Seed! Rank!

As soon as the words fell, Downs instantly felt a force flooding his entire body, as though even his brain had been injected with some flowing liquid.

The sensation made him pass out at once.

Though Kurog had not fallen unconscious, he was now sealed within Downs's body and no longer had the strength to move.

Contracts themselves could be played with through wording, especially when it came to agreeing on a time limit.

At times like this, vague wording could instead become an advantage.

The Abyss's power protected contracts through the subjective, intelligent judgment of the Will of the Abyss.

Even a vague breach of contract could trigger the power of the Abyss.

But once the target was made clear—for instance, "after the method is completed"—the period of protection was explicitly defined. This also clearly meant that once the method was completed, the Demon Kurog would no longer be protected by the contract.

This was something newcomers to contracts were prone to overlooking.

Clearly, Kurog had fallen into the trap Naimus had deliberately left behind and overlooked the key point.

"An Abyssal formation... You aren't human!!" Kurog's voice came from within Downs's body. That Inverted Pentagram Formation was, in essence, an Abyssal demonic spell. It was different from the demonic language and was something humans could not cast.

Moreover, as far as Kurog knew, most Demons could not cast this kind of formation either.

"That has nothing to do with you. Now, you can remain silent!" Naimus said. Kurog, who had intended to say something more, could only shut up. Clause Two of the Demon Contract required him to remain as inconspicuous as possible, and the contract was naturally still in effect.

For content with such a clear target, the contract's power was enough to restrain it.

As for Naimus, he felt the Oath Keeper Precept begin to respond.

[Precept information updated]

[Pact Vessel: Rope of Oath (New—Seal Attachment; Silence Control)]

His Pact Vessel had gained two new additional effects.

This was the reward for getting the best of both worlds.

His contract with the Demon had been fulfilled, and so had his contract with Downs.

The Demon had been sealed inside Downs's body, and such a seal counted as a permanent method.

And with the Demon entering his body, Downs, who now possessed demonic power, naturally counted as Naimus fulfilling his agreement with him as well.

Of course, once the demon incident was resolved, his agreement with Otto would also count as fulfilled. By then, he would gain another Oathkeeper Precept. That was getting three meals from one fish!

Elsewhere, Downs, who had briefly passed out, woke up.

The first thing he did was tear open his clothes and look at the Inverted Pentagram Formation drawn on his chest.

He rubbed it over and over with his hand until his skin turned red, yet the formation remained completely unaffected.

"L-Lord Nigel!" Only then did Downs accept the fact that a Demon was imprisoned inside his body. Trembling, he looked at Naimus and scrambled over to his side. "I don't want to become a Demon's container. I feel terrible right now..."

Before he could finish, Naimus kicked him away. The pain cleared his head.

"I speak. You listen!" Naimus looked at him. Though his words were commanding, his tone remained gentle.

"I can have you executed at any time on the charge of colluding with Demons."

"But this is not a punishment. It is an opportunity."

"Let me tell you a fact. Many things in this world are fixed from birth. If you are not born with them, then no matter how hard you strive afterward, it will be difficult to obtain them."

"You were born with a worthless life. Without the Demon, you would never gain power in your entire life."

"Have a good talk with the Demon inside you. The two of you will understand the situation." Naimus was not worried that they would join forces and cause trouble. Whether it was the contract, the sealing formation, or the desires in people's hearts, all of them stood on his side.

And the best way to prevent betrayal was to deny the other party the chance to betray you.

Given Naimus's understanding of human nature, the psychological changes of someone like Downs could not escape his notice.

Downs now feared the Fear Demon because of his ingrained beliefs, but he would soon rejoice at having gained demonic power. Then, his greed and fear of the future would become the best seal to keep Kurog locked away.

He would play along with Kurog and might perhaps reach some degree of cooperation, but he would never again let the Demon leave his body.

At the same time, under the rules of Demons, Kurog would become a means for him to control Downs.

Kurog, as a Lesser Demon, was still somewhat immature, but he was a true Demon nonetheless. Once he calmed down a little, he would understand that Naimus was the one who could truly decide his future.

One day and one night to secure a barely qualified enforcer while also strengthening himself through the Precepts—the efficiency was barely acceptable.

"Unfortunately, Dorsal Fin Village is still too small, and its connection to the Church of Precepts is limited. Once the village is gone, that connection will be severed."

"I cannot let loose and plunder resources with all my strength. Otherwise, I should be able to reach a level comparable to a Golden Breed within a few days."

Naimus counted the power currently available to him and secretly felt regretful.

There were only two supernatural paths in this world—life and soul.

The former generally tapped into one's life potential through a Breathing Technique, while the latter strengthened one's spirituality through a Meditation Technique.

But for ordinary lifeforms, no matter how they cultivated, there was a limit to their improvement.

The people of this world called these limited things power.

After a rough analysis, Naimus called them values and approximately quantified them.

Generally speaking, the maximum value of a Black Stone Breed was ten. Most lifeforms would stagnate before reaching that limit.

Take Nigel, the body's original owner, for example. He had a surname, came from a decent background, and had always kept training, but if not for Naimus, his value would have essentially stopped at seven.

To continue improving and break through one's maximum value, one needed to raise one's "rank" and thereby elevate one's Breed.

After the Black Stone Breed came the Steel Breed, and after the Steel Breed came the Golden Breed.

That was because Naimus was a Variant Demon. Otherwise, the rank of one's Breed would bind every individual tightly.

Only an extremely small number of lifeforms could alter their own Breed Rank.

"My greatest 'rank' at present is the portion of Divine Rank from the God of Precepts. This is one of my greatest opportunities and my greatest foundation for rising higher."

"To make perfect use of this rank, I cannot do without the Church of Precepts or the faith within the Church."

"Nigel was useless. The faith he stole was pitifully small, nowhere near enough for my experiments, and it may even have exposed some things."

"I need to probe that Old Priest at the Church as soon as possible, then get rid of him!"

"Seize this village's faith as soon as possible, then find a way to infiltrate the Church's upper ranks."

The night passed amid Naimus's thoughts. By the time dawn gradually broke and the Whale Call sounded, Downs was already waiting respectfully at Naimus's side for his orders.

"Pick up that Demon corpse at the door. We're going to see Otto!" Naimus was already looking forward to another Oath Keeper reward.

Keeping up with the story is the greatest support for the author. Thank you!