I glance first at the observatory windows, then at the open skylight above the colossal telescope, which crosses the ceiling like a spear aid at the inverted ocean of Thirstfall’s sky.
For an instant, my brain genuinely calculates it.
’Maybe, if I throw myself out of there, my odds are better than standing between two monsters about to kill each other.’
The idea is ridiculous.
But not more ridiculous than staying still in the center of this room while two Rank Abyssal turn the entire environnt into a bomb ready to detonate.
I try once again to communicate with Freya through eyes alone. Anything. A gesture. A signal. But before I can insist, Rae’s voice cuts across the observatory like a mocking blade.
"So, Rector Dean... how is this going to go? Want to test your luck?"
’Shut up, you bastard.’
He’s making everything worse on purpose.
Dean slowly extends his arms away from his body.
The air shifts.
It isn’t only pressure. It’s as if the environnt itself begins rejecting our presence. Lightning is born from his fingers first, thin and violent, snaking across the dark skin of his arms. Then it cos to his feet. Then his entire body.
He starts to float.
Not like soone using mana to levitate.
It looks more like a natural phenonon.
A storm taking human shape, or maybe a strange Tesla coil.
Lightning whips through the observatory at random. One of the bolts explodes beside my chair, burning the mahogany of the table in a dry crack. The sll of scorched OXI floods my nostrils instantly.
Another bolt strikes the floor near Freya.
She doesn’t move. She’s just... frozen.
Rae, on the other hand, remains in place with that irritating calm. The blue flas in his hand have already split into two—one enormous sphere in each palm. The fire pulses densely, compressed, like a small sun ready to go supernova.
’Think, Dryden. Think properly.’
Running isn’t an option anymore. Dean is literally hovering between and any useful exit. If I try to run, I die before reaching the windows or the skylight.
If I accept becoming his pupil... my plans end here. Doesn’t matter if I survive. I beco his property. A piece. A weapon on a leash. And my team needs free.
Invoking Garen’s na would also be suicide. Those two would probably kill together just to prevent any future political tie, with the convenient excuse that I died in the crossfire.
’Think...’
’Think...’
Then it cos.
The answer arrives so abruptly I almost laugh.
Ah... of course.
"STOP!"
My voice detonates across the observatory.
I rise from the chair so fast it scrapes backward across the floor. Both of them turn their faces toward in the sa instant.
And I know.
If I take more than two seconds to justify this, I die.
But I’m already prepared.
Because my hands are already holding the holographic contract before I even stand up.
"I have a contract with Rahul Sharma." I wave the virtual docunt in the air. "Are you both sure you want to kill in this little ga?"
It works imdiately.
The abilities of both dissipate too fast. Fast enough to betray exactly how dangerous that na is.
The blue flas disappear from Rae’s hand. Dean’s lightning extinguishes itself in small sparks until the observatory plunges back into silence.
Real silence this ti.
Heavy.
Calculating.
Both stare at , waiting for a logical explanation as to why I’m still alive.
Rae speaks first. And, of course, he looks like the more composed of the two.
"Explain yourself, Dryden." His eyes narrow slightly behind the glasses. "What does Rahul Sharma have to do with this?"
I take a deep breath once before continuing.
"I have an open contract with him. A partnership." I raise the hologram again. "If I die here today... guess who he’s going to collect the debt from?"
I let that sink slowly into their heads.
"The cri king is not going to let a contract involving my own enslavent on default just vanish."
Unless he’s the one killing , but I keep that part to myself.
"What???" Freya finally speaks.
It cos out so spontaneously I almost lose my composure. She seems genuinely shocked.
I don’t bla her.
Dean slowly descends back to the floor. The OXI around him no longer boils the way it did. His steps echo calmly across the observatory as he cos toward .
Then he extends his hand.
Without saying a word.
I hand him the contract.
He examines the hologram for several seconds. The blue reflection partially lights his dreadlocks falling over his face.
Then, suddenly...
He laughs, not loudly, but enough to send a chill down my spine.
The shift in personality is so abrupt it feels like another man occupying the sa body. All that aggression vanishes into sothing almost... amused.
Dean returns the contract to and starts walking back toward his desk.
"Everyone out."
He pauses briefly before adding:
"You too, Freya."
I don’t think twice.
I start walking imdiately toward the door before he changes his mind. Rae retreats too, although clearly frustrated at losing control of the situation.
In the end, Rae didn’t need to save .
I didn’t need to sell my soul to Dean.
And most importantly...
I didn’t die.
Absolute victory.
"Sands."
Dean’s voice freezes my steps once again.
I turn slowly.
He’s seated behind the desk now, fingers crossed in front of his face exactly like before, but the gaze has shifted.
"You are a very bold madman." A small smile appears at the corner of his mouth. "I’ll be keeping an eye on you."
[Hadal Notoriety 25]
’Join the voyeurism line,’ I think imdiately.
But I only nod and give a small wave before stepping out.
While walking out of the observatory, I notice sothing important.
More and more eyes are turning toward .
Dean.
Rae.
Sharma.
Garen.
Probably others I haven’t even rembered yet, or don’t know about at all.
And that ans my plan is finally starting to take shape.
I could have followed a discreet path. Grown silently. Evolved without drawing attention until I reached the top alone.
That thod has its advantages, but it also takes ti. Too much ti.
If I played quiet, in two years I’d still be small, and I need to be big before then.
Because in two years...
Everything in Thirstfall is going to change.
I pass by Rae on the way out of the observatory and shoot him a look loaded with silent mockery.
A mute ssage.
’I know exactly what you intend to do in the future.’
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