"Let's make a deal."
"A deal?" Her brow arched in confusion.
"Just like you said—I'm not connected to those who locked you up here. But my backer is way more powerful than them . If you give me a strong ability, we'll help you break out of this place."
I half expected her to sneer and call me out on my bullshit, but instead, she burst into laughter.
"I'm not joking. You can test it—hit me with the strongest attack you've got." I raised both hands, open and ready.
This was a gamble. I was counting on the system to shield me against her attack again.
"You're asking for it, mortal. I'll destroy that avatar of yours and your soul at the same time."
Her eyes glowed intensely, and her blood-red aura burst forth again, spreading upward until the dark clouds above turned crimson.
From that swirling storm, a giant sword materialized, its blade aimed straight at me.
Looking up, I could only swallowed hard, and hoped that I was right, because there was no way I could block an attack that could destroy a city.
"ANNIHILATE!"
The sword slammed down, its sheer weight igniting flames that scorched the air.
"FUCK!" I cursed, feeling the searing heat race through my entire body.
BOOOOM!
Flames erupted on impact, engulfing the entire arena in an inferno.
But to her surprise, I was still on my feet, protected by a blue barrier.
My gamble had paid off, and I knew I had to ride this momentum.
"See? Like I said, my backer's powerful. So how about you give me a chance to save you?"
She clicked her tongue in annoyance, but I could tell she was weighing her options.
"Your backer? What's its name?"
Good. I got her attention.
Now all I needed was an awesome-sounding name for my imaginary backer.
"Deuz Machina."
"Deuz… Machina?" Her words trailed off, "Never heard of it."
"It's only normal—my backer's both secretive and powerful. But you've seen its power, haven't you?"
"I did. But that doesn't explain why you need me—if you already have a backer, why not just ask it for a blessing?"
Her question made sense. Luckily, I anticipated it and got an answer ready.
"Because of this world's… let's just call them 'rules,' I can't show my true power. If I do, the wrong eyes will catch on. That's why I need you to bless me with an ability that won't set off any alarms."
All of it was pure nonsense I pieced together from reading way too many novels—but it sounded pretty convincing to me.
From her long paused, I figured she bought at least part of it.
She tapped her armrest repeatedly while sizing me up.
"Very well, let's make a deal, " she raised her hand and a paper made of skin materialized in front of me .
It was covered in symbols I couldn't make sense of, but the system translated them for me.
The gist was, she would let me pick any power I wanted from among all her servants.
The catch? If I didn't rescue her within ten years of my lifespan… I would die.
A classic high-risk, high-reward gamble. Logic said to walk away, but with the system backing me, ten years seemed more than enough time to become unrivaled.
What mattered now was getting my hands on a power I would never be able to touch under normal circumstances.
"I can sign this because I'm confident I can rescue you in under a decade. So, how about you tell me which one of your servants is the strongest?"
She let out a deep sigh. "You're too greedy, you know that? One day it's going to bite you back."
"Don't be too hard on me—I'm just trying to figure this out so I can get you out faster."
Eventually, she accepted.
"The top three are the Azure Flame Emperor, the Shadow Emperor, and the Lightning Emperor." She gestured toward three banners hanging in the distance, each marked with a distinct insignia.
"Can you tell me how their powers work?"
This time, she shook her head. "Just picked one,"
I didn't push her further.
Lightning was the safest bet… but damn, the Shadow Emperor just sounded too cool to pass up.
Anything with dark themes was instantly awesome in my eyes. That was why, back when I played MMORPGs, my gear was always gold and black.
"I'll take the Shadow Emperor,"
Right on cue, the prison door creaked open, and a black mist spilled out, spreading across the ground.
Then it stepped out—a figure completely wrapped in shadows, like the darkness itself was holding onto him.
Only its eyes has colors, glowing a shade of purple.
SWOOOSH!
It vanished, reappearing behind me by slipping through my own shadow. Too late—I didn't even have time to turn my head before its dagger hovered inches from my neck.
But just as it was about to hit, the figure shattered into fragments, and in its place, a single purple gem floated in the air.
"Take it," she ordered.
"You just killed your servant that easily?" I asked, still stunned by how casually she brushed it off.
"Only their bodies remain, not their consciousness so it doesn't matter,"
Her words were devoid of any sympathy, but I could still catch a flicker of sadness in her eyes.
It wasn't my place to dig into her past so I ignored it.
I took a deep breath and reached out to grab the floating gem.
DING!
[External Power Detected]
[Synchronizing Power with Host's Soul]