Ember Dragon
Chapter 599: The Hell Contract
Chapter 599: The Hell Contract
"The devils subordinate to the Bael faction should be forced to sign a contract with specific citizens of the Empire, granting the contracted party the power of hell."
It was this clause in the "Alliance Treaty between the Empire and the Devil Bael Faction" that allowed the devils to keenly capture the loophole.
This clause seemed to require Bael to give up his hellish power to provide strength to the Empire’s citizens, but in reality, the leeway was too large.
Whether it was a human oversight or not, the "contract" written here did not have any special requirements or annotations, leaving it completely open for the devils to manipulate.
According to the usual devil contracts, the price to be paid by the party receiving the hellish power is their soul.
The soul of an elite warrior from the Ember Empire is a valuable asset to Bael. As for dragons, they usually care more about material and physical things than souls, and very few dragons would concern themselves with where their kin’s souls end up.
The more Empire citizens who signed contracts with devils, the more souls Bael would collect.
Thinking of this, Bael’s mouth slightly curled upward, and a barely perceptible smile appeared on his fair, deceitful face.
After all, these country bumpkins from the material plane didn’t understand the true essence of a contract like devils did. When Bael took the souls of Empire citizens, the Empire, which had already signed the contract, wouldn’t be able to go back on it.
But agreeing too readily would raise suspicion, so Bael carefully reviewed it several times and spoke again.
Bael pointed to the papers filled with text, pretending to pull out a pair of glasses, pushing them up the bridge of his nose.
"Your Majesty Cassius, based on my thousands of years of experience, some of the terms in the contract still need to be negotiated. Take a look at Articles 76, 121, and 134."
However, the red dragon did not respond, only nodding at Langpu, and the ogre quickly pulled out a communicator.
Immediately, dozens of players in suits and carrying briefcases appeared neatly in the palace, coming on strong, clearly prepared for this.
The player walking at the front, with sparse hair and dark circles under his eyes, stepped forward and, with a polite smile, extended his right hand to the devil that most ordinary people would avoid.
"Greetings, Mr. Bael, I am Yun Danfengqing, the Empire’s specially appointed legal advisor. It is a great honor to discuss with you."
"This..."
Even the devil who had lived for thousands of years and had seen much was momentarily stunned, and the expression on his face became somewhat stiff.
After several rounds of discussion, the palace remained exceptionally noisy, with players pulling out various documents and arguing their cases, while Cassius finally began to feel a bit irritated.
"Enough."
Cassius impatiently said, "I’ve already told you, before you become the Lord of Avernus, the Empire is the leader in this cooperation. Let’s skip these meaningless debates."
"Lord Bael, you only have two choices: agree or refuse. Any attempt to distort or twist the contract will be meaningless."
Bael sighed and pretended to feel down as he said, "Alright, Your Majesty, since this is your request, I have no choice but to agree. After all, I am just a fallen lord of hell, not qualified to negotiate terms with you."
"Then let’s sign the contract."
Cassius looked down from a height, gazing at the former lord of hell with a scrutinizing look, and spoke in a deep voice.
"Yes, master."
Langpu waved his staff, and the hundreds of pages of the contract were neatly stacked together, with the last page placed on top, bearing the signature of [Cassius Claudious Norrixius].
Bael took the contract and pulled out a black quill pen exuding the scent of hell from his fine robe.
"Then."
The exquisitely crafted [Bael] appeared on the blank space of the contract, written in the fiery language of the inferno.
Immediately, a fundamental, invisible force came from the underworld’s Styx, linking the two parties to the contract—Cassius and Bael—binding their souls, forming an unshakable bond like a natural law.
This is the hellish contract. Any party that violates it will pay an incredibly heavy price, a burden even the great devils cannot bear.
Bael looked up, his deep, pitch-black eyes locking with the red dragon’s from across the distance, and then he politely bowed.
"A pleasant cooperation, Your Majesty Cassius."
"A pleasant cooperation."
Cassius nodded again, his golden vertical pupils gazing into the eyes of the great devil.
Under the red dragon’s gaze, Bael conjured hellfire out of thin air as a cloak, and with the intense flickering of a hexagram magic circle, sparks and ashes surrounded his body—this was merely an avatar of the great devil.
The devil trapped in the goat’s head, Albert, couldn’t help but shout, "Lord Bael, you haven’t taken me yet!"
However, Bael ignored him, not even bothering to respond, and gradually vanished from the material plane.
Langpu calmly added, "Albert, Lord Bael probably won’t do anything for you, and he certainly doesn’t want to interfere with his cooperation with the master."
"So, relax and stay as the Chimera King’s head. Hopefully, you can make him smarter."
The Chimera let out a low growl, leaving the palace with its newly acquired "wisdom," while the devil trapped in the goat’s head hung his head, feeling deep pain in his heart.
Was he doomed to be controlled by this beast from now on?
Cassius, however, ignored the minor incident and lowered his head, quietly watching the fading hexagram magic circle.
After all, he was once the lord of hell. Even if his status had fallen drastically, he was still somewhat difficult to deal with, and merely appearing on the material plane as this avatar had legendary status.
If he were in the opponent’s home turf—Avernus, Cassius feared he might not even be able to defeat this great devil, at least not kill him.
However, gazing at the completely dimmed magic circle, Cassius smiled, his lips curling upward in satisfaction.
Bael, the great devil, understood contracts far better than Cassius, even surpassing a large number of lawyer players who had studied contract law in the real world.
—But Bael did not understand the special group of players who had just emerged in Erezaghe.
Players have no souls.
More accurately, players do not have souls recognized by the world rules of Erezaghe, so in later generations, they were referred to by devils as "soulless."
To put it in a phrase from Earth, these players are "outside the Three Realms, not within the Five Elements."
After years of research, the Empire’s scholars were astonished to discover: the players’ bodies were merely vessels to carry their consciousness, and their consciousness was just some kind of projection from another world.
Even the contract of the Nine Hells Lord, Asmothiels, could not bind the souls of these entities that existed outside the rules.
Therefore, the seemingly flawed clauses in the contract were actually traps prepared by Cassius for the devil, intending to play the con and freely siphon hellish power.
The great devil Bael, who had never understood the player group, fell into the trap. Soon, he would realize that these infernal contracts could not provide even a single soul, only draining his power.
And due to the constraints of the contract, Bael couldn’t forcefully shake off these troublesome "leeches" and could only let them drain hellish power.
By then, even if Bael reclaimed the position of Lord of Avernus, he would not be able to win in the bloodbath using his own strength or defend against the demons’ invasion of hell.
At that time, Cassius would once again seize the initiative, using the players under his command to negotiate with Bael, seize profits, and even occupy a position in Avernus, competing with the Five-Color Dragons who were also trapped there.
"Seems like it’s not far off. Bael, future Lord of Avernus, get ready to enjoy our cooperation."
"By the way, how many players should we send to freely siphon hellish power? How about fifty thousand?"
Cassius scratched his chin with his claws, his vicious smile widening, and his expression becoming even more sinister.
Thus, after a clash between the red dragon and the great devil, with their common enemy being the current Lord of Avernus, Zariel, they began their cooperation.
The "Alliance Treaty between the Empire and the Devil Bael Faction" later became infamous in the records of the kind-hearted factions as the "Evil Alliance."
Gedani Island, a half-plane created by the spellcasters of the Ember Empire after several years of effort, was specifically used to imprison and exile powerful beings from alternate planes.
Due to the Empire’s incomplete technology, the environment here was extremely harsh, with reddish-brown scorched earth, flowing lava, and temperamental scorching winds.
However, for devils, facing this harsh environment felt like returning home.
The only peaceful place in this half-plane was the Empire’s official Gedani Island office, which maintained order due to the Empire’s domain blessing.
Inside the spacious office, captured devils sat upright in their places, looking nervous, and some weaker devils were even trapped in narrow cages.
"This is a terrible place. They’re actually capturing devils!"
"I thought I successfully seduced that damn mortal, but he turned around and reported me?"
"Once I get out, I’ll make these mortals taste pain!"
"Quiet down, do you want to be whipped? The half-dragons guarding here aren’t to be trifled with."
The loud, harsh voices filled the air, as the devils captured here whispered and complained to each other.
In this grand "demon-extermination storm," more than five hundred devils were captured by the special operations team led by Medrolash and were imprisoned on Gedani Island.
"Silence!"
Ogre Langpu stood in the center, holding the Empire’s scepter and tapping it on the ground. His deep voice echoed in the hall.
"Devils, now that you are trapped in Gedani Island’s prison, I just want to ask—do you know what you’ve done wrong?"
"If you can answer this question, I will grant you freedom, in the name of the Empire’s Prime Minister."
Immediately, the devils locked in here began to argue and hurriedly tried to speak, even trying to flatter the ogre.
"Lured mortals to evil and corruption?"
"Tried to steal mortals’ souls?"
"Lord Ogre."
However, Langpu shook his head, tapped the ground with his scepter again, and said with a sharp voice: "Your biggest problem is offending the supreme Lord Cassius!"
"You entered the Empire’s territory without permission, disturbed the social order, and engaged in these illegal transactions!"
Suddenly, a devil realized the flaw in Langpu’s words and cautiously asked: "Does this mean... that soul trading and hell contracts are allowed within the Empire’s borders?"
The ogre’s face immediately softened a little. He nodded meaningfully and answered:
"We are ruled by the great red dragon. There are dozens of races within the Empire, unlike those narrow-minded human nations."
"As long as you pay the full tax to the Empire, abide by the laws, and obey the Empire’s unified arrangements, there’s nothing that can’t be sold, even—"
Langpu paused, speaking word by word: "Souls and lives."
In fact, this is exactly how the Ember Empire operated now. To put it bluntly, the Empire’s prosperity was built on the corpses of the Fadlan people. The war destroyed their homes and brought the Empire endless wealth.
The steel behemoths in the cities constantly belched thick smoke, tirelessly producing weapons and selling them worldwide. Some Empire arms dealers even deliberately started wars in the south to fuel conflict and boost sales of their products.
The Empire’s light industrial goods were no better, cheap textiles and crafts flooding south, bankrupting many small traders and workshops.
Under the dazzling exterior, in the massive shadow of the dragon’s wings, tens of thousands of Empire workers became mere parts of the Empire’s vast machinery.
They lived in cramped pigeonholes, eating tasteless organic paste, enduring harsh conditions, working up to ten hours a day, in a constant cycle of day and night.
Langpu privately told his trusted subordinates: "Only by exploiting the entire world, including the Empire’s people, can the Empire continue to prosper."
In Langpu’s view, everything was fuel for the Empire’s grand blueprint.
Even devils, who seemed utterly wicked in mortal eyes, were seen as nothing more than useful attack dogs by Langpu, the Empire’s Prime Minister.
Soon, the devils locked in cages reached out their hands, showing servile expressions, and began to pledge allegiance to Langpu.
After all, for these lawful evil devils, the so-called face and dignity were disposable, and the Empire’s order seemed to do them no harm.
"Lord Langpu, we are willing to obey the Empire’s management!"
"We’ll even pay taxes!"
"Yes, you are wise and knowledgeable, and you must know that we devils have always been an elegant, orderly race. We accept the Empire’s unified arrangements!"
"Very good."
Langpu looked around, nodded slightly, and a satisfied smile appeared on his ugly face.
Just like that, even devils from hell were incorporated into the Ember Empire’s system, becoming a part of this massive entity.