Chapter 305: Chapter 169: King, I Want You (Extra update for 8000 monthly votes)_2
"Since our positions are not adversarial, I see no reason to continue holding you captive.
"Besides, as a favored child of destiny who brings good fortune and avoids misfortune, even if I killed you, I probably wouldn’t gain much and might even attract some bad luck.
"However, if possible, I’d like to make a deal with you and ask you some questions...
"Of course, I’m poor, so the only thing I can offer for trade that you True Gods might be interested in is probably this item."
After finishing his words, Shiayar took out the skull of the King of Giants from his Spatial Pocket.
It was once a supreme Sacred Relic of the Lord of Ashes, only to be voraciously drained by Silver when she advanced to a Legendary Species. It had also completed a descent ritual afterwards, helping Shiayar open a channel to the Echo of History. By now, the power within the skull of the King of Giants was nearly depleted, and Shiayar was uncertain of its remaining trade value.
Having done all this, Shiayar sat quietly on the bed, waiting.
The tiny mercury snake examined the skull of the King of Giants before it.
After a long while, it gently flicked its delicate forked tongue and, hissing, spoke again in that ancient language:
"A skull of a Demigod, a pinnacle Fabled Creature, that was later transformed into a Sacred Relic by the Lord of Ashes...
"Even though the Power of Faith and Divinity within it are almost exhausted, it still holds some referential value.
"Tell me, what do you want to know."
Shiayar thought for a moment. "I want to know the current status of my Golden Elf Instructor after the divine war of the First Era...
"I’ve asked the Sage’s Chalice about this, but it was created at the end of the First Era and couldn’t know about events prior to that."
The words of Shiayar caused the tiny mercury snake to be slightly taken aback.
It widened its amber-colored serpent eyes. "You’re talking about... the Sage’s Chalice, and a Golden Elf?"
Shiayar nodded. "Yes, I have subjugated the Knowledge Holy Chalice for my own use.
"And Hathaway Zerkin, the Black Tower’s ’1st Page Eternity,’ is my instructor.
"Without my teacher’s help, I could never have come this far."
He touched his fingertip lightly, displaying a trace of Hathaway’s essence.
This was a question that had long occupied Shiayar. He used to think that his Master was just fond of traveling, wandering through planar cracks and the Dimensional Void, not returning to the Main Material Plane for decades. But ever since he called upon his Master for help in the Echo of History of Escarnia a thousand years ago, Shiayar had noticed something was wrong. His Golden Elf Instructor’s constant wandering in the Astral Realm wasn’t because she was playful; rather, it seemed more like a form of rule-level exile. Subsequently, when Shiayar ascended to Legendary status in the Garden of Eden, his spiritual power was perfected and transformed into a spiritual ocean, allowing him to perceive his own soul and mind from a higher dimension. He then re-examined his memories, further affirming his judgment. The Golden Elf Sorceress who took him as her only disciple outside the main tower of the Black Tower when he was young was actually not her true form. Instead, it was more like some sort of projection or illusion, which the young Shiayar could not see through at the time. In other words, perhaps for one Era, perhaps three Eras, the true body of the Golden Elf girl had been drifting in the depths of the Dimensional Void. Only when the barrier between the Astral Realm and the Main Material Plane thinned could she briefly interfere with the material world. For three full Eras—counted in thousands, tens of thousands of years—in the blackness and nothingness, for the briefest of moments, she could feel the light of the human world. However, whenever Shiayar asked Hathaway about it, the Golden Elf girl would skillfully avoid the topic, unwilling to discuss it with him.
Listening to Shiayar’s sincere account, the Mercury Serpent gazed at him, somewhat stunned, its amber serpent eyes slowly constricting into nothing.
"That one... the only disciple of the Golden Elf.
"And that annoying counterfeit cup even recognizes you as its master."
At this moment, It finally had a faint premonition. Why had fate, which It had relied on so heavily and which had never once failed, led It to be reborn before this black-haired, black-eyed youth this time? Fate could not be wrong. All gifts of fate had their prices secretly marked.
"I agree to the trade.
"However, I have no need for the skull of that King of Giants."
The Mercury Serpent looked at Shiayar intently. "As a bargaining chip for the trade, I want to establish a contract with you."
"A contract?"
Shiayar raised an eyebrow. "I have no interest in selling my soul."
In the supernatural world, there were always those blinded by gain who chose to make pacts with demons and Evil Gods of the Abyss for various reasons. And their endings were often quite tragic. For example, Viscount Lori, the previous owner of the ’Thorns of Sin’ club, had made an equal contract with a demon from the Abyss. Then, as one might expect, the demon tricked him, and in a game of roulette with Shiayar, he successfully had his head blown open.
The Mercury Serpent’s eyes burned with intensity.
"No, not an equal contract, but a master-servant contract of the highest binding force.
"You shall be Master, and I shall be Servant."
Hearing this, Shiayar’s gaze became profound.
Master-servant contract.