Chapter 970: The Piss Off Agreement
“For a being who could wipe us all out by destroying the Abyss entirely, I’m glad you took the tame route of talking it out first. For that, I appreciate it.”
Rael tilted his head. “No problem? Though, I hate to ask, but what’s up with all of these formalities?”
“It’s how I talk. Now then, I won’t bore you with all of this nonsense. Let’s get straight to business, Rael,” Death said, then snapped his fingers, creating a round table in front of them, alongside three chairs.
It was a little bit over the top for a conversation they could just have and finish while on foot. But then again, Rael wasn’t one to say no to some extra comfort, thus he sat down. Ren did too, and Death was last.
“Why must you always come here whenever I argue with someone? Can’t you just let me solve it for once?” Ren grumbled.
Death shook his head. “No. You don’t know how to deal with beings properly. Hence why I came here. Now shut up and let me speak.”
With that, silence ensued as Death made sure everyone was paying attention. Finally, he spoke once more:
“I intend to honor your requests, Rael. After all, I believe you are indeed being truthful when you say you’re going to ignore us. As for us… The reason why it’s an issue to begin with is simply because your predecessor had betrayed us, hence—”
“No, he didn’t,” Rael cut him off with a sigh. “I have his memories. I know for a fact he didn’t. So before you try to trick me like the others, please remember, I have the power to back up my arrogance.”
It was a bit disappointing, to say the least. Rael fully expected this guy to be honest, since he seemed very mature. But then again, he was not only selfish, but also stupidly arrogant to believe he could manipulate Rael.
And so, just like that, the tides of the whole conversation turned once more.
“You know what? Let me just say this…” Rael took a deep breath and added, “I couldn’t give less of a shit about you all. So just leave me alone. I’ll leave you too. This place you have going? I really, really don’t care about it. I promise you that much.”
There were some doubts, obviously. But making a deal with such beings was much better than relying on humans, since at least these beings knew what it meant to actually want to have peace and quiet.
Or at least, that was how Rael interpreted the whole situation. Thankfully, he wasn’t that far off, as Death in particular recognized Rael’s honesty. And so, despite his best wishes, he decided to compromise.
“To what extent are you willing to go through with this deal?”
“Hmm… The honest extent, I guess. I don’t want you messing with my mind or my memories. I also don’t want to be shackled,” Rael replied.
Death nodded. “In that case, could we make a verbal agreement?”
“A verbal agreement?” Rael tilted his head.
And once again, Death nodded. “Less than binding, it’s more of an agreement between two beings. It holds no actual ties, but it does contain a few ethical binds. Trust, loyalty, and obviously, self-restraint.”
Hmm.
Was that really what a verbal agreement meant?
Rael felt like those types of agreements were the easiest to break. But oh well, if that was enough to get these people off his ass, then so be it.
“Fine. I agree to not mess with you guys at all, or let anyone know of your existence. I won’t pay any visits to you, nor will I attack anyone from your side unless provoked. That’s about it. I don’t want to meet you two either, so if it ever comes down to it where you descend or try to monitor me in some way, shape, or form… Then I won’t hesitate to wipe this whole realm out of existence.”
Rael smiled.
“And that is a promise.”
Death stared at Rael for a brief moment. His eyes glowed in understanding, and before long, he made a promise of his own.
“On behalf of the entire Council of Concepts, we promise to not meddle with you or any beings related to you. If we do, then we accept punishment, as you intend.”
Heh.
CoC.
Rael coughed once, getting his immature side out of the way. After all, despite him being so powerful, he was still a little immature. Was it because he was still only a few million years old?
A few million years young, rather?
Hmm…
Welp.
“In that case, it’s settled, right?” Rael asked, and then rose from his seat. “If you’ve got nothing else to tell me, then I ought to get going. Also… Gaia. You both know of Gaia. If you ever purposefully kill that Concept of Life of yours just to make Gaia into a Concept of Life, I will also kill you.”
Death rolled his skully eyes. “We don’t intend to take impartial beings and turn them into Concepts. We usually cultivate Concepts since their birth. Ren here is the only exception, as he was never meant to become a Concept.”
Ren’s brow twitched. “That’s bold of you to say. You just didn’t have a choice after I killed the previous Concept of Reality.”
Death ignored him. “I suppose that’s it then, isn’t it, Rael? We don’t have anything else tying us together, so if you don’t mind…”
Instead of finishing his words, he opened a small portal, gesturing toward it, clearly telling Rael to leave.
Though Rael was stubborn. He didn’t step through the portal, and instead, he got rid of his physique, becoming the form from earlier as he went ahead and stared at the shocked looks on the Concepts’ faces.
Then, with another inward chuckle, Rael went ahead and reappeared in his mansion, inside Celestara.
He had done a lot of things in the span of a few months… But there was still one more question he had for a certain someone who had been doing nothing but researching him for the entire month.
“Gaia, what did you find?”