Celera’s hands trembled uncontrollably as she held the new contract Prisca had just handed her.
Are these really the people we’ve respectfully addressed over the past years? All those times… did we bow and grovel for nothing? Now that we need their help the most, now that we’re at our lowest, they aren’t even upholding their own contract and want to take us in as slaves…
Slaves… She repeated the word to herself and it made her mind shake at the thought of the implications behind it.
While vassals and slaves might seem the same to many, in reality the difference between the two was vast, so much so that vassal civilizations would normally puff up their chests in front of slave civilizations.
And that wasn’t without reason.
A vassal civilization, while it had to offer tributes and bow down to its master, received a plethora of benefits, two of the most important ones being protection against attacks from other civilizations and a few slots for important events held by either the master civilization or civilizations as strong as the master.
On the other hand, slaves had no benefits whatsoever.
Their only purpose was to serve the master civilization without the ability to refuse, and if the civilization they served didn’t feel like it, they wouldn’t even be protected.
It was truly a fate worse than death.
But sometimes…
It was only a few days ago that everything was alright, but now I am facing a decision that might make me the greatest sinner in Khaian’s existence. What am I supposed to do? What would you have done if you were here, Master?
Celera thought as her hands tightly held the slave contract. Her eyes were fixated on it, but she wasn’t reading it.
Should I let our civilization be destroyed while keeping our freedom, or should I sign this and doom us forever?
Prisca nonchalantly watched as Celera underwent an internal struggle she had never thought she would have to face.
At least not this soon, and certainly not without her master and uncle by her side.
What will you choose? Pride or revenge? Prisca smiled to herself, as if she were curiously staring at an animal rather than another person.
Meanwhile, Celera was going through hell in her mind.
It was a choice between being destroyed while still retaining their freedom, or possibly being destroyed while having no freedom at all, but…
If I don’t accept, they will most likely not do anything to Earth, since we aren’t their property anymore…
Her eyes slowly grew colder and colder at the thought.
I can’t let go of this hatred.
I want them to pay for what they’ve done.
As long as I submit to them, they will destroy Earth.
That’s what I want.
That’s what I choose.
By the end, her eyes were so determined that they seemed to pierce a hole through the contract.
… sometimes a fate worse than death was nothing to someone blinded by hatred and revenge.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Prisca noticed the change in Celera’s expression and raised an eyebrow. Already came to a decision? How surprising.
Once she finally made up her mind, Celera quickly pricked her thumb and stamped it onto the contract without hesitation.
As soon as she did, an uncomfortable feeling rose in her heart, but it quickly vanished moments later.
She wasn’t the only one who felt it.
Everyone, whether back home in Khaian or in the town assigned to them within the portal, felt the same discomfort for a brief moment before it disappeared.
We’re now bound to them, Celera thought coldly but there wasn’t even a sliver of regret in her.
Then she looked at Prisca and handed over the contract, saying, “Will you take revenge now?”
Seeing Celera’s determined expression, Prisca chuckled, but it soon turned into laughter that brought tears to her eyes.
“Amusing. You’re the first who would sign a slave contract and still have that look in your eyes. Truly a sight to see.” She said as she wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.
Unamused, Celera frowned and slowly asked, “Will you?”
“Mhm, mhm.” Prisca ran a finger through her long, purple hair and said, “Since you’re now my slaves, I should help you out this one time.”
She gave Celera, who had just sighed in relief after hearing those words, a look and continued softly, so quietly that even Celera, standing only a few meters away, didn’t hear it:
“Just this one time.”
/////
Hours later, Nova, Jack, Erevan, and Slade, each training in their own homes, received an unexpected system notification, soon followed by a series of notifications they had grown accustomed to over the past week.
[Helinor has challenged you to a fight]
[Your civilization has been declared the leader civilization]
[Helinor has been declared the subordinate civilization]
[You have 23 hours to decide the maximum number of warriors each civilization will be allowed to send. After the 23 hours have passed, the subordinate civilization’s choice will be revealed to you, and you will have 1 hour to decide who enters]
[The fight will take place one day from now in Arena #5519]
[Time Remaining: 23:00:00]
“Hmm?”
The sound of multiple notifications ringing in his ears caused Nova to stop his spear training and take a look.
“We’ve been challenged already?” He exclaimed as a flash of surprise crossed his eyes, but he soon frowned.
“We aren’t even ranked yet, so how did they even find our civilization? Scratch that, only a ranked civilization can challenge someone, and the price they have to pay isn’t small. This Helinor must either be a civilization of dumb people, or this isn’t just a matter of resources but a personal attack.”
‘Why? Why are they challenging us and losing money in the process?’ Nova thought carefully, and soon an idea came to mind. ‘Was I right? Is it truly because of Grenara? Some enemy of theirs must have found out we’re housing them, and thus they want to take us out in the process…’
Just as he thought that, he immediately shook his head.
“Impossible. What are the chances of Grenara having an arch enemy, and them finding us in just a week? Even if all of that were true, wouldn’t their first approach be to contact us and ask to let Grenara go? At least that’s what most leaders would do. That means…”
“This is most likely not because of Grenara, there’s someone else behind it.”
“First, let’s see their ranking.” Nova quickly looked up Helinor’s rank, and the sight of it brought a wide grin to his face.
[Helinor (90,221st)]
“I couldn’t have asked for better, they must be richer than Grenara.”
He quickly called Erevan. “I’ll fight this one too.”
Then, without waiting for an answer, he ended the call and resumed his training as if nothing had happened. But unlike before, his lips were frozen into a grin that wouldn’t go away.
/////
Twenty-three hours quickly passed, and as usual, both civilizations were made aware of each other’s choices.
Nova set the maximum number of participants to one without much thought, but when he saw Helinor’s bet amount, it felt as if something had clicked in his mind.
[The bet has been set by Helinor (Subordinate Civilization)]
[Each party must bet the equivalent of 1,000,000,000 Gold coins]
[Rules will be applied if the losing party fails to pay]
[Do you wish to participate?]
[Yes] [No]
[Time Remaining: 01:00:00]
‘1 billion? Heh, is this how petty you are? I see now. You must be that Khaian civilization’s ally, and we, Earth, are the target.’ Nova smiled even wider.
Khaian could never have forked out 1 billion, but Helinor? Considering Grenara, who ranked at the bottom of the top 100,000, was able to bet 630 million, the chances of Helinor being able to pay a billion weren’t too low.
That meant the amount of Gold coins from this fight was equal to the total they had gotten from both Khaian and Grenara combined.
It was a chance rare for any other unranked civilization, but here it was, right within Nova’s reach.
He immediately clicked “Yes” and muttered, “Thanks for the allowance. I won’t mistreat you.”
One hour quickly passed, and the moment it ended, his vision blurred.
A moment later, he was back inside the arena, with someone standing on the opposite side.
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