Chapter 307: Contract Signing

A burst of dazzling lightning flashed by, illuminating the dimly lit underground nest as bright as day for an instant.

The bright blue light shone on the sweaty faces of the members of the Oath-Sworn Blackwood squad, making them look even paler.

Time was short, and the group did not have the opportunity to communicate and exchange the information they had perceived.

But after all, they were all veteran professionals who had been adventuring for many years and had considerable discernment.

The combination of the Devil's "【Fear】 + 【Stinking Cloud】" was something even Margaret, as the squad leader, could only barely resist; the entire team's formation was instantly scattered, and several people had to fight on their own, struggling to get rid of the chain offensive of mental control and acid mist corrosion.

But at the same time, on the other side of the field.

That black-haired young man, whom they had initially thought was the Devil's companion but later discovered was not on the same path, performed significantly more easily when defending against these two spells.

Not only was he the first to pass the 【Fear】 immunity check, but facing the erosion and envelopment of the toxic fog, he also easily resisted by relying on some kind of special effect suspected to be a special combat technique or equipment enchantment.

In comparison, if one were to say that the other party's actual combat ability was definitely higher than everyone in their team, it would be a bit hasty and too one-sided.

But there was no doubt that his overall quality as an adventurer was definitely not bad.

He belonged to the elite level of veterans.

Even according to the other party's move of attacking the Devil, the group had a short-term common goal and could be said to be temporary teammates.

In this situation, the black-haired young man was hit by that exaggerated lightning beam, his life or death unknown, suspected to be seriously injured and out of the fight.

Even for the Blackwood squad, it was a very heavy blow to morale.

"Captain, are we retreating?"

The short dagger entwined with shadow power slashed through the air violently, chopping away the last wisp of thick acid mist remaining; Shajin's face was extremely gloomy as he asked Margaret beside him.

"Retreat?"

Holding the longsword tightly with both hands and panting, this spirited woman who held extremely high prestige in the team also had a look that was not very good.

Glancing back at the narrow and long tunnel they came from, her gaze swept over Yueshuya, who had been forcibly fed a healing potion by the Dwarf Suoerding and whose wailing sound was gradually diminishing.

"Retreating now is seeking your own death!"

"We can't leave anymore."

Margaret considered it very carefully.

If they retreated now, their only way out, as they were not familiar with the environment inside the nest, would be the complex, cramped, and long tunnel they came from.

In such overly narrow terrain, if the Devil wanted to pursue them after completing the contract signing, it wouldn't even need to engage in close combat; it could just throw a few damage-type spells similar to 【Fireball】, and they wouldn't even have a place to hide.

It was almost entrusting the lives of the entire squad to the expectation that the Devil would not launch a pursuit against them.

For her personality, this was absolutely unacceptable.

Her brain turned rapidly, and Margaret thought quickly about the situation on the field in an extremely short time, making a decision.

"You still have healing potions on you, right?"

The tone was not a question, and without even waiting for Shajin to answer, she continued:

"Go over and check the situation of that Xia Nan, see if he can be saved."

"If he is within the range that a healing potion can recover, give it to him... we need allies."

Naturally, Shajin could distinguish the situation on the field; perhaps his initial impression of the other party was not very good, but Shajin was, after all, a professional and veteran adventurer with considerable professional quality.

As soon as the words fell, without the slightest hesitation, he nodded and stepped on his shadow, rushing toward the direction where Xia Nan fell.

At the same time, the Dwarf Suoerding, who had finished treating Yueshuya's injuries, also caught up again.

Time was urgent, no more explanations.

Margaret didn't even look back, just spat out a word in the shortest and most determined tone:

"Charge!"

The sturdy man beside her, who had always been reliable, did not stop his steps, directly crossing her side, holding the iron shield, waving the Prism Hammer, and rushing toward the Devil's direction.

Margaret followed closely behind, her longsword in hand, putting on a posture of accumulation during the sprint, and one could vaguely glimpse a slight sharp light brewing on the surface of the sword.

The signing of a Hell contract is a process that is both simple and complex.

Saying it is simple is because, starting from the signer, one only needs to write their name at the end of the contract or press a handprint to complete the signing of the contract.

Saying it is complex is from the perspective of the formulator.

Most of the terms are written in Infernal, but the contract itself has many different styles.

Some are like contracts signed by merchants on the Material Plane, which are scrolls of special flexible cowhide paper; some use exotic creatures like familiars as witnesses to orally explain the terms; and some even exceed the traditional definition of "contract" to a certain extent, completing the contract by exchanging tokens.

It is not just a difference in form; these strange contract signing methods represent different degrees of power exchange, the balance of status between the two parties of the contract, the amount of power consumed in the process, and the Devil's own personal preferences...

Saloyang had experienced this process countless times.

In terms of terms, he even had separate templates for various situations long ago.

No need to draft temporarily; just follow those previous contracts and apply them.

The reason he chose the current contract method naturally had his own considerations.

This form of signing, using a poor wretch who violates the contract as the contract itself, after the ritual is completed, this humanoid creature that still retains life characteristics will become a strange existence that can live without air, food, and water, and even has near-immunity to most damage.

But if this humanoid creature is killed in some way, the contract terms engraved on its spine will also become invalid.

Making it so that although the conditions are very harsh, for cautious Devils, they will only use this form of contract in some suitable situations.

Right now, it just meets the conditions.

What Saloyang needed was just to simply borrow Abi's body, control his flesh and soul, and provide a channel for the transition of his infernal power.

It was no exaggeration to call it a consumable.

After this battle ends and his power is withdrawn, this body, which has been blown apart and riddled with holes by evil energy, will basically step to the edge of death.

Naturally, it doesn't matter whether the contract is destroyed or not.

"Forward, yes, that's it, write your name, or press your finger."

Isolating the disturbances from the outside world, Saloyang used one mind for two purposes; while pinning down the adventurers outside, he gently and intimately guided Abi, letting him walk forward slowly and enter the dark red magic circle like blood.

Days of bewitchment had caused the accumulated emotions in his heart to wash away the last trace of sanity in his mind like a torrent.

Abi completely lost the ability to think, like a puppet on a string; the moment the magic circle took shape along with the gradually spreading infernal dark fire, he rushed in with red eyes.

Ignoring the dense terms on the "contract" spine, he raised his hand to bite the skin of his thumb, squeezed and rubbed it around his face in a chaotic manner, letting the blood stain his entire finger.

He was about to press it toward the contract.

And it was at this moment that a high-pitched, long wolf howl burst out from his side, from far to near.

Xia Nan's reaction was very fast. ===== CHAPTER 308 =====