Contracted

Although Prince Frederick had superior strength and talent, he was easily played like a fool by the rnemy due to his inexperience.

A battle is not all about raw strength or power, that one is obvious. However, what really sets apart a fighter from the rest is their combat intuition. When to strike? Where to strike? How to strike? When to dodge? How big should be the movement? Dodge or parry?

So many things are happening at once at a fast pace. No normal humans could decide every movement in combat. That's why great intuition and senses dominate the battlefield. The intuition would decide for the fighter. A greater intuition means faster and better decision-making during a battle, especially in a battle to the death.

Without great intuition, one would be confused, and no matter how talented, one would make mistakes.

By this logic, the prince had already made too many mistakes to gain the upper hand. If not for his brute speed and power, he would've died in the first ten moves but he's carrying on. Not for long though. He had already been bleeding in too many places.

Prince Frederick was losing hope. But, what happened next made him feel dread-

Eid's return.

Sensing his presence, Toko breathed a relieved sigh and retreated.

"Y-you!"

Prince Frederick leaned on his sword for support as he was barely standing; gasping to catch his breath.

"D-d-did you-...!" he pointed at Eid with a face of pure disbelief.

Eid already understood the question and answered.

"Yes."

"H-how..."

The prince dropped onto his knees. Blood dripped down from all over his body.

Eid stepped forward, kneeled down, and lifted the prince's chin. This is what he wanted to see.

Dread, fear, and hopelessness were plastered on the prince's face.

"W-what did I do to deserve this?" the prince asked with a low and shaky voice.

Eid revealed a vicious smile behind his mask.

"I don't know."

The prince's face paled before it turned purple. Filled with anger, he cursed and cursed and cursed. He cursed his will-be killers, their families, and even the world itself.

"All must be just my ass! Where's the just in this, Judge!? I followed you! Served you! Worshipped you! I worshipped Demigod Astra! Placed my faith in your demigods and this is what you will give me!?"

In the end, he cursed a God.

Once Prince Frederick finished and went deadly silent, Eid kicked him onto the ground. This kick woke the prince up, his blood boiled.

"I will kill you! I will kill you two! I will kill your family! I will eat your children! I will make your sons slaves and rape your daughters! I will haunt your lives until the day you die! HAHAHAHA!"

"Huh, are you crazy?" Eid asked with a frown.

The prince laughed louder.

"I thought you were going to eat them? How are you going to sell them then? Only braindead people would buy poop even if it's from a prince!"

This made the prince stop laughing and looked at the topless masked-man with a complex expression.

Eid chuckled, letting the prince know he was just kidding, then simultaneously stabbing the prince's heart using his own sword. The prince's suit was imbued, clear from its scratch-less state after his battle with Toko. But the sword was an imbued of the higher rank so it easily went through the noble suit.

As blood dripped out from the prince's lips, a loud explosion interrupted the eerie scene, startling both Eid and Toko.

Seeing dark smoke rise from a distance, the prince's eyes widened. A moment later, his lips curled up.

"Hahaha..." he lightly laughed as hope returned to his eyes, "... contracted... it's contracted...!"

"What do you mean?" Eid asked.

"Hehehe, it sensed that it was about to fail its contract. Failing its contract is the biggest sin to Soullesses!"

Eid immediately realized what was about to happen and got on his feet. Truly, it seems that he knows nothing about the organization called Soullesses and its mysterious members other than their names.

How could a creature still stand and fight after its head's been sliced off?

Immediately, he turned and pulled Toko away. But before he did, Eid muttered something to the prince.

Then the two disappeared into the woods once more. At the same time, a headless figure came out, spewing black gases from its severed neck.

Even without its head, it ran as if it had sight, not that it had any eyes in the first place.

"Hahaha, nothing can save me? Hollowcore, save me!"

the prince cried.

Facing the prince, the hollowcore stopped. It is unknown if it didn't hear the prince or if it ignored his pleading.

Meanwhile, Eid tightly held Toko while he covered her mouth. They hid behind a thick tree in time. They don't know if they could even hide from a being that could see without eyes, but it was their best bet. Running with their current condition won't get them far.

Eid fears the fact that the hollowcore might come for them since he somehow knew a secret of theirs now. Now, it's up to the hollowcore's priority whether to protect their secret by killing the two of them or attempt to save the prince from bleeding to death.

After a moment filled with anxiety, the hollowcore finally made its move. It went towards the prince, making Eid release a relieved sigh. Noticing that they were out of danger, Toko relaxed as well and took advantage of this rare situation, burying her face in her young master's topless torso.

'Y-young master's body! Young master's sweat! Young master's muscles! Young master's nipples!' Toko huffed in her young master's aroma as much as she could, making it seem like she was sniffing and crying.

Oblivious to the truth, Eid looked at Toko with pity.

'I put too much burden on her this time. Later, I have to treat her with something to make up for it.'

he thought as he gently caressed her head.

Meanwhile, when the hollowcore got near him, Prince Frederick shrieked as the black gases suffocated him. His skin began rotting while he was still alive.

"W-what's happening? Wait! GET AWAY FROM MEE!! A-AHHHH!!"

He begged as the feeling of rotting was way worse than the feeling of dying.

But it was the hollowcore's mission to keep him alive. Thus, it carried him with its mighty strength and ran away from the scene.

It's unknown where the hollowcore would take Prince Frederick but with them gone, Eid and Toko could finally come out of hiding. Meanwhile, Toko felt intoxicated and was extremely satisfied.

"A hollowcore... I wonder what that thing's rank among the Soullesses?"

Eid got curious. He only learned of Soullesses and hollowcores because of his father's warnings. Duke Rholes had warned him to not offend some organizations such as the Five Giants: The Great Sanctuary, the Heliacal Empire, Ten Apostles, Bright Heroes, and the Supreme Government. Avoiding them is common sense, but other than these Five Giants, Duke Rholes warned him of dark organizations. One of them is Soullesses.

Eid knew that the world is vast, that he was just a big fish in a small pond. There are still many provinces out there other than the Province of Colveil, and out in Deiterra, there are other continents having many countries.

Right now, Priest Cerviel seemed untouchable. None of the people he fought today are on par with a priest, maybe except the hollowcore earlier, releasing all its ghoulish aura. However, in the whole Great Sanctuary alone, a priest does not have the highest standing. Above the priest, there are the bishops. Above the bishops are the archbishops, then there are the cardinals, and then, the pope. Each one is untouchable to those below them like a priest to the laities (laymen).

Then, there's arguably a stronger organization than the Great Sanctuary, the Ten Apostles. As the name suggests, they are only made up of only ten people but these ten are the strongest mortals in Deiterra. Fortunately, most people from the church are good people as they worship demigods of virtue.

However, there are other organizations that are skeptical in Eid's eyes like the Supreme Government, Bright Heroes, and especially, the Heliacal Empire. Fortunately, he hadn't crossed paths with any of them yet.

But that wouldn't take long because Eidol had the fantasy, a dream or a quest, of vanquishing all evil in Deiterra!

For that, he would do anything to get stronger and kill every evil he could- for his own satisfaction and his family's safety.

Before they could trouble him or his family, Eid would get to them first.

But first, his feud with the King of the Iron Kingdom must be settled. By that, he should remove the current royal family. Actually, his plan is to either pass the crown to a trusted person or make his family, the Rohde Family, royalty.

Eid isn't comfortable with the fact that there's authority over the Rohde Family, at least, within the Iron Kingdom. However, that's easier said than done and with a lot of risks as well.

For now, he had removed one core member of the royal family. After all, each member of the royalty is an arsenal to the King.

All of these were just quick thoughts and Eid easily snapped out of it.

"Let's go before Ner notices that we're absent for breakfast again."

"She'll definitely nag you again for it, Young Master."

"Hmph! I'll show her who's her big brother and she can't do anything about it!"

"Yes, Young Master, I believe in you!"

Eid couldn't wait for his Inaugural Gift so that his strength would exponentially grow, unlocking more potential. By then, even against the hollowcore with its full power or even a priest in a battle, he would win.

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[I have it. The perfect host!]