Thousand-Faced Dragon

Chapter 209 Two-Way Contract
"How many disciples have you taken on? I thought the Dragon Contractor... well, the Masked Dragon Knight... I thought I was the only one with this new class."

After all, it's a "tailor-made" sorcerer (magician) class, so how come it's being mass-produced all at once?

"Leave it all to you? Are you just waiting for our species to go extinct?"

Snake, however, was quite disdainful. He understood Lee Eun-suk well; he was a great user, but not a qualified developer.

He has neither the energy nor the motivation to push this profession to its limits.

Is this profession really limited to Rean? Not necessarily.

Ultimately, the "tailor-made" nature of this profession is the application of the abilities of the Kuku multi-headed dragon (multiple thought lines), and the exploitation of the bug in the contract between "oneself" and "oneself".

Rean is not the only one who has inherited Kuku's characteristics and abilities. So far, the other disciples are much more professional than Rean.

In reality, because the "inheritance" of these disciples was incomplete, and Kuku was not someone who was good at using his strength for combat development, this inheritance lacked "professional guidance" for actual combat.

The goddess is the only one who has developed practical applications because she herself has divine veins, the favor of the gods, and the priest level (she was promoted to the fifth rank). These factors together constitute her combat power.

Or, to put it another way, this spiritual ability became an even greater advantage in her past professional system, crafted into a finished product under the grace of the gods.

Others were not so lucky; they got the "engine" but not the "mechanical parts".

Filling this gap would be difficult for others, but it was no challenge for the snake. Although it was a strange profession that restricted "schizophres," he became increasingly interested in knowing about its future development.

"Kamen Rider solo battles are outdated, now we need a five-color team! We need a theatrical crossover!" So, he happily went around looking for successors and digging holes, and even professionally did the color matching.

Well, although the motive is rather subtle, since this guy is in the mood to help, Rean naturally can't refuse.

"Saliman, when will you..."

"Encountering an ancestor? The second day after returning to Radiant City."

This assertive Sallyman was somewhat unfamiliar to Rean.

But before they could exchange more than a few words, her snake tail, which was already quite close, instinctively coiled around them.
"Uh."

Rean sighed, but ultimately did not avoid it.

Just now in the living room, a girl like you went all out to defend you in front of many colleagues and even your superiors. If you were to refuse again, it would really be unmanly of you.

So, the girl who got what she wanted smiled sweetly. She seemed very satisfied with her progress, which was much better than her useless self. Looking at the pure girl, Rean felt more and more like a scumbag.

"Rean, you'll see later. The things you're worrying about aren't even a big deal. Just admit defeat sooner rather than later and stop bothering me with your help."

The snake, flashing intermittently, resisted the call to return (to be precise, it was constantly being sent back and then jumping back), while tidying up the accessories in the room.

This is Victoria's shop's temporary warehouse, and also Ophelia's "repair workshop," where a large amount of metal and components are stored.

“I tried to repair her. But to be honest, it was too difficult.” Victoria sighed. The Creator race could be regarded as the pinnacle of alchemy in that era, especially in metal golems and creation, where they reached the realm of creation.

With her abilities, maintaining Ophelia would be difficult enough, let alone repairing her.

She still couldn't see the snake. Perhaps the snake didn't find her too "ordinary".

"It's a good thing you didn't fix things haphazardly, that's what someone said," Rean relayed the snake's words.

Victoria has also accepted the reality that some non-existent individual is pointing fingers here. She is speechless at the widespread schizophrenia among her colleagues.

Among this batch of heroic heirs, am I, Victoria, the only dark elf who is normal?
Looking at Victoria's inexplicably smug expression, Rean felt increasingly strange.

As far as he knew, the more drunk a person was, the more they would say they weren't drunk; the more outrageously mentally ill a person was, the more they would pretend to be normal. To appear normal among a group of schizophrenic patients was, in itself, the most outrageous thing.

The more normal Victoria acted, the more subtle the looks others gave her.

"Snapped!"

The sudden sound from the workshop drew everyone's attention.

Ophelia stretched out her hands, and the metal components around her split, rebuilt, and reassembled. The true manipulator was clearly the snake perched on her head.

"First, let me help you build your second self."

Among all of Kuku's disciples, Ophelia was the first to be chosen as the "Masked Dragon Knight".

The reason is simple: it's because she has no knowledge of the subject.

"A blank cup is good; it's actually easier to pour water from an empty cup."

Ophelia has always had a weak presence because, whether as an alchemist or a warrior, she is too "new." She is like a newborn soul reincarnated from an ancient corpse, possessing some of the characteristics and potential of the ancients, but in practice, she has nothing to use.

Without sufficient strength, one naturally lacks a sense of presence, and the increasingly severe loss of spirit also reduces one's ability to move.

She has great potential, but right now she's just potential.

"Would she be any better off if the lich died?"

The lich's phylactery had become Ophelia's arm, containing a fragment of her soul, with a part of her main soul still escaping. The lich's part, along with its link to the ogre, had become increasingly independent.

"It will be better, but it won't bring about a crucial change. Her flaws are all-encompassing; her combat skills and personality have been reset to zero. If given more than ten years, she should be able to grow up again, but clearly, there isn't that time now."

Two fragmented pieces, even if put together, will not form a complete shape.

From the beginning, Kuku's idea was to feed Ophelia with "liches," just to create a single soul.

"Snapped!"

The body part of the casket was cut off and placed among a piece of steel parts.

"Shift the second line of thinking there."

The snake's words made Ophelia pause slightly, then she looked at Rean with a questioning gaze. He nodded with a wry smile.

“Already transferred. Weak request link.” The girl’s eyes looked at Rean, and her fragile, survival-seeking gaze seemed all the more human.

After removing this part (the second core of thought), although its consumption is reduced, the "nutrient battery" is also removed.

In fact, Kuku's original design was for Ophelia to use this life box as a "milk bottle," constantly absorbing the fragments of soul within it to complete her own soul.

However, due to the lich's "delayed return," there was not enough milk, which led to her rapidly worsening amnesia.

Under normal circumstances, consuming the "milk" is enough for Ophelia to grow up to have an independent self.

"Crack!"

Now, visible to the naked eye, those metal components, under Ophelia's control, are beginning to assemble a second "her" with that prosthetic limb as the core.

However, this design style felt strangely familiar to Rean.

"Uh, Cybertronian maid" exoskeleton armor, wheel assembly disguised as a large bow on the back, unidentifiable antennas on both ears, and wing components resembling a maid's skirt.

The most wasteful and eye-catching feature is the overly detailed, assembled face that doesn't resemble a construction. The face pieced together from those fragmented parts is an excessive design that can display nearly a hundred different expressions.

The overall design resembles that of a female Transformer, with a fuller and more robust structure, as well as a maid-like edge (lace) design.

It combines strength and beauty, and blends mechanical style with human-shaped aesthetics.

This exotic metal structure with its strange style is indeed more in line with Rean's aesthetic and is full of Li Ensu's personal preferences than the elegant doll design of the Creation Clan!

"Please give instructions or orders."

However, the second "Ophelia" appeared even more rigid after its creation. Its exquisitely designed metallic face was merely as rigid as a mask.

After being split in two, she appeared even weaker; the deficiency of her soul was fatal.

Each of the twins possessed a separate body, which actually doubled the energy expenditure!
“Come, Rean, make her your patriarch and you your servant, and sign a contract with the second child. Make yourself her possession, so that you can infuse your soul into her.”

"I refuse." Rean dared not sign a contract that involved the soul.

Sorcerers generally meet a bad end; if you sign such a devil's contract, you might lose your soul in no time.

"I haven't finished speaking. Sign this pet contract again, making her your pet, your possession. Once you're mutually possessive, the contract's binding effect will be glitched, and a two-way soul portal will be formed between you."

Perhaps, when it comes to exploiting bugs and manipulating soul contracts, even the Lord of Demons is not as skilled as the Serpent.

A two-way soul contract offsets each other's control but grants each other the ability to infuse souls.

And this also allows Rean's "will" to become a weapon for this metallic body.

A bag broke open, revealing a large amount of "solar matter"—remnants of Lana's—that began to enter the nascent metallic body.

Evolving into a "sun" is not something that can be done overnight, but forging a "sun weapon" doesn't take that long!

(End of this chapter)