confession.
That was simply how power worked.
Governnts did not function cleanly. They never had. They ran on secrets, back channels, buried bodies, and deals that would ruin reputations if dragged into the light.
Kings smiled in public and sharpened knives in private. Barons built prosperity on things they could never afford to admit.
Eutheo was no exception. If anything, he was predictable.
What mattered was leverage.
And here, Percival had it.
If the portal was real—and Percival believed it was, if only because Eutheo had nothing to gain from inventing a Demon Gate—then the Baron stood on the edge of collapse.
Exposure ant treason. Treason ant execution.
Not just for Eutheo, but for everyone tied to him.
Luvengart would suffer.
Percival realized that everything here was up to him. The only disadvantage was it seed too honest to be honest.
Perhaps that was how the best traps were made. Or perhaps, his fear of betrayal was making him overthink everything.
His eyes narrowed at Eutheo.
The truth was, this was not a favor being asked.
Eutheo wasn’t pleading for help. He wasn’t appealing to heroism, duty, or sacrifice. He was offering a transaction, one weighed carefully against the fact that he stood to lose everything if it failed.
Percival almost found that reassuring. A man with nothing to lose was dangerous. A man with everything to lose was careful.
The rewards replayed themselves in his mind, uninvited.
He would own an A-Ranked Gate World permanently.
If Eutheo kept his word—and Percival believed he would, precisely because he could not afford not to—then that Gate World would remain his.
Permanently. A certainty that he would never be in need of a quick coin.
Also, he could be the first to clear a Demon Gate World.
There would be new types of rewards.
And more importantly, a Demon Gate World Aspect.
The first of its kind.
Even thinking about it sent a faint, involuntary spark through his core.
An Aspect born of demons would not obey the sa constraints as beasts or corrupted land. It could rewrite assumptions.
Percival was way too curious to pass out on this.
His distrust did not vanish. It didn’t need to.
He didn’t need to trust Eutheo. He only needed to understand him.
And he did.
This deal did not favor the Baron.
Percival lifted his gaze slightly, eting Eutheo’s eyes again.
The Baron waited, tense but composed, pretending patience.
"What say you?"
Percival had already reached his conclusion.
He would take the deal.
Not because he believed in demons.
Not because he believed in Eutheo.
But because every risk here weighed heavier on the Baron than on him.
And because, if demons truly had arrived in Evernia—
Then Percival had to get ahead of it in ti.
"You’re asking to believe you won’t betray ," he said quietly.
Eutheo t his gaze without blinking. "I am afraid of you, Percival. But as of now, I am more afraid of what’s inside that Gate than of you."
Percival studied him for a long mont.
Then he spoke.
"I don’t trust n in power," he said. "They lie when it’s convenient. They discard when it’s safe."
Eutheo inclined his head. "True."
"I will depart for Hollowcreek tomorrow," Percival declared.
Eutheo’s eyes glistened with hope, and his hands clasped together. "Oh thank you, Percival." He thought for a mont. "Say, is it possible for you to go today?"
Percival narrowed his eyes. "I can use your portal if you’re worried about getting there in ti."
"No," Eutheo said. "Not at all. It’s only that, it’s rely three days left until the Demons within the Gate World start spilling out."
Percival stood still. Then he turned and headed to the door. "If that is the case then you would really want to get this sleep that I so desperately need."
Baron Eutheo watched in silence as the Necromancer left the hall, guards opened the doors, light spilled in and disappeared a mont after.
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