System Reminder: 650 days remaining until your soul is claimed.
Nightmare Gauge: 67%
SP Total: 160
Moral Alignment Drift: Tilting toward Damnation
Current Objective: Choose to awaken the Corpse Doll or move deeper into the Scar.
Chapter 12 – Pact of the Silent Sin
The Corpse Doll didn't move.
She sat upon the obsidian altar in eerie stillness, her stitched eyelids quivering faintly as if caught in an endless dream. Long white hair draped like a funeral veil, and thin silver cords trailed from her wrists into the fractured crystal at her back. A haunting lullaby hummed from her lips—a song that did not belong to the living.
Tenn backed away instinctively. "Kael… that thing ain't right."
Kael didn't reply. His eyes were locked on the system interface floating above her:
[Dormant Pact Candidate Detected]
❖ Soul Status: Unbound – Unstable Anchor
❖ Sin Signature: Lust (Primary) / Sloth (Secondary)
❖ Caution: Subject was part of a failed Devil Contract. Residual fragments remain.
❖ Decision: [Forge Pact] or [Walk Away]
Kael clenched his fist. The air around the altar shimmered with corrupted aether. He could feel it—power buried in agony.
And yet… she was still humming. Still waiting.
"Even monsters want to be remembered," he murmured.
Choice – Pact Forge
He stepped forward and pressed his hand to the black altar.
System Alert: Initiating Pact Ritual – Type: [False Redemption]
Warning: A portion of your SP and emotional signature will be absorbed.
Continue?
Kael: "Do it."
A ring of red fire circled them, the altar pulsing as runes etched themselves into the ground. The Corpse Doll's mouth opened wider—and from within came a fragmented voice.
"I… was loved once."
"I failed him."
"Will you remember me… if I serve?"
Kael's voice was firm, despite the chill crawling up his spine.
"I won't just remember you. I'll use your sorrow to burn this world."
The flames engulfed them both.
Pact Forged – Entity 'Silent Mirea' Bound
🩸 Pact Type: False Redemption
Sin Bond: Lust/Sloth
Perk: [Dreambind Servant] – Mirea may trap enemies inside dream realms based on their regrets.
Passive: [Sedated Presence] – Enemies within 10 meters lose alertness and critical thinking ability.
Special Ability: [Lucid Execution] – Within a dream realm, Kael may control time, physics, and rewrite causality once per battle.
Contract Clause Engraved:
"You serve with your sorrow. I command with my wrath."
Her stitched eyes fluttered. Her body twitched—then rose. The cords snapped from her back as her feet lightly touched the ground.
"Master…" she whispered, blood tears streaming down her face. "Is my pain… useful now?"
Kael turned away.
"Yes."
Scene – Tenn's Doubt
Tenn stood in stunned silence.
"That wasn't summoning. That was necromantic fusion…"
Kael said nothing. His system chimed:
You have created an unstable hybrid contract. Power increase detected – but beware of backlash if emotional links are severed.
Nightmare Gauge +6% → 73%
Scene – A Rift Opens
With Mirea's awakening, the altar behind her cracked wide open.
Out came a pulsing rift of red and black light—like a wound in space. From within it, Kael saw brief flashes of other worlds:
A warrior clad in golden light, falling from the sky.
A mechanical city wrapped in endless gears.
A child with a system crown on his head, laughing with fangs.
System Notification: Secret Pathway to [Rift of the Forsaken] Unlocked
Danger Level: Unrated
Entry Cost: 50 SP + 10% HP
Reward Potential: Forbidden System Upgrade Fragments
Kael grinned.
"Tenn. You staying or running?"
Tenn scowled, gripping his blade. "Dumb question."
Kael looked to Mirea. "You coming?"
The Corpse Doll nodded, drifting beside him like a ghost in silk.
"Where you go… my nightmares follow."
System Summary – Chapter 12
SP Spent: 50 (Total: 110)
Contract Forged: [False Redemption – Mirea the Silent Sin]
New Pact Ability: [Lucid Execution], [Dreambind Servant]
Nightmare Gauge: 73%
Secret Rift Unlocked: Rift of the Forsaken
Party Members: Kael, Tenn, Mirea
Watcher Alert Level: 1 (Stable)
Days Remaining: 650
End of Chapter 12