"This is the first benefit."
Rin saw that Carrion had barely recovered. He put away the galaxy resting in his palm and continued to signal Frey.
"Afterwards, you will become one of Rin-sama's dependents, just like me."
To be honest, bestowing names upon monsters was ultimately for the benefit of the country and its citizens.
What truly impacted them on a personal level wasn't much.
In contrast, becoming one of Rin's dependents was what Frey considered the greatest opportunity.
"Dependent?"
Carrion was a bit confused. "What is that?"
"Whoosh!"
Before he could ask further, a contract had already unfurled before Carrion.
"You can read it first. If there's anything you don't understand or are dissatisfied with, you can tell me."
"Don't worry, I treat my subordinates well, so you don't have to be afraid that I'll be displeased by what you say."
Rin was serious when he said this.
Subduing subordinates was like hiring employees.
It was completely reasonable for employees to want benefits.
The only person Rin had ever exploited in this life was Rimuru.
So he could confidently say that, besides Rimuru, no one had the right to hang him on a lamppost.
"Oh, okay. Alright."
Carrion was a bit flattered but still carefully began examining the dependent contract.
Soon, he finished reading the contents.
How to put it?
It wasn't too harsh.
On the contrary, the clauses were less about restriction and more about screening.
Yes, a screening.
Like shared values.
Look at the content.
Don't betray Rin, don't kill each other, and so on.
Most of it was just basic behavioral principles.
If someone could even question these, then Carrion felt that such a person was undoubtedly an ungrateful wretch.
"I have no questions."
"I even feel that these conditions are nothing at all."
Carrion spoke frankly, which made Rin look at him with more respect.
"Is that so?"
"Ah. Since I'm joining, I naturally cannot betray."
Carrion said, "As a subject, one must naturally uphold the interests of the country and not betray comrades."
"In my view, if one can't even abide by this, that's a betrayal of the path of loyalty and righteousness!"
"Mm."
Rin nodded. "Then, sign it."
This was the benefit of shared values. Rin didn't need to explain much at all.
Thus, the dependent transformation began.
"This power..."
Carrion did not resist. Since he had decided to join, he wouldn't hesitate.
However, the effect of the dependent transformation far exceeded Carrion's expectations.
The rapidly surging magicules and the fundamental transformation of his body all confirmed the truth behind Frey's so-called benefits.
No, compared to Frey's few words, Carrion's current experience was even more direct.
"What an incredible, mighty power!"
As the dependent transformation ended, Carrion felt like a new being.
He clenched his fists. A terrifying power surged within his body, as if one punch could level the entire palace.
As a martial artist, Carrion's strength had been cultivated step by step.
Therefore, even with this explosive growth in power, he could still control it perfectly.
Carrion looked at Frey, and confirmed she hadn't lied to him.
Joining Rin's command not only gave the Beast Kingdom a strong enough backer, but also granted him power he could never have imagined.
"Does just this make you happy, Carrion?"
Rin rested his cheek against his fist, gazing down at Carrion.
"Hm?"
Carrion was startled. "What do you mean?"
He had now become Rin's subordinate.
Through the subordinate contract, he could sense Rin's personality and emotions, and had already gained a basic understanding of what kind of person this new boss of his was.
Their relationship had become much closer, no longer as cautious as before.
"You've been a Demon Lord for 500 years, haven't you?"
"Over these years, you must've accumulated quite a number of souls."
"Give them to me."
Rin said, "I won't return any excess, and I'll make up for any deficit."
"You mean?!"
"Yes."
Rin nodded. "I will perform the awakening ritual for you, provided that the souls you possess are worth my effort."
"You... You can even do something like that?!"
Carrion was incredibly excited. Without hesitation, he immediately transmitted all the souls he had accumulated over 500 years to Rin through the soul corridor.
"That's quite a lot."
Rin was a bit surprised. Carrion's soul reserves were even greater than he had expected.
For a Demon Lord to awaken, approximately 1 million impure souls are required.
If using pure souls, only about 10,000 are needed.
Yes, the difference really is that drastic—100:1.
After Justeaze awakened as a Demon Lord, her King of Hope could extract 100,000 pure souls from 1 million impure ones.
In other words, the souls that could enable a Demon Lord to awaken, in Rin's hands, had ten times the purchasing power.
The impure souls Carrion had accumulated over the years amounted to approximately 200,000.
After purification and refinement, Rin obtained two awakening slots.
'Not only is this not a loss, it's a profit.'
Don't think 200,000 impure souls is a small amount.
After all, Carrion couldn't obtain souls from every person he killed.
To collect this many over 500 years was already extremely difficult.
On average, it meant Carrion had to personally kill 10,000 lives per year.
As mentioned before, the Beast Kingdom of Eurazania is a country that advocates peace.
Moreover, sandwiched between the City of the Forgotten Dragon and the Puppet Nation of Jistav, Carrion's only means of harvesting souls was through conflict with Demon Lord Clayman.
There was no way Carrion would attack his own citizens.
Wantonly slaughtering for power, let alone collecting souls, could even corrupt one's own soul.
At that point, even if the awakening ritual was successfully initiated, it would still end in failure.
The best example is Clayman from the original story.
He failed to awaken. Not only did he fail to obtain an Ultimate Skill, he couldn't even break through 1 million magicules.
In the end, this was because he slaughtered slaves within his own country to collect souls, resulting in a curse upon his own soul.
"Get ready, Carrion."
Rin bestowed the 10,000 purified souls upon Carrion, helping him initiate the Demon Lord awakening ritual. "Don't disappoint me."
"Boom!!!"
As Rin's words fell, Carrion once again erupted with incredibly terrifying magic power.
His magicules surged.
The Voice of the World in his ears declared his challenge toward the domain of Demon Lords and Ultimate Skills.
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)