Chapter 114: Sneak Attack

The demon then proceeded to create the soul contract and there was an awkward silence between them. Keith observed the process and the system copied all the steps that were being performed.

Several minutes before Keith explained how the current system of vampires didn't allow the regular vampires to learn the advanced blood-qi techniques and this resulted in the decline of skilled vampires. 

That didn't mean the council didn't make its own force. The hunters were a special division responsible for raising exceptional blood-qi users of each discipline. So it was kind of a private army of the vampire council.

Keith ordered the demon to show the entire process of creating the soul contract even though he didn't understand it at this moment, he had the system to take care of the heavy lifting of memorizing and implementing the technique later on.

He also asked the demon if could teach him the blood runes, to which the demon replied with a new agreement. He would give Keith a manual to learn the blood runes in exchange for getting him to the sacrificial chamber.

The demon considered the manual a bonus on top of the information for gaining Keith's trust. He didn't want Keith to believe that he was scamming him and as a result, finished him right here. So he was giving him very generous gifts just to build trust.

As the contract was being made on the mental plane, Kieth felt tremors around the water.

[The cave is entirely collapsed. We can't go above the water. Thankfully, the rubble was interlocked and the large stone pieces stacked on top of each other to create a blockade. So the  pool will be safe for some time.]

"How do we get out then?" Keith asked with concern.

The demon looked at Keith's face that was starting to twist. 

"Are you having a hard time containing me? You can let go of me now. As we've made an agreement, I won't harm you now." The demon said to Keith.

"Don't try to lower my guard. This has nothing to do with you. The cave collapsed so the escape route is blocked. I assume you know a way to get to your destination. Or the contract is useless for you." Keith replied mockingly.

"The entry to this cave was only for those who qualified to enter. I don't know how a vampire-like you was able to get past the runes but that is not the only path connecting to the main cave.

"This is just my hiding spot. Even if someone finds the main cave in the future, this place is hidden so well that they can't get here without the proper method which I only know." 

"Then how can we get out of this closed space?" Keith asked.

The demon smiled and didn't answer immediately. His mysterious attitude was giving bad premonition to Keith so he was extra alert not to lower his guard. 

The soul contract was finally completed after what seemed to be a prolonged silence. 

"Put your terms on the contract by projecting your thoughts and I will do the same. The rules have to be approved by both of us in order to appear in the contract, so choose your points accordingly."

Keith did what the demon said and projected his intentions carefully to the soul contract floating in front of him. The demon sent his terms as well and both of them evaluated which terms were reasonable.

On Keith's side, he asked for information about the outside world as well as the manual for understanding runes. He asked for all the knowledge available to the demon specifically. 

"You do have my life on the line, but I can't give you the entire inheritance of my knowledge." The demon said.

Keith wanted to know the information about the outside world but after knowing he could learn about runes from this demon, he was considering how to extract the knowledge.

If he agrees to the demon's terms, he will get only a fraction of the knowledge. Even if it was significant for Keith who knew nothing about the runes, an opportunity like this won't come to him every day.

He steeled his resolve and clenched his fist to gamble on this.

"Fine! I don't need the manual or the information about the outside world. Now that I know about the outside world, I will get the information I'm looking for sooner or later. You revealed a lot of useful things. I think it's time to end you now." 

Hearing Keith's words, the demon started panicking in response to Keith's change in attitude. The entire conversation turned upside down in a moment.

"Look here pal, demon, or whatever you are called. Your life is in my hands now. You might think giving me small bits of information will entice me into agreeing to your terms, but guess what, I want the whole thing or you're dead.

Thank you for showing me the soul contract. If not for this, I couldn't confidently say you gave me your entire inheritance. Did you think I would just follow along your lines? Do you think I'm from your era where every young vampire was dumb? 

Well, they are dumb now too but don't compare me to them, okay. Now… put all of the knowledge you have about all of the things you know here or I'll kill you right here and now." Keith spat out the entire thing without taking a pause.

He glared into the demon's eyes and didn't flinch slightly to show he was serious about killing him, but in reality, he wanted the demon to agree to his demands.

"Fine! I think there is nothing left to discuss." 

Keith smiled after hearing this but the demon was looking at him in a serious manner. As he was about to order him to agree to the terms a light shot out from the demon and entered Keith's mind.

[A secret technique? How could he muster his power when I was holding him back?] 

Both of them were unconscious and their mental projection froze in place. They looked limp and out of life.

The system quickly sent a part of her consciousness to Keith's mind to see what had happened but it was blocked from the inside. A wall of rune similar to the soul contract was covering Kieth's mind.

[ These runes are too complicated for me to crack right now. I have to change their structure so that I can sneak inside the cracks, but looking at the formation, the demon was already prepared for it. I hope he doesn't die inside before I find a way. There is no telling what would happen to me once he dies. Damn, is it the instinct to save myself or serve my master? Whatever..]

The system quickly started to analyze the rune formation just to change its structure. At the current level, the system couldn't break the entire rune formation so creating a crack that will allow the system to enter Keith's mind was enough.

***

In a dark space, two figures were floating in front of each other and the ground was nowhere to be seen.

Keith opened his eyes and saw the demon without any restraint standing in front of him. The memories started flooding inside him and he remembered the last moment before he lost consciousness.

"What is this place?" Keith asked, looking around the empty space.

The demon laughed and pointed to Keith in a mocking manner.

"This is your own mind and you can't even recognize it. I have never been such a weak-minded vampire.

"You should've killed me when you had the chance. Your curiosity was the reason for your demise. I prepared my soul penetrating technique and blocked it with the unbreakable shield. Unless you completely destroy my mind, the shield won't open. Even I can't open it unless I control this entire space." The demon proudly declared.

Keith also found it odd that this place felt so unfamiliar to him. If it was his mind, why couldn't he feel a connection to it? When he focused on blood condensing, he entered a state where he could visualize his blood core like a large sphere and he was inside it. It came from his analysis of the blood core and his unconscious vampiric knowledge.

"This place is the core of your mind where your deepest unconscious thoughts emerge. You could say this place acts as a bridge to your biological self and mental self. Your body holds within it the intentions of the vampires and their instincts.

"Hmmm… Looking at this place, I can't find any vampiric intent. I've devoured countless vampires but this is the first time seeing such a quiet and weak mind. There is literally no resistance. Well, this will be short." 

The demon expanded his mental projection and the body increased in size. A pair of membranous wings came out from his back. His body morphed into a hideous form that was ten times larger than Keith's body.

"This is my demonic form. You are lucky to have witnessed it before your death."