Chapter 978: Soul Contract
He did not even consider whether Lin Li was really that young. After all, it was not easy to enter the Sanctuary-realm. Even if he was as talented as a High Elf, he would still need at least a few hundred years of accumulation.
Therefore, when he heard that Lin Li was only in his early twenties, Garl was incredibly shocked. A Sanctuary powerhouse who was in his twenties was indeed not something that Osric could compare to. Perhaps he could really reach the Immortal King’s level of accomplishments.
In fact, while finding out about this piece of news, Garl had already subconsciously reduced his resistance to submitting to Lin Li. Connoris’ strategy was exactly to compare Lin Li to the Immortal King. Who would feel ashamed of being the Immortal King’s servant?
“Enough, Connoris, since he doesn’t agree, there’s no need for us to waste time here.” After Lin Li said that, he pointed his hand and raised the Light and Darkness Sword, after which it landed on Garl’s head.
“Wait, I agree, but we can only sign a master-servant contract!” After being frightened by Lin Li, the tiny bit of hesitation left in Garl immediately vanished. He frantically expressed his intention to submit.
The master-servant contract that Garl mentioned was the kind that Lin Li and Connoris had signed. Although there was a certain restraint, the servant would still enjoy a relative amount of freedom. For example, if Lin Li, the master, were to die, Garl, the servant, would definitely be affected, but he would not die together with Lin Li.
Hearing Garl’s call to stop, Lin Li stopped the Light and Darkness Sword and looked at Connoris. “Connoris, you will decide the contents of the contract.”
Connoris accepted the order and smiled faintly. Soon, he handed a contract to Garl.
Faced with the danger of death, Garl’s mind was already in a mess and he was flustered. Although he carefully checked every term of the contract, he did not have the energy to study it. Hence, following the terms of the contract provided by Connoris, Garl siphoned a portion of his Soul Brand and accepted the contract.
However, to Garl’s surprise, the situation changed after he sent out his Soul Brand in recognition of Lin Li as his master. According to regular master-servant contracts, the master should similarly attach a wisp of Soul Brand to the contract in order to make it complete. However, Lin Li did not do that. Instead, he directly removed Garl’s Soul Brand in the contract, and confined it with his mental strength. It was no longer a master-servant contract, but an actual Soul Contract.
“You…” No matter how silly Garl might be, he understood at this point that he had been fooled by Connoris. However, he could no longer change the situation. No matter how displeased Garl was, there was no way he could snap at this time. Besides, with his Soul Brand being controlled by someone else, he would not be able to die even if he wanted to. Lin Li would no longer have to use the purification power to deal with him.
Garl was not a stubborn person anyway. Under such circumstances, he naturally wouldn’t bring himself trouble. He had no choice but to bite the bullet and bear with it.
“Don’t be dissatisfied, Felic wouldn’t take in a useless person. In the future, he might even find a stronger host for you to become a parasite to, and stepping into the Sanctuary-realm won’t be that unattainable.” When Connoris was in the Endless Abyss in the past, he seemed to have been taken advantage of by the Lord Devourer. Now that he had done Garl in, he was extremely smug.
“Master Felic, this…” At this moment, Archbishop Martin and the others who had been waiting at the back finally couldn’t help but step forward. The conversation they had and the signing of the contract were all done through spiritual communication. Hence, Archbishop Martin and the others were rather confused because they did not know what Lin Li had just done.
“Everything’s fine now. Archbishop Martin, sorry to have kept you waiting.” Lin Li did not say much, and directly dispersed the Light and Darkness Sword before turning around to return to the expedition.
Seeing this, Archbishop Martin and the others realized that Lin Li had obviously subdued that ugly thing, otherwise he wouldn’t have let it go so easily. However, they could not imagine how that ugly thing could be of use.
Seeing that Lin Li didn’t want to explain, Archbishop Martin and the others didn’t ask any further questions. They simply looked at Garl and sized him up with peculiar looks before returning to the team with Lin Li.
Although Garl had lost his host and the powerful strength that was comparable to the Sanctuary-realm, the Heart-piercing Potion did not have any effects on his body. He still had power that was near the peak of the Legendary-level. Hence, after seeing that Lin Li and the others were heading to the expedition, he immediately cast the Power of Flight and hovered behind Lin Li.
It couldn’t be helped. A servant had to be conscious and alert enough. Garl had no choice but to submit to fate now. He only hoped that his human master really had great potential like Connoris had said, and would one day be able to reach the heights that the Immortal King had climbed to.
However, what no one expected was that after Garl followed Lin Li to the expedition, the people did not react strangely because of his appearance. Instead, Angelano, who was dressed in strange armor, suddenly scurried towards them.
“Devouring Demon! How dare you appear in front of Lord Angelano? Watch me crush you into powder!” Angelano actually recognized Garl, and glared at him like they had a major feud with each other. He swung his large metal hammer, and looked like he really wanted to smash Garl into pieces.
Garl was no longer the Lord Devourer. However, he still had power that was near the peak of the Legendary-level. How could he be hit by Angelano’s hammer easily? After casting the Power of Flight, his body flashed, and he dodged the hammer that was being swung at him. He screamed, and said, “I was just wondering why I smelled this stench from afar. It turns out that this disgusting race from back then still has a remaining descendant here.”
Although Angelano’s entire body was wrapped in armor, it was clear that Garl had somewhat recognized him. Besides, judging from his words, he seemed to have some feud with the goblins. Besides, it might be a major one.
Even Lin Li was a little surprised at this behavior of the two of them, not to mention Archbishop Martin and the others. The goblins had created civilization in the era before the High Elves appeared, but that era was also very short, and there was barely any historical record left behind. On the other hand, the Devouring Demon was actually very mysterious in the Endless Abyss, and no one knew how many Devouring Demons there were left in the Endless Abyss.
Hence, be it from a personal consideration or a racial consideration, no one would think that Angelano and Garl were related in any way.
“What’s the big deal about flying? Go ahead and fly!” Seeing that Garl had flown up into the air, Angelano immediately raised his arm, and an Alchemy Array on the armor of his arm suddenly lit up. A fire snake then charged towards Garl immediately.
Garl, who was flying in the air, did not dodge, and instead dealt with the fire snake. He suddenly opened his mouth and sucked it in. Just like the Alchemy Colossuses and Abyssal Demons that the Lord Devourer had devoured previously, Garl sucked in the fire snake launched by Angelano.
Garl deliberately burped and looked down at Angelano in disdain. “Is that all you have? It’s not even enough to fill the gaps in my teeth.”
“Is that so? I shall make you the first Devouring Demon to die from being too stuffed!” Angelano tossed his hammer while chanting something, all ready to summon his Alchemy Colossus.
However, at this moment, Lin Li reached his hand out and patted Angelano’s head. He said, “Enough, Angelano. I don’t care what problems you have with each other, but it’s best to save them all for later. We don’t have time for you to cause a stir now.”
“Felic, why did you take him as a servant? Devouring Demons are inherently treacherous, scheming, and sly. They’re the most shameless and despicable. They don’t deserve to exist in this world at all,” Angelano said in displeasure. However, he had also stopped summoning the Alchemy Colossus.
“Really? How much better are you people? If I remember correctly, I’m afraid you’re the only one left of your race. See, it’s proven whose race doesn’t deserve a place in this world,” Garl rebutted Angelano in a sharp voice as he descended.
“And you, don’t tell me that you Devouring Demons have taken over the abyss. I’m afraid you’re the only disgusting one left in the entire abyss now. Besides, I believe it won’t be long before you Devouring Demons are completely finished.” Angelano was rather hostile too. He swung his arms and sounded extremely threatening.
Lin Li’s new and old subordinates falling out was not something to be proud of. Archbishop Martin and the others were too embarrassed to keep watching, so they greeted Lin Li, and they went back to their teams to arrange for recuperation without waiting for a response.
Looking at the strange gazes that were constantly cast at him by the people nearby, Lin Li rubbed his forehead helplessly, but he had no choice but to make Garl shut up using Soul Restraint. Finally, the two of them quieted down. However, he could still notice the intense animosity in Garl’s and Angelano’s eyes when they were looking at each other. It was as if they were fighting with each other using their eyes.
“What exactly is going on here?” After looking at the two of them who were fighting intensely, Lin Li turned to look at Connoris helplessly. Among those present, Connoris, who was once an ancient demon deity, was probably the only one who knew what had happened between the goblins and the Devouring Demons.
However, Connoris was not an omniscient, omnipotent god. He would only try to find out more about things that he felt interested in, participate in them, and then record them. After all, he had already existed for millions of years. How could he possibly record every single thing that had happened during those long years?
Hence, regarding this matter, Connoris could only tell Lin Li vaguely that the annihilation of the goblins seemed to have some connection with the Devouring Demons. Rumor had it that the reason that the Devouring Demons gradually became extinct in the abyss was because the goblins had resorted to some means. In short, Angelano and Garl were the only ones who knew the exact reason. Perhaps they might not be clear, either. Lin Li knew that there was a huge feud between the two of them that was related to race.
That matter was a real headache for Lin Li. If the members of his team did not get along with each other, it could be considered an extremely troublesome thing for the expedition. In particular, Angelano and Lin Li did not have any contract with each other. He only stayed in the Tower of Dusk because Lin Li could provide him with enough materials for his alchemy research. However, Lin Li was not sure if he could let Angelano work with his enemy willingly based on that alone.
However, it was clearly not the time to resolve this problem now. Lin Li could only use the Soul Contract to restrain Garl while persuading Angelano. He painstakingly managed to get Angelano to agree not to argue with Garl for the time being.
In fact, the main reason Angelano agreed to Lin Li’s request was that he had heard that Garl had signed a Soul Contract with Lin Li and had become Lin Li’s slave. Angelano was like a guest of the Tower of Dusk, and more specifically, Lin Li’s guest. He was on equal terms with Lin Li. Hence, Angelano’s status was naturally higher than Lin Li’s slave’s, Garl’s.
“You’re just a slave, I can’t be bothered to argue with you now. When we go out later, I’ll settle the scores with you,” Angelano said to Garl in a disdainful tone.
Garl was not annoyed to hear this. Instead, he said to Connoris, “Did you hear that, Connoris? He said that we’re just slaves and not even worthy of talking to him.”
Garl was initially displeased about Connoris lying to him, but after hearing Angelano’s words, he immediately got Connoris involved.
However, as the ancient demon deity who mastered deception and conspiracy, how could Connoris have failed to tell what Garl was thinking? He nonchalantly said, “Slave? I think you’re mistaken. Slaves and servants are very different.”
Connoris and Lin Li had signed a master-servant contract, and although he was also restrained from betrayal, he still had a relatively great amount of freedom. For example, if Connoris had not wanted to come to the Sky Castle this time, Lin Li could not really have forced him. If Lin Li died unexpectedly, Connoris wouldn’t die together with him like he would if he were in a Soul Contract with Lin Li, although he would suffer some damage to his soul.
As expected, Connoris’ response made Garl grit his teeth in anger. He was the one who caused Garl to sign a Soul Contract with Lin Li! However, Garl was well aware that he had to suck it up since he was in his current situation. If he were to argue with them, he would only be bringing trouble to himself.
However, Garl had allies too. After connecting with Lin Li’s soul, he quickly sensed that both Ujfalusi and Norfeller had Lin Li’s aura on them. Hence, he immediately flew to Ujfalusi and Norfeller, and tried to forge a friendship with them.