CH 139 The Contract Is Established

The snow field was shaking, and extremely deep ravines spread across the ground. It looked like some creature deep in the crust was turning over and writhing, and then its sharp claws successfully tore apart the entire ice shell.

Ferri III and his last dozen or so knights struggled to stand under the bones. They watched in shock what happened before them, and felt once again how insignificant human beings were between the heaven and the earth.

"Hurry up! Climb up!"

Ferri III immediately gave the order.

Deep trenches began to appear on the snow field under their feet, and icy sea water was pouring out of the cracks, and soon the place where they stood would be submerged by sea water. The only way out was to find a steady ground, regardless of respect or disrespect. Ferri III took the lead, using the sword in his hand as a pickaxe, and climbed up a huge semicircular skull with difficulty.

The skull of this skeleton was as big as a hill.

When they climbed to the top and stood firm in a crack in the bone, only the sound of the roaring water remained in their ears.

"Who is that geographer who proposed that there is no land in the extreme north?"

Ferri III found amusement in his bitterness and asked himself mockingly.

"It's not bad. If we can go back alive, we can help him prove that there is really no continent in the ancient land of the extreme north. Except for the ice, there is nothing but the fucking sea."

The seawater gushing out from the cracks had submerged the snow field they just stood on. Under the rush of seawater like an angry dragon, ancient corpses of gods or demons gradually emerged from the thick snow cover. The sea was full of bones, Ferri III and the others stood on top of the lone boat-like skull, feeling like they were in an ancient myth for a moment.

The myth was told of a god that was angry and sent down a flood that submerged the earth. The only human being sat on a lone boat, floating on the vast sea, as if he was going to wander forever in the desolation of the world.

Ferri III was silent.

Everyone didn't speak anymore, they fled from their homeland, life and death were unknown, the world was empty... An indescribable sadness and desolation overwhelmed these steel-like knights.

"What is that?!"

In the silence, suddenly a knight pointed to the north and exclaimed. His voice was full of shock and fear.

Everyone looked in the direction he pointed.

The seawater gushing out from under the ice of unknown thickness had already swallowed everything, and the cold moon in the sky was like an eye that looked down on the years indifferently. And under that eye, at the end of the world, on the horizon of the polar region, there was something huge beyond imagination dancing wildly. It was black, huge, hideous, prehistoric…

What was that?!

In an instant, Ferri III understood why there were cracks in the ice field.

Because in the deepest part of the extreme northern ice sheet, a certain most terrifying existence was enraged, and its anger tore this place apart. In the distance, that black image resembled a snake. What kind of snake could tear apart the entire ice sheet as easily as white paper? A black mist rose up into the sky around the black snake, as if it was in a life-and-death struggle with an unknown opponent.

And what kind of person could fight against it?

Ferri III couldn't imagine the answer.

He didn't have time to think about it anymore, because a huge vortex began to appear on the surface of the sea. The area of the vortex was thousands of square meters, and all the bones washed up from the snow field were floating towards its center. The vortex was like another eye opposite to the white moon in the sky, which was the legendary——

Eye of the sea!

They were powerless to do anything else.

Ferri III firmly held the hilt of his sword, and watched helplessly as the bones himself and the knights were standing on were sucked in by the vortex, and quickly fell towards the center of the vortex that seemed to be able to swallow all the light in this world.

The sound of water pierced his eardrums, and before he sank completely into darkness, Ferri III raised his head to look at the sky one last time.

Countless black butterflies hovered above the sky, blood falling down like red rain.

………………

"What are you holding in your hand?!"

The World Serpent roared furiously to cover up the horror and fear in its heart.

It had huddled in the extreme north for so long, enduring the freezing cold, laughing at the gods and hell in its heart, and using its bones to build its own den of transformation. It firmly believed that, when the moment the millennium came, it would appear after everyone's bloody battle with an unprecedented triumph.

Whether it was the Holy Court, the Dragon Slayer, or any other descendants, they would all be stunned and powerless watching it be crowned king.

It imagined this dream repeatedly. But after so long, the Devil who broke into the ice field smashed the dream in the most brutal way.

Disappointment and horror were mixed together, the golden pupil of the World Serpent stared at the Devil.

The Devil stood on a floating mass of ice, black water and white bones collided around him, scales mixed with flesh and blood, making this place look like a slaughterhouse. There was no more poetic tranquility. The body of the World Serpent was covered with bone-gouging scars, and the body of the Devil was not much better. Both sides of the fight were dripping with blood.

But the wound on the Devil's body was healing at an incredible speed, as if some kind of will was protecting him from beginning to end.

On the other hand, the World Serpent, no matter how small the wound on its body was, it was difficult to heal.

The blood dripped down, causing the sea water to quickly become turbid.

"This is the punishment for the traitor."

The Devil didn't answer the World Serpent's question. He admired the forever unhealing wounds on the World Serpent's body and smiled.

"How can you possibly hurt me?" The World Serpent coiled around itself. It looked at the wound on its body that would not heal in disbelief. "What did you use?! The dragon bone sword cannot have this ability!"

"Don't you want to be the one on the throne? There can't be such a noisy king in the world. You should learn etiquette, my good sir." The Devil said, feigning exasperation, and slowly raised the object in his hand.

At some point, the dragon bone sword had disappeared, and what was held by the Devil was a white scepter.

The King had touched it on the Devil's shoulders back then, and it was a bone scepter with the power of conferrment.

For a moment, the surroundings seemed to be dead silent.

The World Serpent stared at the bone scepter with greed, anger, fear, longing... Complicated and extreme emotions swirled in its pupils, and it roared hysterically, full of unwillingness and disbelief: "You took the scepter! It was you! It was you!"

The huge snake body thrashed wildly again. The icebergs were hit by the snake's tail and shattered into icy shards, and the sea water surged into huge waves.

Only the place where the Devil stood was still as quiet as before.

"He gave you the scepter!"

The World Serpent roared.

"Otherwise, why do you think I survived?"

The Devil said softly.

He was holding the bone scepter, his black tailcoat blown violently by the wind, and black mist-like trails appeared around the edges. Butterflies were flying around him, he seemed to be standing at the junction of yesterday and today, running through the past and the present alone.

"How could he hand over the scepter to you!!"

The World Serpent still couldn't believe it, or couldn't accept it.

"Yes, why?"

The Devil asked himself in a low voice.

——The heavens had endowed us with the greatest power, but at the same time required us to use the heaviest price to obtain it.

A low sigh passed through a thousand years of light and shadow, echoing in his ears. Someone was covered in blood, his pupils reflecting the sky and the earth.

The Devil closed his eyes, and he held the bone scepter with both hands.

The Devil from hell would always tell lies, and the King of the world was born with no ability to trust, but so what? What was more distant than eternity was their oath, and what was heavier than life and death was their contract.

Your Majesty, do you really want to hand over the scepter to a devil who is full of lies? Are you not afraid that your royal city will change ownership?

Well, if this is your order…

...Your Majesty?

Good night, Your Majesty.

I am your first knight, and I will also be your last knight.

The Devil opened his eyes:

"It is the duty of a knight to punish traitors for the monarch!"

The iceberg shattered, the bones turned into ashes, the giant snake strangled, and the black butterfly vortex flew like blades.

……………………

Barren sandy beaches, jagged black rocks, flowing magma... He dreamed of hell again, and saw the pale cold moon falling from the sky, falling into the endless abyss, and the sky turned bloody forever.

The King woke up from his dream again.

It was quiet in the room, and the candle was burning slowly not far away. 

The King heard his own breathing, he turned over and got off the bed, walking to the window.

It was late at night.

There were some dark clouds in the sky, the moon was hidden behind the dark clouds, and the earth was pitch black.

On the desktop by the window, there were still some organized documents piled up. The top one was the investigation of the Mason family and the Pligney family reported by the Head of the Households.

The King reached out and picked it up.

There was an in-law relationship between the Pligney family and the Mason family. Lady Anne, wife of the present-day Earl of Pligny, and Lady Catherine, wife of Baron Mason, were sisters. The territories between the two families also bordered each other, and the Mason family's success in occupying several harbors along the central coast could not do without the support of the Pligney family.

The Pligney family's territory was located in Clinton County, just at the intersection of an important tributary in the middle reaches of the Doma River, in the southeast of the Rose Palace, and obliquely across the middle connected route between the palace and the southeast coast.

The King flipped through the documents he had already read.

At this time, the dark clouds in the night sky were blown away by the wind, and the moon hung in the sky again, casting the moonlight on the earth coldly. Moonlight fell in through the glass paned window, obliquely casting the King's shadow on the ground.

The King put the document back casually, and he turned his head to look out the window.

In the courtyard, rose bushes were faintly visible under the moonlight.

The King stared at the roses under the moon and remained silent.

Some images flashed before his eyes, about dreams, oaths and the past.

"As a devil, I ask you with rare kindness, do you understand what the contract you are about to sign will bring you?"

"I will never be redeemed, I will never be at peace, and I will be abandoned by the world."

"It is my pleasure to serve you, Your Majesty."

"Hello, my knight."

The contract is established.