"I can offer you freedom."

A single sentence echoed through my mind as I watched the fire that should have killed me extinguish before my very eyes.

The only thing that was keeping us from rebelling no longer harmed us. Instead, we were greeted with warmth.

"I can offer you freedom and you may stay in my city. You don't need to join the army nor do you have to repay me. You can enjoy life how you want. The only requirement from you is for you to accept. Of course, you can leave whenever you want. But if I discover that you have attempted to harm anyone within the city or anyone I know, you will face my wrath." The woman said as we stood in silence. Despite her looks and charms, she felt cold to our very soul the moment she warned us.

It was understandable. Having trustworthy people in this chaotic time was necessary and the fact that we should even give us this kind of opportunity was a god send.

"I accept!" Someone shouted out as I could tell from his voice that he didn't want to lose this opportunity.

One by one, we each accepted her offer as she nodded her head.

"I will say that there are some that I cannot accept. Your souls, they're too tainted for you to do any good." She spoke coldly as we looked at one another in confusion.

Snapping her fingers, an invisible force parted us from a small group of people that were hanging in the middle of the group.

"But we can change!" One of them shouted out towards the girl who kept a neutral expression.

"I know. Many can. However, I wonder what you would have done to taint your soul to this extent. If you do want to change and you want me to accept you into the city, I will have to put a collar around you. You're familiar with the contract no? Accept it and I'll allow even someone like you to be in the city." She spoke coldly as we all felt like we were suddenly thrown in the arctic.

Seeing the faces of those in the centre, I could tell that they were displeased.

"You just want to use us as EXP bags don't you!" Another slandered but the girl was unphased.

"So what if I do, so what if I don't. that's the world now so pull your pants up and get used to it. There is a limit to my mercy and if you don't like it then you are free to go. I'm not forcing you to stay. As I am right now, I can enslave your soul without you being able to retaliate. Perhaps I should show the colour of your soul to everyone here so that they can see why I'm acting this way."

Hearing her threat, the men immediately quietened down and accepted the deal.

Suddenly, several tier 6 magic circles appeared around them as golden chains wrapped around their body.

"ARGGG!!!"

Crying out in pain, all of the men that were supposed to be contracted fell to their knees as the girl clicked her tongue.

"Stubborn to the end. Even now you're thinking of ways to go against me. You don't deserve my city. Glen, take care of them. I'll bring everyone back to Asharia." The girl glared at the men before turning back to the mechanized figure that we had offered our lives to previously.

Nodding his head, he walked towards the men before sighing.

"A shame." He muttered.

Before we could see what he did, we were teleported away into a teleport hall. Several spirits, demons and humans surrounded us with curious glances.

"Alright alright, stop blocking the way. I need to follow her highness's orders and show them around." An aged voice rang out as they parted to the sides, revealing an old spirit.

"Greetings, my name is Samuel and I am one of the elders of the Spirit Council. Her highness has tasked me to show you around her city." He smiled and bowed

###

"Sigh… idiots." Shiro muttered in annoyance as she had wasted her time trying to convince those idiots. Even though she gave them a second chance, they were still thinking of harming her in the end. They were probably angered by the fact that they had to take another contract but they should have known the ending.

"Return to the zone, Shiina and Maria are defending me right now but more and more monsters are spawning. Get Maria to heal you and guard the perimeter." Shiro ordered as Glen nodded silently.

"Are you disappointed in them?" Shiro asked.

"Mn. Even though your highness gave them a second chance at life, they still thought about harming the hand that helped them." Glen sighed.

"That's what it takes to survive now. You have to be ready to fight back at a moment's notice if you want to survive. It's a harsh world and while it may not seem like that in Asharia, don't let the peace fool you. We're a tiny boat floating in the harsh oceans. Of course, I have no intentions of letting the boat known as Asharia sink." Shiro smiled as Glen nodded his head.

Watching the AI return to normal, Glen glanced back at the puddle of blood left behind and shook his head.

###

Opening her eyes, Shiro massaged her head before trying to break open the barrier once more. Even though she knew that Lisandra was capable, she couldn't help but think about what might happen inside.

Even though the chance was small, the possibility was still there. By the time she opens this barrier, she might be greeted by the corpse of Lisandra.

Slapping her face, she tried to distract herself from these thoughts as she waved her hand and summoned several needles that were enhanced with celestial path along with her new skill, Divine Runic Needles.

However, even with these two skills, for a barrier like this, she needed to find the right anchor points of the magic formation otherwise it wouldn't do much.

But before she could even activate the needles, the barrier started to scatter as Shiro widened her eyes.

With her connection to Lisandra restored, she didn't hesitate to break open the door and charge in.

The moment she did, she was greeted by a giant cavity in the ground along with a spiral staircase.

Not hesitating to jump in head first, Shiro could sense the presence of Lisandra, Estrella and Iziuel at the bottom. They weren't injured but they seemed exhausted.

Increasing her speed towards the bottom, she widened her eyes when she saw Lisandra standing on the giant corpse of a monster as blood dripped off her body. She was panting heavily while Iziuel and Estrella sat down on the ground.

Glancing up, Lisandra saw Shiro flying down and smiled.

Before she could even say anything, Shiro dragged Lisandra into her embrace and activated her healing spells.

"Are you alright? What happened?" Shiro asked anxiously as she checked Lisandra up and down for any injuries.

Hearing this, Lisandra smiled.

"I'm fine mum. It turns out that to claim a zone, we had to fight a boss once we stepped inside. It was a little annoying but we dealt with it." Lisandra explained as Shiro sighed.

"Don't be so anxious Shiro, Lisandra, Estrella and Iziuel can handle themselves. Two of them are tier 6 and another is a pseudo demi-god." Nimue's voice rang out as Shiro composed herself.

Now that she saw Lisandra safe and sound in front of her, she could feel her worries disappear.

*Cough

"That's true." Shiro nodded her head.

Talking for a little longer, Shiro returned to the command centre while Iziuel was assigning herself as the lifeline of the zone.

Once the monster was killed, there was a crown created from its energy and becoming the lifeline was as simple as integrating yourself with this crown. However, the process took a while and everyone was guarding Iziuel while this happened.

The cavity that led down to the boss arena started to fill itself once everyone flew to the surface and the city hall was redecorated. All of the damage done was repaired and the portals outside had been closed.

Sitting down on her chair, Shiro sighed as she closed her eyes. With Iziuel integrating herself as the lifeline and everyone guarding her, things were settling down for a few moments and it seemed like everything was calming down for now.

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