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Translator: penny
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Conditions, Promises, and the Price
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Two weeks before Proxy Blood Fate began.
That day, too, Piel was sparring in the Ashen Hand's secret hideout.
Her opponent was a formal knight who usually disguised himself as the manager of a teahouse but in truth shadowed Second Princess Evelyn like a ghost.
At first, he'd inwardly sighed at being sent down as a practice partner for a "slave girl," thinking it beneath his station.
But that attitude lasted only one day.
The next day, the day after that, and the day after that.
Piel crushed "yesterday's self" at a dazzling speed.
As a result, the knight was now crossing blades with her half in earnest.
And the one most surprised, having watched Piel's growth from the closest vantage, was Evelyn herself.
"How in the world... did you do it?"
Lucas blinked.
"Pardon? Do what?"
"Don't play dumb with me! Two weeks, Lucas Argent! Just fourteen days! Awakening mana, even summoning, and mastering combat moves in that short time... how is that even possible?!"
Her voice rose higher, laced with disbelief.
Awakening mana was something that took humans—and even other races—years of effort.
It wasn't an area solvable by talent alone.
Yet Lucas replied with the same nonchalant attitude he'd had while watching Piel's spar from behind.
"Just... a feel for it."
"A feel...?"
"Yeah. You can just tell at a glance. 'Ah, if I push this kid like that, she'll get it.' That kind of vibe."
Evelyn's eyebrow twitched.
What kind of nonsense was this?
Even the legendary heroes of old had taken three months to properly handle mana, according to records—yet Piel's growth mocked those tales.
She acknowledged Piel was a genius.
But the one who had polished that genius into a sparkling gem before her eyes was unmistakably not Piel, but Lucas.
And that made her all the more irritated.
Yet snapping over something like this was pointless.
This man always hid something, feigned ignorance, and glossed over things—just the worst kind of guy.
In the end, Evelyn took a deep breath and changed the subject.
"Fine. Whatever, I'll buy that. So—"
She glanced at Piel's sparring.
"Two weeks until Proxy Blood Fate. She's growing impressively even now... what do you think? Can she win?"
But Evelyn knew the answer the moment she asked.
No, she couldn't.
No matter how monstrously fast Piel grew, Proxy Blood Fate wasn't some playful bout that happened within the Argent Family.
Illegitimate child versus heir.
A real blood feud where neither side could yield.
The card Syl Argent would play was obvious as day.
Argent's Jet-Black Sword, the Black Iron Chain Garin.
Piel was a genius.
But Black Iron Chain was a monster.
Objectively, it was like an egg smashing against a rock.
So she'd hoped.
If it was Lucas, this man, maybe he'd prepared some absurd counter.
But.
"No. She'll probably lose."
"...What?"
The response was utterly deflating.
"If her opponent goes all out, Piel will definitely fall."
Evelyn froze.
How could he say that so calmly? Even she could see Piel squeezing every ounce of effort from her bones.
Yet Lucas's expression remained leisurely as he answered.
And then—
It shifted.
A faint, smirking curl.
"Unless I use my magic."
"Ma...gic?"
With those words, Lucas raised one hand.
Tucked between his fingers was a quill pen, quietly glowing—he didn't know when he'd pulled it out.
In the original story [Vengeful Goddesses], Lucas's mana affinity was never once mentioned.
And for good reason—
The guy got tortured to death one by one by Piel and the other protagonists before he even awakened mana, finally dying from shock after his balls were crushed.
But that didn't mean Lucas Argent's mana affinity was impossible to guess.
There were hints scattered throughout the story.
The Argents were commonly called the "slave family," and from the family head to the official heirs, everyone was born with two affinities.
One was invariably Domination Type.
Whether blood curse or family trait, anyone with Argent blood got Domination Type as standard.
So I probably... as a bastard child, the blood was the same, making it likely I'd inherited that affinity.
And if that was true, as a reader who'd devoured the entire original, I had one surefire way to flip Proxy Blood Fate.
If not?
Then I'd pack bags with Piel and bolt to the Ashen Hand's safehouse after checking my mana.
The result was... a jackpot far beyond my expectations.
The Pact of Death
My mana affinity, Lucas Argent's, was Domination Type.
Pure 100% Domination—stats of 10 poured solely into it out of the five types.
And maybe that's why.
In my past life, I was the sole reader who'd hit #1 views on the latest chapters.
Thanks to that, I'd spent years fantasizing while reading: "What if I could use magic like this in that world?" tinkering with settings.
Those delusions had pre-formed the core of magic: "mana visualization."
The payoff?
I'd barely awakened mana, yet I manifested "that spell" I'd rolled, refined, and twisted in my head for over a decade—straight into reality.
The structure of my unique created magic was simple.
Contract.
Promise.
And price.
But activation required strictly four rules.
1. The contractee must personally recognize the document listing the promise and price.
2. The contractee must read the document fully, understand it, and sign it themselves.
3. Immediately before activation, the contractee must know all rules and conditions. It won't trigger otherwise.
4. The heavier the price, the exponentially greater the promise's effect.
The essence of Domination Type mana is coercion.
But I never designed this magic to "control others."
Rule 3 alone shows it—I have to reveal my full abilities to the target.
In combat, that's suicide.
So the choice was obvious.
Not on the enemy, but on "myself."
The reason for that design was simple.
"Because controlling people isn't my thing."
So even with Domination Type mana in hand, I never used it on others.
The only thing to dominate was always one.
Myself.
And from that philosophy was born Pactum Mortis.
Puck! Puck! Puck!
Krunch! Krunch!
"Raaargh!!"
"Grrraaah!!"
The arena was already a brawl of two monsters.
Argent's Jet-Black Sword.
Black Iron Chain Garin, personally granted the honor of guarding the heir, was now clashing nearly evenly with Piel—a worthless slave on death's door just a month ago.
Every shield-and-fist clash ruptured the air itself.
Piel's small frame skidded across the ground without traction, Garin's black arms snapped—but they charged again.
Raw ferocity to topple each other.
A beastly duel.
And at its center was the contract I'd placed: Pactum Mortis.
The two promises I'd made to Piel.
First, solely during this Proxy Blood Fate: boost her growth speed 100-fold.
Second, bear half of all damage she takes.
The second was whatever, but the first was an insane condition impossible under normal rules.
Yet the matching stakes I'd raised were two as well.
The life of Piel, future hero.
And mine, Lucas Argent—bastard or not, of noble blood.
A contract forged on two lives.
Thus, the Piel before me now was no mere "talented beastkin child."
A monster catching up to Hero Piel ten years from now—in just one month.
That's why she wouldn't fall.
She endured, took hits, countered, adapted—growing by triple digits with every exchange.
This wasn't a fight; it was growth live-streamed.
...Even so, her foe was Argent's Black Iron Chain.
If Garin had willed it, he'd have crushed Piel early on.
But he couldn't.
Or rather, he wasn't allowed.
Because of me.
Garin was fighting Piel while constantly minding me.
Within the Argent Family, I was the "priceless commodity that absolutely must not be harmed."
'Just how much restraint do I need to drop this young beastkin without injuring Young Master Lucas?'
That worry hobbled him throughout.
Chasing two hares at once—and this was the price.
Krraaunch.
"Guh...!"
"Garin's arms..."
"They broke?!"
Garin's both arms snapped first.
Simple reason.
From start to finish, he'd fixated on one mindset: "smash the shield with raw power to fully neutralize."
But that shield wasn't just any creation.
The doubt Second Princess Evelyn had at first.
"But Lucas Argent, Piel has Amplification 7 and Creation 3 affinities, right? So why teach her Creation first instead of her main Amplification? It's only 3."
Valid point.
With Creation 3, you'd normally get a dented knockoff shield at best.
Indeed, her first attempts were just that.
But Piel wasn't an ordinary beastkin—she was hero-born.
And every hero gets, separate from base stats, a congenital blessing: +10 experience solely for their symbolic weapon type.
Piel's symbol: shield.
Thus, her true mana experience was Amplification 7, Creation 13.
A value shattering human limits head-on.
And a shield forged from such couldn't be "smashed with brute force" by Black Iron Chain or anyone.
Therefore—
Krunch!!
"Kuhak?!"
"G-Garin!"
"The Jet-Black Sword... is falling?"
For this arrogant fool who sought not to break the shield and end her, but merely blunt her morale—always looking down on Piel—victory never existed from the start.
This wasn't egg on rock; it was punching a tank's deck.
"...It's over. Sound the horn."
Bwooooooo—!
The arena air tore as the victor was declared.
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