Transformation

The Village Guardian carefully examined the contract, reading it word by word. Then he flipped through every part of it, searching for patterns on the paper.

He had once heard that some Demons disguised Demon Tongue as decorative patterns and wrote it into contracts as supplementary clauses.

After signing such contracts, many people never realized what had happened and were cheated by Demons.

The Village Guardian wanted to study it for a while longer, but circumstances did not allow it.

Given the current situation, unless he immediately spotted a clear problem, signing was his only option.

As the Village Guardian let his blood fall onto the Party B section of the contract, the contract was officially established.

At that moment, Naimus received some feedback.

After Naimus used the Rope of Oath to control Whale-person Lia, brought her into his basement, and set up defenses at the basement entrance with the Rope of Oath—

—the contract's prerequisites were finally complete.

[Precepts Updated]

[Identity 1 Master Precept: Oath Keeper]

[Precept Feedback: New—(Alienation): The Pact Vessel's material has undergone Alienation and now possesses faint living traits.]

[Identity 2 Master Precept: Forgiveness]

[Precept Feedback: New—(Village Guardian): Containment Control—Possesses extremely strong adaptability toward abnormal power entering the body; (Whale-person Lia): Abnormal Eater—Can consume certain abnormal foods and gain some traits from them.]

Although the purpose of signing the contract was to exploit the Village Guardian more effectively, Naimus had indeed used this method to forgive both the Village Guardian and Lia.

"I see..." Naimus sensed the newly acquired Precept information and gained a rough understanding of the Village Guardian's whole situation.

Precept Feedback did not arise completely at random. It all formed based on the people involved.

Combined with the information the Village Guardian himself had provided, Naimus could infer the sequence of events.

The Village Guardian had taken the chance to steal a piece of Whale Skin Mine ore.

He brought that ore back to his home.

Judging from Lia's Abnormal Eater feedback, there was a high chance that Lia had eaten the Whale Skin Mine ore and contracted Whale-ification Disease because of it.

That was also why, when Otto later held them accountable, Lia entered a state of suspended death instead of truly dying.

"This ability is fairly useful..." Naimus stood at the basement door and extended his hand. A barely perceptible wisp of black aura seeped out from it.

This was the trace left on his body when Naimus had previously used the power of his true form.

Thanks to Containment Control, Naimus was able to remove that wisp of aura relatively easily.

At that moment, the Village Guardian gave the basement one final look before turning and leaving.

Downs had also been ordered by Naimus to hide away. He had only just used Demon power, and his entire body bore traces of a Demon.

If he ran into the Old Priest again, escaping would not be so easy.

Of course, this situation was not absolute. Naimus had a way to deal with the overly obvious Demon aura, but it would take some time to research.

Afterward, only Pur remained in Naimus's house.

"My lord, I wish to ask you to grant me power!" Pur knelt on one knee, looked up at Naimus, and made his request.

In that ambush, both of Pur's arrows had struck at exactly the right moments.

But... he was too weak!

He had no chance to truly take part in the fight. He could only search for openings with his arrows and interfere a little.

He had seemingly shot out one of Lia's eyes, but by the time Naimus brought Lia into the basement, her eye had almost completely healed.

Though this was the special recovery ability of someone afflicted with Whale-ification Disease, it also revealed a problem.

Pur had no trouble dealing with some Beasts, but he could not truly fight supernatural beings.

"Whether it means summoning a Demon to possess me or using some other method, I need to obtain power."

"Only with power can I assist my lord better!" Pur's gaze burned with a heartfelt desire for strength.

"I already have plans for that." Naimus smiled, satisfied with Pur's attitude.

"What do you think of the Village Guardian's ability to undergo Whale-ification on his own?"

Naimus had already conceived this idea while using the Shadow Hound to pursue the Village Guardian.

He would replicate the Village Guardian's Controlled Whale-ification on Pur.

After all, Pur was already a Reserve Village Guardian. He had drunk Deep Well Water and already met part of the requirements.

Naimus had once encountered a Demon in the Abyss.

Normally, a Demon's attributes peaked at 100. They might exceed that limit by ten or twenty points under various circumstances, but that was already the utmost limit.

Variant Demons, however, were exceptions among Demons. Though not as powerful as high-ranking Demons, their attributes could reach two or three times those of ordinary Demons due to the Expansion Effect.

Naimus's Demon true form possessed attributes of 300.

Under such circumstances, Naimus possessed crushing strength among Demons. Most Demons could not withstand even one move from him.

But there had been one exception: the Whale-ification Demon.

That Demon had seized the body of a whale on the Material Plane, gaining many supernatural traits in the process.

With those supernatural traits, Naimus had spent considerable effort defeating it. It had even managed to escape.

That was why it had left such a deep impression on Naimus.

The current Village Guardian and Lia appeared to have obtained the power of Whale-ification, but they had not actually developed its true strengths.

"That is exactly what I need!" Pur did not shrink back because of the dangers of Whale-ification Disease.

"Then rest for now. At dawn, I will modify you." Naimus had already gained some understanding of how the Village Guardian controlled Whale-ification power.

It was time to put it into practice.

As for whether Pur would face danger because of it, Naimus did not care.

As the Abyss, what he needed to do was indulge the evil of Demons.

He would give the wandering souls rejected by reality a place to belong.

Pur should naturally devote everything he had to him.

What Naimus wanted to become was the savior of villains like Pur, not their nanny.

Time passed quickly, and the sky outside the window grew brighter and brighter.

Naimus brought Pur into the basement and drew some of Lia's blood.

Then he waited for the right moment.

When the Sky Whale floating in the heavens saw the sun, It would let out a long, lingering call.

As that call rang out, Lia could not help responding to it.

The two Whale Calls were similar, yet different.

The Sky Whale's call stirred people's awareness of time, quickly waking them from sleep and invigorating their spirits.

Lia's Whale Call, however, was a method of spreading disease.

Naimus seized the moment and poured Lia's blood, trembling with the Whale Call, into Pur's body.

Pur's body immediately jerked upward. The intense pain made him tense up as he tried to flee.

Naimus was just about to use the Rope of Oath within Pur's body to control his sense of pain.

But then he discovered that Pur had begun to pray.

He was not praying to any god, but to Naimus.

A force surged from the depths of Pur's heart and then interacted with the Rope of Oath.

"This is... the Power of Faith!"

More chapters! Keep the reads steady, brothers and sisters!