Chapter 7
Rex was unable to overcome the collective madness.
In the end, he decided to form lord-vassal contracts with every test subject, Duke included.
A lord-vassal contract.
Not a temporary contract with a mercenary, but a contract between a lord and his vassal.
The vassal swears loyalty to the lord, and the lord swears respect to the vassal.
The weight of this magical contract was by no means light.
It was like placing each other's hearts on a scale and promising to tear flesh from the heart of whoever broke it.
If the lord abandoned the vassal, the lord would forfeit his lifespan and cultivation realm, and the same applied in reverse.
Because of the weight of this responsibility, lord-vassal contracts had become rare in the modern world, with only verbal contracts being exchanged.
Most vassals needed to be able to stab their lord at any time depending on the circumstances, and lords likewise needed to be able to abandon their vassals at any time.
But Rex entered into this contract with countless test subjects.
This was because of Rex's convictions.
‘Because I said I would take responsibility.’
If he couldn't take responsibility, he wouldn't get involved in the first place. But if he promised to take responsibility, he would do it properly.
He had never envisioned a verbal contract from the beginning. Because he had envisioned a lord-vassal contract, he had rejected them because of the burden it entailed.
Though he could no longer do that.
“I swear eternal loyalty!”
Countless soldiers prostrated themselves before Rex.
After completing contracts numbering in the hundreds, Rex, thoroughly fed up, turned toward Duke.
“That leaves only you, Mr. Duke.”
Duke nodded and knelt before Rex.
For Duke, Rex proposed a somewhat more special contract.
[One of my unique abilities is related to contracts.]
“I shall gladly accept anything.”
[At least listen to the explanation first. It’s called a Covenant···]
Rex began explaining the Covenant like a salesperson explaining insurance.
The Covenant.
A contract with a hero that was slightly weightier and more special than a lord-vassal contract.
Naturally, this was Rex's unique ability to identify people classified as heroes.
According to Rex's explanation, the conditions set by the lord were engraved upon the soul of a hero bound by a Covenant.
In other words, the hero was entrusting all his convictions and future to his lord.
But in exchange, the Covenant allowed the hero to manifest a new special power.
The moment Rex finished his kind explanation, Duke accepted the Covenant without hesitation.
‘It appeared in the original story, too.’
He already knew the Covenant well, and he had been completely on board with the idea anyway, so he had not even the slightest hesitation.
And so, the Covenant between Rex and Duke began.
Rex placed a hand over his chest and closed his eyes.
“Hero Duke. Do you swear to pledge your loyalty to me?”
“I swear it upon my soul.”
Using those words as the incantation, the chains of the Covenant connected the two souls.
With their souls connected by chains, Rex opened the interface.
‘Now I need to add the tags.’
In the game, when a Covenant was enacted, the lord could attach preset conditions to the hero like hashtags.
By attaching these conditions, the system could forbid a hero unit from performing certain actions or tasks, lowering the chance of betrayal or rebellion.
But that didn't mean it was a good idea to pile on conditions indiscriminately.
Not only would a mistake turn the hero into an idiot with more things he couldn't do than things he could, it would also greatly lower the hero's affinity with him.
Besides, forbidden conditions were not necessarily absolute prohibitions.
They were engraved upon the soul so that the hero would feel that he ‘didn't want to do it’; they did not force the hero to be exploited like a pushover.
It was a lesson Rex had learned after relying on conditions as a beginner and meddling with a hero's wife and dog, only to see his country destroyed.
In other words, properly adjusting the Covenant's conditions was itself a lord's competence.
‘But I’m a thirty-thousand-hour veteran!’
A player-wraith who had poured all his sleep and daily life into Hell Online!
Remembering his identity, Rex carefully fine-tuned the conditions attached to Duke.
‘First, I’ll add <No Rebellion> as a basic.’
‘<No Independent Judgment>··· No, adding a condition like that to a one-man-army-type hero would ruin him.’
‘<No Commanding Private Troops>··· Ah··· His Charisma is so high, it would be a waste. Private troops raised by Duke would probably be incredibly capable.’
‘<Promotion Restriction>. No, not this either. He looks like someone I could take all the way to endgame; putting someone like him in a low position would be a terrible waste.’
After weighing one thing after another, there were few conditions Rex could attach to Duke.
In the end, all that remained were the broad and ineffective tags <Swear Loyalty>, <No Rebellion>, and <No Betrayal>.
===========
[Covenant Effect Summary]------<
<Swear Loyalty>, <No Rebellion>, <No Betrayal>
[Total] ------<
Rebellion Chance: -5%
Betrayal Chance: -3%
===========
This was a flimsy Covenant on the level of setting out a bowl of water and praying to the gods of heaven and earth not to be betrayed or rebelled against.
‘This is worrying···’
But Rex decided to proceed as things stood.
He chose to trust the humanity of the man named Duke.
‘Reality isn’t a game.’
When he pressed the confirmation button, the soul chains vanished with a clear, beautiful ‘Ching!’
They had not disappeared; they had simply become invisible.
As a result of forming the Covenant, Duke's status screen was updated as well.
Rex could now inspect the stats Duke had been concealing.
With a trembling heart, Rex examined Duke's information.
‘All right, let’s bring out the star player.’
===========
Name: Duke I. Urwick (<>)
Age: 247
Race: Human
Level: 99
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.
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[Disposition]------(NEW!)
- <Loyalty (Inactive)> -> <Loyalty S>
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.
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[Karma]------(NEW!)
: +390
==================
Rex rejoiced the moment he confirmed Duke's abilities.
The newly updated entries on Duke's status window glowed gold, welcoming Rex.
‘Oh, his Karma is +390!? How many good deeds has he done?’
Karma was this world's system of cause and effect.
According to the laws of heaven, it decreased and became negative the more evil deeds one committed, while good deeds increased it into positive values.
In the game system, it existed to prevent players from exploiting their domains or carrying out massacres in conquered territories.
And it was a law that applied to this world as well, since it shared the game's system.
Of course, a high Karma score didn't cause lightning to strike out of a clear sky or bring down divine punishment directly, but···
‘The lower the score, the more the world screws you over.’
A poor harvest might strike the domain one ruled, a swarm of locusts might descend, or the failure rate for upgrading certain equipment or conducting research might increase.
Not only that, rebellions might occur frequently, or a supply route might happen to be discovered by the enemy.
‘When Karma even becomes negative, it encourages those with higher scores to hunt those with lower scores.’
When both Karma scores were positive, it did not encourage hunting.
If someone with +200 killed someone with +100, the first person's Karma score would decrease, for example.
But if both scores were negative, killing someone with -200 while having -100 Karma would count as a good deed and raise the killer's score.
In other words, it was a system that encouraged a dog with a bit of dirt on it to hunt a dog covered in filth.
Because of this system, if someone accumulated too many evil deeds, an overwhelmingly stronger opponent might suddenly challenge them in order to accumulate good deeds.
‘People in this world ignore Karma, but···’
The Karma system itself was widely known among the people of this world.
It was even covered in academy lectures.
The notion that one could suppress the retribution Karma would bring with an even more overwhelming rate of growth had simply persisted from before the Imperial era.
The moment one set foot on the path of the superhuman, the lifespan one had forcibly extended by slowing aging would begin catching up with them.
Because of that, superhumans sought efficient means of advancing their realms as though pressed for time, and as a result, they willingly accepted the Karma incurred by evil deeds in order to advance.
In other words, by this world's standards, Karma was not a measure for accumulating merit, but a measure for avoiding ‘useless and inefficient evil deeds.’
‘But it matters to me.’
Even during his academy days, while every other student ignored Karma and made strategic plans, Rex had been different.
Rex didn't want to suppress the disasters that would come with levels, nor did he want to become a barbarian before then.
To him, Duke's Karma score was extraordinarily welcome.
‘If his good deeds are this great···’
The great fortune that would come to Rex for hiring Duke would be enormous as well.
The success rates for facility upgrades, equipment upgrades, and research would increase dramatically, and the odds of meeting good people would rise too.
With +390, merely erecting a statue of Duke would guarantee a bumper harvest for the city's primary industries.
‘And just look at his trust score.’
========
[Trust Score]-------(NEW!)
Loyalty: 140/100
Order Disobedience: ???
Betrayal: -250%
Rebellion: -370%
========
His loyalty had broken through its limit, while his rebellion and betrayal probabilities had fallen so low that one had to worry about an underflow.
In short, Duke was practically a cheat hero for easy mode.
‘Good thing I hired hi···’
Then, strange letters began to appear before Rex's eyes.
He had been so distracted by the trust scores glowing gold as though they had encountered a bug that he had failed to notice the other figures until now.
===========
Name: Duke I. Urwick (<>)
Age: 247
Race: Human
Level: 99
[Combat Stats] ------<
Intelligence: 94
Technique: 98
Mind: 109
Martial Power: 101
===========
“Huh???”
Rex was so shocked that he ended up voicing his surprise.
First, the stats.
Several of them had exceeded 100.
Those were values that were normally impossible to reach by ordinary means.
At least he could understand why Mind had exceeded 100.
‘Madness···!’
But compared to the title directly below it, stats exceeding 100 were merely ‘trivial.’
============
[Titles] ------<
<13 Heaven-Defying Stars - Great Sage of the Shaking Heavens, King of Serpent Stars (天震大星 蛇星王)>
<Usurper of Dragons (El Usurpador de los Dragones)>
<Citadel Predator>
<Dragon-Mountain Blood River (龍山血河)>
<Nightmare Wandering Through Hell (Incubus Tartari Errans)>
<Conqueror of the Twelve Labors (Triumphator Duodecim Laborum)>
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===========
'13 Heaven-Defying Stars???’
When he saw those words, Rex recalled what he had heard during an academy history lecture.
Thousands of years ago, the great conqueror Yalalt Khan conquered the continents of the world, and an empire was built upon his footsteps.
Thus arose the Hexion Empire, which ruled four-tenths of the world.
That great empire had fallen a hundred years ago.
No one had expected that great power to be destroyed by just thirteen monsters, without soldiers or armies.
The title bestowed upon them was the 13 Heaven-Defying Stars.
Twelve of them became lords, and there was one—and only one—who died···
‘Why is that man here????’
Rex's heart began pounding violently.
He had realized that Duke wasn't merely a mad hero driven by a sense of justice, but a sealed nuclear missile.
Only then did Rex notice the (<>) button that had appeared beside Duke's name.
Swallowing hard, Rex pressed the button with a trembling hand.
Fwap.
With the sound of a page turning, another page unfolded.
======
Name: Ophir
======
‘Fuck, it’s real. Ophir, the Earth-Devouring Serpent.’
The most heinous traitor who had destroyed the empire had become Rex's first vassal.
‘Oh, God···’
Rex's vision went dark.
Rebelling once was hard enough; would rebelling twice really be any harder?
‘I’ve become Lü Bu’s second father···’
That wasn't the only problem.
The fact that he was Ophir alone was enough to darken Rex's outlook, but the titles below were ominous as well.
Rex corrected his misconception about Duke.
He wasn't a knight who was about to become the Demon King, but a knight who had retired from being the Demon King.
Rex's finger moved toward canceling the contract in fear.
If he canceled it right now, he would lose lifespan and realm, but he thought that would still be better than letting things grow worse later.
That was when it happened.
An announcement chime that Rex couldn't ignore, but desperately wanted to, rang in his ears.
<The hero skill granted by the Covenant has manifested!>
When a hero bound by a Covenant meets certain level and condition requirements, they awaken a unique skill.
The problem was the timing.
‘Why now? I haven’t even done anything???’
Regardless, a clear and lively announcement rang out.
<The Loyalty and Madness dispositions have merged!>
<Congratulations! You have manifested the EX skill Rex Carnifex!>
Rex Carnifex?
It was a skill he had never heard of.
Rex checked the skill's contents with trembling hands.
And he couldn't help but think this in response to the announcement chime.
‘Don’t congratulate me, fucker.’
****
Immediately after forming the Covenant.
Duke nodded in satisfaction as the power of the Covenant seeped into his soul and body.
‘At last···!’
How long had he waited for this moment?
In truth, he had spent less than a hundred years acting as the wandering knight Duke.
Before that, he had assumed countless identities and monopolized every fortuitous encounter.
During that time, he had risked his life and run himself ragged as though attempting a life-or-death time attack.
By this world's standards, where people went crazy over fortuitous encounters, he had been called a madman for using every means and method without restraint.
All the while, he had also needed to think hard and manage his Karma score.
He had carefully avoided touching the fortuitous encounters intended for the characters in the novel, devoured every fortuitous encounter from the game, and refrained from disturbing the original story's flow.
There had been many battlefields where he wanted to run wild, but he had restrained himself as much as possible for fear of the butterfly effect.
Fortunately, he had discovered that the empire was an ancient nation whose records had been erased by the 12 Heaven-Defying Stars in the novel, so during the empire's fall, he had inserted himself among the 12 Heaven-Defying Stars under the identity of Ophir and blown off some steam.
'That was at least fun.’
Afterward, he changed identities and lived quietly for a hundred years.
Since then, he had occasionally served as a vigilante under the identity of the wandering knight Duke, but even when he wanted to go to major battlefields, he couldn't.
‘Not anymore!’
There was no need to worry about the butterfly effect anymore, and he had already eaten his fill of fortuitous encounters.
That meant all that remained was for him to run wild··· to shine as the final boss.
‘I’m free!!’
It would not be an exaggeration to say that he had devoted his entire life to this moment.
Was this how someone felt after sinking all the assets they had prepared for two hundred years into Bitcoin?
Duke took in the sight of Rex trembling before him.
‘You’re my lifelong pension.’
His eyes began to gleam with madness.
He had suppressed it until they left the laboratory, but there was no longer any need to do so.
‘I’ll never let you go.’
Even if Rex cried and thrashed later, saying he didn't want to become emperor, it would be useless.
Duke was determined to make him emperor, even if it meant building a golden throne after Rex died.
‘If you get delisted, I’ll have to jump into the Han River···!’
It wasn't merely a matter of his retirement pension.
Two hundred years’ worth of sunk costs.
Plans for the future final-boss alts he would create with Duke as his main character.
Rex's subordinates, whom he would need to pamper while they were still complete newbies.
None of these things could exist without Rex.
A different kind of loyalty began to fill Duke's chest.
And this resolve, combined with Rex's ability and Duke's potential, created a single skill.
================
<Blade of Cruel and Beautiful Devotion - Rex Carnifex> EX
Description
- A skill granted to one who has spent an entire lifetime living to find a single lord.
- It is a vow made to oneself, a curse, a blessing, and divine protection.
- Though it is described as devotion, it cannot be distinguished from fanaticism.
Effects
- While obeying the lord's commands, all action checks receive an additional modifier.
- While taking an action contrary to the lord's commands, the user's stats are halved. However, if the action is for the lord's sake, an additional modifier is applied once more.
- Grants immunity to status effects such as charm, fear, and sleep that would make the user act against the lord's commands.
Caution!
- If the devotion goes unrewarded, the lord receives a penalty greater than betrayal!
- There is a high probability that the result will differ from the lord's intentions!
- If the rank is too high, it causes alterations to the mind and body!
- This skill also affects the hero's vassals!
================
Naturally, Duke, who had no status window, could not know about the changes that had appeared in his body.
But anyone watching those changes in real time could not help but see them differently.
‘What? Is this a bug? Why? How??’
Rex hurriedly withdrew the finger that had been moving to cancel the Covenant.
He couldn't even guess what might happen if he suddenly canceled the Covenant on that terrifyingly insane man.
‘Oh, Jesus···’
What kind of world line was this, where madness merged with loyalty?
Rex had no religion, but at this moment, he desperately wished for a god.
Naturally, Jesus was not a person of this world, and there had never been any response to begin with.
Rex could do nothing but curse at the unresponsive heavens.
‘Sob···’
Rex, age thirty.
His journey had only just begun.