Chapter 419: Following

Chapter 419: Following

"Your Highness Rain, I'm willing to tell you the purpose of our visit to this sanctuary." Aida seemed concerned that Rain might take immediate action, and hurriedly spoke up.

"Additionally, I'm willing to serve you, but I have only one request—please release my sister."

"Sister?" Alida's beautiful eyes widened in disbelief as she looked at her older sister, seemingly unable to believe what she was hearing.

"Oh? You want me to be your master?" Rain's hand paused upon hearing these words, and he began to ponder.

But soon, a question came to his mind.

Rain pointed to the sky and said, "The being you two worship from the Viper Sect, can it really recognize me as its master? Won't it immediately be affected by the backlash of its vow upon initiation?"

"Your Highness Rain, in most cases, it is as you say."

"However, this place is different. This is the Dragon Valley Sanctuary, and the divine power of the Devouring Serpent cannot influence this place." Aida spoke without hesitation.

"Oh?" Rain's eyes lit up upon hearing Aida mention the Devouring Serpent without any reservation, and he looked at the two women intently.

Undeniably, Aida's words had piqued Rain's interest.

It wasn't because of Aida's charming appearance and graceful figure, but because he noticed the genuine emotion in her eyes when she looked at her sister.

Rain also had a sister, so he could empathize with Aida's feelings at this moment.

Rain couldn't help but recall the times when he and his sister Mint had supported each other in the town of Flashing Gold.

Additionally, there was something else that moved him—he indeed lacked a legendary-level follower in his command.

He didn't even have a near-legendary-level follower.

His only follower, Vieri, was merely a Great Knight who hadn't mastered advanced mystic arts, and he was still in Munster, holding the position of a Swordsmaster with various restrictions.

If he could truly gain Aida's loyalty, it would indeed help him solve many issues.

Seeing Rain's interested expression, Aida continued, "Your Highness Rain, although I will lose the mighty favor of the Devouring Serpent after pledging my loyalty to you, and won't be able to use some special abilities, greatly weakening my strength..."

"But rest assured, at that time, I will still have the strength of a late-stage legendary, and should be able to assist you in some matters."

"Sister, I disagree!" Alida, having recovered from her shock, spoke up, her eyes reddening. She shouted,

At this moment, the scene before her made Alida recall a time about ten years ago when she and her sister Aida were wandering, and her sister had protected her from the wind and rain with her frail body.

Back then, neither of them had joined the Viper Sect; they were just ordinary people, often ridiculed and humiliated by the other children in the small town.

Unexpectedly, the same situation was repeating itself.

"Sister, don't be willful."

"Listen to me." Aida, fearing that Rain might get angry, hesitated and gently caressed her sister's head with one hand while covering her abdomen with the other, managing a smile.

"Sister, if I can protect you once. Your Highness Rain, no, Lord Rain, since childhood, my sister has always protected me. I hope this time I can protect her."

"I'm willing to become your follower and pledge my loyalty to you. I only ask that you release my sister." Alida's eyes reddened as she looked at Rain.

After a moment of thought, Rain shook his head and said, "If I release your sister, how can I be sure she won't come after me?"

"With such deep affection between you, do you think your sister won't come looking for you?"

Although he was deeply moved, considering the consequences of releasing one of them,

Rain's question left the two women unable to answer for a moment.

To say otherwise would be self-deception.

For a moment, the scene fell silent.

"Alright, it's about time." Rain looked at the two women and said.

"No! Your Highness Rain, then let both of us become your followers. Can you agree to that?" Alida's expression turned solemn, as if she had made up her mind, and said.

At this moment, she looked at Aida intently and said, "Sister, I don't want you to die here."

"This..." Aida hesitated slightly, but after a while, she nodded, seemingly agreeing to her sister's proposal.

"Oh? Are you sure about this?" Rain raised his eyebrows, asking.

This was quite unexpected for him.

If that was the case, it was something he could consider.

First and foremost, having two late-stage legendary followers was undoubtedly a good thing, but there were two issues to address.

Point one is to ensure loyalty, which can be achieved through the Follower Contract.

Coincidentally, he had just found two Follower Contracts in Barnes' backpack, possibly intended for Reagan and Bronson. Additionally, he himself carried a contract scroll obtained from his mentor, Mogaro.

With that, the first point was addressed.

The second point involved anticipating the potential reaction from the Viper Sect.

After some thought, Rain felt he had nothing to fear.

After all, those he had already offended were long-standing enemies, such as the Sea God Sect and the Sea Goddess Hela! Other unoffended cults would eventually bear a grudge due to his identity and actions as a Swordsmaster.

Since that was the case, why worry so much?

"Alright, let's sign the Follower Contract then!" Rain nodded and smiled.

This caused the two women to glance at each other and breathe a sigh of relief.

Alida's hand tightly grasped her sister Aida's, seemingly offering comfort.

Rain then opened the two scrolls, which emitted a faint arcane energy, and after reading them, he used his mental power to make some edits with a quill pen before handing them to the sisters, saying, "Take a look, and if there are no issues, infuse them with your mental power and sign with your true names."

"Okay." The two sisters took the scrolls, reviewed them, and then, without hesitation, infused them with their mental power and signed their true names.

After reading the contracts, the sisters' eyes lit up with surprise.

The Aida Sisters had never imagined that the Follower Contract before them would be so lenient.

Moreover, Rain had proactively added a tenth clause, setting a time limit for the contract.

It was worth noting that most Follower Contracts were eternal, only ending upon the death of either the master or the follower.

Some even required followers to remain loyal to the master's descendants after their death.

"Sir Rain, no, Lord Rain, is it true that the contract you wrote has a ten-year time limit?" Alida, the younger sister, couldn't help but ask.

"Of course!" Rain smiled and nodded.

"Thank you, Lord Rain. My sister and I have no objections," Alida said, unable to hide her gratitude.

She and her sister, Aida, had reluctantly joined the Viper Sect.

Even just now, when she offered to become Rain's follower, it was to prevent her sister (or herself) from dying here.

Unexpectedly, the signed Follower Contract had a time limit, meaning they could regain their freedom one day! This changed their perception of Rain, and instead of resentment, their eyes now held a hint of gratitude.

As the sisters signed the contracts, a strong arcane light suddenly emanated from the scrolls. For a moment, the Aida sisters were stunned, as if a strand of their souls had been extracted as a witness.

At that moment, a ten-meter-tall double-headed giant snake shadow appeared above the sisters, its enormous serpentine eyes first fixed on the two of them, and then shifted their attention to Rain.

Instantly, an indescribable terrifying pressure descended upon Rain.

"Oh no, it's the divine power left within our bodies," they exclaimed.

"Because of the Follower Contract, we're deemed as betrayers, triggering the divine power within us!" Aida's face paled as she spoke.

Hearing Aida's words, Rain nodded, indicating his understanding.

He had initially suspected that this might be a staged act.

But now it seemed that wasn't the case.

The double-headed giant snake was likely a manifestation of the Devouring Serpent's divine power that remained within the sisters.

Therefore, while the giant snake's aura was intimidating, its actual combat power should be less than that of a divine projection.

Rain was quite confident in this assessment.

(End of Chapter)After all, he was no longer a novice when it came to such matters.

A single test would reveal all!

"Metal Transformation!"

"Cutting Net!"

"Sharpening!"

"Witchcraft Killer Move: Multi-Cut Net!"

As Rain raised his hand, three tightly arranged dark metal nets appeared out of thin air, flashing with silver light, and rushed towards the giant two-headed serpent in mid-air!

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

The giant serpent's illusion emitted a painful cry!

The entire illusion dimmed.

The following battle was without suspense.

After Rain defeated the giant serpent's illusion, a vast and overwhelming aura spread out. At this moment, the system prompt suddenly sounded:

【Ding! Detected a small amount of unknown high-quality energy that can enhance mental strength crystallization. Absorb? (Note: System absorption can remove impurities.)】

"Hmm?"

"This..." Rain's eyes lit up as if he had thought of something. Immediately, he silently said, "Yes!"

Instantly, Rain felt the vast power around him suddenly seeped into his body and rushed towards his mind.

In a very short time, he felt the number of crystals in his mind's silver liquid increase at a visible speed.

The increase was even greater than that of the ancient dragon soul potion he had consumed earlier.

A few seconds later, Rain glanced at the system panel:

Mental: 134 (Crystallization 30%)



"It was 17% before, now it's reached 30%, a whole 13% more? The ancient dragon soul potion I consumed earlier also increased by 10%." Rain was delighted.

Unexpectedly, a chance encounter brought unexpected gains.

The follower contract he signed with the Areda Sisters not only granted him their loyalty but also enhanced his strength.

Rain took out several bottles of healing potions from his backpack and handed them to the two sisters to recover.

As he was about to go to rescue Captain Baldwin right away, Rain let the two sisters follow behind him, along with the Hellfire Improved Golem.

He himself added a bit of mental strength, restored his stamina to its peak, and took a step towards his goal.

After Rain left with the two sisters...

Suddenly, a void energy appeared between Barnes and his two companions.

Like a spatial rift, the void energy in the air constantly probed out three clumps of energy.

These energy clumps covered the heads of the three, and from the outside, it seemed as if each of their heads were encased in a transparent jellyfish.

The weakened Barnes and his companions' eyes rolled back, and their bodies trembled uncontrollably.

No one knew how long it had been, but the three of them suddenly turned translucent, as if they had transformed into semi-transparent jelly people. Then, they easily walked out of the hardened tempered gold shells that had trapped them.

Strangely, the hardened tempered gold shells they left behind remained intact.

The three first looked around, and after discovering the trail of the Hellfire Improved Golem, they quickly chased after it.

However, at this moment, their expressions were somewhat wooden, as if devoid of any human emotions.

At the same time...

In the Imperial City of Tamriel.

Dozens of imperial airships hovered around the Falling Star Lake, and a rough glance revealed at least several dozen airships, each with their bronze cannons aimed at a specific spot on the lake's surface.

But these were not the most eye-catching.

The most striking sight was a long and slender adult red dragon among the airships.

And on its back was an imperial guardian, the Red Queen, Menia.

Following Menia's solemn gaze, one could see a massive light curtain beneath the rippling waters of the lake, flashing with intense energy surges and a faintly visible gate-like light curtain.

And corresponding to this light curtain above the water's surface stood a stunning black-robed woman.

Standing in the water was not difficult; anyone who mastered the 'Water Walking' witchcraft, even a third-level witch apprentice could do it.

If it were just standing in the water, it wouldn't be impressive.

But if one looked closely at the black-robed woman, they would see that at this moment, the water around her was faintly tinged with a noticeable blood color.

And the source of this blood color...

Hundreds and thousands of elite guard corpses were floating up and down in the lake, and the blood flowing from these corpses was the reason for the blood-colored water.

Menia, the Red Queen, stared solemnly at the light curtain in the water, her gaze heavy with worry.

The light curtain in the water flashed with intense energy surges and a faintly visible gate-like light curtain.

And corresponding to this light curtain above the water's surface stood a stunning black-robed woman.

Standing in the water was not difficult; anyone who mastered the 'Water Walking' witchcraft, even a third-level witch apprentice could do it.

If it were just standing in the water, it wouldn't be impressive.

But if one looked closely at the black-robed woman, they would see that at this moment, the water around her was faintly tinged with a noticeable blood color.

And the source of this blood color...

Hundreds and thousands of elite guard corpses were floating up and down in the lake, and the blood flowing from these corpses was the reason for the blood-colored water.

Menia, the Red Queen, stared solemnly at the light curtain in the water, her gaze heavy with worry.

The light curtain in the water flashed with intense energy surges and a faintly visible gate-like light curtain.

And corresponding to this light curtain above the water's surface stood a stunning black-robed woman.

Standing in the water was not difficult; anyone who mastered the 'Water Walking' witchcraft, even a third-level witch apprentice could do it.

If it were just standing in the water, it wouldn't be impressive.

But if one looked closely at the black-robed woman, they would see that at this moment, the water around her was faintly tinged with a noticeable blood color.

And the source of this blood color...

Hundreds and thousands of elite guard corpses were floating up and down in the lake, and the blood flowing from these corpses was the reason for the blood-colored water.

Menia, the Red Queen, stared solemnly at the light curtain in the water, her gaze heavy with worry.

(End)

Chapter end