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Chapter 419: Following
Chapter 419: Following
"Lord Rayen, I'm willing to tell you the purpose of our visit to the Mystic Realm," Aida spoke hastily, seemingly worried that Rayen might strike first without hesitation. "Additionally, I'm willing to pledge my loyalty to you, but I have one request—please release my sister."
"Sister?" Ailia's beautiful eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at her older sister, Aida, seemingly unable to believe what she was hearing.
"Oh? You want to pledge your loyalty to me?" Rayen's hand paused mid-action as he heard these words, and he began to contemplate.
But then, a question crossed his mind.
Rayen pointed to the sky and said, "You two worship the Twin Serpent Cult's deity, and you want to pledge loyalty to me? Won't you be immediately affected by the backlash of your oath to the Cult?"
"Lord Rayen, what you say is generally true," Aida replied without hesitation.
"However, this place is different. We're in the Dragon Valley Secret Realm, and the power of the Devouring Serpent cannot influence this place." Aida spoke frankly.
"Oh?" Rayen's eyes lit up as he heard Aida mention the Devouring Serpent without any hesitation. He looked intently at the two sisters.
Undeniably, Aida's words had piqued Rayen's interest.
It wasn't just that Aida was charming with a graceful figure, but Rayen noticed the genuine emotion in her eyes as she looked at her sister.
Rayen, who also had a sister, could deeply empathize with Aida's feelings at that moment.
It reminded him of the times he and his sister, Mint, had supported each other in Flashing Gold Town.
Another factor that moved him was the fact that he indeed lacked a Legendary-level follower.
He didn't even have a Near-Legendary follower.
His only follower, Vieri, was merely a Grand Knight who hadn't mastered Advanced Esoteric Techniques, and he was in Minter, limited by his identity as a Swordbearer.
If he could gain Aida's loyalty, it would indeed help him solve many problems.
Noticing Rayen's interest, Aida quickly continued, "Lord Rayen, although I will lose the mighty blessing of the Devouring Serpent after pledging my loyalty to you, and won't be able to use some of my abilities, my strength will still be considerable."
"But rest assured, by then, I will still have Late Legendary-level strength, and I can help you with some tasks."
"Sister, I disagree!" Ailia, having recovered from her shock, spoke up, her eyes welling with tears.
At that moment, Ailia couldn't help but recall the times from about a decade ago when she and her sister, Aida, were wandering together. Aida had sheltered her from the wind and rain, protecting her with her frail body.
Back then, neither of them had joined the Twin Serpent Cult, and they were often mocked and humiliated by the other children in the town.
Unexpectedly, a similar scene unfolded once again.
"Sister, don't be stubborn," Aida said, her hand gently caressing Ailia's head, her other hand covering her abdomen. "Listen to me."
"Lord Rayen, if this is the case, then let's switch places! Since I was young, it's always been my sister protecting me. This time, I want to protect her."
"I'm willing to become your follower and pledge my loyalty to you, but I beg you to let my sister go," Ailia pleaded, her eyes glistening as she looked at Rayen.
Rayen contemplated for a moment and replied, "If I let your sister go, how can I be sure she won't cause trouble for me?"
"With such deep affection between you, do you think your sister won't come after you?"
Although his heart was deeply touched, considering the consequences of releasing one of them,
Rayen's question left the two sisters speechless for a moment.
To say otherwise would be self-deception.
For a moment, silence filled the air.
"Alright, time's running out," Rayen said, looking at the two sisters.
"No! Lord Rayen, let us both become your followers. Can you agree to that?" Ailia's expression turned solemn, as if she had made up her mind.
At this moment, she looked at Aida with determination and said, "Sister, I don't want you to die here."
"This..." Aida hesitated for a moment, but after a while, she nodded, seemingly agreeing to her sister's proposal.
"Oh? Are you sure about this?" Rayen raised an eyebrow, intrigued.
This was quite unexpected.
If that was the case, the matter could be considered.
First, it was clear that having two Late Legendary-level followers would be beneficial, but two issues needed to be addressed.
The first was how to ensure their loyalty.
This aspect would rely on Follower Contracts.
As it turned out, he had just come across two such contracts in Barnes' belongings, presumably intended for Reagan and Bronson. He also had one on his person, a Follower Contract scroll obtained from his mentor, Mogaro.
With that, the first issue was resolved.
The second concern was the potential reaction from the Twin Serpent Cult.
Upon reflection, Ren felt fearless. After all, he had already made powerful enemies, such as the Sea God Cult and the Goddess of the Abyss, Hela! Any cult that he hadn't offended yet would eventually become his enemy due to his identity and actions as a Swordbearer.
Since it had come to this, why worry so much? "Alright, let's sign the Follower Contract then!" Ren nodded, a smile on his face.
The two women exchanged glances, heaving a deep sigh of relief.
The younger sister, Ailia, tightly squeezed her older sister Aida's hand, offering comfort.
Ren then opened the two scrolls, which emanated sorcery fluctuations, and made some mental edits with his mana-infused quill before handing them to the sisters, saying, "Take a look, and if there are no issues, infuse your mental power and sign with your true names."
"Mm-hmm," the sisters replied, carefully reading through each clause.
The main contents of the contract were as follows:
"1. Followers must swear absolute loyalty and shall not betray their master under any circumstances.
2. Followers shall unconditionally obey their master's reasonable commands and actively carry out assigned tasks or cooperate in combat.
5. The master has the obligation to provide opportunities for the follower's growth, including but not limited to guidance in cultivation, combat technique instruction, and the provision of various precious sorceries, extraordinary combat techniques, potions, and other resources.
9. Followers shall strive to improve their strength to better serve their master.
10. The total duration of the follower contract is ten years. Upon expiration, followers may leave at any time if they so choose."
After reading the contract, the sisters' eyes lit up with excitement.
Aida and Aili couldn't believe how lenient the contract was.
Moreover, Ren had proactively added a tenth clause, setting a time limit for the contract.
It was common knowledge that most follower contracts were eternal, ending only upon the death of the master or the follower. Some even required followers to remain loyal to the master's descendants after their passing.
"Lord Ren, or should I say, Lord Ren, is the ten-year contract period you mentioned in the contract true?" Aili, the younger sister, couldn't contain her curiosity and asked.
"Of course!" Ren smiled and nodded.
"Thank you, Lord Ren. My sister and I have no objections," Aili said, unable to hide her excitement.
She and her sister, Aida, had reluctantly joined the Twin Serpent Cult.
Even their recent offer to become Ren's followers was motivated by their desire to prevent the other's death.
Unexpectedly, the contract they signed had a time limit, offering them the chance to regain their freedom one day.
This realization changed the sisters' gaze towards Ren, replacing resentment with gratitude.
As the sisters signed the contract, the scroll suddenly emitted a powerful sorcery light, and for a moment, Aida and Aili seemed to be in a daze, as if a strand of their souls had been extracted as a witness.
At that moment, a powerful energy burst forth from the sisters' bodies, and a giant, ten-meter-tall, two-headed serpent shadow appeared above them. The serpent's large eyes first fixed on the sisters, and then its attention shifted to Ren.
Instantly, a terrifying pressure enveloped Ren, overwhelming him.
"Not good, this is the remaining Divine Favor within our bodies."
The uncensored version is available at 69 Book Bar! 6=9+Book_Bar for the first release of this novel.
"Because of the follower contract, we're considered traitors, triggering the Divine Favor within us!" Aida's face paled as she spoke.
Hearing Aida's words, Ren nodded slightly, indicating his understanding.
He had initially suspected that this might be a staged act.
But now, it seemed that wasn't the case.
The two-headed serpent shadow was likely a manifestation of the Devouring Serpent's power that remained within the sisters' bodies.
While the serpent's aura was intimidating, its actual combat strength was probably weaker than that of a divine projection.
In regards to this judgment, Ren still had a good grasp of the situation.
After all, he was no longer a novice who had never encountered deities.
As for his combat prowess, one test would reveal all!
"Metal Transformation!"
"Cutting Net!"
"Sharpness!"
"Sorcery Technique: Multiple Cutting Nets!"
Ren lifted his hand, and three tightly arranged dark metal nets seemed to appear out of thin air, flashing with intense silver light, and rushed towards the giant two-headed snake in mid-air!
"Ssss! Ssss! Ssss!"
The giant snake's illusion immediately let out a painful hiss, and the entire illusion dimmed.
The subsequent battle was now without suspense.
After Ren defeated the illusion of the two-headed giant snake, a vast aura dispersed, and at this moment, the system prompt suddenly sounded:
【Ding! Detected a small amount of high-quality energy that can enhance Mana Crystallization. Absorb? (Note: System absorption can eliminate impurities.)】
"Hmm?"
"This..." Ren's eyes lit up as if he had thought of something, and he silently said "Yes" in his heart.
Instantly, Ren felt the vast power around him suddenly seep into his body and rush straight to his mind.
In a very short time, he felt the number of crystals in the silver liquid in his mind increase at a visible speed.
The extent of the increase was even greater than that of the ancient Dragon Soul Elixir he had taken before.
After a few seconds, Ren glanced at the system panel:
Mana: 134 (Crystallization 30%)
"It was 17% before, and now it's reached 30%, a whole 13% more? The Dragon Soul Elixir increased it by 10%." Ren was exceptionally delighted in his heart.
Unexpectedly, he had unintentionally stumbled upon a great opportunity.
When he signed the Follower Contract with the Aida Sisters, he had also inadvertently signed for a strength increase.
Ren took out several bottles of healing potions from his bag and handed them to the two women to help them recover.
Since they had to rush to rescue Captain Baldwin immediately, Ren let the two women ride on the Hellfire Enhanced Golems, which followed behind them.
As for himself, he added a bit of Mana and restored his stamina to its peak, then headed towards the target location ahead of them.
After Ren left with the two women...
Suddenly, a Void Energy appeared abruptly between Barnes and the other two.
The Void Energy, which kept spinning in the air like a spatial rift, strangely extended three clumps of energy towards the three.
As the energy clusters covered their heads, it looked as if each of their heads had a transparent jellyfish-like object on them.
The weak Barnes and the other two had their eyes rolled back, and their whole bodies started shaking.
No one knew how long it had been, but the three of them suddenly turned translucent, like semi-transparent jelly people. Then, they easily walked out of the hardened Mithril shells that had trapped them.
Strangely, the three hardened Mithril shells left behind were still intact.
The three first looked around, and after spotting the trail of the Hellfire Enhanced Golems, they quickly chased after them.
However, at this moment, their expressions were somewhat wooden, as if devoid of any human emotions.
Additionally, if Ren were present, he would immediately notice that as the three ran, their strength and agility seemed to have increased significantly, but there was always an indescribable sense of disharmony.
At the same time, in the capital of Tamriel, by the shores of Falling Star Lake...
Above the lake, imperial airships were seen in all directions, and at a glance, there were at least dozens of airships, all aiming their cannons at a certain spot on the lake's surface.
But these were not the most eye-catching.
The most striking sight was a slender adult Red Dragon in the midst of the densely packed airships.
And on its back was a red-clad woman, the Imperial Guardian with the title of 'Red Queen', Menya.
Following Menya's solemn gaze, one could see a huge wave of energy fluctuations within a large energy barrier, and a faintly visible door-shaped energy barrier in the shimmering waters of Falling Star Lake.
Above the energy barrier, a stunningly beautiful woman in a black robe stood silently.
Standing on the water was not a difficult feat, as long as one mastered the 'Water Walking' sorcery, even a third-level wizard apprentice could achieve it.
If it were just standing on the water, it wouldn't be impressive.
But if one looked closely at the black-robed woman, they would notice that the water around her was tinged with a distinct crimson hue.
As for the source of the crimson hue...
Hundreds and thousands of elite guard corpses were seen floating up and down in the lake!
(End of Chapter)
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