Back when Xi Ling had used the Heavenly Wrath of the Nine Suns to annihilate the Heaven’s End grade Warring Palace Skeleton, there was no system announcement, and the Warring Palace Skeleton stood up again afterwards. However, this time, a clear system announcement sounded out, signifying that the Warring Palace Skeleton had fallen for the last time, and had truly died.
At the same time, the light from levelling up appeared on Ling Chen and Xiao Hui’s bodies.
“Ding… you have levelled up to LV18….”
“Ding… your pet “Holy Spirit Beast” has levelled up to LV18.”
The darkness aura, around the gigantic 30 metre or so long skeleton, began to dissipate, and Ling Chen could no longer feel the oppressive aura from its body. The Warring Palace Skeleton was now just a mass of gigantic bones, and would never rise again.
Cancer Orb and the Jadeite Jade- in just two days, he had found the two things that he needed the most, which allowed him to easily kill the gigantic skeleton even without Xi Ling’s help. Ling Chen let out a long sigh, and closed his eyes, silently saying in his mind, “Xi Ling, I’ve taken revenge for you. Now, no matter how small the chances are, I will go to the south to find the Guardian Beast Vermillion Bird of the legends…”
When Celestial bosses died, they were bound to drop exquisite items, and Ling Chen was sure that the Warring Palace Skeleton was no exception. However, Ling Chen did not immediately go to the Warring Palace Skeleton’s bones to look for items, but rather turned his gaze to the semi-spirit girl floating in the air.
The semi-spirit girl had recovered from the effects of the Eyes of Eternal Darkness, and the first thing she had seen was the fallen Warring Palace Skeleton. Her illusory body floated down to the gigantic skeleton, and landed on its chest. As she floated down, Ling Chen could clearly see tear drops rolling down from her cheeks.
“Don’t… die…”
“Don’t… die…”
Standing on the giant skeleton, the young girl cried and howled. Her pitiful wailing was enough to make anyone feel sorry for her.
Ling Chen gave a slight sigh and turned around. He did not know of this girl’s background, and having only half a spirit, maybe she didn’t even know either. Her mentality was somewhat similar to that of a 3-year-old child’s, and she had stayed here with that giant skeleton day after day, year after year. All these years, the giant skeleton had been her only companion, her only support, and even her only family. Now, it had died, and the shock it caused to her was tremendous, despite the fact that she only had half a spirit. From now on, she would have to reside in solitariness in this Forest of Bones. The only thing that would accompany her would be the lifeless rabbit doll held in her arms.
The skeleton only had a last bit of its will, which was to protect the young girl at all costs… to them, Ling Chen was the vicious evildoer.
Ling Chen stood there in a daze for a while, listening to the young girl’s cries. Finally, he shook his head, and looked away from the girl, and prepared to collect the items the Warring Palace Skeleton had dropped.
As soon as he moved, the crying semi-spirit girl reacted like a scared rabbit, and shot up into the air. She looked at him, her eyes filled with fear.
Ling Chen: “……”
This girl did not fear physical attacks, and Ling Chen did not have any magic attacks, so it was impossible for him to harm her. Her fear of him was completely unnecessary. However, it seemed that she did not know this. The skeleton that had just fallen was probably like a guardian or a father to her, so she probably harboured some fear and hatred towards Ling Chen.
Ling Chen decided not to look at her, and started looking around the skeleton for items. Suddenly, he saw the girl’s body become semi-transparent, then opaque again.
This…
Very soon, Ling Chen found that what he had just saw was not an illusion. After a few seconds, the semi-spirit girl’s body once again became semi-transparent, which allowed Ling Chen to even seen the scenery behind her. Ling Chen looked at her in shock- she would become semi-transparent every 2 seconds or so, and it seemed to become more frequent… then, at a certain point, would her body just disappear?
“After the giant skeleton died, her Soul Sacrifice Contract with it was terminated. The illusory body she created from the contract will also disappear soon… then, this girl will become a true semi-spirit, a wandering soul.” Qi Yue slowly said, her voice tinted with a hint of sympathy. Compared to this poor girl, she was far better off.
Ling Chen: “……”
“Ai,” Ling Chen sighed, “Back then, when I completed the quest, I shouldn’t have come here.”
Because of him, the semi-spirit girl had lost everything… however, many people had also lost their lives because of her. Moreover, even more people in future could have died because of her. Although he potentially saved many people, Ling Chen still felt guilty about what he had done to this girl.
Screw it, what’s the point of thinking so much? Ling Chen stopped looking at her, and walked towards the Warring Palace Skeleton’s body.
“… Little master, quickly leave!! Leave immediately!!”
Just as Ling Chen was about to pick up his first spoils of war, Qi Yue’s voice sounded out in his head. He did not hesitate, and immediately quickly ran away, while asking, “What’s wrong?”
Qi Yue replied, “The skeleton died, but the girl did not die. That means that the Soul Sacrifice Contract that the girl used on the skeleton was her first one. Because she can use it twice in her life, after the first contractee dies, the contract between them will vanish, and she is free to use it on another being… her illusory body is about to vanish, so she needs to find another being to use the contract on. The only being here that she can use the contract on is you!!”
Ling Chen: “!!”
If he was contracted by the Soul Sacrifice Contract, all damage taken by the girl would be transferred to him- this definitely wasn’t a good thing. If this happened, he would never be able to relax ever again. Although she was immune to physical attacks, there were many Magician profession players in the Mystic Moon world.
As such, Ling Chen’s speed increased to the max, and temporarily gave up on picking up the items from the Warring Palace Skeleton. After all, the items dropped from a Celestial boss would never disappear.
“Not good, it’s too late.” Qi Yue said in a despondent voice.
“What do you mean by ‘too late’?”
Just as Ling Chen finished speaking, a dark light shot down from the sky and landed on his head. At that moment, a strange and unique feeling passed through his heart, which then immediately disappeared. A system announcement then rang out, almost causing Ling Chen to jump in shock.
“Ding… you have been forced to undertake a ‘Soul Sacrifice Contract’ by ‘????’, all of the damage taken by ‘????’ will be transferred to you, until you die.”
“Ding… because of your status as a player, the Soul Sacrifice Contract between you and ‘????’ has recognised ‘????’ as your humanoid pet. All of her damage will be transferred to you, and her level will always be equivalent yours. None of your EXP will be split with her. Unless you truly die, there is no way to terminate the contract. Please name your new pet.”
Ling Chen stopped walking, and his expression was one of extreme confusion. He turned around, and looked at the semi-spirit floating in the air. He didn’t know if he should cry… or if he should cry.
“Well, I guess this was unavoidable. Soul Sacrifice Contracts are usually forced upon the contractee. Not only you, but even if a Moon Goddess came, they would be unable to resist either. That’s why back then there were so many people desperately looking for ways to attain the Soul Sacrifice Contract method.” Qi Yue explained.
The girl’s arms were crossed in front of her chest, and looked at him darkly with a sense of fear… she was afraid that Ling Chen would harm her, but was also afraid that her body would disappear. As such, she unhesitatingly used her second Soul Sacrifice Contract on Ling Chen… This girl had not matured yet, and did not think much of the consequences of her actions.
A layer of cold sweat appeared on Ling Chen’s forehead. From now on, the damage taken by this girl would all be transferred to him… he was a player, so he could revive, but every time he died his level would be reset to 0!! This contract, which he had thought was pretty ridiculous the first time Qi Yue had mentioned it, had actually been used on him… and it was a contract that could not be rejected or terminated!
Goddamit!!
“What sort of damn contract is this!? If there were even more people who could use this contract, wouldn’t the entire world fall into chaos!!?” Ling Chen howled.
“Eh, little master, do you really think that there are many people that can use this sort of terrifying contract? Although there have been many stories about this contract, it has only been seen once. Legends say that there are only two types of beings that can use this sort of contract. One of them are beings with ‘Godhood’.”
“Godhood? You mean like a Moon Goddess?” Ling Chen asked.
“Moon Goddess? Ha… although Moon Gods and Goddesses are called ‘Gods’, in essence they’re just ‘humans’ with special powers and supernatural strength. As for ‘Godhood’, it completely surpasses the ‘human’ level, and can dominate anything in the Mystic Moon world. Perhaps the only being that touched the boundaries of ‘Godhood’ was the Shura from ten thousand years ago. However, this girl can’t possibly have any ‘Godhood’. Otherwise, she would be able to completely destroy little master with just a flick of her finger.” Qi Yue said while smiling.
“And the other type?”
“The other type are beings with incredibly strong spirit. Legends say that the person who used the Soul Sacrifice Contract had a terrifying, unparalleled spirit power. However, this semi-spirit girl only has half a spirit, and evidently has weaker spirit than you, so she’s not this type either.”
“……”
“Hehe, little master doesn’t have to think too much. These two sayings are only legends after all; no one knows if they’re true or not. However, this girl being able to use the Soul Sacrifice Contract makes even me feel shocked. Her background definitely isn’t simple.”