The Bookkeeper

"I killed Mack," Levi muttered, sprawled across the bed with sweat coating his face and his hands shaking from sheer exhaustion.

"His brother is coming, and he will be here any moment from now," he said, his voice dry and raspy. The words caught in his throat as he coughed, each one scraping painfully against the next.

Raiden studied Levi in silence, his mind racing. Mack's silence domain had pushed him to the brink—he'd barely survived their first encounter and had nearly walked away from everything he'd sworn to protect. But Levi had killed Mack. Actually killed him. And yet this same man had run from his brother.

What kind of monster was Seth?​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Just as he stood there, Levi's expression shifted back to his usual demeanor—curious, almost casual. "Tell Freya she's your slave…"

Raiden simply nodded, barely registering Levi's words. His mind was already racing through their options for facing Seth. He didn't have enough energy left to fight, which meant his last shot was forming a contract with Speed. Maybe, if he could rise in the ranks and awaken Ash, Speed would be able to help as well.

He turned to Leo immediately. "I don't think he's close yet, but wait for him."

He then turned to Freya and repeated the same thing in Noorian. "Once he enters the barrier, you already know he can't get out until I'm dead…" he added, his tone dropping to something lower and colder. "You must kill him."

Freya stared down for a moment, lost in thought. Finally, she raised her head and gave Raiden a firm nod. She and Leo headed outside together.

"I could have killed him, but he got me real bad." Levi clutched his torso. "His ability…" He let out a frustrated sigh. "You'll see it for yourself."

"You could have simply turned invisible."

Levi gave him a lazy look, then simply rested his head on the bed without sparing Raiden another glance. Raiden smirked. He knew his question wasn't worth answering. Invisibility was Levi's only ace in the hole, so of course he'd use it. It just hadn't worked.

Just as he stood there, a sudden chill washed over him. He could sense the danger now. Seth was coming, though not close yet. His body began to twitch, followed by a surge of euphoria and a light grin.

He immediately hurried out of the room, grabbed a contracting seal from the training room, and began making his way to Speed's room. The moment he rested his hand on the door handle, something hit him—the danger detection abruptly rang louder. Seth was within the barrier. He'd closed more than a mile's distance in barely three minutes.

"What is this guy?" Raiden muttered in confusion, his gaze fixed on the entrance's direction.

Still, he opened the door and entered the room. The moment he stepped inside, Soul was fast asleep, clutching Speed with a smile across her face, while Speed lay there staring directly at the ceiling.

"You want the contract?" Speed asked, turning to him.

Raiden said nothing, he simply walked over. Speed adjusted his fingers through the chains, allowing Raiden to place the other half of the seal in his hand.

"Before I take my oath, I want to say thank you," Speed said, his voice tender, unlike his usual tone.

Raiden raised an eyebrow as he wasn't interested in his praises. He simply wanted it done so they could get on with the predicament.

"I've always dreamed of this moment, and you actually saved my sister." Speed took another look at Raiden and instantly knew he wasn't in the mood for that. His expression shifted at once. Speed took his oath, and the seal burned in an instant.

[ALERT]

[NEW CONTRACT MANAGED]

[+30XP]

[DRAGON MANA POOL: 750/5000]

[CONTRACTS: ACTIVE 4

—Name:[ASH]

—Bond Type: Sealed Pact.

—Name: [LEVI]

—Bond Type: Binding Oath.

—Name: [FREYA]

—Bond Type: Binding Oath.

—Name: [?]

—Bond Type: Binding Oath.

[CURRENT STATUS: NUMBER 8: LEVEL-80/100XP]

Raiden's expression darkened instantly as he stared at the blue mechanical screen before his eyes. The contract wasn't enough to get him to the 7th realm. That's when it hit him, his eyes widening. Just as Leo had done, he needed to refine his mana.

His heart began to race as he stared into nothingness. Was everything a waste after all? Refining mana couldn't be done within a few minutes—even for him, such a feat would most likely take more than half a day of meditation. By that time they would all be dead if Leo and Freya couldn't defeat Seth.

"Hey, is everything okay?" Speed's words snapped Raiden out of his daze. He didn't spare him a glance as he ran out of the room.

Each footstep echoed through him, goosebumps erupting across his flesh in terror and helplessness while his thoughts spiraled wildly.

He needed to know if the others could defeat Seth—or at least hold him off long enough for him to refine his mana.

The moment he stepped outside, what he saw startled him, and he paused immediately. Before the fountain stood a young man about the same age as Mack, a golden aura radiating from him.

Black hair swept across his forehead, shadowing his eyes from view. His expression was calm but terrifying, a gold crest bearing the number seven gleaming at his neck. The mere sight of him made Raiden shake with fear.

The euphoria failed to give him the rush he needed because Seth's calm yet dangerous demeanor was exactly like his father, Jake Grim. His white dress shirt and dark suit, alongside the black oversized overcoat, only deepened the resemblance.

Still, he swallowed nervously, forcing himself to think clearly and see beyond Seth. Seth had his left hand locked around Leo's neck, tightening his grip and rendering Leo helpless as he gasped for air. His right hand was wrapped around Freya's familiar, Free's neck.

Just a few steps in front of Raiden was Freya, on her knees with tears streaming down her face, clearly terrified for her familiar. "Please, don't kill Free… you can have me instead." Her voice cracked with fear.

Her plea seemed to irritate Seth, his golden aura flickering with annoyance. He drove Leo into the ground, sending him bouncing off the surface as he grabbed his back and screamed in agony.

Seth then held Free with both of his hands and split him in two. Blood splattered across Seth's face and clothes as he dropped the dead body on the floor. He didn't flinch, not even from the splash of blood. Exactly like Jack's father.

Freya, on the other hand, seemed completely broken from witnessing her own familiar slaughtered in two. She looked broken and spent as she knelt there, her limbs lazily collapsing against each other.

She remained silent for a brief moment, as if she had died with her familiar, while Raiden also felt more dead than alive. Their only hope of defeating Seth had just collapsed before him, filling him with despair as his body trembled from within.

However, Freya began to murmur something repeatedly. It was soft at first but eventually grew louder.

"I will kill you." 

She said it over and over as flames began radiating from her body, as if she had infused her flames into her aura itself. Raiden's eyes widened as he stared at her, not because she still had fight left in her, but because her ability to infuse flames with aura was something he hadn't seen before.

From Seth's expression, this was new to him as well. He began taking a few steps backward as Freya slowly rose to her feet.