The Messenger of Death

It took over an hour for the prisoners to finish the sea horses off and clear the blocks of ice that were blocking the ships from moving. When Kymani and scar got back to their ship, the two of them went over to where Xander was seated.

Xander still had his eyes closed, and his deformed arm looked a lot better now. The bones had reformed but were still in the process of healing, so were his veins. Xander could sense the two people that were standing before him, but chose to ignore them until he had healed to a satisfactory stage.

Roughly another hour went by before Xander opened his eyes and acknowledge the people before him. "Is there something that you need from me?" Xander questioned, still seated on the ground.

Since he had healed, his voice had its usual cold vigor to it as he spoke.

"I want to make a proposal to you." Scar responded.

"What kind of proposal?" Xander asked in a bored tone. He could guess what Scar wanted, and he didn't think that Scar had anything that he wanted.

This ultimately made Xander uninterested in what scar has to say. "I want to obtain a few energy crystals from you, just enough to get me to the Heaven realm." Scar said.

"And what can you offer me in return?" Xander asked.

"I just want to point out that with two Heaven realm cultivators present, the journey to the island will become smoother. But that's not what I have to offer, I will also sign the same contract that Kymani signed with you." Scar answered.

Xander moved his gaze from Scar to Kymani that was standing next to Scar. Kymani shrugged shoulders a little and looked elsewhere.

"I don't see how having another temporary bodyguard will be beneficial to me," Xander stated.

"Think about it, the more powerful people by your side, the faster we will be able to get to the island. We don't know if we will come across another herd of monsters like the ones we just got rid of… and I'm quite sure that you don't want to use the same move that you used to deal with the sea horses in the future as it inflicts damage on you too." Scar remained calm as he spoke.

Although he was anxious, he managed to keep a calm front when speaking to Xander.

Xander just kept on staring at him with a cold expression on, not making any sound or movement.

['Don't do it, Xander, I can still feel a part of my soul gone with the crystal that you used for that attack.'] Al said.

['I was wondering when you were going to speak about the crystal that Xander used.'] Alex scoffed. ['Xander, Scar is right. The more powerful people we have by our side, the faster we will get to the island. Who knows what kind of monster we will come across again?'] Alex said.

['You spendthrift! If we use my money to make people stronger, what do we get in return!? They are going to another plain realm for God's sake, how are they going to be of use to us after getting to the island? I am against this because it is a bad investment. For Kymani it was alright because it was necessary, but now I am against it.'] Al argued. He was unable to part with more of his riches without anything substantial in return.

['But if he breaks through and signs the contract, we will be able to make it to the island much faster. At this point, the priority is reaching the island quickly not energy crystals that we have an abundance of in the ring that the Dragnels gave to us. Even if we can't use that ring yet, it is still with us, one day we will be able to use it.'] Lex interjected.

['No, I can't agree with this… while the petal is important, money is important-er.'] Al cried out like a child.

['Even I am against it.'] Xander spoke.

['What?'] Lex and Alex said at the same time. They both thought that Xander would be on their side.

['Uh, yes!! Xander, this is why you are my favorite!'] Al laughed as he spoke.

With them on a standstill like this, Alex and Lex's vote on the matter wouldn't take place.

['I'm against it because I don't like the fact that these people are treating me like some kind of dispenser and this is a bad investment from one perspective. From another perspective, it's reasonable.'] Xander explained.

['Hahaha, tell 'em brother!'] Al said happily.

['But…'] Xander started.

['There's a but? What's the but for?'] Al asked nervously.

['The petal is what is important at this point.'] Xander said.

['I spoke too soon,'] Al muttered dejectedly. ['Y'all should do what you want to do… my opinion doesn't seem to matter to you guys anymore.'] Al said before keeping quiet.

Scar and Kymani had been watching Xander for a few minutes, they knew that he was thinking about what scar said and considering his offer.

"Are you sure that you know what you are getting to by signing a contract with me?" Xander finally spoke and broke the silence.

"Kymani has already given me a rundown of what the contract is like, and that I cannot betray you if I want to continue living. I don't see any problem there because I have no intention of betraying you." Scar replied.

"The contract is not as simple as that, it is more complex than what you think. For instance, it doesn't matter where you go to, as long as I am still alive and you're still alive, you will be bound by the contract. Even if you don't betray me personally, if I think that you have betrayed me, it equally counts. Are you willing to hand your life to me just for the chance to get to the Heaven cultivation realm?" Xander was trying to discourage Scar from proceeding with this thought of his, and more importantly, he wanted him to know what exactly he was getting himself into.

Scar paused for a few seconds, thinking about what Xander just said. After a while, he spoke up; "I don't mind signing the contract. I will try my best to keep you safe after breaking through to the Heaven realm, after that, I'm sure that we will be parting ways."

A little smile appeared on Xander's lips after listening to Scar's reply. Somehow, this smile coupled with the cold expression that he had on his face made Xander look scary to an extent.

"You still think that it is as easy as that don't you? Alright then, I won't try to dissuade you from signing with me anymore. After signing the contract, you will become my bodyguard until we reach the island and after signing it, you can never betray me if you want to live." Xander mentioned as he began drawing runic alphabets on the air. He then made a small cut on his finger with one of the swords on his waist and sent his blood at the runes that were shining blue.

His blood turned the runes red partially.

Scar watched this happen with excitement in his eyes, he couldn't help but smile.

"Repeat what I said in your mind and if you agree with the conditions that I said then proceed by dripping your blood on the runes." Xander directed. "If you do not agree with the conditions, the contract won't take effect and I will be aware of it."

Scar quickly agreed with the conditions that Xander laid down and made a cut on his palm, pouring a sizable amount of blood on the runes, more than he needed to. But there was nothing wrong with that as the runes absorbed every drop that he poured on them.

The runes then merged with the world and after Scar felt something wrap around his heart. He could tell that this could end his life and he flinched in fear.

"That's the law of the world that you feel in your heart." Kymani pointed out.

Xander retrieved 10 blue HD-ECs from his storage ring and handed it to Scar without saying anything else.

"Thank you… even if this deal is going to be a short one, I will be forever grateful to you for giving me this chance and I will serve you until we part ways." Scar mentioned.

Xander tilted his head to the side and looked at Kymani and Scar. "The two of you still don't understand the weight of the contract that you signed. You have misunderstood something, even if you are not grateful, you will forever serve me until I destroy the contract."

Scar frowned at what Xander said.

Xander saw his expression and decided to give them a visual representation of what he was saying. He started to inscribe on the air again, but this time, the runic alphabets were different from the ones that he used for the contract.

As soon as he was done, Kymani and Scar felt their chests constrict. It was as if chains had wrapped around their hearts and were tightening their hold on them as the second passed.

-Blergh!!

Both Kymani and Scar fell to their Knees and vomited blood. They knew that they were going to die if this continued any longer.

Xander then dispelled the rune. "This is what I meant when I said that you shouldn't lose your life over greed," Xander uttered gently. His lips were a bit pale due to the amount of blood QI he had to use to utilize the runes.

But the disabled Kymani and Scar didn't notice that. What they did notice is that Xander had predicted that something like this would happen from the moment he brought out the green HD-EC…