Kai’s forces had retreated beyond his senses, but they hadn’t escaped danger.
He’d wanted to avoid this. No choice now. The strong only listened to strength.
Kai disappeared, emerging beside the dragon with his hand outstretched. His palm touched scales, but he didn’t feed essence into his glove. Instead, he sent a message through a soul bond before retreating.
Alu, duplicate the dragon.
Blood poured from his armour, twisting into a giant form. Carl’s gaze snapped toward it, eyes widening. The bloody figure flickered, then shifted.
Moments later, a giant red dragon glared at Carl.
Carl closed his jaws, aborting his attack.
Kai glided to the blood dragon and mounted it. He patted its neck. “I’m not strong enough to beat you, but this guy is. We can waste time fighting, or we can both get what we want. Your choice.”
A laugh rumbled from Carl. “You’re tougher than you look.”
“I get that a lot.”
Expending the duplicate Gift was painful. He could’ve used it against Renzo or saved it for a sticky situation. But he supposed facing down a dragon was sticky enough.
“Ready to negotiate in good faith?” Kai asked.
“Fifty percent.”
“What?”
“That’s my price. I’ll be your banker for fifty percent of your shards.”
Greedy bastard.
“You think you’re worth that much? You’ve got no experience and nobody wants to hire you. Be realistic.”
Carl’s chest puffed up. “Experience? I’m a dragon—I have the [Banker] attribute.”
“So?”
“My clients get access to an optimised management system.”
Kai shrugged. “And? I can manage my money and people without you.”
“But you’ll have to track them manually. What if someone lies? Or steals?”
“My subordinates are soul-bonded. They’re loyal.”
Carl grunted. “The system makes everything easier, smoother, and more accurate. You’ll be the only one in human territory with this advantage. Soldiers, resources, businesses—I’ll help you manage everything you need to succeed as Death God’s heir. Money wins wars. Management grows kingdoms.”
The management system could help him build his power faster than the neighbouring nobles, and the eight other realms changed everything. He needed to move fast. How much longer could the humans get away with bickering like children? The other rulers would eventually come knocking.
The humans needed someone to unite them. Luckily, Kai was generous enough to shoulder the responsibility.
“Maybe your system’s as useful as you claim, but fifty percent of my Darkshards is a rip-off. We both know it.”
“I see the bigger picture eludes you. The Noble Houses barely trade with each other. How can they give resources to their enemies? It’s suicide to empower a neighbour you’ll war with in months.”
“I don’t see how that affects me…”
Black smoke poured from the dragon’s nose as he sighed. “Wars are expensive. They need funding for their campaigns—funding we’ll loan them.”
Kai’s brow furrowed. “That creates the same problem. Why take a loan from a rival?”
“It looks similar, but it’s not. Trading with enemies gives both sides an immediate benefit. For example, you trade food for Darkshards. You feed their citizens, preventing revolts while their shards arm your soldiers. Both sides strengthen. You can’t exploit their weakness, and they can’t exploit yours. Neither side gains an edge.”
“But if they take a loan from me, they gain now while I’m left in the cold?”
“Almost. They gain a short-term advantage while you get long-term profits—with interest.”
“They’re still empowering a rival…”
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Carl’s head bobbed. “True, but short-sighted fools chase immediate gains. Only the prudent consider long-term consequences.”
Kai rubbed his chin. “We loan them part of what they ask for—enough to weaken their target, but not enough to win. Then we gobble up the weakened House and collect interest on the loan. Best of both worlds.”
Carl’s jaws peeled back in a grin. “Now you see the value of banking, yes?”
“Kinda. There’s still the payment collection problem. I’ll need muscle to enforce compliance. If I’m sending swords anyway, why waste time with these shenanigans instead of just using the pointy end?”
“What kind of banker do you think I am? Let them try avoiding payment—I’ll burn them to cinders!”
“Then let’s skip the loans and get straight to the burning.”
“Your Father forbids it.” Carl huffed. “His contract binds us. We can’t ravage the land without cause. We can only pursue debtors or defend our hoard.”
“Didn’t you threaten to kill me and my forces?”
“Acceptable defense of my hoard. Noise pollution harms my sleep.”
Kai scoffed. That was a generous interpretation of ‘defense’. “Even with you as my loan enforcer, fifty percent is too steep.”
“I’ll protect your funds, give you access to my management system, and ensure your debtors pay up. How much do you think that’s worth?”
“You want fifty percent of my raw Darkshards before I’ve even confirmed production levels. Let’s scrap that. I’ll give you five percent of future profits instead. As I ascend, you’ll get richer than you could imagine.”
“Five percent?”
“This expands your cut beyond raw Darkshards alone. You get a piece of all businesses, taxes, and other income. I can turn one Darkshard into ten by processing it into Dusk and selling it to conquered Houses. Five percent of everything beats fifty percent of raw materials. But only the most prudent recognise it…”
“You are truly Death God’s son,” Carl mumbled. “Ten percent, and it’s a deal.”
“I can do that.” He suppressed a grin. Overall profits were easier to obscure than raw Darkshards. He’d skim off the top and report whatever numbers he wanted.
Carl extended a stubby claw. “Of course, I can’t take your word for it. You Deathspawn are…tricky.” The air rippled, and an aged scroll materialised, gliding toward Kai. It unfurled as it moved.
“Sign this soul contract. It guarantees the agreed terms of our deal.”
Kai studied the document. The contract laid out the details they’d discussed in simple terms. No hidden clauses. “This won’t create a soul bond, will it?”
“No. A soul contract only enforces our agreement.” The dragon narrowed its gigantic eyes. “Unless you violate it.”
Kai kept his expression neutral. “What happens if one of us violates it?”
“If you violate the contract, it’ll bind you to me as a slave.”
So much for skimming off the top.
His thumb stroked Space God’s ring. Parting with ten percent wouldn’t hurt much, and the contract confirmed the dragon’s words—it wouldn’t bind them unless they broke the agreement. “Do you have a pen, or…?”
Carl raised a claw. “One more thing.”
Kai narrowed his eyes. “Squeezing me for more? Sneaky way to do business.”
“Forgive me for protecting myself against the chosen heir of a notorious scoundrel.” His eyes darted around, as if expecting divine retribution for his outburst. When nothing happened, he continued. “You might wriggle out of the contract somehow. I need insurance.”
Scoundrel? A fair assessment. But Death God had given the dragons a decent deal—he could’ve done worse than restrict them to high-paying jobs. Not the worst cage to be in.
“Like what?”
“The child on the horse. He’s with you, isn’t he?”
“He’s under my protection. What do you want with him?”
Carl’s eyes grew distant. “I want to raise him. I’ll reduce my cut to eight percent.”
The human-raised dragon wanted to raise a human. Some sort of tribute to the guy who took care of him?
Didn’t matter.
Merek was useless—more burden than asset. Maybe he’d grow into something special with the right direction, but Kai wasn’t a babysitter. He’d done enough by saving the kid’s life. Handing him over to Carl would kill two birds with one stone.
But he couldn’t let the dragon know that.
Kai frowned. “Merek is like a son to me…”
“Five percent!”
Reducing the dragon’s cut by five percent and getting rid of the freeloader? He concealed his glee.
“If I give him to you, I expect you to guarantee his safety.”
“Naturally. I’ll protect him like he were my own hatchling.”
“You’ll train him too.”
“What else would I do with him?”
Kai nodded. “If he asks about our deal, you’ll say I fought hard for him but had no other choice.”
Carl snorted. “Why would I do that?”
“To keep him motivated. It’ll devastate him if he thinks I abandoned him. He just lost his parents—he’s in a vulnerable state.”
“Fine. I’ll tell him you resisted with all your meagre strength.”
“One more thing. When I return from Earth, he’ll be free to come and go as he pleases.”
“Fool. Why would he want to leave my side? I’ll teach him mysteries you couldn’t dream of.”
And I’ll squeeze every bit of that knowledge from him.
“Still, guarantee his freedom. I won’t sell him into slavery,” he lied.
Truth was, he’d sell the boy into slavery without hesitation if he had to. But a cooperative Merek was more useful than a hostile one. The kid would be upset at first—kidnapping tended to do that. But children were resilient. He’d adjust. Might even end up thanking Kai for the opportunity.
Who didn’t want a giant dragon to teach them the mysteries of the world?
Carl nodded. “Done.”
Words appeared on the scroll, updating the terms.
“How do I sign this thing?” Kai asked.
“Gather essence into your thumb and press it to the bottom of the page.”
He followed the dragon’s directions, sealing the deal.
A smirk tugged at his lips. “I look forward to working together.”
Carl’s brows drew together. “Why do I feel like I got cheated?”
“You agreed to the terms.” Kai shrugged.
The dragon mumbled something, then launched toward the village. Kai followed on the blood dragon, maintaining enough distance to avoid appearing in cahoots.
Lilith and Merek were minutes from the village outskirts when the dragon struck. Carl seized the boy in his jaws and flew off. Merek screamed and thrashed as he dangled. It didn’t help. Lilith yelped, then shrugged and continued toward the village.
Will Alira lecture me about the kid?
He willed his Demonic form to recede, then shot toward the village. Drawing the Drakmars away from the others was easy. He killed several Drakmar, then lowered his bloody mount before the duplicate dissipated.
Disappointing. A permanent blood dragon would’ve been useful.
An echo and a teleport shook off the abominations. He caught up with the others near the church. A few abominations chased his crew as they passed through what must’ve been the church’s Domain.
The Domain’s barrier disintegrated the abominations on contact. The smart ones backed off after that.
Kai made his way to the church, senses spreading. His Demons hid underground, in shadow. The humans—and Levi—stood outside the building. Two strangers approached them.
The villagers were dead…
Who were these newcomers? It’d be just his luck if he ran into Merek’s missing father.
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