Galaxy's First Ruler

Pain…

Pain…

Even though Aldrich had used Rumok to talk, there was an ethereal heaviness in it. A crushing and coarse sound as if someone was rubbing stones and sand together in a hand. It was unpleasant, and more than anything, it was unbearable.

What kind of pain would come out after a sound like that?

By looking at Shu's face, one could say that he didn't want to know. He had become a statue, which kept shaking because of an earthquake and was just about to disintegrate into pieces. Magical Beasts had always an uncanny ability to perceive danger, especially fatal dangers. Now call it a sixth sense or some hidden Skill, it didn't matter.

The point was, Shu must have felt it, that feeling of impending doom. His six eyes were wide open, and his tails had coiled between his hind legs. He must have known that the being in front of him was not as soft-hearted as that of that blue-eyed girl. And if he didn't get what he wanted, some distorted and self-defined Pain would be given to him by this white-haired man.

The small beast couldn't handle even one sentence of Aldrich and succumbed to the fear caused by the potential future. His two bat-like wings finally moved and wrapped around its body, as if he was holding himself in submission. And the towering neck, in sheer defiance, dropped until Aldrich couldn't even see its eyes.

As soon as this happened, the ice holding Shu down vanished. The ice mirror surrounding Aldrich and covering the entire clearing disappeared, too. Aldrich eyed Shu, who was shivering less from the cold and more in fear and heard El Cid calling out to him.

"My Lord…"

Aldrich adjusted his gaze and looked at his most loyal undead. The Undefeated King had never let Aldrich's expectations down so far. And though this being was just an undead, Aldrich had come to know Pain. A thing which never truly died, like history. It lingered in corners, surviving for eternity.

"… Daddy…"

Crack-Clickkkk-Crackk!!!

Cough!!!

Aldrich coughed out a shower of blood from using the Skill Arise. And though the cuff-link's Mass Illusion had masked the blood drops, it couldn't mask the weird noise that had come out of him.

"MY LORD!!!"

-"No need…"-

El Cid was about to lunge at Aldrich when the surrounding space vibrated in El Cid's head. Only Aldrich knew there was no escape from it, and none could help him. Even if someone were to ease the physical part of this Pain, what to do about the ethereal part?

It was the latter that hurt the most, not the former.

For the first time, a gentle tone came out of Aldrich as he looked at El Cid.

-"El Cid… would you like to meet her?"-

El Cid's entire body trembled as he heard that. Only Aldrich and he knew whom they were talking about. The red beams of light coming out of his helmet dimmed and intensified. It was clear that the undead El Cid was going through a storm of emotions then.

Aldrich didn't entirely know how his Skill Arise worked. All he knew was that whoever was dead could be called out by him into reality given that he had enough data on that dead being. It didn't matter if that being was a Dreamer, Crawler, or a Magical Beast. But he also knew that right now, if one were to enter El Cid's Dungeon anywhere on the Galaxy, they would encounter another image of El Cid.

Countless El Cids existed simultaneously in the Galaxy, sharing the same emotions, but only one of them was out of the Dungeons.

The undead El Cid didn't take long to come out of his stupor. Aldrich's undead weren't zombies or mindless idiots, they were almost the same image of their previous selves. The only thing that differed was the inexhaustible sense of loyalty towards Aldrich, which only someone like the Devil Aldrich could find a way around.

El Cid kneeled again, but Aldrich could feel a hint of deeper emotion bubbling in the undead's heart. A reverential tone came out of El Cid, and it was full of expectation.

"… Yes, my Lord."

-"Very well."-

These two words were enough. There was no need to explain how and when Aldrich would make it happen. But if he had said it, almost none could stop him from doing so.

Suddenly, a bright flash came out from afar, lighting up everything around Aldrich. It was as if the sun had come up for a second. But it soon disappeared as strangely as it had disappeared.

As Aldrich calculated the point of origin of this flash, he commanded El Cid.

-"Don't let him die."-

El Cid nodded and stood up, hearing these words. He took a step towards the darkness, and his hands went to the two greatswords at his waist. The ferocity was the same, but the Prince of Valencia's back seemed straighter than before.

Shuuuu!

Aldrich saw El Cid disappearing and brought his attention to the cowering beast under him. By now Aldrich had confirmed that the magical beasts didn't have any Stats unlike the Crawlers in Dungeons. These magical beasts had Mana, the quality and attribute of which differed with their race, and this Mana kept increasing with age.

It almost felt to Aldrich that Magical Beasts grew stronger and leveled up without the need of RECORD. They didn't need to hoard Skill Points, Rank up, or go on raids into the Dungeons. Their entire way of life, and even their existence, could be summed up in one word…

'… Cultivation?!'

Aldrich didn't know what he was dealing with until he got to do extensive research or got to read all the data on them. But for now, he was fascinated by this mysterious beast. Especially after seeing the notification that had been flashing in front of him for some time.

[…

A Magical Beast has agreed to form a contract with you…

Terms of Contract:

1. Contractor may decline a Summon if so wished

2. Contractee (You) will need to provide the Contractor with necessities

3. Contractor may end the contract anytime (except in a fight)

4. Contractor will need to give notice to Contractee (at least the length of one Random-Allocation) before terminating the contract

5. Upon the death of the Contractor, his future generation will not be subjected to this contract

Rewards:

1. Skill Summon (Rank isn't applicable)

2. Contractor will not have the right to refuse commands from the Contractee once summoned

3. Contractor will perish on the spot at the first sign of betrayal

4. If asked, the Contractor will have to sacrifice himself on the battlefield

Do you agree with the terms?

…]

"…"

Aldrich gazed at this contract and then he looked at the beast, who had yet to look up.

'Hmm… why is the contract a little different from the standard one?!'

There was not one but many things that puzzled Aldrich about this contract.

First, and foremost, it lacked the point of any proof of worthiness. It was innate to all the contracts between a magical beast and Dreamer that the Dreamer must prove his worthiness. Otherwise, there was no need for self-pity in Meuric's heart. It could be said that almost all this game of contract revolved around that point.

Then there was the fifth point within the terms of the contract that had caught Aldrich's attention. He had never heard of such a condition stating the magical beast's future generation exclusively within the contract. This statement was irrelevant and stood out like a thorn to Aldrich. He was having a hunch that this was less of a condition and more of a warning.

And Aldrich's hunches rarely lacked any substance.

But there was no immediate or at least open threat about this point, nor Aldrich could think of one. He knew that this contract had nothing to do with the magical beast, as it was the RECORD who had made the changes with it. Even if he didn't like how the RECORD behaved sometimes, Aldrich didn't have to worry about it being impartial at least.

All this could be put to the back of his mind, but Aldrich couldn't take his eyes off the fourth Reward mentioned in the contract.

'If asked, Shu will have to sacrifice himself… If asked…'

Aldrich repeated the first two words many times in his mind. He wasn't a normal Dreamer, to begin with. Aldrich was a scholar and master of manipulations. At one glance, he could tell that this "If asked" was RECORD's way of putting clues in Aldrich's subconsciousness.

'It is more like RECORD wants me to let Shu sacrifice himself…'

Aldrich narrowed his eyes as this theory formed in his mind. It wasn't the first time that he had found a loophole in RECORD's unseen actions. He had already found one before when he had realized that RECORD didn't want the Bosses of the Dungeons to die. And he had confirmed that theory of his through El Cid in the answer of WILL.

Aldrich wanted to have authority over Shu. Even though he wouldn't get to know about his ability, as the magical beasts lacked Stats even after getting contracted, he wanted to know its origins. He wanted to know why Shu was so special, and why Shu could make his Perception zero.

And more than anything else, he wanted to know why Sha was so attached to this beast?

Sigh!

Aldrich thought thousands of times before letting out a sigh and saying out loud.

"Yes."

Ripp!!!

Just as the corner of his lips ripped open, something happened that made Aldrich's eyes almost pop out. Words materialized over Shu out of nowhere, and their color wasn't the usual bluish-green but muddy yellow.

[…

Record of "Abomination No. 9"

…

…

1. From now on (-") and ("-) will be used to show that Aldrich is talking through Rumok using Hell Resonance