Book 6: Chapter 1:2: Alaya, Choose! Part 2
When Chen Heng crossed through the black hole, he didn’t meet Sirin, Yakumo Yukari, or Doctor Roman. Instead, he found himself sitting alone on a single chair in an empty space.
He wasn’t surprised; choosing to appear as a Heroic Spirit meant he wouldn’t necessarily meet the others. He suspected he was in the legendary Throne of Heroes but had no proof.
“Hey, young man, fancy signing a contract to become a Counter Guardian?” a voice called out from his right.
He turned to see a faceless, colorless, barely human figure that seemed immaterial.
“Counter Guardian? Alaya!”
“That’s right. Interested?” Alaya’s illusionary figure gradually approached Chen Heng.
“Why not? Let’s sign the contract. Do you need blood or just a signature? Or maybe a soul contract?” Chen Heng grabbed Alaya’s immaterial hand and refused to let go.
“Hey, what are you doing? Going by normal logic, you’re supposed to refuse, right? You do know what being a Counter Guardian means, right?”
“I know exactly what it means. Hurry up! Let’s sign the contract. I can’t wait.”
“Can we not? I’m backing out. Let go of my hand, will you?”
“No way. You can’t just promise to sign, then change your mind. Tell me how to sign the contract to become a Counter Guardian. Hurry!”
“This isn’t good, right?”
“It’s fine. There’s nothing wrong; it’s great!” Chen Heng kept a firm grip on Alaya’s arm.
“Let’s not, alright?” Normally, Alaya would be thrilled to have someone as powerful as Chen Heng sign the contract to become a Counter Guardian. However, this was a special case. Alaya had just wanted to tease him, but now it seemed she was in trouble.
“Annoy me further, and I’ll kill you,” Chen Heng threatened, clutching the necklace around his neck and aiming it at Alaya’s phantom.
“But if I really make you a Counter Guardian, your ancestor will obliterate me. I refuse—absolutely refuse.” Alaya resisted with all her might, struggling to free her arm from Chen Heng’s grip.
“Oh? Then why did you offer to make me a Counter Guardian?”
“I was just joking. I didn’t know you’d take me seriously.”
“I don’t joke around. Now you have two choices: don’t make me a Counter Guardian and I kill you now, or sign the contract with me, and my ancestor will kill you later. Choose.”
“I don’t want to. Can’t we have another option?” Alaya was panicking. She had survived the fight with Gaia but would end up dying because of a joke? She would never accept this outcome.
Alaya tried a new tactic: transforming her illusionary figure into a golden-haired loli. She hoped this image would tug at Chen Heng’s heartstrings. After all, men could hardly resist the charm of a blue-eyed, blond loli, right?
“You can refuse to choose, but that would depend on what you can offer me.”
“…” Alaya suspected Chen Heng was playing her. He had laid a trap the moment she offered to make him a Counter Guardian.
“What? Can’t you even pay a small price to save your life?” Chen Heng casually flicked his necklace, eyeing Alaya with a half-joking, half-threatening gaze.
Do you really think that taking on the form of a blue-eyed, blond loli will soften my heart? What a joke! My Luo Li is far more beautiful than you, and my Sirin is much cuter. I wonder what gave you the courage to turn into a blue-eyed, golden-haired loli in front of me, a man accustomed to the beauty of these two superior lolis.
“So, what do you want?” she asked hesitantly.
“Though I’m not sure what I want right now. I do know I need to extract something from you. Also, if you dare trick me again with that half-price discount card, I’ll complain to my ancestor. I’ll say you wanted to sign me up as a Counter Guardian in the Type-Moon world and bring an end to my Chen Clan’s family line.” His eyes flashed dangerously when he mentioned that damned half-price discount card.
“Don’t tell me…this is revenge over that half-price discount card?”
“How is that possible? Everyone who knows me knows I’m extremely generous. I would never harbor a grudge, right?”
“…” The evidence was clear: Chen Heng was indeed holding a grudge because she had replaced his reward with a half-price discount card quite a while ago, and he was now taking this opportunity to extort something from her. Is this what they call reaping what one sows? Can it even be considered that?
The problem was Alaya had no idea back then that the man in front of her had a transcender ancestor, one who would kill world consciousnesses without hesitation, quite the hardliner.
Even now, Alaya didn’t think she had done anything wrong. Strictly speaking, there was no difference between a half-restored Absolute Precognition and a half-price discount card.
“By the way, what did you want from me?”
“N-nothing, nothing at all. I just came to see you. After all, you did help me once,” she replied. Originally, Alaya wanted to ask for Chen Heng’s help in stabbing Gaia in the back, but she decided to forget about it, given the circumstances.
The man in front of her held grudges. If anything betrayed his expectations during the process, she might end up worse off.
“Why are you so nervous? I’m not going to eat you.”
I don’t want to take such risks again. Of course, Alaya could only think this in her heart, not daring to say it out loud.
“I hereby declare, your body shall serve under me. My fate shall be your sword…”
Just as Chen Heng was about to continue his cordial and friendly conversation with Alaya, a magic circle appeared beneath him, emitting a faint glow. Sirin’s voice resounded from the circle—apparently, she was summoning him.
The 𝘮ost uptodat𝑒 novels are pub𝙡ished on fre(e)webno(v)el.𝒸𝑜𝘮