The brother and sister duo shrunk back in fear, but Ciarah played the part of a protective sister and stood in front of her brother even though there was no need to fear. I could see the urgency in the boy’s eyes, like a caged animal. The girl’s were similar, but there was a bit of determination there too. She seemed to recognize me as the man from last night.

“Go away!” Ciarah shouted indignantly, unlike how a princess should act. “If you associate with us anymore, I’ll have no choice but to tell my father to have you captured and locked away!”

I chuckled to myself as Othidas did the same. Little did these puny humans know, I was already wanted in all four Kingdoms, two which were already in ruins because of me. What could the King do against me? Even though I was interested in these two participating in my tournament, it wasn’t like I had to get them to join. All the words she spewed were only empty threats in my eyes.

“I’m sure you two understand the situation already, so let’s just have a little chat instead of summoning an army to kill me ok?” I suggested as I took a seat on the floor, leaning against the alley wall.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ciarah said, feigning ignorance.

“Is that so? I’m sure we both know who was spying on who last night,” I said. Ciarah tried to act indifferent, but I could tell that what I had said struck a nerve.

“Assuming I do know what you’re talking about, we have no obligation to participate,” Ciarah said, in a crafty tone.

Sefton tugged on Ciarah’s sleeves and whispered into her ear. I overheard them since a distance of this much was easily in the range of my hearing.

“I didn’t mention it before, but I kinda promised him that I would participate in that tournament of his,” Sefton whispered awkwardly into Ciarah’s ear. “Don’t provoke him too much, he could probably easily slaughter the guards if he wanted to.”

They discussed back and forth, but I was losing patience with every second. So I decided to interrupt the two arguing back and forth, getting straight to the point so this conversation could be finished. Staying here longer than I needed would only expose myself more.

“Sefton already agreed to participate Princess, so let him do his thing,” I said with an assertive tone.

“I will not!” Ciarah bitterly, already knowing she had no chance to get the outcome she wanted but still stubbornly trudged on. “Just let us go-”

A streak of black energy exploded out of my hand and passed her face by inches, still managing to cut her face. A trickle of blood flowed from her cut as Ciarah remained motionless before slowly turning her head around. What she saw was a crumbling wall that was slowly getting eroded away by the chaos energy. Darkness energy would be overkill and revealing your trump cards to your enemies isn’t a wise move to make.

It was quiet for a long time until I decided that I had given enough time to the two to comprehend the situation.

“Either you both participate or you both die, I’ve had enough of your stubbornness,” I said with an exasperated tone, clearly not wanting to lose two precisou candidates. “I’ll give you 10 seconds, 10, 9,”

“W-Wait!” Sefton shouted shakily. “How about we both participate but the reward is different?”

“I’m listening,” I said amused.

“We’ll both enter the competition and if we win, you need to promise you won’t associate with us ever again,” Sefton declared, gathering his courage.

“And if you lose?”

“Then we’ll both become your subordinates instead of only one.”

I sensed no disagreement from Ciarah so I guess I’d accept this proposal. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t make my way around the agreement and make them my subordinates another way.

“Fine, but how do I know you’ll keep your word?” I asked, already forming a new plan in my head.

“I’m sure you already know that our father is the king,” Ciarah and Sefton muttered. “We could pull a few strings and get a contract ready…”

{Ryan’s Stat Page}

1750 (+2000)

11000 (+20000)

[Active Skills]

Stealth (MAX) Darkness Contracts (MAX)

[Passive Skills]

Absolute Defense (MAX) Absolute Strength (MAX) Mastery of Weapons (MAX) Darkness Manipulation (MAX) Persuasion (MAX) Resistance (MAX) MP Recovery (MAX) Enhanced Charisma (MAX) Body Extension (MAX)

|Demon Synchronization| (100%)

[Supreme Demon King Othidas is Fully Linked to your Consciousness and provides the following benefits]:

MP Storage +20000, Power Level +2000

|Othidas Body Synchronization| (100%)

“No need, I have a contract ready for you,” I said. I activated and a scroll that was radiating black energy appeared in front of me. I inscribed the terms that we had discussed and signed my name off at the bottom. Luckily, Othidas had informed me of this skill I had in my arsenal or else I would’ve never thought of it. I hadn’t checked my stat page in a long time and skills I never used were easily forgettable.

The two were already numb to the shock of the things I could do, they just mindlessly inspected the terms and signed off with their blood. Othidas told me that it was normal for people to sign contracts with their blood so I managed to keep up the image as a prepared and knowledgeable person. Hopefully, there would be no resistance from the two because I had made sure was activated since I needed them convinced and not questioning my actions in order for my plan to work.

The terms on the scroll had been simple, they win and I won’t mess with them, they lose and I acquire both of them as subordinates. Simple terms like these had plenty of loopholes and I made sure my skills were used to the max so they didn’t notice and just signed off without thinking. For example, they could easily bribe everyone so that they could win the tournament but I could just as easily enter the tournament and win instead. The contract didn’t state that I couldn’t participate anywhere and even if Sefton and Ciarah had a clear mind while signing and had a plan to win, it wouldn’t work as long as nothing happened to Josan and I used my overwhelming strength to come out on top. Nothing feels better than some old fashioned scamming!

“Oh yeah, I hope you know that if you try to involve your royal family with this, I won’t hesitate to slaughter everyone you love and cherish,” I said in an upbeat tone, making sure to grin like a madman. I hoped this threat was imposing enough that the two siblings would keep their mouths shut for the time being and not involve anyone else with this matter.

The two just glared at me before departing their separate ways. Ciarah headed back to the open streets while Sefton went deeper into the alley. Being cast away from the royal family sure is tough—in dangerous situations like these you can’t even ask for help!

Whistling, I stuffed my hands in my pockets before setting out to explore the city. It was still my vacation, and the plan had been set in motion. All I needed to do now was wait for the day of the tournament and enter with another face. Sadly, my vacation would be cut short by the unexpected turn of events but fighting in an arena again would definitely be thrilling. Crowds cheering and a festive atmosphere improves your mood greatly, if you’re winning that is.

I visited many shops, but nothing stood out to me. All the items that were scavenged from monsters were useless junk in my eyes, the clothes didn’t suit my taste, but the food was worth trying. It was similar yet different to Earth’s food, there were more exotic flavours like Monster Melon Ice cream which surprisingly didn’t taste half bad. There was one final shop to visit before I would settle in at an inn for the night. The tournament would be tomorrow yet I still didn’t have a plan on how to participate in the competition. Sefton and Ciarah would recognize my voice in seconds even if I did have another face on, so I had been simulationsuly enjoying my vacation while looking for things that could assist me in solving this problem.

“Othidas, can darkness energy change my voice too?” I asked in my mind.

“Unfortunately, it can’t because that would just corrupt your vocal chords,” Othidas explained in a monotone voice. “The outside of your body may be resistant to darkness and chaos energy, but your insides aren’t. Voluntarily moving concentrated evil energy into your internals is something only an idiotic child would do.”

“I see…”

“But there are items that can change your voice and appearance. I’m pretty sure a city as large as Cliffin is bound to have some of those items.”

I could only pray that I was lucky enough that this next store would have an item like that. With effort, I had scanned the previous stores entirely for items with a description that matched to no avail. If one appeared now, I would be overjoyed!

Anticipation bubbling, I stepped into the last store which was modeled just like the rest. A cashier at the front with rows and rows of shelves containing all sorts of potions, books, scrolls, and most importantly items. Browsing through the shelves, I finally spotted something worthy of my attention. A silver ring that had a special effect!

{Ring of Speech}

Alters the voice of the host by mimicking a saved voice Only lasts for two days before a different saved voice is needed

[Slot 1] N/A

The ring was a measly ten copper. The shop clearly didn’t know the worth of this ring or else the price would be a lot higher, a few silver at least. I had been informed by Othidas that these rings with special effects were pretty rare—the only way to get one was if you managed to craft one or snatch one from a monster drop. Even then, the chances of that happening were low because you either needed someone that had a blueprint for the item, or had to wait for the 1/1000 chance that the ring dropped from a monster.

I quickly paid for the ring with some counterfeit money I conjured from Darkness Energy and scurried out of the shop onto the busy streets. Putting the somewhat dirty silver ring on the same finger as my Darkness Ring, I looked around. All I needed to do now was record someone else’s voice and save it. Once it’s successfully mimicked, I can activate the special effect of the Ring of Speech and at long last I’ll be ready for the tournament tomorrow!