Chapter 160: Chapter 160 - Soul Contract
"Slime!"
The three Monster Lords’ voices overlapped. Disbelief dripped in every syllable.
Their gazes locked on Lucien’s translucent form and for a moment... even the Obsidian Tower’s oppressive silence seemed to waver.
The Winged Goblin’s wings twitched violently.
"Impossible. Slimes were wiped out ages ago. To see one here... this cannot be coincidence. Could this be the inheritance of the Primordial Slime hidden within this lesser world?"
The Magus Goblin’s lips curled into a wicked grin. The glint in its eyes betrayed greed.
"A vessel immune to corruption... endlessly adaptive... this is beyond fortune. If our Primordial God possessed this body, He would not perish. He would be eternal. An incarnation that could never be destroyed!"
The Giant Goblin’s voice came as a chorus of whispers.
"Human or Slime. Vessel or pretender. You are... dangerous."
They stared at Lucien’s translucent form and the value they once placed on him as a mere specimen had multiplied beyond measure.
Lucien’s chest rose and fell. His thoughts raced.
’Even if I fight them... there’s no chance. Not one. No skill, no magic, no hidden trump card would ever let me stand against three Monster Lords. Strength against strength was meaningless here.’
Every path he saw led to certain death... Until his gaze lingered on his own slime body.
Then... an idea struck him.
His lips curled.
’Perfect.’
He noted two critical truths first.
First... Their shock meant they couldn’t sense his other slimes outside. The Obsidian Tower was a cage that blocked all perception both ways.
Second... Their arrogance and greed blinded them. Only the Giant radiated unease. Suspicion lurked in its many voices. But the other two... they were already envisioning rewards.
But... it was all he needed.
Lucien straightened. His translucent form wobbled faintly. He then spoke with careful humility.
"Respected Lords... I am willing to follow you."
The declaration hung in the chamber like bait cast upon still waters.
The Monster Lords exchanged glances. Their monstrous eyes narrowed as they studied his expression. He looked earnest... even submissive.
But then—
"...I have one condition."
The Giant Goblin snarled. He flexed hi claws. "You are in no position—"
Lucien cut him off with a sharp voice.
"As the Respected Lords said, I might be the perfect vessel. But if you kill me or corrupt me recklessly, the fragment of origin core inside me might fly off. It will not remain with you. It will not obey. You will spend years chasing it through this world and perhaps never find it again. After all... it chose me. If I cease to exist as myself, it will abandon this body."
The Winged Goblin faltered. Its wings froze mid-beat. The logic struck like a hammer.
It had actually happened before. Fragments fleeing. Some chose their hosts and some refused control.
Even this tower’s fragment, could never be fully contained by them. It was unpredictable.
The Giant took a step forward. His every movement shook the air with pressure. Yet the Winged Goblin raised a hand and stopped him.
"Wait. There is truth in what he says. And remember... our Primordial God desires a perfect vessel, not a broken husk. If this slime-human hybrid willingly became His vessel... He will reward us beyond measure."
The Giant’s whispers hesitated. It shifted from suspicion to greed. Slowly, its claws retracted.
The Magus Goblin chuckled darkly. "Reward indeed. Perhaps even the ascension to Goblin Kings..."
At that, all three monsters shared a moment of silent hunger.
At last, the Magus Goblin leaned forward. "Then tell us, little vessel. What is your demand?"
Lucien drew in a breath. His expression clouded with false hesitation. He let his face twist into something almost pitiful.
"A test. If you can endure my strongest attack... then I will follow you. Gladly. Without resistance. But... you must face my attack head on. I only wish to prove that I am not completely worthless."
The chamber went still.
Then for the first time... the Giant Goblin laughed full of madness.
The Magus Goblin raised a claw halting the madness.
"Oh-ho... you speak as if your blow carries weight. I’ll grant you this. But you will not trick us. Speak your oath and let the contract bind your tongue. If you deceive us, your soul will burn to ash."
Lucien nodded firmly.
The Magus sneered. It carved runes into the air. A vast circle of black and gold snapped open. Chains of rune script hissed like serpents.
Lucien had seen this before in the Mural World.
Soul contracts. It was inescapable and merciless. The penalty for breaking them depends on the agreed terms.
He pressed his glowing hand into the sigil and channeled his divine energy.
"I... Harold Coalheart, swear this. If you endure my strongest attack in the next heartbeat, I will follow you willingly, without resistance."
The circle blazed and the name Harold Coalheart etched itself into the script. The Monster Lords did not question it. They only saw an oath sealed. And they wouldn’t care about the name anyway.
The three Monster Lords extended their hands. Their voices boomed together.
"We swear to take your strike head on. Should you lie or should you falter, let your soul burn to oblivion."
Chains of light snapped shut, binding the vow. The air itself hummed with the weight of their pact.
The Monster Lords relaxed. Their arrogance seeped back into their monstrous features.
The Winged Goblin sneered. "So be it. Show us your so-called strongest attack. Give us your sting, little human-slime. Make us laugh."
The Giant cracked its knuckles. Its teeth bared in anticipation.
The Magus only smiled coldly. It was already savoring his inevitable victory.
To them, Lucien was still an insect. What could an insect do but cause an itch?
Lucien’s lips curved into a grin... though inside his heart hammered like a drum. There are loopholes in the soul contract but it wasn’t guaranteed to shield him.
But still... hesitation now means death.
He inhaled and his core blazed.
Golden light erupted from his core. Waves of divine energy flooded outward. The ground trembled and the very air warped.
The Giant Goblin scoffed. "This? This is your ultimate? It isn’t enough to break my skin!"
The Winged Goblin snorted. "I expected more. In the end, an ant’s sting is nothing but an itch."
Their mockery echoed right up until the moment the divine light shifted.
The chamber drowned in golden waves. And... It completely enveloped their bodies.
The Magus’s eyes widened. "What—?"
The Winged Goblin’s wings snapped tight. "This energy... it’s pulling—"
The Giant roared. "It’s a trap—!"
Lucien’s grin widened. He clenched his hand into a fist.
And then—
The three Monster Lords flickered. Their forms fractured into countless motes of light. They were torn from the chamber and swallowed whole.
In a single breath, they were gone.
Lucien’s chest heaved as sweat glistened down his brow. His voice came low and ragged but edged with triumph.
"Caught you... motherfuckers."
The monsters had not been destroyed.
They had been dragged.... Sealed within his divine energy core.
Into a world where he was a master. A prison of his own making.
And there... he can contest with them...
But then—
A shift.
"Guhhh!"
Lucien staggered. A guttural groan tore from his throat. His translucent body quivered and through its translucent surface he saw it clearly.
His golden divine energy core.
It was trembling.
From within, the three Monster Lords rampaged like caged beasts. Their roars echoed in his mind. It reverberated through every inch of his body.
His vision blurred.
Crack—
Fissures spiderwebbed across the glowing sphere... only for each one to knit itself back together almost instantly. Lucien’s breath hitched.
’The fragment... it’s holding me together.’
He hadn’t expected this.
Lucien had believed that once trapped inside his core, the Monster Lords would be powerless. But the truth struck him harder than their claws ever could.
They weren’t helpless.
They were tearing at him from the inside.
Pain seared through every nerve and every thought. His translucent body writhed as if about to collapse in on itself.
Gritting his teeth, Lucien tried to impose his will in the world inside.
’Erase them. Crush them out of existence!’
But... nothing.
The golden core trembled. His world obeyed... yet the Monster Lords remained. Their strength was too vast or maybe... Lucein was just too weak.
Lucien’s vision shook.
If not for the Origin Core fragment already within him, his divine energy core would have shattered under their fury.
The thought made his gut tighten.
And then his eyes drifted... toward the heart of the chamber.
The bleak fragment of origin core pulsed within the obsidian altar. Its dark radiance swallowed the shadows around it.
Despite the agony tearing through him, Lucien’s lips curled into a strained smile.
"Mine!" His voice was hoarse. "With two of these things... can I win?"
And with that, Lucien forced himself forward.
He ignored the agony clawing inside his core. His slime-flesh rippled with each staggered breath but his steps never halted.
One ragged stride after another, he climbed toward the altar.
When he reached it, the chamber itself seemed to resist.
The altar exhaled a torrent of choking miasma. Black tides poured over him, rushing to consume him whole.
But his slime body did not falter. Corruption slid across him like smoke across glass. He was untouchable. Incorruptible.
And so, when Lucien laid his hand upon the fragment...
...the world shifted.
The fragment pulsed violently. Its primal nature thrashed like a beast against chains.
The air shuddered. The obsidian walls screamed. But the longer his slime-body held it, the more its ferocity dimmed until its chaos began to bend.
The miasma leaking from it dwindled, fading like shadows at dawn.
And then—
A spark.
Golden.
It bloomed from the fragment’s heart, scattering light across the chamber. That single glimmer grew. It ignited into a blaze until the entire chamber was lit in radiant brilliance.
Power surged outward, cascading in waves of divine energy.
The fragment rose and it hovered in the air. Each pulse doused the chamber with sanctified force.
Lucien raised his hand.
The fragment drifted toward him.
When his fingers closed around it, his body thrummed with impossible resonance.
And then he felt it.
The shackles of this world snapped apart like rotten chains.
He could now reached the level beyond Tier 9.
His golden core blazed brighter than ever, reinforced by two fragments now.
Lucien’s eyes lit with savage triumph.
"Finally..."
His voice was edged with iron. He lifted his head, glaring at the unseen predators raging inside his core.
"Time to kill these big bastards."