A few minutes later...
The contract terms were finalized, leaving both parties sowhat satisfied. In the case of Levi, he made sure to include three big terms.
Firstly, Arthur would not be hard or affected by her party whether Blee'der's evolution succeeded or failed.
Secondly, if the evolution went through as anticipated, Shia had to ensure that Levi joined the Contract Ritual Assembly in the next two months regardless of the cost. If she failed to deliver, she would pay ten million lun credit to Levi.
This wasn't all, she had to attempt sponsoring him for the next years until he successfully joined...Each year she failed, she had to pay him the sa amount again.
This condition was extrely harsh as ten million luns wasn't an amount any Daywalker could produce easily...Only high-ranked or rich Daywalkers could afford such a penalty.
Third, if he were to succeed, they must not speak of this deal with anyone or ntion his na.
In other words, this was a one-ti deal.
After the terms were written in luminous ink on the Nocturnal Contract, Shia went first and signed her full na at the bottom.
When she finished, she extended her palm at the contract, her eager smile couldn't be maintained.
"Excuse , is it possible to have ten minutes with my little brother?" Levi suddenly requested with a soft smile, "I would like to put his mind at ease."
"Little brother?" Shia tilted her head in confusion and then glanced at the agitated mountain behind Levi.
"That's your little brother?" Jamal's eyes widened, "Are you ssing with ? He looks older than us!"
"Yes, he is one year younger than ," Levi replied calmly.
"The hell? Are you telling this behemoth is still a teenager?"
Sergio gulped a mouthful as lifted his head to look at Arthur's face, almost breaking his neck in the process.
"Guys, this is not the ti."
Although Shia was just as shocked as her partners, she still brought back the conversation to the more important subject.
"You can have five minutes tops."
She approved and walked to the room's door, followed by her squadmates whose dumbfounded eyes never left Arthur.
"That will do." Levi nodded in appreciation.
The mont the door was closed and Arthur saw them keep a respectful distance, he imdiately turned to face Levi.
"Big bro, what's your next move?" He asked, "Did you find Blee'der's perfect evolution?"
"How could I?" Levi chuckled, "I never left your sight."
"Levi...How can you laugh in this f*cked-up situation?"
Arthur scratched his head in agitation, trying his best to understand his brother's angle, but failing miserably.
While he wasn't the brightest of minds, he had read the terms of the contract. There wasn't an ounce of play work or fine print in the terms.
In other words, unless Levi genuinely produced a thod to help Blee'der's evolution, he was cooked beyond reproach.
"Arthy, relax." With the sa serene smile, Levi said, "While I don't know the answer, I know who does."
"Huh? What do you an?"
Arthur lifted his head in confusion, but Levi's attention was already on soone else.
"Ash'kral, don't you think it's ti we are done with foreplay?" He asked as he gazed at the infinite darkness before him.
Surprisingly, not a single nightcrawler had invaded Levi's personal space even though he was in an outpost packed with Daywalkers.
It was all because of one entity...
"Boy, I don't swing that way."
Ash'kral erged from the darkness, his sinister crimson eye manifesting first akin to the awakening of a slumbering devil.
"I don't think we have ti for jokes." Levi tapped on his wrist twice and said calmly, "We have four minutes and thirty seconds to negotiate our Daywalker contract terms."
"Boy, have you finally gone mad?"
Ash'kral twisted himself around Levi akin to a serpentine without touching him. He brought his nacing slit in front of him, seemingly trying to read out Levi's motives.
"Ash'Kral, please don't insult my intelligence." Levi said composedly, "I may not have eyes, but my observation skills aren't to be underestimated."
"What are you on about?" Ash'kral frowned.
"I see you want to act dumb all the way...Fine by ."
Levi leaned against the chair and picked up the teacup on the small table on his side after a couple of attempts...Then, he took a sip and started speaking, his tone unchanging.
"Ten years...For an entire decade, you have been beside . You were the first nightcrawler I have laid my eyes on as a child after the incident. While you scared the living crap out of and gave unspeakable nightmares, I realized sothing..." He smiled, "Those nightmares were normal, and they continued for five years until I reached twelve, the minimum required age for a human to sign his na on a Nocturnal Contract."
"..." Ash'kral remained quiet.
Unbothered by his silence, Levi continued on, "While the nightmares were normal, I couldn't help but note that all of them shared one single detail...You, possessing my body at the end."
"I am sure you aren't foolish to leave behind such an obvious hint of your strong desire to own my body, which made believe that it was my intuition warning about you."
Arthur listened to his brother's whispers, realizing that he was talking to a nightcrawler in the bridge of darkness.
While he had no idea what he was talking about, he kept his ears open and didn't interrupt him.
"Once I beca twelve years old, that's when you pulled back and watched as the nightcrawlers held a free buffet each day to tornt . So invaded my dreams when I slept, so kept showing the most hideous scenes known to mankind, and so were outright making it impossible for to live."
Levi paused, still maintaining the sa serene smile like he was retelling a story unrelated to him instead of a childhood trauma that no one could imagine...
"Yet, throughout all of that misery, you made sure to eliminate any nightcrawler that seed close to winning over. You might not know, but I have a really strong mory and rember every single nightcrawler my spiritual eyes landed on."
"Every, one, of, them." He intoned word by word while looking straight into Ash'Kral's gleaming red eye.
"..." Ash'Kral still refused to interject.
"One disappearance might be a lucky coincidence, but every ti?" Levi chuckled, "You can imagine my surprise when I realized that you were my guardian angel, keeping safe until I grew to my late teen years."
While Levi's ntal fortitude also played a heavy role, he was still a child. A child with dead parents and a future inhabited by outlandish creatures.
There were bound to be so close calls, where he simply wanted to give up...
"You're welco." Ash'Kral finally spoke, his voice devoid of emotions.
"Welco? Haha, hahahaha," Levi couldn't help but break out laughing wildly, his white pearly teeth fully showing.
"Your shalessness truly puts mine to sha." Levi's chuckles died down, and then he carried on coldly, "You think I haven't figured out that you were behind all of it? That it was you, using those nightcrawlers to cripple my spirit for the promised day?"
"The promised day?" Ash'Kral's slit thinned a little.
"Yes, the day when I realize that my dream of becoming a Daywalker is nothing but, a dream." Levi sneered, "It would have happened either in the Contract Ritual Ceremony or after I reached thirty years old, the final window of becoming a Daywalker."
"That's when you planned on swooping in and giving the worst possible contract a Daywalker can sign in his life, knowing that I will have no other choice but to sign it if I want my questions answered and my vengeance fulfilled."
"Well guess what, I have no interest in wasting another year, begging for a recomndation letter, knowing that even if I obtained it and aced the trials, no nightcrawler but you, will want ."
Levi turned to face Ash'Kral and said expressionlessly, "So, I decided to take the initiative and choose the date of the promised day...Like it or not, it's happening today."
After he was done, Levi rely picked up the teacup and took another sip, quenching his dried throat...Then, he asked Astra Ai how much ti was left for the five minutes to finish.
"One minute."
"Your move," Levi uttered, unfazed.
User Comments
0 comments from readers