Li Yu’s expression didn't change but his calculation shifted. Forty elite personal guards. Inside the fortress. If they went berserk, thousands of innocent soldiers would die. Then all the other demons have infected other parts of the army as well. This was really too much.

  "You control them?" Li Yu asked.

  "I am the Queen!" Vespera nodded frantically. "They obey me! I can order them to stand down! I can order them to leave their hosts! But only if I am alive!"

  She looked at him and was seeing the hesitation in him, finally. She pressed her advantage.

  "I can remove them," Vespera promised. "I can free the personal guards. But only if I am alive! If I die, chaos takes them!"

  Li Yu lowered the staff slowly.

  He looked at the unconscious Signe. If he kills Vespera, Signe will die, maybe. If he killed Vespera, forty elite succubi went on a killing spree. He would also have no way to figure out who else was infected by the other types of demons in the army.

  "You are Divine Transformation," Li Yu said. "Why did you lose so easily?"

  "Because you are a freak!" Vespera cried while gesturing at the void around them. "Who drags people into the Second Layer?! And your soul... it’s like hitting a wall of divine gold! My strength is mental! It is manipulation! Against you... I am useless."

  She slumped down, defeated.

  "I surrender," Vespera whispered. "I truly surrender. Just... let me live."

  Li Yu stared at her for a long moment. The chaotic energy of the void swirled around them and was battering against his shield.

  "A contract," Li Yu said.

  Vespera blinked. "What?"

  "We form a soul contract," Li Yu said. "You live. But you belong to me. You will remove every Charm Demon from this fortress. You will then help me remove the other types of demons plaguing this army as well. You will free Signe. And you will obey my orders from now on."

  "However," Li Yu added, "I am not unreasonable. I won't order you to kill your family members or others you care about. And I won't order you to do anything that goes against your bottom line. A mutual agreement in a way... with me holding the leash."

  Vespera bit her lip. A soul contract with a human? It was humiliating. But it seemed like there was no other way. He definitely wouldn't allow her to just leave after her part of the deal was done. He would most likely just kill her and accept the losses. After a long moment of deciding.

  "I... I accept," Vespera whispered. "But I have a bottom line. Like you said. I will not betray my Lineage. I will not fight against them or help you harm them."

  "I don't care about your politics in your own realm." Li Yu said. "Just clear this fortress."

  "Deal," Vespera said.

  They completed the technique for such a soul contract. The runes flared and branded themselves onto her forehead and into her spiritual sea before fading away.

  Vespera gasped slightly as she was feeling the weight of the bond settle over her soul. She was bound. If she tried to harm Li Yu, she would die. If she disobeyed a direct order that wasn’t against her bottom line, she would die.

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  "Done," Li Yu said.

  He grabbed Signe again.

  "Now, free her."

  "I can," Vespera grumbled. She was then rubbing her forehead. "But where do I go? I can't just float around. It's drafty."

  She looked at Li Yu. Her black eyes gleamed with a sudden idea.

  "You," she said.

  "No," Li Yu said immediately.

  "It's easier!" Vespera insisted. "I have to follow you anyway. Being inside you is safer and more convenient. I can reside there without issues. My kind... we have a trait. We can live inside a person’s spiritual sea. That is where we stay when we take over someone. That way we can stay inside them and control them easier."

  Li Yu frowned. Having a demon living inside him sounded like a terrible idea. But then he thought of what was already there.

  The Koi Soul. The Fisherman. The Ancient Whale.

  If she tries anything, Li Yu thought, the neighbors will eat her. She can’t try anything anyways.

  "Fine," Li Yu sighed. "But be careful there. The current residents are quite terrifying and they like it quiet."

  "Residents?" Vespera scoffed. "I am a Divine Transformation Queen. I fear nothing when it comes to the soul."

  She closed her eyes.

  Her form dissolved into mist. It flowed out of Signe, leaving the Grand Marshall with a gasp of air. The mist swirled around Li Yu and then shot into his chest.

  Li Yu felt a cold sensation wash over his Ocean of Qi. He looked inward.

  On another small and isolated island in the middle of his spiritual ocean, Vespera materialized. She looked around and was stunned. The vast amounts of power here was far beyond what she thought she would witness.

  "Hmm," Vespera mused while smoothing her dress. "Spacious. A bit damp. But I can work with this."

  She waved her hand. Demonic Qi flared and a structure began to form.

  It was a lavish, two-story villa made of black marble and red velvet. It had a balcony. It had a garden of phantom roses.

  Vespera stepped onto her new balcony and was stretching her arms.

  "Home sweet home," she muttered. Then, the water rippled.

  A massive fin broke the surface nearby. The Koi Soul swam past. Its massive eye was staring directly at Vespera with ancient and divine indifference. It almost looked like it came over to check out what this new thing was.

  Vespera squeaked and ducked behind her balcony railing.

  "What is that?!" She whispered as she trembled. She didn’t understand or know what it was but her instincts told her that it could easily kill her.

  Then, she looked at the horizon and saw another small floating island. A figure in a straw hat sat there and was holding a fishing rod. He looked over at her. He tipped his hat.

  The pressure from that single glance nearly flattened her villa. There were now cracks everywhere and it looked like it was fading away. Vespera had to quickly stabilize it with more soul power.

  "Two?" Vespera whispered. "He has two Nascent Souls? And both are... monstrous? Why is one shaped like a beast and the other human though?"

  She hugged her knees and her Divine Transformation pride shattered completely.

  "What is this human?" she whimpered. "What kind of monster did I just enslave myself to?"

  She didn't see the deep shadow passing beneath the island. She didn't see the Ancient Whale. If she had, she might have just dissolved herself out of pure terror.

  Li Yu didn't linger in the 2nd layer of the void. With Signe free and Vespera contained, he activated the Void Shift again.

  They were back in the office. The fireplace was still roaring. The smell of jasmine was still there but the sensitization of demonic qi was gone.

  Li Yu lowered Signe gently to the floor. He stepped back and was smoothing his robes. He checked his internal state. Vespera was hiding in her villa, terrified of the Fisherman and the Koi.

  Signe groaned.

  Her eyelashes fluttered. She took a deep breath and began to wake up. Her eyes opened. The red fire in them was dim, confused.

  “Who are you!?” She roared but thankfully Li Yu had already set up a barrier in this room. Figuring some misunderstandings would arise from an unknown person being next to her.

  She tried to sit up but winced. She clutched her head where there was pain.

  Li Yu presented his white dragon token to calm her.

  "You fainted," Li Yu said calmly, pouring a cup of water from her desk and handing it to her. Signe saw the token and calmed down slightly. She took the cup with shaking hands. She looked at him, then at the room. Memories were flashing behind her eyes. Fragmented but nightmare images of a voice in her head and of a hunger that wasn't hers.