Contract Failure

The resting place chosen by humans before was a small hill nearby, with a large wasteland in front. Now the rock is cracked, the ground is full of rubble, and it has been cut down by several layers.

In the aftermath of the shock, the wasteland substrate was split, cracked, and displaced, like a spider web torn apart under a street sweeper's mop.

In the distance, countless tentacles fell from the sky, landing on the earth in a chaotic and disorderly manner.

There was no time to pray. With it as the center, a black mist surged like a sea wave, and mica swayed by. The people on the tentacles looked around, searching for the figure of the escapee.

All the monsters that saw him immediately fled in panic. If they failed to dodge in time, they would be captured and devoured by the passing tentacles and become food for SSS-level monsters.

During the feeding process, the wounds on Mica's body healed at an extremely slow speed. He stretched out his body to his heart's content, as if covering the sky with a transparent lid. His huge figure was hard to imagine. His tentacles swayed across the ground, carefully distinguishing the identity of his prey.

When the tentacles found a red scorpion lying on the monster's back, they paused for a moment, then killed the monster without hesitation. The red scorpion hissed angrily amid the splash of blood, then quickly slithered away.

When it was found again, Yunmu immediately killed the monster beside it as usual. The Red Scorpion was furious about this, perhaps because the Red Scorpion came from the [Queen of Insects]. Yunmu did not kill it, but instead had several tentacles chasing it, looking for traces of humans.

The red scorpion half deliberately and half lured the humans away with its tentacles. The real hiding place of humans was actually a little safer.

It's fun to explode, but it ends in a funeral procession.

Mason realized this deeply and paid a heavy price for it.

If the vest's health bar could be quantified, then the words above his head would probably read [HP: 10/1000].

This fight with the opponent was more tiring than the fight with [Insect Queen] and [Green Mist Tree] combined. Yunmu was a monster of the same type as Oreus, with countless souls hidden in its tentacles. It collided with Oreus in a sea of ​​blood, but in the end, the monster that had been wreaking havoc for many years prevailed, and gradually exhausted the power of the vest.

Mason had been keeping an eye on the condition of the vest, and when he had a chance to control it, he immediately returned. As soon as he entered, he found that Oleus was in a very bad condition. The ring radiated warmth, accelerating the healing of the wound.

After he ran away, Yunmu really caught up with him. Fortunately, the monster master seemed to be not interested in the chase, and only sent his most capable pet to look for him. The red-haired young man rationally deduced the gap between the enemy and us, and finally had to give up the head-on strategy.

Let's not talk about whether he can win now. Even if he successfully controls Yunmu with the [Holy Arms], the blood consumed can directly turn Oleus into a human corpse. There is also a monster lord next to him who didn't make a move, and he strangled his only remaining luck.

When the scene cuts to the profiteer, he confirms it with the profiteer's blessing. Nidhogg was a creature born by the profiteer's hands. Unlike the creatures in the black mist, the profiteer can revive it. After learning this information, Mason decided to escape.

Without him, the Monster Lord had no reason to attack the Bone Dragon. He just hoped that the other party would leave an intact body when he returned. Mason prayed silently in his heart. This was related to the question of how much money he had to pay!

No other monster would dare to go to the place where the Monster Lord just went. Once he has dealt with these troubles, he will go back to pick up Nidhogg!

The red-haired young man hid in a forest, his mind wandering uncontrollably. He used the black bushes to hide his body. The sequelae of excessive blood loss soon appeared, making his head dizzy.

Fortunately, he had more than one brain to think, so he simply adjusted his mental input and reduced his body perception by two degrees. After struggling for a while, he quickly completed his idea.

The original vest split window is similar to the split screen of the game, and several windows are operated together. Mason's mental power is the CPU that processes the program. After processing, he reduced the thinking ability of Oreius's brain to the minimum, and directly used mental power to issue orders and command the body to complete them.

For example, Oreius is now a detection robot. What he sees and feels will be transmitted back to Mason's body, which will use the latter's brain to think, edit new instructions and input them into the vest, which will then execute them.

Although there are many consequences of doing this, the vest is almost dead, so the most important thing is to persevere.

Thanks to Ron for the gift of the ring, this contaminant is now Orelius's life-saving artifact. The dirty whispers echoed in his ears, causing blood to appear in the red-haired young man's eyes.

As long as the curse is not triggered, this little problem will be left alone. The human narrowed his eyes and observed the tentacles flying through the gaps. There were not many in front of this forest, only two. But he had seen a monster accidentally trigger its attack before, and was dismembered by other tentacles in just a few seconds.

Mason analyzed the information and then compiled it into commands and input them into the vest's brain. The red-haired young man took a few steps back silently and crouched down to hide deeper into the woods. The forest was not large and would be searched soon. He needed a safer way to escape.

What should I do? Oreus can't escape underground like Flynn, so his ability doesn't work in this regard. If you try to control Mica, you will be discovered immediately and become prey before that. As for controlling other monsters...

After witnessing a passing red-striped python being brutally torn apart by a few tentacles because of the markings on its body, Mason no longer had any other thoughts. The Lord of Monsters had obviously killed him without leaving any survivors?

He can't stay here for too long, but how can he run away?

Mason listened to the roar of the monster outside the woods and recalled the map he had memorized earlier, and his heart was moved.

Will this work?

There is no other way, just give it a try.

......

The appearance of Mica is not only bad news for humans, but also a devastating disaster for monsters.

Unlike other SSS-level monsters, Yunmu, as the mount of the Monster Lord, does not have a fixed territory. He always accompanies the Monster Lord and eats wherever he goes, even if it is the territory of several other SSS-level monsters.

The [Insect Queen] once hated him, and he ate many of the insects under the Queen. But even so, he still did not dare to raise any objections to the Monster Lord.

The monster tribes living nearby soon discovered the anomaly. This is a prosperous group of [Frost Apostles]. They look like giant sandworms, with a bone shell covering their heads. They burn with cold blue flames, and their breath can freeze enemies. They are huge, several people tall, and can be said to be a well-known group in the vicinity.

These monsters have the same habits as the sandworms, and they like to live in groups. The leader sensed the change in the atmosphere, and fear and anxiety flooded into every hole of the monsters. It immediately called on the group to leave. They must escape to a safe place before the powerful monsters attack.

The Frost Apostles gathered quickly and rushed out of their habitat under the leadership of their leader. As a result, the ground arched up with traces of loose soil, and transparent tentacles fell from the sky, with human faces looking down at them, their empty eyes revealing endless evil and pain.

The tentacles randomly dug up the soil, rolled up a few frost apostles and devoured them. The remaining monsters huddled together in fear, and their tightly packed bodies prevented the tentacles from going deeper.

Not only the Frost Apostles, but more monsters gathered in the wasteland, vigilantly observing the movements in the sky while rushing towards the safe area.

Yunmu watched these monsters, occasionally picking a few to feast on. The monsters gathered into a huge torrent, trying their best to escape from its control.

Thanks to the cover of the land, the Frost Apostle rushed to the front of the team.

One of the Frost Apostles suddenly began to roll in pain, its cylindrical body slamming desperately against the ground. Its abdomen exploded from the inside, and a wet human crawled out.

Gastric juice and blood flowed down the human's cheeks and hair, making a mess. He wiped his face vigorously and finally breathed in fresh air.

First, he sent himself to the mouth of the Frost Apostle as bait, letting the opponent eat him to avoid Mica's investigation, and then escaped from the worm's belly after the opponent escaped from the dangerous area, thus completing this theft.

The leader turned around and looked at the suddenly appearing human in confusion, not understanding how the other person had gotten in.

The huge sandworms twisted into a ball, instinctively wanting to attack each other. The red-haired young man didn't want to continue the stalemate with them, so he quickly left.

The consciousness sank and contacted the subconscious souls. Mason was surprised to find that this contact was much easier than before. For the first time, he truly felt the emotions of the souls.

Tired, worried, anxious...

Luo's will stood in the depths of his subconscious, his cloak fluttering with the passing stream of consciousness. He gazed at the consciousness that appeared before him, conveying an equal and generous will.

The Roland Ag family had been blessed by their ancestors since the God's Blessing Era. After the Black Mist mutated, their talents and abilities changed further, and eventually the consciousness of [Luo] was born. He reflects the true intentions of all the members of the Luo family. After returning to the past and writing his own story on the leaves of the World Tree, he was finally completely accepted by [Luo]'s will.

It was not due to the manipulation of blood, nor was it due to the disguise and lies that had been going on. At this moment, Luo's will truly accepted him.

A faint warmth flashed through the human heart, and then quickly calmed down. Mason followed the link to find Dan's whereabouts and considered whether to go find them.

With his current state, Oreius would definitely not be able to escape the pursuit, but going to find them rashly might bring danger to the team. Mason weighed the pros and cons in his mind, and suddenly a bright red flashed before his eyes. Looking closely, the red scorpion fell on his shoulder and rubbed his cheek pitifully.

The red-haired young man was slightly stunned, and sensed a bit of...apology from the other party's actions?

……apology?

When he realized this, applause came from the front.

“Snap, snap, snap.”

“It was a great show.”

The red-haired young man stopped and stared ahead with an unpleasant expression. There stood a person who shouldn't be there.

Black mist lingered around the corners of His clothes, forming a floating ribbon in the air. His blurred face was buried in the darkness, and only his light gaze could be felt. The jellyfish monster that was originally left behind seemed to sense the presence of the Lord of Monsters and slowly moved towards their location.

The red-haired young man looked at him, his body covered with wounds, but his dark golden eyes were still unruly. Like a lone wolf with nowhere to go in the wilderness, he still raised his head high and bared his bloody fangs in front of the hunter's gun.

The Monster Lord smiled with some approval. It seemed that no matter what the other party did, he could not escape his control. He was always high above and always watching indifferently. This attitude made people feel extremely powerless.

The red-haired youth stared at him warily, and the Monster Lord raised his hand. The former's head buzzed, and blood flowed from his nose.

The extremely high temperature ignited the wooden furniture behind me, and the flames rose to the sky. At this time, the heat wave was the lightest sin and punishment.

The sleeping World Tree seemed to sense the threat and began to shake strangely. The rustling of leaves was heard faintly, and the Monster Lord sighed and put his hand down again.

"What's the point of resisting? We will all become one in the end."

"......"

Although he didn't know the situation, the World Tree had clearly suppressed the Monster Lord, and the other party would not attack him easily.

The young man stared at the other person closely, wiping the blood from his nose. He took a step back, and then another step back, taking the opportunity to distance himself from Him.

The monster master stood there motionless. It seemed that he had no intention of taking action himself. With this good opportunity, the red-haired young man quickly fled far away.

"Go ahead.

Looking at the figure of the human running away, the Monster Lord spoke softly, and Yunmu followed closely behind him. This time, he will never allow the other party to escape again!

The huge body seemed slow, but in fact it was extremely fast. The red-haired young man's physical condition was getting worse and worse, and his eyes were shaking.

We can't fall down here, we can't surrender here!

The SSS-class monsters laughed at the humanity's arrogance, and gravel seized the moment of trance and fell like hail in an astonishing amount: if the sky was a baking sieve, then the stones, tentacles, and obstructive mist were the powder under the sieve.

Yunmu quickly locked onto the opponent's escape route. The tentacles extended, and with a rustling sound, they struck the red-haired young man's back.

“Buzz——”

Oleus looked up in surprise, and a low-level insectoid blocked the attack for him. Mica's tentacles pierced through the hard shell, and the insectoid splattered blood and fell to the ground powerlessly.

Before the monster attacked again, more insects flew towards him, forming a shield above Oreius's head.

Insect corpses fell like rain, and a familiar voice came from not far away: "What are you doing? Run!"

"Ricks—!?"

The man appeared at the end of his sight and waved vigorously at Oleus. The red-haired young man was startled and followed him subconsciously.

Mica moved towards them immediately, but a swarm of insects rushed forward to block his movement. Rex seized the few seconds and took Oleus back the way they came.

The red-haired young man asked incredulously, "Why are you here?"

"I have the heart of a worm."

The man grabbed him and started to run away without distraction. Hearing his words, the red scorpion transformed by the [Queen of Insects] silently climbed onto Oreius's shoulder and gently wagged its tail as if to ask for credit.

The Insect Heart is the Queen's heart, and the Red Scorpion is the Queen's body left here. The two have the same aura. When Rex sensed the danger of the other party, he immediately handed the team over to someone he trusted, and led the rest of the insect army to rush over.

The reason is simple, just to help his good brother and give him a beating when he is down!

Rex looked at the huge creature above his head with a lingering fear, and said with a smack of his tongue: "I thought the Queen of Insects was about to die, so I came to help, but I didn't expect that you had provoked a new monster."

"This is the mount of the Monster Lord, Mica, which is also an SSS-level monster. We can't hold them back for long with these insect people. Let's go."

"Don't underestimate the [Insect Heart], it is the heart of the [Insect Queen] after all."

Rex squeezed his eyes at him, and a wave of obscure waves came out from the man's body, spreading in all directions. The shells of the killed insects shattered, and new insects crawled out of them and joined the army in an instant.

The red scorpion could not help but become a little restless, staring at Rex. It was not until the red-haired young man patted it that the red scorpion reluctantly calmed down.

"The [Insect Heart] can control the insect people and give them powerful blessings. This is why it is the treasure of the Insect City."

He was very familiar with the route here, and took Oleus to escape to a safe area. The insect people rushed to sacrifice themselves, which slowed down Mica's pace for a moment, and the other side finally set off a storm in anger.

The hurricane picked up the insects scattered on the ground and sent them into its mouth. Its countless sharp teeth ground them into crumbs and swallowed them into its stomach like a vent.

From the perspective of the Monster Lord, Yunmu is still a child. But for the enemy, the anger of a child can be a natural disaster. Despair and wailing are like bombs that explode, crushing the nerves of the people around them. Panic and helplessness flow from the insect people's nostrils and eye sockets, like fine wine flowing from a tap, blood and fear burst out together. They struggle between the orders of the Insect Heart and the road to death, cowardly lying on the ground.

At the critical moment, Ricks grabbed the red-haired young man's hand and shouted to somewhere: "Flynn!"

The ground beneath their feet collapsed, swallowing the two men in one gulp. Flynn, who was hiding underground, saw the two men's condition and was surprised and said, "Orelius, how did you get so badly injured?"

"Let's go first!"

Flynn nodded and used his blood vessels to move them away. Beside his companion, the red-haired young man could no longer hold on and passed out.

.......

Partington City, in the deserted central building.

A faint light flashed, and the wound on the black-robed merchant's chest healed quickly, and he opened his eyes again.

When I pretended to be dead, I heard a lot of information, walked out, opened the door, and saw Bai lying on the ground.

The white-haired boy stared at the door stubbornly, his pupils dilated and his body cold. He fell in a pool of blood, his face full of hatred and anger.

After learning from the contract that his master was dead, Bai immediately went mad and attacked the culprit without hesitation. However, he was not strong enough to compete with the chairman of the council, and died helplessly with anger.

The profiteer looked at his face quietly. Fortunately, it was not too late. Bai's soul was in his hands, and there was a chance of resurrection. The wealth in the treasury burned quickly, Bai's wounds healed, and he slowly opened his eyes.

He subconsciously wanted to attack the person in front of him, but when he sensed the nearby aura, he stopped abruptly and said in surprise, "Master!"

The profiteer nodded slightly: "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I hope you're fine, Master."

Bai An calmed down and followed the other party faithfully. The dark mist poured into the building from all directions, filled with a heavy sense of oppression.

The profiteer walked towards the door, and the further he went, the thicker the black fog became.

When they stepped out of the central building, a tragic scene of human suffering suddenly appeared before their eyes.

Blood was splattered in the streets, human and monster remains were intertwined, and twisted monsters could be seen wandering on the streets from time to time.

A strange bird with a woman's face screamed and flew through the sky. A man with many arms and legs crawled on the ground, occasionally sticking out his long tongue to lick the blood on the ground. His protruding eyeballs rolled around, looking for his desired prey. Occasionally, a few wailing and crying sounds came with the wind. I'm afraid someone had met with an accident.

The air was filled with a strong smell of blood. The illusory door above my head was wide open, and sticky black mist flowed out.

The black mist spread and lingered around everyone. Even those who were of the evolved bloodline gradually retreated due to exhaustion.

An indescribable deathly aura filled the entire city, and despair and silence enveloped everyone like snow. The black-robed merchant watched the scene in silence, the paint on his pale mask flowing and slowly stagnating on the smudged red.

He still remembered the surprise and anticipation he felt when he first came to Partinton. The city walls were made of snow-white stones and were spotless. In the moat, there were artificial mermaid statues that sang melodiously all day long. This city was truly a city of miracles, and it was enough to appear in everyone's dreams as a symbol of beauty.

The glorious and prosperous Partinton is now covered with the shadow of death. As the capital of mankind, many people once lived here.

The black-robed merchant stared at the scene and sighed softly after a while.

“This is not the way this city should end up,” he said.

With a ding, the sound of coins falling to the ground was heard. Virtual links stretched out in all directions, densely covering the entire city.

A deep voice echoed in everyone's ears, repeating the same question.

"Are you willing to pay the price to end this disaster?"

Violet, who was covered in wounds, raised her head suddenly. When she heard the familiar voice, a happy smile appeared on her face: "I do!"

Arnold, who was applying medicine on his arm, tilted his head and said to himself, "This is a worthwhile deal."

Xue Liya, with sporadic ice crystals growing on her body, looked into the void and nodded vigorously: "Okay."

"Please save my sister. I'm willing to give everything!"

"This must be a nightmare, I don't believe it... Please. Whatever it takes, please let me wake up."

"......"

More and more voices gathered together, responding to the requirements of the contract with extremely pious prayers.

They were willing to pay the price in exchange for Partington's restoration to normal. The sound of treasures falling to the ground continued, and the wills of the people of Partington gathered into a black scroll, which took shape bit by bit in the air.

It started without any wind. As the prayers were poured in, simple golden words slowly appeared on the pure white paper. When the last word was about to be written, the scroll shook slightly.

A long crack spread from the top to the top, splitting the scroll in half. With this as the center, fine marks spread out. With a cracking sound, the scroll disappeared silently.

Why is there no response?

What just happened?

Everyone looked up blankly, staring at the place where the scroll was originally. The hope that had just appeared in their hearts was gone in an instant, and Bai looked at the profiteer beside him consciously, who was also staring at the sky silently.

The contract failed.

In Partington, someone rejected his contract.