An Effort

It was night time, at seven-thirty in the evening. The cloudy sky prevented the moonlight from shining upon the land below, and the strong wind rustled the leaves of the trees. Occasionally, the strong wind would carry something heavier than leaves and slam it against any object standing in its way.

The abandoned chapel on top of a hill was standing tall, unmoved by the assault of the wind. Occasionally, through the open gaps in the wall and roof, the wind would blow in and rattle its old wooden planks and blow out the candles shining inside. However, there were several floating flames dancing in the spacious chamber that didn't seem to be affected by the wind.

"We really can't have candles here with the wind raging like that, Val," muttered Graham, who was wearing his Gemini mask and a black trench coat. His striped cotton pants were mostly hidden by his large, buttoned coat.

Graham was sitting on an old wooden bench that he had dragged to the side of the altar, facing the rest of the seats so he didn't have to stand up while talking to the others. His stamina was being drained slowly by the eight small fireballs that were illuminating the abandoned chapel, unbothered by the wind.

"We've managed to give the map to the Police safely and invited everyone else to come to the gathering tonight. Now we just need to wait," he muttered, his voice muffled by the mask he was wearing.

Under the mask, he was using Rood's appearance, which also made him slightly taller and changed his voice. It was just something that he was getting used to doing since he never knew what kind of enemy would be lurking around the corner.

"That Emiel, or whatever his real name is, is leading us by the nose and I don't like it one bit, Val. We need to get stronger soon, but isn't that exactly what he wanted us to do?" Graham paused and rubbed the chin of his mask, "But at least they shouldn't know about our little syndicate here, so we can make use of this to gain an upper hand," he said with conviction in his voice.

Woosh...

The wind gusted once more into the chapel through the windows and crevices, strongly blowing Graham's coat and trilby, which he quickly held down with his hand. Once the wind subsided, he decided to take off his hat once and for all to avoid the hassle, revealing Rood's brown hair.

"Luuk and Jacco should be here any time soon, Val, while the rest of them should come exactly at eight, as we ordered them to," he muttered calmly.

Creak...

Not long after that, two men wearing masks entered the chapel through the giant double doors at the entrance. One of them was a slender man wearing a black sweater and a pair of denim pants, with a simple mask that looked like a goat with two medium-length horns. The other man was much bulkier; his muscles were hidden under the black leather jacket he was wearing. On his face was a skull mask that belonged to a ram, complete with its two curved horns.

"Capricorn, Aries, welcome," said Graham, welcoming the two men.

Luuk nodded casually while Jacco felt awkward being addressed with a nickname. However, he understood that they had to maintain their secrecy in that place, especially after Graham told them what had happened to him earlier.

"Good evening, Mr. Gemini," replied Luuk naturally, "Are you wearing a disguise, that's why your voice is different?" he asked.

Graham nodded firmly.

Luuk and Jacco walked over to the bench near the altar where Graham was sitting and took a seat near him. They were amazed by the floating flames illuminating the room and watched them for quite some time before finally, Luuk opened his mouth.

"I have good news," he said proudly.

"Let me guess. You've pleased your Deity?" said Graham.

"Yes..." replied Luuk dejectedly. He was actually planning to surprise them, but it seemed there was no way of surprising the detective with Divination power.

"So how did your abilities evolve?" asked Graham curiously.

Luuk, who was sitting on Graham's right, stood straight as if he was about to give a speech. Jacco, on the other hand, was leaning leisurely on the backrest.

"My gemstone detection is stronger now, and the limit of Embedding I can do per day has been increased to thirty," he said proudly.

Graham was listening intently and his brain was already considering all the possibilities that Luuk could do with his evolved abilities.

"Did you get a brand new ability?" asked Graham.

He had got Fire Manipulation when he pleased both the Deities of Fire Divination and of the Tongue, while Valentine had got Reveal when he pleased both of his Deities. Surely, Luuk should get something similar now that he had done the same.

Yes, and once again you ruined my moment, thought Luuk without saying anything.

"Yes. I got an ability that I call Negation. That is an ability that allows me to negate the effect of embedded equipment or bullets that strikes me or my allies. I can use it fifteen times a day only, so if the enemy shoots us fifteen times with embedded bullets, my ability will run out," he explained.

"Negation sounds powerful when used correctly. The Police especially like to use embedded bullets, so in case we have to fight them, yours will come in handy," replied Graham, and then added, "So now you're ready to enter the rank of President," he said.

Graham then turned to Jacco.

"What about you? Have you pleased the Deity of Reconciliation yet?" he asked.

Jacco nodded merrily and proudly. There was a cheeky smile on his face under his mask.

"It's easy you know? The Deity wanted me to prevent a lot of fights. It would be difficult if I just went around the city looking for fights and prevented them, but you know what I did? I asked my boys to fight and just prevented them. Rinse and repeat until the Deity was pleased, hahaha!" he replied proudly.

Graham could only shake his head at the man's ingenuity.

"So how did your abilities evolve? And were you granted a new one?" asked Graham.

"Yes, but it's complicated. You know Contractbounds of this Deity radiate a peaceful aura? Mine was strengthened but was negated by the Deity of War. My Safe Zone can now be made bigger, maybe the size of this whole chapel, you know? And I got a new ability from this Deity too!. It's a kind of illusion ability, I think, that will make the enemy think I'm their friend," he explained.

"That sounds useful. So the two of you should quickly enter the rank of President," said Graham.

He hadn't told them about the end of the world, but he just told them to get stronger as quickly as they could.

"Have you decided which Deity you want to be in a contract with?" asked Graham.

Luuk and Jacco nodded at the same time.

"The Deity of Invisibility and Treasures will grant me invisibility, right?" asked Luuk, "I think I want that one,"

"I want the power to spread more chaos! Stupidity and Hatred for me," said Jacco confidently.

There was a conflicted smile on Graham's face that was hidden by his mask.

"I happen to already have the scroll for you, so you can buy it from me. But you have to gather the materials yourself," said Graham to Jacco, "As for Capricorn, I know one source of getting that scroll..." he paused.

"Where?" asked Luuk curiously.

It was the dead Police Contractbound's scroll, Paars.

"The Police have it. I'll try to use divination to see if we have another source," said Graham heavily.

Jacco waited patiently for his turn to speak, so he had to hold back his excitement at knowing that the scroll was just right in front of him.

"I ask that you come here," said Graham, beckoning one of the floating fireballs to come to his side.

The fireball glided in the air gently like a wisp and approached its master, the man with the dual-faced mask. Once it reached Graham's side, it stayed afloat while burning gently in the air.

Graham focused on the flame and asked a question in his mind.

'Where can we get the scroll for the Deity of Invisibility and Treasures?'

The flame burned brighter and an image began to gradually appear. It showed a building that they were already familiar with; a building with the logo of the Police force on it. It was the Police Headquarters, the lair of strong Contractbounds. The image then disappeared after that, without shifting to another option for them.

Luuk scratched the back of his head.

"So that place is the only option?" he asked.

"Yes, and I guess you have to steal it from them. I know that the scroll should still be ownerless right now, and probably for another day or so, so you have to be quick," replied Graham.

"There is no other way?" asked Luuk nervously.

Graham shook his head.

"Then I have to steal it from them. It should be easy enough, right, since I'm a Thief," said Luuk dejectedly.

"You can rent my belt, Purloin. I'll put transformation in it so you can infiltrate the place safely," said Graham, "But you still have to observe everything first. My divination only showed the outside of the building, which means anti-divination is in place inside."

Luuk nodded.

"So, how much should I pay for the scroll?" asked Jacco, seizing his chance.

"Forty guilders," replied Graham shortly while raising five fingers in the air.

"Fuck! That's too expensive!" exclaimed Jacco. The price was four times as expensive as when he bought an Earl-rank scroll from the man!

Graham shrugged.

"We still have those materials we haven't sold yet. You can sell everything and use the money from your share to pay for it. It should be enough," said Graham casually.

Jacco suddenly calmed down and relaxed. He had forgotten about all those supernatural creature parts that they had harvested from the northern cave. He then began imagining himself as a strong President-rank Contractbound, although he actually didn't quite get the abilities that he would get from that Deity.

"Don't forget you have to gather the materials yourself," said Graham.

He actually still had the remains that Gloom had left behind, along with his scroll, but he wanted to use it to make something with the help of Cadhla. He would also need a lot of money, so he let Jacco deal with selling everything because he didn't want to bother with such a mundane task.

"What about me? How much should I pay to rent the belt?" asked Luuk.

"Thirty guilders should be alright," replied Graham quickly. He didn't actually know the rate of enhanced equipment rental in that supernatural world, but he calculated the cost based on the abilities that were stored inside.

"Why so expensive?" asked Luuk in surprise.

"It has Transformation, which is a President-rank ability, and one more ability that I call Intensify, which is at least as strong as, if not stronger than, a Marquis-rank ability. It allows you to Intensify a target's intention, effectively distorting it. You can basically make someone who is about to jump down carefully to fall down violently instead. However, its effect is greatly reduced because I was much weaker than the owner of that ability," explained Graham.

Luuk seemed to be thinking and after a while, he nodded.

"Okay, then I'll rent it. I'll pay you back at the hotel, not now," said Luuk.

Graham nodded.

He also had to replace Order with Transformation first, so he couldn't give it to Luuk right away.

"What about my ritual materials? Where can I get them?" asked Jacco.

Graham shook his head. Although he had seen the scroll that Gloom had dropped, he had no idea where to gather the ingredients. He hadn't bothered using divination to find out because he was not interested in that Deity at all.

"Maybe you can buy them on the black market as well after selling the stuff. If you have the money, that is," said Graham.

Jacco surely would need a lot of money to get everything he needed for his ritual, and he didn't even know what they were.

"What do I need for the ritual?" he asked curiously.

Graham rested his masked chin on his right hand and began rubbing it again.

"Let's see... You will need the intact brain of an Imp, don't ask me what that is, five milliliters of an Arachne's blood, and the last one is the whole head of a Dokkaebi, without its brain. They should all be available somewhere near Sloten, otherwise, the man I killed wouldn't have had the contract in the first place," explained Graham.

Jacco scratched the back of his head and under his mask, his expression was that of confusion. All the names that the man had just mentioned were totally alien to him.

"Okay, I'll definitely buy them at the market if they're available," he said, "Or if not, can I commission you to help me find them?" asked Jacco.

"Sure, sure," replied Graham, and then looked over his shoulder, "Val, so there two are getting stronger as well. We can't sit back and relax either, but when in the world will the messengers of the Deity come to us and tell us how to please the Deities?" he muttered quietly.

Creak...

At that moment, the clock struck eight and the tall doors of the abandoned chapel were opened. Five people carefully entered the chamber that was illuminated by the floating fireballs.