“What happened here?” The second shadow prince Reyner asked while surveying the area. The village has been burned to the ground and the 13th shadow prince is laying on the ground with injuries covering his body. In the far distance, two unrecognizable people are on the ground sleeping despite having wounds and broken bones all over their bodies. If he didn’t have heightened senses, he might mistake them as corpses.

“The d-destruction shade personally attended in the destruction of this village” 13th shadow prince Mikael replied while propping himself up with difficulties. Despite the injuries and fatigue, he was able to stand up before saluting.

“Forgive me for my failure” Mikael bowed his head deeply with no regard to his wounds.

“It’s fine as long as your alive” Reyner tapped Mikael’s shoulder lightly.

“You have done enough, you can rest now” Reynar continued as Mikael sways with the wind before being caught by the medical team to avoid him falling to the ground. The medical team comprises alchemist and poison makers that are not talented in combat but are necessary for healing the injured shadow members as they donned a black robe with white insignias in their necklace instead of the usual black. These insignias are magical artifacts created by the head of the shadow organization and if it was stolen, it will put a heavy curse and a marking device to track the thief. 5 masked individuals followed behind the medical team as they looked inside the village to check if there are any survivors.

“Sire, there are no survivors inside the village except for these two” one of the masked individuals said as they carefully laid down both Isaac and Touka to the stretchers carried by the medical team.

“It seems that this village is their main goal but i didn’t expect them to use one of their shades just to attack a measly village. " Reynar contemplated while staring at the burning village.

“Sire, the carriage is ready.”

“I guess i’ll have to find out later” Reynar sighed while heading inside one of the carriages. 6 carriages started to move out slowly deeper to the forest with over 12 medical team members, 20 shadow members, and the second shadow prince. Their mission is to assist the injured members and villagers but out of the three villages, this village is the only one completely destroyed. With the appearance of one of the shades, the axis of darkness might start unveiling their plans to the world.

Inside the mansion, Kyle is still pacing around his room wondering what happened to Isaac. In his past life, the three villages were attacked by a couple of cultists and the shadow organization was able to protect every village while the ashen order was able to kidnap some of the nobles but there are no reports on the attack. It seems that everything he knows about the future will slowly become useless as there are more events he changed.

A knock on the door can be heard as Kyle opened it to see a maid on his doorsteps. The maid bowed before handing out a letter stamped with the insignia of the shadow. He wanted to ask the maid but she suddenly vanished after giving him the letter. Scratching his head, he sits back to his bed as he slowly opens the letter.

“Your companion Isaac and Touka is currently injured and under supervision of the shadow. The Smitten hope village was burned to the ground with no survivors while the 13th shadow prince is heavily injured. According to the reports made by the 2nd shadow prince, Kavel the destruction shade appeared in the village. Currently, the shadow organization will launch an investigation and the 2nd shadow prince hoped that you will assist in this. " this shocked Kyle, the fact that a shade appeared in one of the villages baffled him. If a shade shows themself, it means that what they’re doing in the village is of the utmost importance to the axis of darkness but there was nothing special in the Smitten hope village.

“Dammit, why now? I need to find the answers on why the shade appeared on a remote village or i might never know what they are planning” Kyle sighed before leaving the room. As he was about to head to the yard of the mansion, Cellica notices him and blocked his way.

“Where are you going? We need to break the contract first before you can leave” Cellica said while crossing her arms. Armed knights and mages can be seen slowly surrounding Kyle to make sure that Kyle will break the contract first before doing anything.

“The contract can be broken later, one of the villages was burned to the ground with the shade appearing in the village itself. If i don’t investigate this, i might never know what the axis of darkness is planning.” Kyle explained with urgency in his tone.

“You’re not stepping outside without breaking the contract as i won’t fall for your lies” Cellica insisted while glaring at Kyle.

“Find! Bring me an oathbreaker item and i will oh so break our contract. It seems that the lives of the people and the scheme of an evil organization are less important than the contract.” Kyle said while glaring back. He doesn’t have any time to waste but it’s not worth it to escape when surrounded by this many people.

“What?! It doesn’t even take long for someone to break a contract and you’re making excuses already” Cellica retorted angrily

“Whatever, just give me the item. I don’t have the mood or the patience to argue with you seeing that we will never see each other again.” Kyle replied as Alrich goes outside to find a commotion between Kyle and Cellica. Kyle seems to be irritated and aggressive than usual as Kyle is usually calm and collected. It’s the first time he has seen Kyle arguing and glaring at someone.

“There must be something wrong” Alrich muttered as he makes his way towards Kyle.

“But i needed something from you and Melissa or else i will surely escape” Kyle smiled cheerfully.

‘Seeing that this might be our last conversation, i need to get their blood to open the gates of the ruins a fallen kingdom Verenian, or everything i have done until now would be meaningless’ Kyle pondered while hoping that Cellica agrees. It might be risky to head there by himself but he can always level up and train.

“Why? I’m not gonna give you any blood as long as you don’t tell me what you’re planning” Cellica eyed him suspiciously while making sure that Kyle can’t activate his portal.

“I don’t need to tell you that. I will escape if you won’t give what i ask for” Kyle smiled as Cellica clicked her tongue in annoyance. She just wants to remove the contract as soon as possible but seeing this air of confidence surrounding Kyle, he might escape her grip.

“Fine, as long as you won’t tell anyone about the lexium” Cellica replied

“If i still receive my 15% cut then i won’t. This is a business contract and not a personal one.” Kyle said calmly

“Alright, we will give you our blood as long as you break the contract. We already bought the oathbreaker item” Cellica said while gesturing to the mages to bring her a stone tablet with runic lettering written in it. While Kyle gives Cellica 2 empty vials for collecting their blood.

Despite the reluctance of Melissa, the urge to break the contract was stronger as she slit her palm to allow some of her blood to flow inside the vials while Cellica did the same. Meanwhile, Kyle inspects the stone tablet to make sure it’s the real one. Seeing that it’s a genuine oathbreaker, he drops it to the table before sitting in an adjacent chair.

“Here, take this” Cellica handed Kyle the blood vials before sitting in one of the chairs.

“Touch the tablet with your hand which was marked by our contract” Kyle said while touching the other side of the stone tablet with his palm as Cellica followed. A burst of light appeared from within the stone tablet as cracks begin to surface. Quickly, Kyle grabs Cellica before throwing himself to the ground as the stone tablet exploded to pieces. Hurting and piercing some of the knights and mages.

“What happened?!” Cellica shoved Kyle out of the way before running towards the table melted from the explosion.

“There should be a notification telling you what happened” Kyle sighed while sitting on the ground, a blue holographic screen appearing in front of him.

[The contract was blessed by a certain deity and cannot be broken by any shape or form]

[You have been bestowed the title Blessed by a Deity]

[Increased resistance to fear by 25%]

[Increased resistance to weaken by 25%]

[Increased resistance to corruption by 50%]

“Huh?!” Melissa blurted in surprise while Cellica was shocked.

“What happened Kyle!” Cellica shouted in anger.

“I don’t know what happened but it seems that the contract will never be broken. ” Kyle stands up while smiling. He didn’t expect to get an unexpected boon. They might never break the contract, at least they received a strong title.

“So i have to go investigate the village. You won’t stop me right~” Kyle smirked before leaving the gate as both Cellica and Melissa were too angry or shocked to even retort. With a helpless sigh, Cellica entered the mansion together with Melissa as the knights and mages headed back to their quarters to heal any injuries they suffered. Alrich didn’t know what to do so he simply went back to his room.

In the hallway, both ladies were silently walking with no one breaking the silence. They feel irritated, cheated, and that it was unfair. Cellica taps Melissa’s shoulder before giving a gentle smile.

“I’m gonna make sure we break the contract and avenge your brother and my friend” Cellica said calmly as Melissa gritted her teeth in anger.

“I hated the fact that i’m slowly believing that it wasn’t Isaac’s fault” Melissa murmured

“What do you mean?”

“Isaac should’ve died if he didn’t have the ego of the sword, he was decapitated by my brother but he was alive. On the other hand, my brother didn’t survive. Maybe i’m just blindly blaming him for what he did without seeing the truth.” Melissa’s eyes started welling up as Cellica hugs her tightly.

“I would have died if it wasn’t for Isaac. He fought for our survival but i mercilessly injured him knowing that i might kill him” Melissa broke down crying while hugging Cellica tightly.

“The worse is the fact that i left him behind in the collapsing cave but he didn’t blame me for it.” Melissa continued

“No, it wasn’t your fault Melissa. The both of you were just victims by the axis of darkness. They are the ones who forced your brother to kill both of you, if they didn’t do any of that, Isaac would never kill Ciaran. " Cellica comforted despite the tears leaking from her own eyes. Wiping her tears, Melissa swore to herself that she would destroy every last part of the axis of darkness.

A silent whimper can be heard from Melissa’s shadow as a head of a wolf appeared as she patted its head with a smile.

“The both of you will never leave me alone, right?” Melissa asked with concern in her voice.

“I will never leave you alone” Cellica replied with a smile

“Me too” the wolf said before merging back from her shadows

Meanwhile, the carriage was too slow for him to travel to the now burned village, Kyle has no choice but to sit there waiting. He can’t use his portal as it’s better to conserve his strength. There have been so many unexpected outcomes that it’s better to play safe for now. A shadow manifested inside the carriage to reveal a beautiful woman wearing a skimpy dress.

“Oh, i was hoping for that handsome to come with you” Layla smiled charmingly as Kyle sighed.

“He’s too busy training” Kyle replied with a smile

“I see, such a shame. I was hoping to see him too” Layla said before propping her chin on her palm while seemingly surveying Kyle from top to bottom.

“I never would have thought that you would win against me. Wanna fight once more?” Layla asked with a sultry smile. Hoping to take revenge on Kyle.

“I have something to do and i’m not interested in fighting without a reason” Kyle shrugged while looking outside.

“Come on! Last night wasn’t enough! They were too weak!” Layla whined

“Then fight someone other than me, i’m pretty sure there is tons of people stronger than me” Kyle replied as he doesn’t want to risk his life fighting against this battle maniac.

“Nooooo, i want my revenge! I want my revenge!” she whined and whined but Kyle wouldn’t budge. Seeing this, Layla was forced to calm down.

“You win this time but you will surely fight me sometime” Layla declared before vanishing to a cloud of black smoke.

“Thank the gods she’s gone, i won’t fight her ever again” Kyle sighed a big relief. He doesn’t want to push his body beyond the limits as it was a bad experience despite his pain immunity. Just thinking of fighting her again just shivers his skin, he was just lucky that she wasn’t using a domain and was underestimating him. She also didn’t use any of her assassination techniques so i was able to win.

‘I guess i have to open my status to see my progress’ he thought as a blue holographic screen appeared in front of his face.