Death Contract

a

like molten iron. Caius barely had time to brace himself before it t

ees bu

ng. Something inside him was breaking-no, not breaking-changing. The Death Contract was sinki

ld around him felt distant, unreal. The underworld warped, the structures twisting at the edges of his sigh

s body move

king into place. His bones shifted beneath his skin, his brea

hear ev

the robed figures in the shadows, the slow thud-thud-thud of hi

lower. S

ct was rem

g in something more than oxygen, more than life itself. He could taste the bitter

sion-gods,

been. The shadows weren't just blackness anymore; they had layer

at them. His skin looked the same, bu

taken its place-an unfamiliar weight, coi

we

g the way his strength had changed. The fingers that once ached after long battles

His movements felt lighter, yet more control

lse lurked bene

ung

roat. It was in his soul, a deep, g

he whisper

und to the

unt b

med across his col

ng like wildfire across his chest. He tore at the collar of his t

n't a

s wri

h with a blade heated in the depths of the abyss. He gritted his tee

corched flesh

ed as he forced hi

ink, burned into his collarbone

irst

US V

d it, something s

g he had ever known crashed thr

eaching out, already knowing where to find the

ract had

le was al