Salvation

The moment Randolph touched the floating orange window, a burst of flame erupted before his eyes. Contrary to his expectations, there was no ensuing wave of heat.

The burst of flame was like a quick-burning flash fire. It spread out from the center of Randolph's palm into a square shape, lighting the dark forest a bright orange as it did so.

The fire left as quickly as it came, and in Randolph's hands remained only a square sheet of parchment paper. It was coarse and rough to the tough, but it was quite flexible. He couldn't tell at all of what material it was made out of.

The window still floated near Randolph's head, still emitting the gentle orange light.

Holding the paper up to the light, the young man could barely make out the dark words lining the paper.

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Contract Initiated~

Article I: Parties Involved

1.1 Individuals 

a) Bune's Gift

b)  Randolph Ivy

Article II: Trading Principles 

2.1 Merging of Souls, Items Eligible for Trade

Party (b), among signing the contract, shall merge their soul with party (a) within the stipulated timeframe of 1 minute(s). 

Article III: Terms & Conditions

3.1 Terms & Conditions

Upon signing, party (b) will acknowledge that entry into (Heaven) will be henceforth barred for all eternity, unless stated otherwise by (Heaven)'s parties.

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Randolph was familiar with the words on the paper, dictating a contract. He was familiar with such a contract because he had seen several, and signed several, before. 

It was almost identical to the contract offered to him by the loan sharks, except that it was incredibly barebones.

The contract offered to him by the loan sharks had been filled with a countless number of clauses and conditions. Some of them were extremely particular while some of them were incredibly vague, meant to cover as much road as possible so no loophole could be exploited.

The contract in Randolph's hand had but a single agreement, being… to merge their souls? 

While the young man didn't know what it meant, it was clear to him that it was incredibly important, likely covering any and all bases of the contract. The mere sound of it alone screamed of its importance in Randolph's mind. Anything that had to do with his soul was immediately made a disturbing matter. 

The second thing that stood out most to him was the name of the first party, being Bune's Gift. That name he had heard once before, and he vividly recalled the scene as it was strange enough to stand out in his memory. The name was uttered by a silver-haired young boy in the alley barely a day ago. 

But the most disturbing thing to Randolph was the singular term that sat upon the bottom of the contract. 

It forbid his entry into Heaven. This was something that immediately challenged his preconceived notions of the world, being the existence of an afterlife. It was indirectly confirmed to him by the clearly supernatural glowing orange screen that floated in front of his face. 

As he thought in silence, the window next to him blurred once again. It took a lot longer than before though, an additional half a minute.

[I plead with you to allow me to accept you as my master.]

"What's in it for you?" Randolph stared numbly at the screen, his face expressionless.

[I have observed you enough, and I have deemed you a suitable host. With lack of a host, my very existence shall soon disappear.]

"You mean to say you'll die?"

[In a manner of speaking.] 

"What's in it for me?"

[In return for accepting me as your servant, I offer you salvation.]

"…"

Salvation…

It was a claim he had heard many times before, but this time was clearly different. While the screen didn't specify what form of salvation, or salvation from what, Randolph didn't feel the desire to ask. 

"Where do I sign."

[The only ink required is blood, stamped on the bottom line of the contract.]

The window blurred again, this time for a minute as the orange screen dimmed a significant amount.

[Please note, my Lord, that my existence is demonic in nature. You will be barred entry from any form of the afterlife upon signing.]

But Randolph only gave the line a passing glance before turning away, chomping down on the outer layer of his thumb. It should have been painful, but he hardly felt it. 

[Best of luck, my Lord…]

The message only appeared for a split-second before Randolph pushed down with his finger.

Upon stamping his finger down on the contract, the glowing window at his side immediately disappeared. His eyes had grown used to the light, so its disappearance engulfed the forest in complete darkness once again, forcing him to begin readjusting.

Despite the darkness, he could still feel the rugged sheet of paper in his hands along with the stinging in his thumb. They told him that the events had really happened, and it wasn't a hallucination born out of despair in his mind.

He fumbled around in the darkness, slowly getting up, but directly after his eyes adjusted to the darkness came a throbbing pain that came from in his chest. It slowly throbbed at the same rate as his heart before stopping entirely. 

"…?" Alarmed, Randolph realized that it wasn't just the pain that had stopped.

Feeling around his body and chest, it was as if he had lost his sense of touch. In the darkness his senses were amplified, and he could faintly tell that his heart – it was no longer pumping.

"URALRGH!"

Directly afterwards, bile rose up in Randolph's mouth before being spewed out along. Along with it came a significant amount of blood as a pain so intensely searing it seemed to come from his very being assaulted his senses. The liquid splattered across the ground in a straight line, staining the soil red. 

But the pain was only temporary, as the severity of it forced him to pass out merely moments later, flopping onto the earth below. In the pit, his body was bathed in blue moonlight.