44 The Frightening Being

Looming behind Jean, thousands of tiny particles start to merge into a twisted humanoid creature. Its head snapped to the side, terrifying even Rentaro and the others.

"Heh, Seems like you guys understand the concept of death, after all! It's too late for that though."

Jean spat venomously, oblivious to the death that loomed behind him.

He continued walking forward slowly, while Rentaro and co dragged their feet back further.

The crackling of branches rang out, and Jean paused in confusion.

'What's that noise?' His body shivered, though he quickly brushed it off.

Before he could speak again, he felt a warm breeze press up against his neck. Then, he felt a cold touch as something grabbed his right shoulder.

'What the hell?'

He froze in place, slowly turning his head to look behind him—

There was a tall dark being, though Jean was too scared to probe its specific physical features. Even now when they were in broad daylight, from its aura to its appearance, the creature was just too horrifying!

And unlike the others, Jean had no clue to how it got there! Why did it suddenly appear? What did it want from him?

Startled, he tried to move away, only for the being's hand to lunge forward, grasping him in place.

Its dark smile widened, splitting across its shadowed face as Jean tried to fight back. No matter what, he couldn't break free, and the being's hand with three sharp claw-like fingers started to pierce into his flesh.

As Jean shrieked in pain, the being smiled eerily, speaking hoarsely with deranged laughter, "You wish to harm the one who summoned me? In front of my own eyes. Kahahaha!"

"S-S-Summon? Who-Who would summon a freak like you!" Jean's voice trembled in fright.

The being smirked, "Keh, Calling someone a 'freak' isn't very nice. Let me teach you a lesson that will accompany you for life—though don't expect your life to be much longer. I wouldn't want to get your hopes up."

Still holding Jean's arm, the rest of its body fell apart into particles, suddenly crawling into Jean's body through his pores and seven orifices, ignoring his stone armor.

The being raged within his body, tearing at his inner organs and flesh. Particles of its body would tear a hole to exit his body, before ripping apart another for entry.

Frantically, Jean grabbed for a dagger, stabbing it into his body hysterically. The sight was beyond gruesome—not to mention Rentaro, even the others felt sick at the dreadful sight!

"Get out! Get out! GET OUT!"

Jean screeched over and over, stabbing his body repeatedly as pain dulled his mind and his bloodshot eyes rolled back.

Puchi! Puchi! Puchi!

No matter how much he stabbed in panic, aside from the dripping of blood, there was no sight of the strange being.

Beneath his feet formed a pool of dark blood. Looking down, Jean could swear he saw a dark figure smiling back at him from within.

Before he could react, his eyes burst, liquids leaking out. All of his orifices dripped with blood and the black particles floated out, his body collapsing into the pool as his mouth frothed with foam.

"Kehehehe!"

The horrid laughter resounded, the strange being forming clearly.

It was tall, seemingly composed solely of smoke and its body was entirely dark grey, giving off a ghastly aura. A sharp white smile adorned its face, with sickly yellow eyes. Long arms with three sharp claw-like fingers, and slim, long legs.

Despite its humanoid appearance, it was something out of an old nursery rhyme... A creature that would terrify even those with the strongest wills!

It refocused its sickly eyes on Rentaro, "You summoned me?"

"Ye-Yeah..."

Rentaro wiped his mouth, almost retching at the thought of what just happened.

"Kahaha. I guess I'll be in your company then?"

The being cackled aloud.

Rentaro didn't respond right away, in fact, he couldn't help but think, 'Maybe... I could tell him there's no need? But it would be more dangerous if I let this thing go, rather than sign a contract with it...."

The being's gaze lingered, "Are you afraid? I'm not so dreadful, am I? It's my job to protect you, and I did what had to be done! He's still alive, you know? Barely, but technically so!"

It self-righteously smiled, though its smile was much more unnerving than reassuring.

Thinking of everything that happened, his missing arm, and even Edalas' story!

Rentaro decided, "You do scare me quite a bit."

The being laughed sarcastically as if to say, 'That's obvious! But thanks for explaining.'

"However,"

The being was intrigued.

"I need your help. Not your protection, but help! And I will help you too!"

It was stunned.

Likewise, Icrin and the others were stunned.

'Are you sure? This thing is unpredictable!'

"Kehehe. Very well! Let us make a contract then?"

The being knelt down, but even so, it was still taller than Rentaro! It knelt further down, its forehead close to Rentaro's face as it smiled devilishly.

Rentaro reached his hand forward, the Sacrificial Knife appearing without any sign.

He went to bring it towards his finger, pausing abruptly.

With his left hand gone, how was he going to perform the contract?

Assuming an awkward position with the knife in his right hand, he slit it across his palm. A very shallow cut opened, and several small droplets of blood quickly seeped out.

"You and I, let us make a Soul Contract?"

"Very well. You brought me from a world of pure darkness, into a world that is of both light and darkness. How unusual it is."

The beings voice contained a trace of yearning, surprising the others.

'Perhaps even the darkest of beings desire light? Or maybe, its the desire for light that pushes one to dive into the depths of darkness?'

Rentaro quietly thought, his droplet of blood seeping into the creature's forehead.

A blinding light flashed, and various runic symbols of gold, black, silver, green, and many other colors appeared.

All of which circled the duo, releasing vibrations that merged together in what appeared to be a hymn. The runic symbols slowly became more and more in tune, their chants becoming more and more clear.

Even so, the chants seemed to be of some archaic language, their meaning long forgotten, but their beauty still thriving.

The symbols finally merged into the two, and the Soul Contract was completed.

As the Soul Contract was established, Rentaro finally found its cultivation. It was only at the seventh stage of Foundation Establishment, though its abilities were a mystery.`

While the being might be scary, and ruthless... Rentaro was happy.

"I'm not sure of your past, but what matters is now and the future. Let's see what happens, together!"

"Kaha! Very well, but don't expect me to treat enemies kindly."

Rentaro was about to ask for the creature's name, before checking its stats.

But suddenly—

"JEAN!"

Edalas roared in sorrow, his aura erupting.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!"

As he rushed forward, Quint moved to block his way.

"You're not getting past me that easily!"

Edalas' eyes were red in rage and sorrow, his breathing erratic. "Fine then. I'll send you on your way to the gates of hell!"

His body started to mutate, his physique slightly growing in size while a third eye opened on the center of his forehead. Two stubs grew out of the sides of his head, like immature horns.

Quint recognized that his current appearance was similar to Grisk, the man of the Menhir tribe who he previously described.

'You mean to tell me he hasn't used his bloodline yet?'

Before he could act, Quint felt his blood slow and the flow of his energy was scrambled with a single glance from Edalas.

He stumbled, feeling a huge disadvantage despite them both being in Core Formation Stage 1.

'The disparity between us is too great!'

"I'm afraid this is as much of the bloodline I can demonstrate for you. You can consider dying to the bloodline of the Menhir an honor."

With the thrust of his blade, Quint's pupils dilated.

Several blockades of ice formed, but under the pressure of Edalas' three eyes, they quickly shattered like a thin sheet of glass as the blade nearly arrived in front of his eyes.

BOOM!

Before the blade could reach him, a battle axe pulsing with lightning lobbed itself into the ground between Quint and Edalas.