Chapter 496: Signing The Contract
Once the terms of his surrender were set, Dupravel reached into his inner coat pocket and retrieved a tightly sealed scroll made of spirit-forged parchment, its edges glowing with faint silver light.
He gently unrolled it across the porch table, where the mana in the air instantly responded, forming a soft hum around the document.
“This is an item I prepared long ago, in case I ever needed to bind myself to someone with no room for betrayal,” Dupravel explained quietly, his fingers brushing the surface with a tinge of regret.
It was clear from his actions that this was a contingency plan to save his life that he had made years ago.
A sort of last resort, if he had no other way out.
*SHUA*
Next, from his spatial storage ring, he summoned a feathered quill, shaped from the spine of a phoenix beast, and placed it beside a small glass vial of transparent ink.
“In-case you don’t know, let me explain how this soul-binding technique works.
The moment the two of us drip our blood into the ink blot, the three elements of the spirit contract will start working together, and the soul contract will be written out automatically.
The wordings on the soul contract will be written according to the spirit of our verbal agreement, which will leave no room for loophole exploitation through clever contract wording.” Dupravel explained, as he bit his own thumb and was the first to drip his blood into the ink blot, which immediately changed color from transparent to red.
Leo followed afterwards, doing the same.
*SHUA*
*SCRIBBLE*
As his blood settled, the Soul Binding Technique began to react, weaving faint red glyphs in the air above the parchment.
Leo leaned forward, reading the terms as they appeared one by one, each line etched by the contract itself in response to their verbal agreement.
——–
SOUL BINDING AGREEMENT
Between Leo Skyshard (Master) and Dupravel Nuna (Slave)
1. Service Term: Dupravel Nuna shall serve Leo Skyshard for a total duration of twenty years, effective immediately upon the completion of this ritual.
Furthermore he will only be freed from his service should he faithfully carry out his duty as a slave for the entire duration of the contract.
2. Obedience Clause: Dupravel Nuna shall obey all commands issued by Leo Skyshard, so long as they do not involve the following:
*Directly ordering Dupravel to kill himself.
*Commanding Dupravel to harm or kill his son.
*Forcing Dupravel to extend the duration of this contract beyond twenty years.
*Forcing Dupravel to perform menial duties befitting a manservant.
3. Custodial Clause: Dupravel shall be allowed thirty full days per year to spend with his son, with said son permitted to live freely within Cult territory under basic compliance with Cult laws.
4. Public Narrative Clause: Leo Skyshard shall publicly claim that Dupravel’s life is bound to his own, and this lie shall not be refuted under any circumstance, for the safety and political protection it provides, unless the other party already knows it to be false.
5. Combat Service Clause: Dupravel shall serve as Leo’s personal guard, operative, and war-dog, deployed to battlefields, missions, or investigations solely at Leo’s discretion.
6. Knowledge Transfer Clause: Dupravel shall share all assassin techniques, combat insights, and tactical knowledge accumulated throughout his life with Leo Skyshard over the span of his service.
7. Slave Service Clause: Dupravel shall not harbour any thoughts of betraying his master, nor shall he go against his master’s wishes, or act against his best interest under any circumstances.
8. Truth Clause : Dupravel Nuna may not lie to or mislead Leo Skyshard under any circumstances, regarding any detail.
9. Breach Consequence Clause: Should either party willfully break even a single clause of this contract, their souls shall burn to ash instantly and irreversibly, leaving behind no vessel for revival, resurrection, or reincarnation.
—
When the final clause etched itself into the parchment, the silver glow around it darkened to crimson.
“Now if you press a bloody thumb to the contract paper, it will take hold,” Dupravel said, as he pressed out a few more drops of blood and impressioned them on the paper.
The parchment sizzled on contact, accepting the offering as the glyphs flared brighter.
Leo didn’t hesitate, since he found the terms of the contract acceptable, he too did the same and let his blood fall on the other side, directly above his name.
The moment the second impression touched the parchment, the ritual activated.
A sharp gust of wind spiraled around them as red chains of soul-energy emerged from the contract, wrapping around their wrists before sinking inside, binding their souls together with an invisible thread that pulsed once… then vanished.
Leo’s pupils dilated slightly. He could feel it.
A tether.
Not physical, not emotional, but something intangible.
If Dupravel so much as entertained the thought of betraying him, that thread would tighten, burn, and drag him to ruin.
Conversely, if he too broke any clause of the agreement, the same would happen to his own.
“It’s done.” Leo said, his voice calm and cold.
Dupravel lowered his head, not in submission, but in acknowledgement.
“Yes. From this moment onward, I am your servant.”
And though neither of them smiled, both understood that something irreversible had just occurred.
There was no backing out of it now.
———–
(Meanwhile The Twelfth Elder)
*CRASH*
The Twelfth Elder slammed his fist against the wooden desk, causing several data slates to flicker as a dozen police commanders flinched in silence.
“I want Dupravel Nuna found within the next twenty-four hours!” he barked, his voice slicing through the room like a serrated blade. “I don’t care how many sectors you have to sweep, how many drones you need to launch, or how many walls you need to tear down…. You must find him!”
One of the junior commandants stepped forward, uncertain. “We’ve already placed restrictions on interplanetary and intraplanetary travel, Elder. Dupravel couldn’t have left Vorthas—”
“Then where the hell is he hiding?” the Elder snapped, rising to his feet, his white robes swirling behind him.
“You think he just vanished into thin air? That he turned to smoke?”
He turned, walking over to the wall-to-wall window behind him, overlooking the bustling capital of Vorthas, where massive banners bearing the Cult insignia had begun to appear across every common house building.
The nationality wave was on the rise amongst the masses after yesterday’s attack and so was his reputation.
He was now the man who had stood tall during the Cult’s eleventh hour and faced off bravely against Dupravel the killer.
Currently, the narrative of his bravery was spreading like wildfire, and for the first time in his life, he could feel momentum rising behind his name…. not just in Vorthas, but across all Cult territories.
If he played his cards right, if he rode the wave while the public still roared his name, he could secure planetary seats in not one, but at least half a dozen additional systems during the next election cycle.
This moment could be the turning point, the defining arc of his political career.
But that was only if he delivered Dupravel’s head.
“If we don’t capture him before the news cycle shifts, everything we gained will evaporate. The masses are simple…. they cheer today, forget tomorrow. I need a public execution, not a ghost story.”
He turned back to the room, his gaze sharp and suffocating.
“Send the elite trackers. Authorize bounty hunters, local informants, hell even the army, I don’t care who finds him first. Just make sure they know what’s at stake. The one who brings me Dupravel’s location gets full rank elevation and five million MP personally from me as a reward.”
The room fell into stunned silence.
“Five million?” one of the senior officers repeated under his breath.
“I want him found,” the Elder growled. “Alive or dead. But preferably alive. The cameras work better when the villain is still breathing.”
He didn’t wait for a response. His orders had already turned into a storm. Officers scrambled out of the room, their earpieces lighting up with commands, dispatches, and deployment orders.
The Twelfth Elder stepped back to his desk, watching a broadcast of himself being replayed on Vorthas Channel One.
His voice, his image…. righteous, unwavering, beloved.
But it would mean nothing without a closing chapter.
He needed Dupravel.
And he was ready to burn the underworld to ash to get him.